Ivy nodded. "He definitely deserves happiness. He's a good guy."
"And you think he can find that with me?" I asked, feeling a little stunned by their comments.
"You're the best. I couldn't think of anyone better for Dalton," Ivy said sincerely.
"You're the opposite of Oakley. She's a witch for what she's put him through," Hazel agreed.
"Thank you for the votes of support, but we're new. I don't know if we'll have what it takes to last." I didn't want to get their hopes up too much.
"I have a good feeling about you two." Elena lowered her voice. "Do you know that all the guys come to Hudson when they're having relationship trouble? I'll let you know if Dalton stops by. That's usually a sign that they screwed up."
"I hope it doesn't come to that." There wouldn't be any conversations about how he screwed up unless he told his brother about us pretending to be together. Because there was no relationship to save or salvage. We were fake. No matter how nice it was to feel like part of the Kingston family, I would never be more than what I was, the nanny.
Chapter Nine
Dalton
The girls had been watching Henry and Lilliana, talking and laughing. Every once in a while, they'd look over at us, and I wondered if they were talking about us and our new relationship. I hoped that Blake was handling the questions without any problems.
I hoped she'd relaxed after she saw how our relationship was received by my family. They wanted me to be happy, especially after everything Oakley put me through.
Shep smacked me in the head. "Stop staring at your girl. She's not going anywhere."
I flushed because she wasn't mine. She could leave at any time. I didn't have any hold over her, even if she felt amazing when I held her in my arms. Between the dance the other night and putting my arm around her today, I couldn't get enough.
I wasn't sure what it was about her that was different from anyone else. Maybe it was the contrast between her and Oakley.
Shep followed my gaze to the girls. "She's good for you."
"Since when do you want me to settle down with a woman?" I turned my attention to the game while Shep set up for the serve.
He threw the ball and slapped it over the net. "I'm the last one standing now that you're with Blake."
I got into position, following the ball as Hudson set it for Cooper to spike it over the net. I dove for it but ate sand for my effort.
Hudson and Cooper high-fived while I accepted Shep's help up. "I think the sex is making you slow."
I shook off the sand. "That's not a thing." Plus, I wasn't having any sex. It had been so long for me; I wasn't sure what it was even like anymore.
Shep grinned. "It absolutely is. Especially if you're doing it right. Are you keeping her up all night? If not, you should be."
Everything in my body tightened at the idea of keeping Blake up all night. There was zero chance of that happening. We weren't even in a real relationship.
I could see now how easy it was for Brady to fall for his best friend when they were pretending to be engaged. But things were different between me and Blake. We weren't friends before this. We were in an employer-employee relationship.
There was no history to fall back on. There was just this pesky attraction I had to her. And there was no way of knowing if she felt the same.
When we danced together, she hadn't seemed affected in the slightest. She was more interested in whether I could dance than worrying about her heart rate increasing when I touched her.
I was in this alone. I'd have to hide my attraction to her. Keep my distance when we didn't have to be girlfriend boyfriend. Then my phone buzzed, and I held up my hand to pause the game. There was a string of texts from Oakley raging about being served with the custody papers as if she were a criminal. I didn’t bother to mention to her that it was a civil case, and that’s how it worked. Then she demanded that I give Lilliana back. "Oakley wants to get Lilliana tonight."
"I thought you were going to take her over tomorrow morning?" Hudson asked, everyone crowding around me.
"I could drop her off tonight. It would be an easy transition." But did I want to do that? Should I stick to my word? There was the other issue of being alone with Blake. With Lilliana not there to be a buffer, would I give into my desires and do something I'd regret later?
The guys gathered around, and Hudson asked, "What did your attorney say?"
I thought back to our discussion in his office. "That I should stick to whatever schedule I set."
