Page 23 of Chasing the Sun

“Should we have a seat?”

“Sure.”

They sat beside each other on the deck chairs. She crossed her legs, and the towel shifted, drawing his attention to her smooth, toned thighs.

If she noticed him looking, she didn’t show it. Even dressed in a towel, she was all business, and he was both anxious and nervous to hear what she had to say.

“There was a little…incident…at the playground today,” she said, her hands clasped tightly in her lap.

“You mean with Molly?”

“No. With me.”

His brows furrowed. “What happened?”

“Well, I met one of your neighbors—Rita.”

“Yes…”

“At first, I thought she was really friendly, but then…”

He leaned forward, which put them in closer proximity, and she swallowed hard. Whatever it was, it must be bad for her to react this way.

“She started gossiping about your previous nanny.”

Of all the possibilities, he’d never considered that one. “What exactly did she say?” Rita was a notorious busybody, so he braced himself.

Chloe glanced behind him at the door, presumably to make sure Molly hadn’t returned. Then she locked eyes with him, and he saw her concern in their depths.

“She said that your previous nanny made a pass at you and you fired her.”

“That’s true,” he replied, his jaw ticking furiously. He hated dredging up the past, but even more, he was angry that Rita, the gossipmonger, had been the one to tell her.

“There’s more,” Chloe said, looking down at her hands.

“More?”

She nodded but averted her eyes. “I might have said something to offend her.”

For some crazy reason, he felt a bubble of laughter in his gut, but he staunched it. He couldn’t wait to hear this. “Continue.”

She took a deep breath and exhaled, the towel rising and falling over her breasts and drawing his gaze right there. Good thing she was still looking at her hands and hadn’t noticed.

“She insinuated that I…I mean, any nanny of yours, really…would try to do the same thing. I sort of turned it around on her a little bit.”

He couldn’t contain it anymore. The laughter bubbled out of him and echoed around the lanai. Chloe blinked a few times as if she couldn’t believe what she was seeing and hearing. Poor girl. She’d had no idea he had a sense of humor. Right then and there, he vowed to change that.

“You’re not angry?” she asked, tilting her head, her eyes big as saucers.

“Oh, I’m angry, but not at you,” he said hurriedly. “I’m mad at Rita for being such a gossipy bi—”

The door of the lanai creaked open, and out came Molly, freshly dressed and her hair still damp.

“How come you’re still out here?” she asked, glancing between them.

“Miss Chloe was just telling me more about your day.”

“I’m hungry,” she said.