Free Urgent: One Nanny Required (Crimson Romance) by Olivia Logan Page B

minute.” His face was determined as he stood near the shallow end, body posed like a dolphin to take off.
    “Hold on, mister. Have you ever been down to the deep end before?”
    Eyes locked on the floor, he shook his head, his wet hair plastered to his face partly covering his eyes.
    “All right, how about I teach you?” More for safety than anything else, she figured, especially if he was determined to get down to the other end.
    “Okay, so we start with a normal crawl,” she told him, pushing off from the edge and swimming till she reached deeper water. “Then you tread water like this,” she sputtered, trying hard not to swallow the chlorine-treated water as it splashed into her mouth, before deftly twisting onto her front and swimming back to the side, “Tell you what, I’ll swim with you to the end. That way if you get tired, I can pull you back. Okay?”
    Seeing his nod, she waited for him to push off before following after, slowing her pace to match his. He slowed as they reached the end, his face getting redder and redder as they reached the other side. Swimming a little ahead, she grabbed hold of the railing, reaching out a hand to pull him in.
    “Yay! Well done, Theo!” she exclaimed, pulling him in for a quick hug.
    “Yeah, well done, kiddo!” She froze, looking up slowly.
    Nick stood near the end of the pool, watching them. The early evening sun highlighted his hair and made him seem for all purposes, a living, breathing Adonis.
    “Dad! Did you see me? I swam all the way from the other side!” Theo shouted excitedly at the tall figure.
    “I sure did.” Nick said, kneeling down beside him.
    Plastering herself against the side, she wondered what else he had seen. Hell, if she were being honest with herself, the worry was how much of her in a swimsuit he had seen! She watched as he pulled Theo out and wrapped a towel around him.
    Pulling herself toward the stairs, she stopped as a hand came down in front of her face. “Need a lift?” His voice was smooth and husky.
    Despite the heat, she could feel the goose pimples rise on her arms as he took her hand. In one fluid motion, he pulled her out of the water as if she were as light as a feather. Which, she knew for sure, she was not.
    Ducking her head so she wouldn’t have to look at him, she made a beeline for her sarong, wrapping it tightly around her and trying to ignore the fact that it stuck to her like a second skin. At least it was another layer.
    “How come you’re back so early?” Theo asked, making his way toward the doors.
    That was a good question. Why couldn’t he have come back when she was asleep? Not in a bathing suit.
    “It’s Valentine’s Day and everyone wanted to get home so we finished a little earlier than expected,” he explained, following his son into the kitchen with Rania trailing behind, hoping against hope that at the first opportunity she could escape upstairs.
    She was not prepared for the mounds of food when she entered the kitchen, nor the sheepish expression on Nick’s face when he saw she had spotted it.
    “So I was thinking … how about I make us all dinner tonight?”
    Speechless again. Really, this was becoming as bad a habit as sticking her nose in where it didn’t belong.
    “Cool,” Theo piped up, reaching for a cupcake from a brown bag.
    “Bath first mister, then chocolate,” came the firm admonishment ruined by the twinkling eyes.
    “Oh, okay!” he said, scurrying off without even so much as a backward glance.
    “I should, ummm … ” She stammered, fingers pointing to the staircase Theo had just exited up.
    “Yeah, sure.” He seemed distracted, his eyes and hands busy taking out the various food things. And the champagne. Rania felt frozen to the spot, eyes glued to the bottle in his hand. He looked up at her and she could swear she could see a tinge of pink lighting his cheeks. “Well since it’s Valentine’s Day and all … ” His voice trailed off as his gaze dropped to the