Free Charmed (Contemporary Romance) by Inés Saint

good-looking man into her house, that’s what.
    After what seemed like an eternity of time-outs, refereeing, and long faces, the twins found something that engrossed them enough to let Jamie and Nick finish without interruptions. Michael pretended to be a rocket scientist entrusted with building Santa Claus’s new rocket-fuel-powered sleigh.
    Hiding a smile, Jamie thought this would be the last time Nick would volunteer to spend time with them. She knelt down over Nick’s toolbox and helped him put everything away so he could get going, figuring he was dying to leave.
    When she got up, she was surprised to see him looking completely relaxed and at ease as he watched the kids with a faint smile playing on his lips. He looked over at her and caught her gaze.
    “Sorry it got so noisy and out of control for a while.”
    “You call that noisy and out of control?” He paused. “You are aware of the fact that I run a school?”
    “Right. Exactly. You probably crave peaceful and quiet Saturday mornings.”
    “Trust me, Jamie, peace and quiet are highly overrated.” He gestured to the swings. “Sit down, you need to loosen up.”
    Jamie walked over, and sat down. He pulled her back and let her go, then leaned on one of the wooden beams. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the breeze on her face.
    He hadn’t minded the noise. It didn’t even seem like he was in a hurry to leave. She opened her eyes just as he was looking away from her. “So, peace and quiet are overrated?”
    “You’d be surprised,” Nick answered. He began circling the swing set, examining it.
    “How are you going to deal with the extreme peace and quiet when you’re off climbing the Himalayas?”
    “The Himalayas?” He stopped examining the swing set to shoot her a quizzical glance.
    “Well, isn’t that what you’re taking the year off for? Okay, I guess not,” she answered her own question when it became obvious he was trying to understand what she was talking about.
    “Who told you I was climbing the Himalayas?”
    “Justin, that’s who.”
    “No doubt he’d love that. Probably wishes I’d disappear in an avalanche.”
    “He’s not that macabre. I think. I hope. Okay, so maybe he wouldn’t mind if you lost a toe to frostbite, you know, so you lose a bit of your edge on the ice, but I’m pretty sure he doesn’t want you dead.”
    “Well, I’m not hiking up the Himalayas just yet. For now, I’m traveling to sixteen different countries. Emma’s joining me on a few treks in the summer and on one during spring break.”
    “That sounds amazing. You must be so excited.”
    “Well, I’ve been looking forward to it for a long time. It’s the trip I originally wanted to take right after college, before starting real life, you know? The time is finally right, and I’m counting the days.”
    Jamie could feel his eagerness. He was now leaning on the beam behind her, and Jamie twisted around to study him. “It sounds like you’re going to have the time of your life. And I’m sure you deserve it. Emma seems like such a wonderful person.”
    “Yes, well, I had to grow up fast when she was born.” He hesitated before looking at her again. She simply nodded, not trying to feign surprise. He surely knew the story of his life had been recycled quite a few times in town and at school.
    “She’s pretty much been the center of my world and I’ve never regretted anything. Not for an instant. But there were times when I was sitting there, playing Barbies with her or having a tea party, pretending I was having a blast … ” He shook his head and gave the memory a wry smile. Jamie couldn’t help but mirror it. “I decided I needed something more personal to look forward to.”
    She was about to tell him she knew what he meant, but the way he was gazing at her, convivially, told her he was aware of that. Instead she said, “Sometimes it feels like your life belongs to others.”
    They were quiet for a while until Jamie saw him watching the