Chapter 16

SIXTEEN

NOLAN

A fter spending the morning and early afternoon cleaning and packing at my house, the first thing I see when I come around the last curve in Amber's driveway is Teddy's Bentley sitting directly in front of the house.

I park in my usual spot, climb out of my Honda, and try to ignore the jealousy that is unexpectedly racing through me. It isn't easy for me to overlook the fact that Amber used to love Teddy. It irritates me more than it should. A single kiss and an admission that she enjoyed kissing me doesn't give me any sort of claim over her.

Especially since we won't be doing it again.

I stalk up to the house and try to put a leash on my emotions. Our fake dating scheme isn't about me . It would be useful if I could remember that.

As soon as I'm through the front door, I hear sounds coming from the backyard and when I step through the open slider, I find Teddy and Maddy splashing in the pool. I nod at Teddy and raise my hand, but he either doesn't see me or is ignoring me because he turns and pulls Maddy through the water toward the opposite side.

A glance to my right reveals Amber. She's propped against the heavy wood table that sits in the shade at one end of the pool. My feet almost get tangled together as I move toward her because holy crap, she's beautiful. Her platinum hair is loose and wavy, her plain white shirt shows a hint of her toned abs, and her legs look impossibly long in ripped jeans. It isn't like I've been unaware of how attractive she is, but after the past week, it hits me in an entirely different way and it's hard to ignore my reaction.

She spots me, and her expression brightens and then falters. "Nolan."

"Amber." I try to act casual as I cross the pool deck, but it isn't easy. If she were my real girlfriend, I'd cup her face in my hands, and kiss her softly, but since she isn't and kissing is off the table, I awkwardly pat her shoulder when I reach her side.

She tips her head back and whispers, "Hey."

"Why are you whispering?" I ask softly.

"Um…so Teddy can't hear us."

Our forearms brush as I turn to judge whether he's listening. It seems pretty clear that he isn't. He's keeping his distance, and his attention is trained on Maddy as he zooms through the water.

Amber shifts until we're no longer touching and then starts to ramble, her voice still quiet. "I wasn't sure what time you'd be back. We didn't really…I told Teddy he could stay for dinner. He doesn't usually, but with us leaving this week, I felt like I should offer. He wasn't sure he wanted to join us after I told him you were going to be here, but I think I convinced him."

I can feel the tension coiling between us.

Why is faking so hard?

"Relax," I tell her as much as myself. "Teddy should stay as long as you want him to." I hesitate and then add, "I don't think we're very good at this. I feel like I'm going to jump out of my skin, and you moved away when our arms brushed each other." I slide closer to her so we're touching again and try to ignore the way my skin tingles. "It's very lucky that Teddy is ignoring us, otherwise the gig would be up."

"Ugh." She laughs softly and shakes her head. "I promised myself I'd be calm, cool, and collected when you arrived."

Neither of us are hitting those objectives. "What if we stop trying so hard? Teddy witnessed the kiss, and he already thinks we're together, so maybe we don't have to second guess ourselves so much."

"Ha. That'll be the day." As she says it, her pinkie reaches out and links with mine against the table. We're barely touching, but it somehow anchors me.

We lapse into an almost comfortable silence as Teddy continues to steadfastly ignore us. He might not have seen me when I first arrived, but it could not be more obvious by the way he keeps his head turned away that he knows I'm here now.

When Maddy starts fussing, he gets flustered. He tears out of the pool, starts in our direction, and then halts abruptly.

Maddy isn't pleased by the hasty stop. She starts crying in earnest, and for a second, I think he's going to set her on the ground and dash away. Amber must be worried about the same thing because she straightens and heads for them. Teddy takes a halting breath and resolutely continues toward her. When they meet about ten feet away from me, he deposits a sopping wet Maddy in her arms.

"Gah, you couldn't dry her off a bit?" she asks.

He winces. "I…uh…yes."

He turns, scanning the lounge chairs and still pointedly ignoring me.

Unfortunately for him the only towels in sight are in a stack on the table behind me. The urge to wait for him to find them himself beckons, but I'm not an asshole, so instead of waiting, I reach back, grab a towel, walk over, and hand it to him.

"Thanks," he says with more than a hint of annoyance.

"No problem," I respond evenly.

He attempts to dry Maddy but mostly he's just patting her back with it. Amber sighs, grabs the towel, and wraps it around Maddy, shifting her from arm to arm, and then using one end to gently dry her face. Maddy abruptly stops crying and waves at me. I return the wave as Amber laughs.

"You're the cutest," she says to Maddy. "But you got me wet." Her eyes dart to me. "I'm going to have to change. Can you take Maddy and get her out of her swimsuit?"

"Sure. Should I give her a quick bath?" I ask.

"That would be amazing." She nods and passes Maddy to me.

Teddy huffs loudly. "I just remembered…I've got… a thing ." He pats Maddy on the back, turns on his heel, and practically sprints for the door. He's still dripping as he enters the house wearing nothing but his swim trunks. He doesn't even have shoes on.

"Teddy. You don't have your clothes," Amber calls after him, but he doesn't respond.

"Does he have his keys?" I ask.

"They're probably in his car." She waits a beat and then adds, "I guess he's more upset than I thought he'd be."

"Was that his version of a temper tantrum?" Teddy might be ridiculously talented musically, but otherwise he's kind of a mess. I vacillate between feeling sorry for him, wanting to help him, and wanting to kick him.

She sighs. "Before you got here, he told me I broke his heart."

" You broke his heart?" What rubbish. I'm offended for her.

She rubs her forehead. "His agent told Brian that he's been reading accidental pregnancy romance novels."

That is wildly unexpected and probably not at all helpful. "Let me guess, in those novels, the accidental parents fall in love?"

"Apparently. I guess it's feeding his hope that we'll reconcile." She reaches out and adjusts the towel so Maddy can get her arm that is trapped free. "Brian suggested they slip in some single parent romances."

Is Teddy's mood really swayed by fictional love stories? "Single moms that hook up with their daughter's nanny?"

She sighs. "Right. I'm undecided if that would be helpful or harmful." She pauses like she's thinking about it and then pats her wet shirt. "But since I'm still wet and Maddy needs changed, let's head inside. I'm hungry and since Teddy stormed out, I can save figuring out how to manage him for another day."

She moves toward the house, and I follow her, taking Maddy to her room to get washed off and dressed while Amber goes to change. When we're done in the bath, we find Amber opening one of the dresser drawers. She pulls out a one-piece romper and after I grab a diaper, she gets Maddy dressed.

The entire interaction is completely natural and devoid of any lingering tension. Later that night, I acknowledge to myself that I'm grateful that Teddy didn't stay for dinner.