Chapter 14

If I'd thought I needed to talk to someone the other day, I'd had no clue. The current insanity was almost even more unbelievable.

What kind of dude in his thirties could come twice in a row with barely a break between? It had taken a few minutes, sure, and I couldn't even say how long exactly because he'd seemed to be fucking me forever. He had unbelievable stamina.

Which I'd had slammed home later, especially when I tried to walk.

Chafing was a thing after that much action, apparently. Not that I'd had any idea because the few guys I'd been with definitely hadn't been going for any land-speed records. More like a couple bumps and some hip gyrations and done.

Finito.

Jude was clearly trying to ruin me for mere mortal males, and that was just fine because not only had we had Olympics-level sex the first time we'd gotten naked, he came inside me with no protection and said it was good I wasn't on birth control.

In Crescent Cove, the unicorn land where it seemed like unprotected sex was a guarantee for a need for gift certificates to Baby-o-Rama.

And it didn't even have to be unprotected for the hammer to come down. Not to mention, he was already a proven quantity with a three-year-old son.

He barely knew me. He had a shit ton of money that meant he couldn't afford to be indiscriminate and take chances with unknown women. Yet he'd just insisted I was his and gone off to work his ass into the ground to make more oodles of money and regenerate his clearly unnatural sperm banks.

If I asked anyone about this, they'd accuse me of bragging. Truthfully, I kind of would be.

This was not ordinary in the best way. And it was probably a one-off thing in any case.

I better brag while I could until I was crying into the coffee I couldn't drink much of because I was knocked up.

I lifted my shirt and stared at my not-flat belly in the full length mirror in the guest room. I wasn't at a great point in my cycle for such things, so maybe not. Maybe I'd escape with just a warning, since surely some women had sex without getting pregnant in the Cove. Not every chick of childbearing age could get knocked up that easily here.

Right?

Dropping my shirt, I started winding my hair into a braid. And that was that. It just wasn't feasible.

Maybe if I started wishing fervently to be, I could ensure I wasn't through reverse psychology. Or restoring the baby balance or whatnot.

The thing was, Jude made pretty babies, as I had reason to know. His son was downright adorable with his thick messy hair and his blue-green eyes that were so often filled with pain and made me want to give him the entire world. He even had dimples too, I'd realized the other day when he'd given in to belly laughs while watching Paw Patrol . The kid was the freaking cutest.

That didn't mean I wanted my own at this age. I was awfully young. Just about the same age as my own mom when she'd gotten pregnant with Penn, but my parents had already been engaged and building a life together.

I wasn't building anything with Jude.

Hello, you're the one who went in there while he was showering and stripped down as if you were some super confident, hot chick instead of a sort of shy, mostly inexperienced, confused young adult.

I couldn't even figure out where I'd drummed up enough nerve to do something like that. But the vivid arousal in his gorgeous, slightly forbidding dark blue eyes whenever he'd looked my way from the very start had played a part.

Along with the fact I couldn't even get myself off now that he'd worked me up and left me hanging. And I'd absolutely tried during the long, frustrating nights of basically no sleep.

But I was good now. I'd had like three, possibly four orgasms during our rounds.

Go, me.

Yet I was still all worked up and buzzy. Just pressing my thighs together made me tingle.

Though I couldn't imagine the man could go again anytime soon. He clearly had to have been…unduly taxed.

As was my lady area. Shower that morning aside, I'd likely need a leisurely bath before the day was through to make sure everything was all… pampered down there.

Not that I'd officially said yes to anything yet. Though probably spending days here and then walking into his bathroom and taking off all my clothes counted as agreement.

Even if it was because I was excessively horny.

"Baddie?" A small voice came down the hall as I finished braiding my hair and put on a band on the end. Not having my curly hair shampoo was making it act all crazy. Not like I'd intended on not being home all week.

The other day, I'd taken out my phone to find a message from my mom making sure I was okay. It wasn't as if I couldn't go on sleepovers at my age, but I always gave them notice I wouldn't be home.

Except since I'd been staying here, I'd completely forgotten my usual routines.

I'd called her back right away and told her I'd be staying away a bit longer and then I'd be in touch. This morning, after I'd cleaned myself up in my en suite bathroom, I'd called her again and said I'd be stopping by home soon.

Clearly, I'd have to tell her more at this point.

I hurried out into the hall to find Owen wandering from door to door, peering inside while clutching his giraffe and sucking on his thumb.

"Hey, buddy. This is still my room." He'd visited me in it a few times over the past few days, and now I held my door open wider so he could look inside.

Though even this still being my room wasn't a certainty now that Jude and I were lovers. Maybe I'd be sleeping in his room tonight.

Maybe you should go home and stop playacting as if you're really living in this fantasy world.

"You did a pretty good job with your clothes today." I held out his arm to look him up and down. His shirt was on backward, but that was an easy fix. He had on different socks instead of the matching green pair I'd left him, instead putting on one blue and one striped. Simply adorable.

"My one sock had a hole so I put it in my laundry basket"

"Oh, did it? How did I miss that?"

He shrugged and rushed into my room to try to climb onto my bed. I picked him up to give him a boost, and he leaped on the bed to bounce with abandon. I poked one of his tiny wiggling feet and he giggled. "Are you hungry?" I asked. "How about some eggs and bacon?"

If he said no, I'd bring up the toaster waffles, but I'd, uh, worked up an appetite this morning and I wanted something more hearty. Maybe Jude would too.

"More Froot Loops too," he suggested, already clambering down again.

"You want cereal too?"

"Yes. Hangry." He launched out of the doorway at a dead run, clearly running right into his father who picked him up and had him sit on his hip as I did all the time. "Where you headed, pal?"

"Kitchen." But then he put his thumb back in his mouth as his father carted him to my doorway. "What's going on in the kitchen?" Jude asked me.

I met Jude's gaze. "I was going to make some breakfast, if you're hungry too."

Don't blush.

"I could eat. What's on the menu?"

"Bacon, eggs, and Froot Loops. The cereal is optional." Actually, all of it was optional, since technically, Jude was my employer.

At least I was pretty sure he was. This whole arrangement was weird, but I didn't mind the orgasm part. I also didn't mind the playing with Owen part or the staying in such a gorgeous, gigantic home part.

Honestly, a lot of what was happening here worked for me in one way or another.

"That's fine by me." He ruffled Owen's hair like I did all the time, and Owen grinned, tipping his head into the movement in a way that made Jude smile too.

"We still need to go sneaker shopping again," I said lightly as we headed down the sweeping staircase to the first level. I still hadn't really begun to explore this enormous house.

"Yeah. We can do that after breakfast?"

"Sure. Tomorrow's the fourth," I reminded him, just in case he'd forgotten the upcoming holiday.

"Yeah, it is. Where can we see fireworks here?"

We. His easy usage with that word was both disarming and scary. I liked being part of a we too much, and we'd set no parameters around this whole setup, despite his insisting that he needed some.

Then I'd reacted by hitting the time out button for a few days until I'd gathered my nerve and stripped for him.

Totally normal, except not at all.

"They have some in the village tomorrow night near the gazebo on Main Street. That's where everyone gathers."

"You want to see some fireworks tomorrow night in the village?" Jude asked Owen, carting him through the house and then setting him on a stool at counter once we ended up in the kitchen.

"If Baddie goes too."

"Well, of course. We'd only go if she wanted to go too." Jude looked over his shoulder at me. "Works for you?"

"Yeah." I smiled. "I'm good with it."

"Good." Jude stepped toward me and lowered his head before he caught himself and moved back.

I sucked in a quick breath. He'd obviously been about to kiss me before he realized maybe that wasn't a good idea. He probably didn't want to confuse his son any more than he already had to be.

But I felt the loss. I wanted his lips on mine again. Wanted more of everything, except maybe we could stop to pick up some condoms while we were out.

Surely he wouldn't have a problem with that.

The doorbell sounded and I turned to go answer it until Jude nudged me aside and said he'd get it. I supposed maybe that wasn't part of my job description, although I had no clue what actually was.

So, I turned to sort through the now full cabinets until I found a frying pan which I set on the stove while I got out the bacon and eggs.

A moment later, soft feminine laughter drifted down the hall before Jude and a stunning blond in a cream business suit emerged from the hall.

"Maddie, this is Laken Losty, my real estate agent you sent the flowers to."

"Oh, did you like them?" I tried to make my voice as cheery as possible to compensate for the annoying spurt of jealousy at how Jude had his hand on her lower back.

His big hand, that just a short time ago had been all over me.

"I did, thank you. They were lovely. I just came by to see how Jude was doing in the new home and to thank him." She angled her head to look me over more closely, her eyes narrowed.

"Maddie is my new nanny for Owen."

"Baddie," Owen immediately announced, just in case I'd forgotten his nickname for me.

"Yeah, sweetie?"

"Froot Loops," he reminded me as I cracked a few eggs in the pan.

"I'll get it." Jude grabbed the cereal box off the fridge and poured some along with milk into a beautiful bowl he took from a cabinet above the stove. Also new, since he'd had nothing of the sort before Caro had gone shopping. He also opened a drawer to take out an actual spoon instead of a plastic one like before and set it in the bowl before he presented it to Owen, who immediately dug in.

Then he lightly shook the box of cereal. "We should probably get more while we're out. I've been into it quite a bit," he admitted with a sheepish grin.

"So, you're the nanny, hmm?" Laken asked as I looked in another cabinet for a second pan for the bacon.

"I am."

"Have you worked as a nanny before?"

"No, but I have a large family. And I've babysat a lot."

"Babysat," Laken said with a self-important nod as if I'd just said I knew what a child was and that consisted of my experience. "Jude indicated he needed someone with lots of experience and references to care for his young son."

"We're getting by just fine." I offered her a smile and tried not to grit my teeth.

Not that Jude had exactly been monitoring me with his son over the last several days. But surely that indicated a level of trust in me? Or maybe he'd just been too buried in paperwork to concern himself overmuch.

Or our personal issues had ranked higher so he'd wanted to keep his distance. Hell if I knew.

"Oh, I'm sure. Just he doesn't know anyone just yet due to being new here, so I'd hate for him to be wrongly steered."

While she spoke, I scrambled the eggs with renewed energy. I just bet.

"Maddie has been extremely helpful. I'm fortunate we met so early on, and she applied for my position. Not to mention, she and Owen have such a good rapport. We're going sneaker shopping again after breakfast, right, Owen?"

"I want more with lights," he reminded his father before looking to me for confirmation that a second pair like that was still on the agenda.

"You got it, buddy. I'm sure we can find you another pair like that. There were a few different kinds in the store when we went."

"Then fireworks," Owen said into the now strained silence. "Online?"

"Oh, yeah, I gotta show you some online. Actual fireworks aren't until tomorrow," I told him softly as I scooped the now scrambled eggs onto a plate and began peeling off strips of bacon to put in the other sizzling frying pan.

"Oh." He returned to his cereal, shoveling it into his mouth as if he hadn't eaten in days.

"Are you staying for breakfast?" I asked Laken. "Should I set out another place setting?"

"Oh, no, I can't. Thanks for asking, though. I just wanted to see how things were going, and clearly, they're fine."

"Better than fine," Jude said smoothly. "Though next time you want to stop by, call first, would you? Just in case we're out."

I didn't hear her response as they walked down the hall, but I couldn't help smiling to myself. She'd wanted to make sure I was in my place, but instead, Jude had put her in hers.