“I bet they won’t let us back in there again.”
“Nah. I’m sure she’s not the first kid to freak out.”
I glanced over my shoulder to make sure the kids were still asleep. They looked so angelic when they weren’t spazzing out. Too bad I couldn’t be the night shift nanny, watching them while they slept.
“So, I guess it’s my turn to plan for Friday,” Slade said, downshifting as we caught up to a slow-moving line of traffic on the highway.
I bit my fingernail, wishing I was home, safe in my bedroom, where I could process the betrayal of my body and emotions, which had obviously lost all immunity to the Slade spell. Maybe the butterflies had impacted me, because I felt drawn to him just like a moth to a flame.
“So, the thing is…” He hesitated, staring straight ahead, his jaw tight. “Max’s mom really wants me to work with him on overcoming some of his fears.”
Anxiety ballooned in my stomach. Why hadn’t she mentioned this to me? Wasn’t I in charge?
“What do you mean?”
His hands tightened on the steering wheel. Why was he nervous? He was the super nanny, after all.
“She’s worried Max is too cautious.” He spoke softly, then glanced at me and shrugged. “You’ve seen how he is.”
I forced a smile. “Well, at least he’s not afraid of butterflies.”
Slade grinned. “True. We can check that one off the list.”
I swallowed nervously then plunged ahead. “So you weren’t kidding about the skydiving?”
“I think we’ll need to build up to that.”
Was he mocking me? I couldn’t tell. I stared at my phone, willing Desi to text or call me with a pretzel emergency.
“Seriously,” he continued. “I was thinking maybe we’d take them to Jungle Fever. They have lots of stuff to climb, and rope bridges that swing in the air.”
My head jerked up. “I’m afraid of heights,” I said, cursing myself for letting the words escape.
“Okay,” he said. “You don’t have to climb the stuff that’s really high. I can manage the kids.”
I leaned back against the seat and closed my eyes. God, I was pathetic. Why had the moms thought I could handle both kids? I pictured Dr. Edmunds’s latest check in my wallet and squeezed my eyes tight.
“Trina?” Slade’s voice was almost a whisper.
I kept my eyes closed. “Yeah?” I whispered back.
“You’ll be fine.”
“Easy for you to say,” I muttered, sneaking a glance at his profile.
His eyes darted to the rearview mirror, to the road, and back to me. He cleared his throat. “About the swim lesson. Why didn’t you tell me you couldn’t swim? Last week when we had that big fight?” He tugged at his hair. “I wouldn’t have made fun of you. I know you probably thought I would, but even I’m not that much of a jackass.” He spoke quickly, his words tumbling over one another.
My heart thudded wildly in my chest, looking for an exit. Apparently my tongue also wanted to flee its natural habitat, since I was unable to move it to form words.
His frustrated sigh filled the car, then he slanted me a quick grin. “Not to say I’m completely jackass-free, but I do have some redeeming qualities.”
I took a deep breath. It felt like I owed him some type of response, since he was trying so hard.
“It’s embarrassing, not knowing how,” I said. “I can’t hang out with my friends at the pool, because I never know when someone’s going to mess around and try to throw me in.” That had happened last summer. I shuddered as I remembered my terrified screams, my humiliation, the way I’d left the pool vowing never to return.
“I could teach you,” Slade said softly. “Private lessons. You’ll learn a lot faster that way.”
I imagined the two of us alone together in our swimsuits. Imagined another freak-out like last summer, with me ending up in tears. I shook my head vigorously.
“Wow. You really do hate me.” His voice was light, but I heard the tinge of bitterness underneath.
“I don’t hate you.” I swallowed the sand clogging my throat. “It’s just…it’s hard enough, learning. But it’s a million times harder learning from someone I know.” It wasn’t the whole truth, but it was part of it.
“But you know Lindsay.”
I shook my head. “No, I don’t.”
He raised an eyebrow. “She graduated from Sky Ridge last year.”
“Unlike you, I don’t know everyone.” My voice was shaky, but I felt a bit of my courage returning. “Besides, you teaching me might be a conflict of interest.”