“I am, I guess,” Nic says cautiously.
“But Ripley’s daddy’s special friend sleeps in Ripley’s daddy’s bed.”
“Good for Ripley’s daddy,” Levi says.
Shay jabs her elbow into his side, but even she seems to be struggling to hold it together.
Nic bites back a smile. I think about jumping in, but I decide she’s doing such a good job that I’ll let her finish this up herself. “Well, that’s between Ripley’s daddy and his friend, I guess, but your daddy and I aren’t that kind of friends.”
Lilly looks like she’s considering this very carefully. “Could you be someday?”
“That’s not the plan, sweetie,” Nic says. Something like hurt sweeps across her face, and I’m so busy trying to imagine what that could mean that I almost miss the rest of her reply. “But families come in all different shapes. Your daddy doesn’t need someone sharing his room for you to be a family.”
“I know, I know. Okay.” Lilly pushes her plate away. “Well, at least you’ll be closer to me this way. Sometimes I have nightmares.”
“Really?” Nic asks. “Me too. What are yours about?”
“Bears and stuff.” Lilly turns to her aunt Shay, bored with the conversation now. “Dance battle?”
“You bet.” Shay pushes back from the table.
Lilly beams. “May I be excused?” Even as she asks, she’s leaving the table. She rushes out of the dining room before I can answer, and Shay follows behind.
“Well done,” Mom says to Nic.
Nic’s cheeks flame, and I’m not sure if it’s from the praise or if she was simply able to hide her embarrassment until Lilly walked away. “I wasn’t prepared for that.”
“I don’t think anyone expected it,” Jake says, winking at Nic as he starts to clear plates.
“Let me help,” Nic says.
Mom tuts. “You’re a guest tonight, Nic. Have a seat and relax.” She looks at Brayden and says, “She didn’t sit down all day. Ran around Ethan’s house scrubbing everything to a shine.”
Carter picks up the bottle of wine and gestures it toward Nic’s glass. “Are you sure you don’t want any wine?”
Nic holds up a hand. “None for me, thanks.”
“Ethan, tell her she’s allowed to drink,” Jake says.
“You like beer, right?” I say. “There’s beer in the fridge.”
“This is a Jackson house,” Mom says. “One thing you can always count on at a Jackson house is beer in the fridge.” She grabs the turkey platter and salad bowl and heads to the kitchen.
Nic shakes her head. Her cheeks are still pink, and she’s more adorable than ever. If anything, my brothers’ attention is making her blush more. “I don’t drink much.”
“That’s a little sacrilegious around here. You know we brew beer, right?” Levi says. “Malt and barley are the very foundations of this family.”
Brayden grabs a handful of plates and heads to the kitchen with Mom. “Leave the girl alone,” he calls as he goes.
Nic slides her gaze to me then back to Levi. “I have poor judgment when I drink.”
Ouch. I’m pretty sure that was a jab directed right at me.
Jake grunts and shakes his head. “I’m staying out of this.” He exits the dining room and my remaining brothers follow, leaving me and Nic alone. She pushes her food around her plate.
“If you don’t like the turkey, I can find you something else.”
Her head snaps up. “What? No. I’m fine. Really.”
“I’m sorry about that with Lilly. I’m sure she didn’t realize that conversation would embarrass you, but Mom’s right. You handled it like a pro.” I swallow hard. She is a fucking professional.
“It’s okay.” She pushes her plate away. “I’m sure she’s used to your friends sleeping in your room, but we can make it clear that I’m different.”
“Whoa, hold up. Where are you getting that idea?”
She arches a brow. “You’re a grown man, Ethan. No one would judge you.”
“Veronica—”
Her jaw hardens. “Nic.”
“Nic, I haven’t brought a woman into my house since my wife died for precisely this reason. I don’t want to confuse Lilly. The only women who come into my home are family.” The one exception was Kyrstie, who I thought understood that her time in my home as my friend was unrelated to her time in my bed as my lover. And we all know how badly that ended. I lower my voice in case curious ears are trying to eavesdrop from the kitchen. “That’s why I was so upset to realize you were the new nanny—because the women I sleep with aren’t in my daughter’s life. I don’t blur those lines, and I don’t intend to.”
“Oh, so it’s sex and never anything more. Got it.”
Jesus. “I’m not some asshole who goes around using women for sex, but my daughter . . .” I push my plate away. My appetite is gone. I can never eat when I have Elena on my mind, and I’ve been thinking about my wife a lot since Nic walked in my door. “She lost her mother. It’s a wound I’ll never be able to fix, and I don’t intend to parade women around her so she can be hurt again and again.”