Pip groaned dramatically. “I don’t want shoes.”
“You said that yesterday. And the day before,” Victor replied. Pip would happily remain barefoot for the rest of her life if they’d allow it.
“And every day since the beginning of time,” Belle added with a grin. “But tragically, shoes are a must when walking on a hot sidewalk. Trust me, your feet will thank me.”
“Fine,” Pip said, sliding off the tall stool. “But I don’t like them.”
“Duly noted,” Belle said seriously.
He listened to their progress as they headed down the hall. He was still sipping his coffee in the kitchen when Pip darted back in to grab the puppy treats she and Belle had snuck into the cart when they were at the grocery store.
Pip started to race back out of the kitchen before turning in the doorway to give him a wave.
Belle popped her head in. “We’ll be back in a little while.”
“Take your time,” he said. “Give Pip enough time to play with the puppy that she gets bored. Otherwise, she’ll start demanding one of her own, and Viv would kick my ass if she came home to find a dog.”
Belle laughed. “You realize you’re the adult, right? And that youcansay no.”
Victor snorted. “It’s like you don’t know Pip at all.”
“Pip oryou?” the little minx retorted.
“Same difference,” he replied.
He told himself Belle’s giggle wasn’t the sexiest thing he’d ever heard, and those dimples in her cheeks weren’t the cutest thing he’d ever seen. They were both lies, but he was doubling down on self-preservation.
“I’ll make sure she gets bored,” Belle said, acknowledging he was right without saying the words.
For a couple of years now, he’d managed to put his attraction toward Belle on the back burner, something that was easy when their interactions were limited and usually in the presence of other people.
With her living in his home, he was more aware of her than usual. Noticing too many things he shouldn’t.
Like how she tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear.
Or how her voice softened when she talked about Pip.
Or how, since coming to stay at his house, she no longer looked at him quite as directly as she normally did.
Maybe he was just imagining that. Or maybe not.
Either way, the balance felt different with her living there.
Just slightly off…or maybe it was more accurate to sayon. Because there was definitely a rhythm between them.
Something he noticed again, several hours later, as they prepared dinner together. They worked in an unspoken choreography. He handled frying the chicken breasts, while she chopped the vegetables for a salad. They moved around each other with the ease of people who’d done so a hundred times before.
Once the meal was over, Belle took Pip up for her bath while he cleaned the kitchen. By the time that was done, Pip was in her pajamas and ready for her nighttime story.
Victor noticed Belle tended to hover in the doorway of the bathroom while he read to his niece. At first, he thought perhaps she didn’t think he could handle something as easy as reading a children’s book and tucking a little kid in for the night, but it occurred to him somewhere around her third night in residence that Belle was hanging out because she liked listening.
Tonight, whenever he did a funny voice for Blue, the overused crayon, it wasn’t just Pip who giggled but Belle as well. And he liked that…especially the way she smiled at him.
Soft. Amused. Familiar.
Something in his chest shifted, because this felt all too seamless. And that was a fucking problem. There were no edges, no friction or distance, all things he’d anticipated and expected. Shit. They were things heneededif he was going to manage to keep his distance from Bel—no, the nanny. It was high time he went back to thinking of her as the nanny again.
If she was going to make this all too fucking easy and comfortable, then he was going to have to create distance between them. Even if it was only in his mind.