The Kid, the Boss, and the Incorrigible Nanny

Part Twenty-Two

Her body felt heavy and warm. There was a golden haze on the beach this afternoon. The sun was in its daily pursuit of slow descent and just now had started kissing the sand. Aiden and Sam were running back and forth on the beach, shrieking with pleasure each time the cool waves gently lapped at their toes as the water collapsed onto the shore. CJ was watching them right now. Kid welcomed the break, welcomed this moment with its sun-kissed heaviness and the sweet smell of sunscreen, and cherished the gentle heat rising from her pink-tinged skin. Tiny grains of sand fell from her feet when she stretched out her toes. 

A hot finger was tracing circles on her palm. "Do you want me to get you anything?" 

The voice sent a pleasant chill down her spine.  She shook her head.

"I'm sorry," the voice was closer now, the warm breath of it in her ear. "I didn't hear you." He tickled her neck with his nose.

A giggle slipped from her lips, bubbling up into the sunshine. "No. I'm fine."

Adrian laughed. "Suit yourself." He began to pull away from her.

Her hand grabbed his before he got too far. "Wait," she teased. "You forgot something."

"Forgive me." He pulled her into him, and a soft burning sensation grazed her lips.

"Kid, did you hear me?" CJ was asking.

She waved her off. Just a second.

"Are you asleep?"

With effort, Kid peeled her eyes open. She had to blink several times to bring them into focus.

"What? Did you say something?"

Her friend was smiling at her. "I'm sorry to disturb you. But if you don't get out of the sun soon you're going to be a lobster."

Kid slowly pulled herself to an upright seat on her towel. The world spun as she did so. "Ooh."

"Tell me about it. Have you been drinking enough water? The sun'll knock you out if you're not careful."

She turned her throbbing head to peer back at the children, who were sitting in the beach chairs under the umbrella. They looked to be comparing seashells.

"I didn't even think about water," she admitted.

"No big deal. We should probably start heading back anyway. We'll need plenty of time to get ready for dinner."

Dinner. "Right." She had forgotten about that. 

"You're going to want to wear a dress, unfortunately," CJ continued. "It's the only thing I don't like about these weekends."

Kid felt that she would share the sentiment.

It wasn't until later, as she was dressing for the evening in her hotel room, that she remembered exactly how much she detested this kind of thing. She had avoided dressing up the night before, but now the inevitable had arrived. She had gotten Aiden ready first — throw a button-down tee shirt, a pair of black pants, and some Converse on a four-year-old and he'd be good to go. She wished she could have said the same for herself. 

As it was, she had stuffed herself into some inexpensive shapewear and thrown on a conservative, yet functional, dress. Her face was too pink at this point to bother with foundation, so she slapped on some moisturizer, mascara, and lipgloss. "No one will be looking at a random nanny anyway. Right?"