Page 51 of Chasing the Sun

There were a few times when Chloe opened her mouth to speak, but he didn’t give her a chance. He averted his eyes and focused on the game until they’d sunk their balls in the last hole.

After returning the golf cart and her rental clubs, they walked to the parking lot in silence. It wasn’t until he turned onto the highway that she spoke again.

“It doesn’t have to be like this, you know.”

“Like what?”

“Awkward. So you got an erection. Big deal!”

Earlier, he’d thought about asking her out to lunch, but maybe it was better not to. He wasn’t sure how much more of this discussion he could take, and certainly not in a public place.

“Can we please not talk about this?”

“I think we should.”

“Why? What good will it do?”

“It’ll clear the air. Otherwise, we’ll have to tiptoe around each other, avoiding the elephant in the room.”

He almost said something inappropriate about an elephant’s trunk but thought better of it. “Are you hungry?” he said instead. “We can make sandwiches at home, unless you want to pick something up.”

“Sandwiches are fine.”

He planned on making lunch and eating it in the study. He needed to put some distance between them even though they’d still be in the same house.

Once they got home, he went straight to the refrigerator and started to take out lunchmeats and condiments, but she practically pushed him aside.

“You made breakfast,” she said, brooking no argument.

Since he had nothing to do with his hands, he shoved them into his pockets. He racked his brain for something to say to put things right again, but he was distracted when she bent over to retrieve something from the bottom shelf.

Turning away, he went over to the window and looked out. He heard her moving around as she made lunch and decided now was as good a time as any to say what he needed to say. “I apologize if I made you uncomfortable today.”

“I think you’re more uncomfortable than I am.”

He turned to face her, and she looked straight at him. “You don’t have to apologize for reacting to me as a woman, Bryce. I am one, after all.”

“I’m well aware.”

She was leaning against the counter with a knife in one hand and a jar of mustard in the other. “Why do you say that like it’s a bad thing?”

“Because in this situation, it is. Nothing can happen between us, Chloe.”

She sucked in her lower lip, and he tried not to stare. “It’s because I’m the nanny, isn’t it? Because it wouldn’t look right to the neighbors?”

“It’s not about the neighbors. It’s about Molly. I’m trying to be a good parent and a good role model.”

“Does that include sacrificing your own needs? Your own happiness?”

He looked down at the floor, his hands squeezed into fists in his pockets. “You don’t understand, because you don’t have a child. Hell, you’re practically still a child yourself.”

She set down the knife and jar with a loud thunk. “Excuse me?”

Her face looked stricken, and her eyes were ablaze. “If anyone’s acting like a child around here, it’s you, and you can make your own damn sandwich!”

With that, she went to move past him, but he grabbed her around the waist.

“Let go of me!”