The Bear's Nanny: A Shifter Romance

Chapter 2-3

SHE WOKE UP IN THE most comfortable bed she’d ever slept in, ever. Silk sheets and a heavy purple comforter had her wrapped in their warm, cozy cocoon. The pillows were stacked just so and it felt like she was sleeping on clouds. If she could live like this the rest of her life she might come close to knowing what paradise felt like.

The Millieur mansion wasn’t Heaven but it was everything money could buy. Mallory hadn’t slept this great in years. Probably not since she was a little girl.

It had taken her most of yesterday to move her things in. Her first day as nanny to Brendan and she had hardly seen him at all. It had been like an orientation for her. Wilson Sherman had given her a tour of the place. It had taken most of an hour and she still hadn’t seen everything. One end of the second floor—the entire end—was Millieur’s. His rooms. Like he was some kind of king. Whereas, she was down at the other end, in just one room, but it was still bigger than her entire apartment had been.

Mallory stretched, her oversized cotton pajamas sliding off her left shoulder and leaving it bare. She’d set the alarm for six. Kind of early, but she wanted to be awake before Brendan. She wanted to find her way to the kitchen by herself without a maid’s help and get some breakfast before she started her workday.

Garnett had been very specific about her duties. Be available should Brendan need her. After his daily classes were done, she was to keep watch over him and make sure he was occupied and happy. She didn’t have to try teaching him anything. He had instructors for that.

Then what? She didn’t know. Garnett hadn’t given her a chance to ask. Well, they’d just have to figure it out together.

She knew this much. She’d better get started. Wouldn’t do to laze in bed all day when she was supposed to be working. Especially since she was living in the boss’s house. A smirk followed a few thoughts she probably shouldn’t have. Living in the boss’s house. If that didn’t sound dirty!

Throwing her feet out over the edge of the bed, she stretched again, suddenly realizing she had no idea where the showers were in this palace. Millieur—Garnett—called it a house, but it resembled a castle in her mind. This must be how the royals in Britain lived, was all she could figure.

The salary they were paying her was more than a living wage. It was certainly enough to stay in the city and pursue her dream. She’d have to work out a schedule that allowed her to be a nanny to Garnett’s son and do dance classes. It might be a little hard to figure out but at least she had hope that life really could go on.

It hadn’t taken her long to put her belongings away yesterday. In fact, that butler Wilson Sherman had raised an eyebrow when he saw how few clothes she had. He’d promised the use of a car if she needed to do any shopping but stressed it would have to be on her own time, not when she was supposed to be looking after young Master Brendan. Mallory had managed to keep a straight face but she had to wonder what it was doing to Brendan’s ego to be called “young master.”

Taking a change of clothes for herself, she slid her feet into her pink slippers and poked her head outside her door. The hallway went in both directions up here, and then turned at a ninety degree angle down to the right, down where Garnett’s rooms were. Where was the bathroom? Maybe they should consider putting little labels on the doors. Bathroom, library, hoity-toity room that no one ever used; things like that.

Yawning the whole way, she decided to try the hallway to her right. The second door she came to was, in fact, a bathroom. The first had been a linen closet.

She stood for a moment in awe of the sheer size of the room with its black and white checkered tiles and its gold trim faucets and marble surfaces. Oh, wow, it was immense! She had the strong impulse to shout her name just to see how many times it would echo.

The shower looked like it could comfortably accommodate two people, and a sudden embarrassing thought of Garnett in here naked with her flashed through her head before she could stop it. Ahem. Would he really look like that if he were naked? Hmm. Living in the boss’s house might not be such a bad thing.

She shook her head at herself. What was she thinking? She worked for the man. She shouldn’t be thinking about him...like that. It sure was fun to imagine, though.

She pulled her pajama top up over her head and tossed it to the immaculately clean floor with her bottoms, then her panties. She checked herself over in a full-length mirror on the wall. Her ex-boyfriend was a complete fool to have given this up. Her hand smoothed down over her tight belly, the curve of her hip, and settled for just the briefest second on the tip of her crease. That was one place he’d never touch again.

Now Garnett Millieur, on the other hand...

Mmm. This might be an interesting shower. Right or wrong, no one would know what she did in here, right? So if she wanted to do a little daydreaming that was her business. She stuck her tongue out at her mirror image.

“Ahem.”

Something very close to a high-pitched “meep” came out of her as she spun around, putting an arm across the tips of her breasts and crossing her legs and reaching for a black and white towel that was hanging from a silver ring hanging next to the shower. It took some doing, and she knew full well that she gave him a great show before she finally got herself wrapped decently. Her leg still played peekaboo where the ends of the towel crossed. He didn’t seem to mind.

“Well,” Garnett said to her, leaning in the doorway of the bathroom and smirking like a cat carrying a bird trapped in its mouth. “I sure wasn’t expecting this in my shower this morning. I’m not complaining, mind you.”

“Mister Millieur,” she tried to interrupt him.

“You know this isn’t in your contract, right?”

“I just wanted to take a shower.”

“Doesn’t that usually involve water?”

“I was about to turn the water on,” she protested, feeling the heat in her face. “Can you get out of here so I can do that, please? This is really inappropriate, don’t you think?”

“And why would you say that?”

“Because you just came into the bathroom unannounced!”

“This is my shower.”

That came out of left field so quickly that all she could do was repeat his words back to him. “Your shower?”

He pushed away from the wall and took a few steps inside, and she saw the straight cut of the black sweater he was wearing. Yup. Her mental image of him earlier would be pretty close to the truth.

“This room is the master bath,” he explained. “That door over there connects directly to my room.”

Her face was burning. Oh, fantastic. What a way to start her first official day of work with him, by slipping into his bathroom and then standing in front of his mirror naked and petting herself. Oh, damn, did he see her doing that?

“Well. You didn’t know,” he said, very serious. Suddenly, his face was a stone wall and she had no idea what he was thinking. “Please, feel free to use the shower for today. Tomorrow, I’d prefer it if you used the one that connects to your own room. All right?”

“There’s a bathroom connected to my bedroom?” This place really was a mansion.

He nodded to her question. Then his eyes roamed over her, once, from neck to toes, and everywhere in between. Then he turned and walked out, closing the door behind him. She made sure to lock it this time, and then slumped back against it. Not the kind of first impression she had wanted to make. But his eyes on her? She had to admit how nice that had felt. Really, really nice.

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