The Single Dad

28

She smiled as she set the coffee cup on my desk and backed up to the set of chairs that were in front of me, taking a seat in one of them.

She looked stunning.

Her hair was down and curled around her face, and she was wearing a bright blue dress that flowed well past her knees, the color making her eyes pop. She had little makeup on, aside from a strong swipe of gloss across her lips.

A mouth I’d never seen glossy before.

A mouth that already owned my attention, and now, I couldn’t look away.

“What are you doing here?” I leaned my elbows on the desk, surrounding the cup with both hands. “Bringing me more dessert?” I glanced toward the closed door, hoping my assistant wouldn’t send in the nanny until after Sydney left. Since I hadn’t seen her in a couple days, I needed time with her, time to hear why she’d come to my office—something that seemed extremely out of character for her.

“No dessert.” She laughed, almost bashfully. “I’m here to be interviewed.” Her hands rested on her lap as she added, “Looks like I applied to be Everly’s nanny.”

Sydney

“Y

ou did … what?” Ford asked, shock and confusion filling his handsome face. “How?”

This was exactly what I hadn’t wanted. To have a conversation like the one that had just started.

To base this on lies.

I just wanted to tell him about the talk I’d had with Hannah when she dropped me off at my apartment, how she had told me about the position and persuaded me to apply.

But I kept telling myself there was a reason she had wanted me to go this route.

That coincidences could happen.

That this, somehow, could be one.

“I saw the ad and applied,” I told him. “I’d been looking for a nanny position in LA before I even left Europe.”

“You didn’t know the job was for me? And Everly?”

I’d never seen the ad, but I was positive it wouldn’t have listed Ford’s information. I was sure it would have only had his assistant’s info. It also wouldn’t have given Everly’s name.

I shook my head. “I had no idea.”

As I took a breath, trying to calm my nerves, I couldn’t get over how sexy he looked in this big office. His broad, muscular frame in the high-back leather seat. Framed accolades all over the walls and a view of LA’s skyline out the window.

“I’m sorry.” I glanced down at my lap, the heat from his gaze becoming too much. “You, in that navy suit, in this setting, is just a vision I was not prepared for.”

I couldn’t believe I had said that out loud.

But those words were more honest than anything I’d said so far.

Ford Dalton screamed power.

And remembering just how much power he’d given me on the back of Gabby’s couch and again on her wooden table was making my entire body blush.

A topic I’d much rather ponder than the lies.

When I finally glanced up, there was hunger in his stare.

A hunger I recognized. I’d seen the same look while we were at the bar and again when we were eating dinner.

“I’m shocked as hell right now.”

“Me too,” I whispered.

“I just assumed you worked in the education field. I realize now that I never asked.”

I reached inside my bag and pulled out my résumé, setting it on his desk. “I’m not sure if you’ve already seen this.”

“I haven’t.”

“Then, take a look. My background is all on there, detailed. The last four years, I was employed by the Turner family as an au pair for their three children. I homeschooled them, baked for them. Raised them, if I’m being honest.”

“An au pair,” he said as he looked at the sheet.

Without his eyes, I couldn’t get a read on what he was thinking.

I wondered if he could feel the panic that was blasting through me.

“As you know, I’m going to school for education, a degree I’ll be starting in a few weeks at UCLA.” He finally looked up as I added, “It’s an online program. I’ll have plenty of time to work and fulfill all my obligations.”

“You’re qualified—there’s no question about that—and I’ve seen you with my daughter …” His voice faded out. “What made you become an au pair?”

This was where the honesty came in. Where I could look him in the eyes and give him a part of myself.

“When I graduated high school, I wasn’t ready for college. I just didn’t know what I wanted to do, what I wanted to study, where I wanted to be in life. What I did know was that I wanted to see the world, so I applied to be a flight attendant and an au pair, not expecting to get either job at eighteen years old. Ironically, I got both.” I glanced past his chair, at the framed degrees that hung on the walls, looking forward to the day when I had my own to use as decor. “I’ve always loved children. I babysat every kid in my neighborhood, and when the Turners told me the job required an immense amount of travel, I was sold.” I smiled as I thought of my littles, the texts we’d exchanged just a few days ago when I told them how much I missed them. “Four years later, there was no question as to what I wanted to do. I just needed my degree.” I shrugged. “So, now, I’m here, going after that degree.”

“And you’d be comfortable in a nanny role again?”

“Ford, it’s a role I know very well.” I repositioned my legs, recrossing them, trying my hardest not to fidget. “I’m paying for my own schooling, my apartment. I fully support myself. And although I do have a nice chunk in savings, I don’t want to deplete it. I have to work. It feels wrong not to.” I wrapped an arm around my stomach. “I know, not typical information that’s shared during an interview, but this”—I shook my head—“isn’t your typical situation.”

He was quiet for a moment before he said, “This job requires you to move into my home.”

I nodded. “That was in the ad. But now that I see it’s you, I realize that probably changes things a bit.” I tried not to wince. “Makes things a bit … messy.”