Chapter 3- Ryan
1441 Words
When I got Noah’s text, I thought he was playing a prank on me. No doubt his sister had told him about me and Jessica. Still, I decided to play along, and now his sister was in my living room.
I’d been searching for a nanny for my daughter for a while now. The last one left after I made it clear that I didn’t want any… personal services from her. Of course, it took her a while to believe me, but Ella’s caregivers were out of bounds.
Which brought me back to my dilemma.
If I hired Samantha as Ella’s nanny, I would have to stay away from her. Then again, there’s no one I would trust more than her to take care of my daughter.
Damn it.
I took a deep breath, and took the first step down the winding staircase. When Samantha saw me, her eyes went as wide as saucers.
She’s just as cute as ever.
Of course, she’s grown a lot. She was no longer Noah Campbell’s little sister. Oh, no; this was a grown woman if I ever saw one.
And she’s your daughter’s nanny.
Well, not quite yet.
“Samie.” I smiled at her.
“Ryan?”
“In the flesh.”
I took the liberty of pulling her to her feet and wrapping her in a hug. It was something I’d wanted to do the last time we saw. Before things got awkward.
She was still stunned after the hug.
“I don’t believe this.”
I frowned. “What? That I’d hug you?”
At least that got her to laugh. “No, not that. You… you need a nanny.”
“Well, not me. My daughter.”
“Exactly! You have a daughter. When did that happen?”
“Seven years ago.”
“I have a lot of questions.”
“I imagine you do. Sit down.”
I had this confusing need to be near her, so I took the chair farthest from her.
“I left just four years ago.” She started. “How did I not know you had a child?”
“I didn’t know either. Tessa just showed up here at my parents’ funeral with a child and said it was mine.” The memory of it was still fresh in my mind. “Turned out she was telling the truth. We got married a week later and… well, the rest is history.”
“Wow.”
“Wow’s right. She was smart to stay away, or maybe just ignorant, depends on your point of view. If daddy had known about the child, he would have paid Tessa off. Unless it was a boy, then he would have taken the child and kicked Tessa to the curb.”
“Mr. Halt was very… particular.”
“Yeah, right. The old man was mean as hell. Anyway, enough about him, your brother said you needed a job.”
“He’s right. I do.”
“What about New York?”
“Let’s just say I’ll be staying for a while. A really long while.”
She shifted in her seat, and my eyes were drawn to her legs. They were beautiful, pillars of smooth ivory. Her gown stopped just at her knees, but the material was so light that the slightest breeze could have blown it away. My fingers itched to trail up those legs, underneath the gown-
Nanny. Care-giver.
Right.
“Come on,” I jumped to my feet. “I’ll show you around.”
I was so far-gone that I thought I heard her sigh. Every muscle in me coiled like a snake ready to strike.
It didn’t take long for me to realize the error of my suggestion. She smelled so divine, it was almost as if she was begging to be sniffed. And every time she spoke, it felt like she had me in a choke-hold.
I had to keep talking to keep myself from embarrassing us both.
“And this is Ella’s room.” I stopped at a door. “She’s at school now, but-” I opened the door, but I didn’t move away fast enough.
Samantha walked past me and her scent damn near knocked me off my feet.
“This is beautiful,” she said, her voice filled with awe. “This is every little girl’s paradise.”
I just leaned on the door-frame, mostly because it hurt to move. When she turned and smiled at me, I knew I was in big trouble.
“Ella’s a really lucky girl,” she said.
“I’m a really lucky man.” I shrugged.
Our gazes held for a moment, and I could swear the air snapped with electricity. She looked away, flushed, and when there was nothing else to do, she turned to walk past me. Unfortunately, she bumped into me- or maybe I stepped in her path, who knows- and my hand went around her waist.
We were so close, so close, all I had to do was just…
She shuddered, and I felt the world shift beneath my feet.
“You know, you don’t have to work for me.”
Her tongue darted out to moisten her lip and that was all the encouragement I needed. I trailed my nose along her neck, and she opened for me.
So willing.
“I need to work.” Her voice sounded like it was from another world.
“I can give you anything you want.”
“I want to earn my way.”
It took all my strength, but I pulled away to look in her eyes. For the first time, I noticed the tiny white specks in their gray. I could have gotten lost in them.
“If you choose to work for me, nothing can happen between us,” I said.
For a moment, she looked confused, and I was sure I knew what her answer was. But to help her along my chosen path, I added, “It’s a principle I can’t break for anyone. I don’t mix business and pleasure. As my lover, I’ll give you all the pleasure in the world, and as much money as you need. As my employee… I can’t promise much.”
When she stepped out of my grasp, it took me more than a moment to figure it out. “I think that’s a perfect arrangement, Mr. Halt.”
What?
You’ve got to be kidding me.
“You’d rather work for me?” I told myself it was a perfectly reasonable question. I had to be sure.
“I’m not about to be one of your many lovers, Mr. Halt.”
Mr. Halt? Why the hell was she being so formal?
“Besides,” she added, “I’m not sure your wife would approve.”
“I’m divorced.” I bit out with more force than was necessary, and realized that I was angry.
No, it was not exactly anger, it was… I couldn’t even think about it.
Shame.
Damn it.
No woman had ever turned me down in my entire adult life. Oh, some were more difficult than others, but they always came around.
Shouldn’t you be grateful for this one?
I guess.
Still, I had a bruised ego to nurse.
“Fine then,” I said, pulling myself together. “You can start tomorrow. If you choose to stay on, we’ll talk figures. I’m sure you can find your way downstairs. Elsby will show you the way out. You can meet the rest of the staff when you resume.”
I turned and walked away.
Some would argue that I was being a sore loser, but in my mind, I was simply giving her what she asked for.
Who needed her anyway? Women were a dime a dozen, and I had a lot of them. ‘One of my lovers’, ha, who was she to judge me? A man was entitled to have as many lovers as he wanted.
When I slammed the door to my study behind me, I forced myself to take a deep breath.
Ok, so she turned me down. So what? She was entitled to her choices. Besides, she was like a sister to me. We grew up together, damn it.
I picked my phone and dialed a number.
“Hey,” I said when the person picked. “Meet me at the hotel in forty minutes.”
I didn’t need Samantha Campbell to be anything more than Ella’s nanny. What happened earlier was just a moment of weakness, but we’d established perimeters, and now we were fine.
Wanna bet?
- Writer
