Emil The first thing I did this morning was ask Viviane to get me Danika’s contact details. She didn’t have a phone number, but she had an address, and I fully intended on banging down her door this evening and asking what the hell happened last night. But now... I blink, and Dani’s still in my kitchen, covered in flour. I’m not hallucinating. There’s a smear of chocolate on her cheek, the sight of which jolts me back to last night. To another smear on her skin that short-circuited my brain and led me to that room, to having my mouth on her breast. “I, uh...” She gulps. “I’m your new nanny.” The kids are quiet, staring between the two of us. They can tell something’s going on. I run my fingers through Talia’s hair as she hugs my leg, a second cookie somehow clutched between her fingers. I never even noticed her swiping it from the counter. I was too busy staring at Dani standing in my fucking kitchen. My eyes narrow. Is this some kind of setup? Some kind of joke? Paranoia can be a fact of life when you’re a CEO at the top of the ladder in a cutthroat industry. And when you’ve been betrayed the way I have? Being paranoid is like a security blanket. I bring it with me everywhere. And right now, all my alarms are blaring. As we stare at each other across the kitchen island, I run through everything I know. Danika showed up at the event last night instead of my usual date. How could that happen? Coincidence, or some sort of plan to get us to meet? When I saw the address Viviane gave me, I knew what happened... but could someone have contrived this? Then, we... did what we did in that room. Completely out of character for me. She seduced me within minutes, as if it’s what she meant to do all along. And that whole I don’t usually do this act—I don’t buy that for a minute. Now she’s here? In my house? With my children? “No.” I cross my arms, then glance down at the kids. “Go play in your room.” “Da-ad.” Talia stretches the word into two syllables. I give her a hard stare, and she drops her shoulders, taking her little brother by the hand and leading him across the apartment to her room. Dani watches them go, then drags her gaze back to me. We stand in tense silence for a minute, two minutes, longer. She clears her throat. “What’s your name?” The question surprises me. “What?” “The agency told me it was confidential for privacy reasons until I got here, and you never actually introduced yourself last night. I... left before I could ask.” “You ran away.” A blank face stares back at me, betraying nothing. “I did.” “Why?” My voice is steely. Unyielding. A part of my heart claws at me to soften my words, to walk toward her, to wrap my arms around those soft curves—but that part of me has been quiet for so long it’s easy to ignore.
“That’s personal.” Dani lifts her chin, meeting my gaze head-on. “You’re in my house. With my children. I have a right to know who you are.” “I don’t even know your name!” She sucks in a breath and shakes her head, grabbing a broom from a tall cabinet to start swe eping up the disaster in the kitchen. I don’t move as I wait for her to speak. After a minute, as she swe eps flour and sugar and egg shells into a dustpan, she speaks. “I left because I thought I saw someone I knew from before. Someone I didn’t want to see.” My eyes narrow. “And you had to run away?” “Yes.” She swe eps the contents of the dustpan into the garbage, then moves to start cleaning the countertops. “It was... a shock. I was mistaken, but I couldn’t get a handle on myself.” My eyes drift to her hip, to that hollow where it curves in to her waist. Her hair is falling out of her bun in a dozen different places, the base of her neck flushing red. There’s a toddler’s floury handprint on her ass, which snags my gaze for a long time. My body still wants her. I shake my head. “Once you’re done in here, take your things and go.” Dani turns slightly, glancing at me through thick lashes. Her throat clenches as she swallows, and I can’t help but wish I could taste her skin again, run my tongue along her neck, bite her earlobe, watch her melt. Stuffing that thought somewhere de ep and inaccessible, I clench my jaw hard enough to send pain radiating through my skull. Dani curls her hands over the counter, opening those pink lips to say something, then nods. “I understand.” The defeat in her voice sends hairline cracks spidering along my defenses, and all I can do is turn on my heels and walk toward the kids’ rooms. My st eps are wooden, stiff. Part of me wants to take back what I said, because I know now that once Dani leaves, I’ll never see her again. Surprisingly, Talia and Francis are playing quietly in Talia’s room. Talia has her favorite book—a thick tome of illustrated fairy tales—open on her lap, and Francis is playing with one of her dolls—the one with the navy dress Talia normally doesn’t let anyone touch. Typically, with any other potential nanny in the house, they’d be tearing the place apart in some kind of power play that only children can make. They both look up when I enter. Talia closes her book and places it back on the shelf before turning to me. “Is Dani leaving, Daddy?” I kneel, dropping a kiss on her dark hair. “She is.” “Why?” “Dani can stay?” Francis widens those big blue eyes at me, shuffling closer. He presents the doll to me as if it’ll convince me to change my mind. I shake my head. “No. She can’t.” “Why not?” Talia leans her head on my shoulder. “I like her.” My stillness hides the shock that rattles through my core. I’ve had dozens of potential nannies come to the house. Each and every one of them failed to draw those words from Talia—yet in just a couple of hours, Dani succeeded. I hold my kids tight, ignoring the stabbing pain in my chest. Being a parent isn’t always fun. It’s doing what’s best for your kids, even if they don’t understand. Even if they get mad or cry.
When Callie died, I almost lost these kids. Whether it was part of Callie’s plan or just a tragic accident, I’ll never know, but I do know that Talia and Francis are all I have now. Protecting them will always come first. They’re my reason for living. Heading back out to the main room, I see Dani emerge from the staff wing. Her hair is fixed, and that smear of chocolate has been wiped away from her face. She looks different when she’s dressed in normal clothes, but no less beautiful. The throbbing in my pants is unwanted, but not surprising. I wouldn’t care what she was wearing—my body still reacts to her like no one else. My eyes drop to her shoes—worn through so badly I can see her sock poking out the front. My chest tightens as an urge washes over me to stop her, to spoil her, to protect her. I force my eyes upward. She meets my gaze for a few moments, then just gives me a quick nod and walks out of my apartment, out of my life. With my kids dropped off at my mother’s place for the afternoon, I head back to the office. I would have stayed home with them, but I have a meeting with Richard Gleeson. When I drop into my desk chair and bring up the files my assistant put together for the meeting, I try to ignore the dull thumping in my head. I need to be on top of my game for this. A partnership with his company could change the face of Berg Motors, change my career. We have a solid business, but it’s an emerging market I’ve always wanted to enter. It’s important this meeting goes well. And it does. Gleeson is a hard man, but I can tell he’s interested. That itch under my skin is still there, a low alarm bell that tells me this isn’t a man I should let near me or anyone I care about. But I don’t have to be friends with the man to make a deal with him. We battle it out from either side of the boardroom table, neither of us wanting to give away secrets but both clearly interested in reaching a deal. It’s more than I could have hoped for. When the meeting ends, Richard Gleeson lets his staff file out of the room in front of him. He glances at me, something flashing in his eyes. “Did you enjoy yourself last night?” A jolt strikes me right in the center of my gut. Does he know what Dani and I did? Is this some sly dig to get me off-balance? It’s an exercise in willpower to ke ep my face blank. I nod. “It was a pleasant evening.” “I saw photos online,” he starts, smoothing his tie over his flat stomach. “You arrived with a date.” Alarm bells ring in my mind. My jaw is tight when I answer. “I did.” “But when I met you, you were alone.” “She was... called away.” “That’s a shame.” Gleeson’s gaze searches mine. “I would have loved to meet the woman who caught your eye.” He hovers in the boardroom doorway, blocking my exit. “My girlfriend and I were hoping to tempt you to dinner with the two of us—and your girl, of course. A thank you for the Summer Ball invitations. We leave next week, but any evening before that would work.” “That won’t be necessary. No thanks are needed.” I give him a nod and gesture toward the office building, wanting him to ke ep walking.
“Gina insisted. She was dying to meet your girl—what was her name again?” His eyes spark, and discomfort churns in my gut. He ke eps saying your girl as if it’s a jab. “Dani,” I answer through clenched teeth. A slight frown, and the dark gleam in his eyes is gone as quickly as it appears. “Great. Let me know an evening that works for you.” “Will do, but I can’t promise anything. Dani’s... busy.” Never mind the fact that I won’t be seeing Dani again— there’s something else stopping me from acc epting his invitation. An unwelcome possessiveness, a protective instinct arcing up inside me. Gleeson is too interested in Dani. The questions are too pointed. I didn’t want Leif anywhere near her, and I definitely don’t want Gleeson sniffing around. The man might have an impressive business acumen and enticing technologies, and I might want to partner with him, but I don’t want him anywhere near my personal life. Or near Dani. Gleeson nods, then strides toward his waiting coworkers at the elevators. I stand in the boardroom doorway until the elevator doors have closed on him and his team, then let out a long breath. Shaking my head, I try to shuck off the oily film that the interaction slicked over my skin. I won’t be going to dinner with Gleeson, his girlfriend, and Dani, because I won’t be seeing Dani again. End of story.