“What’s up, Bailey Button?” he asked, using his nickname for his daughter.
She giggled as she always did. “Mia did my nails. See?” She shoved her hand in his face, too close for him to get a good look.
He pulled her wrist farther away and studied her purple nails as if they were the most important thing in the world to him, and Mia’s heart melted.
“Gorgeous!” he exclaimed, with more feeling than she’d have thought the man could muster over a manicure.
In the short time she’d been here, she’d seen firsthand that he was an amazing father and Bailey was a lucky girl. Having grown up in foster care, Mia knew how special the father-daughter bond was—or rather, she knew how much she’d missed in not having it. Her father had walked out on her and her mother when she was two, so she barely remembered him. She’d lost her mom a few years later to cancer, so she knew how fortunate the little girl was to have a dad like Austin.
“I messed one up so Mia has to fix it,” the little girl said, wriggling out of her father’s embrace.
“Come on, munchkin,” Mia called out to her. “Let’s fix you. Then I need to get dinner prepped.”
“I’m going to exercise first, so don’t rush,” Austin said.
Mia nodded. “No worries. It’s a stir-fry, so I’ll get everything ready and I won’t start until you’re finished showering,” she said, aware of his routine.
“Thanks.”
She busied herself with Bailey’s nails and not with thinking about a sweaty Austin working out in his downstairs gym, the muscles flexing as he moved, or his hot body in the shower afterwards. She was the nanny and that’s all she’d ever be.
* * *
Austin had a long day. He wouldn’t call the situation he’d been in a hostage crisis but it had been damned close. Too close for a man with a child at home, that was for sure.
The woman he’d been guarding had snuck out to meet with her ex while Austin had been busy with her little girl. He usually received the kid-friendly jobs because, according to his boss, Dan Wilson, Austin was good with children. As if having his own made him an expert on other people’s kids. Being around other kids only made him long for his daughter because at least he understood her… until the teenage years hit. He shuddered at the thought.
After a long, hard workout, weights and cardio included, he stepped into a hot shower and let the steam relax his muscles. As he washed up and shampooed his hair, his stomach growled, reminding him it was time for dinner. Which, of course, reminded him of his daughter’s nanny, whose blonde hair was usually in a messy bun looking sexy when she wasn’t intending it to be. At the thought of her, his body came to life, and it took all his willpower not to jerk off to the thought of her.
He was beyond lucky he’d found his Mia through a reputable service and she had amazing cooking skills. Add in that Bailey seemed to adore her and he couldn’t mess up a good thing by coming on to the nanny.
Before Mia, his parents had been Bailey’s caregivers and although John and Sarah were young and spry, it hadn’t been fair to expect them to give up their lives to take care of Austin’s child. No matter that they loved their granddaughter, they’d already raised their kids, Austin and his sister, Sharon.
Head on straight, he dried himself off and pulled on a pair of black track pants and a light blue tee shirt, then headed downstairs to find his daughter.
As he approached the kitchen, Bailey’s chatter reached his ears.
“Mia, would you come with Daddy to bring me to school?”
The sound of stir-fry sizzling in the wok acted as stereo to Mia’s reply. “Your daddy is excited to take you tomorrow. He even took off from work so he could be there. You don’t want to disappoint him, do you?”
“No, but…” Bailey hesitated. “Everyone’s going to have their mommies and I won’t and I’ll be sad. So can you come, please? I know you’re not my mommy but you’re a girl. So pretty please, come take me?”
His daughter’s words were like a punch in the gut. Austin hadn’t left Kayla, she’d walked out on him and their daughter, not once but twice. True, he’d married her because she was pregnant, on purpose, she’d admitted, but he’d been determined to make the marriage work. Unfortunately, not only had she been a shitty wife, she’d been a worse mother, and that was where Austin drew the line. Anything that hurt his daughter was unacceptable.
He shook his head, determined to stay in the present with the one person who mattered. “Hey, guys, something smells good!” He joined Bailey and Mia in the kitchen, where Mia was placing servings of delicious-looking stir-fried chicken and vegetables on their respective places.