****
Callie stared down at her resignation letter. This was the right thing to do. She’d crossed the lines of what was acceptable.
Drew deserved a nanny who was better than her. But this wasn’t a resignation letter for Drew, this was for the company.
After her conversation with Drew had reminded her of what she wanted to be, she realized she was going nowhere. Her life was lived in other people’s lives. For a long time, she’d been happy, content to take care and to not question.
He’d opened her mind up to the endless possibilities and now, she was so lost.
“Meghan is fast asleep,” Drew said, coming into the room.
She hadn’t heard him coming downstairs. She quickly folded up the letter and shoved it into the pocket of her sweater. “She is? That’s good.”
“What are you hiding?” he asked.
He walked over to the sofa and she shook her head. “Nothing. I’m not hiding anything.”
“You’re hiding something. I want to know what.”
Before she could protest, he had her pinned to the sofa, not hard, and he started to tickle her. “Drew, stop it. You’re crazy. Let me go.”
He didn’t and magically took the paper from her, holding it up as if it was some kind of victory.
“Give it back,” she said.
She pushed her hair off her face and he held it away from her. “Drew, seriously.”
There was no point in fighting now. She watched his eyes as they read the letter.
“Your resignation?” he asked.
She panted from the exhaustion of keeping him at bay. “Give it back.”
“Not going to happen. You’re leaving the agency?”
“I’m thinking about it.”
Drew sat on the edge of the coffee table.
“This is your fault,” she said.
“You considering quitting is my fault?”
“Yes, you reminded me of what I wanted to be. Who I wanted to become before it was taken away. Being a nanny helped me to hide. You’re right about that, and I hate the fact you’re right. It’s not fair and I don’t agree with you about anything else.”
“You’re not alone,” he said.
“I know.”
“You don’t have an apartment.”
“I know.”
“You have nowhere else to go.”
“I know that as well. For a lawyer, you really know how to state the obvious.”
He chuckled. “I don’t want you to go.”
She took a deep breath. Her heart raced. Her palms were all sweaty. She felt a little sick to her stomach. “I … I was hoping you’d want me to stay here,” she said. “I’m not trying to replace Tilly.”
“There’s no way you could ever replace her. She was a fucking bitch, Callie, and you’re not. What’s wrong?”
“I’m scared.”
“Of what?”
“Of what this means. I don’t know what to expect. I’ve never been in a situation like this.”
“You mean a relationship?”
“Yes.”
“You weren’t a virgin when I fucked you.”
“I know.”
“What’s going on?”
“This is a letter for my agency.”
“You’re quitting.”
“I don’t know. I was hoping you could tell me because right now I’m confused. Do I give this letter or not? What do I do?” She hated asking him for any kind of help or clarity. Neither of them had really talked about any of this. It wasn’t like they’d prepared for a relationship. Far from it. This was all new to her, to them, and she didn’t know what to expect.
He took the resignation letter out of her hand, unfolded it, and read through it again. She watched him, waiting to see if she could tell what he was thinking just by looking at him, but nothing.
Biting her lip, she waited.
Still nothing.
This was freaking hard.
He folded the letter back up and held on to it.
“I promised myself after Tilly I wouldn’t let another woman into my life.”
“I understand.” She went to grab the letter from him but he held it out of her reach.
“You’re not Tilly. You’re never going to be her. Meghan adores you and as much as I hate to admit it, I don’t think Tilly ever loved her. She never wanted my kid and I hate to think of what she’d have done to my daughter if I’d left her alone.”
He took a deep breath and finally handed her the resignation letter. “If you give that to your agency, then I’d love for you to come and live with me. For us to give this a try?”
“What about your divorce?”
“I’ll figure it out. I always do. It won’t be long before my PI finds her and gets her to sign the damn thing. I don’t even know why I bothered to use him. I’m pretty sure I could have done a far better job.”
She looked down at the resignation letter. “What does this mean exactly?”
“It means you’re going to have to get used to me holding your hand, kissing you, and claiming you in public. You’re not my nanny anymore. You’ll be my woman.” He took her hand and pulled.
She giggled as she moved to straddle his lap.