CEO Daddy (Crescent Cove 6.50)

She’d had no use for more of me, and I didn’t have time for a relationship, even a casual one. Not that anything between Hannah and myself would ever be casual.

It simply wasn’t possible.

“Why don’t you let me handle the next few nanny interviews? I know you met with a couple of women and they weren’t quite right, but let’s be real. I know more about what you need in a nanny than you do. Besides, I can help screen for any of those DILF hunters.”

“Say what?” I let out a baffled laugh. “What is a DILF hunter?”

“A DILF is a dad I’d like to fuck.”

“Gran!” There was no questioning my face being hot now. I was tempted to stick my head in the vase of fresh flowers my secretary had placed on the corner of my desk just to get some cool water on my flushed skin.

“Don’t ‘Gran’ me. As I’m your grandmother, that means obviously I’ve had sex at least enough to produce your father. And I kept going after that, trying to get it right. Some was just for practice’s sake.”

Her bawdy laughter made me grin despite my embarrassment. “I don’t get the dad thing. Aren’t most of the men you meet dads?”

“Not me, silly. At my age, children are a liability, not an attractive feature. I’m not looking to score with any Tony Randall types. Have your kids at an appropriate age, for pity’s sake.”

I couldn’t argue there.

“But yes, it’s an actual thing in the dating world. Women are out there hunting down non-suspecting single dads like bucks on the first day of target season. Their camouflage clothing is miniskirts and push-up bras.”

“What? Why would any woman get excited about a man with a child? Doesn’t that mean less time for them?”

“In theory, but women are primed to find good protectors. It’s in our DNA, much as we may hate it. Plus, some find single fathers working hard on behalf of their children as sexy. You’re a double DILF.”

“Come again?”

“You’re working hard for a baby you didn’t even have yourself. So, during DILF open season, bagging you would be like getting a huge-racked buck. And they won’t use a tree stand to take you down. More like a burp cloth and some Ravish Me Red lipstick.”

“You aren’t making sense, but yes, fine. You can meet with the next nanny interviewee. Assuming there are any. No one has answered my ad recently.” No one suitable anyway.

“Maybe it’s time to look beyond ads. I’ll see what I can come up with.”

“No weirdos,” I admonished. My grandmother was a sweetheart, but she had a tendency to pick up stray humans just as she did with stray animals. “Keep in mind, this nanny will be influencing Lily, and it’s important that she—”

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll make sure to keep the felony convictions to a minimum. Have fun at your meeting. Ciao, Snug.” She hung up before I could do more than stare in exasperation at the phone.

I was truly afraid to find out who she would come up with.

But I couldn’t worry about that now. I was really almost late, thanks to our extended phone call.

I grabbed my jacket off the back of my chair and shrugged into it, cursing the latest snow warning to flash across the corner of my computer screen. The end of February meant they were pretty much constant nowadays.

And snow made me think of Hannah. How she’d touched the window as if she wanted to feel the cold flakes on her skin.

Shut it down.

I grabbed my Day-Timer on my way out the door. I had my meeting to concentrate on.

I’d also probably have to meet with a new nanny candidate sooner than later. Then there was everything I had to deal with when it came to moving Lily and I into our new house.

The one thing I didn’t have time to think about?

Hannah.

I wasn’t ever going to see her again. Just the way she wanted it.

Just the way I wanted it.