CEO Daddy (Crescent Cove 6.50)

This wasn’t some quickie operation. When she said she had clients, she hadn’t been lying.

“What exactly is it you do?”

She gestured impatiently at the mess. “I cook and bake for those with time crunches. Isn’t it obvious?”

I had no desire to show how little I understood what was happening here, so I just left that alone. “How many clients do you have?”

“Not all of them are consistent. Some take weeks off, and some are on the mini plan. That’s only one or two meals a week.”

“How many, Hannah?”

She didn’t even need a moment to count them up in her head. “Sixteen.”

“Sixteen clients you cook and bake for. How many dogs do you dog-sit for?”

“Mostly just walking now, until I expand my services. But I’m up to three. I have a fourth I’m talking to because of my Facebook ad, so I’m hopeful that may pan out.”

First, she was meeting men on Tinder, now it was random clients from Facebook. How was that safe?

I slipped my hands back in my pockets. I tended to reveal my thought process when I fisted one and tapped my thigh. A tell I hadn’t been able to ever quite shake. “That’s it? No other jobs?”

“Just the one at the café. But that’s only on weekends.” She shrugged it off and went back to mixing.

No problemo.

“Did you neglect to recall the one you’re supposed to be doing for me?”

It was only when she took a moment to answer that I realized she still had the other earbud in, and the tinny music had started playing again. I leaned forward and tugged it out, lifting it to my own ear as she scowled.

“What the hell is this?”

“Biggie Smalls.”

That name didn’t mean much to me. Unless it was something on the classic rock channel I could blast during the rare occasions I had an open road in front of me, I was clueless.

I handed the earbud back to her, and she reluctantly dropped the set into her apron pocket next to her notepad. “No, I didn’t forget the nanny job. I was beginning to think you had.”

“I’ve been busy at work.”

“Bess started filling me in on some basics. We can continue that way.”

Was I mistaken, or was that hope in her voice?

“She can certainly help, and there’s plenty of things she’s more versed in when it comes to my—Lily than I am. But there are times you’ll have to deal with me.”

“I’m sure.” She tucked away a wayward strand of hair. It was streaked with blond, like a few others flying around her face. “She was reluctant to tell me much since she hadn’t been able to connect with you. If you’re having second thoughts—”

“Like I said, I was working. It’s a particularly intense time right now. As for having second thoughts, no, I’m definitely not. I came over here to ask when you’d be moving in.”

It was probably cruel not to feel her out first, to make sure she understood the parameters of the position before I dropped that bomb on her. But really, it was standard for full-time nanny jobs, wasn’t it? If she didn’t know that, it was hardly my fault.

She didn’t speak. I wasn’t even sure she was still breathing. The color leeched out of her already pale face until those big blue eyes were all I could see.

Yes, I was a right bastard. There was no denying it.

“If it’s easier for you, you can live here for a while first.”

“Are you serious? Why would you want to move me into your house? I’ve never even seen it. Shouldn’t I see it first?” She turned away and pushed her hands through her already disordered hair, making my stomach tighten.