The Single Dad (The Dalton Brothers 3)

Thirteen

Ford

As I sat in my home office, catching up on some final last-minute work, I heard Sydney’s bare feet coming down the hallway. There was a difference in sound between her and my daughter—the speed being the main one. Since the hallway was long, that gave me several seconds to prepare for her presence.

I needed each one.

And I needed to try to fucking breathe.

That girl had power over me, and she didn’t even realize it.

As she came closer, nearing the doorway, I shifted my gaze away from my computer screen, anticipating that face I couldn’t get enough of.

Waiting.

She paused the second she stilled, smiling. “Do you need anything? Or can I help with anything?”

Goddamn it.

Several weeks into her employment, and she looked more beautiful every day.

She’d braided her hair, the long tail falling across her left shoulder, which was bare due to the angle of her shirt. She wore almost no makeup, aside from glossy lips that were making my dick hard and darkened eyelashes that were long and blinking as she stared at me.

From her looks alone, there would be another cold shower in my very near future. Since the start of Sydney’s employment, my dick had seen much more of my palm than usual.

I pulled my hands off the keyboard, my palms falling onto a pile of folders of the accounts I would be visiting during this weeklong trip.

The one I was leaving for tomorrow morning.

A trip I was almost grateful to be going on because it would give me a break from being around her. Not that I wanted the distance, but resisting Sydney Summers was becoming a job of its own.

“Thank you for offering,” I said. “That’s sweet of you.”

“But …” She laughed.

“I think I have everything mostly wrapped up for the night.” I placed the folders I’d been resting on inside my briefcase and closed the top.

“Good. Now, you can relax.” As she adjusted her position, leaning her back against the frame, she crossed her arms at her stomach, showing the narrowness of her waist. “And don’t worry; she’s dead asleep. I just checked on her.”

I’d taken a brief break to tuck in my little girl and kiss her good night. That had given Sydney the heavy lifting of giving her a bath and braiding her hair and reading her a story, so I could finish up my work and be able to get to bed at a decent hour.

“What time is it?” I checked the clock on my computer. “It’s ten already. Shit.”

Two hours had passed since I’d kissed my daughter’s cheek.

I hadn’t realized I’d been in here that long.

“I know, and I’m beat.” She tucked some loose strands behind her ear. “Just an FYI, once Eve went to bed, I unpacked my things into your guest room upstairs. And when you get back, I’ll just bring them to the apartment over the garage, assuming you want me to move in.”

Where she would be staying every night.

A ten-second walk from my bedroom.

Fuck.

“Yes … I do,” I told her.

My brain couldn’t stop creating a fantasy where I captured her from the doorway, carried her to my desk, and spread her across it.

Burying my face between her legs.

Why the hell is this becoming such a tease? Why is it becoming harder to control my thoughts?

Why am I not stronger than this?

Why can’t I accept the fact that Sydney is Everly’s nanny and she won’t ever be anything more?

“Perfect,” she said. Her cheeks changed to a deep red. “That’ll make things much easier when I can just walk across the garage to go to bed.”

I laughed.

I couldn’t even hold it in.

Because nothing about her moving onto my property would make things easier on my dick.

In fact, if I were smart, I would end her employment.

I would have my assistant start looking for a new nanny, so I wouldn’t feel so guilty about the things I wanted to do to this one.

But Everly was in love with Sydney.

Things were going so well with her.