“If it were up to me, I wouldn’t be on social media. I find it trite and impersonal, but my publisher and adoring fans think otherwise, so any suggestions you have would be most welcome.”
My first suggestion would be to stop thinking we were all adoring him, though it was probably true. “Can I think about it and do some research?”
“Of course. I would expect nothing less.”
“Is that all?”
“For now.”
I stood up and he followed.
“Good night, Miles.”
“Good night, Aspen.”
“I’ll see you in the morning.”
“I look forward to it.”
Me too.
Chapter Ten
Nanny life was the best kept secret. Never in all my years of working did I ever arrive at work with anyone as happy to see me as Henry was when I crept into his room early Tuesday morning. He had just woken up, but as soon as he saw me, he jumped out of bed and ran to me. “Nanny!”
I was becoming very fond of the title, and especially of his little arms around my neck. “Good morning. Did you sleep good?”
He nodded. “I need to go to the toilet.”
It was funny to hear him say toilet instead of potty, but it was a British thing. I knew that from my love affair with the BBC. “Do you need help?”
“I’m a big boy.” He untangled himself from me and ran to his own personal bathroom made for children. The toilet was tiny, and the sink and countertop were lowered so he could easily wash his hands. It also meant he could easily make a mess, which he had done yesterday. Water and soap were kid magnets. I listened intently while I picked out his clothes to make sure we didn’t have a repeat of the bubble fest from yesterday. Another set of shorts with a collared shirt and sweater. I really needed to talk to Miles about getting him some pants and more casual clothes.
While listening to see if I needed to check on Henry, I heard something that caught me off guard. David Bowie’s “Fame” blared from down the hall. As soon as Henry was out of the bathroom, I picked him up and followed the music to Miles’s office. The door was cracked enough for me to see Miles in a whole new light. He was not only singing aloud at the top of his voice, which honestly wasn’t half bad, but he was dancing. Like awful, white-guy dancing. Lanky arms and legs flying all over the place while he spun around. He even grabbed a pen and started singing into it like a microphone.
Henry started giggling, alerting Miles to our presence, but that didn’t stop him. He only pointed at us with his pen and yelled, “Fame!” along with David Bowie. I probably should have turned around and left him to his party for one, but he mesmerized me. It was refreshing to see that the dashing Brit had a silly side. Henry wanted to join in, so I set him down and he toddled over to his uncle, who I was pleased to see picked him up and danced with him. Maybe he wasn’t as inattentive as I thought. Unfortunately, he was getting more attractive with Henry in his arms. It made me wish I had my phone with me to snap a picture. Hmm. That gave me an idea to think about regarding his social media presence. For now, though, I enjoyed the scene.
Miles frequently flashed me his beautiful smile, making my body not only sting, but zing. My feelings were coming back. That couldn’t be good. Yet I didn’t want to look away. In fact, it had me wishing I could have given Chloe moments like this with a better man than I chose to be her father. She was turning out all right, I reminded myself.
As soon as the song was over, Miles flipped off his silly switch and set Henry down.
Henry wasn’t pleased about it. “Dance more,” he demanded.
“Not today. It’s time for me to work.” Miles looked my way. “This is part of my ritual.”
“Ritual?”
“Yes, each day before I write, I read The Telegraph while I work out, then shower, dress, and dance.”
“Do you dance to the same song every day?”
“It changes on my mood.”
“How’s your mood today?”
He grinned at me from behind his desk. “Quite well, thank you.”
“I’ll leave you to it. Come on, Henry, let’s go see Chloe and eat breakfast.”
Henry’s mood remarkably improved with the mention of Chloe and food. “Co-ee!” He ran to me.
“Please shut the door and keep the noise to a minimum,” Miles half barked.
That ruffled my feathers, but I chose not to mention it. My dad’s advice for any of us kids starting a new job was to always get the lay of the land first to make sure you were seeing everything before you opened your mouth. It had mostly kept me out of trouble. Hopefully, this would be one of those times. I shut his door and started my own routine for the day.
This was a much different routine than I was used to, but I had to say I loved it. I got to make breakfast for two of the most beautiful children to grace the planet, and I got to drive Chloe to school. I hadn’t ever been able to do that. It seemed like a simple thing, but it meant not only that I would see her off, but I would see her home. More time with her was the biggest perk of this job, and the adorable kid in his car seat in the back singing all the wrong words to “Fame” was a huge bonus.
Chloe was so excited to be going back to school in Carrington Cove, attending the same junior high where I met Emma, Jenna, and Brad and forged lifelong friendships with them. I wished the same for Chloe as I watched her walk in with her best friend, Brooke.
After we dropped Chloe off, Henry and I headed back to the guest house where, in between entertaining him and unpacking, I answered a few letters from Miles’s adoring fans. Wow, were some of these women desperate. One even sent him her virtual panties. Unfortunately, she was still wearing them. She got the mundane form letter that basically said thanks for contacting him and have a nice day. I wanted to add, P.S. Love yourself more. No man is worth your self-dignity.
I only directly replied to one. It was a teenage girl who maybe loved Isabella Jones as much as I did. I made the letter sound as though Miles was honored that she had written and praised her for understanding Isabella’s complexities so well.
After that, Henry and I headed into town to have lunch with my friends. Another momentous event for me. I never had the time or expendable income to do such things during the day. We were meeting up at a new place near Shelby’s boutique called Two Girls and a Guy. It was owned by three friends, two girls and one guy, like their namesake. Shelby highly recommended it. But Shelby pretty much loved all food now, so I wasn’t sure how trustworthy her recommendation was.
When Henry and I walked into the restaurant, I immediately fell in love with the décor. It was decorated in movie posters. But not just any movies—love triangle movies. I wondered if that meant the two girls and a guy were in a love triangle. Awkward.
While admiring the Sweet Home Alabama poster, our favorite Southern Belle came walking in along with Emma, Jenna, and Jenna’s baby boy, Elliott, in tow. He was getting so big. I couldn’t believe he would be a year old in two months. Jenna said he took his first steps last week, but it scared him so bad he promptly sat down after.
Henry pointed at Elliot and said, “Baby.” All my friends were enamored with his accent and oohed and aahed over him. Henry ate the attention right up.
We were seated right away even though the place was packed.
“This is fun, y’all. All of us together for lunch,” Shelby commented as soon as she sat down.
“Yes.” Jenna situated Elliot in his booster seat. “How goes your new situation?” she asked me. “Are you getting cozy up in the Bluffs?”
“Didn’t you tell them?” Emma grabbed some of the complimentary bread, trying to stave off morning sickness. “He made her sign a contract agreeing to no romantic entanglements.”
“What?” Jenna squinted.
Shelby placed her hand across her heart like someone had stabbed her there. “I hope you didn’t sign it.”
“Of course I did. I don’t want to be romantically involved with anyone.”
&nb
sp; “She’s lying,” Emma batted her eyes at me. “Tell them what he said about you.”
I picked up my triangle shaped menu and opened it. “He said, ‘Aspen,’” I paused, baiting my friends.
They all leaned in eagerly.
I let out a fake sigh before saying, “‘You missed a line. And make sure you initial the addendum.’” I smirked at all my friends, who were now glaring at me.
Jenna even threw one of the rolls at me. “You are such brat.”
“I’m only telling the truth.” I handed Henry the roll.
“Mmm,” he said after his first bite. He was a kid after my own heart. I loved bread too.
“He also said she was fetching and if the circumstances were different, he would want to date her,” Emma informed my friends.
“She’s exaggerating. He said he would have invited me to dinner.”
Shelby placed her perfectly manicured hand on my arm. “Miss Aspen, I saw the way that man looked at you on Friday night. He’s smitten.”
I patted her hand. “Can we talk about something else?”
“Not so fast.” Jenna eyed me. “Enquiring minds want to know. What happens if you get entangled, which, by the way, sounds fantastic.” She wagged her brows.
I ruffled Henry’s hair. “Then I won’t have a job.”
There was a collective let down at the table.
“What if it’s accidental?” Emma asked.
I narrowed my eyes at Emma. “How do you accidentally entangle yourself with someone?”
“Ooh, pick me.” Jenna raised her hand. “I have lots of ideas. I can even draw you some pictures.”
We all laughed at her.
Henry laughed too and said, “Draw me a picture.”
Jenna pressed her lips together and looked at Henry. “Maybe I should tell you my ideas later.”
“I think that would be for the best.” We needed to protect the innocent ears at the table and, more importantly, make sure he didn’t hear anything he shouldn’t repeat to his uncle. “Or you can forget them altogether,” I suggested.
“Uh, no.” Jenna flashed me a devilish grin. “I’ll text you.”
I could hardly wait for those. Not. “Can we move on now?” I prayed the answer was yes.
Emma reached into her bag. “Well, I have some news.”
We gave her all our attention.
“Sawyer and I went to the doctor this morning. We had our first ultrasound.” Joy burst from her words. “And . . .” she pulled out an ultrasound picture, “we are having TWINS!”
The table erupted in excited cheers.
“Oh, Mylanta!” Shelby snatched the picture. She was obsessed with babies, being a former midwife and a general lover of babies. She and Ryder were planning on having five kids. Shelby carefully studied the picture of what looked like two peanuts. “Everything looks perfect. Now, you can still do an unmedicated birth with twins. I’ll be there every step of the way.” Shelby was also a big proponent of drug-free births. I wondered if she would change her tune on that after she herself had given birth. Though, Jenna did say Shelby was an amazing coach in the delivery room and made it possible for her to go natural with Elliott. Me, I was all for the epidural. And it wasn’t like Leland was much help in the delivery room. He slept and watched sports most of the time.
Emma took back the picture and stared doe-eyed at it. “I can’t believe it.”
“What does Sawyer think?” I asked.
“He’s over the moon,” Emma gushed. “He cried when the doctor told us.”
I was so happy for her. She never thought she would find love, but I always knew she would. She just needed the right man to be strong enough to not be intimidated by how confident and good she was. Sawyer was the lucky man. From day one it was plain to see he was in awe of her.
“Have you told your daddy yet?” Shelby asked.
Emma nodded. “He’s so excited. He’s already out buying two rocking horses. And he’s putting the word out that he’ll be on the lookout for two ponies.” Emma’s dad, Dane, was an avid horseman. “Sawyer’s dad was just as cute about it. He and Bridget are now talking about going to the courthouse to get married sooner rather than later. They are both questioning their decision to get married on the slopes this winter. They’re worried I shouldn’t be skiing in my condition. Personally, I think they just want to get married. And I think it will help Bridget feel justified being able to call herself grandma, which obviously to me she will be.”
“Does that mean you haven’t told Sawyer’s mom yet?” I hesitated to ask. We all hated Josephine, especially Emma. No one could blame her after how awful Josephine was to her and her father. And there was the little issue of making Sawyer and Emma stepsiblings for a short period, which kept them from exploring their own romantic relationship. That would be a fun story to tell their kiddos—that they were stepbrother and stepsister when they got married.
Emma’s face scrunched and her fists clenched any time her mother-in-law and ex-stepmother’s name was brought up. “No, we haven’t told her. We try to have as little contact with her as possible, though she has been calling Sawyer more often. He rarely answers. I’m not sure he will ever forgive her for trying to ruin our wedding.”
“What about your sisters?” Jenna threw in quickly, trying to change the subject for Emma’s sake.
Emma rolled her eyes. “I haven’t told them yet either. I wanted to tell you guys first. They are both on my nerves anyway.”
Shelby wrung her hands like she knew why. It wasn’t surprising, considering Macey and Marlowe worked for her and Marlowe was dating Ryder’s cousin Bobby Jay.
Jenna pulled a bib out of her diaper bag for Elliott. “What’s up with the M&M twins?”
Emma gave Shelby a pointed look. “Well for starters, Macey keeps stringing along poor Jamie, and. . . Marlowe broke up with Bobby Jay.”
“What? Is she an idiot?” Jenna asked.
We all nodded. Bobby Jay was a nice guy as far as I could tell, and funnier than anyone I had ever met. He also treated Marlowe like a queen.
Shelby bit her pouty pink lip. “He’s pretty torn up about it.”
Emma’s shoulders sank. “I’m sorry. My sister has lost her mind.”
“What was her reasoning?” I asked.
Emma let out a deep breath. “Honestly, I think she’s scared.”
“Well,” Shelby cut in, “for as wonderful as he is, Bobby Jay can get in a hurry. I think he fell harder for her than he intended to, and he was ready for more than she was.”
“I’m hoping she comes to her senses,” Emma commented. “He was good for her.”
“I hope so too.” Shelby squeezed Emma’s hand. “Sometimes we don’t see the gift we’ve been given for what it is until it’s gone.”
All eyes turned toward me as if I should be taking Shelby’s statement to heart.
I swallowed hard. “What are you all looking at?”
Jenna, never one to miss the opportunity to make a smart-aleck comment, answered, “Well duh, you better get to unwrapping that dashing Brit.”
Not. Going. To. Happen.
Chapter Eleven
Not only wasn’t I going to be unwrapping my boss, I was thinking that maybe I wanted to exchange him. After another exhausting day of taking care of my young charge, soccer practice, homework, dinner, and doing some research for Miles, I finally got Henry to sleep. It only took five stories, two songs, a drink of water, and the promise of going to the park the next day. Not once had I seen Miles since that morning. I wasn’t exactly sure how this nanny thing worked, but I was pretty sure the parent should have contact with the child more than once a day. Don’t get me wrong, I hoped he was writing like crazy. I really needed that book. But it wasn’t as important as Henry, who had broken my heart when I kissed him good night and he asked where his mummy and daddy were. All I could say while I choked back tears was that they were in a beautiful place watching over him and they loved him so much.
Poor baby fell asl
eep clutching his bear with his lip quivering. Miles really needed to be the one comforting him and tucking him in. Not that I didn’t love doing it. I did, probably more than I should. I knew there would come a day when I would have to say goodbye to Henry, and I already couldn’t stand that thought. I pushed it to the back of my mind when I made my way to Miles’s office to hand off the monitor again.
It felt like déjà vu, me knocking on his door, him telling me to wait a minute while he hid his outline from me. Him answering his door looking worn but well in jeans and a tight knitted sweater. It didn’t help that he looked happy to see me. My heart tingled more than stung this time. Definitely not a good sign.
I handed him the monitor, skipping any pleasantries. “Henry is asleep. Good night.” I turned to go.
“Aspen, wait.”
I stopped mid-turn.
“Please come in and tell me how your day was.”
“Thank you, but I’m tired. I’ll see you in the morning.”
His lips downturned. “That is a shame. Perhaps tomorrow.”
“Perhaps,” I said, only because he was my boss and I felt like saying no wasn’t the right course of action. But my plan was to prevent as much alone time with him as possible. I turned and walked away.
“Sleep well, lo . . . Aspen,” he called.
Sleep sounded so wonderful, but as I walked between the main house and the guesthouse on the cobbled stone path in the chilly night air, I received a call that unfortunately woke me right up.
“Hello.” There was no hiding the derision in my voice.
“Careful, I might think you don’t want me to call you.”
He was the last person I wanted to call me. “What do you want, Leland?” I took a seat on one of the cushioned wicker chairs on the front porch of the cottage, and tucked myself into a ball, wishing I had worn a jacket. I tried to never talk to Leland in front of Chloe in case things got ugly. Which was more likely than not.
“Same as always, to check on our daughter.”
That wasn’t always why he called. I used to get plenty of drunk calls from him a long time ago saying he was sorry and wanted me back. Then he’d sober up and call to tell me all the things I had done wrong in our relationship. I didn’t dredge it up with him. Best just to get the call over with as soon as possible. “She’s great.”
My Not So Wicked Boss (My Not So Wicked Series Book 3) Page 8