“Yeah. I’ll wait out here, though. I don’t want to muddy the place up.”
“We will just be a few minutes,” Tyler grabbed Faith and picked her up as he hurried through the house and to the bathroom.
Afraid to sit on any of the furniture outside, I sat down on the steps of the deck as the mud quickly started to dry from the sun. I couldn’t help taking a few more pictures to send to my friends and show how awesome my first day as a nanny was turning out.
The sun was still wonderfully warm, and I ended up lying back on the deck and just soaking it in. At least Tyler hadn’t been angry with me. His reaction was a huge relief, and I honestly hadn’t expected it at all.
“Ready?” Tyler said as he stood over me, smiling down at me.
“Yep, do you have a towel or something? I don’t want to get your car dirty with my filth.” I laughed.
Tyler reached his hand out and helped me up, and I noticed he had a large beach towel in his other hand. Dang, this guy was perfection. I couldn’t help smiling back at him as we walked around the gate and to the car where Faith and Thomas were getting in their seatbelts. Faith was freshly cleaned from her shower, and her hair was still dripping wet.
“Well, I don’t know about you guys, but this seemed like a pretty productive day to me. Summer even got in some social media posts,” he said with a wink in my direction.
“Sorry.” I shrugged. “I couldn’t help it.”
“We will talk about it a little more later. Let’s get you home for now.”
His tone wasn’t at all as playful as it had been before. My stomach sank with dread as I gave him directions to my apartment. On the surface, he was still smiling, but I could tell he didn’t like me posting or taking photos around the kids. Honestly, he didn’t have to say anything to me. I already could see it in his face, but I doubted I’d get out of this that easy.
“That’s my place,” I pointed as Tyler turned into the driveway.
“I’ll be here to pick you up in the morning around seven. You should bring some things so you can stay for a few weeks.”
“Okay.”
“See you tomorrow,” he said with a much sterner look on his face than I had seen earlier.
Tyler looked angry with me. His lips pressed together, and he shook his head a little as I climbed out of the vehicle. I wanted to apologize, to tell him I didn’t take pictures of the kids, and I certainly wasn’t trying to be disrespectful. But he pulled away before I could get the courage to say anything to him.
As I climbed the steps to my apartment, I flipped off my heels and tried to think as positively as possible. It was only the first day. Surely I could make up for this throughout the week and show him I was going to be good at this job.
I had to at least last a month. Just one month, and then if he needed to let me go, I would find something else. The problem was, I was already really enjoying spending time with Faith and Thomas, and despite his apparent dislike of my photo taking, I liked Tyler as well.
“Wow, looks like you had a great first day.” Patrick laughed as I walked in the door.
“Yep, I’m excellent at this,” I said with a laugh. “They will be calling me Mary Poppins in no time at all.”
“I’m sorry we fought, Summer. I don’t want to move just yet. I think I’ll keep this place if you think you’ll be coming back?”
“Oh, Patrick, yes. I’ll be coming back,” I said excitedly as I went over to give him a hug and then realized I was still coated in mud. “I’m hugging the heck out of you after I get cleaned up.”
“Pay me the rent when you get your first paycheck, though. No more shoes, spar, nails, and hair. Deal?”
“Yes, I promise. I’ll pay you first. Thank you so much, Patrick. OK, I’m running into the shower. You just made my day so much better! Thanks!”
Chapter 6
Tyler
There was no doubt in my mind that Summer was a high maintenance sort of girl. She was still wearing her high heels the second day when I came to pick her up at her apartment. Sooner or later, she was going to have to give those up if she was going to keep up with the kids, but I decided it was better to let her come to that conclusion on her own.
Overall, I already knew I was going to like Summer. The concerns I had for her were minor, and I didn’t feel the need to yell or constantly redirect her. Perhaps it was because I was constantly trying to calm my inappropriate thoughts of her and couldn’t manage to do both at the same time.
Having a deliciously beautiful nanny wasn’t at all what I’d ever planned on doing. If she hadn’t of been a friend of Jason’s, I wouldn’t have considered her at all. But she was a friend, and she had been so good with the kids. Seeing her covered in mud with Faith had been so heartwarming, I could hardly handle it.
Even our best former nanny had struggled to calm Faith and her friends when they got into squabbles, so it didn’t shock me when Mrs. Stanley came to the door complaining about the kids arguing. It also didn’t shock me that Faith was covered in mud, as she loved getting dirty. But seeing Summer like that was a definite shock, and it took all I had in me not to burst out laughing at the sight of her and Faith holding hands while being covered in mud.
As Summer walked down the stairs expertly in her hi-heels, I had to look away. She was by far one of the most beautiful women I’d seen. Her long blonde hair was expertly styled with just a slight curl in it. She had a tiny little waist and curves for days. If I didn’t know who she was and saw her on the streets of Chicago, I would have assumed she was a visiting celebrity.
She obviously came from a family with money as was evident by her mother dropping her off in a Rolls Royce the day before. Yet there was so much more going on for her than that. She was living in a rather normal apartment complex. She didn’t have her own car, and she had taken a job with me as a nanny.
Although I wanted to know the answers to all my questions, it wasn’t the right time or place. For now, we had to get Faith and Thomas to school, and hopefully, teach her the route so she could do it the next day.
With so much work piling up, I really did need to get into the office the next day if it was at all possible.
“Wow, she looks like a movie star,” Thomas said from the back seat.
“I think she is one,” Faith added.
“Shh, let’s be nice, she’s just a normal girl,” I said just before Summer opened the door and climbed into the car with us.
“Good morning everyone,” Summer said with so much energy I could have sworn she had already drunk a pot of coffee and didn’t need the one we had stopped to grab her.
“We got you breakfast,” Faith announced excitedly from the back seat.
“Nothing too fancy,” I added and motioned to the cup holder where a coffee and fast food sandwich were sitting.
“Oh, my gosh! You guys are the best. I can’t wait to eat this.”
For the entire car ride to school, Summer was turned around and talking to the kids. Normally, this would have been a great sign that the new nanny was connecting with the kids but on this morning, every time I looked in her direction, I was met with her over-spilling cleavage.
Summer was dressed fairly appropriately. She had on jeans and a white v-neck T-shirt. Yet her body was so distracting that it took everything I had in me not to look that way. Even when it was time to turn right, I had to force my eyes to keep on the road and not look at her.
“Okay, we are getting close,” I said so she would watch how it was done. “We are going up Timber Street, not Wells,” I said as I pointed to Wells Street and we could see the line of cars.
“Wow, that’s a lot of cars,” Summer said as she suddenly started paying attention.
“It is, but we just go around and turn on Nineteenth to get in line. Okay?”
“Um, yeah.”
I pulled around the street and started in the line of cars on the Nineteenth Street. It only took us about ten minutes to push through the line and get to the front.
/> “I don’t usually get out of the car at all. The kids just jump out, wave goodbye, and then I pull away.”
“Bye, Summer.” Faith waved.
“See you after school, Summer.” Thomas waved, and the two of them ran into school.
“What am I? Chopped liver?” I jokingly yelled after them. “Normally, I would have gotten that wave.”
“I’m sorry.” Summer giggled as she sipped on her coffee. “You’re right. It doesn’t seem all that hard. I’m glad you showed me, though. I definitely wouldn’t have figured it out without seeing you do it.”
“We can come back together to pick them up too. Hopefully, that will give you the confidence to do it alone tomorrow? I really do need to get into work.”
“Of course, I could take them tomorrow. Oh, and I’m sorry to ask this, but I never wrote down what my pay is. Do you mind telling me again?”
To tell the truth, we hadn’t talked about her salary at all during her interview. I was just so relieved to have someone that the kids actually liked. I just planned on paying her the same thing I’d paid the previous nannies, but I was open to discussing a different salary if she needed it.
“What was your salary request?” I asked.
“Um, no request.” She laughed. “How much did you have in mind?”
“I was going to pay a thousand a week if that’s okay for you?”
Summer broke into laughter as we started our drive home. I wasn’t exactly sure if she was laughing because of the amount or if there was something else.
“Okay,” she said as she tried to stop herself from laughing. “I’m sorry. It’s just sort of funny how the nanny relationship is set up so much like a prostitute.”
“What? No,” I said right away.
The pure thought of sex with this girl was more than I could fathom, but I absolutely didn’t expect her to perform in that sort of way as a nanny. It was a little off-putting for her to even say such a thing.
“I didn’t mean it offensively. I’m just saying – you invite me to live with you; you’re giving me a car to drive and giving me a thousand dollars a week. Your kids aren’t that hard to take care of. In fact, so far, I think they are the most well-behaved children I’ve ever met.”
“So you want me to pay you less?” I teased.
“No, I’m happy with your offer, and I’m taking it. I just thought the whole thing was funny. My roommate will be very happy that I’m going to pay him my half of the rent, finally. I’ve been a bit of a freeloader since my parents kicked me out.”
“He? You have a male roommate?”
“Yeah, his name is Patrick; he’s such a sweet friend.”
No way had I believed this guy just wanted to be Summer’s friend. Any red-blooded man who was around her certainly wasn’t going to be able to keep the relationship as friends. As the thought crossed my mind, I couldn’t help but realized I was in fact a red-blooded man who was going to have Summer living under my roof for at least a little bit. Crap, was I going to be able to keep my hands to myself?
“Sounds like a nice guy to let you stay there.”
“Yeah, he was a friend of a friend, and I took the spare room a few months ago. It was a little bit of a crazy time.”
“Why did your parents want you to move out?”
“You know, getting older and not having a job yet. I just didn’t know what I wanted to do with myself, and that was frustrating for them.”
“When I was your age, I was drinking all day and all night and only occasionally showed up to work. So far, I think you’re much more responsible than I was,” I said to try and cheer her up a bit.
“Thanks.”
“When we get home, I’m going to have to work for a little bit. You didn’t bring any of your things over? If you’d like to go get them you can.”
“Actually, Patrick is going to bring them over when I call him. There was just too much for me to bring in the car with all of us in there.”
I had to laugh at her bringing so much stuff with her. But it didn’t surprise me at all. Any woman who was so dedicated to her hi-heels obviously had a wardrobe she wanted to keep close to her.
“You know you don’t have to dress up around here. You could wear tennis shoes and sweat pants, and that’s fine with me. Whatever you are comfortable in,” I said to encourage her to be a little more comfortable.
“Thanks, I’m not used to wearing jeans as much as I have been lately. I might have to change into my workout gear. Do the kids like to go for walks or to a park or anything like that? I’d like to keep active with them.”
“Yes, they love all of that. I have a schedule for them I printed off too. It contains their soccer, dance, and other activities. The afternoons can get very busy.”
“Okay.”
At home, I took a few minutes to give Summer a good tour of the house. Although we mainly just used the first floor, Summer’s room would be upstairs, and I did have plans to move the kids upstairs at some point.
“Right now, the kids share this room next to mine. We hardly go upstairs. I think it reminds us all of my late wife, and it’s just been too hard. I do plan to move the kids into their rooms up there again when they are ready. They were little when they were up there, though, so both of the rooms need to be fully redecorated.”
“It’s a very beautiful house.”
“Thank you.”
We climbed the stairs so I could show Summer where her room would be. I’d already cleared the room out of any signs from the previous nanny, so it looked fairly barren. But in no time, I was pretty confident Summer would have the place looking cozy again.
“This is your room,” I said as Summer was clearly underwhelmed by it. “You can decorate it as you’d like. I’ll even get new furniture if you would like it. This stuff has been in here for a few years. It could probably use an update.”
“No, this is fine. I’ll bring some of my things and make it look nice.”
“There’s a bathroom attached to your room and a walk in closet.”
“Wow, okay now I like this,” she said as she brightened up a bit.
I didn’t show her the master bedroom – that was still a place I didn’t like to go as everything in there reminded me of Claire. Someday, I was going to sell off that furniture and redo the room so I could move back upstairs. But it just hadn’t seemed like the right time.
“Hey, I was meaning to tell you. I’m sorry about the pictures from the other day. I just thought it was funny how the day had turned out.”
I had literally been so angry about her and her selfies that I didn’t know how to handle it. This was a serious job, and she seemed more consumed with her pictures than taking care of the kids. But at the same time, I loved how much the kids loved her, and having a night to think about it sure had calmed me down a bit.
In the past, every single one of my nannies would have heard me go on and on about how important setting a good example for the kids was. I probably would have sat them down in my office and talked about all the rules and made sure they understood each one of them.
The problem was that process hadn’t worked, and I knew it. The other problem was that I only had a few weeks to ensure that Summer and the kids were getting along, and I obviously didn’t want to send the wrong message this early in the relationship.
“Thank you for apologizing. I know social media is important nowadays. I would just ask that you always make the kids a priority.”
“Of course, the kids will always be my first priority, and I won’t put them in the pictures. I promise.”
“Alright, I guess that’s settled. I’m going to head downstairs to work for a little bit. Please tell your friend he is welcome to bring your things over anytime, and you can get settled in. We will head back to get the kids around three o’clock.”
“Can I ask another question?”
“Of course.”
“What am I supposed to do all day? I mean normally. The kids will be at school, so are there thin
gs you’d like me to do around the house?”
“We can talk about it more later, but basically, you have the day to yourself. You can work out or go hang out with your friends. If the kids have activities right after school, you’ll probably want to make up some snacks to bring with when you pick them up, and then you’ll make dinner on nights that I’m not home yet.”
“Okay,” Summer said.
I made my way back downstairs and started on a call with Rob. We were getting so far behind on our work. There was a huge sense of relief though as Summer was turning out to be a pretty good fit. My anxiety was high still, and I hoped things would continue going well as she managed the day to day schedules of the kids.
“How is the new nanny?” Rob asked right away.
“She’s good. Very nice girl. The kids really like her. I think this is going to work out well. I’m planning on coming into the office tomorrow.”
“Great, we have so much that has to get done.”
“I know. I’m sorry it’s been so crazy lately. You’re a good friend to me. I really appreciate it.”
“Hell, Tyler, you pull your weight most of the time. Don’t worry about it. How about we wait to talk about all of this until tomorrow? We can just do it all at once. I’m glad the new nanny is working out.”
“Yeah, me too.”
In the middle of our conversation, I heard a commotion going on in front of the house. As I looked through the blinds, I saw Summer struggling to get a very large suitcase out of the trunk of a car. I assumed it was her friend Patrick that was helping her.
“Everything okay?” Rob asked as he noticed I was distracted.
“Yeah, my nanny is just moving in all her things. I better go help out,” I said more interested in getting to meet this Patrick guy than talking to Rob about work. “Talk to you later.”
“Yep. See you tomorrow.”
Patrick was a nice looking kid. About my height, maybe a little taller at 6’3” or so. He was much muscular than I was, and I wasn’t all that shabby in the muscle department. But as I walked out to greet him, I got an overwhelming vibe that he was gay.
Bedroom Rodeo: A Billionaire Romance Page 7