Bryce_Nanny’s Aussie Billionaire

by Piper Sullivan

I flung an arm around her shoulder and smiled at her. “In that case let’s go meet the team.”

  She pasted on the fakest smile I’d ever seen, but only someone who knew her well would notice. She stepped forward, smiled wider and charmed the entire Sharpe Focus team just like I knew she would. Seeing the old Jaya was nice and dammit if it didn’t make me want her all over again. Not that I ever stopped. My need for her has been a constant for most of my life, I just pushed it down and focused on life as a SEAL and then as the owner of one of the fastest growing security agencies in the world. But now that she was back in town. Back in my life. Well hell, all bets were off.

  “Come on, let’s grab some lunch.”

  “Hey Colt, got a minute?”

  Ethan Gellar, my friend and business partner, plus all around tech genius stopped us in the hall. “Hey Ethan. I want you to meet Jaya, she’ll be helping with logistics and eventually, training.”

  His brown eyes flashed surprise behind his black glasses because he’d listened to many drunken tirades about the woman beside me. Luckily, Ethan was a professional and recovered quickly.

  “Good to meet you Jaya. I’m Ethan Gellar, I handle all the tech and gadgets you work with. Plus government contracts.”

  “Nice to meet you Ethan. This is a pretty impressive setup you guys have. Congratulations.”

  And just like that she’d won him over. “Colt when you have time we need to talk about Japan.” The Japanese government was offering us a ridiculous sum of money for a piece of tech and Ethan didn’t want to sell his baby, no matter how many zeroes they offered.

  “I’ll get with you later,” I told him and guided Jaya down the hall. “Let’s eat.”

  She looked up at me, confusion and mistrust swimming in her big green eyes, pink lips parted on a gasp. “I’m not hungry.”

  “Of course you are. Come on.” I grabbed her hand in mine, not paying any attention to the looks of my employees as I pulled her away. I had a feeling she would try to wiggle out of lunch so I’d planned ahead.

  “Where are we going?”

  “You’ll see.” I pulled her down the long corridor that lead to many of the main rooms for surveillance, planning, conference calls and training sessions. Downstairs was a weight room but that’s not where we were headed. Instead I took her to one of the subterranean levels so we could enjoy our working lunch.

  She gasped as we stepped off the elevator, staring around at the cement and glass that surrounded her. Six-inch-thick doors led into eight different rooms that were used as bunks, panic rooms and classified planning missions.

  “What is all this?”

  I leaned forward and whispered in her ear, letting my lips brush against her. “This is the safest place in the city.” Jaya could lie to herself all she wanted, but her body told the truth. She was still affected by me too.

  Taking a step back she looked up at me. “Care to elaborate?”

  I pushed open one of the doors and nudged her inside. “This is a bunk room and a panic room. Each of these rooms has their own oxygen supply, enough to last about fourteen days. Food and water, one change of clothes for up to six people and a satellite phone.”

  Her blonde brows arched high. “Planning for the end of the world?”

  “We have quite a few lucrative government contracts and this is where we discuss them, but this is also an easy way to protect clients because no one knows it exists.”

  I’d made sure of it by purchasing the building and adding these floors. Without filing them with the city. State and local government workers were the easiest to bribe and my clients were heads of state, billionaires, industry titans, pretty much the exact kind of people susceptible to kidnapping. And worse.

  “Come on.” I grabbed her hand again and took her to the room set up for us.

  The door opened and her stomach growled. In true Jaya fashion, she didn’t flush with embarrassment, she just laughed and moved inside.

  “Okay so maybe I am a little hungry.”

  “Let’s eat then.” She sat down and I took the seat beside her. “I got a little bit of everything because I didn’t know what you might like.”

  She shrugged. “You could have asked.”

  “And give you a chance to come up with a reasonable excuse to get out of lunch?”

  She sighed and pushed her plate away. “I’m not trying to be rude Colt. But I was pretty clear about what I expected when I accepted this job.”

  Yeah she had been, and I fucking hated it. “I know. But I can’t let you ignore me.”

  “Why?” Her voice sounded pained, like it fucking hurt that I wouldn’t leave her alone.

  “Because Jaya. I’ve been missing you, and you’ve been hating me for leaving to pursue my dreams.” Her eyes widened in surprise and she shook her head, unwilling to hear me. “Yes. I was in love with you.”

  “So much you just had to leave me, right?” A hand went up quickly to stop my words. “No, don’t answer that. It doesn’t matter.”

  “If I hadn’t joined the Navy, hadn’t become a SEAL then I wouldn’t have any of this. This is what I’m supposed to be doing with my life Jaya, but that doesn’t mean I don’t regret how we ended. Not a day has gone by that I haven’t thought of you. Of us.” I smacked a palm against the table. “This was supposed to be our future dammit!”

  Her eyes had darkened and turned emotionless, her spine ramrod straight, and I knew for now she was lost to me.

  “Well you certainly have done well for yourself. But I think we should just get back to work.” Standing she pushed back her chair and waited for me to move.

  I stayed, chewing the dipped Italian roast beef with delicious spicy peppers. “Then you should sit down and eat because this is where we’ll be working the rest of the day.”

  I must be a sick bastard because I felt immense fucking pleasure at the way her skin paled and her shoulders slumped.

  “Fine.”

  Yeah, I was an asshole and I damn proud of it.

  Hope you enjoyed this preview Dear Reader, find out how Jaya & Colt’s story ends here.

  Dr Daddy Next Door: A Preview

  Book Description

  I want to slide my hand up those sexy little dresses she wears and see what’s underneath…

  But I can’t because my little girl has fallen in love with Rory.

  And because she’s my neighbor.

  And she’s twenty years younger than me.

  I’ve already been burned once and I can’t afford to let my life go off the rails even if she does look like she’d be worth the fiery crash. One night I let things go too far and there’s no turning back because now that I’ve had her, I crave her.

  I need her.

  * * *

  I want to run my fingers through his hair and see if his mouth tastes as good as it looks…

  But I won’t because Dr. Kane Royal looks like a high-class guy who dates high class women. Not a girl like me who’s had to fight for everything I ever got. He’s a wealthy doctor from a prominent political family, a father, and I’m a struggling student, a girl from nowhere. A virgin.

  I don’t have anything to offer him but I want him. I dream about him touching me, tasting me, tempting me to wish for more.

  But a girl like me doesn’t get the guy…does she?

  Rory

  “I have always been a fan of silk ties and blindfolds,” Rosanna batted her eyelashes up at the object of her affection, smiling coquettishly when she raked a hand through his salt and pepper hair.

  “I’m happy to show you the pleasures to be found without a few essential senses.” Dr. Hargrave removed the ever-present bowtie and corduroy blazer that made him look every inch the anthropology professor he was, and moved in closer.

  Rosanna’s breath hitched. Her skin flushed and her pulse raced as he drew closer.

  I leaned back in my oh-so-comfortable computer chair and blew out a long breath. The erotic romance I was writing was coming along nicely, and would be a good compleme
nt to my thesis. The examination of young women and sexuality when it came to older men was common throughout history and literature. It was, at least to me, the perfect project for my double masters in Modern Literature and Anthropology. I only hoped my professors thought so too.

  With a crack of my knuckles and a jerk of my neck, I got back to work. I was at the good part, when the young and nubile Rosanna would slide her panties off and expose herself to the professor. That’s when I saw it, a small head topped with brown curls peeking inside my house. I grinned at her poor ninja skills, ducking down seconds after I’d already seen her, figuring she must belong to the new neighbors who moved in about a month ago. Between my final two graduate school courses and my job, correction my old job with television personality Dr. Todd, I’d been so buried in my own life that I hadn’t even met them yet.

  The tiny brown head popped up again, in front of my picture window that overlooked the verdant backyard that I’d spent many hours tending in order to clear my head. To find inspiration. I waved and she ducked again, pulling an amused laugh from me.

  Saving my document, I stood, stretching tense muscles before making my way to the door. The house was a white side-by-side duplex with blue trim. Though I hadn’t been inside since the firefighters moved out, I knew the other half of the building was the opposite of mine. The main rooms were switched, mine faced the backyard and theirs faced the street. I’d never been upstairs, but I figured that’s where two of the three bedrooms were located. I pulled open my door and stepped onto the shared porch, finding the little girl ducking behind the patio swing.

  “Hey stranger, do you need some help?”

  Big clear blue eyes the color of the sky peered up at me through a mess of curls. Finally, her head bobbed up and down, but that was it.

  I dropped down onto the balls of my feet, ignoring the way my thighs screamed in protest. I’d skipped going to the gym lately because I was just too busy.

  “I’m Rory and I live right here. What’s your name?”

  “Sydney,” a soft voice said with hesitation.

  “Nice to meet you Syd,” I held out my hand giving her a grownup shake that made her giggle. “Now, how can I help you?”

  Those big blue eyes that made her look so vulnerable called out to me, but the way they darted off to the sides made me wary. Finally, she looked at me again, and I guess she decided she could trust me.

  “My sitter didn’t show up.”

  I blinked. This was out of my depth. What the hell did I know about little kids? Nothing, that’s what. The only little kid I knew was myself, and I had never really been a kid to be honest.

  “Where are your parents?”

  “My mommy is gone. My daddy is at work. He makes babies,” she offered proudly.

  Instantly my heart went out to this adorable little girl with an ethereal beauty that would stun the world in a few years. Losing a parent was hard. I should know, I lost both of mine. That’s not true, exactly. I never knew my father because he’d left my mom long before I was born. But when I was fifteen I lost my mom. Literally. Came home from school two days before homecoming to find the entire apartment empty except for my room.

  “I’m sorry about your mom kiddo. But why is your dad already gone if the sitter didn’t show up?” I stood up and tried to peek through the window above their closed door, but even with my own five-seven height, the window was too high. I tried the door knob, but it wouldn’t budge. She was locked out.

  “Babies were coming and Amy said she was coming in five minutes,” she said with so much exasperation I had to bite back a smile. “It’s been longer than five minutes.”

  “You’re probably bored and hungry, huh?”

  Again, her head bobbed up and down as she inched closer to me, stealing inside my place before I changed my mind.

  “I didn’t eat for a long time.”

  “I’m just glad you didn’t try to cook on your own,” I told her and she gave me a perplexed frown.

  “I’m too young to cook.” Her tone implied she thought I was an idiot, but her curious gaze held mine.

  “I know.” She tried her best to climb up onto one of the counter stools, but she was just too tiny so I gave her a boost.

  “Thanks,” she grinned, showing off a pretty smile full of baby teeth. “What are we having?”

  Good question. I cooked for myself pretty regularly because it was cheaper and healthier and now that I didn’t have a job, health insurance had become a luxury. I scanned the fridge and found enough ingredients to make a meal. “How do you feel about spaghetti?”

  “I love spaghetti!”

  I wished something in my life gave me as much happiness and excitement as spaghetti gave Sydney. “Do you have a number for your dad?” She shook her head. “Can you tell me where he works?”

  “He has a hospital for mommies and babies and he works at the big hospital too.”

  Okay then. I just hoped that he didn’t freak out when he came home and found the little girl gone. I fixed spaghetti and listened while Sydney told me all about her daddy the Baby Doctor. She made him sound like a super hero, and I could admit to a healthy amount of curiosity about the man. Even though he had left his seven-year-old kid home alone. Sydney ate two servings of spaghetti, fruit and frozen yogurt before she passed out on the couch while I edited part of my thesis.

  I must have fallen asleep at some point too because I woke up with a little girl sprawled across my chest, fifty pages of my thesis scattered on the floor and a god-awful pounding coming from somewhere. The door. Gingerly I moved Sydney off me and padded to the door, squinting up at five uniformed officers and—holy hotness batman—a dark angel masquerading as a fashion model. Black hair and silver-blue eyes were the highlights, but the sharp cheekbones and rugged jawbone that could chisel rock were all appealing too. His frown…not so much.

  “Officers how can I help you?”

  The one with the thick seventies porno moustache stepped forward. “We’re looking for a missing little girl,” he said and described the child sleeping on my sofa to a tee.

  “Sydney? Yeah I’ve seen her, she was lurking on the back porch because her babysitter didn’t show.” I gave the sexy Baby Doctor a scathing glare. “And her father left her home alone. She was hungry, bored, alone and locked out,” I added.

  Officer porno-stache pushed me aside and stormed in with the others. He grabbed Sydney, who woke with a shriek, while one of the other officers held me back. Because yeah, I was the threat.

  “Why Rory? Wasn’t I good? I’ll be better I promise!”

  “It’s okay Syd your dad is here,” I tried to soothe. “He was scared.”

  She looked up at the man still wearing a scowl and even that made the irritating man look hot as hell. “I’m fine Daddy. Rory watched me.” She turned to me. “I was good wasn’t I?” At my nod, she ran to me and wrapped her little arms around my legs. “We’re friends now,” she said, to me or her father, I didn’t know.

  “Try to get some sleep Syd,” I told her while her giant of a father continued to glare as though that alone could vaporize me.

  “Night Rory.”

  “Night,” he growled back, and not the sexy kind of growl either. The I’m pissed off and I want you to know it even though I’m still polite, kind of growl.

  “Whatever,” I said and slammed the door in his face.

  That would have had more impact if the stupid officers weren’t still inside my house.

  Kane

  “Daddy I think you hurt Rory’s feelings.” Sydney hopped up from her seat onto the counter, chin buried in her hands and frowned up at me.

  “I doubt it honey. She’s probably just busy.” As long as she wasn’t around I didn’t give a damn where she was. That woman. Hell thinking about her now, days later, still pissed me off. What kind of adult kept someone else’s child without calling to let them know?

  “Nuh-uh. I saw her peeking out the window when we left this morning. And she always leaves a
fter we come inside.” She gave me her best admonishing look, dark brown brows dipped low in defiance. “Tell her you’re sorry.”

  Ah hell. Days like this I felt much younger than my forty-two years. “Sydney, you scared the hell out of me!”

  “And she saved me. Cooked me dinner and did my hair!” She looked so much like her mother with that ski-jump nose, wide mouth and freckles. “She was nice to me.”

  Yeah, I could admit that was true. It had been kind of her to let Sydney in and cook for her while keeping her entertained. But dammit I hadn’t been that scared since her mother had woken up one day to a phone call that one of her friends was having yet another party. That day on the lake. She’d crawled out of bed, showered, dressed and left. All without a thought to our ten-month-old daughter.

  A few months later she’d left for good. The last thing I needed was another immature and possibly dangerous woman in my life. “I’m glad she was nice to you, but I think she’s fine.”

  “I like her and I don’t care if you don’t.” Arms crossed, she glared at me until I relented.

  When had my little girl grown up so much? “You don’t even know her, how can you like her?” What kind of spell had the copper haired vixen cast over my child?

  “She’s fun and she talks to me about girl stuff. Oh my god, Daddy you have to see how much nail polish she has! Her sofa is purple and her chair is dark green because she says colors make life more interesting. Her spaghetti is the best and she fixed my curls!”

  “Is that all?” Apparently, Sydney was smitten with our neighbor.

  “Rory planted all the pretty flowers in the yard herself!” And apparently the woman could do no wrong.

  Sydney had become very bossy over the past couple of years, so I knew she would badger me until I made things right. “Okay fine. I’ll apologize.” Not that I had anything to apologize for, but living with a feisty little girl had taught me the importance of picking my battles.