The Billionaire And The Nanny

by Paige North

  “She’s got something to tell us,” Avery says, eyeing me as she stirs chocolate chips into the batter. “I can tell.”

  Damn my sister. She knows me so well that she can tell just by looking at me that something new has happened. My parents don’t even know Cole is back. They’re going to really freak out when I tell them.

  Like I said, Cole Frost doesn’t have a lot of fans in my family.

  “So, we heard that you-know-who is back,” Mom says.

  Double damn. They know. I shoot Avery a look. She shrugs. Being a small, tight-knit family also means we usually know each other’s business and are terrible at keeping secrets.

  “You can say his name, Mom. Cole Frost. Lightening won’t strike if you do,” I say.

  “I’d like to strike him, the way he ran out of town on you. I think he’s a grade-A dirt bag.”

  I know I need to go ahead and tell them everything that just happened with Cole. They’ll find out sooner rather than later.

  “Actually, I saw him today and we talked. About Lucy.”

  Everything goes dead silent. Avery, Mom and Daddy stare at me with shock.

  “You finally told him,” Avery says.

  “Is that why he’s back?” Mom asks. “You told him and he came back for Lucy?”

  “No, not exactly,” I admit. “He came back to film some stuff for his company.”

  “Of course,” Mom says, throwing her hands up as if this explains everything.

  “What did he say?” Avery asks.

  “He says he wants to be a father to Lucy,” I say, my eyes once again filling up with tears. “He said he wants to be a real father to her, to be here for her. He wants to get to know her, at whatever pace I feel is good for her.”

  “That’s great news, sweetie,” Daddy says. “I’m glad he’s doing the right thing.”

  “About time,” Mom snips.

  “So he’s moving back to Morningside Valley?” Avery asks.

  “No. Well, he didn’t say exactly.” Although I can’t imagine him wanting to live here again. He’s been pretty clear about how he feels about home.

  “How can he be here for Lucy if he doesn’t even live here?” Avery asks. “Is he going to come here on weekends?”

  “Or does he plan to take her to the city every weekend?” Mom asks.

  “I…I don’t know,” I say, flustered. The thought of Cole taking Lucy away from me, even for one night, fills me with panic. “We haven’t worked it all out yet.”

  “You better figure it out,” Mom says. “I don’t want him jerking my granddaughter around the way he did with you. Here one day, gone the next.”

  “He won’t, Mom,” I say.

  “You don’t know that,” she says.

  “Give the guy a chance, at least,” Daddy says.

  “With his track record,” Avery says, shaking her head. “Impossible.”

  “Look, he finally knows the truth about Lucy,” I say. “And he’s going to meet her as her father. This is huge, guys. Huge for Lucy. I don’t have everything figured out yet but it’s a big step in the right direction. So just ease up for five minutes and let me enjoy this moment.”

  No one says anything else, and for that I’m grateful.

  Cole

  My head and heart have been spinning, thinking about Lucy.

  It’s a total mind-fuck suddenly knowing you’re a father. I’m half responsible for the existence—and care—of another human being. It’s completely wild, absolutely amazing.

  But it’s got me so distracted, and the best thing to do when you’re distracted is to find a way to get focused. So Melissa, Silvio and I have spent the evening and part of the day working on the documentary.

  We’ve done more filming around town, shown me doing nonsense like walking thoughtfully down Main Street, and going out to the farm to carry a calf. (Seriously, there was no reason to carry him. He was perfectly capable of walking on his own, but Melissa insisted it would look both tough and sexy.)

  Jessa and I decide to have our first meeting as a family.

  She asks me to meet them at a park near her house. I’m so nervous and excited that I feel like a kid myself. I’m hoping Lucy likes me, that she doesn’t somehow react badly.

  I hope she’s not too shy, and that it’s not too awkward. So many things to think about.

  I get to the park early and see that they’re already there. Jessa is pushing Lucy on the swing and my heart feels full to bursting. It’s a feeling deep inside me—this is my family. It’s the most unexpected feeling in the world.

  It’s also scary as fuck.

  “Hey, girls,” I say, walking up to them. I give Jessa a kiss on the cheek as she continues to push Lucy. “Hi, Miss Lucy.”

  She eyes me carefully as she swings, as if determining if she likes me. Finally, she says, “Hullo.”

  “Lucy, do you remember Cole?” Jessa asks. “We met him at the fair the other day.”

  “I saw him and then I got cotton candy. I’ve been working hard,” she says to me. “One day I’m going to get an award on the stage too.”

  Jessa and I catch each other’s eyes. Lucy remembers what I told her the other day. I can’t believe it.

  “It’s true,” Jessa says. “She put all her stuffed animals on her bed this morning, and yesterday she helped her Pawpaw eat all the chocolate chip cookies.”

  “Pawpaw said we had to clean the plate,” Lucy says.

  “Way to go,” I say. I hold my hand out for a high five. When she swings back up, she slaps it. We both laugh.

  A few days later, Jessa invites me to go to dinner with them. She says I can meet them at her house.

  For a while after I get there, Lucy works on a coloring book and eyes me carefully. She won’t come sit next to me and she won’t answer my questions about the picture she’s filling in.

  After a while I say, “Anybody hungry?”

  “I'm starving,” Jessa says. “How about you, Luce?”

  She doesn’t answer.

  “You like pizza?”

  “It’s my favorite,” she mumbles.

  “Let’s go then,” I say. “I’ll drive.”

  “She needs her car seat,” Jessa says. In my mind I’m smacking my head. Of course she needs her car seat. She’s a baby, she can’t just ride on Jessa’s lap like my mom used to do with me on those backcountry roads. “We’ll take my car.”

  At the pizza place I watch with awe as Jessa cuts part of Lucy’s pizza up into tiny squares for her to eat. The other part Lucy scoops up in her little hand and takes big bites. Plain cheese, that’s all she wants. She wanted a Coke too, but Jessa said no. “It’s too late for Coke,” she said. “You’ll never sleep.”

  “But Momma!”

  “I said no, Luce.”

  It seems like a discussion they’ve had before.

  Jessa makes quick, seamless work of helping Lucy with her food and getting some food in herself. I can’t believe what a great mom she is, even though in a way I’m not surprised at all.

  Jessa is amazing at everything she puts her mind to.

  Part of me says I don’t deserve either of them, but I push the thought away.

  I’m anticipating the moment Jessa actually tells Lucy that I am her father. The first time being with her at the park seemed too soon. I wait for Jessa to take the lead on it. As much fun as I’m having with Lucy—she’s an easy kid to get along with—I’m anxious for the moment to see how she reacts.

  “Lucy,” Jessa says. “Do you remember that day you came home and told me that your friend Alice had a daddy but he didn’t live in the house with her and her mommy?”

  Lucy nods her head, still picking at her plate. “Alice gets to go to her other house to see her daddy.”

  “That’s right. All families are different,” Jessa says. “Do you remember how you asked about your daddy that day?”

  She nods again. “I haven’t met him yet. You said someday soon.”

  “What if I told you that day was to
day?” Jessa says. “Lucy, sweetie. What would you say if I told you that Cole was your daddy?”

  She stops playing with her food and looks up at me with big, round eyes. This tiny kid has got me on pins and needles, waiting to hear her reaction.

  “You are?” she asks me.

  I nod. “Yes, sweetheart. I am. And I’m so sorry I couldn’t be here sooner, but if it’s okay with you, I’d like to see a lot more of you.”

  “Would you like that, Lucy?” Jessa asks. “Do you want to spend more time with Cole?”

  “Okay,” she says, as if agreeing to another slice of pizza. “Do you live here now?”

  Jessa’s eyes dart at me. She wants to know too.

  “I live in the city,” I say. “In a big giant house. I’ll show it to you one day, if you like.”

  “Is it a castle?” she asks.

  I laugh. “Sort of. And now that I think about it, it could use a princess to go with it.”

  Back at their house, Jessa helps Lucy get ready for bed. Lucy starts crying, saying she doesn’t want to go to bed. She keeps leaving her room to come into the living room and Jessa has to wrangle her back.

  “Do you need some help?” I ask, but honestly I have no idea what to do. Lucy’s cries get louder and louder and I can’t understand why she can’t see that she’s just tired and she should go to bed.

  “No, I got it,” Jessa says.

  It’s clear that she does. But it’s also clear that a little help wouldn’t hurt. I see now how much she’s done on her own. It’s about time I stepped up.

  Jessa

  Lucy was a little terror, but I finally calmed her down enough to get her into bed. Or rather, she wore herself out enough to finally just crash. By the time her breathing was steady to show me she was asleep, I felt exhausted. Exhausted but happy.

  Cole was pacing in the living room when I came out.

  “Hey,” I said. “I thought maybe you’d left.”

  “Why would I leave?”

  “I don’t know,” I say. “That wasn’t exactly a lot of fun.”

  “She was tired,” he says. “And I want to be here. Not just for the fun stuff, but all of it.”

  “All of the stuff?” I say, laughing but also serious.

  He nods sincerely. “Yeah.”

  It’s impossible to describe how it feels to have this man here now. I want to cry with relief but I also know I need to not just protect myself but my daughter as well. I think I need to learn to take the days as they come, and be happy that Cole is here now.

  “You’re really incredible with her,” he tells me. He walks to me, gathers me up in his arms. I fall into him—mostly from mental exhaustion, but also for the love of the warmth of his body.

  I wrap my arms around his waist, feel up his strong back. He pulls back and takes my face in both his hands. We look into each other’s eyes for a long moment, and then he leans down and kisses me softly on my lips. He gently parts my lips with his tongue and I open my mouth to him.

  His tongue slides across mine, wet and sweet. He pulls me in closer to him and I can feel the surge in his jeans, his wanting for me. He kisses me more deeply, and we cling to each other, taking each other in.

  Cole rests his forehead on mine and strokes my cheek.

  “Jessa,” he whispers. He kisses my forehead. “I’m going to go now.”

  “No,” I say, clinging to him. “Don’t. Stay.”

  “Today was perfect,” he says. He kisses me again, a sweet peck on my lips. “I’ll call you tomorrow, sweet Jessa.”

  When he leaves, my heart melts. I never thought it could be this good, but I’m also scared. Everything’s changing, and I just hope that Cole and I can make it through all of the changes coming our way.

  Cole

  Just as one thing goes really well in life, something else has to go to hell.

  The winner of this week’s shit show? The farm.

  I don’t even notice it at first—Silvio does. We’re out at the farm to shoot more scenes, this time of me working in the barn.

  It’s where I worked on my first pair of boots. The crew recreates the setup I once had with the addition of studio lights shining down on me just out of shot to create that perfect morning sun affect, beams of light shining down on me and my work. Silvio is looking through the camera lens when he notices it.

  “Is that okay?” he asks, looking up. “It looks like it’s about to cave.”

  We all turn and see the rotting hole in the barn’s roof. It’s crap like this that makes a farm such a pain in the ass to run, especially when the person running it is more interested in the bottle than the plow.

  The farm needs constant upkeep. As soon as one thing is fixed, something else breaks down.

  When we finish I go up to the house to check on my father. I don’t see him every time we come here to shoot. There’s enough land that I can be here and he never knows—especially since it’s become pretty clear that he’s not even paying attention to his property.

  I step up on the porch and see that it is littered with empty beer and liquor bottles. The sight of it disgusts me. This man forced me to work here all through my youth even though I had no interest and grew to hate it. I gave up time with my friends, sacrificed my grades, and a real chance at sports—which I was good at, especially baseball—to work this land because my old man made me. Now look how important it is to him. All the things I gave up for this—this dumpster of a farm. It really pisses me off, seeing it like this.

  “Hello?” I say, rapping on the screen door. The front door is open, and I can see inside—a mess in there too. “Pop? It’s me.” When there’s no answer, I push the screen door open and go inside.

  It’s eerily quiet. The TV is playing in the living room, and there’s a half-eaten frozen dinner and more empty bottles on the battered coffee table. I call out to him again but nothing. I keep moving through the house, which is a wreck, until I arrive at his bedroom door, which is half closed.

  I knock as I call his name and open the door. The stench hits me immediately. The room is covered in clothes and empty chip bags, more bottles and general disarray. I see him lying face-down on the bed, the covers slung over him.

  “Pop?” I say, walking to him. “Pops? You okay?”

  For a moment, I suspect the worst and a wave of dread rolls over me.

  But when I get closer, I see that he is breathing. I also see dried vomit on the floor beside the bed.

  I step around the mess on the floor to shake him awake.

  “Hey. Pops. Wake up.” He groans and the stench of alcohol on his breath fills the room. “Hey. Wake up!” I shake him some more, realizing I thought he was dead, seeing that he’s alive but only somewhat. He’s pale and cold and sticky with sweat. I don’t know what it all means but it can’t be good. I call 9-1-1.

  Only when I see Jessa walking toward me at the hospital does relief finally wash over me.

  “Is he okay?” she asks as she gives me a reassuring hug. I hold her in my arms, the ultimate comfort.

  “I guess it’s relative,” I say. “He’s alive.”

  “Tell me what happened.”

  I tell how I found him, and got him here to the hospital.

  “What do the doctors say?” she asks.

  “They say he’s a drunk,” I answer.

  “Cole…”

  I sigh. “They say his liver is shutting down. He has to stop drinking or it will kill him. That’s it. That’s the news.” I shake my head. I’m so angry that he’s done this to himself. I know he had a hard time when Mom died, but we all did. It’s like he’s been committing suicide for the last ten years. “My uncle Dan is helping out while Pop recovers. He’s actually been helping out at the farm for a while, not that I can tell. Maybe he’s been helping my dad make his way through cases of beer.”

  “Oh, Cole,” Jessa says, rubbing my back. “I’m so sorry. Whatever I can do, I'm here.”

  I pull her into me and kiss her forehead.

  �
��He’s stable now. Doctors are releasing him in the morning. I’ll come back then and drive him to the farm. I need to have a talk with Uncle Dan, but I’ll save that for tomorrow. Right now, I just want to get out of here. Will you come back to my room with me? Just for a little while?”

  “I can’t,” she says. “Avery is with Lucy—she should be asleep by now, but I promised Avery I wouldn’t be long. Want to come back to the house with me?”

  “Definitely,” I say. Some alone time with Jessa is exactly what the end of this day calls for.

  When I walk in the house, Avery shoots me her classic death stare, but she’s going to have to do better than that after the day I had. Once she leaves, Jessa and I check on Lucy and I get to watch her sleep. It’s the most beautiful sight in the world.

  Back in the living room, we sit on the couch.

  “Come here,” I say, and I pull her into me. She nuzzles into my chest and I stroke her hair and back and kiss her head. I feel like I can finally breath again.

  “So what’s the deal with your uncle Dan?” Jessa asks.

  “Uncle Dan is maybe one step better than my father,” I tell her. “He drinks, but not as much, he works but only a little harder. The good thing about him is that at least he cares. At least he means well. Most of the time, anyway.”

  Jessa shifts her weight on me, getting more comfortable. Her body is draped over me, and it’s enough to send the signals down to my dick. When she touches me—sometimes when she just looks at me—I immediately need more.

  As if she hears my thoughts, she looks up at me. I kiss her lips softly, taking in her taste and scent. The kiss goes deeper, my tongue craving hers, craving her. I pull her even closer to me, wanting more. My dick strains in my jeans, lengthening by the second.