Not his baby: A BWWM Billionaire Romance

by Rebecca Dupree

  “I’m sorry, who is this?” Sarah interrupted with a pointed look from me to the handsome man still standing in front of me.

  “It’s the guy from the grocery store I told you about,” I finally responded.

  “Oh, the ass-face who got pissed because you did what he should’ve?” Sarah came back, instantly defending me, and I took a deep breath, trying to calm my irritation. There was just something about this guy that pushed all of my buttons.

  He rolled his eyes. “Why are you even here?” he asked, completely ignoring Sarah’s comment.

  “That’s none of your business,” I scoffed, folding my arms across my chest and trying to walk around him. I may or may not have stomped on the toes of his expensive shoes as I passed.

  “You’re really unlikable.” He called after me, drawing me to slow down and turn back towards him.

  “Oh I’m unlikable? I’m sorry, who’s the guy who got yelled at by people at the store for being a jerk?”

  That shut him up, but only for moment. The look in his blue eyes never changing, only now edged with heat that made me want to take a hasty step back.

  “Anyways,” I continued, talking to fill the sudden tension-filled silence, “if you’ll excuse me, we have to go. Somewhere far from you,” I added. I knew it was petty, but I couldn’t hold in the words.

  I linked my arm with Sarah’s who waved him off and we began to walk away, all the while hoping that would be that last I would ever see of that guy. Unfortunately, luck wouldn’t have it that way.

  “Hey,” he called out, stopping me again despite myself. I don’t know what caused me to turn around, maybe it was curiosity or maybe I simply felt bad about the desperate note in his voice, one I’d never heard before. Arrogant, cocky, dismissive, sure. But never desperate. Sarah threw a questioning glance at me which I pointedly chose to ignore.

  “You were great with my daughter,” he finally said, surprising the hell out of me.

  I raised an eyebrow at him. Was that a compliment? Did he actually compliment me? I turned to Sarah, silently asking if I heard correctly, but she just shrugged, looking as confused as I felt.

  “I really do appreciate what you did,” he said reluctantly. “I love my daughter, she’s my whole world. You really were great with her, and I want to make you an offer.”

  “Excuse me?” I asked, my eyebrows in my hairline now as I tried to make sense of his words.

  “I want to ask you to come work for me, as a babysitter. My previous nanny had to quit, so I don’t have anyone else to take care of my daughter. And she needs someone. Someone like you.”

  Well I certainly didn’t expect that; seriously, I couldn’t believe my ears. I guess my face showed it, but I could see the sincerity shining in his blue eyes, in his words.

  “Look, I really need someone to take care of my daughter. And you seem like a good candidate. You made her laugh. You made her happy. That’s all I care about.”

  I looked to Sarah who still said nothing; I don’t think she knew what I should even say to that. In the end I looked back to him, remembering how he’d been at the store. I couldn’t believe he’d changed so quickly. More than likely he was still the same rude, intolerable man from before, so I rolled my eyes and began to turn away, but his voice stopped me once more, still desperate, still earnest and sincere.

  “Please!” he called out, walking after us now, “I’ll pay you really well.”

  I sighed, turning around; well, I just couldn’t say no to that, right? Sarah shook her head a little, silently telling me that it wasn’t worth it. I sighed at her: it really wasn’t, but I could do with a few extra bucks, especially with my boss’s threat hanging over my head that she would fire me for the smallest mistake. A girl still had to pay rent.

  “Ten bucks an hour,” he said, when I gave him my full attention.

  “…Twenty.” I saw from the corner of my eye Sarah was making a face, but I decided to ignore her.

  “Fifteen.”

  “…Done.”

  He seemed to be relieved but tried to hide it; instead he took out a notepad and started scribbling a few things before ripping the paper off and handing it to me.

  “Come to this address at that time tomorrow.”

  “Fine.” I still couldn’t believe the words coming out of my mouth. What was I thinking? But I knew. It was the love that shone in his blue eyes when he talked about his daughter. Anyone who loved his daughter that much couldn’t be all bad. Maybe he’d just been having a bad day at the grocery store or something.

  That was the last thing I said before walking away along with Sarah. I could just throw this paper into the next trash can and forget about it. But then again I really wanted the money, and might really need it in the near future if my boss had her way. I huffed in frustration. There was a reason why greed was one of the deadly sins, and it was because it came to bite you in the ass!

  “I do believe you’re gonna regret this,” Sarah commented after we were out of hearing distance.

  “Shut up,” I groaned, hoping she was wrong.

  “But hey, look at the bright side, he’s totally hot.”

  I couldn’t help but laugh at that. And it didn’t hurt that it was true.

  “And a rich guy like that must have a Jacuzzi, so you better invite me over some day.”

  I laughed again; maybe it wouldn’t be so bad. Besides, his daughter needed someone else to take care of her and the girl was cute. It was just a babysitting gig, something I’d done a hundred times . A thousand. How bad could it be?

  ~~~~~

  I don’t really know what compelled me to go to his place in the end, but there I was. As I stood there looking over his palatial home, I had to admit the guy had some pretty good taste. And he was apparently loaded. No wonder he’s an asshole, I thought to myself. Most of my interactions with wealthy people had only gone one way. Not good.

  “Might as well,” I whispered to myself, reaching out a single finger to ring the doorbell. It didn’t take long for the man to open the door. Almost as soon as the bell had chimed, the heavy mahogany door was thrown open to reveal my new employer. He was probably on his way out.

  “Oh, you’re early,” he said, sounding surprised.

  “Yes, people do that occasionally.”

  “I didn’t think you would. You didn’t seem like the type.”

  “Why, because I’m not a fancy person like you?” I said through gritted teeth. What was with this guy? And why did it take so little to have me bickering with him like a little child?

  “That’s not what I...”

  “It’s fine,” I finally said, drawing in a deep breath to calm myself. “Where’s your daughter?”

  He scoffed and rolled his eyes, but led me in anyways and took me through a maze of hallways and large, expensively decorated rooms, all the while explaining whatever he could about her. “Her name is Stephanie, she’s three. I’ve written a list of the numbers you'd need to call just in case, along with the food she usually eats, make sure she eats everything. She’s over in the living room right now. I’ll keep in touch, miss…um.” He trailed off, looking at me expectantly, and I realized we had never even exchanged names.

  “Regan O’Donnell,” I said slowly, staring up at him.

  “Evan Bale,” he called himself, extending his hand. “Nice to formally meet you.”

  I inhaled deeply again, biting back all the things I really wanted to say to him. No, it’s not nice. I don’t like you and you don’t like me. I’m just here for the paycheck.

  Evan arched one brow at me expectantly, looking pointedly from me to his hand and back again.

  Gingerly, I reached out my own, just barely sliding my hand against his, palm against palm, and I had to bite back a gasp at the shock of it. It was like an electric current running from skin to skin, doubling back on itself until I had to jerk my own fingers back, holding them clenched against me as if burned. That’s what it had felt like. Heat. Overwhelming heat.

 
; He looked torn between saying something or growling. I hoped my forced smile hid the uncertainty that I suddenly felt.

  “Right. Well, just do the job and we can both get through this,” he finally said, and I wondered if he was as affected by the touch as I was. No, no, no. Get your head out of the clouds. This guy is rude and awful. It doesn’t matter if he’s handsome as sin. I still dislike him, and he dislikes me.

  “Fine.” I snapped out the word, harsher than I had intended.

  “Fine!”

  With that, he turned on his perfectly polished heels and left me alone in his house. I went to go find Stephanie. It took me a few tries to find the right room in the giant maze of a house, but I finally did. She was sitting on the floor of the living room, playing with some dolls.

  “Hey Stephanie,” I called to her kindly from the doorway. “Remember me?”

  The girl looked up at me, curious at first, and then excited exclaimed, “You’re the magic coin lady.”

  I chuckled at her nickname for me, at the expression of wonder still on her face, and the way she reached one hand up to check her ear again, just in case there were any more coins in there.

  “So Stephanie, your dad asked me to take care of you. I’m Regan,” I said, introducing myself as I walked closer to her.

  “Are you the crazy itch he was talking about?”

  I froze and blinked a few times, wondering if I had something in my ear. Did I just hear her right?

  “What?” I asked, sitting on the floor next to her.

  “I heard him talking on the phone about some crazy itch that was going to take care of me,” the little girl explained. Oh sweet Lord she was so innocent. I gaped for a little bit, and panicked at her next words. “Why did he call you itch?”

  “Oh!” I said, racking my brains for what to say. Damn that bastard! What the hell was he thinking, saying something like that in front of a three-year-old?

  Finally, the little girl gave her a way out. “Did you do something that made him itch?”

  I had my mouth opened, forced it into a smile, as I nodded, “Yeah, totally.”

  “Oh, okay,” she said, instantly accepting the explanation. Thank God.

  I sighed in relief, glad that she was satisfied with my answer, because honesty, I don’t know what I would have said to that.

  “Do you want to play with my dolls?” Stephanie offered sweetly.

  “Sure.” I said. Oh God, yes, let’s please change the subject.

  “Great you’re just in time. Black Widow is about to free the Avengers!” she yelled excitedly. I gazed curiously at the dolls she had, and it was a Barbie with red hair, dressed in black. Then I saw many Kens dressed like the Avengers. All the clothes looked handmade. I mouthed a huge “aww." I felt so proud of this girl. And it didn’t hurt that the Avengers were one of my all time favorites.

  “Hurry up, Hawkeye is going to be thrown into a pit full of crocodiles and Black Widow has to save him!”

  “Right away!” I said, instantly falling into character as I picked up the Ken doll turned superhero.

  This girl liked Black Widow! Oh God, she was so adorable!

  “Black Widow, hurry!” I yelled, moving the Hawkeye Ken.

  “I’m coming, Hawkeye!” Stephanie yelled, making the Black Widow Barbie beat up a few more dolls and I chuckled at her antics. Even I had to admit that this was more fun that sitting at home by myself and watching movie trailers.

  I could totally get used to this!

  Chapter 3

  Regan

  Spending time with Stephanie was a joy; the little girl was so adorable and sweet, and so unlike her father. The little girl and I had hit it off right away, especially since she was obsessed with comic books, and more importantly, the ones with female leads.

  “And then Angela swoops in to save all the Asgardians held prisoners!” Stephanie yelled excitedly as I played along with her. I may not have had any siblings, but with all the years I spent babysitting, I did know my way around kids, and she was just a total sweetheart.

  “We should have a tea party next time with the Avengers, they deserve a break,” Stephanie said kind-heartedly as she cradled her dolls like they were the most precious things in the world.

  “That’d be great; you know I could bring over some chocolate chip cookies to go with the tea.”

  Her expression lit up even brighter at my words. “Yay! Thor loves cookies! Chocolate chips are his favorite.”

  I had to laugh at her enthusiasm. “Okay, I’ll bring some tomorrow then. So what do you want to do now?”

  “Wanna read me my comic books?” she said after a long moment of serious deliberation.

  “Sure!”

  Stephanie was about to go and get her comics when the front door to the house opened. I looked at my watch; Evan was probably here, so that meant it was my time to go.

  “That’s daddy!” Stephanie shouted, vibrating with excitement to see her father.

  “Let’s go greet him,” I said, faking my excitement. It was obvious that she adored her dad, but to be honest, I just wanted to give him a piece of my mind. How dare he say the b-word in front of his daughter?!

  I lifted Stephanie up when she took the superhero pose. The girl really loved superheroes and liked to pretend she could fly. When we reached the bottom of the stairs, I let her down and she went to run to her father.

  “Daddy!” she yelled excitedly.

  She ran around the corner and before I had time to turn, Evan popped out with Stephanie in his arms; he smiled at her and kissed her in the cheek.

  “Baby, I’ll be right with you, I promise,” he said before handing her to me. “Look, can you take her for just a little bit longer? I’ll be right back.”

  I glanced at Stephanie, but she was distracted with the dolls still clenched in her hands, pretending they were fighting off an alien invasion.

  “Dude, my shift is over. I have to go to my other job,” I whispered as quietly as I could. “I still need to go and catch the bus. I can’t just...”

  “Please,” he said, and the desperation in his voice made me go quiet. “Just for a few minutes while I deal with something.”

  “Deal with what, daddy?” Stephanie asked, and he seemed at a loss of what to say to her, so I just smiled at her and explained it myself. Evan seemed genuinely upset, and even though I didn’t want to be late for my next job, a few more minutes wouldn’t hurt. I gave him a brief nod and he sighed in relief.

  “Your dad needs to handle grown up things,” I finally said, walking a few steps away from the front door.

  “Like grown up boring things?”

  “Yes, grown up boring things, like coffee,” I responded, twisting my face into an exaggerated grimace as I drew out the word.

  “Eww.” Stephanie wiggled out of my grasp and ran upstairs quickly.

  Evan sighed in relief, before frowning. “Coffee?”

  “Yeah, apparently she thinks it makes your soul boring and that’s why adults don’t play as much. Your daughter has a lot of wonderful ideas and an amazing imagination.” I explained, smiling at him, forgetting who I was talking to for a moment.

  He thought this over, but shrugged nonetheless before looking back. He still seemed just as tense as before.

  “Thank you,” he finally whispered.

  “No problem,” I said as casually as I could before going upstairs too as he turned to go back toward the way he came. I started going up the stairs, letting him deal with whatever problems he was having ,when the sudden sound of raised voices stopped me. I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but I couldn’t help it: Evan sounded genuinely upset.

  “Why the hell did you have to come here?” I heard Evan snap at someone and was surprised to hear a simpering, feminine voice answer back.

  “She’s my daughter too, Evan. I just want to take her home with me. I’m Stephanie’s mother. She needs me.”

  “Some mom you’ve been.” Evan bit out he words laced heavily with sarcasm. “Who do you thin
k has had to deal with her crying all the time because she misses her mommy? Do you have any idea how many times she’s been like that? How bad it’s gotten?”

  The woman, Stephanie’s mother, spoke again, this time trying to sound cajoling but coming off as condescending. “I understand you’re upset about that. But really, she’ll grow out of the tantrums.”

  “No, you don’t understand. Hell, the other day I was at the grocery store and a stranger had to comfort her for me, because she won’t listen to me most of the time.”

  I heard the woman scoff before laughing, and the sound was like nails on a chalkboard. “Is that what the new nanny is doing? Playing her mommy because you can’t handle it yourself? You’re her father for Christ’s sake, Evan.”

  “That woman is helping me because I can’t be both Stephanie’s father, and mother, and the guy who drove her mom away.”

  I cocked my head as a tense silence passed between them. Finally, the woman spoke again.

  “…You haven’t told her, right?”

  “How do you tell a little girl her mom isn’t with you because she’s a cheater? Oh I can just imagine that conversation going so well. She’s only three years old.”

  “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry.” Her words didn’t sound sincere at all to my ears, and I wondered for a moment if Evan would fall for it, and I raised a silent, mental cheer when he spoke again.

  “Screw your apologies. I don’t give a crap about them. Look, right now she’s okay, so please just get out before she sees you!”

  There was silence for a while, but I didn’t hear any movement of her leaving; instead, I heard the woman’s soft voice, purring this time. “I didn’t just come for her: I came here for something else…I want to get back together with you.”

  There was another long silence for a while, before he burst into fits of hard-edged laughter. “You’re crazy!”

  “Maybe I am, but I promise you I’m willing to make things right. I want us to be together again.”

  Evan’s laughter slowly faded before he spoke again. “If you wanted us to be together, then you wouldn’t have slept with another man.”