by Ivy Wonders
“Yeah.” I didn’t know how to act. “Sure, Dr. Arlen.”
“We can’t have that,” he said. “Call me Alex.”
I nodded, not knowing how to react. “I feel so weird.”
“I bet you do.” He reached out and lightly patted my shoulder. “You’ll get used to this.”
Trying to ignore the odd sensation that ran through me at his brief touch, I hoped he was right. “I’ll try.”
“Okay, let’s go over the ground rules,” he said as his daughter buried her face in his broad chest. The man was all muscle. I couldn’t recall ever seeing anyone as good-looking as him in real life before. I tried to keep myself from staring. “Rule number one, whenever you leave this house with my daughter, you let Steven drive you. He’s a former Navy SEAL and one of our bodyguards. You will never leave this house with my daughter without him. Got it?”
Nodding, I assured him I understood, “Totes got it.”
He moved one hand through his thick, wavy, dark hair, and I had to concentrate, so I didn’t sigh at how sexy that was. “Okay. Rule number two, my daughter’s happiness is essential to me. I don’t want you to think that spending time holding her or doing things with her is spoiling her. She’s the center of my life, and I always want her to know that.”
“Center, happy, okay to hold her,” I said. “Got it.”
“No hitting her, ever,” he added. “And no yelling at her. No cursing in front of her. Lots of hugs, lots of attention, and lots of praise when she does things.”
It was then that I realized there wasn’t a woman around—like a mom or wife. “Um, where’s her mom?”
“Back in Spokane,” he said as he smoothed his hand over his daughter’s silky, blonde hair. “In a cemetery. We lost her to cancer last year.”
I put my hand over my mouth as my gasp threatened to escape. “I’m so sorry.” Then I knew why he wanted his daughter to get so much attention and praise. He was trying his best to make up for the loss of her mother.
Looking at them as Tabby wound her arms around her dad’s neck and they hugged each other, I realized that they suffered through so much.
“So you can understand why I want things the way I do for our child?” he asked softly.
“I can.” I had to wipe the tear away from my eye that had escaped. “I’ll be good to her; I swear to you.”
“Good. That’s all I ask.” He reached out, pressing his hand on my shoulder again, and how I felt didn’t make sense. He touched only my shoulder, yet my tummy went tight, and moisture blossomed in places it hadn’t before.
I didn’t like my reaction and tried to remember that this man was now my boss. I couldn’t look at him with puppy dog eyes. Not that I’d ever looked at anyone like that, ever, but he was different.
Not only was he beyond hot, but he was sweet, too, and he smelled awesome. I had no idea anyone could smell that damn good, but Alex did. I wrestled my wandering mind back to business. “So, what’s the pay, boss?”
His smile came back, and my heart skipped a beat. “Well, you’re getting free room and board. That means you get to eat whatever you want here. And feel free to tell the chef what you like. His name’s Rudy, and you’ll find him in the kitchen most of the time. Plus, you get free maid service. Our head maid is Chloe; she’ll take care of keeping your rooms cleaned.”
“Rooms?” You’ve got to be kidding me. I only needed the one.
“Yes, I told you that I’ve set you up in a suite.” He pointed up. “All the bedrooms are upstairs. And all of them are suites. They each have a living area, you know—like a living room. And then there’s the bedroom. Each one is equipped with twin walk-in closets and a full bathroom. Yours has a balcony, too.”
I didn’t know what to think. “This is like totes unbelieve—you know?”
Laughing, he nodded. “Yeah. I wasn’t always this well-to-do. I grew up in a small home with my parents and little brother. My wife had the money. She came from old money and inherited loads of it. And those loads now belong to Tabby and me. And speaking of money, your salary will be dispersed on Fridays by my accountant who comes by to pay everyone each week. I’m starting you off at two-thousand.”
“Wow,” I thought I’d only be getting maybe half that much. “Two-thousand a month? That’s more than I expected.”
“Then you’re really going to be surprised,” he said with a grin that made my panties wet. “It’s two-thousand a week, Ky.”
“Wait! What?” He had to be joking. “Are you messing with me?”
“Not at all.” His laughter shook his chest, causing Tabby to pull her face from it.
Finally, she looked at me. “I’m, Tabby,” she warbled.
“I’m, Ky.” I liked the way her green eyes sparkled. “Do you like to play with dolls?”
She nodded. “Do you?”
“I do.” I looked at the toys that were scattered around her playroom. “Do you think I can play with some of your toys with you?”
She nodded, then climbed off her father’s lap. “I’ll get you some.”
As she walked away from us to get some toys, Alex looked at me, mouthing, “Thank you.”
I had no idea why he would thank me for doing my job, but I mouthed back, “You’re welcome.” It was hard to keep from smiling.
His cell rang, and he got up, pulling it out of his pocket; he answered it, then walked away. And I turned my attention to Tabby who brought three dolls. “These are my favorites.”
She handed one of them to me. It had dark hair and blue eyes. “Thank you. I like this one. What’s her name?”
“You get to make that up, Ky.” She sat right down on my lap, facing out as she cradled the other two dolls in her little arms. “My babies are Fiona and Fairy.”
“Staying with the first letter of ‘F’, I’ll call mine Felicity.” I put mine in the crook of my arm. “Do you like your hair to be braided, Tabby?”
“I don’t know,” she said as she looked back at me. “What does that mean?”
“If we can find a hairbrush, I can show you.” Her hair would look adorable in a couple of braids.
Alex came back, looking at his daughter on my lap. His eyes met mine. “She doesn’t do that with anyone but me.”
I felt like I’d done something wrong. “I’m sorry.”
“No,” he said as he shook his head. “I’m glad.”
Tabby looked up at him. “Daddy, can Ky braid my hair?”
One dark brow cocked at me, and he asked, “Will you be gentle?”
“Of course.” I put the baby doll down to show him, easing a section of her hair away from the rest and making a small braid. “See, no pulling of hair at all. I’ve got the tenderest head of anyone I know. I learned how to make pain-free braids a long time ago.”
“Then braid away.” He leaned over, running his hand through Tabby’s hair. “I just don’t want anything to ever hurt my baby girl.”
She’d been hurt enough by losing her mother. The thought made my heart ache. “I’ll never hurt her; I promise you.”
“I’ll be right over there while you two get to know each other.” He walked away to take a seat on one of the chairs in the playroom. With his attention on his cell phone, I took a really good look at the man—and the effect he had on me was something I’d ever experienced.
From the dark waves of hair that flowed around his face to the slight slope of his narrow waist, everything about him did something for me. I had to learn fast not to let that show.
Chapter 5
Alex
Ky seemed to be settling in just fine. Two short weeks later, Tabby and Ky seemed inseparable.
When the two of them stopped by the hospital to visit me on my first day at work, I found myself smiling from ear to ear as soon as I spotted them.
I couldn’t avoid my attraction to Ky. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t deny it. But I managed to keep that magnetism under wraps. She was young, and on top of that, she worked for me. It was a no-no all the w
ay around.
Tabby waved her arms as she looked at me, squealing, “Daddy! It’s me, Tabby!”
As I went to them, another doctor came our way. “So this is Tabby.” Reagan Dawson was introduced to me that morning, and I told her about my little girl.
Tabby jumped into my arms, and I presented her to Reagan. “Tabby, this is Reagan. She works with me.”
Typical of my daughter, she buried her face in my chest. Reagan just smiled. “Well, it’s nice to meet you, Tabby.” Then she looked at Ky, who seemed taken aback for some reason. “And you must be the au pair.”
Ky nodded. “I’m Ky.”
“Nice to meet you, Ky,” Reagan said. “I’m sure we’ll see lots of each other.”
Ky looked at me. “Why?” Her expression was a mix of emotions. But I was pretty sure I saw jealousy in the mix.
“Because we work together.” Reagan looked at Ky with a smile, then held up her left hand. “Married.”
What was that about? “Anyway, what has you girls out and about today?” I asked.
“Tabby wanted to see where you work,” Ky told me. “And we wanted ice cream. She wants you to join us. I told her you probably couldn’t.”
A little break wouldn’t hurt anything. “Come on, let’s see what the cafeteria has.”
Reagan shook her head. “Nope. The ice cream there is not that good. But go over a block south to New Release. It’s a café, and it’s got the best ice cream and burgers. It’s lunch time. Take a break if you’d like to.”
Ky’s eyes went to the floor. “It’s okay if you don’t want to go.”
“But I do,” I said. “See ya later, Reagan.”
Ky followed me as I carried Tabby and headed to the exit. We walked all the way out before she said, “She’s pretty.”
“Who is?” I stopped to let her catch up.
“The other doctor,” Ky said. “I thought you and she were dating.”
“Nope.” It was jealousy in her pretty eyes. “I’m not on the market to date.”
“Good,” came her quick response. Then she went beet red. “I mean… good because you have a lot to get over.”
Sure she did.
“Yes, I do.” I wasn’t ready to do any dating. But the attraction to Ky wasn’t lessening any. And I couldn’t help doing what I was about to do. “After lunch, you should take Tabby to your favorite salon to get her hair cut and get yours done, too. I’m treating you two to a day of beauty.”
“You don’t have to do that,” Ky said.
Then Tabby raised her head. “Uh huh, ’cause I want to get my hair cut, Ky. Please?”
“Well, you can. I don’t have to get anything done.” Ky reached up to touch her ponytail.
“I’d like to see your hair down, Ky. Get it cut and get anything else done that you want. It’s my treat.” I wasn’t taking no for an answer. “And if they have someone who does makeup, get that done, too, and buy whatever it is they use, so you can do it on your own.”
“But,” Ky tried to protest.
“But nothing. I’m taking you two out for dinner this evening to a nice place and want my girls to look pretty.” I clamped my lips shut tight after realizing what I said.
Ky finally said, “Okay then.”
I saw the café ahead and went that way, crossing the street. “Traffic’s kind of bad here. Stay beside me, Ky.”
She hurried to stay at my side as we crossed the busy street. When we got inside, the menu was written on a chalkboard behind the counter. “We’ve got a lot to choose from. Go ahead and tell her what you want, Ky.”
“Oh, I’m okay. I don’t need anything,” she said.
That girl just had to be hungry. “Then I’ll order for you.” In the two weeks we’d spent together living under the same roof, I’d yet to see that girl eat something. Her curvy figure must’ve shamed her for some reason, but she looked like a million bucks. “A kid’s meal with a cheeseburger and chocolate milk and two double cheeseburgers with fries and cream sodas for us.”
Ky looked away, putting her arms around herself, trying to hide her midsection. “I can’t eat all that.”
“I bet you can.” I handed Tabby to Ky to pay for the food. “Find us a table, please.”
Taking Tabby, Ky went to a booth in the back. Grabbing a booster seat, she put Tabby in it on one side of the table, then took the seat across from her. As I approached them, I looked at Ky who’d put her arms around herself again. Sliding in next to Tabby, I asked, “Why does it seem like you’re insecure about your weight?”
Her eyes rolled. “Um, prob because I’m fat.”
“You are not.” It’s terrible the way women think they have to weigh next to nothing to be attractive. “You’re perfect, Ky.”
“I am not. I’ve got thunder thighs. And,” she looked down at her large chest. “Well, too much up top. And don’t get me started on my butt. I can’t find jeans that fit me right. If they fit my big butt, they don’t fit my waist for some reason.”
How could she not see those were her best assets? “You need a new mirror if you think anything is wrong with your body.”
She looked up at me and her eyes met mine. “You’ve got muscles on top of muscles. So how can you think my body doesn’t have anything wrong with it?”
“Women are supposed to be softer than men,” Some women liked to have lots of muscle mass, and that was all well and good. I liked my women soft.
Not that Ky could ever be mine.
“Oh yeah?” Her smile, though slight, made my heart skip a beat.
“Yeah.” I wanted to reach across that table and take her hands in mine and hold them tight. “You’re really a great beauty, Ky.”
“Yeah,” Tabby agreed. “You really are beautiful, Ky.”
Ky’s cheeks went red, but she wasn’t about to let the compliment train end there. “You’re beautiful, too, Tabby.”
Tabby kissed my cheek. “And you are very handsome, Daddy.”
“Thank you, Princess.” I looked over at Ky to see her eyes cast down again.
The waitress brought the food, and I picked up my burger, waiting for Ky to take a bite of hers first. She smiled as she caught me watching her. “What are you looking at?”
“The first bite of food I’ve ever seen you take.” I waited and watched.
She took a giant bite. “Happy?” she said around her mouthful.
“Ecstatic.” I looked at Tabby. “Now you, Tabs.”
She bit into her burger. “So yummy.”
I took a bite and found mine to be yummy, too. “I agree.”
We ate quietly as the food was too good. And when I saw the last bite go down Ky’s throat, I felt happiness for that simple thing. She was beginning to feel more at home with us.
I wanted her to feel that way more than anything I’ve wanted in a very long time.
Chapter 6
Ky
The day had worn little Tabby out after spending it at the children’s museum. She was fast asleep, having her dinner earlier than usual. That meant Alex and I would be dining alone. And it kind of thrilled me that we’d get some time alone together.
I was a month into my new job, and Alex was two weeks into his. As I headed to the dining room, I ran ideas through my head on how to start a conversation with the man I always felt tongue-tied around. Well, most of the time. Sometimes I felt at ease. That was starting to happen more and more.
The only thing that wasn’t fading was the strong attraction I had for him. He probably had no idea that the way he talked to me and sometimes touched me made me feel like he might like me even more than I was sure he already did.
I knew he liked me for his daughter’s sake. She and I got along like peas and carrots. But I hated myself for even thinking a man like him would actually be attracted me. He probably thought of me as a kid. Right off, he didn’t like the way I looked; that’s why he paid for me to get a nearly complete makeover.
That day after eating lunch together, Tabby and I went to a sa
lon that Carla told me was the bomb. With Alex’s credit card in hand, the ladies at that salon went gaga over Tabby and me. A few hundred dollars later, we emerged from the salon with gorgeous curls, and I had some highlights—a thing I never dared before.
The owner of the salon took before and after pictures of me and asked if she could use them on her website. I suppose my transformation was somewhat miraculous. So I gave her the go-ahead.
I should’ve gotten a pic of Alex’s face when he came home that night. His eyes went wide, and he scanned my entire body, then he let out a whistle that made me blush.
He couldn’t have been faking that expression.
Never had I seen anything like what I saw in Alex’s eyes that night as I stood there under the chandelier in the foyer. They glistened—and then smoldered—making my knees go weak.
Avoiding asking myself what I was doing, I’d gotten myself cleaned up nicely after putting Tabby to bed. I put on a dress that I picked up while we were out that day. Some two-inch heels adorned my feet. I couldn’t walk in anything higher than that. My hair was down my back; I straightened it, not having the time to curl it the way they had at the salon. My makeup was on point, too. I was getting good at applying it just right.
I hadn’t seen Carla in a month. She would be blown away. That’s my excuse as to why I got all dolled-up. After dinner, I planned to see my old friends and roomies. It was Friday, and the girls usually had a few drinks while watching Vampire Diaries.
Although not one to participate in the drinking part of the evening, I might try one cocktail this time. I’d begun feeling a lot more like a grownup instead of the kid I always thought of myself as. And I hoped Alex would start to look at me that way, too.
Why, I didn’t know. It was bad form to date the person you work for. That’s what everyone at the employment agency said. At the grocery store where I worked, employees were forbidden to date each other.
But I couldn’t seem to control my actions at times. Like this evening where I purposely got dressed up just to see my boss’s response. I didn’t know what got into me.