Billionaire Daddy's Contract: A Single Dad and Nanny Romance

by Melissa Chetley

  More than a few minutes go by before Audrey eventually bursts through the doorway with her whole body drenched in rainwater from head to toe. She looks absolutely exhausted from her search and from being out in the pouring rain, her teeth slightly chattering from the cold and wet weather conditions. Yet in spite of her uncomfortable and shivering appearance, the young woman puts a proud grin on her lips while she pulls something out from beneath her clothes. I raise my brow. There, in her hands, is the small black hat that Teagan lost in the winds and was throwing a tantrum over.

  "Look what I found," the nanny nonchalantly says as Teagan's whole face lights up with joy.

  The little girl instantly charges over to the brunette with a big smile. She throws her arms around the woman's legs and eagerly squeals, "Thank you, thank you, thank you, Audrey! You're the best!"

  I lightly scoff and shake my head at the stirring scene in front of my eyes. It's strange to witness so much happiness and joy when only a few moments ago there was nothing to be in high spirits for at all. But the only reaction that I can conjure up in response to the situation is a large sigh of relief due to how everything seemed to work out in the end. I almost feel ready to finally relax and let loose of my stress when I notice a subtle red smudge and smear near the corner of Audrey's lip. The open cut and wound on her face is a lot more apparent when she smiles, the injury slightly oozing with blood from the active motions of her mouth.

  She looks like she's hurt.

  My legs automatically move toward the nanny who softly gasps as I suddenly put my hand underneath her chin to inspect the wound. There's a visible bruise and cut on the side of her lips which looks pretty painful. Though I can tell that she's bravely enduring the tender discomfort because even the slightest touch of my finger that isn't remotely near the injury causes her to wince.

  "What happened to your face? Why are you bleeding?" I ask in a somber voice.

  "Oh. I accidentally got elbowed in the mouth when I bent down to grab Teagan's hat. But I guess reaching down to the ground when you're surrounded by a rabid crowd of people is not the smartest idea," Audrey loosely chuckles. She timidly wipes the blood off of her face with the back of her hand. "It's not a big deal though-"

  Why is she such an idiot sometimes?

  I don't bother letting the brunette finish her sentence before promptly grabbing her arm and pulling her away from the quiet group of observers who have been patiently watching and waiting to help the young woman dry herself off. Almost every maid in the room gently gasps with surprise and amusement, yet I couldn't really care less about what any of them were thinking about my offbeat and unusual reaction. It's hard to maintain my cool image of composure when my tolerance for Audrey's recklessness has finally reached its limit and breaking point. There's no way I can feel at ease or at peace with myself just idly standing by and seeing her get hurt anymore, especially when it's clear that she doesn't give a damn about her own wellbeing when it comes to the people she cares about.

  "Mr. Bennett? Where are we going?" Audrey exclaims in an extremely confused tone of voice as she blindly follows me into one of the empty, unused dens.

  The nanny aimlessly waits in the room with a bewildered expression on her face while I walk over to the storage room and grab a first aid kit. However, she slowly begins to get the idea behind my sudden actions once she notices the box in my hand. She opens her mouth to try and refuse my help but pauses when I give her the look to shut up and sit down which she reluctantly obliges upon. The apprehensive woman follows my lead and takes a seat right in front of me where my eyes are able to see her fresh wound again.

  A loud yelp instantly rushes out from Audrey's throat when I barely even touch her face with the disinfectant. Her face scrunches up with agony while she complains, "Ouch! That really hurts, you know."

  "Of course it's going to hurt when someone hits you right in the face," I plainly retort as I go in again with my gauze to disinfect the cut.

  "Are you saying that from experience?" she scoffs.

  The snappy remark that Audrey suddenly makes on a whim forces me to stop what I'm doing to furrow my brow at her. I can't help but smirk at her kneejerk reply to me which reminds me of her old self. But a deep look of horror and regret swiftly spreads across the young woman's face once she realizes that she accidentally broke out of the professional character that she's been playing now for weeks. I can see her cheeks glowing slightly red with embarrassment while her brown eyes shift off to the side in order to avoid contact with mine.

  "You don't need to keep up with that fake act anymore, Audrey. It's much more natural when you're like this anyway," I snidely note with a disapproving shake of my head. She makes a grimace and grits her teeth while I resume my cleansing of her injury.

  "Well, you don't need to put on a fake act and pretend like you care about me either then. It's just a small wound. It'll heal in time. Like I said, it's not a big deal."

  "It's not a fake act, and getting hit in the face is a pretty big deal. You're still a woman, you know," I affirm while my gaze slowly rises up to look at Audrey. She looks flustered by my tender remark to the point where she doesn't know how to react except with timid silence.

  "Besides, I wouldn't want the paparazzi to start making up any wild stories and accusations about how I'm the one who gave you that wound. That would be a seriously huge pain to deal with," I add with a sigh.

  An amused chuckle escapes from the brunette's lips. "They would assume that, wouldn't they? But maybe if you were less of a sleazy jerk, those kinds of stories would be a lot less plausible. More people would start doubting the gossip instead of believing it."

  Hearing Audrey's playful albeit hard-hitting words brings an immediate pause to my actions. She's actually right even if she simply meant it in jest. The only reason I even have to stress out and worry about what kind of bullshit and nonsense the media puts out is because my notorious reputation gives a bit of credibility to their lies. If I had a more spotless and reputable image when it came to my romantic relationships, the public would be more inclined to take my side and to challenge what is being spoken about me. It's mainly my fault that the paparazzi can even bother to exploit these weaknesses and opportunities so easily in the first place.

  The nanny becomes extremely alarmed and nervous after she notices how quiet I've become following her snide statements. "I was only joking about it, Mr. Bennett-"

  "No, you're completely right," I interject. "I don't exactly have the best track record when it comes to my relationships, so there is, at least, some bitter truth to your words. The story would be a whole lot different if the headlines weren't plagued with the latest news on who I'm dating now and how long my relationship lasted with the previous one."

  "Now it kind of just sounds like you're bragging about how many women you've been with," she delicately scoffs and rolls her eyes.

  "Does that make you jealous?" I instinctively ask.

  "Wh-what? Of course not. Why would I be jealous?" the brunette sputters while her brown eyes widen in overt surprise. She tries to keep her cool after hearing my accusing question, but a nervous and unnatural laugh spills from her mouth as if she had something to hide from me.

  "You were curious about whether or not the rumors were true, weren't you?"

  "I-I did ask, yes, but that doesn't mean I was jealous. It was just…small talk."

  "Small talk," I repeat in a skeptical tone as I slowly nod my head. "Right."

  I hide my amusement while Audrey decides to keep her mouth closed in order to avoid further implicating herself in the discussion. With the silence between us naturally settling into place, I begin to intently focus on sterilizing and bandaging up the rest of her injury. By the time I am finished tending to her cut and bruise, the wound is neatly covered up with a small band-aid.

  "Thank you for patching me up so quickly," Audrey says in a low and modest voice while I shake my head.

  "No, thank you for helping m
e grab Teagan's hat. She would have definitely given me the cold shoulder and silent treatment for a long time if I didn't somehow find it for her. You saved me a lot of trouble."

  The young woman blankly stares at me before her lips eventually break out into a stifled smile and chortle. I immediately stop and pause from her abrupt and unusual reaction to my earnest words of appreciation. The way she laughs in slight embarrassment makes me feel like I've said something wrong in the moment. I don't know what to make of her response.

  "What is it? Did I say something funny?" I hesitantly ask.

  "No, it's just really weird to hear you thank me when I'm only doing my job. Though I guess it's just weird in general to hear you say 'thank you' at all to someone like me. I can't imagine the important people at the top like yourself thanking the help in such a sincere way."

  "But it's exactly because it's you that I want to personally send my thanks to you," I nonchalantly reply. The joy and merriment swiftly fades from the nanny's expression as I gaze long and deep into her warm brown eyes, the solemn and heavy mood weighing down on both of our shoulders. "Thank you doesn't even begin to describe how much I appreciate your efforts, especially since I haven't treated you the best in spite of everything and all that you have done for me and Teagan. And for that, I want to apologize for the many times where I have hurt you."

  Troubled by my apologetic tone, Audrey firmly shakes her head and tries to laugh it off. "It's completely fine. This is what I signed up for anyway-"

  "It's not fine." My loud voice practically echoes and fills across the room. I can feel my composure gradually crumbling from the excessive amount of compliance that she exhibits whenever she's around me. It's just not natural, and I can't help but feel incredibly bothered and irritated when she intentionally acts like that. The fake persona frustrates me to the point where all of the pent-up thoughts and emotions that I have been suppressing for a long time come pouring out of me all at once: "You think it makes me happy to see other people treat you so poorly when you don't deserve that sort of treatment in the first place? Do you think it makes me happy to hear and see you endure the insults and harassment from strangers just for the sake of my reputation? None of that makes me happy."

  A dumbfounded and confused expression spreads across Audrey's face after my sudden outburst leaves her entirely speechless. The only thing she can do is scoff in disbelief and then fold her arms over her chest as she stares at me in absolute bewilderment. "I already knew that there would be risks involved when I signed on with this ridiculous contract, so why do you have to care and concern yourself with me so much? I'm just an employee of yours."

  "No, you're not just an employee to me. Not anymore, at least," I state with a shake of my head. "You've become much more than that to me somewhere along these past few weeks that we've been spending together. And I don't mean it in the sense like how it is with Crane. The circumstances are a little different with you."

  "Okay, I honestly don't know where you are going with this right now. And I don't want to sound crazy or get ahead of myself because even I think this is a long shot, but are you trying to tell me that you like me or something?" Audrey cautiously asks while her brown eyes fill up with a slight look of fear and anticipation. She looks afraid to hear my answer, but she chooses not to shy away from me. Her stare simply remains heavily fixated on me as she eagerly awaits my answer.

  "Yeah, I guess that is what I'm trying to say right now," I openly confess. "I have feelings for you, Audrey Scott. The kind of feelings that I've been hiding and lying to myself about for a while now."

  The words that happen to come out of my mouth and voice sound strangely foreign to me given the circumstances. I have never been the type to boldly declare my love and affection first toward any woman who has been involved in my life, not even Teagan's mother who said those three words to me long before I understood what they even meant. Romance has just always come to me without much effort and this statement has remained true for a very long time -- that is until I met and fell in love with Audrey. She's the first woman I've ever had to chase after, and the only woman to ever be an obstacle and challenge for me to conquer.

  Being in her presence has really changed me and turned my world completely upside down.

  But even though I feel the heavy burden being lifted from my chest after finally telling Audrey the honest truth about my feelings, it feels like a tight knot is forming within my stomach. There's something extremely nerve-wracking about admitting my interest in her when she hasn't shown any such reciprocation for my romantic affection at all nor has she said a single word since I confirmed her suspicions. Even now, the look on her face clearly shows me nothing but her distress and apprehension toward my abrupt confession which obviously blindsided her. In fact, she seems more inconvenienced by what I've admitted to her than anything else judging by the dead silence coming from her end.

  "I didn't mean to spring the truth on you like this. You don't have to feel obligated to answer me," I note.

  "Sorry, it's just really difficult to take your word for it after everything that has happened. I don't know what to believe right now," Audrey weakly laughs. She closes her eyes and then shakes her head. "Not to mention, there's this other woman involved-"

  "If you're worried about the rumors, I can promise you that she's not someone who I've been in contact with since I hired you on for the job. And as awful as it sounds, she was just a fling to me. There was nothing serious going on between us," I explain.

  "And how can you be so sure that I won't be 'just a fling' to you as well?" Her voice booms while her brown eyes pause and linger on me. "The last thing I want to do is ruin a good job that I happen to love by sleeping with my boss on a regular basis because all I am is an easy lay for him."

  "I can understand and respect your doubts and concerns about my intentions as well as your own future, which is exactly why I'll let you be the one to decide whether or not to take the risk with me. But if you want to give me a chance and it doesn't end up working out, I would still like you to continue working as Teagan's nanny for as long as it is needed or until you choose to quit. Your job and role is the one thing I don't intend on changing no matter what happens between us."

  Audrey takes a deep breath and sighs in defeat. "This is just insane. Wh-why would you go so far for me? I'm no one special. You can have any woman in the world if you wanted them, so why choose me? It just doesn't make any sense."

  "Because you're worth it to me," I plainly answer. "Is that not a good enough reason?"

  "No," she responds with an adamant shake of her head. "It's not."

  I quietly acknowledge the young woman's reluctance with a brief nod as she continues to maintain her stiff demeanor and slight distance from me. Although it's frustrating not to be able to convince her with my words, I know that she has every right to suspect and question me. Aside from the few kisses and that one-night stand that we had shared together, I have never shown her an ounce of my true feelings for her. The only thing that I have managed to achieve in the time we have been together is hurting her to the point of making her cry because I foolishly misplaced my pride above my feelings and emotions -- and now I am simply paying the price for it.

  I can't force Audrey to believe me.

  There's nothing I can do except wait and leave the important decision-making up to her.

  "Look," I begin to say in a low voice. "I know you probably think I'm full of shit right now, and I don't blame you for having your doubts about me after the way I've poorly treated you since you started working as our nanny. But I'll make sure that you won't regret it if you give me a chance to prove it to you. All I need is one chance to show you what you really mean to me."

  I reach over to grab Audrey's hand on a sudden whim and impulse which ends up startling her. But she doesn't instantly push away or resist my grip when I gently hold onto her, the cold surface of her fingers slowly being warmed up by my heated touch. A pleasant rush
sweeps through my chest as I delicately caress her cold and rough hand which has been visibly worn down due to her constant supervision of Teagan who regularly keeps her on her toes. Even now, the cold temperature of her flesh which is being held within my grasp is all because of the little girl she didn't want to disappoint. The tender care and love that naturally flows from these icy fingertips of hers fills my heart with a poignant sensation and passionate feeling that I won't actively ignore and run away from anymore.

  It's time for me to face these daunting feelings of mine head on.

  "I've seriously fallen for you, Audrey. And the fact that you're still here in this room with me right now means that you most likely feel the same way about me too, don't you?" I bluntly state.

  The brunette instinctively lowers her gaze from me with a soft and troubled exhale as soon as I confront her with my suspicions. There seems to be a defeated look on her face which only further confirms my assertion about her feelings toward me. She would have no real reason to stick around and discuss the potential truth and possibility behind my confession if she were not invested in what I had to say. No one is stopping her from simply walking out of the room and pretending that every single word that is coming out of my mouth is false. She is the one who is ultimately choosing to stay here where she is forced to face her own feelings and make a decision about them.

  A large and heavy blanket of silence naturally hangs over our heads as neither one of us says a word or makes a sound. The only thing I can hear is the subtle noise of Audrey's soft breathing which occasionally breaks the peace whenever she lets out an exhale. But the steady pacing of her breaths only adds more layers to the tension that is already floating in the atmosphere, my confidence gradually waning from her lack of an immediate response. I almost decide to get up and give the young woman the space that she needs when she finally bites her lip and opens her mouth to hesitantly say: "Yeah, you're right. As much as I hate to admit it because I'm scared about what will happen if I tell you the truth, I do feel the same way. I also have these…strong feelings for you."