The Woodsman's Nanny - A Single Daddy Romance

by Emerson Rose

  “No fucking way. I’m on my way. Sit tight and watch the driveway for the police,” he says and hangs up. He hangs up!

  “Sasha, is that a bad man?” Victoria says stepping closer to the monitors and pointing at a shadow by the back of the house on the beach. I lean closer and squint my eyes. It’s hard to tell who it is, the cameras are pointed outward, and the sun is bright.

  “I don’t know, honey. I was probably wrong. It was nothing. I’m sorry if I scared you.”

  She turns to face me, and instead of looking at a five-year-old child that I am supposed to be protecting, it feels like I’m looking into the eyes of a wise adult who is looking out for me.

  “It’s okay to be scared. That’s what the doctor lady says. Being scared keeps you safe cuz you got your eyes open more. Daddy’s coming to make it better.”

  In essence, she’s saying trust your instincts and wait for my daddy. It figures a five-year-old is more intuitive than me. Everybody’s more intuitive than me.

  The shadow man moves along the rocks that the Sullivan house is built into, and when he reaches the side, he’s gone. I try looking at other camera angles, but none pick up that exact area of the outside of the house.

  “I think he’s gone now. I can’t see anyone anymore.”

  She looks up and down at all the screens, too. “I don’t see anything either.”

  We keep our eyes peeled, and a few minutes later, three cars are approaching the house—two police cruisers and Xander.

  “Daddy’s home. It’s okay now, but we gotta stay in here till he comes to get us.”

  Our role reversal is unnerving. I’m supposed to be making announcements like that. I’m supposed to know the code to put the house on lockdown. I’m supposed to reassure her that everything’s going to be okay, not the other way around.

  “Have you ever had this happen before?” I ask her.

  “No, Zion doesn’t go outside and play cuz she’s old. We watch TV a lot, and she keeps the alarm set all the time.”

  So that’s why she knows so much about that damn TV show.

  “How do you know so much about what to do in an emergency?”

  “Me and Daddy practice a lot. I don’t want the bad men to get me again.”

  “They won’t, I promise. No bad men will ever get you again.” I take her in my arms and stroke her hair while I watch the police officers get out of their cars and talk to Xander. He motions around to the cameras, and after a few minutes, the cops spread out and canvas the property. When they find nothing, Xander calls me.

  “I’m sorry I called you, it was probably nothing.”

  “You can come out of the panic room now. Disarm the alarm so I can come inside. We need to talk.” He sounds edgy and a little angry. He has every right to be, I just took him away from his work and scared the shit out of his kid.

  “Okay,” is all I can think to say. I hang up, and Victoria and I exit the panic room and go to the front door where the police are waiting with Xander. I expect Xander to be cold and distant, but he is quite the opposite. He grabs me around the waist and crouches down to embrace Victoria at the same time. He squeezes us so tight it hurts, and Victoria lets out a squeak. “Daddy that hurts.”

  “I’m sorry, princess, I was so worried about you two.”

  “We were safe. I did just what you taught me. We pushed the numbers and went to the bathroom.” He pulls away, and she’s beaming with pride.

  “You were perfect, princess, absolutely perfect.” He kisses her on the cheek and then surprises me with a kiss on the forehead. “I’m so glad you’re safe. Did you see the man?” He asks letting go of Victoria and moving to stand next to me with his arm still around my waist.

  “I saw a shadow, but I couldn’t tell if it was a man or woman.”

  “Down on the beach, southwest corner of the house?” One of the police officers with the name Dugger sewn on the breast of his uniform asks.

  “Yes, why?”

  “There was a pile of cigarette butts, and Dr. Sullivan here says he doesn’t smoke. Do you smoke, ma’am?”

  “No, never. What kind of cigarettes?”

  “If you don’t smoke, why do you ask?” another officer asks.

  “I, uh, I don’t know. The question just popped into my head.”

  “Do you know someone who smokes that would be lurking around the house?” Officer number one asks.

  “No, no, I just didn’t think anybody smoked anymore, ya know. It’s so unhealthy, and everybody’s doing gluten-free diets and vapor cigarettes these days. I don’t know why I asked, nervous I guess.”

  “They were Fiestas, Mexican cigarettes. We don’t see a lot of those in this area,” he says.

  My blood runs cold at the mention of Fiesta cigarettes. If I had any doubt that Enrique was outside the house today, it’s gone now. He smokes Fiesta cigarettes by the carton. So much so that I figured if he wouldn’t let me out of our marriage, at least he wouldn’t live to be an old man smoking that many hard-core cigarettes every day.

  I nod and answer a few more questions that I assume are asked at every call the officers go on. When they are satisfied, Xander tells them he will send a copy of the closed caption video that he has, and the officers are on their way.

  “Let’s go downstairs,” he says motioning toward the steps.

  “We can’t look for shells now,” Victoria says looking disappointed.

  “Everything is fine, but I think we will have an indoor day today just to be safe,” Xander explains carefully choosing his words so as not to draw attention to the possibility of danger.

  “Maybe we can watch Dallas?” I suggest.

  “Yes!” Victoria says racing down the stairs and plopping herself onto the couch.

  “We will be right there, princess. Sasha and I are going to talk for a minute.”

  Her little face clouds with worry. “She’s not in trouble, is she? It’s not her fault the bad man was outside.”

  “No, honey, she’s not in trouble at all. I just want to thank her for taking such good care of you, that’s all.” Her face brightens, and she goes to work pressing buttons on the remotes.

  He takes me by the upper arm and leads me into the kitchen rather roughly. In a low I’m trying not to lose my cool in front of my kid voice, he begins to question me. “What’s going on here, Sasha? You know who that was out there, don’t you?”

  “No, I told you I wasn’t even sure anyone there. It was just a feeling.”

  “A feeling that came from what?”

  “I thought I saw something from the patio, and it freaked me out.”

  “Why would seeing someone outside on the beach freak you out?”

  I decide some attitude is in order to distract him from the matter at hand. I put my hand on my hip and tilt my head to the side before I answer. “Oh, I don’t know, maybe because I’m taking care of the most important thing in the world to you, and you have a million-dollar security system going on around here. Oh, and let’s not forget she’s been kidnapped in the past, and I have no idea what happened to her, but it’s made her more cautious than a gambling addict on parole in Vegas.”

  His gaze goes to his daughter on the couch across the room, and a muscle twitches in his jaw. “Her mother, Star, was mixed up with some very bad people. Drugs, prostitution, and…” he pauses like it’s physically painful to go on. “Child trafficking.”

  “Oh my God, Xander, she didn’t…” I can’t say it either. It’s too horrible to think that this sweet little girl’s mother tried to sell her into that sick and twisted dark world.

  “No, she didn’t, but she was going to if I didn’t give her what she wanted. It’s complicated, I can’t talk about it now, but tonight when she’s gone to bed, I will.

  “Okay, thank you.”

  “And when I do, I want you to tell me why you’re just as skittish about strangers and safety as she is.” I look down at my bare feet and stuff my hands in my front pockets. I don’t want to tell him about Enr
ique, the less he knows about him, the better. I just want to do this job, get paid, and disappear from their lives leaving them safe and sound the way I found them.

  “Okay.” I agree, it’s easier than being evasive, but when the time comes, I’ll make something up. It’s better that way.

  “Good, let’s go watch an inappropriate and ancient night-time soap opera with my five-year-old daughter, shall we?”

  I chuckle at his description of Victoria’s favorite show. “Don’t you have to go back to the clinic?”

  “No. I told them to cancel the rest of my day.”

  “You can do that?”

  “I own half the clinic. Yeah, I can do pretty much whatever I want.”

  “But what about all the patients? Won’t they be mad?”

  “No, they love me. They’ll understand.”

  I snort. “If my plastic surgeon suddenly canceled my appointment, I’d be pissed off.”

  “Good thing I never had a family emergency and canceled your appointment, huh?”

  “I guess so.” He cups my cheek with his hand, and my eyes immediately go to Victoria on the couch where, thank God, she’s already found Dallas and has become engrossed in the show. I move his hand from my face. “Not in front of her. I don’t want to confuse her.”

  “Why would she be confused?” A deep groove forms between his eyes, and his mouth turns down.

  “Because this is temporary, and I don’t want her to get the wrong idea.”

  “Who says it’s temporary?”

  “You. Me. Last night we agreed. Don’t you remember that little chat?”

  He looks up to his left like he’s thinking, but I know he hasn’t forgotten.

  “Oh, in the shower? Yes, I vaguely remember that,” he says playfully.

  “Then you remember our arrangement.”

  “Yes, the one where you’re mine and I’m yours until I don’t need a nanny anymore?”

  “That’s the one.”

  “I don’t remember anything about keeping it from Tori. There’s no way I’m going to be able to hide the way I feel for you from her.”

  The way he feels about me? What does he mean by that? Shit, he can’t think this is going to be a long-term thing. There’s no way I’m going to hitch my crazy caboose to his nice, normal train.

  “Xander, I don’t want her to get hurt when I leave.”

  “Then don’t leave.”

  “You already have a nanny, one who loves and adores Victoria and has since she was born. She’s like a mother to her. In a week or two, there will be no place for me here, and I’ll have to go.”

  “What if I don’t want you to stay on as a nanny? What if I want you to stay on as something else, as my girlfriend?” He brushes a stray curl from my face behind my ear, and I can’t help but lean into his hand when he cups my cheek this time.

  His girlfriend. Holy shit. I wasn’t expecting that, and he isn’t going to expect my answer. As hard as it is, I have to say no to anything more than two weeks of bliss. After today, I shouldn’t even stay that long. I have no idea what Enrique is going to pull next. It’s for their own good. If Enrique thinks I’m anything more than the hired help, he will do everything within his power to make their lives and mine miserable.

  “Xander, I’m flattered, but we already talked about this. We are from different worlds. I can’t give you more than a couple of weeks, I’m sorry.” God, that hurt like a hot poker straight to my heart. I could fall so hard for this man if I allowed myself to. He’s everything I’ve ever wanted and, as usual, nothing I can have.

  “I’m going to amend our arrangement,” he says, and I try to interrupt, but he places his fingers on my lips to stop me. “You are mine, and I am yours until this position is no longer available, and that includes PDA.”

  “PDA?”

  “Public displays of affection… as in it’s okay for Tori to know we are more than nanny and daddy.”

  “Oh, I don’t know, Xander. What about when we run into your friends or co-workers or your family? What will they think when they find out I’m the nanny? Isn’t that kind of frowned upon or unethical?”

  “I don’t give a shit what’s frowned upon or who sees me kissing and touching you, Sasha. I’m sure you’ve guessed that I don’t have the best reputation, and the reason for that is I live my life for me, not other people. If somebody thinks I’m immoral or unethical for sleeping with my fucking nanny, they can kiss my ass.”

  “Well, what about me? I don’t especially like being looked upon as a whore.”

  He throws up his hands and backs away from me leaning his ass on one of the kitchen islands. “Nobody is going to think that. Hell, what are the chances we will run into anyone anyway? My family doesn’t live in California, and you said yours is in Minneapolis.”

  “I don’t like it.”

  “I do.”

  “I don’t.” I feel like a three-year-old arguing like this. I can’t tell him the truth, though. I don’t give two shits about someone seeing us either, but I’m scared my ex-husband will murder us if he finds out we are dating.

  “Come watch with me!” Victoria yells, and we both look in her direction. She’s sitting with her arms crossed over her chest, eyes narrowed, glaring at us.

  “I think she heard some of that,” I whisper to Xander.

  He locks eyes with me, grabs my hand lacing his fingers securely with mine, and with purpose, he leads me to the couch and sits down pulling me into his lap right in front of his daughter. And just like that, he made it clear to her that I am more than just the nanny. Great.

  Victoria’s arms fall to her sides, her eyes soften, and the smile that spreads across her sweet face could light up ten city blocks.

  Xander doesn’t know it, but that one brazen show of affection is about to change his life.

  Sometimes life can get twisted.

  16

  Xander

  I sent the video file to the detective working the prowler case. It doesn’t show much, just the outline of a person at the edge of the house. I wouldn’t even be worried about it if I hadn’t seen the color drain from Sasha’s face when the police officer mentioned what kind of cigarettes were piled up in the sand at the shadow’s feet.

  She knows who it was, and she’s terrified of him. My PI provided me with a basic background check on Sasha, but I have a bad feeling she’s hiding something important and possibly dangerous, so I called and told him to dig deeper.

  Tonight we are going to talk, and one way or another, I am getting to the bottom of this.

  “What sounds good for dinner?” Sasha asks from the kitchen. We spent the day watching Dallas, having a ping-pong tournament, and playing Go Fish. It was hard not going outside, but we managed to stay busy. Most kids would have balked at having to spend a beautiful sunny day indoors, but not Tori. Sadly, she understands all too well the dangers that lurk beyond the walls of her secure home.

  “What’s your specialty?” I ask hoping it’s another Mexican dish like last night’s chicken tacos.

  “I love to cook. I can make almost anything. How about we narrow it down a bit. You pick one of the following… Italian, seafood, deli food, Mexican, or danger dinner.”

  “Danger dinner, what’s that?” Tori asks with excitement.

  “Danger dinner is when you invent new stuff using leftovers.”

  “So leftover night?” I remember a lot of leftover nights growing up with four brothers.

  “No, not exactly. You don’t just get out leftovers and eat them. You have to be creative and use them to make a new recipe.”

  “I want danger dinner,” Tori says quietly. She’s been subdued since the police left today, and I’m a little worried about her.

  “How about you? Are you up for a surprise?”

  “Sure, why not?”

  She hops up and down once smiling and opens the fridge. “Okay, what do we have in here? Hmm…” she says crouching down to look at her options. “You guys don’t keep leftovers much,
do you?”

  “We order out a lot when Zion’s not here. There’s not a lot leftover when you order from Christiani’s or Salma’s.” Christiani’s and Salma’s are two restaurants nearby that make the best French and Mexican food outside of France and Mexico. If we quit ordering take-out from them, they might go out of business.

  She raises her eyebrows and gives me a smug look. “I can out cook both of them, easy.”

  “Well nobody’s stopping you, Chef Sasha, have at it.” I like her confidence, but there’s no way she can make a better Boeuf Bourguignon than Christiani’s or a more delicious flour taco than Salma’s.

  “Okay, you two go find something to do, I’ll call you when it’s ready.”

  “You sure you don’t want some help?” I ask, and Tori nods her head up and down excited at the thought of cooking with Sasha. Sasha tilts her head to the side to think.

  “Okay, you can peel potatoes while I preheat the oven and get the other ingredients. Oh, wait, is anyone allergic to onions?”

  “No.” I shake my head and start thinking of recipes that include potatoes and onions, but there are too many to count. “What are you making?”

  “Danger dinner is a surprise. You’ll have to wait and see, which means once you’ve peeled the potatoes, you both have to leave.”

  “I love surprises,” Tori says, hauling a five-pound bag of potatoes out from a cabinet near the refrigerator. I had no idea that’s where we kept the potatoes.

  “Me, too, they’re the best,” Sasha says taking the bag from Tori. “We’re going to need about half of that bag washed and peeled.”

  Tori and I set about scrubbing and peeling potatoes. All the while, I’m keeping one eye on Sasha who has a happy, bright energy oozing from every pore. She’s a natural in the kitchen, moving from one task to the next, cleaning up as she goes, and humming the whole time.

  When we are done, she points to a pot of water boiling on the stove, and we plop the potatoes in to cook. “Okay, shoo, I’ll do the rest. Thank you, beautiful helpers,” she says bending down to kiss Tori on the top of her head. When she stands up, I surprise her with a kiss of my own, on her mouth, in front of Tori.