by Emerson Rose
“Alex?”
“Mmm hmm.”
“When I’m done with Kevin, I need to go talk to Jacob. I haven’t told him anything that’s going on, and he deserves to hear it from me face to face.”
“Of course. I wanted to ask you what you thought he would feel about moving here with us. I don’t want to cause a rift between you two. I know he means a lot to you and you to him.”
“Oh, I don’t know. I think he will be okay without me for a couple of months.”
His massaging fingers stop moving, and he sits down on the stone bench next to me but facing the opposite direction. “Olivia, I want you to stay even after the two months.”
I had a feeling this was how he felt, and I was afraid of this conversation. It’s not that I don’t love him, I do. I also believe we are meant to be, but giving up my independence is not something that’s going to be easy.
I turn my head to look at him. He is looking away from me, and his jaw is tense as he waits for my reaction. I reach out and put my hand on his cheek to turn his face toward mine. “You know this is happening at light speed, right?” He nods. “I don’t want you to think I’m not as invested as you are, but I thrive on independence, and it’s going to take some time for me to get used to the idea of giving it up.”
He places his hand on my arm that’s holding his gaze to mine. “I don’t want to take your independence, not at all, it’s what attracts me to you. You don’t need a man in your life to be who you want to be, you don’t need that you complete me crap and that’s sexy as hell. I only want you near me, here in my home. I’ve waited so long for you, Olivia. I don’t want to waste a second of time apart unless it’s necessary.”
Even my strong streak of independence can’t fight the need in his eyes. “All right. I’ll ask Jacob to move in as well.”
His jaw muscles relax, and relief fills his cornflower blue eyes. “Thank you. If he would rather live in the cottage for more privacy, he is welcome to it, too. Feel free to offer whatever it takes if it makes you happy. What’s mine is yours.” He moves my hand from his cheek to his chest. “Including my heart.”
Kevin is amazing. We’ve been talking for an hour, and he’s already making savvy business suggestions and helping customers. Marissa loves him and only seems minimally disappointed that he is gay. “You never know, he might be bi, a girl can hope,” she said when we had a free moment while he helped Mrs. Stone load a new cat scratching post into her new Lexus SUV. Poor Mrs. Stone lost her husband ten years ago and loves to flirt with handsome young men. Trouble is she has no idea most of them would prefer her son over her.
We have finished going over my recipes and how things work in the kitchen when he stops to ask me a question. “Olivia, are you sure you’re going to be okay with this? I sense some hesitation, and you keep looking around wistfully as if you’re going to miss being here something terrible.”
“That transparent, am I?”
He shrugs and gives me a lopsided smile. “It’s easy to see you love your work.”
“Yeah, I do. This place has been my dream ever since I was ten years old. It’s my world, and I hate putting it into someone else’s hands, no offense. I’m sure you’ll do an excellent job. You’ve proven that already today with your suggestions.”
“Then, if you don’t mind me asking, why on earth are you doing it?”
I shouldn’t talk about Alex’s issues to anyone, but he hand-picked Kevin and has assured me he is loyal and trustworthy. “I’m helping Alex with his daughter. He only recently learned about her, and the mother isn’t in the picture, so he needs a nanny.”
“Wow, a daughter? I can’t see Mr. Wolfe as a father, no offense.”
“None taken, he’s amazing at it, but what isn’t he amazing at, right?”
“True, he’s pretty great at everything.”
I get the feeling he’s a little jealous of Alex when he says that, but who can blame him?
“So, do you think you might be interested in running another store for me when the nanny gig is over? I’m in the process of branching out in other locations, and I really could use someone like you.”
“I don’t know, I’d have to check with the boss to see if he has any plans for me. If you want to put in a good word, I wouldn’t mind, though. It seems you have a lot of influence over him these days.” He winks, and again I feel a little sarcasm in his words.
“What do you mean?”
“I’ve never known anyone who could successfully negotiate with him, that’s all.”
“He’s a lawyer, aren’t they kind of professional negotiators?”
“Eh, more like professional bullies and liars if you ask me, but Mr. Wolfe is more fair and honest than most.”
“You’re not a lawyer I take it?”
“Hell no, I’m just a businessman who was in the right place at the right time and happened to meet the infamous Wolfe. I was lucky he took an interest in me and helped me out. I’m forever in his debt.”
“He must have been quite helpful to make you forever in his debt,” I ask hoping he will expand on the subject, but he simply smiles.
“Well, I don’t want to keep you from your nanny job. Rest assured that everything here will be fine. I’ll call you with any questions, and I promise not to make any decisions without running them past you first, boss lady.”
“Thanks, you don’t know how much I appreciate that.”
I tell Marissa goodbye and wave at a couple of regulars as I leave. It’s time to have a heart to heart with my best friend and invite him to move into a crazy man’s haunted castle with me. Jacob’s going to make an appointment for me to have my head examined, I’m sure of it.
“Jacob,” I call out when I open the front door.
“In here, honey, getting ready for a shoot,” he calls back from his bedroom where I find him ironing a bright blue button-down shirt. “Didn’t expect to see you today, damn you’re a sight for sore eyes.”
“I missed you, too. What kind of shoot are you doing?” I ask pointing at his shirt. He’s standing in the center of the large bedroom in a pair of crisp, dark blue jeans that hang low on his trim hips and boat shoes. Jacob is painfully handsome, too much so for his own good sometimes. Men and women fall at his feet, and that gives him a big head.
Not with me, though. I remember the days when he was picked on for being scrawny and zit covered with braces and headgear. I have no problem pulling out old photographs and serving him a piece of humble pie when necessary.
“It’s a Thom Browne shoot. I love his line, crossing my fingers I’ll get to keep a few pieces.”
I don’t know much about high fashion, but I love the way Jacob dresses, so I’m sure I would like this Thom Browne person’s clothes, too. “I need to talk to you about something, it’s kind of important.”
He pauses with the iron midair. “Honey, you’re scaring me. You sound so serious.”
“Well, it is serious. Alex asked me to nanny for him temporarily until things are running smoothly with him and Faye.” I sit down cross-legged on his bed. “I don’t think he really needs a lot of help, he seems to be doing great so far.”
“Nanny? What about your business? You can’t possibly do both.”
“I’m not going to do both. Alex found me someone to run the shop while I’m gone. Temporarily, of course, it’s only for two months max.”
He snorts. “Two months my ass. That man is insane about you. He wants you locked up in his castle tower forever to be his sex slave and take care of his kid.”
“Jacob,” I warn, and he stops to stare at me setting the iron down.
“You’re insane, too, aren’t you? Oh my God, you love that man. You wouldn’t give up your business for anything on earth, not even to take care of your mother, but you’ll chuck it all after knowing him for a week?”
“I can’t believe you just said that,” I say turning my head, so he doesn’t see the tears in my eyes. He knows leaving my mother in a nursing home was the ha
rdest decision I ever had to make, and now he’s throwing it in my face to hurt me on purpose.
He walks to the bed and sits next to me draping his arm over my shoulder. “I’m sorry, honey, that wasn’t fair, but I’m seriously shocked. The Bark Avenue Bone Bakery is your life, how can you walk away from that?”
“I’m not walking away. It’s temporary, but I am moving in with him. That’s what I came to tell you.” Hurt and irritated, I duck out from under his arm and slide off the bed to leave.
“Don’t be like that, I’m worried about you. You’re making big-hell-massive decisions about your life for someone you hardly know. What about me? You’re just going to up and leave me with this whole apartment? We came here together, Olivia. This place is too big for me by myself, and I don’t like living with strangers, you know that.”
“Alex wanted me to extend his invitation to you to live in his house. He also wanted me to tell you that if you would like more privacy, you can have the cottage. I’m not abandoning you, I’m just in love with him.”
His head jerks back, and he turns his face to the window looking out at the rainy sky. When he looks back at me, he whispers, “You love him?”
I close my eyes and nod. “I do.”
He crosses the room and wraps me in a hug that evaporates any and all tension between us. When he pulls away, he holds me by the shoulders and his eyes dart back and forth between mine. “You do. I don’t know why I never thought it would happen, especially this fast, but I can see it in your eyes, you love him.”
A tear slips down my cheek, and he wipes it away. “So, what’s this cottage look like? You know I need a big bedroom and windows, lots of windows,” he rambles on and on about the décor of the cottage until I am feeling more sane about the upheaval of my life.
Back at Alex’s, I search for Faye and Greta and finally find them in the backyard, which is much more of a forest than a backyard. Someone has magically constructed an enormous wooden playground complete with swings and multiple slides of various heights.
I call out to them from the patio, and Greta waves me toward them. She is pushing Faye in a swing made especially for babies with sides, a back, and a strap across her lap. She’s laughing and squeals when she catches sight of me.
“I thought a bit of fresh air would be good for her. It’s a little wet and dreary, but she doesn’t seem to mind.”
“No, she sure doesn’t. Hey, little lady, how’s your day been? I’m sorry I took so long,” I say tussling her damp hair.
“Did you get everything squared away as you wanted it?” Greta asks giving Faye a little push.
“I did. Kevin seems perfect for the job, a little too perfect maybe.” I roll my eyes, and she laughs. “And my best friend, Jacob, is going to move into the cottage. We moved here from California, and I felt bad abandoning him.”
“Your best friend is a man, and you lived with him?”
“Yes, we’ve known each other since we were kids.”
“And Mr. Wolfe is okay with him living in the cottage?”
I smile. Greta knows Alex is possessive. She’s worried for my friend.
“Yes, he offered to let him live in the house or the cottage. Jacob is gay.”
Her face lights up with understanding. “Oh! That makes sense then.”
I chuckle and pat her on the back. “Is he that bad?”
Her expression changes from relieved to serious. “Mr. Wolfe is a good man, but he gets what he wants no matter what. I didn’t want your friend to get hurt. I’ve never seen Alex, Mr. Wol…”
“Please, when it’s just us, call him Alex. Mr. Wolfe sounds like a stuffy old man in a library smoking a cigar.”
Her smile widens. “Okay. I’ve never seen Alex want anything more than he wants you.”
Her comment is both flattering and disturbing at the same time. I’m happy that he wants me, but the lengths he would go to have me could be a problem. I’m not into being manipulated, and I’m nobody’s property.
The sky has been getting darker, and the raindrops are bigger. “We should go inside before we get soaked,” I say to Greta.
“Yes, she needs a bottle and a nap.”
I unbuckle the belt and lift the sweet girl from the swing to snuggle her close. We make our way back to the house stopping in the kitchen to warm a bottle. When Faye sees it, she starts to fuss which quickly turns into a full-on crying fit when it’s not ready fast enough.
“Just like her daddy,” Greta mutters shaking her head.
I pop the bottle in her mouth carrying her upstairs. Like magic, she relaxes in my arms when she begins to drink. “I wish I had something that made me melt like that bottle,” I tell her and immediately think of Alex’s hands on my shoulders massaging me into an almost comatose state last night after we made love for hours.
“I guess you’ve got your thing, and I’ve got mine,” I tell her when we arrive in her pink and cream-colored princess paradise. I carry her to the oversized rocking chair where I kick off my shoes and sit down to rock her to sleep.
It takes mere moments for her to finish her bottle and pass out. I lay her on her back in her crib and return to the rocking chair. I’m not sure how long she will nap, and I’m nervous about being too far away if she wakes up, so I prop my feet on the gliding ottoman and rest my eyes.
It’s been a long day after a long night of not enough sleep, and I’m sure it didn’t take long for me to doze off. When I open my eyes, I’m lying in Alex’s bed with a light woven throw over me and a glass of water on the night table.
I haven’t eaten since breakfast, and I don’t think I’ve had anything to drink since then either. When I reach for the glass, I hear footsteps in the hall, and the door opens.
Alex appears in the doorway looking like the lawyer god he is still wearing his suit from his day at the office. “You’re awake.”
“Where’s Faye?”
I gulp half of the glass of water in one drink. “She’s downstairs. We’re about to have dinner, and you must be hungry.”
As if on cue, my stomach growls loudly, and he smiles. It’s like he has a superpower that makes the world around him go just as he has planned. That’s not true, though, he hadn’t planned on Faye, and he definitely hadn’t planned on me.
“Yes, I’m starving.” I look down at my stomach. “Obviously.”
“Obviously.”
“How did I get in here? What time is it?”
“It’s six o’clock, and I carried you in when I found you snoring in the nursery.”
“I don’t snore.”
He gives me a speculative sideways look, and I roll my eyes. “It’s your fault, you kept me up all night.”
“I beg to differ, sweet girl. I believe it was you who kept me up all night. Not that I am complaining, not at all.”
“Hardy har har, you’re so funny.”
“Not usually, but in this case yes I was quite clever.”
I sigh and haul myself up off the cloud-soft mattress smoothing out my hair. “Okay, funny man, lead your woman to the food.”
“Hmm, are we going to role play? I can have dinner brought upstairs if you want to be a feisty cavewoman, and I’ll be the overpowering cave man who takes you up against a tree.”
“No, thank you. I’d prefer to eat like a civilized woman.” I pass him on my way into the hall and drag my finger across his cheek. “Besides, there’s no tree in there.” I wink, and he slaps my bottom just hard enough to sting.
“I could have a hundred-year-old spruce in that room faster than you can say stuffed pork chops, and you know it.”
“Maybe another time. Oh, how about you tie me to the tree and blindfold me, too?” I wiggle my eyebrows, and he grabs my hand placing it on his crotch where his erection is instant proof that he is turned on by that visual.
“Watch yourself. If you give me the fantasy, I’ll make it come true.”
Truer words have never been spoken.
21
Did you get a chance
to talk to Jacob today?” Alex asks cutting into his stuffed pork chop from his chair at the head of the table. Faye is sitting next to him in her highchair, and I am on her other side.
I hand her a cracker she’s pushed out of her reach on the tray. “Yes.”
“How did it go?”
“He freaked out at first. He told me I was insane, and that you want to lock me up in your castle and make me a sex slave slash nanny.”
He chews his food and swallows. “Not what I had planned, but I like that idea.”
“Stop it, he was angry.”
“Is that how you left it?”
“No. We talked it out. I told him I loved you, and that you had extended an invitation for him to live here.”
“And?”
“And he is going to live in the cottage.”
“So he’s okay with me loving his best friend?”
“He is.”
“Good. What about your mother? Would you like to take a trip to see her and introduce Faye and me?”
“I hadn’t thought about it. You’re throwing a lot of things at me at once, you know.”
He holds up his hands in surrender. “I am, I apologize.”
What would my mother think if I showed up with a filthy rich lawyer after all the years I spent complaining about guys just like him?
“Why don’t we wait a while? We have a lot on our plates right now.”
“Olivia Johnson, are you ashamed of me?”
I jerk my head back and look at him as if he’s crazy. “Ashamed? Why would I be ashamed of you? You’re the perfect male specimen, you’re filthy rich and successful, there’s not a single thing to be ashamed of.”
“Then why the wait?”
“You like being in a hurry, don’t you?”
“Only when it comes to you.”
“It’s not you. My mother’s disease has left her very disabled. She was a proud, independent woman when I was young. She hates it when people pity her.”
“I know how to mind my manners, Olivia.”
“Okay, I’m going to be honest with you.”