Billionaire Needs Nanny

by Laurent, River

  A new job and a new child to take care of. This was what I loved.

  I reached Christian’s place much faster than I anticipated. It was a force of habit for me to always be on time, but I was nearly an hour early. Never mind, I would just let myself in and make myself a cup of coffee or something, if everyone was still asleep. I hopped out of Betsy and went into the building.

  Quietly, I unlocked the door and stepped inside. It seemed quiet and still, but I could smell the aroma of expensive coffee beans brewing. From the notes Mrs. Bennet had left for me in the file, I knew that the maid called Maria who arrived at dawn and left before seven, must have started the percolator before she left. For a moment, I stood undecided in the hallway, then I noticed the bedroom upstairs with the pink sign that said: Annie West Lives Here.

  I decided to go upstairs and see if she was awake. Picking up my bag where I had packed a few games and toys, I headed towards her door. Sometimes, just going in and sitting down with a child was the perfect ice breaker when dealing with difficult kids.

  As I walked down the corridor toward Annie's room, I froze suddenly.

  Christian was standing at the end of it. A towel wrapped around his waist. He adjusted the thermostat, then looked up and saw me. Water dripped down his hard body and landed on the polished wooden floor underneath him. The towel didn't cover a ton and his muscular calves flexed as he shifted. His wet hair stuck to his head before he shook it and water droplets flew in different directions.

  I was gaping like a fish out of water, but I almost didn't care because he was staring at me just as hard. Even with all that distance between us, I felt the heat between us and holly hell—I wanted to close that space and push my body up against his. I almost craved his touch. It would be wet, warm, and strong. It would be everything. Fantasy images from last night flooded my head. I swallowed hard, my mouth suddenly dry as he slowly walked closer to me.

  My heart hammered in my chest. Every step he took made me want to turn tail and run, yet climb him at the same time. I clenched my fingers into fists as he stopped right in front of me.

  Then the illusion shattered. He frowned down at me.

  I opened my mouth to apologize, but nothing came out. I felt like such a prize idiot when he walked past me, and disappeared into what I assumed was his bedroom. The door closed a little too hard and I jumped. Was he seriously that pissed off? I didn't mean to catch the great billionaire in his towel. True, I showed up too early again, but did it really warrant such an irritated reaction?

  I took a moment to collect myself. As amazing of a sight as it had been, I didn't think it was worth the awkwardness it’d caused on my first day. Hopefully, we could both forget it. Him much sooner than me. I shook my head and lifted it. I wasn’t here to ogle him. I'm here to take care of his daughter. And I really, really needed this job. My fridge needed it too.

  Right, so I couldn't get distracted by a strong jaw, muscular arms and a hard satin looking body that dripped with water. I also needed to stop imagining those strong arms wrapped around me. My skin grew hot and I knew it had to be red. Thinking about him like that made me want to fan myself.

  Jesus, what is wrong with me?

  I wasn't used to being so drawn to someone so quickly. Every time I thought about Christian, I immediately wanted him to touch me, kiss me, and fuck me until I couldn't stand, speak, or think.

  I pushed back my shoulders and headed off to find Annie and see if she was awake. By the time I popped into her room, I'd calmed down. To my surprise, she was sitting on the edge of her bed already dressed for the day with her hair in a strange bun hairstyle. I could tell Christian was trying to do the best he could with it, but it was clear he kind of had no idea at the same time. I grinned inwardly. Even that was cute.

  "Hey, Annie," I said cheerfully.

  “Didn’t anyone teach you to knock?” she asked scornfully.

  “Actually, I thought you might be still asleep and I didn’t want to wake you,” I explained.

  Her answer was to reach over and grab her phone. She turned it on and immediately buried herself in it.

  “What are you playing?” I asked in my friendliest voice.

  She angled her body so her face was even more implacably turned away from me.

  I sighed. Okay, it's not going to be so easy.

  I positioned myself within her line of vision and sat cross-legged on the floor. Then I pulled out the games, puzzles, and toys from my bag and laid them out on the floor.

  She didn’t lift her head.

  I picked my ace card. My box of Legos. With it, I could build a whole dinosaur. I started playing with them, a tried and true method for any child. I expected her to come down and join me.

  She completely ignored me.

  I continued building. Sooner or later, curiosity would compel her.

  Suddenly, the door opened and Christian stood in the doorway. With one look, he sized up the situation. I had made zero progress with his daughter.

  “I’m off, sweetie,” he announced.

  “Daddy, can I come with you?” Annie pleaded.

  I noticed she had thrown her phone down as it if it wasn’t important at all.

  “You know you can’t,” he said calmly. “Offices are not places for little girls. Anyway, you have to stay here and keep Miss Gray company.”

  “Why can’t she go home to her own house?” she asked sullenly, pushing her lower lip out.

  “Because,” he said sternly. “Miss Gray is your new nanny. She is staying here to take care of you while I’m at work. Be a good girl today, and make Daddy proud, okay?”

  She leaned her cheek on the palm of her hand. “Alright.”

  He came into the room and kissed the top of her head. “That’s my girl.”

  “Daddy?”

  “Yeah?”

  “I love you.”

  “I love you too, honey.”

  From some inexplicable reason, I felt strangely left out. Like the hungry, cold matchstick girl looking longingly through a window at a scene full of food, warmth and happiness.

  He turned towards me suddenly. “You have my number, Hannah?”

  I nodded quickly.

  “Mrs. Bennet will be around soon, and she’ll show you the ropes, but call me if you need anything.”

  “I will.”

  “See you later, munchkin. I’ll be home early today,” he said, before he mussed up her hair and left.

  Chapter Seven

  Hannah

  As soon as he walked out of the door, Annie reached for her phone again. In seconds, she was so engrossed in it, I might as well not have been there.

  "Okay," I said, standing up. "How about some breakfast?"

  She didn't budge.

  I had to smile at how determined she was to not like me. I went downstairs to work on breakfast for her. The fridge was full to bursting and I found everything easily. As I was about to start cooking, Mrs. Bennet arrived.

  She wore a black dress with her gray hair tightly swept back, and she seemed like a no-nonsense type of character.

  I passed her all the papers I had signed.

  She quickly looked them over to make sure I had done them correctly. After that, she proceeded to show me around while telling me the way things were done. A cleaner would come every day at five in the morning and be out before I got there. Basically, it meant I would be at the house on my own with Annie for the most part.

  I made mental notes of everything she said.

  She was a very thorough woman and after she was finished, I couldn’t think of anything else I needed to ask except what was Annie’s favorite food.

  “Chicken nuggets with chips with a half a bottle of ketchup poured on it,” she said dryly.

  I laughed. “Okay.”

  “There’s a couple of bags of them in the freezer. Chef makes them himself with organic ingredients, so they’re healthy and you can go ahead and make them for her.” She gave me her phone number and left.

  I wen
t back to making breakfast for Annie. Once I was done cooking, I put it all on a tray and carried it up to her. "Want to eat?"

  Annie looked at the plate of eggs, bacon and toast and went back to playing on her phone.

  I pushed the plate toward her a bit and then again, when she didn't respond.

  "Come on," I urged. "I know you have to be hungry, and this food smells really good. Just take a few bites and see if you like it. If you don't, I'll find something else for you to eat."

  I'd arranged the food into a cute little pattern with the bacon and eggs making a smiley face on the toast.

  She looked at the plate and huffed, but then she tentatively reached out and snagged a piece of bacon.

  I breathed a sigh of relief when she started nibbling on it. After that, I didn't have to prod her to eat her breakfast. I was pretty sure it was some universal law that a hungry child would eventually eat, no matter how stubborn they were.

  As soon as the bacon and toast were all gone, she went right back to ignoring the hell out of me.

  I tried to coax her into watching a movie with me, but she took one look at the screen and turned her back on it in favor of her phone.

  I watched Frozen on my own. Every time I looked over at her, she seemed to be totally engrossed in her screen. It was very unhealthy for a child her age to be so lost in her phone, but I knew banning her from using it outright at this stage would only make her hate me more.

  "Alright," I mumbled. "Why don't I go whip us up some lunch?"

  Annie didn't even acknowledge that I'd spoken.

  I decided to get her to at least eat downstairs, so she'd have a change of scenery. “Let’s eat downstairs.”

  She made a face.

  “You can bring your phone with you.”

  She dragged herself off the bed and followed behind me, but she took her sweet time.

  No matter. Getting downstairs was still a small victory. While I made lunch, she lay on the couch gazing into her phone. I made her favorite food and put a bottle of ketchup on the table.

  Reluctantly, she pulled herself from the couch. Mrs. Bennet was not exaggerating about the half a bottle of ketchup she lavished on her food. She ate her meal while staring at the phone.

  I said nothing, just quietly ate my meal next to her. Afterwards, I cleaned up, put our plates into the dishwasher, and turned to her. “Hey, why don’t we go to the park?” I asked brightly.

  “I hate the park,” she muttered.

  “Right. The sun is shining outside. Shall we just out for a little walk?”

  “I’m not allowed to be around people,” she said dismissively.

  I bit my lip. My last hope was the communal gardens. “How about we pop into the garden downstairs for some fresh air? It’s looks so pretty and there’s no one around at the moment.”

  Her refusal was point blank. “No.”

  We were not leaving the house. Looks like this will be tougher than I’d thought. I definitely didn't expect a five-year-old to have so much staying power. Hell, she was more stubborn than I was at her age.

  We ended up back in her bedroom. I continued building my dinosaur which was starting to look good and she pretended she wasn’t interested in what I was doing, but just once her head turned in my direction. Yes, this faithful dinosaur had never failed me before. I’d just started making the long neck, when we heard the front door.

  Annie threw her phone on the bed and rushed out. I followed behind. She was across the hallway and flinging herself at him before I knew it.

  Christian caught her and cuddled her against him. He looked so utterly breathtaking in his suit, smiling as he held his daughter in his arms. "How was it today?"

  It looked bad, but I knew all Annie needed was a bit of time. "We had a pretty good day. She ate well and enjoyed her phone for the most part. Maybe tomorrow, we'll try going outside."

  Annie didn't bother even looking at me, but Christian seemed like he couldn't look away. I felt my cheeks growing hot under his gaze. Every time that man looked at me, it felt like he could see through me, right into my soul. I felt shattered.

  "I'm glad you two got along," he said, hugging a madly wiggling Annie against him.

  I smiled at the palpable relief on his face. I realized he'd probably been worried all day that things weren't going well, wondering if his daughter was miserable or if she was happy.

  I hadn’t done anything other than get her to eat, but at least she was well taken care of and safe. "It was no problem. I'll be back tomorrow bright and early. See you tomorrow, Annie."

  Deliberately, I did not take the toys back with me. I gave her a wave before she buried her face in her father’s shoulder. You're going to have to talk to me eventually, kid.

  “Hang on,” he called to me.

  I stopped.

  “Can you give me a few minutes to talk to Miss Gray?” he asked Annie.

  She slid down along him until her small feet met the floor.

  “Wait for me in the living room, okay?” he asked her gently.

  She walked towards the living room without even glancing at me.

  "Did she say much today?" he asked me.

  "Not really. Mostly, she played on her phone, but don't worry about it. These things can take some time. It's an adjustment, but she'll get there."

  "You have a lot of confidence," he stated as we stood in the doorway.

  "I don't know if it's confidence. It's more like I have faith that eventually, I can get through to any child as long as I'm patient."

  "Well, thank you.”

  He leaned forward slightly and I caught a whiff of his cologne. It was so intoxicating I nearly knocked myself out.

  "It's a real relief having someone around that knows what they're doing."

  "I know what you mean. Every parent is nervous the first day when they leave their child with someone new.”

  Was it my imagination or was his eyes hungrily roaming my body? “Have a good night, Christian."

  "Goodnight, Hannah."

  I smiled and waved before I walked away. Even though I didn't turn back to look at him, I could feel his eyes on me. I felt like I would melt underneath his gaze. When was the last time I'd felt like this? Being around Christian stoked my excitement and made my body react in ways I’d never felt before.

  Once the door closed I allowed myself to take a deep breath. Whenever I was around him, all I could think about was his hand on my thigh or his lips on mine. And the more I thought about him, the more I fantasized about the possibilities.

  "Okay, calm down," I muttered to myself as I rolled down my window to let in some air.

  How the hell did I intend to work for Christian if every time I saw him, I had a million inappropriate thoughts about him? It was starting to feel like more than a silly crush that would fade with familiarity. Problem was it wasn’t fading it was growing stronger and stronger.

  I sat up a little taller. "He is my boss and I'm his employee. I'm going to be cool, calm and professional. End of story."

  That's what I had to focus on… my job and his daughter. Nothing else. Besides, he would be at work most of the time. It wasn’t like I would have to see him every second of every day. Surely, I could handle that. A hello in the morning and an update on how Annie was in the evening. Then a good night. Yeah, I could do that.

  Definitely.

  Chapter Eight

  Hannah

  A week passed and life with Annie settled into a new dynamic. It was a fun time. By fun, I meant I felt ready to pull my hair out. She didn't ignore me anymore. She just said no… no matter what I asked, then flounced off. My reaction was to smile and ask again, because I wasn't going to give up.

  Her reaction would always be just downright against anything I said. If I asked her to put her shoes on, she ignored me and walked around barefoot for ages. If I asked her to put away her toys, she took them all out.

  I saw the actions and reactions for what they were.

  Small acts of defiance ca
lculated to drive me insane.

  I knew she was giving me a hard time on purpose. I'd never had to work so hard to gain a child's trust. In the past, it had always taken a few days at most and then I was their best friend. Not with Annie. I started to lose confidence in my ability. Maybe she would be the exception to the rule and I was about to lose my child whisperer status.

  "How was she today?" Christian asked as he came home and sat his briefcase on the kitchen counter.

  "Same as usual," I said as I put on a smile. "I don't think she wants much to do with me. Did she like her last nanny?"

  Christian shook his head. "Honestly, the last nanny quit after a very short time.” He looked at me warily. "I hope you're not going to do the same."

  "Of course not," I said as I waved a hand and put the last dish into the washer. I shut it and switched it on before I turned back to look at him. "I was just wondering because it's pretty common for children to have a favorite and not like the new one."

  He frowned. "No, she didn’t bond with the last girl.”

  "That's okay. We'll work through it." And I meant it too, because she was a pretty good kid even if she seemed so distant. Smart, independent and when she was with her dad, she was just like any other happy, bouncing child.

  I dried my hands off before I gathered up my things.

  Annie had decided she wanted to be left alone thirty minutes ago so she was upstairs waiting for her dad to come home.

  "Thank you for staying with her," he said as he watched me carefully. "We appreciate it." Christian handed my paycheck to me in an envelope.

  I pocketed it. My first paycheck meant I could buy groceries, put gas in my car, and pay my mom back. I was sure she was tired of me calling and asking to borrow more, even if she was sweet about it.

  "Annie has a doctor's appointment tomorrow," he said as he loosened his necktie and slowly undid it.