Page 48 of A Nanny for the Reclusive Billionaire

All my love always,

Beth

Rhys let the letter flutter to the desk, his vision blurred by tears. He reached blindly for his scotch and slugged it down, swallowing hard against the lump in his throat.

Leave it to Beth to find a way to smack him upside the head, even in death.

…

“Where’s Dad?” Oliver whined. “I want him to put me to bed tonight.”

“Who am I, nobody?” Mallory joked, struggling to hide the doubt niggling inside her head and her heart. Truth was, she had no idea where Rhys was or what he was doing. For the first time in almost a week, he’d barricaded himself in his office, not even coming out for dinner. “I thought you liked me.”

“I do,” Oliver said, taking his Spider-Man pajamas from Mallory’s outstretched hand and pulling them on. “But Dad always forgets to make me brush my teeth, and you never do.”

Right. Priorities. She took Oliver by the shoulders, turned him toward his bathroom, and gave him little push. “Go. Brush. Then I’ll read you another chapter ofMrs. Piggle-Wiggle.”

“With the voices?” he asked.

She smiled. “Yes, with the voices.”

An hour later, Oliver had been tucked in and read to, and Mallory was in her room with a glass of sauvignon blanc and the newest Sophie Kinsella on her e-reader. She closed the book after reading the same sentence three times, opened the sliding glass door, and stepped out onto the balcony.

She leaned on the railing, her wineglass dangling between two fingers, and looked out over the horizon. The sun hung low,a red-orange ball suspended over the gentle swells of the Atlantic. She tried to concentrate on the beauty and serenity of the scene in front of her and not on the churning in her belly.

She was becoming “that” kind of girl, and she hated it. Needy, clingy, demanding. Freaking out because Rhys changed up their routine. They hadn’t made any promises. He had every right to some alone time. Her head told her it was healthy for them to spend time apart.

Unfortunately, her heart couldn’t seem to grasp that concept.

She sipped her wine as the last of the sun disappeared. This was getting out of control. She was working for him. Sleeping with him. And now, she feared, falling in love with him.

To make things even more complicated, she didn’t have the results of her blood tests yet. She’d missed a call from Dr. Decker’s office earlier. His nurse left a message for her to call back, but by the time she’d seen the notification on her cell phone, the office was closed for the day. Mallory had listened to it over and over.Your results are in, the doctor would like to speak to you, please call back at your earliest convenience.Short and succinct, not much to go on. Although that hadn’t stopped her from trying in vain to read between the lines.

“Beautiful view.”

Rhys’s deep, gruff voice made Mallory almost drop her glass onto the patio below. She turned slowly to face the man who occupied a disproportionate number of her waking thoughts, her stupid heart racing when she caught sight of him.

Why did he always have to look so good? He’d traded the button-down shirt and khakis he typically wore during business hours for a pair of cargo shorts and a white polo that set off his tanned skin. His hair was disheveled and his eyes hooded, but none of that detracted from the pull he had on her whenever he was in her general vicinity.

She shivered despite the still-warm September night air, his presence a welcome distraction from worrying about something she couldn’t control. She’d get her results tomorrow and face the consequences—whatever they may or may not be—then. Tonight, she was going to live in the here and now. “The sunsets are spectacular in the Keys.”

“I wasn’t talking about the sunset.” He leaned on the rail next to her, and she detected the faint smell of scotch on his breath.

She ignored the compliment and went back to studying the horizon, the twilight sky now streaked with red and orange. “I didn’t hear you come in.”

“The door was open.”

“I…we missed you tonight. At dinner, I mean.” There she went again. Needy, clingy, and demanding.

Fortunately, Rhys didn’t notice. He was focused on something else, namely her ass, which he was fondling through the lightweight cotton of her sleep shirt. “I had some things to work through.”

“Is everything all right?”

His hand slipped under her nightdress, her skimpy lace panties the only thing that stood between her bare skin and his probing fingers. One of those fingers toyed with the elastic around her thigh, sliding underneath then retreating, teasing her. “It is now.”

Her breath hitched, and she almost dropped the glass again. “Wh-what are you doing?”

“If you have to ask, I’m not doing it right.” With his free hand, he took the glass from her fingers and set it down beside him.