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Chapter One
Hannah
I adjusted the skirt that stopped at my knees and made sure my button-down top wasn't showing too much cleavage. I knew I was fiddling with my outfit because my stomach was in knots. I pushed back my stray honey-blonde hair and tucked it behind my ear. Why did every job interview make me so unnecessarily nervous? I’d done them a good hundred times by now, but that didn’t matter. Each new one was the same—a jittery mixture of excitement and fear in the pit of my stomach.
Why, I don’t know…. I was good at what I did.
Hell, I started off as a babysitter when I was eleven years old, and as I grew older, I just kept on doing it because I loved kids so much. I was a natural when it came to understanding and handling them. I was like one of those horse whisperers, only I was doing it to children. There wasn’t a child yet, I hadn’t managed to befriend or love.
Maybe I was extra nervous with this one because my employer would be Christian West. He was one of the richest men in California, a billionaire. And he was paying well above the going rate. Working for him would mean I’d be financially stable for a few years, and I could really use all the stability I could get after taking on a mortgage on the little apartment I lived in.
I locked my cozy home, walked down two flights of stairs, and out into the glorious morning sunshine. Slipping into Betsy, my trusty old Mini, I gave her a little pep talk about making it without any stops to my destination. Betsy was old, you see, and couldn’t make long drives anymore. My father gave her to me when I first learned to drive. I still remember that day. Dad had tied a massive pink ribbon around her. She was a secondhand car and there were a few scratches on her even then, but I was so happy I started crying.
Christian West’s house was about an-hour out of town, but I was sure she could make it. I turned the key and she spluttered to life.
“Good girl,” I whispered.
It was Sunday and the streets were mostly quiet. Like the trooper she was, Betsy made it to the most impressive set of black gates I’d ever seen. Someone must have been watching for my arrival because the gates swung open, and I drove through. After parking in the circular driveway, I stepped out of my car and glanced around at the impeccable landscaping. Wow, how wonderful to live in such utterly beautiful surroundings. I mean I loved my little home, but this… Wow! It was truly something else.
I adjusted my hair in the rearview mirror quickly and once I was sure there wasn't a strand out of place, I snagged my resume, straightened my spine, and got out. Taking a deep breath of fresh morning air I began to walk up to the big double doors. It was so peaceful and quiet my heels were loud on the driveway, filling the still air with a noise that felt foreign to it.
"Okay Hannah, you can do this."
The house was huge and dramatic. White stucco walls bordered with dark green perfectly manicured greenery made the three-story high structure look sleek and modern. Everything was done with such perfect detail and precision that I knew without a doubt it would be just as immaculate on the inside. I was pretty certain the owner of this piece of real estate was high on the OCD scale.
But I could deal with OCD.
I raised my hand towards the doorbell and suddenly felt paralyzed with fear. I took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. You can do this Hannah. You’re good at this remember? I took another deep, calming breath. He’s not an ogre. Just a man who needs help with his daughter. I exhaled. When I felt like I had my nervousness under control, I pressed the bell and waited. Shifting my weight from one foot to the other, I tried to think positive thoughts.
The door swung open and a man appeared.
I sucked in a breath of sheer amazement. Oh, my God! He was gorgeous. Far, far more gorgeous than any photo I had seen on the net. And he was tall. Very tall. I wasn't a short person at all, but he made my five foot eight look like nothing in comparison. I knew he had to be at least six foot four, maybe even five. I wanted to say something, but I couldn’t. I just never expected him to answer his own door. It completely took me by surprise. I was expecting a housekeeper, or butler, or whoever rich people hire to answer their doors. I gaped at him like a demented goldfish.
