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He made a good point. I never felt unsafe around him physically, just emotionally.
“Lead the way.”
Lucas flashed me a mega-watt smile. It reminded me of the one he gave Esmé when he played the grab-my-tie game with her, but tonight’s smile looked even bigger. Still holding hands, I followed him to the VIP room, scrambling on my heels as I tried to keep up with his long strides. He walked like a determined man on a mission.
A woman wearing a black bodycon dress that barely covered her butt greeted Lucas by a closed door.
“Good evening, Mr. Shaw. My name is Diamond.” I rolled my eyes. Her name was anything but. “I’ll be at your service tonight. What would you like to start with?”
She hadn’t made eye contact with me once. I might as well be invisible, so I answered her question first. “Grey Goose vodka soda for me, with a lime. Make it a double.” Lucas chuckled beside me.
“A bottle of Johnnie Walker Blue and a glass. I drink it neat, so no ice needed.”
“Yes, sir.” The woman walked away, still not acknowledging my existence, but then again, I wasn’t paying the bill.
“After you,” Lucas said to me, opening the door to the VIP room.
The walls were painted the darkest gray with black-tinted windows that ran along the wall next to the door. Dim lighting lined the baseboards, giving the room a subtle glowing effect.
“Can people see inside or are we hidden?” I asked.
“We’re invisible to everyone else in the club. We have complete privacy.” I shivered at the thought of us alone together, though Lucas stood over an arm’s length away from me.
“I can barely hear the music.” I strained to recognize the song the DJ was playing.
“I can turn the volume up with the surround sound in the room, but I want to talk to you first. Please, have a seat.”
He pointed to a sectional covered in dark purple velvet. When I sat down, the soft fabric caressed the backs of my thighs. Between the dedicated service and posh interior, this room had to cost him a small fortune.
Diamond returned with our drinks, placing them on a black glass table close to me. She opened the bottle of Johnnie Walker for Lucas, pouring him his first glass. Surely he didn’t plan on downing the entire thing tonight.
“Anything else, sir?” Diamond purred at Lucas. At least she didn’t hump his leg.
“I’ll let you know if we need anything else.” Lucas closed the door behind Diamond, and I heard a distinct click as he turned the lock.
“Are we going to talk with our clothes off?”
“No one’s clothes are coming off in this room.” I might’ve been more than slightly disappointed, which made me a hypocrite for asking him in the first place.
Lucas picked up his glass and downed half the contents. Maybe he was going to drink the whole damn thing. I sipped on my drink. One of us needed to keep our wits about us, as my mother would say.
“I need to talk about your employment as my nanny.” Lucas sat down in the club chair across from me. The distance, along with the way he spoke to me, seemed way too formal. Was he going to fire me? It made no sense, but it wouldn’t be the first time Lucas had confused me.
“Help me understand. You reserved a VIP room to talk about me being your nanny?” He nodded and downed the remainder of his drink. He set the empty glass down on the table but didn’t refill it.
“Yes, I did. You see, I have a rule when it comes to people who work for me. My employee relationships are and always will be professional. The contract Jared gave you to sign was a formal employment contract making you off-limits to me.”
Oh. Oh. “You and I can’t be together as long as I work for you.”
“Correct. It creates an ethical dilemma and will end with both of us on Page Six under a scandalous headline. I need to know what you want to do under these circumstances.”
I’d always dreamed of landing on Page Six, but not as a nanny who slept with the child’s billionaire father. Lucas would recover, but I’d never live it down, especially in my small hometown where people thrived on juicy gossip.
“I want to be with you so bad it hurts, but who will take care of Esmé if I quit?” I worried my hands in my lap. I couldn’t abandon that sweet child. I’d grown to love her like my own.
“A beautiful woman I met a few weeks ago in a coffee shop. I can’t pay her for helping me out. Do you think she will do it?”
I had no clue where I would get the money for rent, food, and my Starbucks addiction. I wanted to say yes, but I couldn’t blow off my responsibilities. I had to be honest with Lucas if we were going to make this thing between us work.
