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Chapter 4
Amelia
I looked at Hunter Knox, walking away with my mouth open. When I was walking shoulder by shoulder to him, I couldn’t help but react to his presence. He was tall and rough around the edges, his presence was masculine, and even his smell was hot, but all of that couldn’t cover the fact that he was a jerk. A cruel one. I decided to let it go. After all, it was not my job to dig in his family drama and fix it, so I pushed him to the back of my mind and walked in the room, closing the door behind me.
The so-called nursery was anything but. Just like the rest of the house, this room was arranged to be cutting-edge and modern. There was the crib, that looked very out of place, a white leather couch and a desk by the window, a tall lamp, and a wardrobe, but that was it. I opened the wardrobe and saw that all the baby stuff was crammed in there—diapers, a few bottles and a handful of clothes. Definitely not enough for a baby. God, this room was a nightmare. Where were they changing her, or feeding her? Where were the toys? Did Hunter Knox kept this baby trapped in a crib for a week with nothing to keep her busy? He probably did, since Sofi wasn’t allowed anywhere in the house.
I finally turned to see her sleeping and I smiled automatically. Sofi was adorable—a tiny human with her cheeks still chubby. Her chest was slowly going up and down in perfect rhythm and when I touched her little hand with mine, she grabbed it immediately. Oh, how lonely must it have been for her. I cursed Knox in my head and frowned. This was ending today. He hired me to work for him and have Sofi’s best interest in mind, and that was exactly what I intended to do.This bullshit over.
I took out my phone and dialed the only contact number I had. Emily picked up after the first ring.
“Amy, how can I help you?”
“Umm, hey. Listen, Emily, I think I need a few things.”
“Is everything alright? Mr. Knox is expecting you to start today.”
“I know. I’m here already. He gave me a tour of the house. Look, he said something about an expense credit card and I wanted to ask you what the limit was. Sofi needs a lot of things. And I mean a lot.”
“I understand. Yes, I have your credit card and I can ask Raoul to deliver it to you as soon as he drops Mr. Knox at the office. There is no spending limit, Amy.”
“Emily, you don’t understand. I need to buy a changing table, and some toys, and more clothes. I don’t even know if Sofi has a stroller.”
“She does not. Unfortunately, Mr. Knox didn’t have too much time for packing when he returned home with his niece.”
I bit my tongue to not tell her that happened a week ago and he had a lot of time to rectify his mistakes.
“Yeah, well, we’re talking about an eleven-month-old child who is completely under stimulated. She has no toys, no interaction at all. She needs things to keep her busy and active. And I only found two bottles and no sterilizer.”
“You’re the expert in child development, Amy. Whatever you say, goes. Mr. Knox was clear about that.” He never said it to me. “I’ll send you your credit card shortly and you can buy whatever you think the child needs.”
“Should I use the computer in Mr. Knox’s office if I want to order something?”
“God no, don’t go in his office. I will take care of everything.” And she hung up on me again, but I was sure she was going to keep her word.
I put the phone in my back pocket and finally took a deep breath, encouraging myself to go meet the baby. I was here for her and it became more and more clear she needed someone in her corner. When I bent over the crib, I was welcomed by adorable round cheeks and two little hands turned into fists. Someone needed to be heartless to call such an adorable girl a problem. Her dark hair and full lips reminded me of Molly, one of my foster sisters. Molly was the only baby that I knew before I got adopted, but I did spendsometime with her. I was sure all those things I did back then would come back to me and I’d have no problem adjusting to this nanny job. Plus, I had the internet to assist me.
I didn’t dare move, but it didn’t take long for her to wake up and open her eyes. Wow—it was like Hunter Knox was staring back at me. They shared those deep blue eyes, same shade, same determination, same thick lashes framing them. It took a few seconds for Sofi to register that there was a stranger looking down on her, but when she did, she started making happy sounds and reaching for me. Yeah, she was bored out of her mind.
“Hello, young lady. Hi! I’m Amy!”
She replied with a sweet babble.
“I know, baby. You and I are going to have so much fun. Are you hungry? I don’t know because you don’t have a schedule, but I will change that tomorrow.”
I picked her up and the first thing she did was grab on to my hair like it was the holy grail. I think I’ll have to get used to that. Sofi was turning into a toddler and she was curious. I made a mental note to watch her very carefully because she will try to get her hands on everything in sight.
This was going to be a challenge, but Sofi was worth it. I was going to make it good for her, and I would get paid handsomely while doing it. Killing two birds with one stone, some might say.
~~~
After I got some play time with Sofi, I then spent the rest of the day ordering baby items with the credit card Raoul dropped off. I also got to know him a little better over a cup of coffee. He filled me in on everything he knew about Sofi and it was really helpful. From what I’ve gathered, he was the only constant presence in the baby’s life except for the sitter. I also found out he worked for Hunter ever since he started his company and for some outlandish reason, he was very loyal and admired his boss a lot.
The day passed by fast because I also had to organize the fridge. I planned and prepped a few meals in advance for Sofi, which turned out to be a challenge because the fridge was not stocked properly. There were a lot of baby food jars, but everybody knew that was crap, so one of the first things I had to do tomorrow was hit the grocery store. Not only because I needed to diversify Sofi’s diet, but I also had to eat and there was no way I would survive in this house for six months only on bell peppers and almond milk. I was a foody. For the first night, pizza had to be enough, but starting tomorrow, I’d be taking over this kitchen. Knox wouldn’t care so much any ways since he owned like ten restaurants here in Vegas where he could go eat.
Sofi went down for the night around nine and I turned on the baby monitor so I could return to the kitchen and clean the mess I left behind. I was supposed to do that earlier, but the little lady became fussy and I took her out for a little while. She really seemed to enjoy the dry Nevada sunset and I did too. One thing that Hunter had in his fancy house up the hill was a killer view over the Las Vegas Valley. I was halfway done with the dishes when I heard the velvety and powerful voice behind me.
“And what are you doing in my kitchen, Miss Hart?”
