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Eight
Sydney
“You did … what?” Ford asked, shock and confusion filling his handsome face. “How?”
This was exactly what I hadn’t wanted. To have a conversation like the one that had just started.
To base this on lies.
I just wanted to tell him about the talk I’d had with Hannah when she dropped me off at my apartment, how she had told me about the position and persuaded me to apply.
But I kept telling myself there was a reason she had wanted me to go this route.
That coincidences could happen.
That this, somehow, could be one.
“I saw the ad and applied,” I told him. “I’d been looking for a nanny position in LA before I even left Europe.”
“You didn’t know the job was for me? And Everly?”
I’d never seen the ad, but I was positive it wouldn’t have listed Ford’s information. I was sure it would have only had his assistant’s info. It also wouldn’t have given Everly’s name.
I shook my head. “I had no idea.”
As I took a breath, trying to calm my nerves, I couldn’t get over how sexy he looked in this big office. His broad, muscular frame in the high-back leather seat. Framed accolades all over the walls and a view of LA’s skyline out the window.
“I’m sorry.” I glanced down at my lap, the heat from his gaze becoming too much. “You, in that navy suit, in this setting, is just a vision I was not prepared for.”
I couldn’t believe I had said that out loud.
But those words were more honest than anything I’d said so far.
Ford Dalton screamed power.
And remembering just how much power he’d given me on the back of Gabby’s couch and again on her wooden table was making my entire body blush.
A topic I’d much rather ponder than the lies.
When I finally glanced up, there was hunger in his stare.
A hunger I recognized. I’d seen the same look while we were at the bar and again when we were eating dinner.
“I’m shocked as hell right now.”
“Me too,” I whispered.
“I just assumed you worked in the education field. I realize now that I never asked.”
I reached inside my bag and pulled out my résumé, setting it on his desk. “I’m not sure if you’ve already seen this.”
“I haven’t.”
“Then, take a look. My background is all on there, detailed. The last four years, I was employed by the Turner family as an au pair for their three children. I homeschooled them, baked for them. Raised them, if I’m being honest.”
“An au pair,” he said as he looked at the sheet.
Without his eyes, I couldn’t get a read on what he was thinking.
I wondered if he could feel the panic that was blasting through me.
“As you know, I’m going to school for education, a degree I’ll be starting in a few weeks at UCLA.” He finally looked up as I added, “It’s an online program. I’ll have plenty of time to work and fulfill all my obligations.”
“You’re qualified—there’s no question about that—and I’ve seen you with my daughter …” His voice faded out. “What made you become an au pair?”
This was where the honesty came in. Where I could look him in the eyes and give him a part of myself.
“When I graduated high school, I wasn’t ready for college. I just didn’t know what I wanted to do, what I wanted to study, where I wanted to be in life. What I did know was that I wanted to see the world, so I applied to be a flight attendant and an au pair, not expecting to get either job at eighteen years old. Ironically, I got both.” I glanced past his chair, at the framed degrees that hung on the walls, looking forward to the day when I had my own to use as decor. “I’ve always loved children. I babysat every kid in my neighborhood, and when the Turners told me the job required an immense amount of travel, I was sold.” I smiled as I thought of my littles, the texts we’d exchanged just a few days ago when I told them how much I missed them. “Four years later, there was no question as to what I wanted to do. I just needed my degree.” I shrugged. “So, now, I’m here, going after that degree.”
“And you’d be comfortable in a nanny role again?”
“Ford, it’s a role I know very well.” I repositioned my legs, recrossing them, trying my hardest not to fidget. “I’m paying for my own schooling, my apartment. I fully support myself. And although I do have a nice chunk in savings, I don’t want to deplete it. I have to work. It feels wrong not to.” I wrapped an arm around my stomach. “I know, not typical information that’s shared during an interview, but this”—I shook my head—“isn’t your typical situation.”
He was quiet for a moment before he said, “This job requires you to move into my home.”
I nodded. “That was in the ad. But now that I see it’s you, I realize that probably changes things a bit.” I tried not to wince. “Makes things a bit … messy.”
The moving-in had also been mentioned by Ford’s assistant, something I hadn’t dwelled on since I didn’t know what was going to happen when he realized it was me.
He looked down at his coffee, taking his time to eventually gaze up at me. “Do you really think this could work?” His teeth grazed his lip, reminding me of what that had felt like when he did the same thing to my nipple. “We’ve slept together, Sydney. I don’t know how you could be Everly’s nanny at this point.”
I took a deep breath—something that wasn’t easy to do. “Things are a little complicated now, yes.”
“A little?” He laughed. “I’ve made it clear that I’m overly protective of my daughter and the people I bring into her life. If things don’t work out between us and you’re her nanny, that’s another woman abandoning her, and I won’t stand for that.”
Another woman.
I assumed the first—and only—was her mother.
My stomach hurt for that sweet, precious girl.
And it just added to the questions I already had.
“But there’s another side to this,” he continued. “And that is, you’re perfect for her—everything I want and need in a nanny.” He looked down at his coffee again, this time taking a drink. “You’re young, you’re fit, you’ll be able to keep up with her energy.” He ran his hand over his beard, wiping the sides of his mouth. “You’ll be able to teach her and mold her and give her all the tools she needs to start kindergarten in the fall. And once she starts school, you’ll only enhance what she’s already learning there.” His voice lowered when he said, “She fell for you the moment she met you. She even still asks for you.”
“I fell for her.” That was also the truth. “She appeared so mature for her age with such an old soul.”
“She had no choice. I’ve only ever treated her like an adult.”
“I appreciate that parenting style, to be honest.” She took a breath. “Ford, it would be an honor to take care of your little girl.”
Ford leaned back in his chair, adjusting his tie, like the knot was too tight. “What the fuck am I supposed to do, Sydney?” He paused. “I’m in a position where I need to hire someone immediately. Hannah is at her wit’s end. Tops, I can squeeze a few more weeks out of her.”
“And here comes the but.”
