AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Molly called himTheo. I never really liked it. I like the name Teddie instead.” It’s his tone that sounds prickly, not the answer itself.
“It’s cute,” I say as I try to smooth over the mood. I can’t start my very first day on the job on a bad note. “It reminds me of the little bear he’s holding.”
Hunter smiles and then opens the door to the closed room we’ve stopped in front of. And instantly, I suck in a sharp breath.
This bedroom is bigger than my brother’s entire apartment. And it’sgorgeous.
The room looks like something you would find in a ritzy, upscale hotel on the top floor, complete with a canopy bed and its own bathroom that has a jacuzzi tub I can see from the doorway. I step inside and gawk for a few solid seconds.
“This room is all yours for as long as you’re here,” Hunter says as he motions his hand around the wide, spacious bedroom. “The bathroom is fully stocked with toiletries, there’s a mini fridge in the walk-in closet, and the maid comes twice a week to change all the linens.”
“Are you serious?” I ask.
“About which part?” Hunter asks, completely serious.
“Never mind,” I say as I shake my head and look around the room. “It’s just all really nice.”
“Good, glad you like it. Let me show you Teddie’s room and the rest of the house,” he says, setting my bag down on the bed and then heading back out the door.
I follow behind him throughout the lengthy house tour, equally as impressed in each room. At least I have a pretty fantastic place to stay for a while. If only I didn’t need to be torturously tempted by the sight of Hunter here. There are hints of lingering, angsty feelings between us that I can feel like little zings of electricity whenever I stand a bit too close to him. Maybe it’s all in my imagination, but I think that I can see him stiffen in the close proximity too, which makes me think I’m not imagining it.
When we get back down to the kitchen, I focus my attention on the little boy. Theodore is the reason that I am here to begin with, and he makes a nice buffer for me to keep my thoughts off his dad. I listen intently as Hunter gives me a rundown on things before he needs to leave for work. It all seems pretty basic, nothing that I can’t handle, and certainly nothing that I need a different degree in order to do.
After Hunter leaves, I dig into my day with Teddie. He’s a sweet boy, and it’s not hard to get along with him instantly. We play games, snuggle up on the couch to read a couple of books, and make macaroni and cheese at lunchtime. I actually find myselfenjoyingspending time hanging out with this kid. And that leads to finding myself daydreaming about what it might have been if this had beenmylife. I get lost in thought about what might have happened ifIhad been the one Hunter had a child with and if this was actually my real life instead of just a nanny job. It’s almost surreal to think that this could be my mansion, and that I could have a little kid with Hunter’s gorgeous eyes, and all of this money, and—I have to stop myself before I let all of these thoughts take over and hijack my head. I refuse to give into the old feelings that I had for Hunter. He left me and it spiraled my life out of control for a while. I am not going to let that happen again.
“Can we read another book?” Teddie asks as he grabs his bear and hops down from the table after finishing his food.
We still have a few hours before Hunter will be home, and I’m already feeling anxious about sleeping here tonight. It’s undoubtably the most comfortable place I’ve ever stayed at but thinking about Hunter sleeping alone down the hall from my bedroom is guaranteed to bring a night of tossing and turning.
“Sure,” I smile. “You and your bear can pick out which book.
“His name is Archie,” Teddie smiles as he lovingly clutches the bear to his chest.
“Archie, huh?” I grin. “How did you come up with that name?”
“My dad read me a comic book with a funny guy in it named Archie. There was a girl in it named Tabitha too, just like you,” he says.
“Oh yeah?”
Teddie nods. “My dad said he knew a Tabitha once. I bet he was talking about you.”
“Maybe,” I say as I shrug my shoulders. “Did he say anything else about me?”
“No.”
With the innocent, single-worded response of a small boy, I am snapped back into reality. This is ajob, nothing more. For all the time that I spent pining over Hunter and crying over losing him, he was busy with this kid’s mom. He wasn’t thinking about me at all, and I’d be stupid to think that I am anything other than the nanny here.
Make the money, take care of the kid, then find a new job.
I whisper that mantra over and over again as I walk up the staircase with Teddie to pick out a new book to read.
Chapter Four
Hunter
“Mr. Rogers, is everything okay?”
My secretary must have asked me that a dozen times today, and each time I told her I was fine, justdistracted. In truth, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about Tabitha ever since I left the house this morning. And I’ve been watching the clock at the office all day, struggling to stay on task and get my work done so that I can leave. There issomuch company business that I need to take care of but all I can think about is how Tabitha’s jeans hugged the curve of her hips this morning as I showed her around the house—much better than the slacks she wore to her pseudo-interview. And muchhotter.
