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When I’d first noticed him shirtless earlier, I feared I was going to choke on my own saliva. I’d been embarrassed by my reaction, that I could so quickly lose all control over my body and what it was feeling. I hated that I might have come off like some poor, scandalized little girl, but in my defense, I’d never seen anything like it.
The men in the Fellowship weren’t permitted to walk around without their shirts on, and even if they were, I could say boldly that none of them looked quite like Laeth. Not even close.
The closest I’d ever come to anything like that was in the few books Myra had snuck that I’d managed to read. And even those were enough to have elevated my breathing and make me squirm with strange, new feelings. But what I’d read had beennothingcompared to a real-live, in person, up close view of my new boss.
Catching myself ogling the man once more, I shook my head to try and clear it of the uncharacteristic thoughts floating around and cleared my throat to announce my presence.
Cash’s inquisitive eyes came up to me. “Hey, little bug,” I said, bending low. “What are you coloring?”
“Peace car,” he answered seriously.
I looked to the paper in front of him to see he’d colored the police car on the page purple and yellow and blue. “Wow. That looks great. I bet every policeman would fight over who got to drive this car.”
His eyes widened and his lips parted slightly on an exhale, like what I’d said was mesmerizing for some reason.
He was so adorable I wanted to lean over and wrap him in a hug. Unfortunately, the spell was broken by his father’s clipped words.
“If you don’t mind, I need to get your list of responsibilities out of the way so I can get to work.”
My eyes widen at his brusqueness. I wasn’t sure what I’d done to offend this man so gravely, but I was determined to fix it somehow. “Yes. Of course.” I moved quickly to the stools at the island and took a seat, giving him my full attention from across the long expanse of counter. “I’m sorry. I’m all ears.”
“First and foremost, you’ve been hired on to take care of my son. That is your number one priority.”
I nodded vigorously. “Of course. I understand, sir.”
The vein on the side of his neck throbbed, his knuckles grew white as his grip around the mug he was holding clenched tighter. “My hours at the office can be a bit erratic, so I’ll need you to be on call day and night on the off chance a case we’re working on picks up and I need to leave at the drop of a hat.”
Iwasa live-in nanny, after all, so I assumed that went with the job title. But instead of saying such, I nodded in agreement.
“I don’t have a lot of time to clean, and I have absolutely no desire to cook, so I’ll be expecting you to do both. Three meals a day. Of course, I’ll pay for the groceries, but you’ll need to shop once a week, and keep the fridge and pantry stocked. I won’t require you to do my laundry, but you will need to do Cash’s to make sure he doesn’t run low. You may feel I’m requiring a lot from you, but I’ll be compensating you more than fairly to do everything, so I expect you to meet my standards.”
He wasn’t requesting—demanding, really—I do anything I hadn’t done for the Oakes’s on a regular basis, and for no pay at all, but how he was speaking to me as he laid down orders made my skin prickle and my spine grow tight.
He wasn’t going to make this easy on me.
I chewed on my bottom lip, waiting for him to say more, but he simply stared at me, his slate eyes burrowing into me from across the kitchen as he lifted his mug to his lips and sipped.
Finally, he hooked a brow upward and asked, “Well?”
My brow furrowed and my head tilted to the side in confusion. “Well what?”
“Do you have any issues with everything I’ve outlined for you? This is the time to say it if you want to back out.”
There was no backing out. I had nowhere else to go, no other options. This was it, and Iwouldmake it work.
“No, sir. No issues at all.”
He waited another beat before twisting at his waist, pouring the remaining coffee down the drain, and plunking the mug into the sink.
He moved over to where his son was engrossed in his coloring and bent low, ruffling his dark hair before placing a kiss in the crown of his head. “I’m headed to work, kiddo. Have a good day.”
Cash lifted his eyes from the page just long enough to offer a heart-warming. “Bye, Daddy.”
Their interaction was enough to make a person—a woman in particular—melt, but I could have sworn I noticed Laeth grow tense as he approached his son. There was something stilted, almost uncomfortable about their interaction. It was as if neither of them was accustomed to such behavior.
Then, without sparing me another glance, Laeth headed out of the kitchen, calling over his shoulder, “I’ve left a list of phone numbers on the counter for you, along with a credit card for groceries. Keep the receipts.” Then he was out the door.
I inhaled deeply before letting it out in a slow, shaky sigh.
