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“Um, when Noa is up—”
Almost on cue, the baby started fussing, interrupting Em.
“Squid never sleeps long unless she’s being held.”
Em studied me. “You’ve been holding her so she’ll sleep—even at night.” It wasn’t a question. “How about… I go take care of her? You go take a nap.”
“I—”
She shook her head. “Go take a nap.”
Em was already heading back down the hallway to Noa, whose cries were getting more distraught. I started to follow, but apparently sensing me, Em turned and pointed.
“Go get some sleep.”
Our eyes met and clashed, sending lightning down my spine to sizzle around my balls. Shit. I was screwed. Still, right about then, with the prospect of finally getting sleep, I wasn’t sure I’d ever liked anyone more than I did my new nanny.
Four
Em
“Oh, little girl, don’t think you’re going to sleep there,” I murmured, looking down at Noa. When I’d come here a week ago, she’d taken right to me. Now, she snuggled into me as if I were her mama. I’d have felt bad about that if her mom was around, but Luca had told me during one conversation this week, that Noa’s birth mother wasn’t in their life. And wouldn’t ever be. She lived in California and had given over all her parental rights.
I pulled away the bottle Noa had stopped sucking as she drifted toward sleep and gently dabbed at her milky lips with a cloth. My heart clenched at her adorable little face, and the temptation to just keep cradling her niggled at me.
Not happening. That wouldn’t be good for either of us. Carefully, I levered to my feet then carried her into her room. Minutes later, I headed into the kitchen, with the baby monitor in hand, to clean up from the morning.
“Is she sleeping?” Luca asked, looking up from his makeshift desk in the breakfast nook.
“Yeah. If she follows her normal schedule, she’ll be down for a few hours.” It had taken the better part of a week, but I’d gotten her back onto a routine.
“Coffee?” Luca asked, slipping out of his seat then heading toward the maker. With a covert side-eye, I admired the long lines of his body and the lean muscle he’d developed since his youth. I loved the messy wave of his sandy locks and the crooked tilt of his black-rimmed glasses. He didn’t wear them all the time, only needing them when he was working, but I found them sexy as hell.
Oh…what was I doing here? What had I been thinking hiring on with a single father, a guy I used to have a massive crush on? The problem was, my attraction wasn’t so “used to have,” and I had to be careful to keep it in check.
“Yes, thanks,” I told him while I quickly loaded a few dishes into the dishwasher, adding them to what was already there, and pushed the buttons to start it.
The scent of the brew filled the kitchen, and when I turned from where I’d wiped the counter, I watched Luca slide my mug onto the table across from his workspace. He closed his two laptops and set them aside. This was another part of our routine, a strange one to me as I’d never done this with any parent who’d employed me—mid-morning coffee together.
“Did you talk to your parents last night?” he asked when I settled across from him.
I nodded. “They just got to Glacier National Park yesterday afternoon. Mom sent me the most gorgeous pictures. They’ll be there a couple weeks.”
Since my parents retired early, they’d sold their house and packed up into their RV and started traveling the country with the intent of visiting as many of the national parks as possible. But they were in no hurry to rush from place to place. For the first time since they’d been on the road, I longed for my mom to be here so I could talk to her face-to-face about the situation I found myself in.
“I’d like to take Squid there when she’s older. My parents used to drag me to the parks when I was a kid. I have to say, I didn’t appreciate it. I just wanted to be back behind my computers.”
I remembered that about him, but I couldn’t tell him so or that would reveal I’d absorbed every video he’d ever made, back in the day.
“It was your calling, though, right? Even then, you had an inkling about what your future would be.”
He chuckled and tilted his head to the side. “I guess so, yeah. Though I have to say, my first year out of college, I made more on social media streaming than I did in work. The allure of skulking back into my parents’ basement and just continuing gaming vids was real. But by then I’d branched into business apps—both online and mobile. My breakout app was a business simulation. Now, we customize our platforms for organizations to use for training purposes. We’re branching out in to education, too.”
“Is it like virtual reality?”
“At first, no. But in the past couple years, yes. We take people right into various real-life situations with full immersion. With the newest programs, we’re working with experts to set up VR training for ER doctors.”
“Impressive.” It really was, and it kind of made my head explode while at the same time filled me with a strange pride over his success, since I’d been there before it had hit. “Do you miss RPG?”
