Page 4 of Contracted and Claimed By The Boss

‘This is a three-month job,’ he said quietly, with a steel underpinning those words, as though his very life depended on this. ‘There will be no extension of your contract at the end of the three months. This is our home: Amanda’s and mine. We don’t need long-term help.’

Surprise showed in her features at the abrupt tone to his voice. ‘I understand the terms of my contract,’ she murmured, a hint defensively. ‘But you must understand when it comes to children—’

He lifted a hand in the air, palm facing Paige.

‘This isn’t about children, it’s about Amanda.’

His love for Amanda was abundantly clear. Something like envy stirred in Paige; she ignored it. ‘You asked me here, Mr Stone.’

A rush of electricity, of vitality and life caught her completely off guard. Eventually, he nodded once, his lips compressing with an emotion she couldn’t decipher.

‘I am simply pointing out that without having met Amanda you can hardly know what is best for her, nor what she needs.’

Paige tried to go gently. ‘Do you know what she needs?’

That floored him. His eyes, ice blue, bored deep into hers. It was a war of attrition; one Paige had no intention of surrendering.

‘No,’ he admitted, finally, angrily, but the anger was directed at himself. Paige was torn between pity and irritation.

‘Precisely,’ she said, standing, because he hadn’t sat down and she was beginning to feel the difference in their power dynamic too keenly. ‘I was hired—by you—to do a job. Now, I have no intention of getting out there—’ she pointed generally towards the ocean ‘—and telling you how to find big, shiny pearls, but by the same token you shouldn’t interfere.’

‘She’s my daughter,’ he said darkly.

‘And you have asked for help with her. So let me help you.’

‘I don’t want her to be hurt.’

‘You don’t want her to feel like you’re giving up,’ Paige intuited, using the same tone of voice she employed when one of her charges was in need of placating. Calm, reasonable, without emotion. ‘She won’t.’

He grimaced.

‘And I’ll be up front with her from the beginning,’ she conceded quietly. ‘This is a three-month contract. I’m not here to stay. I’m not here to replace her mother. I’m here to help right now, when you need it, and then I’ll leave.’ She tilted her chin with a hint of defiance. ‘And by the same token, Mr Stone, you should be warned: if at the end of the three months you would like me to stay, I won’t consider it. I have other obligations beyond this,’ she said. Even though that wasn’t yet true, she was in demand and knew another booking would eventuate when she wanted it.

And by then, the dust would have settled on the tell-all book, and with any luck she’d be done with licking her wounds, and she wouldn’t stay here a moment longer than was necessary. She wouldn’t stay anywhere ever again, wouldn’t get comfortable, wouldn’t let herself relax, because it was just too risky. She had a heart of iron but she wasn’t a complete automaton—living with children for any true period of time meant investing her heart and she simply couldn’t do that.

‘I won’t ask you to stay.’

She didn’t need to wonder why his rushed agreement made her stomach twist uncomfortably. Being rejected and disposed of with ease was one of Paige’s biggest fears in life. With her training as a nanny, she now understood the psychology behind that: she’d never known security as a child. Love had always been conditional for Paige. Conditional on her landing whatever role her parents—managers—had decided was right for her. Conditional on her losing weight to fit the clothes of the brands they’d signed her up to be an ambassador for. Conditional on her agreeing to go on television and do live interviews, even though as a child she was fundamentally ill-equipped for that kind of spotlight.

Paige had never felt loved just as she was, and she probably never would—that sort of conditioning was hard to shake.

And while she wasn’t looking for Max Stone—of all people—to ‘love’ her, she didn’t like the ease with which he agreed that she was temporary.

But that was their agreement, plain and simple.

‘I work in the study,’ he said quietly. ‘If I’m not there, I’ll be down on the docks.’

‘Okay.’ She nodded once, ignoring the spark of curiosity ignited in her mind by reference to the docks. The idea of pearl farming had captured her imagination as soon as she’d accepted this assignment. What a strange, unusual and glamorous occupation.

‘Amanda’s schedule is on the fridge. Reg drives her around, but if you’d prefer—’

Paige bit down on her lip. ‘I think it’s better for me not to drive her for a while.’

His eyes narrowed and she felt pressured to add, ‘I do have a licence. Technically.’

‘Technically?’

Now, Paige felt as though she were in the principal’s office—not that she’d ever attended a normal school.

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