Page 10 of Off Limits (Alpha Billionaire)

Ryan picked up his beer and started to cross toward the French doors that led to the back deck as I turned to go after Jessica. It didn’t take long to find her. She hadn’t gone far. She stood in the lower hall, fidgeting and wringing her hands together.

“Jessica?”

She jumped with a gasp. “Oh, Mr. Anderson, you scared me.”

“You can call me Dylan, you know. Is everything okay? I thought I should check. You look pale. Is Mother alright? Max?” I ran my hand down her arm. A crackle of static electricity had her jumping away.

She let out a nervous giggle before she brushed escaped strands of hair from her face. “Sorry, sorry. Low blood sugar. I went to the kitchen to get a snack, but you and your guest were there and I wasn’t expecting that. I have to confess, I got a bit flustered. I hadn’t expected anyone to be there. Does that make any sense?”

“Of course, you were expecting one thing and got something else,” I clarified.

“Exactly, and I didn’t know if you would be okay with me just going through the cupboards looking for a snack, and I guess there are just some circumstances I forgot to get your expectations and rules on. I’m sorry if I upset you or did something I shouldn’t have.”

I chuckled at her concern. She looked so nervous, and it was a very becoming expression on her face. I hadn’t exactly noticed just how cute she was.

“And now you’re laughing at me.”

“No, I’m not.” I continued to chortle. “Okay, maybe I am. But I'm laughing at how absolutely concerned you are, and I don’t mind if you are in the kitchen when I am, or when a guest is. You don’t need to hide or operate in the shadows.”

She let out a long breath. “You’d be surprised at some people’s rules for the help.”

“Jessica, you’re not—” I cut myself off. She absolutely was the help. Why would I say she wasn’t? Because she was the nanny? Because I only now realized I enjoyed the times we spent together, as few and far between as they had been? “Jessica, yes, you are the help, but this is also your home for now. As long as you treat this place and my expectations with respect, you are allowed to go into the kitchen and get a snack whenever you need one. This is just like that conversation we had about the staff doing more behind the scenes, isn’t it?”

She laughed. A proper laugh and not a nervous giggle. Her smile changed her face in amazing ways. Ryan was right. My nanny was hot. “We’re not even in the kitchen anymore. We’re gonna be on the back deck for a bit, discussing business.”

“I thought that's what you were doing out on the golf course all morning?” she asked.

I shrugged. “For a bit, we were. But sometimes, it's hard to focus on discussing things when you are worried about scratching into a sand pit.”

“I wouldn’t know. I don’t golf,” she admitted.

“Oh, no, that’s something we should work on. I’ll take you and Max out to hit a few balls. If I want him to grow up to be a golf pro, it’s time to get him started, anyway.”

Jessica’s expression turned sour and she crossed her arms.

“What did I say?” I asked.

“It’s good to have hopes and dreams for Max, but in the end, it is his life and he’s the one who needs to decide whether he wants to be a golf star.”

A slow smile spread across my face. I liked her. “I love that about you. The way you advocate for him. He’s four, and you are not letting anyone get away with anything, are you?”

“If you only wanted a nanny to feed him and read him stories, you could have hired a babysitter. But you didn’t. You got me, and I will protect him, and that includes against family trauma to the best of my ability.”

I found myself wanting to touch her despite having been shocked earlier. I reached out and patted her on the shoulder. “Your abilities are appreciated. Come on, get your snack. I need to get back to Ryan before he thinks I’ve abandoned him.”

She hugged herself and rubbed her arms. “You go ahead, I’ll grab something in a moment. I think I’ll just…” She trailed off as she pointed down the hall toward the bathroom.

“Of course,” I said as I strode back toward the kitchen. I pushed through the swinging door and then headed out the French doors.

Ryan stood on the deck near the railing look out. The back of my home was shrouded in cypress trees. The view of the ocean was only visible from the second story.

“Nice place you have here,” Ryan said when he heard me step outside. “What ever got you to settle down in Pebble Beach? When I knew you, you were a city boy through and through.”

I chuckled. He had a point. Growing up here, everything had felt so old and tired. There was no night life, and the summers were cool because the fog would roll in every evening. I couldn’t wait to move out and go to college, and I went as far as I could and still be in the country.

“Yeah, Boston was a lifetime ago,” I admitted.

“I thought you were headed to New York after that?” he asked.

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