Page 63 of Single Dad's Hot Nanny

Scratching my head, I shrugged. “How long have you known I was out there?”

He leaned back in his chair and stroked his stubbled jaw. My gaze followed his long fingers. Just the sight of his facial hair drove me crazy. It reminded me of the stubble burns he left between my thighs and other places during our more vigorous sexual encounters.

“I heard you pacing for about five minutes. I decided to wait and see if you’d ever knock.”

My eyes dropped to the carpeted floor. The sight of the carpet made me think about sex too, because we went at it like animals on the floor here in his office just two nights ago. Hell, everything in Michael’s penthouse was starting to remind me of sex… we’d done it on just about every surface in the place.

I was Poppy’s nurturing nanny by day and by night…holy goddess of good fucking.Michael was a very experienced, creative, and energetic lover, and I was his enthusiastic student who was up for anything he wanted to try. Our chemistry was explosive. Who would have thought? Sometimes I wondered if I’d survive ourcasualaffair. I’d likely die of pleasure soon.

“Oh… I…” Our eyes locked and the tiny part of me that entertained the thought of telling him I’d inadvertently gotten involved with some bad people died. He looked so tired and tense. “I just wanted to make sure you’re alright. You seemed troubled when you got home.”

Michael stared at me for a moment before he let out a weary sigh. “I thought I hid it well.”

“You did, but…”Inoticed because I was in love with him. I probably watched him closer than most. “You were so tense.”

He raked his fingers through his hair. “If you tell me why you werereallypacing outside my door, I’ll tell you what’s bothering me.”

I snorted. “You want to turn this into an I’ll-show-you-mine-if-you-show-me-yours situation?”

Something lascivious flickered in his eyes, and he gave me a once over. “If you want to make things sexual I’ll be more than happy to play along.”

“I bet.” Heat filled my face and spread throughout my body. My eyelashes fluttered down because I couldn’t help being shy when he flirted. While I’d love to get sexual, I wanted to hear what was bothering him since he offered to share. He didn’t talk about himself often. “I was just a little stressed about something and was looking for a listening ear.” I shrugged and lied my ass off. “Just the usual family stuff, no big deal.”

Michael’s gaze never left my face as I walked toward him to perch on his desk.

“You mean you spiraled after a chat with your father?” he asked, his face etched with concern.

I smiled slightly, but I was touched that he seemed so worried. “Something like that. I’m fine. Your turn. What happened today? Was it something at work?”

He stared at me for so long that I feared he’d changed his mind about sharing. It kind of broke my heart because I was desperate to feel even a little closer to him. I wanted us to be more than employer and employee turned sex buddies, but I could never tell him that. I’d agreed to keep things casual and now hiding my feelings for him was slowly killing me.

“It’s okay, you don’t have to talk about it.” Swallowing my hurt, I moved to hop off his desk, but he stopped me.

“Stay,” he said.

The one word was like a balm over my misery. It gave me hope… about us.

26

MICHAEL

The fact that I wanted to talk to Mia about my personal issues was surprising. It wasn't something I desired to do with many. “I don’t usually talk about things…” I began.

“I know,” she replied softly as she settled back on top of my desk.

“It wasn’t a problem with work. It was my father.”

She blinked, and her eyes widened slightly. “Oh…”

“I guess we have that in common… asshole fathers.”

Her eyebrows shot up. “What happened?”

I rested my head on the back of my chair and rubbed my forehead because every time this shit with Dad came up it gave me a headache. “Things haven’t been great between my dad and I for a while.”

“Your aunt hinted to that when we visited her.”

“A while as in about a decade. When I started Hayes Global Equity, it was supposed to be a father-son thing.”

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