Page 11 of A Baby Surprise For My Billionaire Boss

“I was going to rent a place, but… well, Charlie seems like such a cool kid, and I wouldn’t mind doing something different for a little while.”

“Do you have experience with children?”

He was actually considering it. “I teach swim lessons at the country club during the school year,” she said. “I’ve done that for several years now. And my long-term goal is to open up a ballet school. I have a passion for working with children.”

“He does seem to like you,” Eli said.

“Does he? I got that feeling, but of course, as his father, you know him best. I like him a lot.”

“When could you start work?”

“In a week. I’ve got to give them enough time to replace me at the beach if I’m leaving a little early. But there are always people applying for guard jobs. They’ll be able to replace me easily. Is a week soon enough?”

“It means I won’t have to spend time on hiring, so yeah, I can make that work,” Eli said. “This is really something you want to do?”

“I’d love to. I’m just surprised you’re willing to take me on. I thought I might have to push a little harder than that to convince you.”

“I really need a nanny, and you seem to be good with Charlie,” Eli said. “We can give it a try. If things aren’t working out after a couple of weeks, we’ll make a change, but I’m definitely willing to give you a chance here.”

Maddie’s heart leapt in anticipation.

She told herself that her excitement was only for the fact that she was starting something new. It was the first time in a long time that she had had a sense of forward motion in her life, and thatfelt like a big deal to her. And she really did like Charlie and was looking forward to spending more time with him and getting to know him better. There was no doubt that this was going to be a positive step.

But she had to wonder if she would have done something quite so impetuous if the man in question hadn’t been so handsome. Already, she felt affected by him, as if she was in the early days of having a crush.

Which she wasn’t, of course. She couldn’t be. This wasn’t a crush. She couldn’t feel that way for someone she wanted to have a professional relationship with. It was the kind of thing you learned fast working as a lifeguard and running around all day with attractive, athletic people in swimsuits. The ones who couldn’t manage to keep their hands to themselves were the ones who didn’t last. They either ended up getting fired for unprofessionalism or they quit voluntarily because of the drama they had created for themselves. Maddie had always prided herself on being above that sort of thing, but looking at Eli Sinclair, she found herself feeling less secure in her usual determination. Surely it wouldn’t hurt to allow herself a bit of fantasizing about Eli, even if he was going to be her new boss? It wasn’t as though anything was ever going to come of it.

“Can you come meet with me for a cup of coffee tomorrow?” Eli asked her. “We can sign papers and make it all official.”

“I can do that. Tomorrow is my day off anyway.” Maddie was already looking forward to tomorrow, knowing that she would be seeing him again.

She needed to be careful with this. It was a promising situation, and she was excited about it, but she couldn’t afford to let herself get carried away here.

After all, she wouldn’t be any good at the job she was being hired for if she couldn’t keep her eyes off the boss. And then she would find herself right back where she had started.

CHAPTER 5

MADDIE

Maddie checked the address that Eli had texted to her and then looked back up at the house in front of her. “No way,” she murmured.

She had known the Sinclairs were probably well off, of course. Nobody had a live-in nanny who didn’t also have a pretty hefty disposable income. And when she had turned into this neighborhood, her suspicions had been confirmed. She had been embarrassed to drive her beater car through the streets of a ritzy place like this, afraid that the residents were peering out at her through their bespoke curtains and clutching their expensive phones in case they decided she looked like she was coming to rob one of these houses and they needed to call the police on her.

She was grateful not to have been stopped yet. It felt like a small miracle.

But now she was standing on the driveway, looking up at the house that matched the address Eli had given her, and she couldn’t quite believe what she was seeing.

Even calling this a driveway seemed a bit ridiculous. It was the size of a small parking lot, but it was much too glamorous to be called that either. It ran in a wide horseshoe shape from the street up to the double front doors, with immaculate shrubbery and flowers on either side. Obviously Eli wasn’t handling the groundskeeping himself if he couldn’t even find time to relax over ice cream with his son. He must have someone on staff to do that too.

How many people work here?

Who is this guy?

She was beginning to wish that she had insisted on having the job interview at his house instead of a coffee shop. It wouldn’t have changed anything for her — she was already feeling a stir of anticipation at the thought that she was actually going to be living in this insane house — but it would have helped to be a little more prepared for what she was walking into. Had Eli thought about that? Had he kept this a secret from her on purpose for some reason? Or was he just so used to this kind of luxury that hadn’t occurred to him that she might need to be warned?

It was the biggest house on the block. It was the biggest house in the whole neighborhood. Maddie glanced back at her car and felt even more embarrassed at having needed to drive that thing, packed full of all her stuff, to get here. This was not a place she was ever going to fit in, and she knew it.

Even so, she’d made a commitment, and besides, she had already moved out of Tess’s house. It was time to see this through.

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