Page 12 of Billionaire Wolf Needs a Nanny

"Huh, that wasn't as complicated as I thought it would be."

I handed the cup of coffee to her and went to clean out the grounds. "I think writing a novel is far more difficult. That's a very impressive goal. I would love to read it when you're finished."

She nodded, hiding her smile behind her cup as she took a sip of coffee.

Over the next several weeks, we settled into a comfortable routine. Lacey would arrive in the mornings and the three of us would have breakfast together before I headed to work. After the first night, I rearranged my schedule so that I could get home early. We would have dinner like we were a family before Lacey would head home. Both Emilia and I were reluctant to see her go at the end of the day.

Under Lacey's care and a stable daily schedule at home, Emilia's tantrums over her food stopped.

One night, it was my turn to read Emilia her bedtime story while Lacey put away her clothes in the chest of drawers. As Emilia was curled up by my side, she asked the question I had been hesitant to voice out of fear of rejection.

"Is Lacey going to come with us for Christmas?"

Lacey shot me a curious look in the middle of folding a t-shirt. "What's this about?"

I cleared my throat. "I have to be in Paradise Peaks before and during the holidays for an important meeting. We'll be staying in a penthouse suite at the Hughes Hotel. Emilia and I would like it if you could come with us."

The shirt in her hands fell in a heap onto the drawer. "Oh, wow. I figured I would have the holidays off."

"If you already have plans, I can find other arrangements. You don't have to come if you don't want to." The disappointment settled in my stomach like bad coffee. Of course, she wasn't going to stay with us. The holidays were a time for family, real family, not the fake family she was paid to put up with.

"No, it's not that," Lacey blurted out. She picked up the crumpled shirt and folded it again. "I'm just surprised. My roommate already had plans to go home, so I was going to stay in and eat a gallon of caramel fudge ice cream all by myself while watching old reruns."

"What about your family?" Emilia asked with the innocence only a child could have.

Lacey pushed the drawer closed. She came to the bed and sat on the edge next to my legs. "My family lives very far away. Too far for me to go visit them this year," she said with a sad smile.

Emilia kicked off the covers and climbed onto her knees. She bounced with excitement. "You can have Christmas with me and Uncle Blake!"

Lacey shot me a glance. "I've never been to Paradise Peaks before. It's not exactly a world that I'm familiar with."

It finally dawned on me. She felt insecure about fitting into this new world. Her genuine nature was a refreshing change from the gold-digging vipers who usually clung to me. "Don't worry about anything. You'll be my guest. All of your expenses will be covered, I'll pay you overtime, and you'll stay in the penthouse with us. We'll fly in together on my plane. You can go explore all the tourist sites with Emilia while I'm working, and we can hit the ski slopes together. Think of it as a paid vacation."

"Okay, but only if I'm off the clock. All of this is already too much."

I sputtered. She was being ridiculous. How could I ask her to look after my niece for days for free? But the warning look in her eyes made me pause. She was serious.

"Alright. No overtime then."

"Then I accept your invitation."

Emilia shrieked with delight, climbing over my knees to get to Lacey. She threw her arms around her neck, and Lacey laughed as she picked her up in her arms.

I coughed to cover the strange flutter of nerves in my chest. Already, I pictured the three of us around a glittering tree on Christmas morning.

Even if I promised that I wouldn't pay her, that didn't mean that I couldn't make it up to her in other ways. My mind raced with ideas of what kind of presents I could get her.

I was going to make this a Christmas she was never going to forget.

Chapter 5

LACEY

Today started like every other morning. While Rosa was busy at the stove cooking up breakfast for all of us, I fixed Emilia's hair and kept her occupied with some kind of activity. Blake was in charge of making the coffee. Even though I now knew how to use the machine, coffee tasted better when it was brewed by him.

Not to mention the bread. As much as I adored Emilia, the fresh basket of flaky pain au chocolat or crusty sourdough was had a part in drawing me back to the Wulfthorn's house every morning. I had no idea how Blake managed to bake every morning with his busy schedule.

Today was casual Friday at the office, so he was wearing a dark maroon cashmere sweater and jeans. The outfit was simple and classic, but I knew that it cost thousands of dollars just by the quality of the fabric. He had his sleeves rolled up neatly. With each motion as he worked the machine, his forearms flexed and bunched making the wolf tattoo on his right arm wink as flesh and sinew rippled. Oh, how I wanted to stroke my hands up and down those muscles.

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