Page 16 of Billionaire Wolf Needs a Nanny

Outside the window, snow began to fall from the sky in big heavy flakes.

An elderly gentleman with white hair, and kind eyes behind wire-rimmed glasses stopped by our table. He had a large digital camera hanging from a thick strap around his neck. "Oh, this is adorable! I'm so glad to see a young family spending time together."

I smiled awkwardly, unsure of what to say. He was so sincere that I didn't have the heart to correct him. Looking over, I shared a look with Blake. He rose up and reached over the table to shake the old man's hand.

"I'm Blake, and this is Emilia and Lacey."

"I'm George. It's a pleasure to meet you." He held up his camera. "I'm a photographer and I couldn't help noticing how perfectly the atmosphere and the snow outside framed your lovely family. I can take a picture if you'd like?"

"Can we, Lacey?" Emilia asked.

"Yeah, can we, Lacey?" Blake mimicked.

Any reservations I had about this not being real melted at the twin sets of adorable puppy dog eyes staring at me. There was an odd sense of vulnerability and longing in each of their gazes.

"Okay." I turned to George. "How should we pose for the photo, George?"

"Let's see. I think you should stay in your seat while you hold your daughter in your lap. Your husband can stand behind you and lean towards you."

We assumed the pose he described.

George made a swiping motion with his hand. "Blake, can you move closer to your wife and lean over so your arms are around your girls?"

"Like this?" Blake's words came out as a puff of air that tickled my hair. As his arms settled over me like a warm scarf, I was acutely aware of how big and strong he was. A frisson of heat shot up my spine. He completely surrounded me, but instead of feeling smothered, I felt protected and cherished.

"Perfect, now one, two, three, smile and say cheese!" The camera clicked in quick succession. Blake reached down to take my hand in his as he rested his chin near my temple. I looked up at him and the moment our eyes locked, it was as if we were the only ones in the room. Our noses were so close and our breathing synced as one.

"Wonderful!" George exclaimed.

"Can I see?" Emilia kicked her legs and squirmed out of my arms.

I shook my head, falling from the heavens back to reality. My cheeks flushed. What was I thinking? He was my boss, that was all he was going to be. Eager to escape, I followed Emilia and went to see the photos on George's camera.

He scrolled through the pictures and my heart jumped at the small picture of Blake looking at me like I was the most important person in the world.

"I'll send the pictures to you in an email," George said.

Blake and I exchanged our information with George and said our goodbyes after we received the files.

After we finished dinner, we headed back up to our hotel suite. The excitement of the day had finally caught up with Emilia. She was adrift in dreamland not long after I got her into her pajamas and her head hit her pillow.

The last room down the hall was the children's room. I took the middle room while Blake took the room on the other side.

As I crawled under the covers, I pulled out my phone and changed the background wallpaper. On the screen, a miniature version of Blake gazed longingly at me like I was his beloved wife and Emilia was my daughter. I fell asleep staring at a version of my life that could never be real.

Chapter 6

BLAKE

While Lacey got Emilia dressed and ready for the day, I finished my phone call. A member of my security team was tailing Fisher and from his intel, the old man spent every day at his horse ranch. It was a good sign, that he wasn't meeting with Unibrod or any other company. I wanted to know the moment he stepped foot in Paradise Peaks. This wasn't quite the same as running through the forest after a rabbit, but I was still a wolf on the hunt. Whether it was a piece of bloody meat or Fisher's signature on a contract, this prey would be mine.

By the time I walked out of my room, Lacey and Emilia were already in the living room. They were sitting on the floor at the coffee table. Emilia was busy doodling on a hotel notepad while Lacey was writing furiously on the backs of Emilia's discarded doodles.

"Is everything okay?" she asked.

I squirmed under Lacey's long gaze. She must have picked up on my restless energy. In the short time that she had worked for me, we had spent enough time together to learn each other's mannerisms and tell-tale signs of tension.

Forcing myself to put work out of my mind, I shot her an easy grin. "Everything's fine. Just excited to spend the day with my girls."

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