"The kid looked like she was going to cry," he grumbled. "It was the only thing I could think of to make her stop. Swear on our pack that what you saw will never leave this room."

I chuckled. "Your secret is safe with me. I swear." I gestured at his head. "Those may raise questions among the office staff."

He scowled and ripped off the pieces of tissue stuck to his head. "I thought you were going to get a nanny to take care of the kid." Tossing the paper into the wastebasket, he moved to the mini-bar and began fixing himself a drink.

"I did, and I have. That was the employment agency on the phone. They're sending someone over this afternoon." Leaning my hip against the edge of my desk, I looked at Emilia who was describing the happenings on the street below to Mr. Snuffles. "The help can't come soon enough."

Reeve sat on one of the seats facing my desk. The ice clinked against his glass as he brought the tumbler up to his lips. "That was fast. Maybe I should have them find me an assistant." He swallowed. "That is if your new nanny doesn't run out of here screaming by the end of the day."

His phone buzzed in his pocket. Reeve finished his drink and got up. "As fun as this visit was, I've got to get back to my office before the interns set the place on fire."

A discreet knock on the door interrupted our conversation.

"Come in," I called out.

The door opened and revealed Sammy, the head chef at Balsamic, the upscale Italian restaurant in my office building, and also my personal chef at the office. He pushed a serving cart containing Emilia's lunch.

"Thank you, Sammy. Just place the food on my desk."

Reeve slipped past him out of room.

"Right away, sir." Sammy moved with the speed and efficiency of someone who had worked in a professional kitchen for years. In fact, I had poached the young sous chef from one of my favorite restaurants in the city. The head chef he worked under kept him on a tight leash, refusing to let Sammy develop his own skills or have any input on the dishes in his kitchen. Now that Sammy ran his own kitchen, he had full creative control, except of course, when it came to my niece's orders.

Sammy placed a place mat on the desk, then a complete place setting with kid-sized silverware and cloth napkin. Finally, he set a plate in the center. He removed the silver bell cover and revealed the same meal that Emilia ate every afternoon. Chicken nuggets and a side of matchstick carrots with ketchup and ranch dressing on the side. Next to the plate, he placed a small cup of milk.

From the lower compartment of the serving cart, he pulled out a booster seat and placed it on my chair. With a quick bow, Sammy excused himself and exited the room.

"Time for lunch, Emilia."

Silently, I let out a sigh of relief when she came over without protest. Ever since she came to live with me, meal times had been a daily struggle. I lifted her up into her booster seat and pushed the chair into place.

She examined the plate silently. Her face flushed, in the all too familiar sign of an impending tantrum.

"Emilia..."

Her face scrunched up, and she let out an ear-piercing screech. She kicked her legs and thrashed her arms. "No! It's wrong. All wrong." Emilia scrambled out of her booster seat and ran to hide behind the chair where Reeve had been sitting.

In the midst of the chaos, my office door popped open. It was Anna. She stuck her head in and looked at the scene with a horrified expression on her face.

"What now?" I snarled.

"Mr. Wulfthorn, your nanny is here," she announced.

The door opened all the way and someone I had thought I would never see again stepped in.

Though she no longer looked like a drowned cat, she stared at me in wide-eyed silence, as if she had seen a ghost.

A grin tugged at my lips. "Hello, Oklahoma."

Chapter 3

LACEY

It was him. No way. Standing right in front of me was the guy at the coffee shop who was last seen wearing my flat white coffee on his chest.

"What's wrong? Cat got your tongue?" He smirked. The corners of his lips quirked as if he found the situation amusing.

I blinked. "This has to be some kind of mistake. I'm looking for a Mr. Wulfthorn. I'm his new nanny."