Page 37 of The Billionaire and the Nanny: Part 2

Bailey

One day,Zayden takes Olivia for a while so I can call mymom.

If I feel any obligation to tell anyone about Zayden and me, it’s Mom. Before I call, though, I can’t stop smiling. From the office, I see Zayden playing with Olivia in the living room. She’s started pulling up using the furniture to hold herself up. She’s such a strong big girl, a happy one that lets out a little shriek when she does it by herself.

Zayden claps and smiles down at her. She’s enthralled with her daddy.

As she should be. He’s really becoming an amazing dad, even though he was stubborn at first. Just goes to show what wonders a little baby’s smile can do to your heart.

“Bailey?” Mom answers the phone.

“Hey, Mom. How’s it going?”

“Good, we’re here getting ready to watch Monday Night Football. Haven’t heard from you in a while. How’s the nanny job going?”

I tell her all about “the nanny job.” How Olivia is a bright little girl, how she seemed sad at first because of her situation but how she’s really opened up so much. I feel my pulse racing at the thought of telling her the whole truth.

“Mom, there’s more,” I say, my stomach crunching into a ball. “I’ve been seeing someone, too.”

“Have you now?” she says, the sound of her voice muffling. Then, I hear, “It’s Bailey. She says she’s seeing someone.” I know she’s talking to Grandma.

“Mom, you don’t have to give Grandma the play-by-play. I just wanted you to know, because there’s a good chance I’ll be posting pics online and I didn’t want you to be the last toknow.”

“Well, that’s good. You’re thinking of me, for once. So, who ishe?”

I watch him lift Olivia into the air, smiling at her even as his gorgeous face gets attacked with lines of saliva dripping from her smiling mouth. “He’s a dad,” I say, smiling at thepair.

“A dad? Bailey, how old is he? You’re very young to be involved with a man who has children.”

“Mom, I never said I was going to marry him. But he’s a father of a ten-month-old baby. An adorable baby girl. There’s nothing wrong with that is there?”

“Well, no, there isn’t. But where’s the mother?” she asks, her voice full of concern.

“Out of the picture, Mom. Obviously.”

“How do you even have time to date anybody when you’re working full-time as a nanny?” Mom is full of questions, a hard thing to juggle when you’re also disseminating information to a third party. “The boy she’s seeing is a father,” she tells my grandmother. “Of a baby. The mother is out of the picture.”

“Mom…stop. I’ll call grandma later and talk toher.”

“Okay, honey, but listen. Don’t get too involved. If it’s just sex, let it besex…”

“Mom.”

“But a man with a child is a tricky situation. You can get shit from the mother, things won’t be pretty, trust me… Besides, you want to be with someone without kids. That way, when you get married and are ready to have yourown—”

“Mom,” I interrupt. “Stop. First, I don’t even know that Ican…”

I trail off. My mother has phospholipid syndrome, the reason she miscarried when I was younger and lost my baby brother at birth. I’ve never been tested but there’s a good chance I could have it, too, since it’s hereditary.

“Look, I don’t want to get into it right now. We’ll talk later. Football’s about to start.”

Which is good, because I want to end this phone call now, that’s how well it’s going.

But I can’t without telling her. It’s a burning secret in my heart. After accusing Zayden of keeping me as his dirty little secret, I can’t do the same tohim.

“How did you meet this man, anyway?” she says, finally giving me the perfect chance to tell her the whole truth.

I close my eyes and sigh. “He’s my boss, Mom.”

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