Page 41 of The Billionaire & the Nanny: Vol. 3

We enter a bakery where the warm air and smells bring instant smiles to everyone’s faces. Becca points to a pink cupcake with sprinkles, and Price points to a bagel that’s bigger than his head. We order some drinks to go along while I find a seat. Reserving four chairs, I sit and check my messages while Paisley pays for the snacks. Across the table at another, nearby table, a couple of women give me dirty looks .

Let me guess. They read the latest interview with Miriam where she claims I’m a deadbeat father. I glance away from the ladies and repress the urge to give them the middle finger, because after all, here I am with my kids and it’s not for show either. I’m with them because I want to be .

When Miriam became pregnant with twins, we kept hearing people say, “Oh, poor you. Wait ‘til you see what you’re getting.” Like it was a bad thing. Like they’d be too much work .

Hell, yeah, they’re twice the work. Mostly for Paisley, I’ll admit. But they’re also twice the love. When Paisley pulls up with the kids in the stroller and begins doling out snacks and drinks, I get a message saying I have to return to the office. It’s urgent. One of the buildings isn’t ready for approval, and the engineer involved with it just quit .

“Shit, I have to go. I’ll get a car to take you home so you don’t have to deal with the trains by yourself .”

“You have to?” Paisley’s eyes flash across the room. “Because those two wenches over there apparently know which side they’re on in your divorce, and newsflash…it’s not yours. I would love for you to prove them wrong .”

“I know. I was thinking the same thing. But I have to go.” I kiss the Things and pause right over Paisley. I would kiss her, too, but there’s people watching. “You’ll get yours later,” I say, as she watches me with a combination of hesitation and hurt .

“Okay.” Not a flirty look to give me something to look forward to .

Did she really think I’d kiss her on the lips in public? I haven’t gone there yet and can’t, as long as the divorce is still pending. I can see our photo in the tabloids now .

Our lawyers are gearing up for a big fight, and the last thing I need is photographic evidence of me involved with the nanny, for fuck’s sake. Miriam might’ve done it, but her current beau isn’t someone who works for her, as in my case .

I spin out of the bakery, call a car to come pick up Paisley and the kids in fifteen minutes, then catch a ride-share downtown. Doubt begins to consume me. It’s been happening a lot. I’ll be having a great time with Paisley and the kids then something will creep in and mess it all up. Right now, it’s the nagging feeling that I’m not good enough for her. I’ll always be running off to work, leaving her behind in order to put out fires at work, a lot like a doctor who’s always on call .

That’s a fucking sad existence. But I have to do it. L.R. Group depends on me, and nobody can come up with the designs I do. I may be a billionaire businessman, but I’m an artist at heart, so I’ll always be stuck at work. Can’t just spend time with family while letting my employees run things. They don’t have the artistic vision I do, they simply don’t care about it the same way that I care .

That’s not me patting myself on the back, that’s just truth .

Paisley’s eyes, as I left her back at the bakery, haunt me in the car ride back .

They reflected hurt. I didn’t treat her with the respect she wanted and deserved after I said I would. At some point, she’s going to get tired of me treating her like the nanny again. If I decide and accept that she’s my girlfriend, then I’m going to have to stop employing her. She can’t be both. But I’m not sure I can move in that direction .

As much as I want to, something is stopping me. Warning flags, mistrust, all the things one would expect to feel after getting dicked over by my ex. But I’m not Miriam, Paisley said to me once. So true. But she could be. I already dealt with one woman who married me for money. Once upon a time, Miriam also put on an enthusiastic face when dealing with my problems. She pretended to be in love with me, and who’s to say that Paisley couldn’t pretend to be in love with me and my kids, too .

Then, when the honeymoon wears off, they take you to the cleaners .

Will Paisley turn out to be the same way ?

I love her, but do I trust her after all that’s happened to me ?

I love spending time with her, and I’m glad she came back to work, but I’m beginning to feel like letting her into my bedroom a mistake. Maybe I should’ve fired Caitlyn, then hired someone entirely new instead of Paisley. The kids love her, yeah, but I might’ve used that as an excuse to get her to come back. I simply couldn’t stand the thought that she’d left me. I wanted her back to make my life whole again .

You’re a control freak, Logan. You just wanted to have your cake and to eat it, too .

Not going to deny that. I’ve always wanted my cake .

But now I’ve brought the daughter of my ex’s lawyer back into the house, in a more intimate role than ever before when the final hearing is only two weeks away. At the same time the project is due. As a perfect storm begins to brew, and I’ve put Paisley Carrington smack in the middle of it .

Fuck.

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