Page 14 of Crush
Lord knows, it wouldn't be the first time I interviewed for someone like that.
The longer Mr. Ellis kept me waiting, the more I started to doubt this whole thing. Why did this guy need to find a nanny on such short notice anyway? How many kids did he have? How old were they? Why didn't he include that information in his ad? Why did he need someone to start workingtonight,and why did he seem so secretive?
And really, who meets at acafe?It's not like we were internet strangers trying to date each other. Did we really have to meet someplace 'safe'?
I'll be honest—all the secrecy and lack of information was a little creepy. Not that I thought I was being catfished or anything, but … well … maybe it was a concern of mine. It was creepy enough that, before I left my apartment, I double-checked to make sure that my mace was for sure in my purse.
Sitting in the cafe, I double-checked my purse for the mace again. Just to make sure I hadn't lost it at some point.
Whew. Still there.
Just then, the cafe door opened. My eyes shot up, my warm and professional smile snapping right into place just in case it was Mr. Ellis that came walking through the door.
A towering man—I'd guess he stood six-foot-five, at least—lumbered into the cafe.His walk wasn't exactly easy. He had the strut of a man who'd put his body through hell to make a living—notbroken down,exactly, but the worn walk of a warrior. Accomplished, yet maybe a little tired.
Which was surprising, considering how fit and muscular heclearlywas beneath his expensive suit.
He took off his sunglasses. With a strong chin and a rugged jawline, he was a dashing man, and he looked a lot younger than his walk seemed to imply.
A hush came over the cafe's patrons, as if we were all in the presence of a movie star. Everyone stopped and stared at him. A few people even pointed at him and whispered.
Should I know who this guy is?I wondered.
I had to admit, hedidlook important. And honestly …? Kinda hot, for an older guy.
I didn't think he wasmysuper self-important Mr. Ellis, though. Or maybe I just didn't wantto believe it could be him—because I'd never, ever thought that any of the fathers I worked for were hot. Frankly, I neverwanted to be in that situation, either.
Tall movie star guy looked around the shop, then spotted me. And he kept staring in my direction.
No way. You can't be serious.
Then he started walking towards me.
Oh no.
I felt my practiced smile fade from my lips. A beating in my heart took its place, and my belly began to nervously flit about, too.
“Two coffee cups,” he said to me suddenly, snapping me from my trance.
“E-excuse me?” I nearly whimpered.
“I forgot your name.” He pointed at the cups in front of me. “But you're the girl I texted with, right? You're interviewing for the nanny job?”
“Right,” I stammered nervously. “I'm Brynn.”
“Okay, Brynn.” He spoke curtly and with a gruff, growly voice that he tried to keep low. “I'm Shea.”
Mr. Ellis's first name was Shea.Something about that name seemed so deeply,strangelyfamiliar, but I was too woozy to place it.
Mr. Ellis stuck out his hand. I gave him mine and stared, entranced, at the sight of his hand completely swallowing mine up whole. My tiny hand was gone, lost somewhere inside that firm but gentle pocket of meat and muscle.
“Mind if I sit?” he asked, his voice as coarse as the salt-and-pepper stubble that covered his jaw.
“Of course not, Mr. Ellis.”
“Just call me Shea,” he said as he peeled his suit jacket off his shoulders and sat opposite me.
Now I wished I'd picked a booth to sit at—with his hulking frame, his enormous arms and mountainous shoulders, he made the 'cozy' wooden table look ridiculous. Like a circus elephant trying to balance on a tiny platform.
