Page 14 of The Unexpected Nanny
“I am not!” he said with sudden indignation. “I’ve given more of myself to you than I’ve ever given anyone.”
“Wrong,” I said as I shook my head. “You gave Tanya your last name. You gave her the honor of being married to you. I’ve been better to you than she ever was. At least that’s what you’ve told me. And for that, I get diddly squat? No thank you.”
“How will Joy react to us suddenly being a real couple. Kissing, touching? Think about it. She’ll be so confused,” he said then got up and began pacing as he threw his hands up in the air. “You want me to put my kid in that kind of an emotional bind? That’s pretty fucking selfish of you, Skye. I didn’t think you were that kind of woman. The kind who’d put your feelings above an innocent child’s.”
“You cannot make me feel guilty over wanting to be your real girlfriend. Joy will accept things. Kids are more adaptable than grownups are. Just look at all I’ve done with her. You had her shy, and I easily got her out of that bubble. She’ll be happy that we’re happy and she finally has a real family.”
When his eyes went narrow, and he glared at me, I felt the chill go straight to my heart as he said, “You’re not her mother.”
I narrowed mine right back at him as I reminded him of something, “And neither are you. She has no mother. And I’m the next best thing. Do you ever think about how growing up with no mom will affect her?”
“She has you as a nanny. That should be enough. And she has a father who’s better than most.” He turned around and walked toward the door. “I want things to keep going the way they are. So, this is settled. Come to my room anytime you want. But keep our private affairs private.” And with that, he left my bedroom and me the maddest I’d ever been.
With it being Sunday and my day off, I hurried to shower and get dressed then hauled ass out of that house. I was set on not coming back until late that night.
“Skye!” I heard him calling out to me as I opened the door between the kitchen and the garage. “Where’re you going?”
“Away!” I said then got into the Range Rover.
He got to the car door before I could close it. Grabbing it, he held it. “Are you quitting?”
“Not as Joy’s nanny, I’m not. I’d never leave her. You, though. Yes, I’m quitting you. You see, I have a little secret I haven’t told you. When I was eighteen, I was a stripper for three months. My mother and father went AWOL on me, and I had to pay the rent to keep the roof over my head. I had no idea how to get money quick, and I found myself walking down the street to a strip club.”
“A virgin stripper,” he said with a laugh. “Do you really expect me to buy that load of horse shit?”
“Buy it or don’t. I don’t give a flying rat’s ass. Anyway, I danced and took my clothes off for money. I wasn’t like the other strippers who got drunk or high. I did it all completely sober. And it sank in that I was degrading myself. Money or no money, I was using my body in a way that wasn’t healthy. And I made myself a promise that I’d never do that to myself again.”
“What does that have to do with me?” he asked as he looked as if he saw no parallels.
“I’ll let you figure that out, Aiden. You’re a smart man. Think on it for a bit. I’ll be back late tonight. Like I said, I’ll never quit on Joy. I love her like she was my own. And there’s really nothing you can do to change how I feel about her. But you’ve certainly changed how I feel about you. I love you, Aiden. We both say it every night, and I know it’s meant to be an act. But I love you for real. And I was a fool, but I thought you loved me too. Now let the fucking door go so I can leave.”
He batted his big blue eyes at me as he said, “I don’t want you to go. I feel like things will be different if I let you go, Skye. I don’t want things to be different. I just want things to stay the way we have them, that’s all.”
“Well, I want more. Now, let me go.”
He stayed put for a moment then he let the car door go and whispered, “I do love you, Skye. That’s not a lie.”
“Then prove it,” I said and turned the car on, closed the door and pulled out of the garage as he watched me go but didn’t want to say the words that would stop me.
Chapter Nine
Aiden
That day had been the longest one in my life. I called Skye three times, and she answered every time. She’d ask if Joy was alright to which I’d tell her she was and that I wanted her to come home. She’d ask if I’d changed my mind to which I’d tell her I hadn’t but that I wanted her home.
Skye didn’t come back until very late that night. At four in the morning, I found her coming in from the garage. I’d been sitting up, unable to sleep. “Hey,” I said as she walked through the living room. I turned on the lamp that was on the table next to me.
“Sitting alone in the dark?” she asked.
“Yes,” I said. I wasn’t sure what the hell I was going to say to her. I was afraid. I was scared shitless is the reality of it. I had fallen for the woman in a mere month’s time.It was insane!
“Well, that’s pretty sad, Aiden,” she said then turned away from me. “Good night.”
I sat there, unsure of what to do. I watched Skye leave the room and heard her treading up the stairs. After a few minutes, I got up and went up the stairs. Stopping at my bedroom door, I hesitated only a moment then I went inside. I knew what I needed to do to make things right.
Skye
I’d fallen asleep quickly. I was utterly exhausted. Looking up an old friend, I hung out with her until I had to come home. I didn’t tell her everything. Just about the job and how much I loved being Joy’s nanny. It wasn’t a thing I’d ever even thought of being and I was pretty proud of the positive changes I’d made in the kid’s life. Joy had made changes in me too.
