Page 12 of Falling for the Nanny

“Of course you should take it,” Parker called from the table.

Alyssa looked torn. “You really liked Lily. You probably won’t even see him very often.”

“That’s true.” I thought again of his dark green gaze. The shiver that had gone down my spine when I realized he was watching me. I shivered again now, making Alyssa’s eyes narrow with concern.

“But you don’t have to,” she said quietly, as though that would prevent Parker from overhearing and weighing in.

“But she should!”

“Go with your gut.”

“It’s a mansion, Cat!”

The two of them were like the angel and the devil on my shoulder. I wanted to clap my hands over my ears and give myself a minute to think. I did so now, walking to the far end of our small, galley-stye kitchen.

“Be quiet,” Alyssa ordered Parker. “She’s thinking.”

I didn’t have to see Parker to know he’d just rolled his eyes in a full circuit around in their sockets.

“I think…” I said slowly.

Alyssa leaned in. Parker pushed back from the table and leaned over the counter to see into the kitchen.

“I think I’m going to take it,” I finished finally, coming to a resolute decision.

“Smart,” Parker said approvingly.

“If that’s really what you want,” Alyssa added cautiously.

It was. It was true that I knew it was a bad idea, but it was also true that I very much wanted it. The mansion. The car. The kid. And even…though I would never, ever admit this, I was just as compelled by the man responsible for it all. He was dark and sardonic and rude, to be sure. But he was also compelling in a way that overrode everything else.

I would let Alyssa think I was saying yes in spite of him, but I would know the truth.

It was partly because of him.

* * *

I moved in the following Friday, early in the morning, before my last day at Little Tykes. My logic was simple. I was going to be wearing my raggedy old workout gear to move my stuff in, and I figured that at that early hour, there was no way I’d see David King. Mrs. Barnes had already given me the keys and the codes. I would carry my boxes through the side gate, the one that brought me in right beside the guest house, and I’d be done before he left for work.

The sun had begun to rise in the east, but the sky was still dark when I pulled in in the small moving van I’d rented. Alyssa was in the passenger seat, irritatingly wide awake. Parker was wedged in the back, already firing off emails on his phone. He hadn’t been paying attention while we drove, and now, as he looked up and saw the house for the first time, he said, “Jesus Christ, Cat.”

I felt a flicker of pride even though all I had done was get hired. It wasn’t often that something impressed Parker. I glanced at Alyssa to get her reaction, but it was harder to read her expression. “What do you think?” I prompted.

“It’s big.” She gave me a funny smile that meant she was deliberately not saying something. Before I could prod her further though, she was sliding out of the car. The sound of the doors shutting cracked through the quiet morning, making me wince and we all collectively froze and looked toward the front door. To my relief, the sound didn’t seem to have disturbed the occupants.

We each grabbed a box and walked around to the side gate. “Are you sure there isn’t an alarm on?” Alyssa asked before I leaned forward to put in the code.

“I’m sure. Mrs. Barnes turned them off early this morning so I could move in.” I typed in the long string of numbers, and to my relief, the lock lit up green and the knob turned in my hand. The last thing I wanted to do was to have to knock on that imposing front door and risk David King opening it.

We left the gate propped open and made quick work of my boxes. I didn’t have much to move. Mostly clothes and the few things from the kitchen that were mine. I was leaving Alyssa the lamps and tables we’d bought together since Mrs. Barnes was leaving behind her furnishings. The biggest thing I had was my mattress, which we carried in last.

Though it went quickly, and the morning air was still crisp, I was out of breath and I had a light sheen of sweat on my forehead by the time we were done. While I turned to lock the door to the pool house, Alyssa looked longingly at the pool. “That would feel good right now.”

“I don’t recommend it.”

It was a male voice, but I knew instantly it wasn’t Parker’s. It was a deeper timbre, and Parker’s voice had never shot shivers down my spine. I had an instant to picture myself–hair in a messy ponytail, last night’s mascara smudged around my eyes, terry cloth shorts I usually slept in, and a t-shirt that was worn thin and soft with age.

David King, of course, looked like he’d just stepped out of a board meeting to figure out why vagrants had invaded his backyard. His dark green eyes raked over me expressionlessly. “You’re here early, Ms. Bowen.”

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