Page 35 of Hired For the Billionaire's Secret Son

This was the price she was paying because, once again, despite knowing it wasn’t a clever option or idea, she’d become attached.

She had no one to blame but herself.

Ollie walked down the long hallway of Bo’s magnificent summer house, knowing that she would find Bo on the outside deck, the one that overlooked the private beach nestled between two rocky outcrops. He stood by the tempered-glass railing, a beer in his hand and the light wind lifting the strands of his hair. For as long as she lived, she’d remember him standing there, bare feet and looking relaxed, with the seascape behind him.

He sent her a slow smile and lifted his beer. ‘Would you like one?’

She shook her head. A look of confusion crossed his face when, instead of walking over to him and curling herself into him as she normally did, she pulled out a dining chair at the handcrafted wooden table and gestured for him to join her. When he took a seat opposite her, he noticed the pile of papers on the table and groaned. ‘It’s too beautiful a day to be serious, Ol. Let’s just enjoy our time together while Mat is asleep.’

Ollie wavered. She loved his little boy, but she’d come to crave those hours when she could lie in Bo’s arms, discussing everything and nothing. They also spent a lot of their alone time making love but, while she was tempted—she was always tempted; Bo just did it for her!—she knew that they had to talk about the future.Right now. Helen wouldn’t hang around waiting for Mr Picky to make up his mind.

Ollie put her hand on the CVs and sent Bo a serious look. ‘You’ve been ignoring my and Sabine’s requests to discuss my replacement for weeks now, and we can’t put it off any longer.’

Bo lifted his beer bottle to his mouth and she saw the irritation in those green depths. He liked calling the shots and controlling the conversation but she wasn’t going to allow him to do that today. This was too important to leave until the very last minute.

‘Do you remember that I told you that I met my friend Helen in Copenhagen a couple of weeks back?’ Ollie began. ‘We met at a cafe in Tivoli Gardens.’

He lifted one shoulder. ‘Vaguely.’

Of course he remembered; the man had a mind like a steel trap. He was just punishing her for pushing ahead with this conversation, for spoiling their time together by inviting reality to the party. Ollie narrowed her eyes in a warning he couldn’t miss. He shrugged and rolled his finger in a gesture for her to continue.

‘Helen is a hugely experienced nanny and a lovely, lovely person. She’s been with the same family for a long time, nearly ten years, and it’s time for her to move on. She’s expressed an interest in being Mat’s nanny and I think you’d be a fool if you didn’t snap her up. Now.Today.’

‘I’m not ready to decide on a new nanny for Mat,’ Bo said, looking obstinate.

‘Bo, I am leaving soon. If you employ Helen today, she could give her family two weeks’ notice—they love her and would allow her to go, knowing that she’s needed—and you’ll have somebody to help you out a lot sooner than I thought. You can’t look after Mat and run your business.’

‘I’ll have Greta to help me.’

‘Greta has her own life; she is not a long-term solution. Why are you burying your head in the sand?’ she demanded. ‘It’s not like you, Bo.’

Bo pushed his chair back from the table so hard that it toppled over as he stood up. He stomped back over to the railing and gripped the edge, straightened his arms and looked down.

Ollie followed him to where he stood and placed a hand on his back. ‘What’s going on, Bo?’

‘I need you to stay here, Ol.’

Damn.‘You know I can’t do that, Bo. It’s not possible.’

He stood up straight and folded his arms, looking like an annoyed Viking chief. ‘You can. Just tell your parents you don’t want to be an accountant and tell Sabine that you aren’t interested in buying a share in her business. Stay in Copenhagen with me and Mat.’

She could not possibly be hearing him correctly. Had he just dismissed her concerns about her family, brushed off her ambitions and demanded that she give up everything important to her to stay in her position as Mat’s nanny?

Ollie frowned at him, unable to believe he could be so glib and dismissive. This wasn’t the Bo she’d come to know and adore.

Ollie hauled in a deep breath and tried to hold onto her slipping temper. ‘From the beginning, I told you I could only give you two months, Bo. You knew that. Look, I’m going to tell my parents I won’t be joining their firm, and I’m going to offer to compensate them for the cost of my studies.’

‘I’ll pay them. How much is it? I can do the bank transfer today.’

He did not just say that!Ollie blinked and waited for him to apologise or to take back his words. He did neither. What was going on here?

‘And how do I pay you back?’ Ollie asked, increasingly annoyed by his high-handedness and arrogance. He was being a typical, bolshie alpha male, demanding and commanding.

‘You can work it off,’ he shot back.

By looking after Mat or by sleeping with him? Maybe her anger was clouding her judgement, but she was furious at his blithe dismissal of her feelings and her predicament. He simply wanted to throw his money at her to get the result he wanted. He had an excellent nanny to look after Mat and a willing bed partner and he didn’t want to be inconvenienced. The arrogant jerk!

‘I will never let you pay off my debts for me,’ Ollie told him, ice coating her words. ‘And as great as you are in bed, and as much as I love Mat, I have my own life to lead and goals to meet. I need more than this, Bo.’

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