Page 38 of Hired For the Billionaire's Secret Son

Bo felt plenty of other ‘L’ words for her—like and lust came to mind. Love was not one of them. If he did, he would want what was best for her, he’d want her to be everything she could be with no restrictions. If he loved her, he would trust her to make good decisions, for herself and them, the family she so desperately wanted with him. He’d want her to be more, do more and achieve more than just being his nanny-cum-lover.

Ollie loved her job—it was an honour and a responsibility looking after someone else’s child—but, damn it, she was allowed to want more, to be more. She was allowed to have a career, as well as be a parent and a lover. To love and be loved. As her parents’ marriage had shown her, two strong, successful people could have it all.

She understood why Bo thought it wasn’t possible. He had a terrible relationship with Bridget, and had not had much of a relationship with his father. His mother’s primary focus had been, and still was, on her work. She’d never given her husband or son any emotional support or showed any interest in them as people, in their lives or in their interests.

But, man, it hurt that Bo was confusing her with his fridge-for-a-heart mother. Ollie knew about boundaries and was emotionally aware enough to lead a balanced life—she’d watched her mum do it all her life. Her mum worked full-time but neither she nor her brothers had felt as if they were emotionally neglected. Her parents had always made sure that they were home at a reasonable hour, they’d eaten dinner together as a family and weekends had been declared work-free zones. They’d been present, interested and involved. Apart from their disagreement about her choice of career, they’d been pretty awesome parents.

But it was her career, her life, and she wouldn’t let Bo or her parents tell her how to live it. Becca’s death had taught her that she didn’t know how much time she had on this rock called Earth and she wasn’t going to waste any of it.

She’d find a way around her parents’ expectations; it required her to have a tough conversation with them but she was up for that. She should’ve addressed this issue a long time ago but, feeling numb from Becca’s death, she’d simply pushed it away and shoved her head into the sand. After her hard conversation with Bo two days ago, she felt she was strong enough to tackle her parents. After all, her heart was broken already.

Standing on the beach, Ollie looked up at the house above her, thinking of the man inside who would be waking up around now. She’d slipped out of the house much earlier, unable to sleep in the guest bedroom alone.

Their relationship had shifted seismically and the words they’d said couldn’t be pulled back. She’d been too hurt and angry to sleep with, or even talk to him, so she’d removed her clothes from Bo’s closet and her toiletries from his bathroom and decamped to the luxurious guest bedroom, the one furthest from his.

She was now his son’s nanny, nothing more and nothing less. The baby monitor in her hand vibrated and she turned up the volume. Through the state-of-the-art speaker, she heard Mat’s snuffle and knew it was time to head back to the house. She was exhausted, emotionally wiped out, and was operating on minimal sleep. She didn’t know how she was going to get through the day.

But she would. She had a job to do and money to earn.

‘Hello, my beautiful boy.’

Ollie heard Bo’s voice on the baby monitor and placed her hand on her heart. She sank to the sand and placed her head on her knees as she listened to her lover tell his son how amazing he was and how much he loved him.

She heard the sound of Mat’s baby grow being unsnapped, the crackle of a nappy being laid out and Mat’s gurgling laughter as Bo blew raspberries on his fat tummy. It was what Bo did every time he changed Mat’s nappy.

Bo was madly, crazy, head-over-heels in love with Mat. She just wished he felt the same way about her.

But if wishes were horses and all that... He didn’t love her, he couldn’t commit to her and she should get used to the fact.

‘So, this morning I spoke to a lovely lady who wants to meet you again,’ Bo told Mat. ‘I interviewed her, and she sounds amazing, and I think you’ll like her. And, best of all, she’ll be a nanny and only a nanny. I won’t be distracted again.’

Helen? It had to be...

‘I told her that I needed her urgently and she’s agreed to be here by the end of the week.’

Mat released another stream of babble and Ollie imagined he was telling his dad that nobody was as wonderful as Ollie and that he’d miss her. It was far more likely that the little boy was probably just asking for his breakfast.

‘I’m going to miss her too, but we can’t find a middle ground.’

Ollie frowned at the baby monitor. What? He hadn’t offered her a middle ground! It had been his way or no way—‘stay here and don’t do or be anything else’.

Ollie resisted the urge to storm up to the house and set him straight. But she didn’t have the energy and her heart had been kicked around enough as it was. Bo had drawn his line in the sand and that was as far and as deep as he wanted to go.

It wasn’t deep enough and far enough for her. Knowing she couldn’t listen any more, Ollie switched off the baby monitor and allowed the tears to trickle down her face.

Bo was with Mat, and she could take a few more minutes to sit on the private beach on this special island. It was, Ollie admitted, a spectacularly pretty place to get heartbroken.

Well done, Ollie.

In the end, their parting was terribly civil and very mature. It was everything Ollie didn’t feel. Helen had arrived in Copenhagen when they returned from Bornholm, and Ollie had helped Helen move into the second of Bo’s very luxurious guest bedrooms and and had taken her through Mat’s routine.

Mat, being the sunny character he was, had gurgled and laughed his way through the transition, happy to spend the majority of his time in Helen’s arms. With Bo avoiding her, or only talking to her when he absolutely had to, Ollie had felt as if he’d pushed her to the side, a spare part for a well-tuned car.

But her immense sadness at leaving Bo and Mat had been tempered by relief as she couldn’t live with the implacable and reticent Bo any longer. She hardly recognised the man she’d loved and laughed with, the one who’d loved her so thoroughly, who’d looked at her with affection and who’d bestowed his sweet, slow smiles on her.

On the morning she was due to fly out, Ollie promised herself she wouldn’t cry. But tears burned her eyes when she hugged Mat for the last time, and her heart cracked when Helen kissed her cheek, hugged her and walked Mat back into Bo’s house, leaving Bo and her alone outside. Bo placed her luggage in the taxi and, when he came back to stand in front of her, she couldn’t meet his eyes, choosing to stare at the walnut-brown sweater covering his wide chest.

‘I’m sorry I can’t give you what you need, Olivia,’ Bo said as he opened the door to the taxi for her.

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