Page 22 of The Billionaire and the Nanny

I retired to my study to start my calls and meetings while Aunt Fee and Maddie took Tia on a tour of the house. I ate lunch at my desk and stayed out of their way all day. Just before dinner, my aunt came into the study with a conspiratorial grin.

“I’ve just had the best idea, Leo,” she announced, and I stared at her warily.

Aunt Fee’s grand ideas didn’t always work in my favor. She was an inveterate plotter, and I had a sinking feeling her latest idea involved Tia. I was right.

“You should hire Tia to be Maddie’s nanny.”

No. Fucking. Way!

Did I want to help Tia and keep her safe? Sure.

Did I want her to live under my very roof, tempting me into madness? No way!

But I couldn’t say that to my aunt, so I tried to be tactful.

“I don’t think she’s qualified to be a nanny, Aunt Fee.”

“Hmph! You don’t need a college degree in child rearing to raise a child, Leo. You need love, kindness, and common sense, and Tia has plenty of that,” argued my aunt.

“I know what you’re doing,” I accused. “You’re matchmaking! And I won’t have it, Aunt Fee. Tia is the sister of my enemy.”

“Rubbish,” she denied stoutly. “I’m doing nothing of the sort. Besides, you can’t date your nanny, Leo. That’s very tacky. Tia will be here only as a nanny.”

She was right. If I hired Tia to be my nanny, I couldn’t very well lust after her because I had never been that guy. I would never make advances at an employee, which meant my brain would finally stop obsessing about her. Besides, we had worked our desire out of our systems last night. We could finally have a peaceful, platonic relationship, with the added bonus of knowingthat I wouldn’t have to torture myself wondering what she was doing in Vegas. She’d be safe under my roof, and I’d be safe from rapacious nannies who were more interested in me, instead of Maddie.

I stroked my chin as I mulled it over, looking for possible pitfalls. Right now, there didn’t seem to be any.

“That’s not a bad idea, Aunt Fee. Not a bad idea at all.”

“I know,” she said triumphantly. “Besides, I think she’ll make Marcus a good wife. I think I’ll set them up on a date.”

I stood up in protest.

“Wait! What?”

But my aunt had left the room after delivering this final salvo. I chased after her angrily.

“You will do nothing of the sort, Aunt Fee. He’s not to harass her, do you hear me? She’s our employee,” I said, outraged by the very idea.

“First of all, she’s not our employee yet. And secondly, you can’t date her because you’re her boss. Marcus has no such limitations. I refuse to let him be trapped by another Natalie, Leo. I want to see my boys happily married before I die. I won’t force you into a second marriage, but you can’t stop me from looking out for those two idiots. God knows they aren’t capable of finding nice women on their own,” she argued.

I swear I was a good man. I had done nothing to deserve this level of torture. The very thought of Tia marrying Marcus was enough to make my head explode.

“Aunt Fee, I will have you committed to a psych ward if you keep talking nonsense like this,” I threatened. “You’re going to outlive us all, so stop using your age as an excuse for your awful matchmaking tendencies. And leave Tia alone. She’s been through enough stress to last her a lifetime.”

“Mind your own business, Leo,” said my aunt before she pushed open the door to the nursery.

Tiawasmy business, goddammit! And I would murder my brother if he even thought of making a move on her.

I followed Aunt Fee into Maddie’s room and came up short at the sight of Maddie curled up in Tia’s arms. They were both fast asleep in the big rocking chair. Tia must have been reading to her, because the illustrated copy of Jack and the Beanstalk had fallen to the floor beside the chair.

My heart ached at the picture they made. Natalie had never even read Maddie a bedtime story. It was her loss, I decided. She had missed out on the love of a lifetime because she had preferred the forbidden delight of a boyfriend over her family. As I watched Tia tightened her arms around Maddie, and it felt as if she was tightening her hold on my heart.

I rejected that idea outright. These were the ravings of a sleep-deprived mind, that’s all. Mind-blowing sex was not love. And that’s all Tia and I had shared. Sex.

And now, I had to convince her to give up her plan to move to Vegas and stay with us as a nanny. Just fucking great!

Aunt Fee shook her awake gently and I carried a sleeping Maddie over to her bed.

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