Page 45 of The Billionaire and the Nanny

“Don’t push it,” he warned.

“If I’m not allowed to see other men, neither are you,” I said sternly.

“I wouldn’t want to see other men anyway,” he quipped.

“You know what I mean. No more kissing strange women in your car even if they are your colleagues.”

“And what about you? Can I kiss you?” he asked softly.

I wanted to say yes. God, how I wanted to say yes! But it was too early. He had just shown me how little he trusted me. If I let him kiss me now, we’d end up in bed, and while that would keep us occupied for a long time, it wouldn’t solve any of our problems. It would just create more.

I closed my hand over the box and backed away.

“Not yet,” I whispered, and he shook his head with a groan.

“Then, go. Before I try to change your mind. But come down for dinner with the family.”

I ran into my room and locked the door.

Christmas dinner at the Donovan mansion was a formal affair. Fee had given me the day off, so I had planned to go out and get a burger or something. But Leo reminded me after breakfast that he wanted me to join them for dinner. I wore the green dress I had worn the night he kidnapped me and went down to help Fee set up the table.

The Christmas dinner was catered because Ramsay and the staff had the day off, but it was a merry affair. I ate far too much of the turkey and stuffing, and the Christmas pudding, and for the rest of the day, I helped Maddie get Louisa accustomed to her new home. The cat seemed to dislike the male sex, going so far as to attack Leo and his brothers when they lay on reclinersin the den after stuffing themselves with turkey and mashed potatoes.

In the evening, Maddie and I made snow angels in the garden while Louisa attacked the giant snowman that Leo and his brothers were building. The cat went nuts at the sight of the Snowman and kept getting in the way until Marcus had the genius idea of turning the Snowman into Snow Woman. With all the trappings front and back.

That seemed to calm the cat and she curled up on the porch like she was the empress of all of us.

Leo and I had called a temporary truce, which was only shaken slightly when his brothers kissed me under the mistletoe. I thought there would be bloodshed in the Donovan mansion on Christmas because of me, but Leo contented himself with aiming ferocious glares at his unrepentant brothers.

“You snooze, you lose, bruh,” said Marcus, with a cocky grin.

When Leo took one threatening step towards him, he ducked behind me with a squeal.

“Loser,” muttered Leo before he walked away in disgust.

“Does he need written instructions?” asked Luke plaintively. “You’re standing right under the mistletoe. Why doesn’t he just kiss you and put us all out of our misery? We can’t take any more of his growling and snarling, Tia.”

“Mind your own damn business, Lucifer,” I said, boxing his ears until he promised not to interfere or irritate Leo anymore. “One word from me, and Louisa will end you in your sleep.”

Luke and Marcus shuddered at the very mention of the demon cat and promised to behave.

I called Celine and made plans to meet up on New Year’s Eve.

“Have you heard from Arjun?” I asked worriedly.

“No, and it’s making me slightly nervous. I think he’s keeping his distance because of Marcus, who’s been hanging around my workplace quite a bit.”

I couldn’t imagine our saintly Marcus in a strip club. But he would do whatever he needed to do to keep Celine safe.

“Do you still want to move to Vegas? I’ll come with you,” I said softly, knowing that it would kill me to leave Leo and Maddie. But I owed her. Celine and her daughter were in danger because of me, while I was living it up in the Donovan mansion. If she wanted to run away, I’d go with her.

“Let’s keep that plan for when things get out of hand,” she replied, sounding as reluctant to move as I was. I didn’t blame her because all her family was here. We’d have to start over in Vegas, with no support from anyone.

“Meanwhile, let’s paint the town red on New Year’s Eve,” she suggested.

“What about Arjun?”

“We can go to a crowded place where we he can’t spot us in the crowd.”

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