Page 8 of Single Dad Billionaire Boss

“Huh,” I said. “I had a boyfriend named Dustin once. That kind of looks like him.”

“Did he poop under the sharpener?” Zoe asked, her eyes alight with mischief.

“He was a little too big for that,” I said. “But I’m sure he pooped in other places.”

Zoe giggled and I tried my hand at drawing Dustin the Hamster—which ended up looking more like Mickey Mouse.

“Dustin has teeny ears,” Zoe said.

I tried again, heeding Zoe’s advice, but this time Dustin the Hamster looked more like a chicken drumstick. We were laughing about that when I saw a Mercedes enter the cul-de-sac.

“That’s Daddy,” Zoe said. I took her hand and led her to the front door, and then Jacob pulled into the driveway and honked. This startled Zoe, who clung to me when her father got out of the car and slammed the door. Jacob stalked toward us, fists clenched and mouth tight under his sunglasses. Despite my desire to remain calm, my heart pounded. I felt like I was in trouble with the principal or something.

“What was my daughter doing in the street?” Jacob asked sharply. “Don’t you know she could have been run over?”

“We were in the driveway, not the street,” I said. “We were drawing pictures with chalk, and when I realized it was you, I moved her over here, like thirty feet from the driveway. She was safe.”

Jacob Sanders took off his sunglasses like some exasperated action movie colonel chewing out a subordinate. I turned my attention to Zoe, who looked up at me concerned.

“It’s okay,” I told her. “He’s mad at me, not you.”

“I’m notmad,” Jacob said.“I’m just concerned that the person left in charge of my daughter thinks this is an appropriate and safe activity for a five-year-old. She has art supplies indoors, and a fenced yard in the back.”

I breathed in deeply. I wanted so badly to snap back that sidewalk chalk was perfectly appropriate. I wanted to tell Colonel Overprotective that we were having fun and that he needed to take a chill. Thankfully, my cooler nature prevailed. Jacob Sanders was my employer and, more importantly, Zoe’s father. What he says goes, I told myself—whether I agreed with him or not. I gritted my teeth and forced a smile.

“You’re right,” I said. “I apologize. We wanted to make scenes from the hamster adventure she had today, so they’d be the first thing you saw when you drove up. We could have used paper inside and made a poster or something. I thought she was safe, but I understand now that it’s against the rules going forward.” I turned to Zoe. “Girlie, next time tell me to reel it in when I’m channeling Mary Poppins and we’re going to get smushed.”

“That would be worse than knocking out all our teeth,” Zoe said gleefully. “I bet our lungs would squish out our ears!”

I winced and then covered with a smile.

“You will not bring my daughter out here to play again,” Jacob said. Then he turned to Zoe and offered her his hand. “Will you show me your drawings now, sweetheart?”

Zoe took her father’s hand and, leading him to the driveway, launched into the story of Dustin the renegade hamster. Zoe laughed so hard at my “chicken leg with eyebrows” drawing that Jacob couldn’t resist cracking a smile himself.

Before I left, I made a point of asking Jacob where Zoe was allowed to go. He named a nearby library, a couple of parks, and an indoor playground with a ball pit and slides and play structures. “The grippy socks and passes are on the magnet board in the kitchen,” he said.

“What about the aquarium?” I asked. “And the carousel on Pier Thirty-Nine? The Japanese tea garden is lovely this time of year, too.”

“You’ll only have Zoe from three until five-thirty or six. Given the drive time and crowds, just restrict the plans to the places we’ve discussed. After school, she comes home to change out of her uniform and into her play clothes. Make sure she has her snack, then you can decide on something to do here at the house or nearby from the list. Also, I’m working from home tomorrow morning so I’ll take her to school, and you can pick her up at three.”

I wished both Jacob and Zoe goodnight and left.

Driving home, I could feel myself getting more and more aggravated. Jacob Sanders was so inflexible—the driveway, the list of things Zoe could do after school, the whole go-have-a-snack-and-change routine that had to happen every day or the sky would fall. What made it all better was when I arrived home and, flopping down on the couch, I realized that, for the first time ever, I wouldn’t have to worry about covering the rent and utilities. I could pay for it allon my ownwith this job. What’s more, I really liked Zoe.

“All right, Jacob Sanders,” I muttered. “I’ll stay out of the driveway.”

Everyone has to follow orders now and then, I thought. But not everyone has such a handsome boss to give them.

Chapter4

4

Jacob

Zoe had a great day.She was happy and healthy and that was all that mattered. Who cared if the replacement nanny got on my nerves? Zoe was crazy about her. And after we went over the hamster antics a few more times and ate dinner, she spent most of her time telling me how much fun “Ellie” was.

“Her name is Ella,” I said gently. “Ella Clark.”

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