Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 87538 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 438(@200wpm)___ 350(@250wpm)___ 292(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87538 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 438(@200wpm)___ 350(@250wpm)___ 292(@300wpm)
I nod, understanding that feeling far too well.
“Jacob came round to check on you and your daughter last night, without you asking him to,” I say with a smile. “He loves you and I’m sure feels that sense of responsibility as the older sibling.”
“Yeah, I suppose I’ve labeled Jacob as bossy and interfering. Maybe I’ve been a little harsh with him over the years.”
My heart swells in my chest as Dax shifts the pieces of his history around to make a slightly different picture—one where his brother loves and cares about him, doesn’t just bait him. One where he loves his daughter.
“Are you all done?” Dax asks Guinevere in a singsong voice I’ve not heard him use before. “Shall we have a little burp before we go out?” He lifts her and puts her over his shoulder. Her body is all sleepy and floppy, like it normally is after her morning milk. It melts me to see them together like this. So in-tune.
Dax is falling in love with his daughter.
“I had a great time with you last night,” Dax says, his head tilted towards Guinevere.
“Yeah,” I say, flustered and not quite sure what the correct response is.
He laughs so heartily, he has to hold Guinevere so she doesn’t fall off his shoulder. “What does ‘yeah’ mean?”
“It means I haven’t quite figured out how to feel.”
He nods. “Fair enough. Just so you know, I have figured out how to feel, and I had a great time and I want…” He hesitates and glances away before saying, “More.”
What does that mean?
“No, that wasn’t clear,” he adds, as if he wants to press the delete key and start again. “I want to hang out more, talk to you more, listen to you talk about…everything. Kiss you more…and…” He shrugs. “I’m not expecting any of that, but I want you to know where I am. In terms of you, I want more. In every sense.”
So much for one night to scratch an itch.
“Good to know,” I reply, pressing my eyes closed and wrinkling my nose so a smile doesn’t erupt on my face. I can’t tell him that I want more too. Because if I do then…what? I play house with my employer? It doesn’t make sense.
He laughs again and this time he wakes Guinevere.
“I think someone did a poo in her nappy. Shall Daddy change you?”
Dax stands and before he leaves, bends and presses a kiss to the top of my head.
TWENTY-SIX
Eira
I pull out a wedge of paperbacks from the final box and stack them on my windowsill. I’ve just finished unpacking my room, but with every item slotted into its place, my confidence that I’ll be here—in this job, in this house—in a month has waned. I’m only a few weeks into the position and I’ve gotten myself into such a tangle, but at the moment, I can’t regret it.
My phone rings and I smile. I bet that’s Dax.
But it’s not. It’s Felicity from the agency.
She doesn’t even say hello. “I have the most incredible opportunity,” she blurts.
“Hi, Felicity.”
She ignores my attempt at politeness. “It’s the Lebedev family. They want you. Of course, if you’re happy where you are, I wouldn’t steal you. You know that’s not me. But I wouldn’t be looking out for the interests of one of our best nannies if I didn’t bring you the opportunity.”
“The Lebedevs?” My stomach clenches and I tense. Everyone wants to work with them. The pay is phenomenal. It’s a legendary position. When I first started at Portland and heard about the perks of the job and the salary, I never thought I’d ever have a chance to work for them. “How do they even know about me?”
“No one knows how they hear about nannies. They came to me with a few names, but you were top of their list. I told them I’d just placed you, but they begged me to put the offer forward to you.”
I never would have considered the job previously, since the role requires months of international travel. When Eddie and Dylan were young, there was no way I was prepared to do that.
But now?
“The package is incredible,” Felicity says.
“But I only just started working here.” I know the current situation isn’t sustainable. I’ve slept with my boss—it’s not like I don’t know things here are going to end badly. Either I’m going to end up fired or I’m going to quit. It’s just a question of time.
“The Lebedevs are prepared to reimburse the family of the nanny they pick for all recruitment costs.”
Money really is no object for them.
“Can I send you the job description?” Felicity asks. “And details of salary and benefits?”
I stare at the books I’ve just stacked on my windowsill. “Let me think about it.”
“What’s there to think about?” she asks. “You’re not committing to anything by looking at a job description.”