Single Dad’s New Nanny: A Secret Baby Romance (Tall, Dark and Handsome Billionaires Book 3)

by J. P. Comeau

  I took a bite of my scrambled eggs. “Mmm, so good. There’s cheese in these.”

  He grinned. “Always. Cheese makes everything better.”

  I picked up a slice of meat. “And bacon. Bacon elevates all things.”

  He pointed at me with his fork. “Now, you’re getting the hang of it.”

  I took a bite of my bacon and winked at him, and for the first time since we kicked things off, I saw him blush. It was the most beautiful sight my eyes had ever beheld, and I vowed to one day make him blush like that again. Did he feel that way whenever he made me blush? Is that why he always tried?

  The thought made me so warm inside that I thought I was going to melt into a puddle on the floor.

  As I continued eating, I took stock of the world around me. The food. The tea. The vitamins left out for me. The care Gavin took in thinking through my portions. He was really doting on me, and I knew I could get used to this quickly. But, I was no longer afraid of getting used to it because I believed his words from yesterday. I believed him when he said we were in this together.

  “I’m supposed to ask how you slept,” Asia said.

  Gavin chuckled. “You aren’t supposed to phrase it like that.”

  I watched Asia shrug, and I giggled. “I slept very well. Thank you for asking. How did you sleep?”

  She took a big bite of her eggs. “Good.”

  Gavin sighed. “Don’t talk with your mouth full, princess.”

  “But, she asked me a question.”

  “Then, chew and swallow before you answer.”

  “Or, she just shouldn’t ask questions while I’m eating.”

  I shrugged. “She does have a point there.”

  Gavin tossed me a playful glare. “I can’t control you both. I can only do it one at a time. So, can we be on my side?”

  I heard Asia swallow before she giggled. “Or, she can be on my side, and we can rule the world!”

  I pointed at her. “I like her idea better.”

  Gavin rolled his eyes. “Women.”

  Asia mocked his eye movements. “Men.”

  I barked with laughter, and my shoulders shook as I leaned forward at the table. I’d never seen Asia so sassy before, and I couldn’t contain myself. She was the cutest thing on the face of this planet, and it had me wondering if our child would be even half as cute as her.

  “You want some more eggs? I kept them warm on the stove,” Gavin said.

  I looked down at my plate and took stock of my body. “Actually—and I can’t believe I’m going to say this—but I’m kind of full. Is that normal?”

  He winked at me. “I retained some of the knowledge I picked up the first go-around.”

  I blushed and hushed my voice. “Not in front of Asia.”

  But, she didn’t seem to notice. “Eva, we’re going to do so many fun things today.”

  I looked over at her. “Oh, really now? And what are we going to do today, Princess Eva?”

  “Well, first we’re going to color because that’s just awesome. Then, we’re going to paint Daddy a picture together of the two of us.”

  I nodded. “Nice, nice. Will there be snacks, though?”

  She shook her head. “No snacks until ten, but then we can have some fruit. And then we’ll play tag until lunch!”

  “Wow, that’s a lot of tag.”

  She nodded vigorously. “Uh-huh. Gotta burn off all those calories before we eat lunch. And for lunch, we’re going to have pizza. Then, we’re going to go to the museum and look at pictures. Then, we’re going to come home and make more pictures so we can put them on the wall and make our own art gallery that Daddy can walk through tonight. After we eat dinner, of course. You always eat dinner before you go look at pictures.”

  I yawned. “Right you are on that one.”

  Listening to the little girl rattle off our plans for the day made me feel even more drained. But, I did my best to try to bury it. I swallowed my yawns and rubbed my eyes every time I felt them watering, trying to play off like I still hadn’t quite woken up.

  But, Gavin wasn’t having it. “Hey, princess?”

  “—and tomorrow evening, we’re going t—yes, Daddy?”

  He reached over and patted her arm. “Promise me that you’ll go a little easy on Miss Eva for now, okay? She needs to get settled into her new room and new routine, after all. Remember how hard that is for you?”

  Asia’s voice grew sheepish. “Sorry, Eva.”

  I stood up and kissed her cheek. “No sorries necessary. Just give me a few days to get settled in, and I promise you, we’ll have all of the fun in the world before you go back to school.”

  Her eyes lit up. “Really?”

  I nodded. “Yes, really. But, for now, how does another movie marathon sound?”

  She gasped. “With snacks?”

  “With all the snacks.”

  “Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes! Daddy, I gotta go get changed! It’s a pajama day!”

  Gavin got up and helped her down off her little booster seat before she scurried off toward the stairs. I leaned back and closed my eyes, thankful that I had wrangled the excited ball of bouncing energy that was Asia Lincoln into having nothing but a restful day today. The sun was shining brightly outside, and part of me felt guilty for not getting her out into it.

  But, I figured if she wanted to take a break and go out back, I could float around in the pool or something while she swam.

  “So, I made some phone calls after you fell asleep last night,” Gavin said.

  I heard Asia rushing around upstairs before my eyes found his. “Oh?”

  He nodded. “Yep. I made a lot of them, actually. And one of them was to the director of this film I’ve been cast in.”

  I felt my stomach lurch. “Oh.”

  He pulled his chair around until he sat next to me. “I called and told the director that I wouldn’t be able to do the film in Hollywood because of my growing family.”

  Shock filled my system. “Wait, you what? Seriously?”

  He placed his hand on my knee and squeezed. “Yeah, of course, I did. Eva, if I took that job, I’d be gone for your entire first trimester and part of your second one, too. I don’t want to miss all of that. If people want me to film that badly, they can come here and film. But, I’m not traveling anywhere during this pregnancy. I missed a lot of it with Asia, and I don’t want to miss anything with this one.”

  I placed my hand on top of his. “That makes me feel a lot better, thank you. How did they take it, though? What about your career?”

  His smile settled into a grin. “Well, the good thing about being in demand is that sometimes people are willing to be more flexible than usual. So, after some talking and a lot of convincing, I got the director to agree that Miami is a far better place to shoot the upcoming movie instead of Hollywood Studios.”

  I gasped. “You didn’t.”

  He chuckled. “Yep. I got them to change the film site. I mean, that’ll be a lot of ferrying back and forth from the island to the mainland. But, now I can film, we can stay here, and everyone will have what they need. How does that sound?”

  I leaned toward him and captured his lips in a searing kiss. “I think it sounds fantastic.”

  In one fell swoop, Gavin pulled me into his lap, and I melted against his strength. Our tongues melded together in a familiar tango they were growing accustomed to, and my heart took flight. I loved this man. I loved everything about him, perfect and imperfect. And the idea that he would have turned down a movie just to stay by my side helped cast aside every worry I fell asleep with last night.

  I whispered against his lips. “You’re perfect; you know that?”

  He kissed my forehead. “I’m not perfect, but you are.”

  I giggled. “How about, we’re perfect for each other? How’s that sound?”

  He nuzzled my eyes back up to meet his gaze. “I’ll take it.”

  He brought me back in for another kiss, and I let it sweep me off my feet. I allowed m
yself to get lost in the taste of him. The feel of him. The strength of him, as I sat there in his lap. The faint singing of Asia upstairs as she put on a little show for herself backdropped his hand splaying against my stomach. He massaged my skin slowly, and I placed my hand on top of his so we could both cradle the newest addition to our patchwork family.

  Then, Gavin kissed down my neck before he turned his attention to my little baby belly.

  “Hello there. It’s me. Daddy. I know we’ve only just met, but I can’t wait to kiss your little cheeks. You’re going to be so loved, and your big sister, Asia, is going to want to teach you about everything. I hope you’re ready for lots of glitter, though. Because she’s a big fan of it.”

  Tears rushed my eyes as he continued whispering his little conversation to my stomach. I inched myself back over into my chair, and he got down onto his knees, coming eye-level with my bellybutton. He rolled up my shirt and kissed my skin, sending shivers spiraling throughout my body.

  And the more he spoke to our little unborn baby, the more I fell in love with him.

  Watching him press kisses against my belly helped me to realize things would be okay. Hearing him talk about our little family, ready to welcome this child into the world, aided in cementing all of the things he had told me yesterday. No longer were they fantasy. No longer was the life I wanted to live out of reach for me. At last, I had finally found what I had been looking for all this time—a man to love, a family to protect, and a future to look forward to.

  Everything is going to be okay.

  And even though I didn’t know how we’d tell Asia, or how we’d break it to family, or even how we’d tell the public, I knew one thing was for certain—no matter what came our way, Gavin would walk us through it.

  Epilogue

  Gavin

  One Year Later

  “And cut! Good job today, everybody! Go home and be with your families!”

  I stood and clapped my hands before I slid out of my director’s chair. Everyone whooped and hollered as we finished up the last day of filming on my studio’s first-ever project. The main cast came by and high-fived me and patted me on the back. The stagehands gave me thumbs-ups and smiles as I passed them, thanking them for the hard work they had put into this movie set.

  And as everyone wished one another a beautiful holiday season, I heard my daughter yelling for me in the distance.

  “Daddy! Are you coming home now?”

  I whipped around and saw Asia rushing for me with a massive smile on her face. And in tow were the two other leading ladies in my life. Eva, who had grown into her post-baby curves in ways that made me salivate at night, and Asana, our bouncing, beautiful infant baby girl.

  “Oh, come here, you big girl,” I groaned as I hoisted Asia against me.

  She hugged my neck tightly and peppered kisses along my cheek as Eva smiled at me. She lit up a room every time she walked into it, but seeing her cradling our precious little Asana made my heart fill with delight.

  “Hey there, handsome. Heard you were wrapping up something big today. Thought we’d come to surprise you,” Eva said.

  I kissed her delicate lips before Asia wiggled her way down. “And who is this beautiful little thing? Hi there, baby girl. How are you? Did you sleep for Mommy this morning?”

  Eva passed me our three-month-old daughter, and I felt myself falling in love all over again. She had a mound of blond hair on top of her head like my own, but she got her crisp green eyes from her mother. She came out with them, and I knew she’d be stuck with them, and the way my daughter smiled up at me while in my arms made my heart melt all over again.

  “I love you so much,” I whispered.

  I kissed her chubby little cheek before I handed her back to Eva, then I scooped Asia into my arms once more. She was much too big to be carrying around, but so long as my daughter wanted to be held, I’d be pumping iron in the gym and gaining muscles in order to make it happen. She laid her head on my shoulder and sighed, and the heat of her breath reminded me of all the glorious things that had happened over the past year.

  Eva had given birth to a healthy baby girl.

  Asia had settled into school, as well as her big sister role.

  And me, opening up my own filming studio in Miami.

  Everything seemed perfect in our lives, except for one thing.

  “So,” Eva said as she cleared her throat, “for the fourth time today, Jorge has called me to figure out what in the world our Thanksgiving plans are. And I hope you have an answer for him because I’m about to block his number. She said it with the coolest smile against her cheeks, and I almost barked with laughter.

  “I’ll talk with him once we get home, I promise.”

  She sighed. “Great, because I’m about to toss him off a cliff.”

  Asia giggled. “She’s mad at Jorge. He called at six this morning.”

  I blinked. “Wait. Did he really?”

  She smiled, but her eyes grew wide with muted fury. “An hour before our beautiful little girls woke up, yep.”

  I pulled my phone out of my back pocket. “I’ll resolve it right now.”

  She kept that plastered smile on her face. “Much appreciated, and—Asia! You can’t play on the set!”

  Eva piled Asana into my free arm and went chasing after Asia as I dialed Jorge’s number. The last thing I needed was him pissing off the woman I wanted to spend the rest of my life with because he was getting more anxious than I was. I peered over my shoulder and saw Eva racing after Asia behind the set scenes, so I maneuvered myself into a darkened corner where no one would see me before Jorge picked up.

  “Dude, please tell me she’s gone from the house.”

  I nodded. “Yeah, she’s gone. But did you really call at six in the morning?”

  “I didn’t have a choice! You weren’t picking up, and you said she was supposed to go to work with you all day today.”

  I looked behind me to make sure Eva hadn’t resurfaced. “I know, I know. Plans changed, I’m sorry. But she’s at the studio now, and I’m going to do my best to keep her with me for the rest of the day. Do you still have time to get it done?”

  He shuffled around on his end. “We’re headed there now. We need at least a couple of hours, though. Possibly three.”

  “Don’t worry. Eva never turns down food, and a lot of the restaurants around where we are will take at least three hours to get in and get out.

  “Wonderful. See you around five, then?”

  I looked at my watch. “Make it six-thirty.”

  “Even better. See you soon.”

  “Jorge?”

  He paused. “I know. And you don’t have to say anything.”

  I sighed with relief. “I appreciate that.”

  “All right. Talk soon.”

  I nodded. “Talk soon.”

  And the second I hung up the phone, Eva’s panting voice resonated behind me. “Did you talk to him about waking me up before seven again?”

  I turned around with a chuckle on my lips. “I gave him a stern talking to, I promise.”

  She giggled. “My hero.”

  I leaned in and kissed her forehead. “My queen.”

  “Gavin! We need you over here!”

  My head went on a swivel as I mindlessly handed Asana back to Eva. “What?”

  Then, I saw a pair of hands waving in the air. “Over here! We need some input!”

  Eva smiled. “Duty calls.”

  I tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “I’ll be right back. Stay here, and don’t leave without me. I want to take my family out for some food.”

  “But, the restaurants will all be jam-packed right now.”

  I backed away and pointed at her. “Food time! No buts about it!”

  “Well, then hurry up, so we don’t have to wait for an hour!” she exclaimed.

  I jogged over to where my assistant director was, and I watched a few clips with her while she rattled off a few things that needed to be changed. But, my
eyes kept gravitating back to Eva. There she was, cradling our perfect daughter while wrangling Asia, with her hair tied up in a messy bun and her clothes hanging off her body. She was the epitome of beauty to me, and the ring box in my pocket for tonight seemed to almost vibrate against my thigh.

  “—and this is where we need to re—Gavin? Gavin, are you even listening?”

  I cleared my throat and shook my head. “Uh, yeah. You were, uh, talking about changing the lighting on this particular scene. But, I don’t agree with that analysis. The lighting is darker in this scene because the reveal has to be nice and bright.”

  She nodded slowly. “Right. Except, that’s not the scene we’re watching right now.”

  I blinked. “Oh.”

  She snickered. “Something on your mind a bit?”

  My gaze moved back to Eva. “A bit, yeah.”

  She placed her hand on my shoulder. “Want my advice?”

  I looked back over at her. “Sure. Hit me with it.”

  Her hand slid back to her side. “Whatever you’re thinking about, it can’t wait. If there’s anything this movie taught us, it’s that life is way too short to try to plan things to be perfect. Whatever it is, just do it.”

  And she was right.

  “Gavin, where are you going? We aren’t done talk—Gavin!”

  I held my finger up in the air. “I’ll be right back, but this can’t wait any longer.”

  I jogged back up to Eva, and she greeted me with that breathtaking smile she always had for me whenever I reappeared out of thin air. She leaned in like always to kiss my lips, but I cupped her cheeks and pressed my tongue between her lips. Her hand slid up my abs and up my chest until she gripped my shirt and pulled me closer.

  Then, I slid my hand into my pocket and pulled out the ring box.

  “Mmm, what was that for?” she hummed.

  But, I simply got down onto one knee and held up the little box.

  “Gavin?” she asked.

  Asia squealed. “Daddy! You’re doing it!”

  And the entirety of the studio paused in shock as I cracked open the black velvet box.

  “Oh, my God. Gavin,” Eva said breathlessly.