Shifter Nanny Agency

by Celeste Raye

  “Usually, a locked door will stop most people. You know, from getting lost.”

  “Yeah. About that...”

  Fran did not know what to say. She just pressed her lips together and then just shrugged. “I just wanted to know what was down here.”

  “Yeah, I am getting that. Well, come on. I will give you the tour while you tell me how you picked that lock so well. I didn’t even see a scratch on it.”

  Chapter Eight

  Chris had come home from work for lunch. It was something that he didn’t do very often, but since Fran was there and he wanted to talk to her, it just seemed like the thing to do. Fran was nowhere to be found when he got in and Maria told him that she had seen her wandering around. He didn’t mind, of course, but Chris had been surprised to find the basement door open.

  The door was never open, and then he found Fran. There was a part of it that she couldn’t see, but she never would. He was going to help her with her curiosity, so hopefully, she wouldn’t want to go down and seek out the rest of it. That part of the basement he would not be able to explain.

  “You don’t mind showing me around?”

  “Of course not. I have nothing to hide, Fran.”

  “Then why is the door locked?”

  “Well, the stairs are not to code; they are a bit too steep. And I don’t want the climate control to be changed. There are fans to help with moisture and heat, but particulates can float down and damage the cars from opening the door.”

  “You’re really serious about your collection.”

  “Yes, each car is special to me. And if I keep them in the right condition, they will raise my equity in them nicely.”

  “So, you sell cars and have a vineyard? I wouldn’t think that those two things would give you a house like this.”

  “You want to know where my income comes from?”

  Chris was finding her delightful, even though he was quick to realize that she was getting all kinds of information from him, but he wasn’t able to do the same.

  “You don’t have to tell me.”

  “I fear if I don’t, you’re just going to hack into my computers and check my bank accounts.”

  Fran didn’t agree or disagree. She just smiled and left Chris wondering what that actually meant. He wanted to ask her, but he didn’t think that he was going to get an answer.

  “Well, Fran, my family was wealthy to start with. My father started a real estate company, a successful one. The vineyard and cars are just my way of diversifying because I don’t like to have all of my eggs in one basket.”

  For some reason, that didn’t seem to excite Fran like he thought it would.

  “Oh.”

  “Was that not what you expected?”

  “I don’t know; I just didn’t think it would be so mundane, I guess. You seem like the type that could bend the law to make all of this happen.”

  “Is that how your family does it?”

  Fran looked away, and Chris could see that he had hit a nerve, though he hadn’t known that there was one there.

  “Yeah, I guess you could say that.”

  Chris didn’t mention anything else. He pointed out a couple of cars that were his favorites. Not that he thought she would care, but Chris wanted to get the tension out of the air that had suddenly come to pass. It wasn’t as cheery as before, and he liked her smile too much to ever want her to frown.

  “You have a nice collection.”

  “Thank you. Do you like cars?”

  “I don’t get much out of them, no. I don’t know many women that do.”

  “There are some.”

  Chris wanted her to be one of them, but it was clear that Fran wasn’t impressed. He wondered what would excite her.

  “So, why don’t you tell me how you learned to pick locks like that? That comes from a lot of practice.”

  He knew what skill it took and he wondered why a young woman such as herself would know how to do such a thing.

  “It was just something I picked up. My father taught me how to open any lock. He said I might need it one day, and he was right. I have used it many times.”

  “You have had many locks that you had to break into?”

  He was smiling and joking, but Fran was being serious. More than once, a picked lock may have saved her life.

  “You would be surprised by how many.”

  Chris just shook his head. She answered his questions, but again, there was no embellishment and no real answers.

  Chapter Nine

  The children got home from school around four o clock and Chris was back to work. Fran had some time to spend with them playing outside. She saw that there were some neglected gardening boxes, and it seemed like the perfect thing to get some fresh air into the kids. Dante did not want to do much else but play video games, and Jasmine had dolls that she liked to play with. Fran was convinced that everybody needed a little sunshine in their life.

  As big as the house was, Fran was rather surprised that there weren't that many toys. There was almost nothing to play with outside and instead of trying to figure something out, Fran found Ernest and they went to look at a local store. Both children seemed to light up almost immediately, and they picked out several things to play with.

  When they got back, the two kids ran off, and Fran was given a moment to herself. She had a few nieces but Fran wasn't usually around kids, and she was surprised by their energy levels. She had always thought that she had plenty of energy, but now she was starting to realize that whatever she had, they had twofold.

  The three of them were still playing outside when Chris got home, and Fran was a little worried for a moment. She hadn’t made anything for them to eat, but then she remembered that Maria did most of the cooking around the house. Besides running around with the kids, Fran’s time was spent thinking about Chris.

  They went inside for dinner, and the kids went upstairs to wash up. They had been gardening and were quite dirty. She went up there as well because she was covered in black potting soil.

  By the time she got back downstairs, everyone was waiting for her.

  “You didn't have to wait.”

  Jasmine said something about her being family and of course they would wait. Given everything that had happened in the last couple of weeks, that was one of the sweetest things she’d heard. It made all of her troubles seem so much further away than they really were.

  After dessert, the kids washed up and got ready for bed. Fran read them a book and then went to clean up the kitchen. It was already done when she got there and she just shook her head. What he was paying her was quite high considering she only had the kids for a few hours a day. Though that would change when they were home for the summer, and Fran was already wondering where she was going to get the energy for that.

  “The kids really seem to like you.”

  “That's good, because I really like them. They are sweet. As desperate as you were to find a babysitter, I really thought they were going to be horrible.”

  “I told you that they weren't. They are very sweet. My little girl is just a little sad, but I can see why.”

  “Where is their mother?”

  Chris didn't want to talk about Cassidy, and he said as much.

  “I wasn't trying to upset you.”

  “No, it's nothing like that, it's just upsetting that she took off like she did. I know that they will understand it in time, but right now they do not. Right now, Jasmine is hurting, and Dante is just ignoring it all. I know that it bothers him too.”

  Fran told herself that she was going to do what she could to make it easier for him. She felt bad for anybody that had to deal with something like that. There were several times she thought she had lost her parents, but it all worked out. To have one of them just go away because they chose to must be even worse somehow.

  “Well, you have done a great job with them. Sometimes it is hard to raise kids with both parents, so I can only imagine how hard it would be to do it with one.”
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  “I do the best I can, and sometimes I worry that is not enough.”

  “You are more than enough for your children. You should listen to the way they talk about you. They make me think that you could be some sort of superhero.”

  Chris looked away for a moment and waved her off. “I'm sure that it's just an exaggeration.”

  Fran didn't think that it could be anything else, because some of the things that Jasmine had told her that her father could do; they just went against the laws of physics. It was sweet that she thought so highly of him, though. It told Fran that whatever it was going on with the mother, both children knew that they had their father to fall back on and that meant a lot.

  They were out on the porch, and Fran was not sure how to handle the situation. As they had talked, Chris had gotten closer to her, and she was still thinking about the day before. He had most likely seen far more than he was supposed to, and it was hard for her to meet his eyes knowing that.

  “I think I'm going to go to bed, Chris.”

  “Did you not get enough sleep yesterday?”

  “I did not.”

  “I hear you, Fran. I think I will be right behind you in a little bit. The morning comes early, doesn't it?”

  “It does. I will see you tomorrow then.”

  Fran walked away, still unsure of her boss. Too many emotions came up when she thought about him, and instead of dealing with any of them, she just stuffed them back down so she didn't have to. It was easier that way.

  When she got upstairs, she took a shower, sure that it would be better than dozing off in the bathtub again. It wasn't like it turned out bad or anything, but she was certainly embarrassed by what had happened. Fran wasn't the only one that remembered it either. She could tell he was thinking of it as well. Fran didn’t know how she felt about that. But it was clear what he felt about it.

  She went to bed that night and thought of her employer. He was more like her knight in shining armor at the end of the day. He was keeping her safe, and he didn't even know it.

  Chapter Ten

  The next week went well for Chris. Better than he could have hoped. Having a babysitter like Fran made him realize that the last thing he wanted to do was be away from his kids. He had thought that getting a babysitter would help with dealing with his father. He wanted to prove to him that he could fill his shoes, even if he didn't want to.

  Every night when Chris got home, and his kids were happy and playing, he missed them even more. Wanted to spend less time away from them.

  They would all sit down and have dinner together, tell him about their day, and Chris knew that none of that would have happened if Fran wouldn’t have been there. The whole atmosphere had changed since Fran. It was a lot more pleasant. Fran made his children happy, and as a result, he was happy as well.

  One thing that Chris noticed was how Jasmine was starting to talk more and come out of her shell. Whereas her brother was starting to calm down. It was almost magical, the results that he was getting, and it had only been a week.

  Something else that he noticed was a byproduct of a beautiful woman being in the house with him all the time. Especially one that was so gentle like Fran. Even though she seemed to have a lot of secrets and he had found her trespassing at the vineyard as well as caught her picking the basement lock, there was still a fragility to Fran that was hard to deny. He knew that no matter what she had seen, done, or even knew, there was something about her that he wanted to protect.

  Friday night rolled around, and he asked her if she wanted to take off for the weekend.

  “Don't you have to work?”

  “I don't think so. I am sure that I'll have to make a few calls, but I can do that with the kids around. It shouldn’t be a problem if you have some things that you want to do. I know that being here twenty-four/seven can be hard.”

  Fran did not look as happy about the offer as he thought she would. Fran had barely left the house since she had gotten there, and most of the time she had taken the kids.

  “I don't think that I have anywhere that I need to go to.”

  “What about your family? Your life before here? Isn't there something or someone that you want to go see or do?”

  “Not really. I am just trying to stay away from all that right now. I'm not getting along with my family.”

  “Is there anything that you want to talk about?”

  Fran shook her head and said that there was nothing that she wanted to talk about. Chris could tell that there was, and she was holding back, but he wasn't going to push her. It was easy to hold back, considering that he had his own secrets as well. Just because he already trusted her didn’t mean that he had to know everything. Maybe it was best that he didn't.

  “Well, you are more than welcome to stay here. I don't know what we're going to do this weekend, but I'm sure we'll figure out something.”

  “Thank you, Chris. I don't think I have told you how much you saved my ass.”

  “It is a very nice ass to save, Fran.”

  Chris stopped almost immediately because he couldn't believe that it just came out of his mouth. That was certainly not something that he was supposed to say. It had been running in his mind over and over again, along with a lot of other commentary that he could never say out loud. He couldn't believe that he had let that slip.

  Fran turned a little red in the face, but she didn't seem to be bothered by it too much. At the same time, she did stand up and put some distance between them. Every time they started to get close, Chris had noticed that Fran was quick to put distance between them. It seemed to help her in a way. It did not help him at all, though.

  “What about you? I mean, don't you have a date or something that you want to go to? I can watch them tonight or tomorrow night if you want to go out. All you seem to do is work.”

  Chris hadn't even thought about it, but he was already against the idea. Dating had not been high on his priority list lately. If he needed some physical relief, there were more than enough women in his life from the past, or even in his office. But the last week, his mind had been preoccupied with Fran.

  “I don't see anything on the horizon.”

  “I find that hard to believe. Hot guy like you should have pretty much any woman you want.”

  “A man always wants the woman he can't have.”

  “Does it help make it interesting?”

  While Chris usually did not mind the hunt, for some reason it bothered him when it came to Fran. There was just something about her and the familiarity that they had gained in such a short amount of time. Not to mention that she was living in his house, and even though the place was sprawling, they seemed to still bump into each other multiple times a day. It was always a good surprise as far as Chris could see.

  “At the moment, not really. But I will let you know if that changes.”

  “Well, aren't we a sad sort? At our age, we should be getting out and having some fun.”

  “That may very well be, but here we are. Do you want to have a drink out on the back porch and watch the moon come out? It's supposed to be rather spectacular tonight.”

  It was sort of like a date in Chris’ mind. He still wasn’t sure how Fran felt about him. He certainly felt something for her.

  “You want to have a drink?”

  “Sure, why not?”

  Fran was still a bit hesitant, but she finally agreed, and he was able to breathe a sigh of relief. He wasn’t sure what was going to happen between them, but he was practically giddy to find out.

  Chapter Eleven

  Fran was nervous, but her boss said that he wanted to have a drink, so it sounded like a good idea to her. She had noticed that her body reacted in a certain way when Chris was around, but for the most part, Fran just ignored it. It was easier that way.

  Being next to him, watching the moon emerge, was quite nice. It was peaceful, and Fran was able to relax a little bit.

  “You know that it's going to be full this Monday?”

&n
bsp; “No, I didn't know that. I don't really keep up with that kind of stuff. Do you like astrology?”

  “When I was younger, I didn't think that I would, but I have come to appreciate the changes.”

  Fran didn't know what to say to that. The moon was almost full, and it did seem a lot closer, brighter, and bigger today. The wine that he poured for her was also tasting rather pleasant. It was a nice night, and she couldn't think of anybody else that she would want to share it with.

  “It's nice out here.”

  “I think so. This is pretty much the only reason I picked this house.”

  “It’s certainly big enough. I don't know what I would do with something so big.”

  “Is it much different than your parents’ home or where you came from?”

  Chris was very interested in where she came from, but she didn't want to think about it. It wasn’t a place she could go back to or visit, so it was best to pretend like it didn’t exist. The past didn’t exist. All she had was the present.

  “My parents had a seven-bedroom, three-bath house on several acres. It was rather big, but nothing like this. I think I counted almost twenty rooms the other day when I was checking the place out.”

  “As I said before, I don't know how many there are. I am sure I could find a realtor to tell me.”

  “I thought you were a realtor.”

  “I sell complete projects. You know, like sixty units in a condo or something like that. I don't mess with the details of individual houses. This house was actually bought with a block of ten other ones. I don't think we've messed with anything under fifty million in a very long time.”

  It was said so matter of fact that Fran didn't see it coming. She almost spit out her drink when she realized what kind of money he was talking about. What would that much money even look like?