Damaged Goods: A Single Dad & Nanny Romance

by Rye Hart

  There was no time to worry, no time to think. My hands moved almost automatically, stirring here and flipping there. Cook. Plate. Garnish. Serve. Again and again, until all of a sudden, I had no more orders coming in. Lunch was over. I was done.

  I felt like a million bucks. Tired, but good. Chef Harrison had examined every single one of my dishes before going out, and he hadn’t asked me to redo a single one. I counted that as a win.

  I cleaned up my station, making sure it was as spotless as it had been before lunch. I couldn’t help but glance up from time to time, hoping that he would come by and give me some little bit of praise. It was silly, but a man with his reputation in the kitchen thinking highly of me was something I wanted; something I needed even.

  When I was done, it was time to go home. I thought about just leaving without saying anything to anyone, to end the day on a high note. But it felt wrong to leave without at least saying goodbye to Chef Harrison.

  I found him in his office, sitting behind a hulking, mahogany desk. He shuffled through papers with a stern expression on his handsome face.

  “Excuse me, Chef,” I said from the doorway. “Is there anything else you’d like me to do before I go?”

  He shook his head without looking up. “Just be sure to take the recipe binder with you. Learn it. Memorize it. Ingrain it your thoughts. Live and breathe that shit until it’s all you can think about.”

  “Okay. Will do.” I paused. “I think things went well today. I felt really at home in the kitchen.”

  He looked up at me then. “Tell me, does it hurt your back?”

  “What? When I cook for a long time?”

  “No, when you suck your own dick that way.”

  My jaw dropped open. I sputtered with rage. “What the hell is your problem?”

  He rose from his chair and stalked over to me. “My problem is that you come in here looking for an ‘atta girl’ and a pat on the back. And when you don’t get it, you have the nerve to compliment yourself on my behalf.”

  My chest burned with embarrassment. What an asshole. “But I thought my food was fine. I didn’t have to redo any of it.”

  He waved away my statement. “Yes, you met the bare minimum standards of this restaurant. And for that, you expect me to congratulate you? You want me to hand you some kind of award for that? Is that what you learned in culinary school? Cook something and get a trophy? This is the real world, little girl. You don’t win a prize for showing up. You win for being the best, which, you are not.”

  My whole body shook from a mixture of anger and humiliation. “Don’t put words in my mouth.”

  It was like he didn’t even hear me. “And on top of that, you move far too slow. If you decide to come back tomorrow, I expect you to pick up the pace. That will be all, Miss Foster.”

  Before I could say anything else, he shut the door in my face.

  I made it back to my car before tears stung my eyes. That bastard. What right did he have to make me feel like this? I couldn’t even remember the last time I’d cried, and he had me sobbing like a child.

  And for what? Because I tried to see my value in his eyes? Then he suggests that I might not even come back tomorrow. Like I can’t handle myself in the kitchen. Like I wasn’t good enough to be here.

  A whirlwind of emotions whipped my insides. I needed to get it all out before it tore me up. I slammed my fists against the steering wheel and screamed.

  I slumped back in my seat, feeling empty and deflated. The scream had helped, surprisingly, but it hadn’t solved my problems.

  I had no idea how I was going to get through this, but I knew one thing.

  I would be back tomorrow.

  You’ll eat my ass alright asshole.

  ****

  End of Sneak Peak. Would you like to know how this continues?

  Click Here: Rock Hard Boss: A Single Daddy Romance

  Amber is my HOT new chef - and all I want to do is take her out back and show her just how "HARD" of a boss I really am.

  I've only cared about three things in the world:

  My daughter.

  My restaurant.

  And bulldozing any *sshole that gets in my way.

  That was it for me - until I hired Amber Foster as my newest chef.

  HOT would be an understatement. She's a spitfire and she's got more balls than all the men in my kitchen combined.

  I want to flip her over easy and scramble her until she screams my name.

  Today's special? Sausage with a side of Grade A beef.

  She's got serious talent but she needs my direction. I just hope I can keep my di*k in my pants long enough to show her the ropes.

  Rock Hard Boss: A Single Daddy Romance

  Hot Bastard Next Door: Sneak Peak

  A Boy Next Door, Second Chance Romance

  CHAPTER ONE - DUNCAN KELLEY

  Last night must have been one wild ride.

  The woman next to me was growing hotter by the second and not because of her looks, but because her body heat was more than I could stand. I pulled back the covers and let in some air, exposing her tight little ass in the process.

  Sure, she was hot, but things wouldn’t go any further with her than the sex we’d had the night before. Though she was a nice girl, her personality left a lot to be desired. I needed a woman that had talent aside from giving good head, and passion for something other than how to spend my money. I wasn’t in the market for a girl who acted like the only reason she existed was to please me. Don’t get me wrong, there was a time when that much would have been appealing, but I’d learned well enough that it only goes so far. At the end of the day, I wanted someone I could stand talking to about nothing in particular; someone who might have an opinion other than what they thought I wanted to hear.

  Even the absence of the covers wasn’t making things any better with the inferno curled up against me. I slid away from her and sat up hoping she’d wake up soon so I could show her the door. I had a few things I needed to take care of today and playing host to another one-night-stand wasn’t on the list.

  The phone rang and as I went to silence it, Katherine rolled over and opened her eyes. I got up and headed to the bathroom with my phone.

  “Hello,” I said as I took care of my morning duties.

  “Do you have to answer the phone while you’re taking a piss, Duncan?” My sister’s tone was as always grating at that time of morning.

  “Yes. It’s not my fault you called and woke me up.” I had told her for years to stop calling when the crickets were still chirping, but she had never gotten the hint. Katherine walked in once I was finished and turned on the shower.

  “Want to join me?” she asked with a whisper.

  I shook my head, but Shauna was already onto me. “Duncan Kelley, you’ve got company? This time of morning? You’ll never change.”

  “What’s so bad about that?” I made my way to the kitchen where I washed my hands at the sink and then started a pot of coffee before grabbing a bagel.

  “What’s so bad? Oh, so I suppose I will be meeting the lovely lady? What’s her name, Lexi? Roxie? Vixen? Dancer? Prancer?”

  Despite my sister’s accusations, I hadn’t graced a strip club in some time.

  “No, there won’t be any meeting, and her name is Katherine.” I hated that my sister felt the need for me to explain my lifestyle. I was a bachelor and ex-SEAL, and I’d earned my right to live any damned way I wanted. Besides, it wasn’t like I was going to fall in love. I’d given up my heart years ago and other than amazing sex, I didn’t have much to offer.

  She made a sound of aggravation, and it rattled through the phone. “I just think—”

  “I know what you think, Sis, and you swore to me that we wouldn’t talk about that.”

  “You mean her.”

  I froze, and my coffee turned bitter in my mouth. Not only had my sister promised not to nag me about my social life, but we’d sworn years ago not to talk about my old relationship with her best friend, R
achel Dean.

  “Yeah, that and other things, but I suppose since you brought her up there’s no harm in me asking how she is.” I had often wondered what she turned up doing. Had she married, had children? The hollow spot in my chest grew tender.

  “You mean you really want to know?” My sister had never forgiven me for leaving things with Rachel the way I had, but I had never taken the time to explain things to her. Rachel was too young to devote her life to me. When I was preparing to leave for the military, she was only a sophomore, and I hadn’t wanted her to put her dreams on hold for mine. She had so much talent and life in her that I knew she’d have a great future ahead. Her father knew it too and had his plans all laid out for her. As much as I regretted to this day what I’d done, the way I’d done it would haunt me to my dying day. She’d deserved so much better.

  He’d been the town’s leading attorney, so naturally, he’d wanted his daughter to follow in his footsteps. But I could never see it, not my Rachel. She was too much a free spirit to be cooped up in a courtroom. She needed a paintbrush in one hand and a book in the other. She was going to be so much more, and waiting for me was never an option.

  “Yeah, so is she a powerhouse attorney like her old man wanted?” Her adventurous spirit and artistic dreams were more fitting for a gallery or a trip around the world, always had been.

  “She’s fine. Just fine. But that’s not what I called to talk to talk to you about.”

  And just like that, the conversation about Rachel was over, as usual. I had asked for it though. I’d been the one who wanted to keep my memories preserved, and the tiny pieces of whatever lay hardened and stone-like in that dark cavity where my heart should be left untouched.

  “So, spill it, I haven’t got all day, I’ve got to run Katherine out so I can salvage what’s left of my weekend.” With any luck at all, I’d make nine holes and get my car washed and diapered dry.

  “You’re impossible. I thought you might like to know that there’s a new job opening up. Harris called me about it last night. It’s perfect for you.” Her fiancé, Harris Connor had helped me land some of my more eccentric clients, but the money had always out-weighed the drama that came with them.

  “Yeah, well all my guys are tied up in contracts. So, it will have to be me.” We’d been so busy lately that I’d had to start taking on jobs again instead of only managing the business. I didn’t mind doing a job or two, as long as it was something interesting. Harris’ connections usually were.

  She let out a breath. “Yes, I remember you saying that. This one is tailor-made for you. I wouldn’t want you trusting it to just anyone.”

  I gave a sound of displeasure. “It better be good and not some spoiled rich kid’s birthday weekend this time. I mean it, Shauna, I’m still picking glitter out of my hair, and that was months ago.”

  She giggled, and I could picture the look on her face on the other end of the line. “No, this is much better. You’d be working with one of the studios in Hollywood. Harris will tell you more about it. He said to meet with him Tuesday, and he’ll give you the details. And be nice to him. He said you intimidated him the last time.”

  Her fiancé was a good guy, but he needed to toughen up a bit. “I didn’t do anything. If he’s going to act like a snowflake, he’s bound to feel intimidated..”

  “Be nice,” Shauna scolded. “You know he’ll be family soon.”

  “I suppose you set a date then? Finally?” My sister had been stringing Harris along for years, and that gaudy ring of hers was already starting to look outdated.

  “Not quite, but soon, I promise. Who knows, if this job goes right maybe Harris will let you be the best man.” She let out another giggle, and this time it seemed as if she were up to something.

  “Fine. But he better be nice to me. I’ll be the one walking you down the aisle.” I was more than ready for that honor to be mine.

  “Duncan, please.” Her sweet tone hit my soft spot.

  “I’ll try to be good. I can’t help but look like a mean bastard, though.” It was the dark hair, light eyes, and tattoos that gave me that infamous deadly look. All of my SEAL brothers had envied it, but Harris was too soft to appreciate it. It was perfect for my line of work though.

  “You could shave off that goatee. Not that you aren’t stunningly handsome with it, but you do seem a bit less intimidating without it.” She had always liked me cleanly shaven and said I looked like our dad that way, which was all the more incentive to grow my goatee.

  “I like the intimidating look. It pays the bills.” I put that goatee to work.

  “Fine, Tuesday morning,” she said, and then she hung up the phone.

  I turned around to see Katherine standing in nothing but her towel, which she had wrapped loosely around her waist, her bare breasts still glistening and her nipples tight and rosy. “What’s for breakfast?” Her chest heaved as she stared into my eyes and as my cock stiffened, I had a pretty good idea what was on the menu.

  I could send her away later.

  CHAPTER TWO - RACHEL DEAN

  I raked my hands through my hair and rested my head against my palm as I looked over the list before me. I had been adding to the list all morning and now had a clear vision in my head of what the stage needed to look like. I’d get the preliminary sketches to the producer by the end of the day, but first I needed to make sure I had everything I’d need to pull it off.

  I glanced up at Jeffery. “What about the funhouse mirrors?” We had contacted a prop company that had the ones we wanted, and I was hoping that they’d be available.

  “We got them, and the spinning wheel too, but I’m still not sold on the color. It looks too much like a child’s princess party, and I think we should stay darker.”

  “It’s pink?” I began to panic. I hadn’t even noticed. Pink would not work at all. This was supposed to be a circus freak show theme, not my pretty princess.

  Jeffery nodded his head. “I told you it was pink with glitter. I even showed you a photograph. Do you want me to cancel the spinner?”

  “Oh, the spinner is pink?” I breathed a sigh of relief. “I thought you meant the mirrors. Yes, scratch that spinner, and we’ll look for something else. I’d like a few touches of black and white in the madness of color, and that spinner might have to be a custom in black and white if we can’t find something else.”

  “Okay, scratch the pink glitter nightmare. I’ll look for something in black and white. The mirrors, which are candy apple red, are a go. You’ve had three calls today do you still want me to monitor your phone?”

  “Only if it’s my father or that creep from last week.” I got the chills just thinking about that freak. He’d make the perfect prop for this new job.

  “You’re dating?” Jefferey’s perfect brows lifted.

  “No, you’re slipping. Greg, that man from the last job. He’s trying to ask me out, but there’s no way in hell. I wouldn’t be surprised if he didn’t have duct tape, garbage bags, and a saw in his trunk.”

  “That’s only the characters he writes about. I’m sure he’s a real kitten.” He flashed me a wink.

  “If that’s true, then he’s more your type than mine.” I gave him a sweet smile. Jeffrey was not only my assistant, but also one of my best friends.

  Jefferey let out a howling laugh. “Bitch.” Jeffery was so low under most people’s gaydar, but he definitely preferred men. He’d actually had better luck with them than me.

  I quickly changed the subject from men. “Oh, and I was thinking last night that I want the same artist we used on the last set for our detailed panels. She’s amazing, so see if you can get her again. I know she’s busy.” Jefferey nodded and took down the information.

  I went back to making notes and pouring over the ones the producer had passed along from Star Summers, whose video I’d be working on. I found a few inconsistencies with the script that we had to make right. About thirty minutes had passed before my phone buzzed and Jeffery held it under my nose.


  “You’ll want to take this one. It’s Shauna.” Jefferey had met my best friend a couple of times over lunch and knew how special she was to me. I quickly answered the phone and leaned back in my chair to give my eyes a rest from the paperwork.

  “Shauna? How’s life?

  “It’s wonderful. How’s yours?”

  “Perfect.” I rubbed my temples and breathed a cleansing breath.

  “You sound tired. I hope you’re not working too hard.” She was one to talk. Shauna stayed just as busy as I did, if not busier. Before I could reply, she started again. “Oh, I sent your thanks along to Harris, and he said to think nothing of it, anything for a friend of mine. He’s sure he’ll be able to keep you in work for a while. Oh, and you can expect security on the set daily. Harris said it’s quite customary for his company. You never know when there’s some nut roaming around.”

  “I have a feeling I’m working for the nut.”

  “Now be nice, I’m sure he’s changed since college and besides, the fact that he knew us both was what landed you this gig. Don’t blow it by telling him off.”

  “I’ll be good and try to remember that he’s Harris’s friend.”

  “God no, he’s not really his friend, just an acquaintance in the business, but you should still be nice. Brock Reed is a spoiled brat, but he’s not that bad.”

  I thought about the last man I’d worked for and she was right, there were worse people in the world. Like creepy Greg.

  “Anyway, I’m glad it’s all working out, and I appreciate Harris and you helping me out. Things are taking off full speed now.” My business had been growing by leaps and bounds, and I’d gotten to make some nice connections and wonderful clients who’d wanted me to do sets for them, even personal ones.

  “No problem. How’s your father doing? Has he changed his mind about your career path now that you’re a big Hollywood set designer?” Shauna asked.

  “He’s barely letting me breathe. He’s got a house here now down in Temecula. Speaking of family. How’s your brother doing?”