The Billionaire's Super Nanny (A BWWM Romance)

by Tiana Cole

  I walked out onto the porch with Taylor, handing Zeke back to him and holding Taylor’s free hand. The endless stretch of land before us was breathtaking, and I couldn’t believe that all twenty-five acres were ours.

  The crew was already hard at work, and the pre-fabricated barn was at least halfway assembled on the slab of concrete they’d poured weeks before. The kids had asked about the concrete, but a simple explanation had put their inquiring minds at ease. Another group of men were putting together the panels that would make up the small, temporary arena. We had more plans for the farm, including a large plot that had already been plowed and fertilized for the kids to plant their own vegetables, but we were taking things one at a time.

  Right now, this was our priority.

  We sat in the grass not far from the construction to watch. Zeke pulled at tufts of grass and watched the blades slip from his fingers before repeating the process. I watched him, marveling at how much he had changed since birth, and how much more change there was to come in just a few short years. Pretty soon, he would be his own little person, finding his place in this world on his own terms like we all do.

  “Who do you think is going to be the most excited?” Taylor asked.

  “Me.”

  He laughed, the sound echoing in the quiet, open space.

  “I mean between the kids.”

  “I think Amariah, but I wouldn’t discount the other two.”

  “I can’t wait to see their faces.”

  ***

  We spent the rest of the early afternoon getting everything ready for the kids. The second shipment came as expected, not long after the barn was put together and the stalls filled with soft, clean shavings.

  I filled buckets with water, and hay feeders with rich, green hay sent over from the stable. The eight-stall barn was exactly how I’d imagined it growing up, and I couldn’t wait to give our children something that I’d wanted so desperately as a small child.

  I heard the horn from the school bus as it came down the driveway, and my stomach flipped around inside of me. I gave the barn a final glance before I rushed with Taylor to meet the bus.

  Amariah was the first off the bus, followed closely behind by Tara. Tanner brought up the rear, as usual.

  “Momma, what’s that little house doing there?” Amariah asked.

  “It’s not really a house.”

  “Oh, I know what it is,” Tara said, but I could tell that she was only going to guess.

  “Let’s not spend all day talking about what we think that is,” Taylor said. “Let’s go see for ourselves.”

  Tara and Tanner whooped with delight, but Amariah remained quiet. She was walking along beside us, boots crunching in the gravel, eyes locked on the barn ahead. Over the last year she’d come out of her shell, but when faced with anything new, she went back to what she knew. It had gotten better with time, but I knew that look as well as I knew my own reflection. She knew what the barn was, but she was afraid to get her hopes up and possibly find out that she was wrong.

  Taylor opened the sliding barn door and we stepped aside, letting the children go ahead of us. The three of them held hands, navigating this new adventure together. My heart melted at the sight of them as they walked forward, eager to see what was in the barn.

  A neigh of recognition sounded from the first stall, and Amariah stopped in her tracks.

  “Minky?”

  Minky poked his head over the stall guard and neighed again.

  “It’s Minky!” Amariah squealed, letting go of her siblings’ hands to rush over and throw her arms around his neck. “I missed you so much.”

  Tara and Tanner rushed forward, knowing before they got there what awaited them in the next two stalls. There was a lot of noise as the children reacted in delight to each receiving a pony. Despite the noise, none of the seasoned veterans batted an eyelash. They were used to loud children and exuberant hugs. It was just another day in the life of a lesson pony.

  “I can’t believe you were able to buy their favorite lesson ponies,” I said to Taylor, speaking low so that the children didn’t hear.

  “It was no easy feat, but they were ready to retire from being lesson ponies, and Bobbi was able to add twice as many to her herd.”

  I felt tiny arms wrapped around my mid-section before I noticed that Amariah was no longer squeezing Minky’s thick neck, but me instead.

  “Thank you,” she said. “Thank you a million times!”

  She broke away and hugged Taylor, thanking him profusely before running off to shower Minky with attention again. Tanner and Tara followed suit, little faces beaming with happiness.

  “Should we tell them there’s more?” Taylor asked.

  “I guess, but it’s going to be hard to top this at Christmas.”

  “We don’t have to top it,” he said. “Children need structure and love more than they need things and over-the-top holiday gifts. Give from the heart, but don’t forget to give of the heart.”

  “Did you seriously just quote me?” I said.

  “I did. I told you I’m a fast learner.”

  Taylor cleared his throat and opened the tack room behind him.

  “Tara, Tanner, Amariah. There’s more.”

  The children reluctantly broke away from the ponies, and Taylor and I both chuckled. The promise of more gifts didn’t help draw them away from their ponies.

  “Good thing it’s Friday,” I said. “I don’t think there’s going to be any sleeping done tonight.”

  Amariah was the first to enter the tack room. She was quiet as she admired the name plates above each low saddle rack. She pointed to the one with bright blue blankets and wraps, complete with a blue halter that said “I love my pony” on the noseband.

  “Is that mine and Minky’s stuff?”

  “It is,” I said.

  “My favorite color is blue.”

  “I know.”

  “This is the best day ever,” she said matter-of-factly.

  I hugged her. She still struggled to express herself, but every day was better and better. I knew that in no time at all, she would be as carefree as the others. And we were willing to give her all the time in the world.

  “Can we ride?” Tanner asked excitedly.

  “Of course you can,” Taylor answered.

  He tied each of the ponies up and passed out the grooming buckets. He gave Amariah a blue bucket full of coordinating grooming tools, a purple one to Tara and an orange one to Tanner. The kids went to work, grooming their ponies as they’d been taught.

  “Momma, what’re the extra stalls for?” Amariah asked, pointing out the five empty stalls.

  “Well, someday, Zeke will be big enough for a pony. And Daddy and I would like a horse too.”

  “Ooh!” Tara exclaimed. “So we can go on family rides?”

  “Exactly.”

  “You need to hurry up and do that,” Tanner added, watching carefully as Taylor saddled his pony for him and adjusted everything.

  “Soon,” I said. “We have to find the perfect horses.”

  Taylor finished saddling up ponies and helped Tanner lead his pony to the arena. Tara and Amariah followed the boys, each old enough to walk their own ponies, coordinating helmets pushed down firmly on their heads.

  Taylor held each pony while the kids mounted up in the arena then stepped aside. There was a lot of laughter as the trio walked around together, letting the ponies take in their new surroundings while the siblings chatted amongst themselves.

  I sat down on the bench outside the arena, scooting over and handing Zeke to Taylor when he came out of the arena to sit with us. Taylor wrapped his arm around my waist, holding our son so he could watch the children riding around the small arena on their new horses. Their faces said it all; they were happy with their surprise.

  “I don’t think this day could get any better,” Taylor said, his chin on my shoulder, breath teasing my ear.

  Heat built within me as he gently kissed my neck. The hand around
my waist slid down, his hand coming to rest on my ass cheek. He gave it a squeeze, and I felt my stomach knot and heat grow warmer between my legs. I thought longingly of that moment when all the children would be asleep and he could make good on his silent promise to rock my world. Until then, I had to wait. It was torture, but I wouldn’t have traded being a mom for freedom anyway.

  “You don’t think this day could get any better?” I said.

  “I really don’t. I feel like our life is exactly how it should be. We have a beautiful family and a wonderful life together. Everything is just how I imagined my life would be.”

  “Hmm. Well, then I guess I have good news and bad news.”

  He kissed my neck again, and I shuddered. He was teasing me, and he wasn’t sorry that I was going to have to wait until I went mad with need hours from now. He had a plan for me, and me spending the afternoon wanting him was obviously part of it.

  “Start with the bad news.”

  “Your perfect life is about to get turned upside down again.”

  I kissed him roughly, breaking away and placing my hand on his cheek. I looked deep into his eyes and wondered again how I’d gotten so lucky. Taylor Stephens was the kindest, most loving man and father I’d ever known. And he was all mine.

  “And what’s the good news?” he asked, a tender smile on his lips.

  “I’m pregnant.”

  THE END

  ***

  I hope you enjoyed this story.

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  Also from Tiana Cole:

  The Doctor's Fake Nanny

  Billionaire by Design

  Which Baby for the Billionaire?

  A Gambling Heart

  Love Games

  Southern Charm

  Also from BWWM UNITED

  Irish Billionaire's Revenge

  Sins from the Past

  The CEO Makes a Play

  The Mobster's Gamble

  The Billionaire's Unexpected Bride

  To Texas With Love

  Billionaire's Perfect Baby

  EXCERPT FROM Billionaire by Design

  What’s the status of order fifty-seven?” Jenna shouted as she mindlessly wiped down the restaurant’s front counter.

  “Coming right up!” a male voice answered from the back.

  Michael, who’d been scheduled to man the grill that afternoon, rushed to the front to hand the waiting customer a brown bag containing two piping hot cheeseburgers. He shot Jenna a friendly smile on his way back to his station, and she returned it as she continued cleaning the counter.

  At twenty-four years old, the last thing Jenna Parker ever envisioned was working at a fast food joint in Tucson, Arizona. Originally from New York City, she’d made the long move to the desert four years earlier in hopes of building a better life for herself. It was hard leaving her family behind, but she’d been told countless times that the Southwest’s wide, open space and dry air would be much better for her asthma. That had actually proven true, but she’d had other reasons for the move as well. Having grown up in a rough neighborhood in Brooklyn, she’d watched all three of her brothers succumb to gang life. One had been gunned down outside of a club eight years earlier, one had been sentenced to ten years in prison for armed robbery, and the other… well, it was just a matter of time before he also wound up dead or in prison.

  As the youngest of the four, her father had skipped out on them just after she was born. Her mother rarely talked about him, but Jenna suspected he may have left her for another woman. Unlike her brothers, she avoided trouble at all costs by keeping her nose buried in either a book or her sketchpad. Reading and artwork were her escape, and from an early age, she dreamt of someday moving far away from the neighborhood she’d watched suck the life out of so many people.

  It was a sinkhole of negativity, but it was the best her mother could do having been left on her own to raise four children. More than a few times she’d heard murmurs that her mom had resorted to prostitution to keep food on the table, but she chose to believe that couldn’t be true.

  Most of her female friends had dropped out of high school after allowing themselves to be smooth-talked and subsequently knocked-up by the wrong men, but Jenna vowed that would never happen to her. She’d never allow herself to become another inner-city statistic, and kept her focus aimed at her studies. She’d proudly graduated at the top of her class, and she planned on using the scholarship she’d been awarded to further her education. Straight out of high school, Jenna took a full-time job at a local bodega knowing that every penny she saved would be going towards her inevitable move. In her downtime, her cheap tablet took the place of her sketchbook as she developed a penchant for graphic art.

  Although it pained her to do it, she used some of the money she’d stashed away for her move to buy herself a desktop computer. She justified it as an investment since it was essential to continue pursuing her digital artwork. She spent her evenings teaching herself Photoshop and honing her skills, relieved by how supportive her mother was of her new-found passion.

  In the two years she worked at the bodega, the small store got robbed by gunpoint on three separate occasions, two of which she’d been present for. After having a masked assailant shout demands at her while waving a pistol in her face for a second time, she collected her final paycheck and called it quits. She would have liked to have saved up a bit more money, but knew she had enough to finally move out of the city if she budgeted just right. Having heard nothing but good things about the Southwest’s climate and scenic views, and after a fair degree of research, she enrolled at The University of Arizona to major in graphic design. She packed all of her belongings into her beat-up 1992 Ford Tempo and prayed that it had enough life left in it to get her across the country. With a heavy heart, she said her goodbyes to her mother and remaining brother before setting off to start a new, and hopefully better, chapter in her life.

  For as smart as she was, she kicked herself for believing her old car could make the 2,400 mile drive without issue. Along the way, she had to replace its starter, alternator, one headlight, four brake pads, and a blown tire.

  She hadn’t accounted for such unexpected expenses, and by the time she rolled into Tucson, she had less than two hundred dollars left to her name. She had to fight back tears as she pawned the sterling silver necklace her grandmother had given her shortly before her death, and she only managed to score eighty dollars for it.

  She had slept in her car the first two nights, having spent her days scouring the help wanted section of the Arizona Daily Star newspaper and calling as many places as she could. When she stopped by Family Burger on her third day hoping to find a cheap meal, the “Now Hiring” sign taped to the back-lit menu behind the counter seemed like an act of divine intervention. Fast food wasn’t her first choice, but given her circumstances, she couldn’t exactly be picky. Not many places were chomping at the bit to hire a poor young black girl from the ghetto.

  As luck would have it, the manager happened to be on duty and was able to interview her on the spot thanks to business being slow. He was a short, friendly Mexican man and the two took an instant liking to one another. She was completely honest about her situation, and when he learned that she could begin work immediately, he welcomed her aboard and scheduled her to start the very next day.

  At 5’9” with long legs, ample breasts, and a toned body, Jenna had grown accustomed to being told she was beautiful. She remained modest, however, and was always dismissive of the compliments.

  She certainly didn’t feel very attractive after traveling for days and having slept in her car for two sweltering nights. The summer heat had been brutal, and even if her clunker of a vehicle had air conditioning, she couldn’t have afforded the gas needed to enjoy it. She was surprised Family Burger had been so quick to hire her and counted her blessings as she checked into the che
apest model she could find to take a much-needed shower and rest on an actual bed.

  Family Burger was meant to be a stepping stone; a temporary job to tide her over until something better came along. Yet, they treated her so well that she found herself still under their employment four years later and had worked her way up to assistant manager.

  The pay wasn’t great, but enough to scrape by, and she’d settled into a small apartment with a fellow employee nearby. Her schooling was going quite well, and the restaurant had been very accommodating in working around her academic schedule. Her coworker and new roommate, Leigh, had become a close friend and the only real support system she had out West.

  In the four years she’d worked for Family Burger, she’d never seen anything quite like this. Hearing the restaurant’s entrance chime, she looked up to see a strikingly handsome man in a solid black business suit striding across the lobby towards her.

  She guessed his height to be around 6’4”, and he radiated a confidence that attracted her like a magnet. As he drew closer, his baby blue eyes took her breath away and not a single strand of his long, black hair was out of place. Over his shoulder, she could see a stretch limousine in the parking lot and it didn’t take much deduction to figure out who it belonged to. This exemplary man definitely looked out of place in a fast food joint, and he seemed as though he’d be much more comfortable in a posh five-star restaurant. His content grin, however, suggested he felt right at home in this second-rate establishment.

  As he stood before her at the counter, his perfect smile widening and kindness in his eyes, she realized with embarrassment that she’d be staring at him since the moment he’d stepped foot in the restaurant. She quickly tossed aside the rag she’d been using to wipe down the counter and regained her composure.

  “Welcome to Family Burger, where you’re part of our family! What can we make you?” she asked, returning his smile.