Warning
This book contains explicit content intended for readers 18+ years old.
If you are under 18 years old, or are not comfortable with adult content, please close this book now.
Chapter One
“Wait—you’re not serious are you?” Bridget asked her friend, Maggie. “He actually wants a babysitter?”
The two of them were enjoying their meager lunch break between their classes. Bridget had only fifteen minutes between physics and college math, so she tended to scarf down her food. Maggie, on the other hand, had an hour between her Spanish 202 and her Natural Disasters classes. Bridget envied Maggie’s easy schedule. She would kill for an hour break between any of her classes.
“Yes I’m serious,” Maggie said. “Why would I lie about something like this?” she asked, one eyebrow raised.
“It just seems too good to be true,” Bridget argued. “Your dad, the richest, most powerful man in America, needs a babysitter? I didn’t even know that you had a little sister!”
“She’s only my half-sister,” Maggie said. “She happened because of a one-night stand, and the lady didn’t want to keep her, so my dad took her,” she explained.
“Why didn’t you tell me about this before?” Bridget asked, furrowing he eyebrows at Maggie. The two of them had been friends since elementary school and they never lied to each other. “How old is she?” she muttered. “And how long have you been keeping this from me?”
“She’s eight, turning nine in a month,” Maggie said. “I had to keep her from you. Not even the media knows that Angel exists. She’s practically a ghost. The only people who know about her are the family doctors, the social services, and you. It’s huge and it can’t get out. Ever.”
“Okay,” Bridget agreed, though she was still feeling hurt. It left an empty pit in her stomach, thinking that Maggie had kept something so monumental from her for so long. “And why does he need a babysitter?” she asked.
“Because I don’t live at home, I have class all day, and he has work all day,” Maggie said, as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.
“As if I don’t have class all day?” Bridget scoffed.
“Well you do, but you also have the weekends off. I know that you don’t have a job, whereas I do. That, and my dad works weekends, too. He never stops working, and that’s why he needs someone to look after Angel while he’s gone,” she said.
“Who has he been using as a babysitter for nine years?” Bridget asked.
“Me, but obviously that can’t happen anymore. With my schedule and my classes and my job, there’s no way that I could ever take care of her for more than a few hours a day,” Maggie said. “Besides, my dad asked me to ask around, and you’re the only person that I would trust with information like this.”
“About Angel, you mean?” Bridget asked.
“Yes, about Angel. Anyone else would be shouting about her to social media right now, and I’d be a dead woman walking,” Maggie grumbled. “He’s very protective of her, and he doesn’t want his reputation tarnished. Divorcing my mom was the worst PR that he’s ever gotten, and he doesn’t need anymore. Having a one-night stand and getting a kid out of that one night stand? That’s got bad juju written all over it,” Maggie said.
Bridget sighed, but nodded. How was she supposed to say no? The man needed help, and she couldn’t have denied him. “Alright,” she said. “I’ll do it. How much is pay?”
Maggie laughed, the kind that had her head thrown back and tears at the corners of her eyes. “You think he’s just gonna give you the job on the spot? Do you know how protective he is of Angel? Just my word alone isn’t going to get you the job. You need to meet with him and meet Angel, and then he’ll decide.”
“Well when can that happen?” Bridget asked. She was getting sick of all of these hoops that she was having to jump through. It was just a babysitting job. She was a college girl looking to pay her rent now that her loan money had gotten close to running out. It wasn’t as though she were going to kill Angel or leak her to the media.
“As soon as possible,” Maggie said, whipping her phone out of her pocket. She dialed a few short numbers, and then held it up to her ear. A few moments later, and, “Hi, Daddy!” she squealed.
From the other side, Bridget could hear Maggie’s father’s usual reply of “Hey, princess.”
“I think I found a babysitter for Angel,” Maggie said. “She’s super chill, available week days after her classes and weekends all day long,” she said. Bridget tried to interject—she really wasn’t that available—but Maggie rolled on. “And she’s the one I’ve known for forever, Daddy. I know you’ve never met her, but you know about her and it’s probably good enough to qualify as knowing her by this point.”
Bridget sat as still as a deer when Maggie finished talking and waited for her father’s reply. He had always been a solemn man, but even more so when it concerned Angel. Bridget almost felt bad for him, having a girl that he couldn’t be there for. She had yet to hear a reply from him, and it was as though Maggie could sense the hesitation as well.
“She won’t say anything, Daddy. No one would believe her anyways about Angel. And I know that she won’t tell. Bridget isn’t like that,” Maggie pressed, trying her hardest to convince her father. Whenever he was faced with something that he didn’t like, it was always hard for him to try and see another viewpoint.
Bridget gestured at Maggie, wondering if perhaps her dad had just been speaking incredibly quietly. Maggie held up a finger, and dismissed Bridget. She couldn’t tell what her father was thinking, but she could tell that it wasn’t exactly good.
“I promise, Daddy. She’s nice, and she’s smart, and she’s good with kids.”
Bridget laughed at that. She was the worst with kids; she had never been good with kids in the first place. Having a kid in her life would no doubt make everything so much more stressful than it already was. The last thing she wanted was a series of “why, why, why” from some little brat.
From the other end of the line, Bridget heard a heavy sigh heaved.
“Come on, Daddy, she’s a good girl. Aren’t you Bridget?” she asked. Bridget nodded. “You couldn’t see it, but she’s a good girl, Daddy. I promise that she won’t tell about Angel. You can trust her.”
Bridget twined her fingers together, waiting on the edge of her seat for the reply. The last thing she needed was to have Maggie’s father’s eye on her now that she knew about Angel. It would be a huge target painted on her back, and she dreaded it as much as she dreaded meeting the man himself.
There were a few short words from the other line.
Maggie’s eyes went wide, and her jaw dropped to the ground. Her excitement so great that she couldn’t contain herself, she stood up immediately and pushed her chair out behind her.
“Really?” she screeched, a wide grin on her face. “Thank you so much, Daddy! I’ll let her know right away! Love you, kisses and hugs, bye, Daddy!”
With that, Maggie hung up the phone and sat back down.
“What was that about?” Bridget asked.
“You’ve got yourself a job, Bridget,” Maggie beamed.
Chapter Two
Bridget knew that Maggie was trying her best to comfort and assure her that the job was in the bag, but Bridget wasn’t so certain. For an entire afternoon she had cleaned up her hair and her makeup until she was certain that she looked absolutely perfect. Even then, she went in and touched up even more. There was no sense in falling short on her appearance. A man like Maggie’s father would no doubt judge her for every single mistake that was on her face. She didn’t even know what the interview was going to be like, but she dressed up for the occasion.
It was something, when she was in high school, that was drilled into her head over and over and over again. If you go to an interview, look nice. It doesn’t even matter how crappy the interview was. If it was for a fast food restaurant, you dressed up just as nicely as you did for an interview
that would absolutely change your life. It was something that wasn’t questioned.
Maggie had arranged for the meeting with her father to be halfway through the week, at a time when Bridget didn’t have classes. Even though the meeting wasn’t until five thirty that night, Bridget made sure to show up early. The last thing she needed was to create a bad first impression on the man. She needed this job to work out, especially at the rates that Maggie had been discussing with Bridget. It was all too good to be true.
At five o’clock sharp, Bridget showed up at the address that she had been given. At first, she had thought that the most powerful company man in America lived in an apartment. At least, that was what the building looked like from the outside. When she gave the name, Jack Gordon, she was escorted right away through the elevator and to the top floor.
It was as impressive as anything she had ever seen. The carpets were plush with thick, red carpeting, and the ceiling was gilded gold. It took her breath away as Bridget took small steps towards the only door just a few feet in front of her. Did this Jack Gordon own the entire top floor?
Figuring that that was the only sound answer, Bridget tapped on the door with the knocker, and then took a step back. There wasn’t a response at first, so Bridget waited patiently. If she seemed too over eager, Maggie’s father would judge her harshly.
When the first sound of a deadbolt unlocking hit Bridget’s ears, she pushed down her skirt and smoothed it around her knees.
She was expecting to be faced with a towering man, looming in the doorway. Instead, Bridget had to turn her eyes downward, about halfway to the floor.
“Who are you?” the young girl asked. She had stunning black hair that was pulled back into a messy ponytail. Her eyes were crystalline blue, and her face was round with youth.
“I’m Bridget,” she replied. “I have an interview with your father. Jack Gordon? I’m here about babysitting you,” Bridget explained.
Angel looked Bridget up and down, and crossed her arms. “I don’t need a babysitter,” she said.
“I’m sure that you don’t,” Bridget said. Most kids thought that they were old enough to be left on their own, she was used to handling the attitude. “But your father asked me to come anyways. Just in case I would be the perfect fit.”
“Angel?” a more masculine voice called from inside the house. “Who is it, cupcake?”
“Some strange lady,” Angel called back, not turning from the doorway to reply to her father. “I don’t know what she wants.”
Bridget furrowed her eyebrows at Angel. She had just told the girl what her intentions were! The last thing she needed was for an overprotective father to think that she was some creep. Speaking of the devil, Bridget could hear the pounding of footsteps inside of the apartment. Was she meant to call it a house? It certainly seemed like a house.
“Get away from the door!” Jack ordered.
He maneuvered Angel to the side and stood in the doorway with his arms crossed. Bridget nearly fainted. In front of her was a man that she had not been expecting at all. She had been expecting Jack to be old and overweight, like all of the pictures of businessmen that were online.
He was anything but that.
Chapter Three
“Who are you?” Jack snarled, keeping his body as a blocker between Bridget and Angel.
Bridget had never once thought of herself as a threat to someone, but it was all too clear to her just how Jack felt about her. He was not happy at all. He would rather she be dead, judging by the absolutely evil look that he was giving her.
“I’m Bridget,” she said, trying her hardest not to stare at Jack.
He was nearly naked, and Bridget could only assume that she had interrupted him while he was getting ready. There was a trace of toothpaste foam around his lips, but what really drew her attention was his chest. He wore only an unbuttoned white shirt, left to hang open around his wide shoulders. He was broad and thick, but by no means chiseled or ripped in that ungainly super body builder way. His legs were just as marvelous, going on for miles and never seeming to end. The muscles there were just as impressive, prominent and standing out against the evenly tanned tone of his skin.
After a few moments, Bridget registered the sound of clicking fingers in her ears. She looked up at Jack, and began flushing immediately from the collar of her dress to the roots of her hair. She was certain that, even through her makeup, the deep rosy blush staining her face was visible.
Jack was looking at her like a cat that had the door to the canary cage open. He looked ready to pounce at a moment’s notice. It hadn’t slipped past him the way that Bridget had been ogling him from head to toe.
“Might I remind you that it’s not polite to stare?” Jack mused, as he looked Bridget up and down.
Bridget nodded, and ran her fingers through her hair. It was a nervous habit of hers, always wanting to push it back and keep it out of her face. “I’m sorry,” she apologized. “I didn’t mean to show up so early and interrupt you or anything like that.”
“You didn’t interrupt me,” Jack said. He finally wiped the toothpaste foam from around his mouth. “You just showed up earlier than you were supposed to. Next time, don’t do that.”
“Next time?” Bridget parroted, looking up at Jack with wide eyes. She couldn’t imagine that there was going to be a next time, she was already thinking that all of it was going so incredibly badly. “We haven’t even finished the interview yet,” she pointed out, as though Jack wouldn’t have noticed.
“Oh, I know,” Jack said with a dismissive flap of his hand. “The interview was all formal shit. Angel likes you, and that’s all that I need to know. You’ve got the job, girly. You start tomorrow at four o’clock. Don’t be early, don’t be late.”
He had begun to button up his shirt, completely disregarding the blank stare that he was receiving from Bridget. She could hardly process what she was being told, the words slamming into her so fast and leaving her breathless.
“But—I don’t…” she trailed off, unable to form a complete sentence.
In front of her, Jack finished buttoning up his shirt and laughed loudly. “Listen to you,” he teased, grin wide and wolfish. “Barely able to get a word out of that pretty mouth. Tell you what, Bridget. You head home now—you stay with my daughter, right? And you tell her that it all went swimmingly. You’re hired, I’m a great guy, and Angel’s doing fantastic.”
“Why would I need to tell her all of that?” Bridget asked, furrowing her eyebrows at Jack. It all seemed so sudden, pushing so many demands onto her. Didn’t Maggie know that Angel was happy? Why did Bridget need to reiterate.
Bridget hardly needed an answer to her question. All of the sudden, Jack’s expression hardened. He narrowed his eyes at Bridget and crossed his arms. In just a flash of a second, he had gone from calm and casual to looking as stoic and stolid as a boulder.
“Just do what I ask you, and your job will be easy,” Jack said, no room for question in his words. “If you don’t listen to what I say, you’ll be out of a job and out of that college before you know what has happened to you. I don’t tolerate people who can’t listen to orders. Are you one of those people?” Jack asked, scrutinizing Bridget with a hard stare.
Bridget stared back at Jack, although she looked more like a deer in the headlights. It was such a sudden change of heart that she never in a million years could have seen it coming. Despite how horrified she was, there was a different kind of racing in her heart. Was she… enjoying it? Bridget had never once enjoyed being bossed around or threatened, but when it was coming from Jack, it was so much different.
“No, sir,” Bridget said. “I am not one of those people.”
“Alright, alright,” Jack muttered, waving his hand at Bridget. Just like that, he was back to the playful man that Bridget had first met. “Cut that sir crap, I don’t like to hear it. Just Jack is fine. Angel is Angel, and you’re Bridget. We keep things simple in the Gordon household. You got it?” Jack asked, lookin
g Bridget up and down.
Bridget was quick to nod. Before she could get another word in, Jack flashed her a smile and then shut the door. He nearly slammed it into her face, and she jumped back. What the heck had all of that been about? With a horrifying, dreadful feeling that she was being watched, Bridget turned around and hopped back into the elevator.
She had been expecting to be out for at least a few hours. Now, with more time in her evening than she had been expecting, Bridget only had one choice. She would head home and tell Maggie all of the good things about Jack and Angel, even if she hadn’t been allowed inside of the house.
It was strange, to say the least.
Chapter Four
That night, when Bridget knocked on her and Maggie’s door only half an hour after five, Maggie answered the door with furrowed eyebrows. Bridget understood her confusion. The interview was meant to start at five thirty, and yet there she was.
“What happened?” Maggie asked. She popped a bubble of gum and stepped aside to let Bridget into the small, cramped apartment. “Did you chicken out or something?”
“No,” Bridget said. She thought back to all that Jack had told her, and what it was that he was looking for from her. “I had the interview early, since I showed up early.”
Maggie’s eyebrows shot into her hairline as she stared wide-eyed at Bridget. “You mean that you showed up early and my dad was ready for you to be there early?” she asked, sounding rather like a broken record.
“Yes, he was ready,” Bridget replied. “Well, mostly,” she added. It seemed as though Maggie was expecting some negative characteristic from him. If Bridget made him seem too pure and pristine, the effect would be lost and her lie would be easily seen right through. “He had some toothpaste foam at the corners of his mouth,” she said.
Romance: My Stepbrother's Plaything Page 58
