The Lawyer's Nanny_A Single Daddy Romance

by Emerson Rose

  On my right is a curving staircase with a mahogany railing leading up to a balcony that continues wrapping around the second floor framing the foyer. A chandelier, the size of Ash’s Range Rover, hangs shimmering in the setting sun that’s streaming in through the windows behind the balcony upstairs.

  “It’s beautiful in here at this time of the afternoon.”

  “At this time of the afternoon? Are you kidding me? I’m willing to bet it’s breathtaking any time of the day or night.”

  “Tella, come see my room!” I hear Cannon yell from somewhere overhead. I crane my neck and look up at him crouched down with his face pressed against the spindles of a swirling wrought iron balcony.

  “We’re coming, hang on, I’m going to show her around down here a little bit first.”

  “Aw, pleeessee?”

  I shrug when Ash looks at me. I don’t care where we go first. It’s going to take forever to see this house, and I know Cannon won’t last that long.

  “Alright, we’ll come up there first.”

  “Yesssss,” Cannon says and disappears. I hear his feet pitter-pattering on the marble as he bolts to his room. Ash pulls me to his side and guides me up the stairs with his hand on the small of my back.

  I count as we go, twenty-five steps. Okay, that’s doable; it’s high but not so high that I couldn’t jump out a window if the house were on fire. At the top, we hang a left down a long hall with many doors, most of which are closed.

  The fifth door down on the left interior of the house is Cannon’s room. Inside it looks like a chrome factory exploded. Everywhere you look there’s something shiny and silver, but the main focus of the room is a huge silver tube slide that curves around and opens at the foot of his bed.

  I glance at Ash for an explanation, and he gestures at Cannon. “I’ll let him explain.”

  “You like my slide? I love the Silver Surfer, he’s cool. I'm goin’ up there,” he points at a door on the other side of the room. “I go up and slide down like the Silver Surfer!” he says bursting with enthusiasm.

  “Wow, that’s awesome, I love it.” I’m not lying, I do think it’s cool as hell, but I don’t want to go on and on about it to the point he wants me to have a turn. I may be up here, but that doesn’t mean I’m not still afraid of heights and I have no idea how far up this thing goes.

  Before he can offer, I engage in some Silver Surfer conversation, “What do you like best about the Silver Surfer?”

  “He’s super fast and strong, and he’s silver.”

  Ash leans toward me, “His favorite color’s always been silver, no idea why.”

  “This is the coolest bedroom I’ve ever seen, Cannon. I don’t know much about superheroes. You’ll have to teach me about them.”

  “Cool, watch me slide.” He snatches up a couple of stuffed animals off his bed and takes them with him to the door that leads up a flight of stairs to the top of the slide. Before I know it Davy Crocodile is flying out of the end of the tube, followed by a cow and a few that whipped across the floor so fast I couldn’t tell what they were. Then Cannon swooshes out landing on his feet with a huge grin.

  Ash and I applaud, and Cannon offers to do it again. “Once is enough, for now, buddy, show her the rest of your room so I can give her a tour of the house.”

  “Okay, I gotta library over here.” He waves his hand to a wall of books on the other side of the slide. I walk around to see better and realize the room is much larger than I first thought.

  The library Cannon is talking about is a wall of chrome shelves lined with storybooks, educational books, young adult books all the way to adult books, like Lord of the Rings. This kid could read for years and not get through all of them.

  “Wow, I knew you liked to read. And now I know why.” I squeeze Ash’s hand and glance at him out of the corner of my eye. Being an avid reader myself, I love that he encourages him to read, he's a good daddy.

  Cannon continues onto a large entertainment center that includes every gaming system known to man and an enormous television.

  “He doesn't use this stuff much, it just collects dust,” Ash says under his breath.

  “This is my baseball stuff, and these are my heroes, and that’s the bathroom.” Cannon finishes with a flourish waving his hand toward the door to his bathroom.

  “We never got to throw a ball around at the hotel, did we?” I ask him.

  “No, we can do it here.” His face lights up like a Christmas tree at the mention of playing baseball.

  “Tomorrow, Cannon,” Ash says with a bit of a stern tone. “Let’s go show her the rest of the house and get ready for dinner.”

  “Okay.” Cannon takes my other hand, and both of my Pride men lead me to the door where an older woman dressed in a gray dress with a white apron is standing with Cannon’s suitcase.

  “Oh, excuse me, Mr. Pride. I was just going to put his things away and do the washing.”

  “That’s okay, Penelope. I want to introduce you to our friend Stella Deardon. Stella, this is Penelope, she works with us to keep things clean and organized. Penelope, this is Stella.”

  I liked how he didn’t introduce her as the maid. Not that there’s anything wrong with the word maid, he just made it sound like she was more of a member of the family and not a servant. I extend my hand, we shake. Her hand is soft and warm, the kind of hand that belongs to a kind woman. “Nice to meet you.”

  “Nice to meet you, too, ma’am. Are you the new nanny?”

  The four of us froze for a moment, and you could have cut the tension with a knife. Penelope’s eyes dart back and forth between Ash’s and mine, and she opens her mouth to say something, but he cuts her off before she can speak.

  “No, she’s my girlfriend and Cannon’s good friend. She’s going to be our guest for a week.”

  And there it is. I am his girlfriend. He said it plain and clear for all to hear. Holy shit, this cannot be happening. My mouth falls open and my posture stiffens, both of which Penelope notices.

  I’m glad I said nice to meet you and shook her hand a minute ago since I sure as hell don’t think I can function now.

  This is about the time she notices Cannon is holding my hand. This seems to surprise her more than me being Ash’s girlfriend, and she was pretty damn surprised, as was I, that he gave me that title.

  Since I can’t speak, I look at Cannon who has a very smug smile spread across his face. It’s as if he were saying Ha, take that with one powerful facial expression.

  “Well, uh, welcome to Silversage then, ma’am. If you need anything, let me know.” She can’t take her eyes off of Cannon. She’s staring at him like he’s part of a freak show.

  Ash moves first, and Penelope steps aside to let us leave. He speaks to her so quietly I almost don’t hear him when we pass, “Always told you he was a good kid. Just needed the right woman giving him love.”

  She doesn’t reply. I look at her over my shoulder on our way down the hall and find her frozen in the same spot. I smile. She must be one of the Cannon doubters. I’ll bet she describes him the same way Ash did when I first met them a week ago.

  Wild, aggressive, uncontrollable, and obnoxious were his words if I remember correctly. I still haven’t seen any of these personality traits other than the usual mild disobedience. I was starting to think Ash was dramatic but after seeing Penelope’s expression, maybe not.

  The next forty-five minutes, yeah, I said forty-five, are spent showing me around the main level of the Pride mansion and only the main level. This place is insanely huge. I’m going to have to keep my cell phone on me all week in case I get lost.

  “Let’s have dinner and go to bed early. It’s been a long day.”

  “I wanna watch movies with Tella.”

  I’m thinking daddy wants to do other things with Tella and that’s why he’s suggesting an early night, but it’s not for me to say. I’m tired, but it’s only eight o’clock and Cannon’s been staying up late all week, no way is he going down without a fight
this early.

  Our tour ended on a semi-circle patio that overlooks an Olympic-sized swimming pool in the center of the back yard, a tennis court to the left and a lush fenced in back yard on the right. In the middle of the yard is a wooden outdoor play set that rivals no other. It has swings, slides, pegboards, sandbox, a water play area and on and on. This thing is the king of outdoor play areas.

  Cannon has it all. This kid is spoiled beyond belief but he doesn’t act like it, with me anyway. I’ve gotten more than a dozen sets of raised eyebrows today from the staff here in the Pride home. Ash says they’ve never seen him on such good behavior. I’ve never seen him not on such good behavior.

  “How about we watch one movie, a short one, after dinner and then go to bed? That’s called a compromise, it means you get a little of what you want, and daddy gets a little of what he wants.”

  “A natural, I’m telling you,” Ash says lifting his drink to his mouth. We are sitting around a hand carved oak table, drinking lemonade provided to us by none other than Penelope, who is still having trouble accepting the new Cannon.

  When she offered us drinks, her eyes darted to Cannon as if expecting an outburst, but he was too busy asking me if I wanted to go swimming tomorrow to notice.

  “Yeah, like I said, just with this one.”

  “Nope, not buying that. I’d believe that you have a hidden talent or magic or voodoo or something, but whatever it is, you’re a natural with kids.”

  Cannon chugs his lemonade and hops off his chair calling over his shoulder as he runs out the kitchen door and down the concrete steps into the yard, “Gonna swing.”

  “Okay, be safe,” Ash says turning his attention back to me.

  “You have ulterior motives, I know what you want, what you believe, but I’m not sure.”

  He scoots his chair closer to mine and takes my hand. “You’re not sure you want to take a step forward in life and do something you might love? Why do you want to keep standing still doing something you have no passion for? Every time I’ve mentioned college your eyes light up, but when you talk about going back to your family’s ranch that light fizzles.”

  I lower my eyes to our hands, joined in my lap, and try to come up with a good excuse for my stagnant life, when I can’t, I tell him the truth. “I’m scared.”

  “That’s what living is, darlin’, trying scary new things, taking risks, putting yourself out there and crossing your fingers that something good comes of it. And if you fail you try something else, and something else, until you find the thing that makes your heart sing. And if you ask me, I think doing something with kids is that thing, but you’ll never know unless you try.”

  I hate that he’s right, but he is so, so, right. I’m thirty years old, and I haven’t done shit to further my life since I graduated high school. I have to take a leap, find something that makes me happy.

  “I don’t know where to start or what to tell my parents. I can’t just call them up and say, ‘Hey, I’m not coming home. I’ve decided to go to college and be a nanny.’”

  “Why not?”

  “It’s not that easy.”

  “Yes, it is, you’re making it hard here,” he says laying his hand over my heart. “When you should be making it easy up here.” He taps my temple. “I’m not saying abandon them, just tell them you need some time to find yourself. If things don’t work out, what’s the worst that can happen? You go back to the life you’d be going back to anyway. Take a chance, do something for yourself, be selfish.”

  He hooks his finger under my chin and lifts my face to his. “I’m not trying to pressure you. I want to help you. If you haven’t noticed yet, I kind of like you, a lot. I want to pay for you to take college courses online even if you go home with no plan to come back, that’s how much faith I have in you. I don’t want that, of course. I want you to stay and be my girlfriend, stay and go to school here, stay and be Cannon’s nanny, stay and not be Cannon’s nanny, I don’t care, just stay.”

  I’m stuck, frozen in his begging gaze. I want to give him an answer. More than anything I want to tell him yes to all of it, but the fear of the unknown is powerful, and it’s still got ahold of me if only by a thread.

  “I’ll think about it. I know it’s not what you want to hear, but it’s all I can give you right now. We’ve only known each other for a week, I need more time.”

  He slips out of his chair, onto his knees between my legs, wrapping his arms around me, pressing his cheek against my breasts.

  “Take all the time you need. I’m not going anywhere.”

  “Ash.” I take his head in my hands and move him away so I can see him again. “Why? Why me? You sort of have a horrible reputation for being a bad boy, you know. Why should I believe that you’re not just trying to get me to be Cannon’s nanny because he behaves so well for me?”

  Two deep grooves form between his eyes, and he presses his lips together. “Stella, don’t you feel what’s going on between us? I can’t believe this is one-sided. Yeah, I have a shit reputation, I know. I like to party and I like sex. I’m a man, I’m rich, and I like getting my way, that’s not a secret. But, I like what we have together more, much more. Since I’ve been with you, I don’t give two shits about that life. The desire to escape into a crowd of people and lose myself is gone. This last week I have shared things with you, thing’s I’ve never shared with anyone before.”

  “Like what?”

  “Like Cannon. I have a strict rule about allowing women into his life. I don’t want him to get hurt. I fly thousands of miles away from home to have sex with women who I have nothing in common with; women I know will never want more from me.”

  “That sounds like you’re protecting yourself more than him.”

  “Yeah, maybe. I haven’t had the best track record with women sticking around.”

  “Cannon’s mom?”

  “Yeah, and my own. She left when I was three days old. The day they came home from the hospital, she snuck out in the night, and no one has seen her since. Cannon’s mother did almost the same thing to him. Abigail stuck around for a few weeks before she decided being a parent wasn’t what she thought it’d be. Abigail was a good actress. I’m usually pretty good at sniffing out the gold diggers, but she threw me off. We had one night of kinky fun in Vegas, and two months later she turned up on my doorstep claiming she was pregnant with my child. After some genetic testing, I found out that she wasn’t lying and I figured here’s my chance to settle down and have a family. I wasn’t in love with Abigail, but I thought she was a nice enough girl, pretty, easy-going. I could have done worse, and the baby was coming no matter what, so I made the best of it.

  Over the nine months she was pregnant I watched her change, physically of course, but emotionally, too. She became withdrawn and quiet. She was living the ranch life in Montana like a typical family when she was used to the bright lights and bustle of Vegas.

  Around seven months, I knew she realized her mistake. She had used her pregnancy to hook herself a billionaire party boy, but when the party boy settled down, she got bored.

  As much as I wanted Cannon to have the loving mother and solid family unit that I never had, I knew Abigail wasn’t the woman for me. We had no chemistry, nothing in common other than kinky sex, booze, partying and most importantly, we had no love.

  So, when she disappeared, I wasn’t surprised. I think I was actually waiting for it. The morning I woke up in bed alone, I got up, had a cup of coffee, dressed Cannon and hired a live-in nanny like it was just another thing on my to-do list. I never looked for her, didn’t care where she went, or who she was with. If she didn’t want to be a part of my son’s life so be it.”

  “I’m so sorry, Ash. I know I don’t have kids, but I don’t think I could ever walk away from one if I did.”

  His head lowers to nuzzle against me again, and I hold this big, strong, wealthy man with an abandoned heart tight in my arms.

  “I want my early bedtime now.”

  I kiss
the top of his head and thread my fingers through his hair. “I think your son is going to have a problem with that. I promised him a short movie.”

  “I know, but I’m telling you, the second it’s over he’s going to take his butt to bed because I need to be inside you, not want, need.”

  “Do I sense a little jealousy in your tone, Mr. Pride?”

  He snorts and stands up pulling me up with him. “I don’t know, I’ve never been jealous of anyone or anything before. If I want something, I go out and get it. I’ve never had to share a woman with my kid before.”

  “Welcome to the real world where people share and compromise.”

  “I like my world better, but I’ll suffer through if it means I get you in my bed at night.” He lowers his lips to mine and kisses me long and soft until Cannon catches sight of us and sets about claiming his woman.

  “Tella, push me!” he yells, and I giggle when Ash releases me with a sigh.

  “Sharing sucks.”

  “I’ll be sure not to pass that along to your impressionable son.”

  “You can’t make me feel guilty, I saw you first.”

  “Is that why you stood in line behind me at the hotel?”

  “Partially. You were the most beautiful woman in the lobby, so naturally, I was drawn to you, but you also looked like the person most willing to put up with my screaming kid’s shit.”

  “Oh, gee thanks. Your son is a much better ego booster, you know.”

  He takes my hand, and we start down the stairs toward the lawn where Cannon is trying his best to get some momentum going on the swing by himself.

  “I bet you won’t be singing that tune tonight when I’m worshiping your body from head to toe.”

  I can’t argue with that. Ash does an excellent job of making me feel beautiful and wanted and sexy as hell. I’m starting to wish I hadn’t promised a certain someone a short movie before bed.

  10

  Not Cannon’s Nanny