I watched him walk out of the kitchen and a thought hit me like a bolt of lightning. This Nico was downright hot. Who would have dreamed that would ever pop into my head?
On top of that, I had to admit something, even if only to myself. I think I wanted my boss. But that couldn’t be possible for a dozen reasons. He was my boss, first of all. And doing anything with him could jeopardize my position as Grace’s nanny, and that’s the last thing I wanted to do.
Even more, I’d seen the type of woman he liked. His ex looked like a model, and I certainly didn’t come anywhere close to that. He likely would never even give me a second glance.
But the most important reason even thinking about wanting Nico was impossible was that I hated him until about fifteen minutes ago.
Chapter Six
Nico
All day,I tried to focus on my work, but my mind refused to obey and instead wandered off to focus on Tia. What was she doing? Where in the house was she at that moment? Were she and Grace outside playing in the side yard?
I lost count how many times I got up from my desk and walked over to glance out the window, my heart sinking every time I didn’t see her. If I didn’t know me, I’d have grabbed me by the shoulders and shook some sense into me.
Why was I getting all moony-eyed over the nanny? How fucking clichéd. The nanny. I didn’t want to think of her like that. If I did, I worried my life was devolving into some sad Lifetime movie.
Christ, where did the Nico who could have any woman he desired go? Maybe this was an aftereffect of having a child in the house. I’d heard that changes a guy.
No, that’s fatherhood that changes a guy. Just having a kid around you didn’t change anything, other than how much work you completed. First, it was Grace with all that screaming and crying, and now I sat in my office distracted as all hell hoping to catch a glimpse of Tia.
My life worked so much better before all these females started inhabiting my home. Before, my days ran like clockwork. Now, my days hobbled along like a pig on stilts.
As I silently wondered if I’d ever go back to the man I remembered being, I heard footsteps outside in the hallway. My heart skipped a beat, and I jumped up to rush over to the door.
“Who’s there?” I asked in an eager voice I didn’t recognize.
Agatha looked at me like she didn’t know how to answer and stared for a few moments before answering, “It’s just me, Mr. Allen. Is there something I can do for you?”
I shook my head, more in disbelief that I was acting like some lovesick schoolboy than answering her question, and gruffly said, “No. I’m fine. I don’t like noise outside my office when I’m working. You know that.”
“Yes, sir, but I didn’t want the mess I saw in your hallway to turn into something bigger.”
Looking up and down the spotless hallway, I couldn’t imagine what the hell this woman was talking about. Maybe it was something affecting the entire household because she was acting as out of character as I was.
“I don’t see a thing, Agatha. What are you talking about?”
She opened up her hand to show me two tiny elbow macaroni pieces with glue and purple glitter stuck to them sitting in her palm. “Food on the floor, sir. That’s the surest way to get ants, to say nothing of other creatures. I told that nanny not to make a mess, but here is the proof she didn’t listen. If you ask me, she’s too permissive with that child, and we’re all going to pay for it.”
As I listened to her attack Tia, the only thought in my head was to defend her. Since this was my housekeeper I was talking to, I didn’t have to do that, but I intended on setting her straight.
“I didn’t ask you, so keep your opinions about Tia to yourself. I haven’t heard a single sob or seen a single negative thing with her or my niece in the entire time she’s been at this house. Whatever she is, she’s good for Grace, and that’s all I care about.”
The shocked look on Agatha’s face told me I’d made my point. I turned on my heel and strode back into my office, slamming the door behind me. I didn’t need my housekeeper telling me how to deal with my employees.
Not that I’d thought of Tia as anything close to an employee for the past five hours. My fantasies involved her being naked on my bed, not cleaning my niece’s face after a fight with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich her lunch had won.
I needed to stop myself from thinking those things about Tia. I wasn’t some newbie kid in business who didn’t understand what kind of havoc sexually harassing some young woman would bring to my professional world. Christ, I’d laughed at men who couldn’t be smart enough to keep it in their pants when it came to a co-worker.
So why was I sitting here at my desk rock hard and unable to think of anything but bending Tia over it?
Damnit, Nico. Get it together, man. If you need sex, Amanda is a phone call away.
But I didn’t want to get back together with my ex. She didn’t make me smile or make me want to be a better man. Only Tia did that.
Jesus. I was lost. How the hell had that happened?
I hidout in my office until I knew Grace would be asleep in bed, and by ten o’clock I couldn’t look at the four walls of that room any longer. Unsure what I’d say if I ran into her, I crept into the kitchen and grabbed some of the cook’s leftover lamb stew before hurrying to my room.