Page 4 of Undeniable

Walking up to the door slowly, I raise my fist and knock before taking a half of a step back while I do a quick scan of my surroundings, just in case. Becca has been nannying for this family for the last year and says that she loves it. I guess the dad works long hours and needs help at random times occasionally. She didn’t mention a mother, so I just assume that she is out of the picture.

The door opens quickly, my breath instantly catching when I see who is standing inside.Giovanni. He looks at me and seems momentarily surprised before an amused smirk replaces his shock.

“Hello, Tasha. Are you following me?”

His dark voice wraps around me as he speaks, sending goosebumps skittering across my body.

“No,” I say as my voice shakes from sheer shock.What are the odds?I clear my throat before I straighten my back a bit. “I’m here to babysit. Becca told me to be here at 7:00AM.”

“You are the friend,” he says as his eyebrows raise, that same delicious smirk still playing at the corner of his lips.

“And you are the dad.”

“Giovanni Cordova,” he says as he offers me a formal handshake.

I give him a polite smile as his large hand engulfs mine, a warm tingling sensation shooting up my arm from the small contact.

“Tasha Jacobson.”

“Come on in. Alessandro just woke up.”

I nod my head and slip past him as I step into the foyer. I feel his intense eyes on me the whole time. Just like our first encounter, he seems to track everywhere I go, and I am acutely aware of his presence as well.

Giovanni gestures for me to follow him and hovers his hand over my lower back, never touching but just close enough for me to feel the heat of his palm seeping through my cotton shirt. We walk into a large kitchen where a messy dark haired little boy is sitting at the kitchen island, eating a bowl of cereal.

“Alessandro, this is Tasha. She is going to watch you while I am gone, okay?”

“Si Papa,” he says softly as his bright green eyes look up to meet my gaze. I give him a warm smile which he returns with a timid one of his own.

Giovanni ruffles his son’s hair lovingly before placing a kiss onto the top of his head. He turns to me with a proud smile.

“We have been working on his Italian. Mio Figlio is doing well. English is his first language though, so don’t worry.”

I nod and smile at the little boy as he munches away at his cereal.

“Hi Alessandro,” I greet, feeling incredibly awkward at the heavy silence that seems to fill the room.

Am I supposed to introduce myself? Are we supposed to play or something? Will Giovanni watch us for a while before he feels comfortable enough to leave? I wouldn’t blame him if he did, I mean, I am a complete stranger.

“Hi,” he says softly before he looks up at his dad. “She is pretty.”

My eyebrows shoot up to my hairline while Giovanni lets out a rich laugh.

“He is a little shy, but he can be a bit of a flirt,” Giovanni explains. “Though I can’t really disagree with him.”

My eyes widen at his words and my stomach dips when he gives me a disarming smile that makes his silver eyes sparkle. I didn’t even know if he was capable of giving a genuine smile. He seems completely different than the first time that I met him. He was dark and mysterious before where now he seems at ease and loving.

Both versions of him seem to be true as well as equally hot. It is seriously unfair how sexy this man is. I bite back the smile that threatens to spread across my face at his compliment while I keep my eyes firmly planted on the ground.

“So, what’s your number?” Giovanni asks casually.

“What?” I ask as my head snaps up to see that he is patiently waiting for me to just hand over my phone number because he asked. I guess he is a man that doesn’t need to ask for things twice. Hell, I doubt he ever has to ask for things once.

He gives me an amused humph as he holds up his phone. “Your phone number. If I am going to leave a virtual stranger alone with my son, I think that I would prefer having their number as well as them having mine in case anything happens.”

My cheeks redden with embarrassment at my assumption that he would want my number for any other reason. I nod my understanding and grab his phone as I enter my number quickly and call myself before handing it back to him.

His fingertips graze against mine as he slowly takes the phone from my hand. The touch only lingered for a half of a second, but it was long enough for a zap of electricity to rip up my arm yet again. This one seemed even stronger than the feeling I got from our shake earlier. My eyes flick up to see that he is looking down at me with a complicated expression. His brows are furrowed, and his mouth is tugged into a frown. Did he feel it too? If so, why does he look upset by it?

---