Page 1 of Nolan

PROLOGUE

Annabelle

"Good night, sweet girl," I coo to Ashlynn as her eyes close and she gives into sleep. It's always a fight. She never wants to miss a thing that's happening, and I can't say I blame her.

Quietly, I leave her room and head toward the living room. Glancing up at the clock, I take note of the time. Nolan should be home soon. He's working late tonight. It never ceases to amaze me how hard the man pushes himself. Regardless if he's out working with his crew, or in his office making sure paperwork is taken care of, he's always doing his share. Never expecting anyone else to do more work than him.

Headlights come up the drive, and my heart pounds in my chest. I've been noticing him more lately, welcoming the smell of him when he comes in. There's always a slight tinge of concrete and outside.. Going to the kitchen, I pull the dinner out of the oven I cooked for us.

He comes through the backdoor, and groans. "That smells fucking good."

"Thanks," I smile over at him. "How was your day?" It's all so polite, and it always has been. Just once I'd like for him to lose control and give into the daydreams that invade my mind moreoften than they should. I see the way he looks at me sometimes, and Nolan King is the hottest thing in Broken Falls. Just fucking kiss me, already.

"Long," he says, running a hand through his hair, making it stick up in that boyish way that makes my heart flutter. "But coming home to this makes it worth it. It's nice not having to cook dinner for myself anymore."

I set the plates down on the table, and he joins me, his usual spot across from mine. Thankfully this is part of the perks of working for him. I no longer have to spend hundreds of dollars at the grocery store, and I don't have to eat dinner alone. There's a moment, right as he sits, where our eyes meet, and something electric crackles between us. My breath catches, and I wonder if he feels it too. We start eating, the clinking of utensils against the plates filling the room, mingling with the low hum of the evening.

We talk about Ashlynn, about our days, the conversations slipping into an easy rhythm, but beneath it there's an undercurrent,a tension that's not fully uncomfortable, but it keeps my pulse elevated, and a throbbing between my thighs. I sneak glances at him, trying to decipher the lines of his face, the curve of his lip when he smiles, the occasional flicker of something in his gaze that makes hope flutter wildly in my chest. He really is one of the hottest men I've ever seen in my life.

"Ash did a dance for me today," I smile over at him. "She's really good, maybe we should see about getting her into dance classes."

"Maybe, she definitely needs to meet kids her own age. It wasn't something I thought about before you came to work for me. We're lucky to have you, Belle."

I don't know what to say, so I just grin, trying to ignore the sparks between us. It's there. It's always fucking there.

We're finishing up, and I'm gathering the plates when he stands, suddenly closer,too close,and before I can register it, his hand is on my arm, and he's leaning in. His lips brush mine, soft, tentative, and for a brief moment, everything stops. It's everything I've ever wanted, and I'm not sure why it happened right now. To keep myself standing upright, I dig my fingers in his shirt, and hang on tightly.

But just as quickly as it happens, it's over. He pulls back, his eyes widening in a flash of panic that sends ice through my veins.

"I'm sorry," he blurts out, stepping away as if the flame has burned him. The words slice through the fragile moment, leaving it wounded and bleeding between us.

"Nolan..." I start, a plea, a question, but he shakes his head, retreating further, his expression clouding with something like regret.

"I didn't mean,I shouldn't have," He stammers, looking anywhere but at me. "Annabelle, I'm sorry. I don't know why…"

He turns, leaving the room, my heart disintegrating with each footstep. I'm left standing there, the remnants of his kiss still tingling on my lips.

I sink back into my chair, the silence pressing down on me. How do things go back to the way they were when everything, at least for me, has changed in a way that will be the same again?

CHAPTER ONE

Nolan

"What crawled up your ass today?" Weston asks as he gets a good look at me two weeks later.

I've been fucked up about the kiss Annabelle and I shared since it happened, and I haven't talked to anyone about it. I'm not the type of person to go and blab about my personal life. It's always just been Ashlynn and I. Things that we were going through, never involved anyone else. But, Weston is here and he's the person I would probably consider my best friend, so he's going to hear it. "How inappropriate is it to have sexy thoughts about your daughter's nanny?"

He chuckles before it turns into a full-blown laugh. "So you wanna get sued? Perfect."

"No, I don't wanna get sued, asshole." But I can't deny that I'm definitely thinking about her in ways I shouldn't be. "I don't know why I thought you'd take this seriously."

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. What's going on with you?"

How do I explain what's going on in my head when I don't even know what's going on myself? "I haven't been interested in a woman in a long time," I start. "Basically, since Ashlynn was born, my entire life has been about her. Maybe I'm looking to change that, but I don't know how. Is it a good idea? WillAshlynn be the one hurt in the long run. Does it make me a shitty dad that I'm starting to think with my dick again?"

Weston leans back in his chair, eyeing me with that annoying smirk of his. We're at our usual spot, the bar around the corner from my office where we meet every other Thursday. It's become something of a tradition since I became a single dad.

"So you've finally noticed you're still a man with needs? Congratulations." He takes a swig of his beer. "Though your timing could be better. The nanny? Really?"

---