Page 19 of The Billionaire Dating Dad

That night never existed.

Any connection she’d felt toward this man wasn’t real.It was a weak attempt at convincing herself.

Violet swayed in her disbelief. How dare he fake a relationship when he’d obviously been in one with the girl’s mother. She tamped down on her wounded pride.

He frowned. “What are you doing here?”

“The agency sent me, they said I was hired for a nanny position.” Violet crossed her arms.Unbelievable.“Or do you no longer need my services?”

“Beth!” Dimitri called moments before a middle-aged woman entered the room. “Please help Maddie finish getting ready for ballet.”

“Yes, Mr. Popova.” The woman took Maddie’s hand. “Come on, sweetheart.”

Violet sucked in a steadying breath once they were left alone. It was one thing to pretend Dimitri never existed but another to be in his presence and see disinterest mask his features.

He swiped a hand through his hair, pulling the wayward strands from his forehead. “I left my sister in charge of hiring a nanny. I had no idea it was going to be you.”

Because had he known, he would have hired someone else. “Got it.” Violet turned toward the door. “So we’re clear,” she said over her shoulder. “I didn’t know you lived here.” She didn’t chase after any man, no matter how fine he looked or how much he turned her insides to goo. And Dimitri definitely had that effect on her. “I’ll tell the agency to send someone else.”

“For heaven's sake, Violet.”

She didn’t slow her pace until she reached her car and yanked the driver’s door open. Dimitri slammed it shut. “What the hell?” When she turned, she almost bumped into him. He stood too close and her pulse sped with awareness.

“I don’t want anyone else.”

Her stomach fluttered. It was easy to imagine he meant something far more intimate than hiring a nanny.

“You’re intelligent, savvy. From what I witnessed the night we met, you care about your charges enough not to jeopardize that relationship with a handsy employer.”

“You got all that from one encounter?”

“I’m a good judge of character.”

Violet arched a disbelieving brow.

“I also look into the women I’m interested in,” he admitted.

“Of course, you do.” Violet snorted. “You could have asked me anything like a normal human being.”Wait, did he say he was interested in her?The sneaky son of a gun.Don’t listen to his nonsense, Violet.This man was hot and cold and she didn't carry a thermostat in her back pocket to gauge the temperature before she acted.

“When you saynormal, do you mean pretending I’m your boyfriend to get a job?” He closed the gap, trapping her between the car and his arms. “And lying to your employer or does everyone use the Holidates App as their escort service?”

Violet flushed. She couldn’t claim the moral high ground but she could take care of Dimitri Popova once and for all. “It seems that I’m no different from you.” She turned, dismissing him. Violet needed this job but not enough to put herself through the agony of being in his home… in his presence. “Even more reason to hire someone else.”

“No.” His breath tickled her nape and she immediately realized her mistake in turning away from a predator when goosebumps rose on the exposed skin. “I want you working for me and no one else.”

CHAPTER EIGHT

Dimitri

Dimitri didn’t consider himself a lucky man. He wasn’t born into the perfect family — his mother had struggled to put food on the table more times than not. His family didn’t stumble into wealth — that path was paved by his older brother with fists, bloodshed, and their mother’s death. But today he considered himself a very lucky man to have Violet stumble into his life — not once, but twice. And he had no intention of snubbing fate a second time.

Seeing her pulse quicken along her neck at his nearness only solidified his decision. He wanted her with the same fierceness he did that night. If he had any hope of winning her, he needed Violet within reach, because given the chance, she would bolt.

A warm breeze stirred her perfume under his nose and his muscles flexed to keep himself from burying his nose against her neck. Would her skin feel as he’d remembered? Soft. Infused with shea butter. Violet had tasted sweet under thedroplets of rain and the open night sky. She’d been gentle when he’d been gruff. Perhaps she could be the gentleness Maddie needed to soothe the anguish of missing her mother.

“You shouldn’t have come.”

She swallowed.

---