Page 102 of The Nanny and the Nerd
She smiled up at him, seeing him, every part of him, and she didn’t turn away. The other women he’d been with might as well have had cartoon dollar signs painted on their eyeballs. They had no interest in the nerdy gamer who dwelled behind the billionaire’s mask.
But not Penelope.
A revelation hit as warmth radiated through his chest. Even if he were barely scraping by, like his friend Chuck, making a little on the side by charging five bucks a game to play dominoes in the park, Penelope would still look at him the same way as she did now.
“Did you find them, Phoebe?” Jerome asked, entering the workout room.
Phoebe danced around the man excitedly. “Yeah, I found them!” Phoebe chimed. “Uncle Row was standing up, so he was easy to see. But Penny was down on her knees next to my uncle, so I didn’t see her until she popped up real fast. Wait a minute!” the child questioned curiously, tapping her chin again. “Why did you jump up so fast, Penny?”
Crap!
He locked eyes with Penelope. They needed to come up with something good! And not only that! He knew Phoebe was an intelligent, precocious child. But after this hide-and-seek interrogation, he was starting to believe he might be raising the next Sherlock Holmes.
“I can explain that,” Penelope said, plastering a nervous grin to her lips as all eyes fell on her.
“Well?” Phoebe pressed, solidifying his belief that this kid, no matter what she did, would be one hell of a ballbuster.
“You startled me with your expert hide-and-seek finder skills,” Penelope answered. But Phoebe’s stone-faced interrogation persona remained in place.
He stared at his niece. Would she buy it, or was she about to call the six-year-old version of bullshit?
The child’s stony demeanor crumbled as she shrugged it off, then turned to Jerome. “Where’s David?” she asked as he released another heavy breath.
No wonder Andrew had gone gray in his early thirties. Parenting could knock a guy down a few pegs!
Parenting?
He’d never considered himself a parent. A guardian? Sure. An uncle? Of course. But parenting was a monumental responsibility. Could he actually be cut out for it? He watched Penelope as she fixed Phoebe’s lopsided ponytails. Perhaps this parenting business required a team effort.
“David went up to the pool for a quick dip before dinner,” Jerome answered with a curious look in his eyes.
“Let’s go, Penny!” Phoebe exclaimed, tugging on her nanny’s hand. “Last one there is a rotten egg!”
“It looks like we’re heading to the pool,” Penelope called over her shoulder with a wide, easy grin as the two of them left in a bout of giggles. He listened to the patter of their footsteps as they hit the staircase and bounded up to the main deck.
A knowing grin pulled at the corners of Jerome’s mouth as Penny and Phoebe’s laughter trailed off. “Penny is really great,” his assistant said in a tone that signaled he had more to say.
Jerome didn’t miss much.
“Yes, she’s an excellent nanny and doing a superb job tightening up the AI-77 narrative,” he replied, keeping it professional as he extricated himself from the snug nook. He gestured toward the door and followed the man out. They’d made it halfway to the staircase when Jerome stopped.
“Rowen?” he said.
“Yes?”
Jerome surveyed the door at the top of the steps, then shifted his stance. “You like her.”
“Penelope?” he replied, keeping his tone even.
Jerome nodded.
“What’s not to like about Penelope?” he asked, not sure where his assistant was going with this. While the man handled sensitive aspects of his life and business, they’d never discussed one of his love interests. He froze. There was a reason for that. He’d never had alove interestbefore Penelope.
Did he love her?
Could you fall in love with someone over a matter of weeks?
Was he even capable of love?
