Page 29 of The Last Thing
My little hellion.
My hellion who is supposed to be Sophia’s nanny.
I drop my pencil onto the table in front of me when I come too close to snapping it in half.
Monday morning is my late morning. We have our project managers meeting at the AB Construction offices at 8:30. It worked out perfect for me to stay home a little longer and meet Hallie before heading here.
Except that meeting Hallie wasn’t the relief I hoped it would be.
She was supposed to be a memory. One I looked back on reverently, but a memory nonetheless. Because to have her here, right across the hall from me… whether she works for me or not, it’s going to be pure torture. It’s impossible to deny there was more than sex between us that night. There was an underlying passion—connection—that drove everything.
I don’t let random hookups drag me to carnivals, and I don’t finger them on Ferris wheel rides.
This is why I don’t do fun things. This is why I overthink and over plan. It drives Sophia nuts, but it keeps these exact situations from happening.
And of course, Sophia had to instantly fall in love with Hallie.
I mean, who wouldn’t?
I’ve yet to see anything about her that isn’t incredible.
I’m in so much fucking trouble.
Especially because Ineeda nanny. And her living across the hall would make life so much easier. It would uproot her life less, and it would make it easy for her to be there in a pinch.
My cock is very angry about this because it means he doesn’t get to play anymore.
If Hallie is going to be Soph’s nanny, anything else has to be done.
If her being Soph’s nanny is even a smart idea at this point. Maybe it’s too tangled.
Fuck.
I have zero frame of reference for this.
As the meeting ends, I grab a cup of coffee, and try to think about who I can talk to. My mom is usually my go-to person for this, but this is one area of my life I don’t need her to know about or have an opinion on. Thankfully, I think of a better option, and I make my way up to Leo’s office, hoping this isn’t crossing any boundaries. He’s always supportive of his workers and tells us to come to him with anything, work-related or not, so here I am.
I knock on his door frame since his door is open, and he looks up from his computer.
“Hey, Deck.”
“Hey, boss. Got a minute?”
He waves a hand. “Sure thing, come on in. What’s going on?”
“Nothing construction-related. This is a personal thing. Question. If you’re okay with that. I don’t know many singledads, especially ones who have already been around the block. I could use some advice.”
Though he’s only forty-eight, Leo had kids in his mid-twenties and his youngest daughter was a teen mom, so he’s been through the ringer already.
“Yeah, of course. What’s going on?”
“Well, I may have found a nanny for Sophia.”
“That’s great.”
“It’s Frannie’s sister.”
“Ah, she moving up from New York?”
