Page 26 of Nanny for the Single Dad Cowboy
I rake my hands through my hair, tugging hard at the roots just to ground myself. My heart won’t stop racing. I need a plan, any plan, before Jace tells me, thanks for your work, have a nice life, and I’m shoved back into the open where Richard can find me.
Absent-mindedly, I find myself wandering down to the basement—Jace’s world, his domain. The one place where I’m not welcome yet still find myself moving forward. His voice cuts through the stillness before I even get to his office.
I freeze mid-step, straining toward the sound. His office door is cracked just enough for his voice to spill into the hall, rich and low, carrying the clipped edge he only uses when he’s trying to keep his temper.
“...yes, I understand, but I need someone reliable this time. Daisy’s been through enough.”
The words punch straight through me. Reliable? Daisy? What is going on? My pulse skips, then surges so fast it’s dizzying.
There’s a pause, the soft hum of his wheelchair shifting. Then he speaks again, firmer now. “No, I don’t want a revolving door of strangers. She needs stability, someone who’ll actually stay, not the likes of Mercy.”
Stay? Mercy?
The name sounds familiar, and after searching my brain for a bit I recall it. Mercy is Daisy’s nanny. But if he’s searching for a new one, it means she quit or he fired her. With Jace, I can’t be too sure. He does love firing people.
No wonder he sounds so on edge—he’s looking for a new nanny for Daisy.
And suddenly all my frantic, scattered thoughts slam into place. The fear, the gnawing dread of leaving—it all collapses into a single, blindingly obvious answer.
I could stay. Not as the contractor whose job is done. Not as the runaway clinging to borrowed time. But as Daisy’s nanny.
The idea blooms fast and reckless, so wild it makes me sway on my feet. My heart is hammering, palms damp, but for the first time all day I can breathe.
It’s insane. It’s bold. It’s perfect.
The thought barrels through me so loud I can barely hear him speaking on the other end of the line. Be Daisy’s nanny. Stay. This is my chance.
My pulse kicks into overdrive, thudding against my ribs like it’s trying to break free. Every rational part of me screams to slow down, to think it through, but panic and relief have tangled together until I can’t tell them apart.
If I wait, I’ll lose my nerve. If I plan, I’ll talk myself out of it. I have to move now.
Before I can second-guess, I shove off the wall and march straight to his door. My knuckles don’t even graze the wood—I push it open wide and step into the room.
Jace is mid-sentence, phone to his ear, brows drawn tight. He looks up, startled, the sheer size of him filling the space behind the desk. “Yes, Miss Monroe?”
“I’ll do it,” I blurt, breathless.
He blinks. “What—?”
“I’ll be Daisy’s nanny.” The words tumble out fast, shaky, unstoppable. “You don’t need to hire anyone else. I’ll stay.”
The silence that follows is so thick I swear I can hear my own heartbeat. Jace stares at me like I’ve just sprouted wings, phone forgotten in his hand.
And for the first time since Sienna’s call, I feel steady. Wild, terrified, but steady.
12
JACE
For a second, I’m convinced I didn’t hear her right. She’s standing in the middle of my office, chest rising fast, eyes burning with something between panic and determination.
“I’ll be Daisy’s nanny,” she repeats, like she’s staking her claim.
My phone is still warm in my hand, the line dead, but I don’t even remember hanging up. My mind blanks, then scrambles to catch up. Tessa, my cyber security consultant, smartest damn woman I’ve had the misfortune of butting heads with, wants to be a nanny?
I should laugh. I should tell her no, remind her that she should be packed and halfway across Texas by now, but I hold it in.She’s too sharp for this, too restless, hiding too many secrets. Daisy doesn’t need another temporary fixture in her life, and Tessa sure as hell doesn’t look like someone built for playdates and bedtime routines.
But the word stay echoes in my head, low and insistent.
