Page 40 of The Billionaire and the Nanny

CHAPTER 18

TIA

Ikept out of Leo’s way for the rest of the week because I couldn’t even look at him without blushing. What if my feelings for him were written all over my face?

If Fee and the boys suspected anything, they were kind enough not to comment on it, which was a good thing since I couldn’t get another nannying job without a reference from Fee. Andhardworking, but skankywas not a good thing to have on your resumé. Maddie was a bit of a loose cannon, and I was worried she might talk about the kiss she witnessed, especially to her friend Dylan and his snooty mother who drooled all over Leo when he dropped us off for a playdate. Really, the woman almost dry-humped his leg as she tried to convince him to accompany us to the zoo. Thankfully, Leo made his excuses and left before I had to pull out the garden hose. And I would have done it, too. Even if it got me fired.

My shoulders slumped as I realized I was jealous of Dylan’s mother. For heaven’s sake, Leo was an eligible billionaire. Theman probably got offered blow jobs in elevators. If I was going to be jealous of every woman who hit on him, I’d need a stomach transplant before I was thirty-five.

I had to snap out of this. Leo was single. He had every right to be hit on by all the horny MILFs in Manhattan if that’s what he liked. And I had to be okay with it because he wasNot. Mine.

Oy, it was time to get that etched into my brain with a power drill. Even then, there was a high chance I’d go up in smoke every time a woman smiled at him. And God forbid if he smiled back. I’d have an aneurysm and haunt his randy ass for the rest of his life. Like I said, I needed to snap out of this, and fast.

I had a plan for the rest of my life. I was going to be a nanny for a few years, and after I’d saved up a decent nest egg, I was going to move to a small town and become a crazy cat lady. Well, there was no room for Leo Donovan in my dreams because the next time I dated a man, it was going to be someone who liked me. Not someone who desired me against his will. Someone who wanted me with all his heart, not just his dick, I thought angrily as I stabbed a green chenille stem through the heart of a red crepe paper flower.

Maddie and I were helping Fee decorate the house for Christmas, although we’d left the tree for the last. Christmas at the Donovan mansion was a huge production, with the whole family pitching in to make it special for Maddie. We had advent calendars coming out the wazoo, with designers, jewelers, skin care companies, artists, and chocolatiers from all over the world gifting festive kits to Leo’s family. They donated most of the gifts and flowers to the hospital endowed by the Donovan Foundation, which told me a lot about why the Donovan brothers were so different from the other rich men I’d ever met. They were aware of their privilege and did their best to give back to society, and not just as a form of tax evasion. The onlypresents they kept were the ones that their close friends sent them.

I wondered if there was any point in picking out personalized gifts for the family if they were just going to donate them, but I loved buying Christmas presents for everyone who meant something to me. It was the effort and love that went into the whole enterprise that made it special.

I bought Fee a lovely Hermes scarf from the vintage store. I got Marcus a signed first edition of his favorite sci-fi novel. For Luke, I bought a signed LP of his favorite Jazz pianist. I thought of buying Maddie some books and toys but changed my mind when I saw the piles of toys under the tree. No, she needed something special, I decided. After consulting with Fee, I found exactly what she needed. The only one left was Leo.

I struggled to think of anything I could buy for a man who had everything and could buy himself whatever he lacked. It took a chance meeting with an old college friend to show me the perfect Christmas present for Leo.

The week leading up to Christmas passed by in a whirl of trips to the theatre, ice skating with Maddie’s friends, and a birthday party at a senior Indian diplomat’s house on the day before Christmas Eve. The diplomat’s son was one of Maddie’s oldest friends, and while she absolutely hated the boy, we couldn’t turn down the invitation without causing an international incident.

While we were on our way back from the birthday party, I caught sight of Leo’s car next to us at a traffic light. And he wasn’t alone.

Our car had tinted windows, but his didn’t, and I had a ring-side view as he offered a glass of champagne to a gorgeous, skinny, blonde. She accepted with a smile and leaned forward to kiss him. My breath caught in my throat and tears sprang to my eyes when I realized that Leo had moved on from whateverlay between us. He was now seeing other women. I looked away hastily and prayed for the light to change before Maddie caught sight of them.

The light stayed stubbornly red just until Maddie turned her head and looked out of the window.

“Daddy,” she yelled, but the light changed just then, and we sped away leaving Leo’s car far behind.

I wiped my tears discreetly because I didn’t want the child to notice me crying. I just wanted to hide under a rock until the heartache went away. I sniffed and blew my nose gently, and passed it off as a slight cold when Maddie shot me a quizzical look.

I wished I could just up and leave the house, but I had promised Fee I’d stay on for a few months, and I had to keep my word even if my heart was breaking.

CHAPTER 19

LEO

This was my punishment for working so close to Christmas.

Leanna Graves was the human equivalent of an octopus, I decided, as I pulled her arms from around my neck and pushed her back in her seat firmly.

“I’m sorry, but I never mix business with pleasure,” I explained when she stuck her lower lip out in a pout that did nothing to move me.

“But I thought we had a connection. I’m always right about these things,” she claimed, batting her eyelashes like a demented pixie.

“We do have a connection. A work connection. I’m very happy to buy your company, Ms. Graves, but I have a strict policy against romantic attachments in the workplace,” I said, with a thin smile.

She smiled back at me, but it wasn’t reflected in her hard eyes. Leanna Graves didn’t take kindly to rejection. I filed thatfact away for future use and wiped my lips pointedly as I brought the conversation back to our discussion about a possible takeover of her company by The Donovan Group. We had been haggling over her exit package when she’d blindsided me with a kiss. I had recoiled immediately, but the woman refused to back off until I forced her to.

Leanna was a beautiful woman. Much in the line of Natalie and the women I’d dated before her. Tall, leggy, gorgeous blondes who now left me cold for some strange reason. All I wanted was a curvy brunette with a smile that lit up the room, and a body that just didn’t quit.

I regretted offering to drop Leanna at her hotel. She had clearly taken that as an invitation to make a move, although I wouldn’t put it past her to use her body as a bargaining tool. I declined her offer for a nightcap and drove away as soon as I dropped her off. I wish I had just postponed the meeting to the new year, but Leanna had been insistent on closing the deal before the year ended. Well, I refused to meet her again unless it was in a boardroom with my lawyer by my side. And I was never getting into a car with her, either.

When I reached home, Maddie, Aunt Fee, and Tia were tying tinsel around the banisters. My aunt and my daughter looked up with a smile when I walked in through the door, but Tia seemed oblivious to my presence. Her nose looked red, though. I wondered if she was coming down with something.

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