Page 41 of The Billionaire and the Nanny

“Daddy! We saw you today,” cried Maddie. “You were kissing another woman. You have soooo many kissing friends!”

Fuck! They saw me with Leanna in the car!

That explained why Tia was giving me the cold shoulder. Aunt Fee looked up from her tinsel at Maddie’s words, and then her gaze shot to Tia, who still wasn’t looking at any of us.

“I was just saying goodbye to a colleague, baby,” I explained, with a wary eye on the woman who was knotting tinsel angrily as if her life depended on it.

“Let’s decorate the playroom, darling,” said Aunt Fee, rising to her feet. “Tia, will you ring for some coffee, please? I’m sure Leo must be dying for a cup after the busy day he’s had.”

Tia had been heading straight for the playroom, but she couldn’t refuse a request from my aunt, so she was forced to stick around. Aunt Fee’s non-verbal message was clear.Talk this through immediately.

I threw my briefcase onto a chair and walked into the sitting room. Tia was forced to follow me into the room to ring for Ramsay. She stayed by the door, standing stiffly with her face averted.

“She was just a colleague,” I began, wondering why I was even bothering to explain.

We weren’t in a relationship. I was free to kiss any woman I desired, so why did I feel like I’d been caught cheating on Tia?

“You don’t have to explain yourself,” she said curtly. “I’m just the nanny.”

“If that’s true, why won’t you look at me?” I asked softly.

Tia whirled around angrily, and the hurt that shone through her eyes made me feel like an absolute bastard. But what was I going to do? Stay celibate all my life to please a woman who wanted nothing to do with me?

“You’re free to kiss whomever you like, Mr. Donovan. I don’t give a fuck,” she spat.

“Great! I’ll start tomorrow,” I snapped. “In fact, I’ll start right now.”

I marched over to her and grabbed her by the shoulders before I planted an angry kiss on her unwilling lips.

Tia stayed stiff for a few seconds, but eventually, she melted into my arms, kissing me back passionately.

“I hate you,” she muttered between kisses.

“I know, and I don’t care.”

She pulled away from me and backed away a little.

“Ramsay,” she got out, as she wiped her lips on the back of her hand.

I heard the butler’s footsteps on the stairs and walked over to the window just before he entered. Tia was silent as he poured out my coffee and thanked me for the Christmas bonus the staff had received this morning. I replied as politely as I could, but my thoughts were a mess of confusion. What the hell had I been thinking?

That was the whole trouble. I had been thinking of nothing but kissing Tia. Leanna’s kiss had made me feel… almost sullied, and it was only after I kissed Tia that I felt whole again. But it also made me feel undone. Defeated. Would this hell never end? It was a vicious cycle of wanting her and knowing I couldn’t have her.

She walked out of the room as soon as Ramsay handed me my cup as if to say she had followed Aunt Fee’s brief and would do no more. I gave her the space because I needed it too. I had to clear my head and shake off the haze of lust that enveloped me after one of my encounters with Tia. I was a walking-talking hard-on these days, and it was all her fault.

I had a long, cold shower in the hope of calming the beast, but it didn’t do much. Nothing would help but having Tia under me as I came apart in her arms.

Tia ate dinner with Maddie in her room, and although my brothers wanted to invite her to join us, I convinced them to let her be. After dinner, I went to Maddie’s room to say goodnight and found her already in bed. Tia wasn’t around.

I chatted with Maddie for a bit, read her a bedtime story, and asked about her day.

“Our day was good. We did the usual things in the morning, Daddy. There’s no school, so we went to the park and then, we went to the animal shelter to pet Louisa. And then we met Derek.”

“Who’s Derek?” I asked absently.

“Tia’s friend. I think he’s her boyfriend,” she replied in a stage whisper. “We meet him at the animal shelter every day, and Tia brings him a cup of coffee.”

I was aware of an unpleasant buzzing in my ear and Maddie’s next words didn’t even register with me because I was far too furious to listen to anything.How. Dare. She?

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