to be everything I could’ve possibly wanted in a nanny. In her upper fifties, if I had to hazard a guess, she’d been a stay-at-home mom until her kids were grown then started taking care of other people’s children. With her lilting Jamaican accent and a chest that was like a pillowy shelf, Joey had taken to her instantly, and Freddie had been absolutely tickled by my smiley girl.
Even Elliot had conceded Freddie was wonderful.
That hadn’t stopped him from installing security cameras that linked to both our phones in all the living areas, though. He trusted Freddie, but only so far.
Although it was overkill since we wouldn’t be living with him long term, inwardly, I was relieved to have a way to check in on my girl throughout the day.
This was day one, and so far, so good. I’d ripped myself away from Joey-Girl with only a couple tears—and that had mostly been because she’d seemed content to hang with Freddie.
Elliot had gone to the gym first thing in the morning, so we’d driven to the office separately.
Getting back to my routine was like riding a bike. I wrote out his schedule as always, but when I got to the bottom, I hesitated.
I didn’t have a scathing postscript to write. That might change tomorrow, but for now, Elliot was on my good side in a huge way. He was more than tolerable. In fact, I liked him.
I wasn’t really sure what we were. Not really boss and employee, and calling us roommates would have been a stretch. We weren’t quite friends, but we almost were.
I guessed we were some strange amalgamation of all those things, yet none of them at the same time.
At the bottom of his schedule, I wrote out my postscript.
P.S. I hope your pillow is cool tonight.
I sliced it off, pleased with what I’d come up with. Tomorrow, I might return to scathing, but for today, I was feeling generous.
The envelope was right where I’d left it, but I didn’t feel right adding this slip of paper with the others, so I fished out a new one and stashed it on top of the old one.
Right on time too, because Davida and Raymond were charging toward my desk.
“You’re back,” Davida announced. “Thank god you’re back. Poor Daniel.”
Raymond pulled me out of my seat to give me a squeeze. “Welcome, welcome, now where is Angel McChunk-Cheeks? Who have you left her with, and why wasn’t I consulted?”
Grinning, I grabbed my phone and turned on the screen that showed the living room. Freddie was walking around with Joey in one arm, pointing to things in the room. I turned on the sound, and Freddie’s sweet singing voice filtered through.
“This is the window, pretty girl, smart girl. This is the light, strong girl, wise girl. This is the light switch, sweet girl, brave girl.” And she kept going with each object she pointed to.
Raymond raised his hands. “Okay, I get it. You hired the top of the line for our angel. I forgive you for not asking me if I wanted the job.”
I scoffed. “It isn’t like I could afford you, Ray.”
He pointed at me. “True. You definitely can’t.”
Davida took the phone from me to watch the screen. “Can I have a nanny who walks around with me singing affirmations all day?”
Raymond crossed his arms. “Did you just come up with a business idea?”
I giggled. Man, I hadn’t missed much about work, but I’d missed them. I hadn’t seen them enough over the last few weeks since moving in with Elliot.
“I don’t know if that’s really a business plan with wings. What if we just compliment each other?” I quipped. “Davida, your new haircut is looking mighty fly.”
She fluffed the bottom of her razor-sharp bob. “Thank you, darling. Your return has brightened up this dull place.”
“Why, thank you, Davida.” I turned to Raymond. “The brief you sent me to proofread was really good. The lack of grammatical errors was incredibly sexy.”
He did a dramatic bow. “My mastery of commas is unmatched.”
“Raymond doesn’t need a compliment nanny. He gives them to himself,” Davida drawled.
“Damn right,” he agreed.
A hush fell over the space around us, which could have only meant one thing: Elliot was here. Davida and Raymond moved to the side of my desk so we could all watch him slice through the air of the hallway like his body was a samurai sword. Swish, swish, he made ribbons of the distance between us, stopping in front of my desk.
“Davida, Raymond.” He nodded to them.
They greeted him in return then made hasty retreats to their desks.
“Good morning, Elliot.”
“Good morning, Catherine. Before we have our meeting, I’d like to show you something.”
“Okay.” I pushed back from the desk and circled around to where he stood. “I’m intrigued.”
He placed his hand on the center of my back and guided me to a door next to his office. He went in first, flipping on the light, and I didn’t understand what I was seeing.
What had once been a storage space was something else entirely now. In the middle of the room was a thick, cream-colored rug and two plush armchairs. In one corner sat a small, stainless steel fridge. A TV was mounted on the wall, and there were speakers in the corners.
“What is this?” I asked.
“A pumping room.”
“But there’s one downstairs. I don’t need anything special.”
He shook his head. “You don’t have to share now. I had the space available. It wasn’t any trouble to convert it into a room for you. If it’s not suitable, tell me, and I’ll have the necessary changes made.”
“Of course it’s suitable,” I rushed out, moving deeper into the room. I sat down on one of the armchairs and sighed. “This is almost as comfortable as my desk chair. You might have to pry my sleeping body out of here.”
I looked up at him, surprised to see the flush rising on his face like it did when I inexplicably pissed him off. I supposed any boss wouldn’t have been pleased to hear his assistant planned on napping during the workday.
I hopped up, smoothing my dress over my hips, which were still wider than prepregnancy. To be fair to my hips, all of me was wider or softer or squishier than before I had Joey, and I was more self-conscious of my body than ever.
“I’m only kidding. I won’t fall asleep in here,” I promised. “Thank you for doing this. It’s nicer than anything I could have asked for.”
“You didn’t ask for anything. I wanted you to have it.”
I sighed. He really had no idea how much this meant to me.
Or maybe he did. His freezer was full of my milk stash, and he’d heard me quietly screaming when I’d accidentally spilled some. He’d even given Joey a bottle when I’d wanted to make sure she’d take one.
“Can I hug you?” I asked.
“If you feel like you have to.” He opened his arms wide. “Make it quick.”
I snorted and rolled my eyes, but I also walked right into him, giving his middle a tight squeeze. “This is one of the nicest things anyone has ever done for me, Elliot.”
“That’s too bad. On the scale of nice things, this is pretty low.” He slid his palm up and down my spine. “After all, I did this for purely selfish reasons.”
“Oh, is that right?”
“Yes. Now you won’t waste time going down to the other level when you can stay right here.”
I nodded. “Right. That makes sense. Efficiency.”
“My most valued quality.”
Laughing softly, I stepped out of his arms even though I sort of didn’t want to. “Well, whatever your motives, I appreciate it.” I nodded to the second armchair. “Is that for you so we can work through my pumping sessions?”
“Is that an option?”
“No.” I shoved his arm on my way out of the room. “Don’t get any ideas, Mr. Levy.”
“Don’t put them in my head, Ms. Warner.” He snagged my elbow before I reached my desk. “Are you forgetting our meeting?”
Reaching out, I picked up his schedule and waved it at him. “I’m not. I just needed this.”
The week was tough, but Elliot kept me busier than normal, so the days flew by. I had an inkling he was doing it on purpose to distract me from missing Joey-Girl.
Then again, I’d caught him watching the cameras on his phone more than once, so I might not have been the only one. That, or he was a control freak, paranoid about having a stranger in his home.
“Has Donald shown up again?” I asked on our way to the Rockford building.
“He’s shown up a couple times. Always gets turned away by security,” Elliot replied. “If he’s smart, he’ll retire to Florida and protect what little assets he has left.”
I shook my head. “I will never understand why a man his age is driven to make more money to the point he risks it all. It’s greed, plain and simple.”
“Nothing is ever that simple. It’s not always greed or ambition that drives rich men to get richer.”
“Then what?”
His jaw rippled. “Not every wealthy man started out that way.”
Elliot Levy was one of them. The information available to the public about his background was vague, but I had read enough to know both his parents had died prematurely and he’d been his sister’s guardian. He’d started Levy Development in his early twenties with an investment from his best friend, Weston Aldrich, who’d been born into extreme wealth. Elliot had taken that investment and used his ruthless instincts and business acumen to build his billion-dollar company.
By anyone’s standards, he was successful. He could’ve retired now and never worried. But he wasn’t anywhere near satisfied, and I wondered when he would be. If he would be.
“I get not wanting to ever be hungry again. But who needs billions? Aren’t millions enough?”
My question was half in jest, but Elliot responded to it seriously.
“What’s enough? Ensuring you’re never hungry? Your kids? What about grandkids? It’s not just money but security and power. Most who didn’t grow up with wealth had neither.”
“Even then, a few wrong moves, that security and power can be stripped and you’re nothing but a sad old man. I would think building a true life, with family and a network of friends, would offer more security. When Liam left, I’d floundered so badly because I didn’t have a village I could turn to.”
“One doesn’t preclude the other.” He started to say more but stopped, pressing his lips together. Then he met my gaze, locking onto it. “You have a village, Catherine. You just weren’t willing to open the door and see it until I forced my way in.”
My head jerked slightly, and my swallow got stuck in my throat. “I’m—” It was on the tip of my tongue to fight him, but he wasn’t wrong. I had people. Davida or Raymond would have helped, but I hadn’t asked. Deep down, I knew Elliot would have helped me too.
“You’re right. It’s really difficult to open the door after my first village let me down.”
He reached across the seat and squeezed my hand. “That won’t happen this time.”
Climbing out of the car, Elliot held his hand out and helped me out of the car, smoothing my sleeves down my arms.
“You don’t have to cover your tattoos.”
I tugged on a cuff, noting he’d gotten out of talking about his unyielding ambition by turning the tables on me. “It’s habit. Besides, I don’t own any short-sleeved tops appropriate for the office.”
He looked me over for a long, drawn-out moment then nodded once. “We’ll go shopping this weekend.”
My brows shot up. Before I could question who exactly “we” was, he turned on his heel, starting for the entrance. I scampered to catch up with him, shoving shopping out of my mind for now.
There’d been a lot of progress with the Rockford building since the last time I’d been here. With the slowdown in the technology sector, Denver’s office real estate market had experienced a downturn. Around a quarter of the city’s office space was vacant, not just because of fewer jobs but the shifting workplace culture. More workers were going remote, leaving offices half filled. Unlike Donald Rockford, Elliot was well aware of this. When he’d come into possession of the building, he’d hired a team to rethink the entire tower.
The top ten floors were now apartments, both corporate and long-term rentals. The roof held a bar and café open to the public, with a viewing platform that would draw in tourist dollars.
There were still offices, but several floors were designed to be shared workspace for companies who had no use for entire blocks for their employees.
On top of those changes, he’d brought in experts Weston used to make this building as environmentally sound and energy efficient as possible, which was a draw to many businesses—and because Elliot was hopelessly devoted to efficiency.
Elliot wasn’t the only developer making these changes, but he was on the cutting edge in Denver. His buildings had very few vacancies, and Rockford currently had a wait list.
We rode the elevator to the observation deck, accompanied by the project manager and lead designer. Elliot and I separated when he went to speak with them and the head contractor, so I wandered, checking out the view.
I leaned over the clear Lucite barrier, peering down at the ground below, and my stomach dropped like a lead balloon. Backing up, I pressed my hand to my middle and took a deep breath.
A deep chuckle sent me whirling around and heat shot to my cheeks when I realized I’d been watched. A man in a hard hat, crisp button-down shirt, and charcoal pants stood behind me, his crooked grin bringing crinkles around his eyes in a flattering way.
“Heights not your thing?” he asked.
“No, I’m fine with heights. I probably shouldn’t have leaned over the edge, though.”
“Those intrusive thoughts getting to you?”
I burst out laughing. “I wasn’t tempted to jump. It was a wave of vertigo that got to me.” I crossed my arms over my chest. “If you thought I was going to jump, you probably should have tried to stop me instead of laughing.”
He walked closer, still grinning. “I was pretty sure you weren’t gonna go for it. Plus, I’d been enjoying the view too much to be a hero.”
It took me a second to understand what he meant—and he wasn’t talking about the skyline. This man meant he’d been checking out my ass.
My hands flew to my flaming cheeks. “You said the quiet part out loud, sir.”
He held his hand out. “I’m Gavin, and I’m all about saying the quiet part out loud.”
I shook his hand. “Kit. And I regularly burst into flames when I’m embarrassed, so maybe cool it with the bluntness.”
“All right, kitten. You’re too pretty to burn to ashes, so I’ll try to rein myself in, but I make no promises.”
This man was blatantly, unmistakably flirting with me, and I barely knew what to do with myself. It had been ages since anyone had come on to me. Massively pregnant, then lugging around a baby in a car seat could be quite the deterrent.
I wasn’t in the market to date, but I wasn’t opposed to being flirted with, especially now when I didn’t really love the way I looked.
“Thank you. Also, it’s just Kit, Gavinator.”
His eyes flared with amusement. “Would you believe Gavinator was my frat nickname?”
“I would absolutely believe that. Did you sneak into this building as a hazing prank?”
He smoothed a hand down his flat stomach and chuckled. “I’m so fucking flattered you believe I could still be in a frat. That was ten years ago, but I’m gonna be flying high on that all day.”
“Then I won’t tell you I was joking.”
“Good. I’d rather live in denial.” He leaned on the railing beside me, the tips of his toes touching mine. “To answer your question, no, I didn’t sneak in. My company will be taking over two floors in this building. I have an appointment to sign on the dotted line, but I’m early, so I thought I’d take myself on a tour to kill some time. What about you? Sorority prank gone wrong? Or really, really right?”
“I was never cut out for the sorority life.” I tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear. “I’m here with my boss while he checks on some things.”
“Ah. Nice of him to let you run loose.”
“Should I be leashed?”
His brow winged. “I don’t know, would you like that?”
I pressed my lips together. “In some circumstances, sure. That could be fun, in the way waterboarding is.”
“Ah, Kit. I knew I made the right decision coming to talk to you.” He studied my face for a beat. “You’re not originally from Denver, are you?”
“How’d you guess?”
“I went to college in Pennsylvania, and I’m pretty sure I recognize a faint Philly accent.”
I covered my mouth. “No. Shoot me. I don’t have an accent. I haven’t lived there in so long.”
“It was ‘water’ that gave you away.”
I groaned. “Dammit. How will I ever have a career as a news anchor if I don’t perfect my nonregional dialect?”
He snorted a choking laugh. “I’m officially in love. Tell me you’re single.”
Oh boy. This was what I got for flirting back. A little bit of an ego boost, and now I was going to have to let him down gently.
“That’s classified information,” I quipped.
“What do I have to do to make it unclassified?”
“Join the CIA.”
He pressed a hand to his chest like I’d hit him. “Come on, kitten. Throw me a bone here. I know I’ve been acting like an idiot, but that’s because you’re so beautiful; you’ve got my head spinning. Do you think I could have your number so I can text you when I finish my CIA training?”
I felt terrible about turning him down, especially since I’d encouraged him to flirt with me. In another life, I would have jumped at the chance to hang out with this man casually or something more, but that wasn’t me anymore. I wasn’t interested.
“Gavin, I—”
I never got the chance to tell him CIA training took years and I’d be married by then to the prince I’d been promised to at birth because Elliot appeared from nowhere.
“Catherine,” Elliot clipped. “We’re finished here.”
The vertigo I’d experienced leaning over the railing had been nothing compared to the way my stomach plummeted at the sight of Elliot Levy standing before me without any expression at all.
“Elliot, it’s great to see you again.” Gavin flipped from flirtatious to schmoozy, offering his hand to Elliot.
“Gavin…” Elliot inclined his chin and gave him a perfunctory handshake. “I see you’ve met my assistant, Catherine.”
Gavin swiveled to me. “I had no idea she worked for you.”
Elliot’s brow twitched, but that was his only reaction. “Everyone in the building is here in a professional capacity. They should be able to do their jobs without worrying about being hit on, that includes Catherine. Please remember that next time you go into areas where you were not invited.”
Gavin gawped at him. “Now, calm down. Kit—Catherine—and I were just having a friendly conversation, and I had no idea I wasn’t supposed to be up here.”
“The ‘no access’ signs didn’t offer you a clue?” Elliot asked dryly.
The last thing I wanted was for Elliot or Gavin to burn a bridge. This city was big, but word got around like it was a small town.
I touched Elliot’s arm, which stiffened under my hand. “Didn’t you say we needed to leave?”
“Yes.” Elliot stared Gavin down with the intensity of a thousand lasers. “I’ll ask that you vacate the premises and not return until your lease begins.”
He appeared as though he was going to argue but stalked off instead, not giving me a second glance. Only when he was out of sight did Elliot look at me.
“In the future, please keep your flirting confined to outside of work hours.”
He hadn’t spoken to me this coldly in so long I’d forgotten how to brace for it. He very nearly knocked me back a step with his arctic stare.
“I’m sorry. It just happened. I wasn’t expecting it, but it absolutely won’t happen again.”
His nostrils flared as he inhaled a deep breath. “See that it doesn’t.”
Elliot was quiet on the way back to the office. He worked on his tablet the entire time, poking at the screen with more force than necessary.
The rest of the day, my stomach was sour with worry. I knew this wall of his. He could put it up and take it down at will. I’d been on the inside of it the past few weeks, and now, being on the outside…it was a harsh slap in the face.
I had to remember this. Just because we were growing comfortable with each other didn’t mean he wouldn’t turn tail when I made a misstep.
And I would.
Because I was me, and that was what I did.
