“What’s the plan for today, dad?”

“It’s Saturday, kiddo. Whatever you want.”

“I want to go to the park.”

“The park? We can do that.”

“And will Cherri be coming with us?”

“Well, she doesn’t come over on weekends. She’s going to be helping us during the week. She starts on Monday.”

“Oh,” Brady says.

He looks crestfallen, like I just gave him very sad news.

“What’s wrong, buddy?”

“I thought she was going to be coming with us to the park.”

“But her job is the help you get to school. Help you get picked up. Help out when I’m at work. I don’t work on the weekend.”

“Yeah, but what’s the point in her coming over all the time when I’m at school? I’ll never see her.”

“You want to see her?”

“Of course I do.”

“Because she’s so pretty?”

Brady blushes bright pink and throws a cushion at me.

“No!”

“If you think she’s pretty that’s okay,” I tease.

“You’re the one who thinks she’s pretty,” he says back at me, jumping into my lap.

“Me?”

“Yes, you.”

I start tickling him and he struggles to get out of my grip.

“How about this? I’ll give Cherri a call and see if she can come to the park with us. If she says yes, we’ll all go together.”

“Yay!” he cries.

“Now, turn off those cartoons and get yourself into the kitchen. It’s time for breakfast.”

I make Brady some breakfast then go to my room to get my phone.

“Hello? Cherri?”

“Mr. Eastwood, is everything okay?”

“Yes, everything’s fine.”

“Was I supposed to come in today? They told me to start Monday morning.”

“No, that’s correct. I told them weekdays.”

“Oh.”

“But Brady and I were just talking, and we wondered if you’d be available to start a little early.”

“How early?”

“Like today?”

She lets out a little laugh and I feel myself getting excited at the prospect of her saying yes. It’s a strange feeling. It’s been a very long time since I got excited about spending time with a woman. A girl, really. She’s so young.

But I can’t deny the feeling of anticipation.

“I think I could swing that, Mr. Eastwood. You want me to come there?”

“Sure, or we could pick you up. We were planning on going to the park.”

“Central Park?”

“Yeah. It’s something we like to do when the weather’s nice like this.”

“That sounds great,” she says.

“Okay, text me your address and we’ll pick you up in an hour.”

The next few hours are like a dream. We swing by and pick up Cherri from her place, and I can tell she’s excited to be with us. The driver lets us off at the park and we take a little stroll in the sunshine. Brady’s so happy. I can see the logic of the court wanting to make sure there was a woman in his life. He’s always a good kid, but today he’s even better. He’s chattier. He laughs more. With a girl, everything just feels like it’s more fun and more natural.

We get ice creams by the pond and I buy some bird seed for Brady to throw to the pigeons.

He runs off, leaving Cherri and me to sit on the bench and look out over the water.

“I’m really having a nice day,” she says.

I look into her eyes and am surprised by the strength of the attraction I feel for her. It’s crazy. I would usually never allow myself to think about an employee in this way, but whatever it is about Cherri, it forces me to break my own rules for myself. I picture what it would be like to strip her naked. To take her out of each piece of clothing, slowly, and look at her beautiful body in all its glory. I imagine running my hands over her smooth, perfect skin. I can imagine perfectly the sensation of her breasts as I squeeze them in my hands, my fingers brushing lightly over her nipples. I can almost taste the sweetness of that first kiss.

“Do you come here often?” she says, and I realize I’ve got a massive erection!

I shift uncomfortably in the bench and adjust my position so as to hide it as best I can. Even still, I’m not sure I succeeded. She must have noticed that massive pole sticking up out of my lap.

I clear my throat.

“All the time. We love coming here.”

“It’s a really beautiful place, Mr. Eastwood.”

“Please, you have to promise to call me Wes.”

“Wes,” she says, and the sound of my name on her lips makes my cock throb all over again.

I watch her licking her ice cream and have to force myself not to stare.

“This might sound a little forward,” I say, “but if you’re not doing anything for dinner, would you like to eat with me and Brady?”

She looks into my eyes for a second and I know she’s wondering what my intentions are. I guess it’s a massive cliché for a man to hit on his nanny but she’s probably disappointed that I’m doing it already, before she’s even started her job officially.

I’m about to cancel the offer when she smiles and nods.

“I’d love that, Wes,” she says softly.