“You’re firing me?” I looked between my two employers, a husband and wife who had more money than I’d ever see in a lifetime. “I don’t understand. Did I do something wrong?” I felt my start heart start to pound harder and faster. I looked over at the infant in the highchair, Cassie, the daughter my employers had no time for. I started taking care of Cassie three months ago. Getting up with her in the middle of the night, feeding her, giving her the love her parents didn’t. It was rewarding all by itself, even if it was tiring and strenuous.

“Firing is such a negative word,” Morgana said, her perfectly made-up face twisting in disgust. “We like to say trying a different path.”

I lowered my brows in confusion at her response. “Finding another path?” I found myself repeating.

Morgana looked over at Robert, her husband, but he looked less than pleased even to be having this conversation, as if he had more important things to do.

“We just don’t feel you’re a fit for the household.” She shook her head slowly.

This wasn’t about being a fit for the household; this was about Robert having grabby hands and Morgana not liking it. Apparently when your husband sexually harasses the help, that means you fire them. That’s how you deal with the issue of your husband being a big asshole.

Maybe this was a blessing in disguise. Because it didn’t matter how many times I told Robert how inappropriate his leg brushes to my arms or back were, or how I didn’t appreciate the lightly laced sexual things he said to me. And all it ended up doing was having Morgana blame me even more.

“We just don’t feel you’re the right fit for Cassie,” Morgana said, her voice and tone clipped, as if I were annoying her.

“I—I don’t know what to say.” I looked between the baby, Robert and Morgana, not sure what to say.

“We’ll give you a day to clear your stuff out of the guest house,” Morgana said, dismissing me.

I didn’t say anything else as I headed toward the guesthouse. This was my second position, and although I hadn’t seen myself staying here permanently, I had at least hoped it wouldn’t be a temporary position like my first one was.

I moved past the pool and into the small one-bedroom house. Closing the door and leaning against it once in my room, I stared at the interior. A single bed, one nightstand, a plain dresser, and one picture of an ocean view hanging on the wall. On the nightstand there was a frame, one I’d brought from home: a picture of me and my mother, which had been taken years ago. It was right before she passed away and the only item that held any value to me.

But the room itself was sparse, especially given the extravagant detail put into the main house.

I walked over to the small closet, grabbed my bag and started packing my clothes. I would head to the agency tomorrow and look to see if they had any openings in the same area. I’d look for one with a contract, one that wasn’t month-to-month like Morgana had done. No doubt she went through nannies like days of the week.

Maybe this was a blessing in disguise? I’d find something that would make me feel like an extension of the family. And to be honest, that’s what I wanted. With no family aside from ones that were so distant they didn’t even know who I was, I was looking for that missing piece since I’d lost my mother.

Tomorrow was a new day, right?

* * *

I never thought I’d be a father, but after my sister Raina passed away I became just that.

A two-year-old little girl had come into my life not knowing what was up or down, how to process just losing her mother, and I was her sole caregiver.

Dolly was this rambunctious little girl who’d brought meaning into my life for the last five years. And for those years I’d been her father, the one person she depended on, looked up to.

We were all we had left in this world.

Even five years after my sister’s passing I could look at her little girl and see Raina staring back at me. Dolly, with her wild mane of golden locks, the curls bouncing when she ran around, was just like my sister had been when she was that age.

I’d ended up having babysitters help throughout the years. And as much as I hated the way my schedule was, that I had to have people look after her so much, I was tired of having so many people coming in and out of her life.

And so having someone live with us and be there for Dolly, making sure she had a stable environment, was a priority. I just wished I would have thought about this and done it well before now.

I looked at the website for the live-in nanny positions, knowing that this was a big step bringing someone into our lives, into our home to look after Dolly.

But with summer break coming up I needed someone who could be here with her at all times, keep her occupied, make her feel the love she deserved when I wasn’t here. I didn’t just want someone to babysit her. I wanted someone who could be that other figure in her life, the one she was missing out on because her mom was gone.

What she needed was a mother. But that was something I didn't know if I could ever give her. As a man focused on Dolly and work, I didn’t have time for relationships. In fact, I’d been so consumed with making sure Dolly never wanted for anything, that her mother’s passing didn’t consume her, I hadn’t been with a woman romantically for five years.

But I hadn’t wanted nor needed anyone in my life like that. I’d never found anyone who was good enough for Dolly … good enough for me. Celibacy worked just fine.

I exhaled and ran a hand over my short hair. Bringing up the nanny portfolio, I skimmed the prospective women. I don’t know how long I stayed at that computer, but I was getting a kink in my neck and the eyestrain was giving me a headache. I was about to say fuck it when I clicked on the last portfolio.

The picture had everything in my body tightening. I read her details, feeling my heart start to pound a little harder, this possessive need in me rise unexpectedly.

Name: Emma Marsh

Age: Twenty-Four

Gender: Female

Education: Associates in early childhood education.

Experience: Less than one year

I continued reading about her background, how she only had two previous positions in this field, the most recent one having lasted only a handful of months before she was let go. I stared at her picture. She was smiling almost shyly, her eyes big and blue, her hair blond like sun-kissed wheat in a field. I felt everything in me tighten the longer I stared at her image, this overwhelming feeling consuming me. I wanted her. I wanted her really fucking badly. It was sheer control alone that made it so I wasn’t sporting a huge fucking erection right now.

I’d set up an interview with her and pray like fucking hell she got along with Dolly, because something inside of me demanded I make her mine. It was primal, fucking insane, but it felt so right on every damn level.

I was insane, confused, but I couldn’t have talked myself out of this even if I wanted to.

And I sure as hell didn’t want to.

I needed Emma Marsh and everything inside of me told me to go after her.