Chapter Six
For the first time in his life, Wayne hadn’t rushed to work. He’d put a call through to Frances at a reasonable time, to cancel his appointments and to put all calls that needed his attention through to his cell.
He’d woken up, all prepared to go out to the office, but as he went to cross the threshold, he’d stopped. Temperance and Timothy were still sleeping soundly, and the apartment was so quiet, like he remembered it being just days ago.
What would be wrong with spending at least one day with the two people who were part of his world?
Frances asked him if he wanted her to speed up the DNA testing, and he’d told her to let them work it out at their own pace. He wasn’t in a rush for anything.
Standing in the kitchen, he opened the fridge, and saw it completely full of all different kinds of food. Sausage, bacon, ground meats, milk, and cheese, so much cheese. He’d never seen such an array of food. The freezer compartment was the same, and when he went to the cupboards, they were also full.
Temperance entered the kitchen and paused. Wayne chuckled as her hair was wild from her clearly just waking up. The bunny pajamas were on, only this time in the light of the morning, it was like he saw everything, the curve of her hips, the fullness of her tits. His cock began to harden, and he gritted his teeth in an effort to stop the arousal taking full effect.
“You’re home.”
“I’m home.”
She glanced at the clock. “Did I wake early?”
“No. I thought we could all spend the day together. You, me, and Timothy.”
“He’d like that.” She glanced down at herself and sighed. “I look a mess.”
“I think you look rather cute. Very … erm … natural.”
Instead of her blushing and running away, she laughed. “Have you ever seen a woman early in the morning?” She brushed past him, and he wanted nothing more than to reach out and grab her.
“Sometimes.” She gave him a look. “Not really. When I see a woman they’re usually all in place, with perfect makeup and hair. I like this look, though.” It was something he could get used to.
“Well, most women wake up like this.” She laughed, making them both a cup of coffee. “I need my caffeine fix in the morning.” She handed him a full steaming cup, and he took a sip just as she smelled the air from hers. “I’m already feeling awake.”
He couldn’t help but laugh at her.
It was the first time she’d been unguarded, and he liked that.
“Why don’t you have a boyfriend?” he asked.
She raised her brow. “We’re going for personal questions now?”
He shrugged. “You can ask me anything you like if you want.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Just know it’ll go both ways.”
“I just bet it will.” She smiled as she spoke.
“I always get what I want.”
She nodded. “Okay, let’s see. Most men like attention, and my job has always been demanding. I’ve never been able to have time off. If I’m with a family and kids, then I’m part of their lives.”
“It does sound rather demanding.”
Temperance shrugged. “It’s the way it is. You see a nanny isn’t just that. I mean, to everyone else we’re just a glorified babysitter, but to some kids we’re the father, mother, friend, loser, enemy, and sometimes, we’re just that reliable car that can get them where they need to be.”
“You’re everything wrapped in a package.”
“Yeah, and going on a date? Some men take exception to their time being cut short because of a phone call. ‘Come and pick me up from a party, please.’ It’s the please that gets me every single time.”
“You left your date.”
“I left my date, and then whatever special connection we had disappeared.”
“That … sucks.”
“It is what it is.”
“If it wasn’t for your job then, do you think you’d be settled down, married, a bunch of kids?” Even as the image of her surrounded by kids was a pleasant one. What he didn’t like was the jealousy that swamped him at the thought of her being with someone else. Temperance would make an amazing mom.
Glancing at her now, Wayne imagined her swollen, expecting their first child. The very thought … startled him.
“Okay, my question for you,” she said, her fingers tapping the edge of her cup. “Why aren’t you married?”
“No woman likes a workaholic. They want to use my bank balance to get whatever the hell they want. Or they try to trap me with fake pregnancies. I’m not interested in liars, and some women will even try to get me to talk about my company in bed. Not happening.”
“That’s … sad.”
“Not really. I guess you can say that my company is my wife.” Even as he said it, Wayne couldn’t believe how damn empty he felt. This was all Temperance. With her being easy to talk to, he could imagine so many other things.
A family. A life outside of the company.
She leaned against the counter, watching him.
“Do you want kids?” he asked.
“Yes. I’d love kids. I’m thirty years old now, so I don’t see many of them in my future.” Again, she shrugged. “It’s what I have to live with for picking this way of life, I guess.”
“You’re still open to it, then? Kids, marriage, love?”
“Why not? There’s nothing wrong with wanting that. My parents had a wonderful marriage. They were in love so I know it can happen, and it’s not a lie either that parents tell their kids. There can be love so long as you’re willing to work at it. Do you want kids?”
His first thought was to say no, and it was even on the tip of his tongue.
“Do you even know what you want?” Temperance asked.
Wayne paused at her question. No one had ever asked him that.
“I’m the owner of one of the biggest companies in the world.”
“What is it that you always wanted when you were a little boy?”
Her question took him off guard, as did his instant answer inside his head. Pushing that to one side, he stared at her, wondering what the hell she was getting at.
She held her hands up. “I’m not trying to make you feel uncomfortable, but I can see that is what I’m doing. I’m sorry.” She finished her coffee. “So, what would you like to do today?”
Forget what you’re making me fucking feel.
“What did you have planned?”
“Another trip to the park is in order. I did promise him. He has so much energy, it’s a wonder I’m not asleep by the time you get home.” She rubbed her hands together. “I promised the little devil some pancakes. Want some?”
He’d never had pancakes before. He always considered it a childish food. “Sure.”
Drinking his coffee, he watched as she worked, whisking up the batter and putting it to one side.
“Do you like ham and pickle on your sandwich?”
“Why are you making sandwiches?” he asked.
“For us to have a little picnic when we’re done running around. It’s just a few things in a small bag.”
“Yeah, sure.”
His heart was racing as he watched her.
Damn it.
He wanted her.
He wanted Temperance. How was this fucking possible?
She wasn’t well-kept or even well-groomed.
She didn’t wear a single designer anything.
Temperance was the furthest thing from a woman in his circle. And she has the power to bring you to your knees.
All he’d ever wanted in life was to be fucking loved. How pitiful was that? His business wasn’t even at the top of the list, nor anything else. Not his homes, or his cars. The jewels meant nothing to him, and neither did the artwork. All of the things he owned were just an investment. Cold, insignificant details in his world.
The only value was what others placed on them.
Temperance valued emotions.
He’d disappointed her in the beginning, and he wondered if he still did, or if that had now changed. Had her opinion of him changed?
This couldn’t happen.
The jealousy he felt at other men getting to know her. Watching her now, humming as she made stacks of pancakes, he wanted her for his own. He wanted her underneath him, begging for more as he fucked her pussy hard.
It had been a long time since he was last with a woman, and right now, all of his pent-up need was screaming at him to take Temperance, to claim her as his woman, even though she was his nanny. She wouldn’t be staying with him, nor would Timothy.
As if his thoughts brought the boy to them, he rounded the corner, and he watched as Temperance’s face lit up. She leaned down, pressing a kiss to his cheek and lifting him up.
That wasn’t an act.
She was happy to see the little boy.
In one conversation, she woke a need within him that shook him to the core. All of his life all he’d ever really wanted was a family of his own, and yet he had nothing. No woman he trusted or even loved, no kids, nothing.
****
Temperance clapped her hands as Timothy went down the slide all on his own. She gave a little whistle and smiled. He jumped to his feet and ran back to do it all over again.
“What are you clapping for?” Wayne asked.
His arms were folded, and since their conversation that morning, he’d been really moody. She tried not to let it show for Timothy’s sake, but Wayne was really starting to piss her off. She hadn’t asked or even demanded that he be here with them. He wanted to come, had asked to come, and she’d seen the way Timothy lit up inside.
That boy wanted a father.
He wanted stability, love, and everything a child needed. What he didn’t need was mister grumpy pants spoiling the day.
“You can go back to the office, you know. Timothy and I can walk home.” He’d been determined to take his very flashy, very expensive car. She’d been so nervous to even move in case she cracked or ruined the fine leather inside.
Never had she been for a journey in a car that made her so damn nervous to even breathe. She felt for Timothy. The little boy had stayed perfectly still, especially as they climbed in, and Wayne warned them he’d just had the damn thing cleaned.
This was why she owned a cheap-ass car. First, there was less chance of it being stolen. It ran perfectly well, and she made sure it got its necessary checks, but it also wouldn’t gain any profit for anyone trying to sell it.
Also, she cleaned it with a soap that cost a couple of dollars, and one of those hand-held vacuums. She took care of kids who were known to get carsick. She’d never had a problem cleaning up her car, and she wouldn’t scream at a child if he decided her floor was the best place to land said sickness.
“I want to know why you’re clapping.”
She waved at Timothy, and then turned to the man beside her. “You’re spoiling the day. You wanted to come, and since you’ve been here all you’ve done is glare. Timothy wants to impress you, and all you’re showing him is what an ass you can be. Go back to work. You clearly miss it.”
Timothy had moved onto the swings. He looked toward her, shaking his head, which was his signal for her not to come and push him. Only when he was ready would he wave for her to go.
He was growing up so fast, and she loved watching him thrive.
“Love,” Wayne said.
She frowned, turning back toward him. “Excuse me?”
“That’s what I’ve always wanted, even growing up. I didn’t have parents like yours. They didn’t care about me. The room that I gave to Timothy had more in it than I ever knew. I didn’t have parents growing up, I had roommates. They didn’t care if I got fed, or what was happening. At Christmas time, there were never lots of presents waiting for me. I had nothing, and no one cared. All I ever wanted was love and to have a family of my own.”
Wayne didn’t stay by her side after that revelation. He moved toward Timothy and she watched, feeling a lump in her throat as she watched him began to push the little boy on the swing.
He’d not even looked at her while he spoke, and she wondered if that was the first time in his life that he’d admitted that.
She glanced around the park. No one was paying them any attention, and she looked down at her feet, trying to stop the tears from filling her eyes. She had never expected him to answer, or if he did, certainly not with something filled with so much emotion. She couldn’t even think right now.
Wayne wanted love, and the truth of his childhood put several things into perspective. He didn’t know how to care for a kid.
Looking up, she watched him with Timothy, seeing how hesitant he was with the little boy.
Wayne cared, even if he didn’t think he did. Wayne cared a great deal. What he was an expert in was hiding his feelings. She wondered, not for the first time, if anyone even knew the real him.
If anyone had even taken the time to try to know him.
Once Timothy was finished on the swings, it was time for lunch, and she set up their little picnic on the ground, on a small blanket. Handing out their small bags of goodies, she smiled at Timothy, who was talking a mile a minute. He wanted to be an astronaut, police officer, fireman, and even a pirate.
“Will I be allowed on your ship, oh Captain Timothy?” Wayne asked.
“Yes. You can help me run it.”
Temperance laughed. Leave it to a child to defuse any tension that might be building. The rest of the day they went shopping, looking for some fun games to play as the weather had forecast rain. They got several movies and then headed back to the apartment.
She left Wayne and Timothy watching movies as she looked in the fridge and figured out what to cook.
“He’s out for the count,” Wayne said five minutes later as she was putting everything together for a casserole.
“He’ll wake in a little while then.” She glanced over at him, offering him a smile.
“You’re not going to mock me?” he asked.
She stopped what she was doing, turning toward him and resting a hand on her hip. “Why would I mock you?” He was still her boss, and she had to remember to keep this barrier in place, even as she wanted to hug him.
“I wasn’t just saying a damn line either.” He stepped into the kitchen. “I don’t tell lies.”
She didn’t say anything as he came close. The tips of his toes touched hers.
“I had a lot of fun today.”
“You’re sure? You seemed to be in a bit of a mood.” Her heart began to race. He was so close, and right now she couldn’t seem to shut her body off. He was the boss; she was the employee.
She was a professional.
Never in all of her nannying life had she spent this much time with anyone, nor had she wanted to.
There was something about Wayne. He seemed to need something from her.
It was why she made sure to spend a little time with him at night even though all she wanted to do was fall into bed.
They talked, and she truly believed that in everything he was honest.
He reached out, taking a stray curl and wrapping it around his finger. She wondered if other women were wrapped around his finger as easily as her damn hair.
“I don’t like being reminded of everything I don’t have.”
Had his voice gotten sexier?
They were whispering now.
His gaze was on her lips, and she knew without a doubt that it was dangerous territory.
Before she could stop him, he’d cupped her face, and his thumb ran across her bottom lip. She swallowed a moan, refusing to let it escape.
“I’m your nanny, Wayne. This crosses so many lines.”
“Have you ever crossed any lines?”
She shook her head.
“Have you ever been naughty?”
She laughed. “No.” She’d always been the good girl. She’d always done the right thing. Never had she broken any rules or been wrong in all of her life.
Her pussy was slick as his thumb teased inside her mouth.
Dangerous.
You have to stop it.
Her brain refused to work, and within seconds he had her pressed up against the fridge. She had her hands on his chest, and every part of her brain was telling her to push him away, not to let him get any closer.
Only, she didn’t push him away or shove him. No. Her hand rested on his chest, waiting, expecting something. What? She didn’t know.
Her heart continued to race. Her nipples tightened, and arousal unlike anything she’d ever felt before washed over her, demanding her to give in.
No man had ever got this close before.
No man had ever made her break her control.
Wayne, a man she’d first despised and now seemed to understand more than ever, was breaking down her walls.
She had to fight it.
Just once, I could be naughty.
I could give in.
His lips were so close, and when he finally claimed hers, she was lost. She moved the hands on his chest up, circling his neck, holding him close.