Page 6 of Daring Wicked Love (Wicked Dade #2)

After completely bombing the interview, if I was even able to call it an interview and not a colossal clusterfuck, I took myself home and drowned my embarrassment in a gallon of cookie dough ice cream while ignoring every single one of Callie’s phone calls.

It was horrific enough that I made a fool of myself in front of Frederic. I didn’t want to relive each excruciating moment while explaining to my best friend why I didn’t get the job.

Why had I gone to the stupid interview in the first place?

Nothing ever good came from lying, and trying to lie my way into that job was like squaring up to karma and asking for a fistfight.

How was it even possible that the same man we called the Ice Man, the same man who stood unhappily in an elevator with me for nearly three years, was also a father?

Frederic Dade being a dad was not something I had on my bingo card for the year.

And the fact that he was a father to one of the sweetest children I’d ever met made it that bit more unbelievable.

Penelope was like a fresh sunflower sprouting through Frederic’s darkness.

Clearly, the child took after her mother.

Was it strange to feel such an instant connection to a kid? The look in her wide, blue eyes when she pulled out my paintings — I knew for a fact that she too shared the same spirit swirling through my veins and pushing me toward a life of art.

I’d fallen into a cookie-dough-ice-cream-coma on the sofa while watching reruns of The Office, still wearing the stuffy mustard-stained blouse, when I was awoken by thumping on my front door the following morning.

Practically falling off my sofa, I stumbled across the room and was greeted by the smell of breakfast bagels and hot coffee.

“You’re alive,” Callie stated, pushing past me into the apartment. “I swear if you weren’t my best friend, I’d strangle you with my bare hands right now.”

Yawning, I closed the door. “Is that bacon and poached egg I smell?”

“Considering you’ve been dodging my calls all night, I don’t think you actually deserve it.” She flopped down on my sofa. “But I hate waste and there isn’t a chance in hell I would subject myself to eating eggs.”

“Sorry.” I sat down beside her. “I zonked out as soon as I got home yesterday.” Unwrapping the bagel, I tore into the bread with a hearty moan.

Callie’s eyes narrowed as she took a long sip of her coffee.

“I’m being serious, the second I got back here, I fell asleep.”

It was a half-truth.

It took a whole lot of cream-infused calories and about six hours of television before my mind finally shut down and stopped replaying every disastrous second with Frederic.

Callie hummed unconvinced. “Was that before or after your date with Ben and Jerry ?”

A bit of bagel caught in my throat as we both eyed the discarded ice cream tub on the coffee table. The same vintage coffee table we picked out at a flea market together when we were roommates.

I had to put up a fight to keep it when she announced she was leaving me to move in with her fiancé.

She left me to live happily ever after, while I got to live all by myself in our too-expensive apartment for one person. The table was the least she could do.

That, and the two-person beanbag chair we found at a charity store, which was more often than not my substitute bed.

“I was going to ring you today when you finished work and fill you in,” I said between mouthfuls of bagel. “Why aren’t you at work anyway?”

“If you bothered to answer any of my phone calls,” Callie said with an edge to her voice. “Then you’d know I’m here as part of my job. I need you to read over your contract and sign it before the end of the day, otherwise my ass will be handed to me by my bitch of a boss.”

I blinked. “What contract?”

Reaching into her handbag, Callie pulled out a folder and set it on my lap. Lifting her coffee, she took another long sip before she dropped the I’m annoyed at you act and smiled. “Didn’t I tell you that you could do it?”

“What is this?” Wiping the crumbs off my wrinkled blouse, I carefully lifted the file. Inside, my eyes were drawn to the cursive signature at the bottom. Poached eggs and bacon turned to cement in the depths of my stomach. This had to be a joke. “What’s happening right now?”

“Typical formality, though usually we at the agency would write up a contract, but Mr. Dade was adamant that he draw up his own,” Callie said. “Not that I am complaining, less work for me. Don’t worry, I had legal read over it, and they are happy he isn’t trying to do anything dodgy.”

Maybe I was still in an ice cream coma?

Frederic made it abundantly clear he found me unfit for the position, yet here in black and white was the complete opposite of everything he said the day before.

Live in position.

One month’s trial probation followed by a two-year rolling contract.

Pay raise negotiable after one year.

Must be available twenty-four hours a day, five days a week.

Some of the words jumped from the page and mixed with the rambling, incoherent thoughts running through my mind.

“He wants the contract back by seven tonight, which shouldn’t be a problem,” Callie stated. “The sooner you sign, the sooner you can start. And more importantly, the sooner you get your first paycheck.”

This was a twisted dream, right?

Callie rummaged in her bag and pulled out a pen.

“Wait a second,” I said hoarsely, my finger aimlessly running along Frederic’s signature. “None of this makes sense, Callie. I bombed that interview, like nuclear-atomic-bombed.” Closing the file, I shook my head. “This has to be some sort of mistake, maybe he sent it to the wrong person?”

“Mr. Dade doesn’t strike me as the type of man to make mistakes.” She tucked a strand of dark hair behind her ear. “I spoke to him myself.”

“You did?”

“He called me yesterday before I went home for the day. He wants you and only you. So, whatever you did at the interview must have worked.”

The only good thing that came out of that entire interview, hell, my entire day, was the brief moment I shared with Penelope—a glimpse of sunlight between dark, stormy clouds.

Whatever it was that changed Frederic’s mind, I struggled to find a positive reason behind his motives.

“Can I read over this before I agree to sign it?”

“It’s a hell of a job offer. I get it’ll suck having to give up this apartment and live across town but just think no rent or bills, plus the salary is nothing to scoff at.

” Callie arched a sculpted brow. “Don’t take too long signing, like I said, he wants it back ASAP.

If you drop it at my office at lunch, we can grab a bite to eat at Hank’s Deli. ”

I tried not to look down at the contract as she gathered her things. “Okay.”

Hovering at the front door, Callie slowly turned her head. “This can be a fresh start for you, Orla. With the money alone, you could finally cut your sister off and start building a life for yourself. This is your key to putting yourself first for once.”

“Maybe you’re right,” I said, despite the unease unfurling itself across my chest.

“Of course I’m right, I always am.” She laughed. “Plus, looking after a kid all day, I mean, there’s worse ways to make money.”

Sitting in the silence of my apartment, I thumbed the corner of the contract. Callie was right, taking care of Penelope wasn’t the problem. She was a sweet child, and in those ten minutes we interacted, it was obvious that caring for her would be a joy.

But it wasn’t the nannying part that caused my stomach to twist inward on itself.

I tried my best to see the good in everyone, no matter how hard it was.

For three years, I attempted to see the good in Frederic. With each elevator ride, with each cold glare, and frosty reception, I tried to see beneath his lethally beautiful but harsh icy exterior.

Ice Man was just a silly nickname after all, right?

Because I refused to accept that anyone could be that freaking cold.

So, was it possible to work for and live under the same roof as the man who, to this day, hadn’t shown me a flicker of the goodness I believed existed buried deep within him?

I continued to add to the list of stupid decisions I made in the last twenty-four hours.

Pushing the doorbell, I tried to find my center and ignore the way my heartbeat drummed violently in my ears.

Deep breath in.

Deep breath out.

It was going to be okay, after all, my horoscope assured me in its usual vagueness that everything was going to work out.

‘Good things come to those who take a chance on the risk that scares them the most.’

Well, this scared the absolute daylights out of me, so the payoff had better be good.

The large oak door opened slowly, and the second I clocked Frederic, every single drop of moisture evaporated from my mouth.

Long gone was his suit and tie; the formal wear was a distant memory, replaced by a pair of jeans — jeans! — and a T-shirt that cut tightly around his toned biceps.

My stars, he was painfully handsome.

If he was surprised to see me standing on his doorstep, he gave nothing away. He simply crossed his arms, the material of his T-shirt straining along the muscles, and raised a single eyebrow. “What are you doing here, Miss Connell?”

It was now or never.

“This.” I waved the contract in his face. “Care to explain to me how I was seemingly unfit and unwelcome for the job yesterday, but apparently I am suddenly capable today?”

“I changed my mind.”

“You changed your mind?” I scoffed. “I may not know you very well, but you don’t strike me as the kind of man who changes his mind on a dime.”

A strained beat of silence hung in the air.

“Do you want the job or not?” His tongue clicked against the back of his teeth. “There were plenty of other applicants who would kill for the chance I’m giving you.”

“Then ask them,” I challenged. “Because I can’t understand why you’ve suddenly changed your mind about my unfitness to care for your daughter.”

“It’s irrelevant.”

“If you refuse to tell me, then I am about to show you exactly where you can stick this contract.”

The corner of his lips twitched, and if I wasn’t mistaken, I could have sworn he swallowed the distinct sound of a chuckle.

So, now I was amusing to him? This man was un-fucking-believable.

Vanquishing the flicker of a barely formed smile, he carefully surveyed me. From the top of my head, down to the pair of worn-out and scuffed Doc Martens on my feet, the intensity of those blue eyes made the very hair on the back of my neck stand on end.

Finally, after what felt like a lifetime, he spoke. “You’re angry.”

“Now who is stating the obvious?”

“I’ve never seen you like this…” Frederic stopped short.

“The brief time you were here, you made an impression on my daughter. She won’t stop talking about you.

” He stepped out of the doorway and closed the distance between us.

I fought back the urge to retreat. “She is the reason for that contract.”

“Penelope wants me to be her nanny?”

His jaw worked tightly as he nodded. “And I do not have the luxury of time to continue searching for an alternative to her choice.”

Ignoring the latter of what Frederic said, I couldn’t help but bask in the warmth pumping through me with each new heartbeat.

Penelope wanted me — she chose me.

“You can start Monday, take the weekend to pack your things. I will arrange a mover to collect them and bring them…”

“Hold on,” I cut him off, enjoying the way his teeth clenched together. Now this was definitely a man who wasn’t used to being interrupted. “I’ve made a couple changes to the contract. I’ve signed the newest update, now all you have to do is read it and sign.”

He took the contract, leafing through the pages. “What changes?”

“The length of the original contract. I wish for it to be a one-year rolling contract. That way, if this isn’t the right fit, it’s a clean way out for both of us.”

“Fine.”

“Also, I don’t want to give up my apartment. As I know you are quite friendly with the apartment management team, I want your help in persuading them to let me sublet the place out for the year.”

He tucked the contract under his arm. “Anything else?”

I shook my head.

“Then we have a deal?”

This was only temporary, one year at a time, and then if needed, I could walk away. The amount he was going to pay me over that one year was enough to cover Niamh’s remaining university fees and then some.

“We have a deal.” I smiled against the worm of doubt burrowing itself between my ribs. “I’ll see you first thing Monday morning.”