Page 9 of Kingpin's Nanny

Christmas Eve

I’m fizzing with excitement, waiting for the start of my first camshow, to an exclusive audience who has paid an obscene amount of money to buy out my whole evening. But it’s not the show, or the fact that I’m going to reclaim my sexuality that has me thrilled. Nope, it’s the screen name that has taken up all my attention since I saw it: YourBoss.

Could it really be Mr Knight? There’s no picture to give me a hint, but that also means my imagination is running wild.

When I set it up, I accepted the OnlySantas suggested start time, which was seven o’clock. And he always has finished putting Ivy to bed by then, so… Maybe? I hope bedtime is going well. I’m sure it is. I left lots of detailed instructions.

I’ve been preparing for an hour, fussing nervously over the cute and sexy Santa outfit I bought this morning, and getting my phone in just the right place in my room so it captures me at a flattering angle and in good light, but doesn’t show anything that might be identifiable. I don’t want my boss finding this and sacking me for compromising his house or something.

The anticipation builds in me, and when I log on a few minutes before the appointed time, I’m a tiny bit sad that my patron isn’t waiting. But if it’s Lucas, he’s still doing his precisely timed evening routine, isn’t he?

I watch the clock, and the seconds tick like trudging home in the rain on a dark winter afternoon.

It gets to seven, and I hold my breath.

He’ll be here. YourBoss. He has to be. It has to be him. He paid an obscene amount of money for an exclusive show.

It’s only one minute after seven. That’s nothing.

Two minutes.

My chest is full of contradictory feelings. I’m still excited, and nervous, but something cold and dreaded is congealing in my stomach. They don’t want me? YourBoss hasn’t logged on, despite the eye-watering cost.

I can’t hold this cute pose with the skirt and a little smile much longer. Another minute ticks past.

My arm begins to shake.

It’s been five minutes, and I break my Santa girl character, allowing myself to pout. The status dot of YourBoss remains grey. He’s not watching.

I wanted to feel desirable, to have eyes on me that admired me, and I’m stuck with nothing except the knowledge that YourBoss isn’t who I dreamed it was, and whoever they are, they don’t want to look at me.

My boss is always on time. He’s precise. Yes, he’s grumpy, but the very idea that he wouldn’t put his niece to bed at exactly seven o’clock is ridiculous. I’ve seen him kiss her forehead at that exact time for six months. With anyone else, I could believe he was incompetent on his own, and that without me there to steer it, bedtime was late.

But not Mr Knight.

I have to accept facts. After twenty-five minutes, there’s no question.

It’s not Lucas. If it were, he’d have logged in at seven o’clock exactly, after closing the door to Ivy’s bedroom.

But whoever it is has paid for my time, and doesn’t intend to take me up on the offer to use it.

That I know of.

Never mind. I can still do what I intended this evening. I lean over my phone and poke through the settings of OnlySantas. Surely I can stop the exclusive booking and have a public show instead?

But when I find the cancel button, it’s greyed out. The information pop-up politely informs me that since the payment has been confirmed, and the performance started, there is no way for either party to reverse the transaction now, and the sale is final. There’s also some warning language about how going outside of OnlySantas is not allowed for my own protection, blah-blah-blah.

I sit back.

If I’m honest with myself, I didn’t really want to perform for strangers. There is only one pair of steel grey eyes I want on me: those of a man with silver and black hair, black stubble, and swirling black tattoos I wish I could touch. But Santa was never going to bring me Lucas Knight for Christmas.

Without YourBoss’ consent, I can’t even turn off the camera. And his active status remains stubbornly grey. He’s not online.

And suddenly, I’ve got the solution.

I get back onto my position on the bed, arrange my sexy Santa dress, which is red velvet with white fluffy trim and a black belt, smooth my Santa hat, and look straight into the camera.

“This is for you, boss.”