Page 8

8

PRESTON

As I sat at my desk, reviewing the latest version of the annual report, the intercom on my desk buzzed.

It was the front desk. "Sir, your eleven o'clock is here."

I sighed and leaned back in my chair. I hated interviews, but they were a necessary evil if I wanted to maintain the respect of my team and make sure my team was comprised of top talent.

"Send her in." I glanced through the resume on my desk and jotted down a few notes on what I wanted to ask before the woman who wanted to be my new Chief Marketing Officer walked in.

By the time I was saying my goodbyes, my stomach was rumbling and I needed to eat. I pulled up the takeout menu for my favorite pho restaurant and placed an online order. Then I sent Otto a text and asked him to pick up my food.

As soon as the text was sent, he replied with a thumbs-up emoji.

Before I could even put my phone away, it buzzed with a text, but this time from my personal assistant. There’s a situation at the Alaska location. An employee was fatally injured in an accident. You need to get there tonight.

Great, just what I needed.

Unsure what protocol was in that situation, I called my attorney for an update and a recommendation. Apparently, there was an altercation between a past employee and a member of our cleaning staff. “Do I need to be there in person?”

"Definitely, Preston. Expect to be in Fairbanks for at least a week."

A week! A week without my nurse or sleep or…joy.

After a full ten minutes of anxiety finally seeped out of me, I hung up and dialed the agency that handled my household staff placements. I’d hired Otto through that service, and most recently, used them to hire my nurse from The Lactin Brotherhood.

"Hello, this is Preston Sinclair." I was trying to sound composed when the dispatcher answered, but I might have just sounded aggravated. "I need to make a last-minute change to my staffing arrangements."

"Of course, sir. How can we help?" The polite woman on the other end of the line waited for me to figure that out because I had no idea how to fix my problem.

"I won't be needing Otto for the coming week because I’ll be traveling." My stomach clenched at the thought of being away from my wet nurse. "However, I was wondering if there's any way my night nurse might be willing to break the anonymity clause and travel with me to Alaska. It's an emergency, and I... I could really use the assistance."

There was a brief pause. "Of course, I can check on that. Please wait a moment." The line went quiet as I held my breath.

"Mr. Sinclair, that should be fine. I’ll contact your nurse and ask if he’s able to accompany you to Fairbanks."

"Thank you. I’ll send an addendum to the NDA." I breathed a sigh of relief and said a little prayer that my nurse would be able to join me. "I'll have my attorney be in touch, and in addition to expenses, I’ll pay his normal hourly rate for 24 hours a day while we’re gone. That should be sufficient incentive."

"Yes, I believe it will be.” The tapping of her keyboard was loud, even through the phone.

Otto was waiting for me when I got down to the front of the building a few minutes later. “Is everything okay, sir?” He held his arm out as I climbed into the car as if making sure I got in okay.

“Yes, Otto. Thank you. Just an emergency at the office in Alaska that I need to deal with. The good news for you is that you get some paid time off. I’ll probably be gone for a week or so.”

“Yes, sir. I just got notice from the agency.” He seemed uncomfortable or nervous, but I couldn’t worry about him. He was getting at least a week off work with pay. He should be ecstatic about that.

“Great. I just need to go home to pack and then after you drop me at the airport, you’re on your own until I need you to pick me up there again.”

His eyes held mine for a moment before he cleared his throat and took a step back to close the door. “Yes, sir.”

There was something almost familiar about the way he spoke when he lowered his voice like that. It was almost a whisper and reminded me of my most urgent priority. My nurse.

A few minutes later, I got a notification on my phone that my nurse had agreed to travel with me. Thank, fuck. I didn’t even care about the NDA at that point. The stranger had proven he could be discreet, and a small part of me didn’t even care if my world blew up around me. I just couldn’t bear the thought of going to sleep without him there.

I fired off a string of emails on the drive home and was surprised when we pulled up to a stop in front of my house and Otto opened the door.

“How much time will you need before we head to the airport?”

I glanced at my watch. I hadn’t been able to get clearance for my private jet due to a storm, but there was a nonstop commercial flight that had two seats in first class available, so my assistant booked two tickets for that. “We have about an hour. I just need to get washed up and packed and then we can meet back here.”

He nodded, and again, held out his arm for me. That was new. He hadn’t done that in the past, and I wondered if I looked particularly frail in my worried state.

"Of course, Mr. Sinclair." Otto’s voice was calm as he looked right at me. “I’ll be here for you.”

I paused and cocked my head. Why did such a simple statement feel like it carried so much weight? Maybe I was more stressed about that incident in Alaska than I realized.

Up to my bedroom suite, I quickly rinsed off in the shower and then threw various clothes in my suitcase. I needed both casual and formal wear because I was likely going to be doing several television interviews and holding press conferences. Just thinking about that made my pulse quicken.

The legal and PR team were already en route to the office, but they needed me to be the face of the updates. It was one of the many things I hated about being CEO.

I debated on what to put in my carry-on. The heightened pressure and stress was likely to get to me after a day or two, so I took a chance and threw in diapers, my favorite soft blanket, and comfy clothes to wear after work that would keep me warm when my nurse wasn’t snuggling me to his chest.

I zipped the bag closed and finally allowed myself to think about the fact that I was about to meet him face to face. The man who had held me in the darkest hours and provided sustenance from his own body wasn’t gonna be a secret anymore.

He would see me in the light of day, and I would see him.

Would that change things? What if we weren’t attracted to each other? That wouldn’t matter at night, I didn’t think. But on the other hand, I knew I was already attracted to him. He had already won my heart from his loving touches and the few words he’d let slip during our intimate moments together.

If he didn’t find me attractive, would he stop letting me use his body as a fuck pillow? I hoped not, but I didn’t need to create new worries. I had plenty of those already, and borrowing new “what-ifs” was never productive or useful.

After grabbing a quick sandwich down in the kitchen, I took a deep breath and headed out the front door. In just a little while, my life was about to change. I’d already put so much hope on how this meeting would go that the tiny fears of it not going well weren’t easy to squelch.

"Are you ready, Mr. Sinclair." Otto was standing at the car door but hadn’t opened it yet when I walked outside. My mind was playing tricks on me because I continued to hear and see things in the man that felt new. Different. Special.

“As ready as I’m gonna be.” I left my bags on the driveway and climbed into the backseat.

The ride to the airport was quiet as I leaned back against the leather seat and allowed myself a moment to breathe. Mostly I stared out the window, lost in thought as I contemplated all the different scenarios for how our first meeting could go.

As we got closer to the airport, Otto cleared his throat and then looked at me through the rearview mirror, his eyes communicating concern that I didn’t expect from him.

“Is something bothering you, Otto?”

“No, sir. Just making sure you’re okay. Seems like you’ve got a lot on your mind right now.”

I barked out a laugh. “That’s the understatement of the year. But yeah, I’ve got to do a few things that could go very well or very badly.” I looked at him through the mirror and smiled. “I’m hoping for very well.”

"Everything will be alright." He spoke with just confidence that I believed him and actually felt better.

"Thank you, Otto," I murmured as the car pulled up to the departure gate. "For everything."

As Otto unloaded my luggage, a sense of unease crept up within me as I glanced around, wondering if any of the men near me were my nurse.

“Do you need help getting checked in?” Otto's deep voice brought me back to the moment.

“No, thanks. I’ll be fine.” I glanced at my watch. “Enjoy your time off, and I’ll let you know when I’m heading back.”

He merely nodded and waited by the car until I was inside the building. As I approached the desk to check in, I saw Otto drive away and a strange feeling of longing surprised me. Since when did I feel so connected to my driver?