Page 14

14

MIA

I had to fight back the tears that wanted to well up.

It might seem silly to get emotional about hearing “good job” from my boss, but for me, it was everything. I couldn’t recall hearing it from anyone. Ever . I stared at Michael, who seemed a little uneasy with the moment we were having.

The poor guy. With the exception of his interactions with his daughter, he was always so serious and cold. I guess being just about everyone’s boss contributed to his gruff attitude. The Michael I’d met on our date and the Michael sitting next to me now didn’t come out often.

Clearing the lump out of my throat, I quickly put him out of his misery. “Thank you, but you don’t know me well.”

I was the kind of girl to shirk her responsibilities, put off deciding what she wanted to do with her life, and get caught up with dangerous criminals because of her naivete and foolish quest for love…

“I know enough. You’re not awful, Mia Clarke. You might be a little reckless and mischievous. And I still think you’re a threat to my peace of mind…”

I rolled my eyes.

“But my kid has never been happier so…” He shrugged. “I don’t regret hiring you. I think you might just break the nanny curse.”

“The what ?”

“The nanny curse. All my nannies up and quit after a few months. The first and the longest one lasted over a year.” He held his thumb and index finger close together. “She was this close to two years before things went to hell. After her… it all went to hell.”

Intrigued, I twisted around in the plush seat to face him. Folding my legs under me, I asked, “What exactly happens with all the nannies?”

“I really shouldn’t discuss the nanny curse with the nanny.”

Disappointment flooded me at the thought that I wouldn’t get any more information. However, as I stared at Michael, I saw the tiniest smile appear on his lips. There was a teasing glint in his eyes, too. I’d gotten to know Michael a little better, despite only working with him for weeks.

Being inside his home and watching his interactions with his daughter gave me a deeper perspective of who Michael Hayes really was. Plus, we did spend a spectacular night together where I’d gotten glimpses of his more laid-back, teasing side. I was sure he was humoring me because he’d witnessed my near meltdown… which I was still a little embarrassed about.

“Alright, let’s make a deal,” I said, seeing as how he was in the talking mood, which he wasn’t in often. “I’ll tell you about my boyfriend curse if you tell me about your nanny curse.”

Michael turned to me with what looked like curiosity in his eyes. “ Boyfriend curse? Well, now you have to go first.”

“My luck in the romance department hasn’t been the greatest, to put it mildly. I seem to have this unnatural ability to attract the wrong kind of guys.” I shrugged. “I just don’t understand it.”

Michael’s eyes narrowed on me. “I’m going to need evidence of this supposed unnatural ability.”

I chuckled as I leaned back and got comfortable. This was nice. It had been a while since I just let loose and had friendly chatter. Recently, the conversations I’d had were lectures from my parents and brother about my failures and lack of direction in life.

“Where do I even start?”

“Start with your first date,” Michael suggested.

I glanced at him, still unable to believe he was really interested in the subject.

“My first date…” My eyes moved around the interior of the plane as I reached for the memory. “I was seventeen, and I had to sneak out of the house for that one. My dad was super strict. He still is.”

Michael lifted an eyebrow in question.

“Yeah, I know I don’t exactly portray someone coming from a strict household. I guess the rules and rigorously straitlaced environment I grew up in made me the opposite of disciplined.” I hated feeling restricted. “My dad is a military man,” I explained.

He didn’t respond. He just watched me with those intense, penetrating, and gorgeous green eyes of his. Sometimes when he looked at me, I had to fight my body’s natural tendency to blush.

“Anyway, I snuck out to go on my first date, excited to see what the hype was all about. I pictured the guy buying me flowers and opening doors for me. You know, being wined and dined and treated like a lady. Looking back, I guess those expectations were too high to put on a seventeen-year-old boy in a rock band…”

Michael chuckled. “Probably.”

“He took me to some god-awful make-out spot and immediately started trying to get into my pants. I mean, at least buy a girl dinner before trying to cop a feel, am I right?”

Michael’s eyebrows shot up. For a man, who kept his expression unreadable most times, he had such expressive eyebrows. I smiled at the thought.

“What’s so funny?” he asked.

“Nothing.”

His eyes narrowed with suspicion, but he said, “Go on, continue with this supposed boyfriend curse.”

“Okay, so there was this one guy. He seemed really sweet at first—handsome, with a great smile and personality. We went on a few dates, and everything was going well. Until he invited me to a barbecue at his place.”

“A family thing?” Michael asked.

“That’s what I thought. I was thrilled that he wanted me to meet his family and friends. That meant we were moving to the next stage of our relationship.” I shook my head sadly at the memory. “I was so wrong.”

Michael grunted. “I’m almost afraid to ask what happened.”

“Turns out, the ‘barbecue’ was actually just him and his ex-girlfriend. His still-living-together ex-girlfriend. They were supposedly just friends. As if the entire situation wasn’t awkward enough, they invited me to join them in a threesome.”

I giggled when Michael just stared at me with a no shit kind of expression .

“I ran out of there so fast you’d think they were trying to murder me. I ghosted the guy after that.”

I then went on to tell him some more horror dating and relationship stories. He laughed uproariously at the one about the guy who was obsessed with conspiracy theories and spent the three weeks of our relationship trying to convince me that lizard people were running the government. The sound of Michael’s laughter always made me feel tingly inside. It was so deep and smooth. Plus, I reveled in the fact that it seemed only Poppy and I could make him laugh that hard.

When I got to my most recent relationship, I held back quite a few details… like the part where I discovered my ex was a con artist who had racked up a mountain of debt with dangerous people and put me in their crosshairs.

“Oh, there was a very interesting one before my most recent ex,” I said. “The guy who asked me if I’d be willing to pee on him during sex.”

Michael, who had gotten up to grab us bottles of water while I talked, sputtered on his next sip. When he regained his composure, he turned to me with a look of disbelief.

“You’re kidding, right?” he asked.

“I kid you not. I ghosted him, too, after his request. I’ve done a lot of ghosting in my day. My many encounters with crazy guys is the reason I stayed a virgin… until I met you.”

He froze, and so did I when I realized what I’d said. The reminder that we had slept together made things get super awkward. Hot faced, I swerved away from that minefield of a topic.

“I mean… Well, I just attract the wrong guys,” I said. “Maybe there’s something wrong with me.”

“There’s nothing wrong with you,” he assured.

“It hasn’t all been bad. There was this one blind date I had where the guy was really decent. A gentleman who wined, dined, and treated me like a lady as I always wanted. Hell, it was the only normal date I’ve ever had.” I smiled sadly. “But then I messed it up…” As I tended to do.

Michael’s gaze jumped to my face. As our eyes stayed locked, the unease that had started to vanish slithered its back way in. Why couldn’t I just shut up sometimes? I had promised him there would be no awkwardness when he hired me, and there I was, making things awkward. I swallowed and quickly changed the subject.

“It’s your turn. Tell me about the so-called nanny curse.”

As he held my gaze, his eyebrows furrowed slightly. He opened his mouth and then closed it as if he was about to say something but changed his mind. Good. I bet he was about to mention something about our date, and I didn’t want to talk about it.

“Poppy has been through a few nannies—more than I’d like to admit. For some reason, they all seem to lose interest in the job quickly. Either they can’t handle the responsibility, or they misunderstand the situation.”

I studied him closely. “You mean they misunderstand things with you?”

He sighed. “Yes, and I don’t understand it. I’m not saying I’m a perfect employer, but I can say with certainty that I’ve never given any of them a reason to believe I was interested in them as more than employees.”

I believed him. Michael might be standoffish sometimes, and I admit, I’d referred to him as an asshole on a few occasions because of the icy way he handled things with me in the beginning, but he was an honorable man. In a world of Mr. Wrongs, he was one of the good guys… A Mr. Right for somebody , and a part of me wished I were that somebody.

“Some of them seem to think that being Poppy’s nanny is a stepping stone to something more with me. I’ve had to turn down more than a few advances, and it’s made things uncomfortable.”

“So the nanny curse is nannies with ulterior motives?” I asked.

He chuckled. “Pretty much. I worry about the instability for Poppy. I mean, I’m already traveling so often… I just want another stable presence in her life.” He pinned me with his eyes. “She’s connected with you more than she has with any of the others. Don’t disappoint her, Mia. I can’t stop you from leaving the job, but if you ever want to, just do it the right way. Don’t just disappear on her… and on me.”

His beseeching tone was shocking. I suspected Michael never begged for anything. This man, who obviously had trust issues, trusted me with his daughter. The intensity in his eyes, the vulnerability I could hear in his voice—it was shocking and a little heartwarming. I was staring at the man I’d met on a blind date. The one who had captivated me at first sight.

“I won’t, Michael.” My voice was barely above a whisper.

He searched my face as if looking for the truth… or was he looking for something else? Because his stare was much too intense. Did he move closer to me, or was I the one to move? My heart skipped a beat, and my breath snagged in my throat when his lips touched mine. A little sigh escaped me. It was like I was relieved to feel the weight of his mouth on mine again. I’d only thought about it every day since our night together.

Michael made that same growling sound. The one that said his control had fled the building. It was so sexy and such a turn-on. I moaned in delight when he cupped my nape to pull me closer and managed to haul me over my seat and right onto his lap.

His palm slid up my thigh, branding me through my jeans. I wound my arms around his shoulder, desperate to get closer. I wiggled in my mission to feel more of him, and my ass nudged the hardening bulge at his crotch.

He groaned. “Fuck, Mia…”

His voice reached me through my passionate daze, knocking sense into me. What was I doing? I had the chance to not mess up one thing in my life—this job—and there I was making out with my boss. “Micheal… stop…”

My words were muffled by his mouth, but they got through to him. He yanked his lips away from mine, and we stared at each other for a moment. While my heart hammered in my chest, he glanced at the closed door to the bedroom where Poppy slept, and his eyes widened. I guess it dawned on him that he just had his mouth and hands all over the nanny while his daughter was just a few feet away.

When he looked back at me with a hint of horror, I realized I still sat on his lap, and I scrambled to get up. During my shuffle, Michael clenched his jaw and held his palms up as if he was afraid to touch me again, even in the slightest way.

Breathless and face scorching, I threw myself in the seat across from him and clutched my chest. What should I do? What should I say? Oh God. How did that even happen?

“I…” Michael started, his voice rough as if he was struggling to find his composure. He stuck a finger in his collar and tugged as if he needed more air. “I’m sorry, Mia. That was… I didn’t mean to…”

I’d never heard him flustered, so I just gawked at him.

“Ah, shit ,” he groaned as he shoved his fingers through his hair. “I’m sorry,” he repeated.

“No. No … Th-that was…” Great, now I was a stuttering mess.

He shook his head. “ I kissed you. I apologize.”

Was that what happened? I wasn’t clear on who kissed who first. I just remembered us kissing the hell out of each other.

“It won’t happen again,” he said.

He trusted me. I couldn’t disappoint him, even if it meant I had to pretend I wasn’t into him, forget that we had incredible chemistry, that we slept together… and that I wanted to sleep with him again.

We certainly couldn’t have any more personal conversations like we just did. Telling him about my offer for a threesome and a guy wanting me to give him a golden shower during sex was beyond inappropriate. He was my boss now. None of it could happen again.

“It won’t,” I said firmly. However, deep down, I didn’t feel all that confident…

When our staring contest got too intense, I broke eye contact and got up. “I should go check on Poppy. We’re landing soon, right?” The flight to Minnesota wasn’t long.

He glanced at his watch and nodded. Then right before my eyes, he transformed from blind date Michael, as I called the man I met two months ago, back into stony-faced boss Michael. I suppose it was for the best.