Page 10 of The Billionaire Dating Dad (The Holidates #18)

Dimitri

D imitri didn’t consider himself a lucky man.

He wasn’t born into the perfect family — his mother had struggled to put food on the table more times than not.

His family didn’t stumble into wealth — that path was paved by his older brother with fists, bloodshed, and their mother’s death.

But today he considered himself a very lucky man to have Violet stumble into his life — not once, but twice.

And he had no intention of snubbing fate a second time.

Seeing her pulse quicken along her neck at his nearness only solidified his decision. He wanted her with the same fierceness he did that night. If he had any hope of winning her, he needed Violet within reach, because given the chance, she would bolt.

A warm breeze stirred her perfume under his nose and his muscles flexed to keep himself from burying his nose against her neck.

Would her skin feel as he’d remembered? Soft.

Infused with shea butter. Violet had tasted sweet under the droplets of rain and the open night sky.

She’d been gentle when he’d been gruff. Perhaps she could be the gentleness Maddie needed to soothe the anguish of missing her mother.

“You shouldn’t have come.”

She swallowed.

He focused on the subtle movement along her throat, imagining arousal caused her nervousness and not panic or anger at seeing him again. “But now that you’re here.” That I’ve seen you. Feel my blood thunder from your closeness. “I can’t let you leave.”

Violet’s eyes widened. “What do you mean?”

“Do you think the agency would like to know how you secured employment with the Townsons?” He hated pulling an asshole move like this but where Violet was concerned he would risk anything if it meant keeping her with him.

He’d denied himself for too long to be calm and collected when she could leave him at any second.

“You wouldn’t.” She searched his face but found no sign of retreat. “We both got what we went to the gallery for that night.”

Dimitri grunted. “You got your job and my sister got her paintings.” He whispered in her ear, “I got nothing.”

She sucked in a shuddering breath that almost made him remorseful.

“We’re not the same, Violet. I have a little girl inside that lost her entire world. There is nothing I wouldn’t do to make her happy.” He hated mentioning his need for a nanny when his desires for this woman had nothing to do with Maddie.

“So you’d force me to work for you?”

“If that’s what it takes.”

“Dimitri, listen —”

“Three months,” he said, hearing the rejection in her voice. He had too much to lose if she walked away.

“What?” She frowned.

“If you don’t want to stay after three months, I’ll find a qualified replacement.”

Violet held his gaze. “Then you’ll let me go?”

Those weren’t the words he’d use, then again, he didn’t utter them. “In three months you’ll no longer have to work for me.”

She searched his face for a long time before blowing a frustrated breath into the air. “We should lay out some rules and changes to the job description if I’m going to stay.”

Her shoulders straightened in a beautiful challenge but he wasn’t a man to back down. “What I require from you hasn’t changed, Violet.”

“This isn’t funny, Dimitri. You can’t expect me to live here… with you.”

“Did you think Maddie lived on her own?”

“Of course not! But be reasonable. This isn’t a good idea.”

“It’s a live-in position, Violet, you knew that.”

“Yes, but…” She gripped his arm. “What about her mother?”

Anger tightened his jaw at the reminder. He should have done more to help May and protect his daughter from the hurt she was feeling. That wouldn’t happen again, he vowed.

“It’ll be awkward enough being around you. What am I supposed to tell your wife, Maddie’s mother when she realizes —” Violet clamped her mouth shut.

“When she realizes what?” Her grip on his arm played havoc on his skin. “That if she hadn’t called that night you would have woken in my bed?”

Her eyes widened with guilt and he felt like an eel. She already disliked him, but Dimitri couldn’t let her deny the current flowing between them. That she tried to ignore those feelings unsettled him in the worst way.

He plucked her car keys from her hand before turning toward the house. “You can share your concerns tonight after Maddie goes to bed.

Dimitri half expected her to march from his driveway the moment he went into the house to collect Maddie. But she was still standing beside her car when he returned. Dimitri meant what he said, he’d do whatever it took to ease his daughter’s pain. “Maddie, I’d like you to meet your new nanny.”

“We already met, Daddy.” Maddie squinted up at Violet. “Are you coming to my class?”

Dimitri tapped his daughter on the nose. “She sure is. Would you like that?”

“Uh-huh.” Maddie took Violet’s hand as his driver, pulled beside them. “You can sit beside me,” Maddie said, “I sit in the middle, that means you can have the window seat.”

“Not only will Violet be going to your classes, but she’ll also be living with us too,” he said, meeting Violet’s icy glare with determination. He opened the car door and Maddie hurried into her booster seat. “Buckle up, sweetheart.”

“You promised we’d talk later,” Violet hissed through clenched teeth.

“I promised to listen to your concerns,” he corrected. “Now get in.” The moment she slid into the car, Dimitri leaned forward, fastening her seatbelt.

“I can do that.”

“So can I.” He tugged at Maddie’s seatbelt to make sure it was secure.

“Daddy buckles me up all the time,” Maddie cheered.

Violet’s gaze was heavy and he wondered at the thoughts going through her mind.

Her body was rigid from holding herself still.

Dimitri doubted she’d taken a full breath since entering the car.

A shame he’d have to wait to have her breath brush his cheek.

No matter, he’d started this game of seduction and he had no intention of changing direction.

The car ride to the studio seemed longer than usual.

Yet, the tension-filled silence was oddly comforting.

It had been six months since his daughter’s arrival.

He hadn’t dated anyone nor had any woman brought his body to life like Violet.

Sharing this moment brought images of what they could be.

A glimpse at what raising Maddie with someone might be like.

He glanced over his daughter’s fuzzy bun as the car stopped to meet Violet’s eye and guessed from how quickly she glanced away that she wasn’t immune to the chemistry between them. Seeing Violet was surreal and he couldn’t take his eyes off her for fear that she would vanish.

“Have fun, sweetheart,” he said, handing Maddie her bag. When she joined the other dancers, Dimitri took Violet’s elbow, guiding them to a seating area behind a glass wall where the parents watched the performance.

“Shouldn’t I go with Maddie?” Violet tried to slip out of his hold.

“Not unless there’s an emergency, parents aren’t allowed.”

She quickly glanced around at the other mothers. He was the only father. At times he admitted to being frustrated by the nonstop chatter about competitive dancing.

“Dimitri, I saved a seat for you,” Stephanie, one of the mothers said.

Violet stiffened and he smiled.

“Oh! You brought company.” Stephanie lost her smile for a second before shrugging off her disappointment as if Violet were a mild irritation. She expertly maneuvered Dimitri to sit in the empty seat beside her. “Who’s your friend?”

“Stephanie, this is Violet, she’s my —”

“I’m Maddie’s new nanny.”

“Only until I convince her to be my — aw.” Violet elbowed him and he grinned and her feistiness, even if he intended to get what he wanted in the long run.

“I’m temporary until he finds someone more suitable for the job.”

“Oh.” Stephanie glanced between Dimitri and Violet. “Why didn’t you just ask me, silly? I’ll start making calls as soon as I get home.”

Violet smirked. “Thank you!”

“Perhaps after I’ve made a list of potential candidates, me and Sadie can come over to help narrow down a candidate.”

Dimitri quirked his brow. Before today, Stephanie was content with subtle hints and he’d been okay with her innocent flirtation so long as he wasn’t required to act on it.

Visiting his home and throwing their children together under the guise of nanny hunting was too much.

He didn’t use his daughter to pick up women.

“Thanks for the offer Stephanie but I can handle finding a nanny.”

“Nonsense, it’s no trouble at all!” The woman clutched his arm, oblivious to his growing agitation.

“Any help finding a replacement would be appreciated,” Violet piped in.

Dimitri faced Violet, meeting arched brows and a pair of wide brown eyes. She was amused and having fun at his expense. Well, two could play that game. “Violet is right,” he said, not taking his gaze from Violet. “Name the date and time and I’ll make sure Violet is available to review your list.”

Violet’s amused smile slowly vanished.

“Wouldn’t you be there?” Stephanie asked.

“You two are far more experienced in this department.” He offered Violet a ruthless smile before standing. “I’d only get in the way.”

He didn’t wait for a reply, he took Violet’s arm, guiding them from the seating area just in time to scoop Maddie into his arms as she ran from class.

“Did you see my moves, Violet?”

“Yes,” she said, surprising Dimitri when she relayed a few moves Maddie had done well.

The previous nanny had been indulgent, but not nearly as engaged with his daughter as Violet.

“I need to go home,” she said after getting into the car after Maddie.

Was she trying to back out of an arrangement they had barely started? “For the next three months, your home is my home. It’s where I am.”

“Let’s get one thing clear, your home is my place of employment. Nothing more.” She whispered furiously at him to not be overheard by Maddie. “Because of your high-handedness, I wasn’t prepared to move in.”

“No.”

Her eyes widened. “I say, yes. Unless you want an unhappy nanny in the morning, you’ll take me home to pack a bag.”

He didn’t care whether she slept naked or snored. “A bag will make you happy?”

“Two would make me ecstatic.”

Dimitri grunted.

She touched his hand, sending awareness throughout his body. “But one bag will definitely help my happy meter.”

Shaking his head, he closed her car door. By the time they pulled in front of Violet’s apartment, Dimitri knew he hadn’t come close to cracking her frosty facade. “Fifteen minutes,” he said when she practically leaped from the vehicle.

“I can take a taxi to your place.”

“We’ll wait,” he said. “And Violet…” He waited until she faced him. “Get what makes you comfortable because you won’t be returning. As far as your lack of happiness at night, I’m willing to discuss that shortcoming further. And so you know, there is no Mrs. Dimitri Popova. Yet.”