Being His Nanny (A New Adult Romance): Part 1 (2 page)

              He started flapping around another filter and pacing back and forth. “I just can’t…I can’t…I’ll be back.” He disappeared into a little room in the back of the café, and I waited for him to come back.

It took about an hour and a half, but once my very nice and patient coworker David arrived, I started to learn a few tasks. Since it was my first day, David placed me by the tower of cups and had me fill them with coffee. I felt like part of a conveyer belt, it was that monotonous. At least until
he
came in.

Chapter Three

              I heard him before I saw him. He had a very calm, deep voice. He didn’t talk like the other customers, who tossed out rude demands. Some of them only said one word. “Coffee,” was usually what they muttered. But not him.

              “Large coffee and a hot chocolate, please.” He spoke in a crisp English accent before placing his lovely mouth against the side of his daughter’s head to kiss her. I turned around and saw his beautiful dark blue eyes, his black hair, his sexy stubble because he hadn’t taken the time to shave today. Everything about him was very well put-together. Masculine and yet dapper. His fancy wristwatch, his well-manicured fingernails. His nice black trousers and snug black shirt, complimented with brown leather suspenders. Very fashion forward. Everything fit his incredible body so snug.

              “Actually…” he spoke, I assumed to me, as he put his nice thick fingers on top of the coffee and looked up at the menu. “You guys still do that…” he had a few twenties in his hand as he moved it in a circle. I couldn’t get over how nice he looked. He smelled good too, so good I wanted to move closer to him to breathe in the rich wave of crisp luxury.
Oh my god…stop thinking such dirty thoughts!
I stared at his broad shoulders, at his nice white teeth, his blue eyes. I don’t know if midnight-blue was a real color or anything, but if it was, that was the color of his eyes.

              He coughed into his hand. “Excuse me,” he smiled politely and it was the first time our eyes met. “Alfonso!” he said.

              “No…” I said, nervously as I played with the lace collar of my dress. “Chelsea.”

              “Oh my gosh.” Harry rushed over to the rescue. “He means the drink – not your name!” Harry laughed, as if why on earth would a handsome, rich man want to know my name.

              “That’s it,” the man charmingly responded before winking at me. “I knew you were not an Alfonso. An Alfonso is what I like to drink…not that…” He never finished what he was going to say.

              Our eyes met again, and this time it was different from before. He
wanted
to look at me; he didn’t
just happen
to look at me. I just looked in his eyes. I didn’t have the nerve to look anywhere else. His little girl, who was simply beautiful, whispered something in his ear.

              “She does look like mommy,” He smiled. Then he looked at me, and for whatever reason, stopped smiling. “You look like my wife.”

              “Oh,” I smiled, pleased. “Where is she?”

              “She’s dead,” he replied. I was shocked by the lack of emotion in his voice. I looked at his little girl when her face scrunched up in a bratty pout.

              “Hey don’t say that about mommy!”

              “Well it’s true,” he told her. He picked up his daughter. Her long curly dirty-blonde hair wrapped around his neck. Her little nose was still all scrunched up. She reached for the hot chocolate and it spilled down the counter, splashing me on the chest.

              “Oh goodness! Penelope, look what you did,” he lectured. “Are you okay? How hot was it?”

              “Its not hot at all,” I stammered, reaching for some napkins.

              “Are you sure?” he asked. All I really heard was how hot his accent was, followed by the wails coming from Penelope.

              “Oh my goodness.” The man tried to get his bearings. He picked Penelope up like she was light as a feather. “I will pay for your dress,” he said. “How much was it?”

              “Oh, you don’t have to do that…” My eyes wandered over to the long line building behind him.
Oh, this day
.

              “Please,” he refused to take no for an answer. I couldn’t get over the masculine shape of his face, strong, square jaw, those eyes. That stubble. The boys back home I knew could never grow stubble like that. His chest looked solid as a brick wall. I watched as he brought a ton of cash from his wallet. “It means nothing to me,” he said, looking directly into my eyes. His blue eyes looked a bit icy when I just stood there. I finally took the money – which was way, way more than the dress cost.

              “I’ll make…make you another hot chocolate.”

              “You don’t have to do that. I can go to
Danny’s
. You’re very busy.”

              “Its not…”

              “Please.” He frowned, his face taking on quite a sinister shape when he did so. I backed off and watched as he picked up Penelope and walked out. They got into the long, black limo parked out front.

              “Jesus, that asshat,” Harry said, slamming the register drawer shut.

              “You don’t like him?”

              Harry let out a little laugh. “Jackson Maxwell? You’re asking me if I don’t like Jackson Maxwell?” He just looked at me for a minute, this funny, frozen look on his face. I no longer thought Harry as cute, because he was just so annoying to me now. “No, nor do I like cancer very much or the paralyzing affect of death. I need you to wipe off this counter and go around and collect all the cups people left behind because throwing them into the trashcan is like expecting a spaceship to land right here in front of us.”

Jackson Maxwell had given me two-hundred euros. I didn’t even realize it until I finally had a chance to go to the bathroom. Between that and the tips I made, I almost had two-hundred dollars and fifty in my pocket by the time I left work! It almost made getting up at 3:30 am not seem so terrible.

              It was only eight thirty am in the morning when I left work. It was so early. I sat on a bench and looked up where our classes would be held. Thankfully, it was only a short distance away. Three miles away. Look at that!
Could I walk three miles before nine?
Probably. I guess tomorrow would be the only way to find out. I would hate to have to catch two cabs every morning. There was one thing I needed to get…an extra large umbrella. No doubt it would soon rain during these early mornings.

              I was a little tired and felt very dirty. Part of me wanted to go shopping and buy something fun with my money, but I also knew I should hold onto it. Two different voices argued in my head as I wandered aimlessly around the neighborhood I’d yet to explore. So what was the deal with Jackson Maxwell? Harry really seemed perturbed by him. I couldn’t help but smile a little when I thought of Harry. What a funny little man – getting all bent out of shape over the smallest things.

              I kept walking so eventually the little fancy, expensive boutiques became luxurious homes and then the homes became just trees.
Good lord, where was I?

              I stopped and looked at the street signs (as if that would help) I was still lost as ever.

              I read a few of the street signs when all of the sudden a long, black limo pulled up in front of me. The window automatically, smoothly rolled down. I couldn’t see who was behind it because it was tinted. Then, I saw his handsome face.

              “You still haven’t replaced the dress,” he pointed, sounding disappointed, as his finger pretty much aimed at my chest. His eyes too.

              “I know, haven’t had time. It’s barely even ten thirty in the morning,” I shyly spoke as I covered my eyes from the sun peeking through the clouds. I hadn’t realized I had walked for so long. A pretty harsh wind blew, picking up the one piece of trash around.

              “Well if you’re planning on doing it out here, you won’t find much.”
God, his accent.
I could barely understand him.

              “I’m kinda just wanderin’…around.” My accent on the other hand made me sound so dumb, I was sure. I slowly approached the limo. I didn’t see his little girl anywhere, just a champagne flute and a briefcase. I wondered what was in the briefcase. It was very peaceful in there – just some sort of indie music on a very low volume.

              “Well…” Our eyes paused on one another. Then his eyes fell shamelessly to my breasts. “You don’t want to keep this way – eventually it turns a bit grimy.” Only he could make the word “grimy” sound like it stood for something nice.

              “Grimy?” I sort of sighed.

              “Yes, a girl like you should not go that way.”

              “Why’s that?”

              He smiled, amused. “Trust me, okay? Would you like a ride back to the Quarter? Its no problem.” The Quarter was what everyone called the neighborhood I worked in. “I will tell you the best places to shop…or we can take you right back to where you live.”

              “Um…”

              “Darling, I don’t want to spend all day here.” He didn’t seem like he was made of patience. I felt a bit pressured, but I got in the back of the limo.

              “Turn around, Will,” Harry informed the driver.  

              “Wow,” I looked around. The long leather seats were so smooth. I could stretch all the way out and go to sleep if I wanted. “I’ve never been in a limo before,” I decided to share.

              “Really?” Jackson seemed amused as he poured champagne into a glass and handed it to me.

              “Oh no, thank you.”

              He laughed a little. “Are you kidding?”

              “I’m just twenty-one,” I said, very soft. He had this crazy effect on me. I was nervous, I could barely function.

              “You’re perfectly legal. Take the champagne; its very expensive. It’s rude to not accept a gift,” he lectured. I took the champagne. I was too nervous to drink it at first. I had just turned twenty-one a month before. I still felt twenty. I felt stupid for saying
I’m just twenty-one.
So I quickly said, “It’s…uh, still morning.”

“Indeed it is. Almost lunch time though. I’m just doing a little celebrating. Closed a big deal.”

“Where were you going?” I asked him. He did not respond. Instead, he leaned forward to change the music.

              “Chelsea, have you noticed that every second-to-the-last-song on every album just isn’t that good?”

              “I…no…”

              “My theory is that its because they have to have a filler – you know? They have to have enough songs on the record.” I loved how he said record, pronouncing it reee-cord. “So they put the song – the filler – on there and it’s usually never the last because the last song will leave an impression, you know?” He looked at me as I finally sipped the champagne. “Are you listening to me?” he asked.

              “Yes, you were talking about records –
reeecords
,” I playfully mocked. He was not amused. “I’m sorry…” I quickly apologized. “Sir.”

              He studied me for a minute, his expression not changing. I sipped my champagne and realized we’d passed The Quarter. I started to point this out when he spoke up.

              “How do you like working at the coffee shop?”

              “Oh,” I smiled a little. “Today was my first day – its so busy there.”

              “How do you like working at the coffee shop?” he repeated, wooden.

              “Um…I don’t, I guess.”

              “What would you rather be doing?” he asked next. I really wanted to know where we were going.

              “Sleeping,” I joked.

              “So you’re lazy,” he assumed.

              “No, I just have to get up very early. Actually, I took the job to earn a bit of extra money. I’m here on a summer acting extensive. My classes begin at nine until three. I wanted to have the remainder of my day off to rehearse.”

He studied me intently. His eyes narrowed in on me, as if he were reading my innermost thoughts. Something about that dark stare made me clear my throat nervously and re-cross my legs. “An acting extensive?”

“Yes.”

“So you like to act.”

“That’s an understatement.”

“Are you any good at it?”

“I like to think so.” I nervously tapped against the flute. “Of course, I have areas that need improvement. That’s why I’m here. To learn.”

“To learn.”

He said the words slowly and he kept those laser eyes on me. I felt chills surface from my body from head to toe.
Oh my god, what was he thinking!?

“Ye…yes. Can I ask you what you do?”

              “I do a lot of things,” he said, pouring me more champagne. “I have to also look after my daughter. She despises any nanny I hire. It’s causing me a bit of a headache, actually.”

              “Oh…”

              “She misses her mother; she doesn’t understand what death means. She doesn’t understand that she’s never coming back. She likes you, though. I find that odd,” he said, before looking out of the window. “She never likes anyone.” He looked back at me.

              “Well…that’s nice,” I replied genuinely. My smile was big, and I felt happy to know the little girl liked me. She was adorable!

              “Indeed.”

              Oh my god. Could he be anymore charming? That accent. This scene.
What the heck am I doing in here?
I couldn’t wait to text Sky. Nervously, I looked at his hands when he said that. He crossed them. Nice, strong fingers. He messed with his expensive wristwatch for a minute.