“I bet he’s a hit at the playground.”
“Oh, usually the center of attention, for sure.”
Drew was missing something, and Penelope’s presence in the room made it hard to think what it was.
“Ms. Fox’s resume and application.” Britta stepped to his side and pressed a slim folder into his hands.
Right. The interview.
“Right this way, Ms. Fox.” Drew led her down the hallway and into a meeting room with a table for six. Penelope took a deep breath and settled into one of the seats. He took the one across the table.
God, she was stunning. A faint hint of spring rain and jasmine floated across the table.
“Penelope Fox. It’s a pleasure to have you here.”
“It’s good to be here. Most people call me Penny.”
“Penny.” It felt good just to say her name, but they were in the office, and she might be his nanny. Best to draw a firm line. “Ms. Fox. Most people around the office call me Mr. Preston.”
“Mr. Preston it is.” She folded her hands on the table and took a deep breath. How could a smile that was so subtle be so confident at the same time?
Work. Focus on the work.
“How did you hear about the open position, Ms. Fox?”
“I’ve been casting a wide net in the area.” She leaned forward slightly as she spoke. “When I saw the posting, I thought the position would work nicely with my experience.” Penny ran through some of the highlights, and Drew picked up her resume so he could force himself to stop looking at her perfect lips.
He’d read the words on the paper before, but now they struck him in a new light. Yes, there was experience as nanny listed there—but far more experience in corporate work. Penelope Fox was way overqualified to be a nanny. But Logan had liked her instantly. The last nanny search had been exhausting for everyone.
Hire her.
“—a lot in common.” She squared her shoulders, smiling at him. “And I’m available to begin work right away.”
“You’re licensed to drive, correct?” He rifled through the other sheets of paper in the folder. “I wanted to check—”
A knock at the door caught his attention—Britta. “Ms. Fox’s clearance papers,” she said, hustling across to give them to Drew.
They were flawless. Not a ticket, not a blemish.
As Britta slipped out the door, he took another look at Penelope Fox. She looked him in the eye, expectant. Radiant, even.
“I have a list of questions I’ve prepared about your philosophies, but honestly…” Drew ran his fingers through his hair. “I’m impressed with the way you connected with my son. He doesn’t take to everybody so easily.”
She blinked, shaking her head as if his comment was a bit of a surprise. “He’s a lovely little boy.”
“My gut says I should hire you right now and stop the search.”
Her eyebrows went up. “Now?”
“We haven’t even scratched the surface of the candidate list for the nanny position.” Drew laughed. “I shouldn’t be telling you that, but there you go.”
“Yes,” she said quickly. “Right, yes.” Penelope squeezed her hands together. “Well, I can’t say I’d be opposed to it if you offered me the job. I can work nights and some weekend days, too, if it helps.”
“And you don’t mind several trips a day to the playground?” The suit she was wearing would never work for an outing like that, but if she dressed like this for the interview, she undoubtedly had a wardrobe fit for the world’s greatest nanny.
A pair of voices at the door interrupted his train of thought. “Guys, room’s occupied.”
His brothers, Charlie and Archer, stopped halfway through the door. Archer grinned, eyes dancing. “Sorry to interrupt.” They went back the way they came.
“My brothers,” he said with a tight smile. “You’ll be seeing them from time to time, when you’re picking up and dropping off.
“Not in the office?” Penny asked.
“Oh, no. Logan doesn’t spend much time at the office. The last couple of weeks have been an anomaly, with my uncle helping out.”
“Of course.”
Hire her. That little voice was a gut reaction to the way she’d been with Logan, and Drew knew from experience that the first choice could be the best one. The way Logan had hugged her…
“Let’s skip the rest of the questions. Will you do the job to the best of your ability, knowing that my son is the most important thing in the world to me?”
Her expression turned solemn. “I will.”
“Then welcome aboard, Ms. Fox. You’re hired.”
2
Bullet: dodged.
Kind of.
Who showed up to an interview for the wrong job? Penny did, apparently. She’d come dressed for an office position she could leverage into a brand-new, zero-controversy career in logistics. A fresh start. If she had to climb a few rungs on the ladder at Preston, that would be fine. Start as an assistant, work her way up. She had the explanation down pat for why her skills in the corporate world were actually in shipping—a tight non-disclosure agreement, a boss who was tough to get a recommendation out of.
In reality, it was a far messier story. Her heart still pounded to think of it.
None of it had come up, obviously. So that was a small win.
Penny steered her beater of a car down the long driveway to Drew’s house. The view from the access road had been stunning.
Fifteen minutes after she e-signed the employment contract on her phone, Drew had called to let her know that the nanny suite at the house was ready. She’d spent one final night in the crappy apartment above an older couple’s garage and loaded her things—there wasn’t much nowadays—into her car. Move-in day. First day at work. Why not take care of it all in one fell swoop?
Sure, she hadn’t expected to be going to work as a nanny. The moment she’d left the Preston offices, she’d pulled up the job description and her cover letter on her computer. Yep, definitely an office job, though her cover letter did talk about her nanny experience in a “being organized while caring for triplets definitely transfers to being organized while caring for a middle manager” kind of way. Someone must have seen the word “nanny” and sorted her application incorrectly. Well, she’d make it work. At least she hadn’t blown it when, mid-interview, it became clear what Drew Preston wanted from her.
A job was a job. And if she had to work as a nanny, it might as well be for Drew Preston. Handsome, muscular Drew Preston, with blond hair and blue eyes that had made her forget she was at a job interview for a brief second.
Shake it off, Penny.
The real thing to focus on should be slipping her interview information and logistics experience into casual conversation, obviously. She’d have to work her way in from the outside. The inside outside.
Anyway.
One last curve of the driveway, and the house came into view.
And it wasn’t a house.
It was a mansion.
“Wow.” The fact that Drew Preston of Preston Logistics lived in a sprawling Spanish colonial-style mansion with a driveway a mile long and a garage the size of Texas shouldn’t have been a surprise, but…it was huge.