She parked the car and peered toward the massive front doors. Her phone buzzed in the center console, and she picked it up. A text from her friend Tessa—someone she’d met at the yoga studio and one of her only friends in town.
Tessa: Ice cream? Tonight?
Penny: Can’t. I got a new job.
Tessa: A night job?
Penny: I’ll tell you about it in class.
She put her phone down in time to see a man in a white polo shirt and black slacks jog down the front steps, a broad grin on his face. Penny stepped out of the car into the California sun as he came around to her.
“Good morning. You must be Ms. Fox,” he said, extending his hand for her to shake. “I’m Mike, Mr. Preston’s day staffer. I’ll help you with your things and put your car in the garage for you.”
Mike opened one of the back doors and pulled out the suitcases as if they weighed nothing, when in fact they contained the entire inventory of Penny’s current life. They’d weighed a ton when she packed earlier in the morning. He took the suitcases briskly across the driveway, Penny hurrying to keep up.
“I’ll get you my number, and then we should be all set. Anything you guys need, I’m your man.”
“Thank you,” she said. “I look forward to—”
The big doors opened again, and there he was, all six foot something of him, blue eyes finding her right away.
“Morning, Ms. Fox. Mike, you can take her car in—I’ve got the bags from here.” He bent to take the suitcases from Mike while Penny ignored a fluttery, pleasant feeling behind her breastbone. Those eyes were something else.
“Hi.” The whole thing had her more than a little breathless. A modern-day butler? If Drew Preston had seen the apartment she’d just come from… “Mr. Preston. Hi.”
“Come on in.”
She followed him in through those enormous doors into an even more enormous entryway, the entire thing bathed in golden morning light. The ceilings soared above them, a sea of marble below her. The entry opened into a wide, sunny living room with low furniture, then an open kitchen…the place went on for miles. Music played—a throbbing beat, a melody that matched the sunshine in the room. It sounded like the band Carver Row.
Logan, the little boy from the office, came careening around the corner.
“Is it her, Daddy? Is it her?”
“It’s Miss Penny,” Drew said, dropping a suitcase to ruffle Logan’s hair. He picked it up again with a warm smile for his son. “Let’s show her her rooms, okay?”
“It’s this way.” Logan pointed up a wide, curving staircase to the second floor. “I’ll show you.”
The three of them climbed the stairs together, Penny’s heart thumping. It seemed so intimate, to climb up the stairs in her new boss’s house. She’d been expecting something…less intimate. Maybe a room downstairs, or in a guest house. But no—Drew led her to the second floor, Logan running ahead. They made a left down the first hallway, and Logan popped his head out of a doorway midway down. “Come on,” he shouted. “Let’s go!”
Penny laughed. “Coming right along,” she answered.
“He’s pretty rambunctious,” Drew said, glancing down at her. It wasn’t quite an apology.
“I like people with spirit.”
At the door to her room, Penny took a couple quick steps ahead and made a turn to beat Drew into the doorway…right as he sped up, too. They crashed together, and she put a hand on his chest to steady herself. All that hard muscle…
“Sorry about that,” Drew said. “I’m usually better at getting things from point A to point B.”
It was a terrible shipping joke, and she laughed through the heat in her cheeks. “I’m quite the obstacle to navigate around.”
“Perhaps your deliveries need more white-glove treatment.” Drew winked at her, then pulled the suitcases into the room.
Had that been heat in his eyes?
Penny pushed all those thoughts deep down where they wouldn’t distract her from the most essential task of the day: nailing him.
God. No. Nailing the job. She had to be excellent at this job, otherwise it was back to the garage apartment and struggling to make ends meet. A few bad puns between boss and employee wasn’t really flirting, was it?
“So, this’ll be your private space,” Drew was saying.
“This” ended up being a wide, spacious bedroom, complete with walk-in closet and en suite bathroom, all of it sunny and gleaming and bright. It smelled so fresh and clean, like someone had just been through with fresh paint and lemons.
“Whoa,” she breathed, shooting Drew a smile that felt bewildered. She hoped it came off more as impressed as hell. “When you said nanny suite I didn’t think it meant a room at the Ritz.”
He laughed again, the sound rich and comforting. “It’s important for you to be close to Logan’s room, which is on the other side of the staircase. And I like to treat my people well.” His gaze held hers for a heartbeat longer than necessary, and…wow.
His eyes.
Blue, like the ocean at the coast. The sight of them made her feel the sea breeze in her hair and the salt on her lips. What would Drew Preston look like in one of those breezes, in a classic all-American red swimsuit?
It wasn’t something she should think about right now. Or ever, really. Not as long as he was her boss and sleeping somewhere down the hall.
Oh, god.
His perfect mouth turned down into a frown. “I’d give you more time to get settled in, but I have to head to the office. Are you okay to get started?”
“I’m more than okay.” Too much? Pull it back, Penny. “Let’s do this.”
They went back down the stairs, and Drew gave her a whirlwind tour of the rest of the house. Some of the rest of the house. Here was the playroom, with wall-to-wall carpeting, a mini trampoline, and minimalist shelves featuring fewer toys than she’d expected. Drew caught her looking.
“I read that kids have an easier time with fewer toys, so we really cut down. Now he has his favorites. Don’t lose Mr. Bear, though,” he warned. Penny liked this relaxed side of him. “Mr. Bear goes to Susan’s house with Logan when he goes,” he added, in a quieter voice as the boy ran in a wide loop around the room. “Things are better between the two of us now, but it’s still a big transition to navigate.”
“I completely understand.” Penny had nannied for a couple of divorced children while she was in college, and it had always been a hurdle.
“I’m glad.” Drew’s eyes met hers again. “I saw on your resume that you have a lot of corporate experience, but I’m grateful you’ve decided to dedicate yourself to raising kids. Businesses…” He shook his head and laughed ruefully. “Ah, we don’t need to get into what business do to relationships. I’ll let you check out the snacks in the kitchen before I go. Logan usually won’t sit for breakfast for me.”
“Challenge accepted,” Penny said brightly. But the dodged bullet swung a little closer, looping back. If he thought she was out of the business game entirely, how was she going to bond with him over shipping routes and packaging innovations? Men like him—they were all the same. They’d shelve her in a category and never think she could be multifaceted. Drew’s not the same, a little voice in her head said, but that little voice was wrong.