Damaged Goods: A Single Dad & Nanny Romance Read online

  “Good night,” I said. “I’ll send your daddy up.”

  “Good night,” she said back with a wave.

  I poked my head in to check on Tommy on my way downstairs, but he was already asleep. Smiling, I walked into the living room to say goodbye to Sean.

  “They’re both in bed,” I said. “Sarah’s waiting for you, but Tommy’s already asleep.”

  “I can handle bedtime by myself. There’s no need for you to do that part,” he said grudgingly.

  I stifled a sigh. “Ok, I’ll be sure to leave that to you in the future.”

  Sean nodded. “I’ll see you same time tomorrow.”

  Yes sir. Is there anything else you need me to do? Like maybe take that stick out of your ass?

  The guy needed a good lesson in manners, but considering what he’d been through, I could give him a pass—for now.

  “Good night,” I said, moving slowly toward the door.

  As I stepped out onto the front porch, I couldn’t help but glance behind me. Sean was already making his way upstairs. With a sigh, I pulled the front door closed and walked to my car. Once inside, I let out a relieved breath and drove home.

  My first day went better than I could have hoped. Tommy and Sarah both seemed to take to me easily, and even Sean had shown small glimpses of humanity at dinnertime. The kids were easy, but Sean had been my main concern. Some parents were nervous and had specific instructions for how to take care of their children. Sean wasn’t one of them.

  As gruff and standoffish as he was, he let me take over effortlessly, and that only made my curiosity even stronger.

  It didn’t help that he was exceptionally hot. Every time I looked over at Sean, my stomach filled with butterflies. He was gorgeous and incredibly sexy. I couldn’t keep my eyes from roaming over his biceps and obvious six-pack hidden just beneath the thin fabric of his T-shirt.

  Sean’s body was on my mind the entire drive home.

  CHAPTER FIVE - SEAN

  Emily arrived right at eight o’clock the next morning. I’d hoped she’d be late since I took too long to get out of bed. When I woke up, my morning wood was harder than it had been in a long time.

  My dreams had been about Emily, and I wasn’t at all surprised to see the tent my cock formed under my sheet. Still, it took me a while to relax and calm down. By the time I managed to climb out of bed, it was already a quarter to eight.

  “Good morning,” Emily said brightly as she bounced into the kitchen.

  Tommy and Sarah ran over to give her a hug. She leaned down and kissed them both on the top of the head before she ushered them into their chairs. She was dressed professionally with a pair of black pants and a light-gray sweater, but even so it couldn’t hide the curves she had in all the right places. As she cooked breakfast, I hung back, too afraid to be close to her. She made my body respond in ways that made me feel like I was betraying my marriage, even though I hadn’t been the one to do that.

  I looked at her as she stood in front of the stove. Her blue-green eyes were focused downward, and her dark brown curls hung loosely over her face. I swallowed hard and forced myself to look away. From the second Emily walked through the front door yesterday, I hadn’t been able to get her off my mind. I went to bed last night just thinking about her curves and her perky tits. While she cooked, I had to force myself to think about something else. I knew that if I gave just one inch, this woman could climb the wall I’d built around myself. I wasn’t going to let that happen.

  It worked for a while. I watched T.V. and flipped through a magazine. Every few minutes, Sarah or Tommy would ask me a question that forced me to look up. I always answered them easily, but then my eyes fell on, Emily and I was back to square one. I needed to find my get out of jail free card or I was going to be in deep trouble.

  The hardest test came when she bent over the kitchen table to cut Sarah’s sausage. With that one motion, I got a bird’s eye view of her ample cleavage, and I felt my dick twitch in my pants. I swallowed hard and tried to look away, but I couldn’t. Her tits were like magnets, drawing my eyes to them and torturing me with their appeal. My thoughts ventured on dangerous territory.

  “Are you hungry, Sean?” Emily asked suddenly. She stood up straight, her eyes focused on mine. “I can make you something before I take the kids to the park.”

  “No.” I cleared my throat. “I’m good.”

  Emily nodded and went back to getting the kids ready for the day. I exhaled slowly and covered my lap with the magazine I’d been holding. The last thing I needed was for Emily or the kids to see my raging boner first thing in the morning. I was beyond grateful when they finally left the house for a quick trip to the park.

  They weren’t gone long enough, though. Just as I finally managed to get my thoughts off Emily, she came bouncing through the front door with the kids by her side. She grinned brightly as Tommy told me all about the park. Sarah insisted I go with them later.

  I tried my best to focus on their words, but Emily’s smile was captivating. Her lips were the perfect shade of pink, and they curved just right. As I looked at her, I imagined those same lips wrapped around my hard cock.

  Shaking my head, I forced myself to look at Tommy and Sarah. If anything could center me, it was my kids.

  “That sounds like fun,” I said, smiling. “I’ll go with you guys tomorrow.”

  “Really?” Sarah asked, bouncing up and down on her feet.

  “Really,” I said.

  Sarah and Tommy both cheered with delight before running upstairs. Emily insisted they wash up before lunch. Before they made it back downstairs, she was already in the kitchen, preparing their food. I was starving and thought about going into the kitchen to get something for myself, but the second I saw Emily bend over to get something out of the fridge, I froze. There was no way I could be that close to her without touching her. God, I wanted her so badly. What was wrong with me?

  “I’ll be in my study,” I nearly barked.

  I didn’t wait for her to respond, I simply hurried down the hall and disappeared inside. Once the door was firmly closed behind me, I sank into my desk chair and took deep, relaxing breaths. My entire body was alive with desire, and I didn’t know how to calm myself. Every time I looked at Emily, all I could think about was taking her on the nearest flat surface. She was sexy and sweet, amazing with my kids, constantly asking me if I needed anything else, and that body – why did it have to be so hot?

  No, I thought firmly to myself. I needed to focus, or else I would never get anything done. With a groan, I pulled my notebook toward me and grabbed a pen. I didn’t have anything to write so I just jotted down random thoughts and hoped that would be enough to get my creative juices flowing.

  I hadn’t yet told anyone, but since Telissa died I’d been thinking about becoming a writer. I couldn’t imagine myself in a courtroom anymore. I didn’t need the money that a law career afforded me. I’d invested well, and my kids and I could live very comfortably for as long as it took me to figure things out.

  For an entire year, I tried to fall back into my old routine, but it never worked. It wasn’t until I bought a notebook and started writing, that things seemed to fall into place. Writing was what I wanted to do. I just wasn’t sure how to do it, or what to write about.

  Today was especially hard. No matter how many times I tried to write something insightful or clever, thoughts of Emily invaded my psyche.

  About an hour after I sat down, there was a soft knock on the door. I cleared my throat and sat back in my chair, shoving my notebook into my top drawer.

  “Come in,” I said.

  Emily pushed open the door and walked inside slowly. She smiled and set a sandwich down on the desk in front of me. It looked amazing, and my stomach grumbled the second I saw it.

  “I thought you might be hungry,” she said. “You didn’t eat breakfast.”

  “Thanks,” I said, my voice flat.

  She nodded and quickly left the study again. I watched her
leave, my eyes trained on her ass.

  When the door fell closed behind her, I groaned and leaned back in my chair. I couldn’t even see her for two minutes without wanting to rip her fucking clothes from her body. Just watching her walk away from me was enough to make me imagine how she would feel from behind.

  I longed to wrap my hands around her curvy hips and pound her mercilessly. Instead, all I could do was close my eyes and try to stay focused. Emily was my children’s nanny for fuck’s sake. That was what mattered. I couldn’t spend all day, every day, daydreaming about what it would be like to be inside her.

  As the day dragged on, my thoughts never lost their persistence. When it was time for dinner, I knew something needed to change. The way I felt wasn’t right. Thinking about fucking Emily wasn’t right.

  As I sat down at the dinner table, I told myself I would have to either get myself under control, or let Emily go. Things could not go on this way.

  Tommy and Sarah talked my ear off all through dinner. They, more than anything, helped keep me distracted. I focused on them and my food, never once glancing in Emily’s direction. Even when she handed me the rolls, I took them without making eye contact. It was extreme, but it worked. I made it through the entire meal without once picturing her naked and moaning.

  When she sent the kids up to get ready for bed, I silently praised myself for the progress I’d made. I did the dishes and smiled, thinking maybe this situation might work out after all. It wasn’t until Emily came to help me dry the dishes that I’d realized how wrong I’d been.

  She walked over to where I was in the kitchen and took a dish from my hand. Her body was so close to mine that I could smell the fragrance of her skin. My throat tightened, and I felt heat erupt in my stomach. No matter how much I tried, I couldn’t keep myself from feeling tense in her presence.

  When she looked at me, I thought she felt it too. Her eyes shifted to my lips for a fraction of a second, and I cleared my throat, looking away quickly. The sexual tension between us was just too much.

  “Listen,” I said, my voice low. “I don’t think this is going to work out.”

  Emily’s expression changed in an instant. One second, she seemed shy, yet happy. The next, her eyes darkened, and her lips pulled together into a tight line.

  “I’m sorry,” she said. “Did I do something wrong?”

  “I just don’t think this is the right fit,” I said as stonily as I could.

  “Okay,” Emily said slowly. I knew she wanted to argue, but her professionalism stood in the way. “Well, I respect your decision.”

  “Of course, I’ll pay you for the last two days.”

  “Sure,” Emily said, forcing a smile on her face. “I guess I’ll be going.”

  Just then the kids called from upstairs that they had brushed their teeth.

  Emily left the kitchen, and I sighed when I heard the front door click shut behind her. Abandoning the dishes, I went upstairs and finished the bedtime routine, tucking the kids in and kissing them good night.

  How I managed to hide my giant erection is beyond me, but by the time I closed Sarah’s door, I was in pain. I hurried into my bedroom and closed the door. Locking it, I threw myself onto my bed and desperately unbuckled my belt. As I shoved my pants and boxers down, my cock sprang free. I was rock-hard, and I couldn’t take another second of this torture.

  I kicked my clothes off my ankles. They dropped to the floor as my hand gripped my dick tightly. Emily’s eyes flashed through my mind, and my mouth went dry. I thought about how fucking sexy she looked this morning, leaning over that table, her tits on display.

  My hand moved slowly, rubbing my cock gently at first. I closed my eyes and imagined it was just me and Emily, alone at the kitchen table. I would rip her shirt in two, tearing her bra from her body. Her perfect breasts would bounce free, her nipples hard and her eyes eager.

  As I imagined taking one nipple between my teeth, my hand moved faster. I could practically hear the moans that Emily would make. Her body would tremble beneath mine until I ripped her jeans down her perfect ass.

  I thought about slapping that ass and watching it shake as I bent her over the table. My hand sped up, my grip tightening. I was panting as I closed my eyes tighter, imagining myself spreading Emily’s legs and running my finger along her folds. In my mind, she was already wet; dripping, waiting for me to take her roughly and show her what it was like to be fucked by a man like me.

  I pumped relentlessly on my cock as I imagined myself ramming into Emily’s warm, inviting pussy. Her ass was bouncing in my mind’s eye, and I reached around to grab one tit in each of my hands. She was moaning, whimpering, crying out for more.

  My hand tightened even more, and I jacked off as hard as I could. Emily’s screams of pleasure were alive in my ears as I shot my release over my bed sheets. My breathing was ragged, my heart rate faster than ever. I laid there, still hearing Emily’s moans in my mind and wishing they were real.

  CHAPTER SIX - EMILY

  The next morning, I tried to put Sean out of my mind. After only two days, I’d grown accustomed to seeing Tommy and Sarah. When I woke up that morning, I immediately jumped in the shower, thinking I only had an hour to get over to their house. By the time I turned the water off, I remembered my conversation with Sean and felt a rush of anger. I still didn’t understand what happened. His dismissal was so abrupt that I wasn’t sure what to think about it.

  Actually, I did know what to think. Sean Evan’s was a world class prick. I’d tried to give him the benefit of the doubt. He was a fairly new widower, still trying to process his grief. On top of that, he was trying to help his kids deal with theirs as well. As I thought about the way he interacted with his kids, it was hard to reconcile that Sean with the one that spit out one-word answers to my questions and dismissed me without a reason.

  As I dried off and got dressed for the day, I wondered what I would do. I needed to find a way to pay off my debts, while I figured out how the hell I would eventually open up my daycare.

  All the usual summer jobs were taken, so I’d been thrilled when Sean first called. Now, I wasn’t sure what I would do.

  After I ate breakfast, I knew I couldn’t just sit around and feel sorry for myself all day. I called Janie, waiting a few minutes for her to answer.

  “Hello?” Her voice was groggy.

  “Did I wake you?” I asked.

  “Yup,” she said, clearly annoyed.

  “I’m sorry, but this is important,” I said. “Sean fired me.”

  “He what?” Janie’s voice immediately changed from tired and bored, to angry and attentive. “You just started. What the hell happened?”

  “I don’t know,” I said honestly. “One second, everything was fine, and the next, he’s telling me things aren’t going to work out.”

  “You didn’t ask why?” Janie demanded.

  “I froze,” I said sadly. “I was in shock, Janie. He said he just didn’t think it was a good fit, and he was kind of an asshole about it.”

  Janie paused. I knew she was thinking of something helpful to say, but she couldn’t think of anything. “Do you think maybe one of the kids said something?” I asked nervously.

  “Like what?” Janie asked.

  “Like they didn’t like me.”

  “That’s ridiculous,” Janie said. “You’re amazing with kids. There’s no way that, after two days, either of those kids had a problem with you. Not a chance in hell.”

  “How can you be so sure?” I asked.

  Now that the thought crossed my mind, I couldn’t get rid of it. In such a short time, I’d grown very fond of both Tommy and Sarah. They were sweet, bright kids who were nervous around new people. I didn’t know the details of what happened to their mother, but I could see how much they missed her. It affected everything they did; from Sara’s angry streak to Tommy’s shyness, everything came back to their mom.

  That knowledge, more than anything, made my heart ache. I longed to see them. My curs
e was that I always became too emotionally involved with the kids I watched. Sarah and Tommy, even more so. With their family history, I wanted to help them through this transition. Now, it seemed like that would be an impossibility.

  “Listen,” Janie said, her voice soft and comforting. “I don’t know what happened, but I know it’s not the kids. From what you told me, those babies adored you. Maybe Sean just decided he wants to take care of them on his own. I mean, it was only a summer job anyway, right? He probably decided it would be better if he spent time with them alone before they start a new school in a few months. That’s all.”

  “Yeah,” I said. “Maybe.”

  Despite her efforts to cheer me up, I didn’t believe Janie’s idea. It simply didn’t add up. “How about some lunch?” Janie asked. “Let me jump in the shower, and I’ll meet you for pizza.”

  “Okay,” I said. “Sure.”

  “Great. I’ll see you in a bit.”

  With that, Janie hung up. I sighed and tucked my phone in my pocket. As I lazed around the house for half an hour, I thought more about what Janie said. It did make sense that Sean would simply want more one on one time with his kids. After all, they did just move to a new town.

  Still, something didn’t feel right. I remembered the way Sean looked at me in the kitchen last night, his eyes boring so deeply into mine. There was something else there, something that had nothing to do with his kids.

  ***

  I met Janie at the pizza spot. It was still slow, everyone trying to leave work for their lunch breaks. We ordered our usual and found a table in the middle of the restaurant. Janie immediately launched into a story about the latest town gossip to distract me from my recent firing. It didn’t work. My thoughts stayed focused on Sean, Tommy, and Sarah throughout the entire afternoon.

  When Margie brought our pizza, she set it in front of us and pulled up a chair to join us.

  “What’s up?” Janie asked, grabbing a slice.

  “I have gossip,” Margie said conspiratorially.