26. Caroline
CHAPTER 26
Caroline
“Wow, little rich girl,” I say to Evelyn as I sway with her in front of the enormous windows in Grayson’s living room. “Nice view to grow up looking at.”
Grayson’s penthouse apartment overlooks Central Park.
I wouldn’t say I’m surprised by that exactly, but I didn’t give any thought to where he lived before we walked in here this morning.
I knew he was rich, but I haven’t really thought about it. I know Grayson as the barely-holding-it-together guy living back in Honeysuckle Harbor and trying to get his life figured out. I know him as the broody, sexy man who can make my panties wet with a single look. I know him as the amazing lover who can blow my mind even without actually fucking me. I know him as Evelyn’s in-over-his-head and yet still incredibly sweet, protective, and in love with his baby girl new dad.
But he’s rich. Like really rich.
He flew us here first class. We rode from the airport in a car with Grayson’s personal driver. We brought the elevator to the top floor of this building, where he strode straight into the bedroom to change before heading to the office.
I was gawking at the expensive leather furniture, the incredible artwork on the walls, the high ceiling, the plush carpet, the chef’s kitchen, and this view with the breathtaking view of the autumn colors exploding in Central Park when he walked back out of the bedroom adjusting his tie.
My mouth had instantly gone dry.
Maybe it’s because I’ve only seen him in joggers and T-shirts, jeans and T-shirts, and once in jeans and a button-down.
But damn.
That wasn’t Grayson, single dad, next door.
That was Mr. Ross, CEO.
And seeing him in a suit did all kinds of things to me. Hot, tingly, wet things.
I hadn’t realized I had a thing for hot boss types.
But I also almost immediately realized that I don’t.
I just have a thing for Grayson. And what that suit does for him is make him feel like the old Grayson: In charge. Confident. Comfortable.
His stride had been purposeful. His spine had been straight. His smile had been genuine.
And that was what made him so incredibly hot.
Though custom-tailored Armani didn’t hurt.
He’d come over to Evie and I, kissed both of us on the forehead, told us to be good girls, and that he’d see us later, then left in a little cloud of cologne and confidence that had made my knees weak.
Evelyn kicks her legs, looking down at the park now, and I laugh. “Maybe we should go down and take a walk after your nap,” I tell her.
I hope she takes her late morning nap. She’d been wide-eyed and interested at the airport and on the plane, interested in all the commotion and people—until anyone, including the nice older woman in the airport and the flight attendants, tried to interact with her or get her to smile. Then she’d scowl at them in her typical grumpy-baby way. She had, however, fallen asleep in Grayson’s arms about fifteen minutes into the flight and stayed asleep until he’d stood to deplane.
Of course, the gorgeous millionaire holding his adorable baby girl had led to us getting extra attention throughout the flight from two of the female flight attendants and one male.
So I’d adopted Evelyn’s scowl-first-ask-questions-later habit. Grayson isn’t mine, but he doesn’t need to be collecting phone numbers from the flight crew. He’s got a baby now. When he returns to New York, he’s going to need to be a little more careful and choosy about the people he sleeps with and when.
That got me frowning even more.
Is Grayson going to return to New York with Evelyn full time? I know he went home to Honeysuckle Harbor because he was drowning and thought his family would help.
And they have.
But he’s also getting so good at this. He’s definitely figuring this dad-thing out.
Plus, obviously, he’s figured out that he can hire around-the-clock help.
He could come back to New York full time. He could raise Evelyn here.
That thought makes me sad for some reason.
Honeysuckle Harbor isn’t perfect, but it was a great place to grow up. And
Evelyn’s grandparents and aunt, uncle, and cousins are there.
Plus, Grayson has friends there.
I’m sure he has friends in New York too. But not friends like James, Cas, and Ford and Harrison.
Evelyn makes a little growly sound and pats my face with her hand. I look at her, realizing that I’m scowling. She scowls up at me and pats my face again.
“What, baby girl?” I ask her.
“Uh,” she says, patting me.
I smile. “You’re so funny.”
Then she smiles in return, and I realize that she didn’t like me frowning.
“Oh, really? Miss Grumpy Girl? I’m not supposed to be frowny, though?” I laugh and bring her in so I can nuzzle her neck.
That makes her giggle.
God, I love her.
I sigh as I pull back and look at her. “I don’t want you to be a big city girl with only nannies,” I tell her. “You need to see Grandma and Grandpa. And Noah and James and Cas.”
I feel my heart squeeze. Damn. Not only will Grayson’s family do a great job helping with Evelyn, but so will James and Cas. They’re so amazing, and I want them in Grayson and Evelyn’s life.
Evie pats my face again and I realize I’m frowning again.
I make myself smile. She smiles back at me.
“It’s none of my business,” I tell her.
But I feel like it’s my business. And that’s probably not a good thing. Because I’m going to say something about it to Grayson and overstep.
Dammit.
“I don’t even know what I’m doing here right now,” I tell the little girl. “I mean, am I here as your nanny? Your daddy’s friend? Or…”
Or what? What else is there?
He needed someone to come along to New York. He didn’t want to bring one of the other nannies. None of them have agreed to a full twenty-four-hour—or more—long shift. He didn’t ask any of them about doing that if needed.
Maybe he should have, but again, Grayson’s just recently gotten organized.
He didn’t want to try to hire someone here. That would have been ridiculous.
He should have left her in Honeysuckle Harbor with his parents, but he wanted to see how she’d do on the plane. Or so he said.
I didn’t want him to bring one of the other nannies either, so I’d easily agreed to come along.
But now that we’re here, it feels…not weird, just a little confusing, I guess.
My phone rings and I gratefully pull it from my pocket. Distraction. That’s exactly what I need.
“Hello?”
“Is this Caroline?”
I don’t recognize this woman’s voice. “It is.”
“Caroline, this is Andrea. I’m Mr. Ross’s executive assistant.”
“Uh, hi.” Is Grayson okay?
“I’m going to be sending the company car over for you and Evelyn,” Andrea says
“Mr. Ross would like you to join him at the office for lunch.”
I frown. Grayson said nothing about lunch at the office. “Oh, I don’t think that’s right,” I start. “He didn’t?—”
“He just decided,” Andrea interjects.
“Oh.”
“I can’t believe Evelyn is in town with him and he didn’t think he should bring her over here,” Andrea said. “I swear that man doesn’t think. I was here when she was initially dropped off, you know.”
I look down at Evelyn. “I didn’t, actually. I?—”
“Yes. So obviously I need to see her. I’m so glad things are going well, but I want to get my eyes on her.”
“Well, I can assure you?—”
“The car will be there in fifteen minutes.”
I stop. Clearly, I’m not going to get out of this. Andrea works for Grayson. She’d have to be pretty headstrong to do that job, I suppose.
“And it would be very good for Felicity to see Grayson with his daughter and girlfriend,” Andrea goes on.
Girlfriend? Hang on. But Andrea obviously got my number from Grayson, and I don’t know what he told her about me. Maybe he used the word girlfriend to make things…easier? Maybe that’s a simpler explanation for some reason than calling me the nanny. Maybe if he’s moving back to New York, it’s easier to explain a break-up than firing a nanny when he arrives here without me in a couple of months.
I don’t know if that makes sense, but explaining that I’m the woman who was Evie’s nanny for a week but I’m now just the woman he’s casually fucking with two other men, temporarily, isn’t really a quick, easy explanation either.
“Who’s Felicity?” I finally ask.
“He hasn’t told you?”
I want to ask why Andrea thinks Grayson would have told me but…
Well, fuck it. “Why would he have told me?”
“I just assumed he’d fill you in on her since he’s coming back to the office. Not that you have any reason to worry.”
Worry?
“Maybe there’s a reason he doesn’t want me to know,” I suggest. Maybe Andrea shouldn’t tell me whatever this is.
Andrea scoffs. “There’s no reason his girlfriend shouldn’t know. It would be only because he has no feelings or intentions toward her, but you and I both know that a determined woman could still make things awkward and difficult for you. I want you to know about her so that you don’t listen to anything she says about her and Grayson.”
Ah. It all clicks into place instantly.
Felicity wants Grayson.
It sounds like Grayson doesn’t feel the same way, but Andrea’s right. Felicity could still try to cause trouble between me and Grayson.
If there was a me and Grayson.
Still, without even seeing Felicity, I feel a niggle of jealousy and…possessiveness.
I’m not Grayson’s girlfriend. No, really. Not long-term.
But he’s mine for now. Kind of. At least for while we’re doing this thing we’re doing with James and Cas.
We’re just having fun, but we’re really having fun. It’s not just sex. It’s friendship. It’s mutual support for all the guys as new dads. It’s a reunion between the three of us who share Honeysuckle Harbor as home. It’s establishing a new, hopefully lasting friendship between the guys.
And I can definitely see them all being people I want to see when I’m home between jobs.
Hell, I can see them being people I stay in touch with while I travel.
I can imagine texting with them, sending selfies while I’m sight-seeing, asking about how their days were.
I better be getting photos and updates on Evelyn and Noah.
So yeah, while we’re doing this friends-with-hot-as-fuck benefits thing, Grayson is mine and Felicity can just back off.
“Okay, so Evelyn and I need to make an appearance so Felicity will leave Grayson alone?” I clarify with Andrea.
“Please,” Andrea says. “Grayson never dates people who work for him. Ever. But Felicity thinks he’s going to make an exception for her. It’s starting to become very annoying and make other people in the office uncomfortable.”
“And you’re sure he’s not interested?” I ask.
Andrea laughs. “Very. Even if she didn’t work for him.”
Okay. Andrea probably knows him well. She sees him every day and I’m guessing they put in long hours.
“He’s very picky,” Andrea adds.
Stupidly, I feel my ego inflate a bit. He really likes me. Yes, he likes sex with me, but he also trusts me with his daughter, in his personal space, seeing him at his worst, and I can make him laugh.
He could have had me as a helper with Evelyn without ever opening up or letting me closer, but he did open up.
And he really likes me naked.
“Then shouldn’t Grayson just put his foot down?” I ask. But I’m already headed for the bedroom and my suitcase to find something else to wear.
“Yes. He’s told her he doesn’t date people in the office. But he doesn’t want to be firmer because she’s very good at her job and he doesn’t want her to leave and he doesn’t want things to be awkward between them. He’s sure he can handle it.” Andrea lowers her voice. “He’s actually a little oblivious to a lot of it.”
I grin. I can see that. I’m sure Grayson is totally in charge and on top of everything with the business, but interpersonally? Yeah, I can see him missing some things.
“Despite how it might seem, he’s actually a nice guy,” Andrea says. “And while he’ll take the head off of a fellow CEO or competitor, he treats his employees very well, with a lot of respect.”
I smile. Of course, he’s a nice guy. Or he can be a nice guy. “I guess it’s better he misses a few flirtations versus being a prick.”
“Yes. Except this woman needs to cool it. So this is perfect. You and Evelyn here should make the point perfectly.”
I think about that.
No matter how Grayson and my relationship would be defined, or all the details around it, we are friends. I can help him out.
I don’t want some woman harassing him. And I don’t want some pushy woman thinking she can cozy up to Evelyn to get close to Grayson.
“We’ll be there soon,” I tell Andrea.
“Great. I can’t wait to meet the woman Grayson can’t stop talking about.”
My eyebrows lift. “He’s been talking about me?”
Andrea laughs. “He’s said your name even more than Evelyn’s and he has talked about her even more than the stock reports, the operations report from the Seattle office, or the new marketing director in Chicago. And those were his favorite topics just a few weeks ago.”
I smile. “Oh.”
“See you soon,” Andrea says.
We disconnect and I prop Evelyn up on the bed. “Okay baby girl, we need to find something to wear. Something that says ‘I’m not worried because I know exactly how my man feels about me’ even though I don’t really know.”
The thing is, I might be getting an inkling of how Grayson might feel about me.
And if it’s what it sounds like, that is going to make things really complicated.