Dragon Manny (Dragon Dads #1)

Chapter 1

Chapter

One

D aniel was fairly sure he’d just slipped to another dimension and ended up in that book about a haunted hotel.

It wasn’t just that he was driving a piece-of-shit car up the mountain, even though he was driving his little baby car right into the ether.

And it was unhappy.

Putt, putt, putt, baby, putt, putt.

But when he rounded one mountain curve, the GPS insisting he was where he needed to be, he actually pulled over to suck air. This wasn’t a house. This was a mansion.

The house was three stories, and there had to be at least a million rooms, all with floor-to-sky windows.

He swore to God, if he pulled up and there was a fucking hedge maze he was leaving whether or not this dude needed a nanny immediately, right now starting, like, today.

Surely somebody who owned a house like this had a thousand personal assistants and butlers and maids and staff who could watch a baby for a minute while he got his shit together. No one had warned him that this place was like the Stanley.

Daniel was used to traveling for work. He did a lot of respite care for nannies who needed a break, had an emergency, that sort of thing.

He was a little bit like the fix-it nanny, when it came right down to it, and his new client had inherited a baby, and needed help in the worst way.

He hit his hands-free button calling the service that he worked for.

It was a tiny little group — the boss, his assistant, and that was it.

He was pretty sure the two were lovers, and he was pretty sure there wasn’t actually even an office, just a lot of Zoom calls and references flying back and forth like Flying Manzinis.

“Hey, Daniel, how’s it going?” Pat always sounded exactly the same. It didn’t matter if it was an emergency, if it was a scheduled call, if it was the middle of the night, if it was during a hurricane. Pat would say, “Hey, Daniel, how’s it going?”

“I don’t know if I’m the right person for the job you gave me.

This place is huge. This is fancy. I’m not really fancy.

I’m not.” He was just a guy who loved kids, who had his degree, but honestly, he was best suited for taking care of one or two kids who needed some help learning things, needed some activities to do, and liked to do a lot of art.

He really wasn’t a jet-setter.

“Oh, Dan, don’t worry about it. Seriously. This is not fancy.”

“Have you seen pictures of this place? I’m expecting a hedge maze and moving animals, and I swear to God if there’s a single?—”

“Stop. Just stop. This is not a hotel; it’s a house, a big house. I think the altitude is getting to you. Have you got water?”

“I’m fine.”

“Are you sure? You are at ten thousand feet.”

“I know. It’s cold up here, and its summertime.” It wasn’t as if he’d never been to the mountains, he was from the Western Slope of Colorado, but this was high, even for him.

Of course, as he got closer, it did lose any similarity to a hotel.

The front of the house was filled with glass, the windows reflecting the mountains back at him.

He could see lights, and when he pulled into the circular drive, he could see what looked like a big, sprawling living room and dining situation.

“Pat, leather couches are fancy. These kind are, anyway.” And there was a Land Rover. That cost more than two or three years of his salary.

“You’re the right guy for the job though. Trust me on this. You are absolutely the perfect person for the job.” Pat chuckled softly. “I know this is a good fit.”

“I hope you’re right. I mean, if I’m not, I just get to resign, but I do hope you’re right. I want to be the perfect fit for the job.” This wasn’t a short-term position this time. This family needed someone at least through to next spring.

That was why he was coming in now. It was summer. He’d make sure it was a good thing, and, if not, leave in time for there to be a new hire if they needed it.

“Go introduce yourself. They’re going to love you.”

“I hope so.” He said his goodbyes, turned off the car, and grabbed his briefcase with his references and everything he might need for this initial intake interview.

Then he went to knock on the door.

One way or the other he was going to have to figure this out, and this was the time to do it.

Rip the bandage off.

The door was opened by a cheerful-looking older lady with a round form, pink cheeks, and bright green eyes. She smiled, nodding her head up and down like a bobblehead doll. “You must be the new nanny. Please come on in. We’ve been waiting for you.”

Well, she didn’t look like she was going to eat him or anything. He didn’t think there had been a cheerful older woman in any of the haunted hotel stories, but he could be wrong. “Thank you. I’m Daniel Pinkney. It’s nice to meet you.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you too, dear. My name is Mrs. Bronson. Come on, and I’ll show you where you can—” she paused. “Do you need to freshen up a little bit before you meet with the boss?”

“I would be really grateful. It was a tough last hour up here. There wasn’t anything to stop at.”

“Oh, I know. We are up here in the middle of nowhere, aren’t we? It’s beautiful though. So quiet. And there’s no light pollution at night. It’s a lovely place, but it can feel isolated.”

He bet it did. “Yeah and snowy in the winter. Cabin fever-y?”

“It’s a little…” She shook her head “Really it’s not.

It’s a very full house, it’s joyous. We do the holidays up right, and we have everything shipped in—more than we could ever use, and if we need it we can just go down in a snowmobile and pick up what we need.

So, we’re good.” She leaned in as if she was sharing a secret. “Remember, Amazon delivers.”

“Oh.” He found her a smile. “Well, in that case, I’m solid.”

She snorted softly and shook her head. “Not only that, but the Wi-Fi is satellite, and it’s beautifully done. We might have a couple of hours out here and there, but for the most part, we’re great.”

“Well, now I feel a little bit silly, to be honest.” But that was okay. He could handle feeling a little bit ridiculous.

She led him through the foyer to a gorgeously appointed powder room. Not ostentatious, the room was kind of beautiful and warm, wooden and metal. It felt like a warm hug instead of a show of wealth, and that was just lovely.

If the baby ever came down here, though, it would have to be childproofed. He wasn’t having someone get hurt on his watch.

He did his business and washed himself up, making sure he was all straight with the world before he dried his hands off and headed out, hoping that Mrs. Bronson was waiting for him.

This place was huge; the foyer led in three different directions. Straight ahead there was the stunning great room that was visible from the front, the windows in the back with an amazing view of the mountain.

On the right side it looked like there was a huge kitchen plus a dining area. The other direction, to the left, seemed a bit more private, so it was either a den or possibly a master suite.

Although, why have a master suite on the bottom floor when you could have it on the second floor and not have to worry about anyone interrupting you or seeing you through the window, or…

Thank goodness Mrs. Bronson was right there. “Excellent. Let’s go to the office. I’ll introduce you to the boss. Do you take coffee, tea, Coke?”

“I’m actually a huge tea drinker, although I’ll drink coffee, but really tea is my jam.” He loved all the varieties and the ritual of teatime.

“Excellent. I’ll make tea and bring some cookies in. How do you take it?”

“Lemon and sugar, please.”

“Perfect. I’ll make sure you’re set up.”

She led him toward the left where it was more private, tapping on a big door at the end of a short hall. “Mr. Pinkney’s here, sir.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Bronson, send him on in.” The voice was deep, almost reverberating through the floor, and it made his toes curl, it was so amazing.

When he entered the study that was like a home office-library sort of situation, he almost turned tail and ran right back down the mountain.

The room itself was seriously wonderful, with books everywhere and the walls that didn’t have floor-to-ceiling glass windows in them were covered in shelves, paintings, and all sorts of masculine accoutrements.

But it was the man seated behind the big desk who made him want to flee.

He was sort of otherworldly gorgeous, this guy with wide shoulders, the handsome face that was all angles from his strong chin to his sharp cheekbones to his slashing black eyebrows that stood out over wildly green eyes.

His mouth was a work of art. Well-shaped and eminently kissable, and that was a ridiculous thought.

This man was going to be his boss. And Daniel didn’t think of anybody as kissable until he’d known them for a while.

The man stood and he was even more impressive that way.

He was tall and lean through the hips and flat through the belly, and he had enormous hands.

And he filled out his clothing like crazy, although he wasn’t wearing overly tight clothing like some too pumped-up bodybuilder who felt like he needed to flaunt his physique.

“Mr. Pinkney, come on in. It’s a pleasure to meet you. My name is Hayden Sadler. Come have a seat, and we’ll chat.” Mr. Sadler held out a hand to him, waiting for him to come into the room and shake it.

Daniel had no idea what to do. He wanted to go cling to that hand and see what it felt like.

He wanted to jabber like an idiot about how he couldn’t possibly do this job because the man was too beautiful, and the house was too isolated, and all the shit that ran through his head.

And he also wanted to say he would take the job sight unseen of the baby because damn.