Virgin Bride: A Single Dad Romance Read online

  My secret, hidden job. The task I was given, even though it’s not something I really wanted.

  The day passes. It’s probably one of the most stressful days of my life. I had no clue what it would be like taking care of a little girl like this, but she’s sweet and eventually I get the hang of things. It’s exhausting, and by the time Griffin calls to let me know that he’s on the way home, I have a brand new respect for him.

  Anybody that can take care of a young child alone while still managing a huge and important company is an impressive person. There’s no doubt about that. Even though he has the money to hire a million nannies, a whole team of nannies, he still seems to be doing most of it on his own. As far as I know, I’m the first one he’s hired to work as long as I’m supposed to.

  When he comes home around seven, he seems exhausted, but still so handsome. He comes in the door while Lacey and I play with her toy trains.

  Griffin appears in the kitchen and smiles at us. “There’s my girl,” he says.

  “Daddy!” She gets up and totters over to him and throws her arms around his legs. He bends over and picks her up.

  “How was she?” he asks me.

  “She was great. Really, she’s a dream.” I stand up and smile at him. He’s so handsome and charming in his suit, especially while he’s holding his little girl who just seems so happy and excited to see him.

  “Did she have dinner?” he asks.

  “A little something,” I say. “But she didn’t want to eat.”

  “You didn’t eat, little pepper?”

  “No,” she says. “Train.”

  He grins at me. “Train is a new word for her.”

  “She’s really smart.”

  “Too smart.” He walks her into the kitchen. “Come on, nugget. You’re eating.”

  “No. Trains.”

  He straps her into her highchair then walks back over to me. “I can’t thank you enough.”

  “It’s no problem,” I say, looking up at him.

  “Really, I appreciate it. And you two seem like you get along.”

  “Honestly, she’s so easy. I’m happy to watch her whenever you need me.”

  “Maybe I need you more often,” he says with a sly little smile. “How old are you, anyway?”

  “I’m twenty-four,” I say. “How old are you?”

  He laughs a little. “I’m thirty. But you’re not supposed to ask your employer that.”

  “You’re not supposed to ask your employee, either,” I point out.

  “Fair enough.” He walks with me back toward the front door. “Think you can work the same hours tomorrow?”

  “I think that’ll be fine,” I say. “Whatever you need.”

  He smirks a little and looks at me. “Whatever I need, huh,” he says, although I hear something else underneath that. “Very generous.”

  “Lacey is a good kid,” I say pointedly.

  “Sure, she’s great. You seems great too.”

  We pause at the door and suddenly I realize that he’s flirting with me. Griffin McGrath, one of the youngest billionaires in the world, handsome as all hell, and apparently a great dad, is flirting with me.

  I have no clue why. I’m just his nanny.

  I’m his nanny with a dirty little secret.

  “I’ll see you tomorrow,” he says. “Thanks again, Erin.”

  “Sure,” I say. “See you.” I head out the door, down the hall, and out onto the street.

  I feel a little dazed. My first day went well, and I think I can handle watching Lacey no problem. It’s the other job that I’m worried about.

  I realize that my heart is hammering in my chest. I’m excited, but I don’t really know why. Am I really this aroused just from him flirting with me a little bit?

  Apparently I am, and I have no clue what to do about that. It complicates things. If he has this effect on me, I don’t know how I’m possibly going to get any information from him. I turn to jelly as soon as he so much as looks at me suggestively.

  But I have more time. I don’t need everything this second. And maybe, just maybe, I can work this to my advantage.

  Although I’m not so sure I really want to do that. I don’t know how far I’m willing to take any of this.

  When I get around the corner, I spot the black car that my father sent to pick me up. Nervous, I head over to it, and I start to mentally prepare what I’m going to say when I get home.

  3

  Griffin

  James sits across from me, a little smirk on his face. “Well?” he asks.

  “Well what?” I lean back in my chair, eyebrow raised. He came in here on the pretext of wanting to talk about some minor clause in the merger contract, but clearly that’s not where this is going.

  “Erin. The nanny. What do you think?”

  “She seems good with Lacey,” I say, ignoring the undertones.

  He’s not letting that slide, though. “Come on, man. I know what she looks like.”

  “I don’t know what you mean.”

  He grins and leans forward. “Did you fuck her yet?”

  I groan a little bit. “Man. Come on. She’s my nanny.”

  “So what?”

  “I met her once. Well, twice now, I guess.”

  “So what?” he repeats. “I don’t see the issue.”

  “She takes care of my kid. And when I see her, I’m either on my way out, or just coming home.”

  “Come on, you’re Griffin McGrath, playboy billionaire. Since when did you let a little thing like timing stop you from getting pussy?”

  I wince a little bit. “My daughter stops me,” I say. “It’s not like that with Erin.”

  “Sure it is,” James says, laughing. “I can tell already. You want this one.”

  “Maybe,” I admit. “But even if I did, it doesn’t matter. I’m not going to be a fucking cliché. And I’m not going to ruin it for Lacey. She seems to like Erin.”

  “What’s cliché about wanting to fuck the nanny?” James asks, laughing. “Okay, yeah, I heard it.”

  “Besides,” I say, “I don’t know if she’s interested. And she’s young.”

  “She’s more than old enough.”

  “Doesn’t matter. I’m not crossing that line.” I shake my head and shuffle some papers on my desk. “Aren’t we supposed to be working?”

  “Whatever,” James says, laughing again. “I don’t care if you fuck her or not. I don’t live my life through the great Griffin. I just know you.”

  I hate when he calls me that. It’s his little cutting nickname for me. He’s been trotting it out more and more this last year, and it always bugs me. I don’t know when James got so bitter, but it’s gotten worse and worse lately. I pay him well and treat him well, and I trust him with absolutely everything. He’s basically my co-owner in everything but name. Still, there’s a weird tension that I don’t really understand.

  “Where’d you find her anyway?” I ask him, trying to change the subject to something friendlier.

  “Oh you know, just heard good things,” he says.

  “From who?” I ask.

  “Just around,” he answers, and then grabs a file from my desk. “Listen, let’s talk about this merger now.”

  I frown a little bit. That was a vague answer, but it doesn’t matter. I’m happy with Erin and that’s all I care about.

  We dive into discussing the contract some more and I forget all about that conversation regarding Erin. James knows this deal backwards and forwards, probably even better than I do, and he’s such an important asset to me.

  This should be easier. The merger makes sense. Fisher’s company hasn’t been growing nearly as fast as projections said it would, and they’re starting to bleed money. Merging with my company will give them the size and strength they need to analyze their data, and it would give my company the size boost and access to their data that it really needs. It’s a win-win situation.

  But Rick Fisher himself has been stalling from day one. Right
now, there’s some discussions about how their proprietary data will be used, citing all these privacy concerns, which is really bullshit. Big data guys don’t give a fuck about privacy concerns, or at least most of them don’t. My company is one of the few that actually takes privacy seriously and tries to be respectful of consumers. The Fisher Consortium doesn’t care about privacy, or at least they didn’t until a couple days ago.

  Before that, it was the name of the company. Fisher wanted to keep his. And before that, it was pay scale issues, and before that it was personnel management problems, and so on and so on. Every step of the way has been a fight, but I can smell it now. I can smell blood in the water, and I’m a hungry fucking shark. I just need to swim up to Fisher and close this goddamn deal, but first we need to solve all these lingering issues.

  We work for a few hours, and soon it’s already seven o’clock. We’re no closer to solving the problem, but we have a few novel ideas to play around with at least.

  “So, what’s the plan for the rest of the night?” James asks as we head toward the elevator together. The office is mostly empty at this point.

  “Going home to see my daughter, like always,” I say. “I hate working this late.”

  “Can’t be helped,” James says. “I bet it’s hard.”

  “It is,” I answer, though I know he doesn’t really understand. James is a bachelor like I used to be, and he doesn’t care about having kids. People that don’t have kids don’t really understand all the complex feelings that develop when you become a parent.

  We part ways in the parking garage and I get into my car. As I pull out and head back toward my townhouse, I suddenly feel excited.

  It takes me by surprise. As soon as I think about seeing Erin, I get that spiking adrenaline feeling in my stomach. I’m a little taken aback at how intensely excited I feel about seeing her. I don’t normally feel this way about women.

  I’ve had my fair share in my life. I’ve had plenty of beautiful women, models, actresses, whatever. I’ve had them all, tasted them all. I always get what I want, whether it’s in business or in love. But I never feel nervous about it, because I’m a winner, and I’m confident.

  But I feel nervous and excited to see Erin. I feel like a little kid again, and it’s fucking weird. As I pull into my garage and park the car, I find myself hurrying to get upstairs just to see her.

  Erin and Lacey are in the living room again playing with Lacey’s toys. As soon as I come in, Lacey comes running over to me, and for a second I forget all about Erin. For a second, my daughter is the only thing in the world that exists. I pick her up and give her a kiss like always before putting her back down on the couch.

  “How was she?” I ask Erin.

  “Great,” she says, standing up. “Like always.”

  “Good.” I pause and look at her for a second, cocking my head to one side. “Are you hungry?” I ask her.

  She looks a little surprised. “Uh, no, I’m okay,” she says.

  I smirk a little bit. “You sure? I’m going to eat dinner. I could use some company.”

  She blushes a bit and bites her lip. I can tell she wants to say yes, but something’s holding her back. I don’t know what it is.

  “I can’t,” she says. “Not tonight.”

  “Another time,” I say. “Let me walk you out.”

  We head to the front door. I can tell that she wanted to stay, but I’m guessing she doesn’t want to risk messing up the job.

  That’s okay. I told James I wasn’t going to get involved with her, anyway, though clearly I was lying to myself. As soon as I saw her, I knew I had to spend more time with her.

  I just need to get past that wall. I don’t know why but she’s clearly hesitating to get close to me.

  That’s fine. I don’t need to be her boyfriend.

  I just want to taste her, pure and simple. As we pause in front of the door and I look at her, I know that I’m going to get that taste. Eventually I’m going to pin her up against that wall and fuck her tight, slick little pussy. I can already imagine what her moans will sound like as she begs for every single thick inch I can slide inside that perfect little cunt.

  “Well, I’ll see you tomorrow,” she says.

  I’m a little hard just thinking about her. “Same time?” I ask.

  “Sure,” she says. “Just let me know if anything changes.”

  “I will. You’re a huge help.”

  She hesitates and bites her lip again. “Maybe tomorrow,” she blurts out.

  I raise an eyebrow. “Maybe tomorrow?”

  “I mean, maybe tomorrow we can have dinner. Or whatever.”

  She’s so nervous, I love it. “Okay then,” I say. “Maybe tomorrow.”

  She lingers for a second longer. “Sure, right. See you tomorrow.”

  “Good night, Erin.”

  “Night.” She turns and quickly leaves.

  I can’t help but grin to myself. I knew she wanted it, I just didn’t realize she’d take me up on that offer so quickly. Obviously she wants it more than I realized, and that’s okay with me. In fact, it makes me so fucking excited.

  I have to take a few deep breaths and get myself together before returning to Lacey. She’s playing in the living room, happy as a clam.

  I spend the rest of my night with my daughter, putting her to sleep an hour later. But I’m thinking about Erin the whole time, wondering how she’ll feel as I sink my cock inside of her, and how quickly she’s going to give herself to me.

  4

  Erin

  The night before, I got a stay of execution. I expected to go home and see my father, but instead he was called away on some business dinner But tonight, I know he’s going to be there, waiting for me, ready to grill me on every little thing.

  As I ride home in the back of the black town car he sent, I can’t help but feel nervous. I don’t know what the hell I was thinking agreeing to spend time with Griffin. I want to pretend like I’m just following the instructions my father gave me and trying to get as close to him as possible, but that’s not it.

  Truth is, I’m way more interested in Griffin than I realized. I don’t know why my father told me that he’s some kind of creep and monster. Griffin seems like a really good guy, a genuine father and a kind person. Plus, I know he’s interested in me, which really was the plan from the start.

  But I never expected him to be so handsome and charming. I’ve never had a man like him interested in me before. I always thought I was a little too plain, a little too boring. I can’t help but feel excited just thinking about Griffin, and I want to get to know him in a real way.

  But I have a job to do. I have to keep reminding myself that. It’s for my family, and like my father always says, family comes before everything.

  Which is funny, actually. Because really my father comes before everything. His businesses and his successes are always more important than anything I do. He sent me away to school overseas under the pretext of getting me a good education, but I suspect he just didn’t want to have to deal with me. My mother didn’t try to keep me around either, which didn’t surprise me. Lynette Fisher is more interested in her little cocktail parties than she is in her offspring

  The car pulls up in front of the house and I climb out. My nerves are getting worse, but I just have to ignore them and keep going. I head inside the house and shut the door behind me.

  “Hello?” I call out, wanting to get this over with.

  Ward appears at the top of the stairs. “You’re late,” he says.

  I frown at him. My brother is older than me by two years and he’s practically the same person as my father. He’s being groomed to take over my father’s businesses when he gets a little older. We’re not close, not at all.

  “I have to stay as late as he wants me to,” I say to him, continuing on into the house.

  “Doesn’t matter,” he calls out after me. “Remember, you don’t really work for him.” Ward comes halfway down the steps and leans out int
o the hallway.

  “Actually, I do,” I say, looking back at him. “And if I’m supposed to do this freaking insane thing, I’m going to actually act like it.”

  Ward frowns at me. I’m not sure he even understands how this whole thing works. But before he can keep on trying to be the bully he loves to be, my father calls out from his study.

  “Erin, come in here.”

  I roll my eyes at Ward and head through the kitchen. Father’s study takes up most of back of the house. I knock once on his door then head inside.

  Rick Fisher looks at me from behind his desk. His suit jacket is tossed over the chair next to his desk and his tie is halfway undone. He’s clearly been drinking, which makes my heart beat faster. My father isn’t a nice man when he’s drunk, but I’m hoping he just started.

  “Sit,” he says.

  I take a seat in front of him, feeling nervous. If somebody were watching this from the outside, they’d never know that I’m his daughter. Rick has never been a nice man. In fact, he’s always been controlling and intense. There’s not much kindness in him, and I was practically raised by a long string of Hispanic nannies, which is why I speak Spanish really well. Rick is a harsh and cold man, but he’s given me everything, and he is still my father. Although I don’t feel like I’m an important part of the family, they are still blood.

  That’s part of why I agreed to do this in the first place. I don’t know why I even still care, but I do want my father to be proud of me. I want to fit in with my family, even though I’m not really an asshole like they are. I agreed to do this task because I hoped that my father would respect me for it and finally give me the interest and respect that I deserve.

  But as soon as he speaks, I’m not so sure that’ll ever happen.

  “You’re late,” he says.

  I sigh. “Like I was telling Ward, I have to stay as late as he wants me to stay. I need to keep up the façade, right?”

  He nods slightly. “That’s right. Good. What do you have for me?”

  I pause, biting my lip. “Not much,” I admit.