Tempt Me Page 2

  “And he’s pretty hot himself,” another said. “And single.”

  “Think they’re having an affair?”

  Mia cringed at their insinuation, especially given where her mind had been seconds before. Still, women could be nasty and this group was pretty gossipy and rude. Couldn’t she just have a job without being accused of screwing her boss?

  Ignoring them, she climbed into the seat and slammed the door shut, closing herself inside before she could hear the conclusion the women drew. Especially since it probably matched her deepest, darkest hidden desire for Austin Rhodes.

  * * *

  Austin waited for Mia to pull the SUV out of the parking spot in the school parking lot and head home before doing the same, turning his car toward the highway. He drove to the Alpha Security office, his mind on his daughter’s first full day of elementary school. Kindergarten had been half day, and he hoped she was up to a complete seven hours in first grade, but he reassured himself that Bailey was his Energizer Bunny. She would rise to the challenge and even dance her way through it. He grinned at the thought. She always made him smile.

  Yesterday’s assignment and his daughter’s need to have him around cemented the fact that he wanted to change up what he did for Alpha Security, and he had an appointment to talk to Dan this morning.

  Before he could continue along that train of thought, his cell rang and his mother’s name popped up on the dashboard screen.

  He answered the call on speaker as he drove. “Hey, Mom.”

  “How did my baby do going into school today?” Sarah asked.

  “Went in like a champ.” He smiled, proud of his kid. “Of course, it helped that Mia joined us,” he said, giving credit where it was due. “Unfortunately, Bailey had a little breakdown over the fact that her friends had their mothers bringing them into school, too.”

  His mom sighed. “We knew you’d have to deal with that one day.”

  “I did. But it was amazing how agreeing to let Mia join us changed her whole mood. She really likes her and Mia is amazing with Bailey. She’s patient and loving. It’s not just a job for her,” he said, basically repeating what he’d said to Mia a few minutes earlier.

  Mia, who’d stared at him with wide eyes and flushed cheeks, and put dirty thoughts in his head just by looking at him for a few seconds too long. He’d used those seconds to stare at her luscious mouth and wonder whether she tasted sweet like the sugar she put in her tea at night and coffee in the morning. Yes, he fucking studied her personal habits and memorized what she liked.

  “Not to mention she’s young and pretty?” his mother asked as if reading his mind about Mia.

  “Mom!” he said, horrified she’d even go there. He felt guilty enough for his inappropriate thoughts. Now he had to worry about whether he’d sent out inadvertent signals about his interest in Mia that his mother had picked up on.

  “What? I’m just pointing out that you’re a healthy man with… appetites and she’s a sweet, good-looking woman,” his mother said, not backing down.

  Jesus. He pulled behind a car driving below the speed limit, glanced in the mirror, and swerved into the left lane to drive around it.

  “She’s my daughter’s nanny,” he reminded his mother as well as himself, because he clearly needed a good talking to. “And I just said Mia was fantastic. I’m not going to mess up a good situation for Bailey.”

  Not to mention, he knew better than to get involved with a woman right now. He’d been screwed by his ex and he had no desire to deal with the opposite sex on any level but professional.

  Liar.

  “Shut the fuck up,” he muttered aloud to his inner voice.

  “What did you say?” his mother asked. “I couldn’t hear you.”

  He shook his head, grateful she’d missed those words, and swallowed hard. “I said this wasn’t a conversation I want to have.”

  “I think you protest too much.” His mother clicked her tongue like she would when he was a child. “It’s not healthy to be without companionship. I don’t want to know what you’re doing about your sex life but—”

  “Mom!” This time he yelled, feeling his face flush and having a hard time keeping an eye on the road. “This conversation is over.” It reminded him of the time she’d given him the sex talk while driving on a highway and he couldn’t escape. “I love you but we’re done. I’ll talk to you later.”

  “We’re coming to visit this weekend,” she said, reminding him of plans they’d made.

  “Right. Okay. Bye for now.” He disconnected quickly, shaking his head.

  God love his mother. She meant well but she liked to meddle in the name of worrying about her children.

  But she’d put the thought of Mia squarely at the forefront of his mind. He’d definitely lied when he told himself he had no desire for any woman. He had a healthy sex drive and he’d already admitted he wanted Mia. And the more he watched her interact with his child, the more she engaged him on many levels.

  But he wouldn’t be the guy who screwed the nanny. And being single didn’t make it all right. She worked for him, so any kind of overture would be considered sexual harassment, and that was a lawsuit waiting to happen. And as he’d already said, he refused screw up something that worked well for his daughter. As always, she came first.

  Before his dick, that was for certain. Which meant he was going to have to put a leash on his wayward thoughts, his probably not-so-subtle glances and desire to kiss her, touch her soft skin, and fuck her notwithstanding. With great difficulty, he turned his thoughts to work and his upcoming conversation with his boss, prepping himself for the pitch he was about to give.

  He walked into the offices of Alpha Security. Everyone was out on assignment, so he headed directly up to Dan’s office, bypassing the empty game room Dan had built for his employees to relax in during their downtime.

  He knocked on Dan’s door just as he was putting the phone down. “Come on in,” his boss said, gesturing for Austin to join him.

  “Hey. Thanks for working around me today.”

  Dan nodded. “Of course. When you asked to meet, it sounded important.” He motioned to the chair in front of his desk.

  Austin settled in while Dan leaned against the wall close by. “Talk to me, son.” He considered all his employees his kids, even if only one of them was actually his biological child.

  Austin drew a fortifying breath. “I know you’ve been talking about delegating your responsibilities because you want to cut back some. And I don’t want to be out in the line of fire when I have a young child at home and I’m the only parent she has.”

  Dan studied him in silence, nodding as Austin spoke.

  He sweated a little, worried his boss would think he was presumptuous. “I was hoping to take over some of your workload… It would take me out of the field and I could do much of the administrative side from home. I have a high-tech office setup there that would connect to the office.”

  “Yes.”

  “I’m well versed in all our clients and how the office runs, and—”

  “No need for the hard sell. I said yes,” Dan said with a grin. “I have two new guys coming on board to replace Ben for short-term work now that he’s off guarding Summer on tour,” he said of the man who’d just re-fallen for a woman who was destined to be a major pop star. “And Shane really is based out of Texas. He just does freelance here, so it was time. We’ll have coverage for you on a day-to-day basis.”

  Austin rose from his chair. “I don’t know what to say.”

  “You’re going to help me cut back. It’s me who has to say thank you.” Dan held out his hand and Austin accepted it.

  “I won’t let you down.”

  Dan smiled in that fatherly way he had. “Your daughter comes first, Austin. I, of all people, understand that.” Dan had raised his son, Jared, and when Ava Talbott, one of their team, was a teenager and her own mother had issues, he’d taken her in and raised her like his own. Dan understood the importance of
family.

  “You and I can start going through how things around here run. We’ll get you spending more time at home as soon as possible.”

  It wasn’t until the ride home, when he had more time to think, than he realized the one drawback to his brilliant plan. Time at home with Bailey meant time at home with Mia. Alone time, since his kid was in school full time. And wouldn’t that wreak havoc on his plan not to think about her sexually or otherwise unless it related to his daughter.

  * * *

  A week after Bailey started school, ballet classes began. Mia ran errands for the better part of the afternoon, doing food shopping and getting Austin’s dry cleaning before picking up Bailey from the small studio. The little girl looked adorable in her pink leotard, tights, and ballet slippers, her silky hair pulled back into a ponytail.

  They drove home, Bailey in a booster in the back seat.

  “How was class?” Mia asked.

  “Good! I learned first position.” She kicked the back of the front car seat, trying to get her little feet into the pose.

  “You can show me when we get home. I bet your dad will want to see, too.” Mia glanced in the rearview mirror before refocusing on the road.

  She pulled onto the street and caught sight of a black sedan parked at the end of the road. She’d seen the car earlier in the week and again this morning and had thought it was odd. This street was far off the highway and didn’t get a lot of stray cars.

  “What’s for dinner?” Bailey asked. “’Cause I’m hungry. Can I have a snack when we get home?” She rattled off questions and statements like they were demands.

  “What happened to please?” Mia asked. “You can have a healthy snack before dinner, like baby carrots. And your dad mentioned wanting to bring in pizza, so that’s what we’re having.”

  “Can I have hummus with the carrots? Please?”

  As Mia pulled into the driveway, she turned to see Bailey with her hands clasped together in supplication. For hummus. “A little bit.”

  Mia unhooked the booster seat and Bailey scrambled out of the car, then Mia grabbed some grocery bags for her first trip into the house. No sooner had she entered than she realized the air conditioning seemed to have stopped working what must have been hours earlier, because the inside of the house was too hot.

  She put the bags on the counter and finished emptying the SUV of groceries before calling Austin on his cell phone. He was on his way home and said he’d get the repairman on the phone as soon as he hung up with her.

  Mia glanced at Bailey, who was dancing around the kitchen in long sleeves and tights. “Let’s change into cooler clothes, okay?”

  “Can I wear my bathing suit?” Bailey asked, her brown eyes sparkling with delight.

  Mia laughed. “Why not? Just don’t expect to go swimming.”

  “We can pretend to swim. Can I change my Barbies into bathing suits, too?”

  “I don’t know. Do you have homework to do first?” she asked.

  Bailey scrunched her nose in reply. “A little.”

  “Okay, homework first, then you can play with your dolls.”

  “But it’s ho-o-t,” she whined, finally bringing up the obvious as a complaint, probably because Mia had just asked her to do something she didn’t want to do.

  “And you’ll be in your bathing suit so you won’t be as uncomfortable.” She ruffled the top of the child’s head. “Let’s go change.”

  “Will you put on a bathing suit, too?” Bailey asked.

  “No,” Mia said. “That wouldn’t be appropriate.”

  “What’s ’propriate mean?” Bailey asked as they headed for the stairs leading to Austin’s and Bailey’s rooms on the second level.

  Mia had a bedroom off the kitchen on the first floor, a relief since she didn’t have to worry about running into Austin when she was coming in or out of the bathroom in the upstairs hall after a shower. She had her own private one right outside her room downstairs. Being in a room near his would only make the building desire she felt for the man so much worse.

  Mia bit the inside of her cheek to distract herself from her thoughts. “Appropriate means it’s not the right thing to do,” she explained to Bailey.

  Not when Austin would be arriving home any minute. She saved her bikinis for her private time. She couldn’t possibly play dress-up—or dress down as the case might be with Bailey. Mia couldn’t handle Austin’s eyes on her when she was half dressed. No doubt her body would betray her and his knowing gaze would zero in on her hard nipples caused by a hot glance.

  She pulled her hair off the back of her sweaty neck. No matter how uncomfortably hot she was, her thoughts making things worse, she wouldn’t be flaunting her body in front of her sexy boss.

  Chapter Two

  Going home to no air conditioning wasn’t the way Austin had planned to celebrate his good news. The AC people would be over later to fix the unit, so he’d have to deal in the meantime. He pulled into the garage, turned off the engine, and walked into the house, the sound of the alarm beep drowned out by music playing.

  He stepped inside, feeling the heat immediately. Damn, it was a hot September. He glanced down the hall into the kitchen, where his daughter was wearing a bathing suit and standing in a ballet pose, arms above her head.

  “Like this. See? Copy me,” she said to Mia, who complied, her legs contorting into whatever position Bailey demanded.

  Legs he couldn’t stop staring at. Strong calves, tanned from playing outside with his daughter and long enough to wrap around his waist while he pounded into her. Way not to think about her that way, he thought, annoyed with himself.

  He adjusted his dick and waited in silence until they were finished dancing, giving his body a chance to calm down before announcing himself.

  After Bailey twirled around and curtsied, Austin stepped out of the shadows, clapping. “Great job!”

  “Daddy!”

  She ran to him, and as usual, he scooped her into his arms. “Tell me about your first day of dance class. Looks like you already learned something.”

  He listened to her chattering, paying attention so he’d know when to nod, understanding he wouldn’t be getting a word in edgewise and his mind still preoccupied with Mia.

  “Who’s ready for me to order pizza?” she asked as she shut the music off on her phone.

  “Can I have plain?” Bailey asked. “I don’t like the roni things Daddy likes.”

  “Pepperoni,” he said, “and it’s delicious.” He tapped her nose. “Order half plain,” he said to Mia. “I’ll be back down in a few minutes.” He placed Bailey down and he started for the stairs.

  “Austin?” Mia called out.

  “Yes?”

  “Did you see a car parked on the end of the street when you came home? It was there all day and I just thought it was odd.”

  He shook his head. “I came in the back way. I’ll go out to the front door and take a look,” he said, his stomach suddenly in knots for reasons he couldn’t put into words.

  When he stepped onto the porch and looked down the street, a black car was sitting on the corner, too far away for him to grab the license plate. Not that he had a reason to run down the plate. But any time something odd went on, his thoughts and fears always turned to his ex-wife.

  She made it a habit to hit him up for money, both when they were married and when she’d left him the first time. It wouldn’t be odd for her to want something and scope out the lay of the land before approaching him.

  He narrowed his gaze on the car in the distance. The sedan wasn’t in front of his house but alongside a copse of trees on a common area where people weren’t allowed to be build homes. The car suddenly pulled away from the curb, did a half turn, and drove off the street.

  He shut the door behind him but the uneasy feeling remained. Pushing it aside for now, he headed upstairs to change into a pair of sweats and a tee shirt and wash up before dinner.

  A little while later, they were seated around the dinner t
able. Everyone’s stomachs were full from pizza and their ears from Bailey’s chatter.

  “I have news,” Austin said, his gaze on his daughter. “I changed my schedule up at work, and in a few weeks, I’ll be working from home. No more weird late-night hours.” He glanced at Mia, who toyed with her food, finding he couldn’t read her expression or thoughts on the matter.

  “Yay!” Bailey clapped her hands. “You can play with me when you’re home!”

  He met Mia’s now amused gaze. “Ummm, I’ll be working and you’ll be in school, but if you need me, I’ll be here. And no more missed dinners.” Or danger, which was the key reason for the change, not that he’d mention that to his six-year-old.

  “That sounds good,” Mia said, but she bit down on her bottom lip, clearly taken aback by the news.

  “Don’t worry. I won’t be under foot. My boss will keep me plenty busy and I’ll be going into the office for regular meetings.”

  Her lips twitched in a half smile. “If you say so,” she said somewhat neutrally, although he heard the uncertainty in her tone.

  If he were a betting man, he’d say she’d come to the same conclusion he already had. With Bailey in school, they’d be around each other more. Alone without a buffer, making it that much more difficult to keep any simmering feelings under wraps.

  * * *

  The week flew by and the weekend arrived. From high eighties, the temperature had fallen to the mid-sixties, typical Connecticut fall weather. Unusually, Mia had Friday night, Saturday, and Sunday to herself. Although she was on call if Austin needed her. Today, Bailey’s grandparents were here to visit, and Austin and his parents took Bailey and her friend Lisa for an early morning at the Bronx Zoo before the lines became crazy.

  Mrs. Rhodes had extended an invitation but Mia didn’t feel right intruding on family time if they didn’t need her to work, and they insisted they didn’t. The last thing she wanted to do was join them and pretend to be like the big, happy family they weren’t. She knew her place and she planned to stay there no matter how hard it was slowly becoming.