Total pages in book: 68
Estimated words: 65137 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 326(@200wpm)___ 261(@250wpm)___ 217(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 65137 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 326(@200wpm)___ 261(@250wpm)___ 217(@300wpm)
Miles dragged his eyes away from the man to the child clinging to his arm.
“Ma-ma?” the boy whispered uncertainly, his words barely intelligible.
It about broke Miles’s heart.
Swallowing, he opened his mouth to say that he wasn’t the poor thing’s mom, but a hard hand gripped his shoulder in warning.
“Yes,” Caldwell said. “Your mom is back, Liam.”
Miles froze.
He glowered at Caldwell over his shoulder, but the man’s cold gaze made it clear that if Miles dared to contradict him, there would be hell to pay.
Before he could say or do anything, Miles had a lapful of a small boy crying against his chest.
Great.
Bloody fantastic.
***
It took Liam a while to finally fall into an exhausted sleep against Miles’s chest. When they put him into his bed and left Liam’s room, Miles immediately rounded on Caldwell. “What the fuck was that? Are you insane?”
Caldwell grabbed his wrist and tugged him into the nearest room. Closing the door, he turned to Miles, his jaw set. “That was the first time in months my son initiated physical contact. The first time he said anything in over a year. You’re out of your mind if you think I’m letting this chance slip by.”
Miles looked at him, at a loss what to say.
“I get that,” he finally managed. “But I’m not the boy’s mother. He’ll just be traumatized again when I don’t come back!”
Caldwell sighed, raking a hand through his hair. “We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. The important thing is to get him over whatever mental block he has now, make him open up, more sociable. Until he does, even the best psychologists can’t help him. Right now he’s afraid of people, even me. Things might be different when you leave in a few months.”
“In a few months?” Miles repeated, puzzled. “I’m your PA only for a few weeks until your PA gets back to work.”
“Obviously, you won’t be my assistant anymore,” Caldwell said dismissively. “You won’t have time for that. My son is a handful.”
Miles started to feel like they were having two separate conversations. “Wait, you want me to be your son’s nanny?” He laughed a little. “Are you out of your mind? I have no clue what to do with kids!”
“You did well enough with Liam just now,” Caldwell said, looking unconcerned. He glanced at his Rolex. “I’m giving you the rest of the day off so you can grab your things and move into the house.”
Miles didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. This man was the personification of every horrible overbearing trait Zach possessed, multiplied by Caldwell’s natural haughtiness and assumption that people would always do as he said.
“I don’t recall agreeing to any of this,” he said. “I’m in America on holiday, not to work as a nanny!”
Caldwell stared at him as if Miles was a strange, alien creature speaking a language he didn’t understand. “I’ll pay you ten thousand dollars a week.”
A laugh left Miles’s throat. It probably sounded a little hysterical, but bloody hell, he’d never met a man who exasperated him as much as Ian Caldwell did.
“It must be nice to be so rich that you’re willing to pay a guy you barely know ten thousand dollars a week for the privilege of living in your house, eating your food, and playing with your son.”
Caldwell’s lips twisted into a sardonic smile. “Don’t tell me you aren’t tempted.”
Miles chuckled. “Of course I’m tempted. I’m broke. But listen, I’m not going to lie to that poor kid and let him think I’m his mother. That will only confuse him further. All the money in the world won’t make me do it.”
“You won’t have to lie about that,” Caldwell said, shrugging again. “My son isn’t stupid. He will realize that you aren’t his mother soon enough on his own. It’s kind of hard to miss that you don’t have a pair of tits. Even a three-year-old will eventually notice that. All you’ll have to do is provide a familiar face for him. It will be the easiest money you’ve ever made.”
That Miles couldn’t argue against. But the situation was bordering on ridiculous: he’d gone from being a tourist to being an intern-slash-spy to being a personal assistant to being a manny, all in the span of ten days.
“Fine,” Miles said.
Caldwell nodded, looking grimly satisfied but unsurprised.
Miles suddenly wondered how many times this man had heard “No” in his life. He was willing to bet the number was depressingly low.
“I’ll tell Winifred to prepare a room for you next to Liam’s,” Caldwell said, heading out of the room.
Miles followed him. “Okay.”
“My driver will take you to your hotel and wait while you pack your things.”
Miles caught his lip between his teeth, hesitating. There was no point lying about it; Caldwell’s driver would tell him anyway. “I’m not staying at a hotel. I’ve been staying at Rutledge Manor.”