Chapter 3

LACEY

It was him. No way. Standing right in front of me was the guy at the coffee shop who was last seen wearing my flat white coffee on his chest.

"What's wrong? Cat got your tongue?" He smirked. The corners of his lips quirked as if he found the situation amusing.

I blinked. "This has to be some kind of mistake. I'm looking for a Mr. Wulfthorn. I'm his new nanny."

"There's no mistake, Oklahoma."

My hands squeezed until my nails dug into my palms. "My name is Lacey," I said through gritted teeth. How I wanted to slap that smug look off his face, but that wasn't exactly the way to endear oneself to one's new boss.

"Lacey, then. Your interview begins right now. Your first task is to get Emilia to eat her lunch." He gestured for me to step further into his office.

For the first time, I took in the room. Framed by a row of floor-to-ceiling windows behind a massive glass desk, the office overlooked the busy streets of Huntington Harbor below. Sunlight flooded the room, highlighting how perfect and sterile it was. Everything was dark leather, glass, and polished metal. It was masculine, cold, and expensive. Definitely not the place for a four-year-old child.

The child turned out to be an adorable girl with big round hazel eyes. Her shiny black hair was tied in a messy ponytail. Sitting on the floor, she clutched a stuffed rabbit in her arms as she sulked behind a black leather chair with metal legs.

With a quiet snick, the door closed behind me. I was all alone with the fearsome Mr. Wulfthorn and my new charge.

Emilia stared up at me with wary reserve.

What had happened to her to make her so distrustful at such a young age? Maybe this would work better if I got on her level. Carefully, I kneeled next to her.

"Hi, Emilia. My name is Lacey. And who is your friend here?"

She fiddled with the stuffed toy's ear in between her fingers. "Mr. Snuffles."

"Mr. Snuffles looks like he's hungry."

Emilia sniffed. "I'm hungry too."

"Okay, then let's get you something to eat. Can you get up?"

She shook her head.

With a pleading glance at Mr. Wulfthorn, I gestured my head in the direction of the food I noticed on his desk. His expression was closed off and unreadable, and for a moment, I was afraid he wasn't going to help me.

He nodded. Moving with a quick confident stride, he retrieved the entire place setting and brought it over to me. I took the plate and examined the contents. It seemed like all four-year-olds had the same tastebuds, even if they had a billionaire at their beck and call.

I placed the plate on the floor in front of Emilia, then the cup of milk and the silverware. At the sight of the food, she scrunched up her face and turned her head away. Even as inexperienced with children as I was, I spotted the impending meltdown.

Nervously, I nudged my glasses up my nose. "What's wrong, Emilia?"

She clutched the stuffed toy to her chest and shook her head.

Well, this wasn't going very well. There was no need to turn around to know that Mr. Wulftorn was not impressed with my childcare skills. I was totally failing this interview.

Wait a minute. My eyes landed on the stuffed rabbit and then the cartoon rabbit on her shirt. An idea struck me.

First, I used a fork to arrange all the chicken nuggets in a circle on the plate. Then, I split a matchstick carrot in half and placed the pieces above a nugget, so that they formed a pair of bunny ears. I repeated this until every nugget had a set of ears.

By now, both Wulfthorns were staring at what I was doing with fascination.

"Do you like ketchup or ranch, Emilia?" I asked gently.

"Both." She climbed to her hands and knees and crept closer to me. Her eyes lit up as she watched me work.

"A lady of refined tastes," I commented. Using the spoon, I placed big dollops of ranch dressing on each nugget, giving them fluffy cotton tails. Finally, I drew ketchup eyes and whiskers on the nuggets.

"Bunnies!" Emilia whispered in amazement. "I used to have blueberry bunny pancakes with Mommy."

I set the fork down on the plate. My heart broke at the sadness in her voice as she mentioned her mother.

"I'm sure they were the best pancakes, sweetheart."

A muscle in Mr. Wulfthorn's jaw jumped. "We can have bunny pancakes too. I'll tell Chef Rosa to make some tomorrow morning if that's what you like."

The solemn expression on Emilia's face finally broke, stretching into a smile. "Okay, Uncle Blake." She glanced over at me. "Can I eat the bunnies now, Lacey?"

"Of course, Emilia. They're all for you."

She scooched closer to the plate and picked up the fork. Spearing a nugget, she brought it up to her mouth and took a big bite. After chewing for a while, she grinned and murmured her approval.

She ate happily, tackling each bunny in the same order, body first, then the ears.

Together, Mr. Wulfthorn and I watched her eat her lunch without complaint.

"Impressive," he commented. "You did well, Okla--Lacey."

"Does that mean I've got the job, Mr. Wulfthorn?" I couldn't help but beam on the inside.

"Blake, please. Mr. Wulfthorn makes me feel like my father."

"So, what's the verdict, Blake?"

"You're skilled at getting her to eat, but I still have some concerns."

I gaped at him. "I just pulled off a miracle here."

"True, but your clumsiness makes me doubt your ability to keep Emilia out of harm's way."

Heat flushed up my neck and face as I recalled the incident in the coffee shop. That wasn't even my fault. The indignation burned, that he was holding the accident he caused against me.

"Not that you're to blame, there was no way for you to know I was standing behind you," he muttered.

I swallowed the triumph that bubbled in my throat. This was as much of an apology as I was ever going to get from a proud man like him.

The sun shining through the windows lit up his features. My breath caught at the long angular lines of his face. At that moment, he resembled a masterfully chiseled sculpture.

Blake studied his niece as she munched happily through her lunch. She made each of the nugget bunnies hop across the plate and then up to Mr. Snuffle's mouth before bringing each nugget up to her mouth.

Despite his closed-off demeanor, I could tell that he really did care for the little girl.

"This is the calmest mealtime we've had since she moved in with me." A frown formed on his face. "I'm not promising to hire you yet, but I'm willing to give you a chance."

I rose to my feet, even though I would never be tall enough to stand neck to neck with Blake. This was still a business negotiation, and I needed to be on firm footing. "What are you proposing?"

"I have an operations meeting with my staff downstairs for the remainder of the afternoon. If the kid is still alive when I come back from my meeting, then you've got the job."

I blinked. That was it? How hard could it be to keep my eyes on one little girl? "You've got yourself a deal."

Holding out my hand, I waited until he grasped mine in a firm handshake. To my surprise, his hand fit around mine perfectly. I had to fight back the sigh of disappointment when he finally let go.

Blake cleared his throat. "Emilia has a temporary play area set up in the waiting room. You can stay with her there while I'm gone." He let out a breath. "I'm trusting you with the most important person in my life. Do you have a handle on this?"

Did I? I didn't know if I could handle myself most days. Squaring my chin, I gave him a firm nod. "I will do everything to make sure she is taken care of. I promise."

"I'm sure you'll do your very best. If you need anything, ask Anna." He paused. "She looks innocent, but this one will try to bend you to her will. Be careful."

I glanced down at the little girl who had eaten all of her nuggets and was finishing up the last of her carrot sticks. Every drop of milk in her cup was gone. She beamed up at me, giving me a dimpled smile. How could that be true? Emilia was as sweet and cute as the bunnies she loved so much.

"You have your job, and I have mine. Please trust that I can do what you hired me to do."

"Very well." His tone was mild, like the skilled business negotiator he was. He revealed nothing of his true thoughts.

"Come on, Emilia," I called out. "I heard that you have a play area. Can you show me where it is?"

The child scrambled to her feet, dragging her stuffed animal by the arm. She crashed into my side and crooked her finger, beckoning me toward her. I leaned down to hear what she had to say.

"You have to find me first," she whispered. Then, before I could figure out what she meant, she ran to the office door and dashed out into the waiting room. Maybe I was getting old, but never in my life had I seen a child run that fast.

Blake chuckled. "Told you. She's a master at hide and seek."

I exited Blake's office and began the search for my charge. It was fifteen minutes before I found her tucked away in one of the shelves under the counter of the coffee bar. She was hiding behind stacks of paper cups, stir sticks, and bottles of syrup.

"You got off easy, little wolf children will test you to see if you are worthy of respect," Anna said, all while keeping her eyes on her computer monitor. Her fingers danced across the keyboard in a rhythmic tap tap tap as she spoke. "The last time she made me find her, she somehow pried open the metal grating and hid in the air duct. I was moments away from calling the police to report a missing child."

Ah, that explained everything. I had a sense that there was something supernatural about the Wulfthorns. They were wolf shifters. Before I came here, I was aware that their kind inhabited Huntington Harbor, but I had no idea that I would become familiar with an actual shifter family so soon, and so intimately.

Emilia giggled as she climbed out of the coffee bar. "That was fun, Lacey. Let's play again."

No, not again. Never again, if I could help it. "Can you show me your play area? Your Uncle Blake says it's pretty awesome."

"Uh huh. Uncle Blake took me to the store. We got lots of toys!"

"I can see that," I said.

Emilia led me over to what she called Bunnyville, a make-believe town inhabited completely by bunnies. It had a play kitchen that served as a diner,

a grocery store with a cash register, and even a functioning miniature pink car that served as the town's public transit system. It seemed like whatever time he couldn't give to his niece, he replaced with toys.

We spent the rest of the afternoon playing pretend mayor of Bunnyville. By the time Blake came back from his meeting, Emilia was fast asleep on the couch in the waiting area under a soft chenille throw. Anna had ended her shift over an hour ago and left us alone.

Blake rushed out of the elevator, but before he could say a word, I held my finger up to my lips and shushed him, gesturing toward his sleeping niece with my head.

"I'm sorry, the meeting went longer than I anticipated. How was she?" His expression was contrite and marred with lines of stress. He was being pulled in multiple directions. No matter how rich he was, he couldn't do it all alone.

"Like an angel."

He tutted. "You're a terrible liar. Tell the truth, what did she do?"

"I did think I lost her for a moment, but I found her hiding spot in the end."

"She's been doing that a lot lately, hiding away. It's been a recurring theme ever since her mother passed away." Blake cleared his throat. "You did well today, Lacey. I'm impressed. The paperwork still needs to be finalized, but you're hired."

"Oh, wow. Really?" I couldn't believe it. I just told him I thought I lost his niece and he was still going to give me the job.

He rolled his eyes. "I wouldn't say it if I didn't mean it."

"Of course. I can start whenever you need me." My nerves made my voice shake as reality started sinking in. This job was going to set me up financially for the rest of my life.

"That's what I like to hear. From now on, my driver will pick you up at your place at 5:30 every morning."

My eyes widened. "How do you know where I live?"

"Do you think I wouldn't run my own background check on you? I know everything about you, including where you've lived your entire life, to that allergic reaction you had to corn when you were twelve, as well as your non-existent experience with childcare." His eyes pierced me. It was like he could see into the depths of my soul.

My face flushed with heat as he revealed my deepest secrets. Of course, my new boss was ruthless. He didn't become a billionaire in such a short time by overlooking any details.

"But Emilia likes you, which I can't say about many people in this world." He pinned me with hard eyes. "5:30 sharp tomorrow. Be ready."