Billionaires, Bad Boys, and Alpha Males (156 page)

“Good,
because I was
planning on cooking up a few steaks—“

“I
thought
you only knew how to do spaghetti and meatballs,” Nicole said. “I still have a
few tricks up my sleeve that you haven’t seen yet.
 
Don’t you worry.”

“Come
on,
Kallie, he’s just showing off now.”
 
Nicole led her up a long staircase to the second floor, and then to an
enormous guest room with a beautiful skylight and a gorgeous balcony that
looked out onto the ocean.

“What
a view!” Kallie cried out.

“You
can
hang here tonight, if you like,” Nicole said softly.
 
“And then tomorrow we can discuss next
steps, okay?”

Kallie
wanted
to cry but kept her tears in, nodding and pressing her lips together. Nicole
walked to the door.
 
“Give me a
quick sec while I try and wrangle up a change
of clothes for you.”

And
then
she left the room and Kallie sat down on the king sized bed, heaving a sigh of
relief.

***

Nicole
left
the guest room and made her way back to the master bedroom, where she rummaged
through her clothes.
 
So many of
them were just gigantic articles of clothing tailored for seven-month pregnant
women, and not at all suitable for a small girl with tiny hips and normal
boobs.

Eventually
she
came across a slightly smaller t-shirt and sweatpants.
 
They would likely still be too large,
but would do the trick for now.
 
She
carried the clothes back to the guest room and knocked before going inside.

Kallie
was
staring out the sliding door that led to the balcony.
 
She turned and smiled guiltily.
“Sorry, I couldn’t help it.
 
This view is just breathtaking.”

“You
don’t
need to apologize for looking out a window,” Nicole said softly.
 
She put the clothes on the bed.
 
As she straightened, she was hit by a
surprising wave of dizziness, a sensation of vertigo.

“Are
you
all right?” Kallie said nervously.

“What?” Nicole replied, sweating suddenly.

“You
just got a weird look on your face.
 
I didn’t know…”

The
sensation
passed and Nicole waved it off.
 
Just a little spell—they happened from time to time.
 
“Anyway, here’s something to change
into.
 
You won’t win any fashion
awards, but at least the clothes are dry.”

“Oh,
I’m so thankful.
 
Really.”

“You
have a shower and bath adjoining the
room,” Nicole said, pointing to the bathroom door.
 
“Feel free to use the shower for as long
as you like.
 
There are towels and
soap and shampoo in there, too.”

Kallie
nodded.
 
“Okay.”

“When
you’re
ready, come downstairs and we can talk a little more about things.” The girl
nodded and Nicole smiled once more, and then walked out of the bedroom,
closing the door behind her.

Slowly,
Nicole
made her way downstairs.
 
She could
feel that she was a little out of breath, probably from the stress of
everything.
 
Yet she put her hand on
her stomach and felt a reassuring kick through her belly.

She’s
still
in there, happy and healthy.
 
Stay
positive.
 
Remember, everything is
fine.
 
The doctor’s done all the
tests, and the baby is perfectly normal.

Smiling
to
prove to herself just how fine it all was, Nicole finished going downstairs and
saw Red was waiting for her in the great room.

“So,
what’s
going on?” he asked, and she could see the signs of tension in his face now.

Nicole
did
her best to give him the quick but accurate version of events as Kallie had
told them to her.

By
the end, Red was almost furious.
 
“These goddamn people think that because
they have a couple of extra bucks that other people don’t have, it make them
impervious to rules.
 
They think
they can treat people with less money like garbage.
 
As if a nanny is equivalent to a
prostitute!”

Nicole
nodded.
 
She was feeling really tired suddenly,
and decided to sit down. So she did sit down, and Red was immediately by her
side.
 
“You look a little pale.
Everything okay, babe?”

“Yeah.”
She nodded, trying to catch her breath.
 
“I’m just thirsty.”

“Let
me
get you some water.”
 
He leapt off
the couch and went into the kitchen, where she heard him clanking and clinking
around in the cabinet.
 
Next, the
sound of the faucet running, ice cubes plopping, and then he was on his way
back to give her a cold glass of water.

Nicole
drank deeply,
sighing.
 
“That hit the spot.
 
Thanks.”

He
kissed
her cheek and then sat down by her feet, picking one foot up and slowly
massaging it.

“Oh
god,
that’s amazing.”
 
She leaned back on
the couch and closed her eyes. Red grabbed her other foot and began massaging
that one as well.
 
“So what do we
do with her now?” he asked.
 
“Does she have any family in the area?”

“I
don’t
think so.”
 
Nicole opened her eyes
and looked at him.
 
“I’m pretty sure
she said she’s from Ohio.”

Red
shook
his head.
 
“I guess we’ll have to
help her get a flight back tomorrow.” Nicole sat up straighter.
 
She put the glass of cold water to her
cheek.
 
“Let’s just wait
and see.”

“Wait
and see what?”

“I
don’t
know.
 
I don’t want to just kick her
out, toss her on a plane and make her go home to Ohio.
 
What if she doesn’t want to leave New
York?”

“New
York
doesn’t seem like it’s been a very fun experience for her,” he said. “She ran
into a couple of jerks.
But that
doesn’t mean she should just run away from
being
a nanny and experiencing New York City.”

Red
nodded,
allowing that she had a point.
 
“Still,” he said, his fingers expertly rubbing the sole of her
foot.
 
“It’s not our job to help
this girl get back on her feet.
 
You
picked her up, we can let her stay the night—but then she needs to figure
out a plan for herself.”

“We
can help her figure out a plan.”

“As
long
as it involves going somewhere else.
 
She can’t stay in our house, Nicole.”

For
some reason Nicole didn’t like what he was
telling her, even though she knew it made perfect sense.
 
The truth was, she didn’t know Kallie at
all.
 
Kallie might not even be her
real name—she might be a liar and a thief—or worse.

“I’m
just
saying, let’s take it one step at a time,” Nicole replied.

“She’s not a stray puppy.”

“Never
said she was.”

He
gazed intently at her.
 
“You’re acting like she is.”

“No,
I’m
not.
 
I’m simply being human and
empathetic to her situation.
 
You’re
a man, you can’t understand what she’s been through.”

His
eyes
narrowed.
 
“You’re pregnant and
that’s the most important thing in my mind.
 
I’m not putting you or the baby at risk
by having some strange person in our house indefinitely.”

“Nobody’s
at
risk.
 
She’s a perfectly sweet
girl.”

He shook his head.
 
“You’re being naïve.”

“Well
I
like her.
 
And that’s enough for me,
for now.
 
We’ll discuss it again
tomorrow, Red.”

He
raised
his eyebrows.
 
“Whatever you say,
Nicole.”
 
And then he picked up her
feet and began rubbing them again.

She
laid her head back and smiled.
 
“Your hands are magic, I swear,” she
said.

***

Kallie
luxuriated
in the thirty-minute hot shower she took after Nicole left the room.
 
By the end, the chill that had gotten
deep into her bones from standing out in that cold rainstorm was long gone, and
replaced by a feeling of loose muscles and warm, glowing skin.

She
dried
off and changed into the large, but very comfortable clothing she’d been
provided by her thoughtful host.

Afterwards,
Kallie
walked out onto the balcony and took a deep breath of the salty air.
 
The waves in the nearby ocean were large
and crashing from the storm earlier. Although the downpour had stopped, the sky
was still cloudy and the air smelled of rain.

She
went
back inside, shut the sliding door and exhaled.
 
At least for now, she felt safe and warm
and sure of what the night would bring.
 
Tomorrow she could deal with the
uncertainty
of what to do next.

Kallie
went
downstairs and found Nicole and Red making an early dinner together.
 
Nicole was prepping the salad at the
enormous granite counter, and he had a fancy grill up and was heating it, tongs
at the ready.

They
both
looked up when Kallie entered the kitchen.
Nicole
got a big smile on her face, but Red wasn’t nearly as pleased to see her, and
for a moment she felt a thrill of anxiety shoot through her.

After
what
had happened with Brad, the last thing Kallie wanted was another man having
some kind of issue with her.

“Hi,”
Kallie waved nervously.

“You
look like a new person,” Nicole said.
 
“Feel better?”

“I
do.”

Red
threw
three cuts of meat on the grill where they sizzled and popped.
 
“How do you like your steak?” he said.

“Medium,
I guess?”

He
nodded.
 
“You got it.”

Red
and
Nicole were so right together—Kallie was instantly inspired and in awe,
but also jealous.
 
They had what
everyone wanted, didn’t they?
 
A
person who would love you no matter what—someone who would stand by your
side to the bitter end.

Kallie
didn’t
even know how or why she could tell this about them, but she just could.
 
They must have been the polar opposite
of Brad and Trina Danvers, and after breathing in the toxic air of the
Danvers’s lives for the last six-months, this was a refreshing change of pace.

She
relaxed
and watched Red and Nicole talk and joke and play with one another as they made
the meal.
 
Everything Red did was so
caring, so protective.
 
She saw the
way he watched Nicole, the kindness in his eyes.
 
Had any man ever looked at Kallie that
way?

Not
even remotely, she realized, with a surge
of melancholy.

Soon
the
food was ready, and Nicole and Red served her like she was an old friend of the
family.

As
they
ate, the three of them stayed away from serious topics and discussed things
like movies and music, and Red and Nicole asked her about her family and
college in Ohio.

Red
was
surprised and intrigued when she told him she came from a family that had five
boys and just one girl.

“What
was
that like—being the only girl?” he said.

“Interesting.
 
Dating wasn’t easy,” she laughed.

“I
bet.”

Nicole
smiled as she cut a piece of steak.
 
“Were they protective of you?”

“You
could
say that.
 
The first boy who asked
me on a date ended up backing out at the last minute because he heard my oldest
brother was going to follow behind us the whole time.”

“Was
your brother really going to do that?”
Nicole said.

Kallie
chuckled.
 
“No, but I’m sure someone would have put
a scare into him before he got me out of the house that night.”

“What
does
your family think of you coming to New York City all by yourself?” Red asked.

She
paused
and took a bite of salad.
 
The food
was delicious and she savored the tangy vinaigrette for a few seconds before
answering.
 
“They don’t exactly
approve.
 
My parents like having all
of the kids around.
 
My brothers all
live within an hour of where we grew up.
 
I’m the only one who’s gone far away.”

Nicole
nodded understandingly.
 
“That must be hard sometimes.”

“Yeah.
And
I think maybe I made a mistake.
 
I
think they were right,” Kallie said, choking back some emotion.

Nicole
exchanged a glance with her husband.