being his slave

Ch 6: Part I

I woke up early the next day. While the coffee brewed, I stood by the window and watched the rain. So much for scouting for a good camping spot.

"Morning." I glanced over my shoulder at the sound of Mr. Luca's voice. He was still shirtless and rubbing his chest as he walked over to where I stood. Blinking, I pulled my gaze from his muscular arms to look out at the pouring rain.

"Good morning, Mr. Luca."

"I think after last night, and for the sake of the next ten years, maybe you should start calling me Cole." I nodded once, turning my attention back to the window. "No camp set up today, either, huh?"

"Looks that way." I agreed. When the coffee pot pinged, Mr. Luca made us each a cup before joining me back by the window. "Thank you."

"I apologize for yesterday, Macy. I overstepped."

"It's natural."

"I-"

"Mr. Luca, I'm to be your nanny, your personal assistant, and I'm sure I'll have more responsibilities as time progresses. Occasionally, those lines will blur." He frowned but didn't say anything, instead sipping on his coffee. "I'll oversee your children, your schedule, and eventually probably your household. So our relationship needs to be in tiptop shape, in order for the boys to get what they need out of these years we're together. Sometimes, emotions run high, desires start to mix. I would be foolish to assume that things will remain entirely professional over the next ten years, considering the attraction."

"Attraction?" He pressed, glancing at me out of the corner of his eye.

"I had assumed, after your kiss, that-."

"I meant, you're attracted to me, as well?" I felt my face heat up. "Good to know I'm not the only one, then. I usually have no trouble keeping it professional with my employees, but I find that you have always been the exception to that."

We skipped breakfast and went upstairs to look at the boys' rooms to see if I could decorate them differently than the rooms in the main house. I was packing up the boys' things when Mr. Luca got a call from Maggie. He left the room to take the call, leaving me to work in comfortable silence.

When he came back, the sad look on his face told me it hadn't been good news.

"Her father just passed." He started, taking a seat on Eli's bed. "Her parents were taking care of her brother's children, so she's staying there to take care of everything. Benedict will be back after the funerals to get her things."

"That makes me sad for her." I confessed, closing up the box I'd been working on. "It's never easy losing a parent, but to lose them both so close in proximity?" I shook my head, lost for words.

"I've had her my whole life." He confessed. When I turned to look at him, he was staring at the carpet, lost in thought. "She never married, never had children – said I'd cured her of that desire when I was little. She would visit her parents four times a year, but aside from that she was always here to take care of me and my children." I took a seat beside him on Eli's bed.

"It'll get easier." I assured him softly. "Does she have other family there?"

"No. She had one brother, but he and his wife passed a couple years ago in an accident. Her parents took his children in because they didn't want to relocate them here to be with Maggie."

"So ask her if she wants a fresh start here." He shook his head no. "You already asked?"

"She said it was time for her to move on." He glanced up at me. "She said I had you, and her job would only force her to get in your way."

"Oh, let's call her and assure her that it would never be like that-."

"She's grieving right now. Maybe she'll change her mind in a couple weeks."

"And if she doesn't?" He smiled sheepishly at me.

"Mind being the housekeeper too?" I laughed, smacking him on the arm. The bed groaned, and then, under our weight, snapped and sent us crashing to the floor.

There, in the middle of the broken bed, laughing with Cole on the floor, was when I first started falling in love with the man I so desired.