I bit back a snort. I hadn’t actually expected him to come out and admit it. Usually, parents who were difficult to work with had no self-awareness when it came to these things. “You might be, but I have found that people who are complete… er, well, they don’t usually admit it.”
“I suppose I’ve got that going for me,” he said, and gosh, his smile was pretty. Rough but soft, and I had to squash the feeling arising in my stomach immediately.No, Harper! Bad Harper!We were not going to find the gruff, bearded single dad sexy. Absolutely not! “But I don’t know if I’ll admit it when it’s actually happening.”
He looked over at Jack, who was playing with a DUPLO zebra and completely ignoring us. “He’s my world, and I just want him to be happy. And to be a good person.”
How could I not want to work for someone who cared like that?
And even if he was difficult, he couldn’t be any worse than some of the parents I’d dealt with before.
“Right, so…” He shook his head. “Let’s talk about routines and schedule, and then I can show you around. There’s a whole top floor you can have—you’re fine to live in, right? Anyway, there’s a bedroom, en-suite, kitchenette, and sitting room up there. And you’re welcome to use the main kitchen whenever you want. Does that work? Oh, and I’ve got a draft contract and salary details.”
He stood and walked over to the bookcase, grabbing an iPad off one of the shelves and tapping the screen. “I can send you a copy but you can look over it now. I’m sure it’s probably similar to what you’ve had before, but there’s a few details about weekend work because I play professional rugby and need someone to watch Jack on match days.”
It sounded like I’d already got the job, which was a little unusual since it seemed like he’d been ready to hire me before I even stepped foot in the house.
“That’s absolutely fine,” I said. I knew I’d have more questions but my mind had been temporarily wiped by the salary offer on the top of the page. It was more than I’d ever been offered before, almost double my last job and that had been generous.
I wasn’t in this for the money, but I couldn’t deny it helped, especially because I was saving for tickets to go to Tomorrowland in the Netherlands as well as putting money aside for a deposit on a little house of my own when I finally stopped living in.
“I’ll look over it in a minute,” I said, putting the iPad down before I got distracted. I wanted to talk to him more before I accepted anything because my mum had always said if an offer seemed too good to be true, then it probably was. And I wasn’t going to let myself get sucked into a bad situation just because the man involved was my literal walking fantasy.
“Let’s talk about you and Jack first. And then I’d love that tour.”
CHAPTER THREE
Matty
It’d takenme all of ten minutes to decide to hire Harper.
Anyone who could handle me asking pain-in-the-arse questions without losing their shit, while simultaneously calling me out on my bullshit and offering reassurance, had to be a saint. And that wasn’t even considering his impressive list of qualifications.
I wasn’t going to find anyone better. That much was obvious.
Now I just had to stop myself from fucking the whole thing up, leaving Jack and me up shit creek without a paddle.
“Do you need a hand carrying anything?” I asked as Harper carefully stepped through the front door with a couple of large packing boxes in his arms. Each one was carefully labelled with neat, printed lettering across the side and I tried not to be nosy and read them. I couldn’t believe he was able to start so quickly, but here we were on a Sunday afternoon a little over a week later with him moving in and me suddenly wondering if I was ready for him to be here.
It wasn’t like the situation was different from any of the other nannies I’d hired, though, so I wasn’t sure why I felt weird about it.
Maybe it was because I really needed this to work out and I was already panicking that it wouldn’t.
“I should be fine, thanks,” he said with a cheerful smile as he headed towards the stairs, his colourful shoes squeaking on the wooden floor. “But if you hear crashing, it might be best to come to my rescue.”
“Or you could give me those boxes, and I won’t have to worry about carting you to A&E later.”
“Don’t worry, I won’t break anything. I bounce.”
I chuckled and shook my head as I followed him. “Trust me, nobody bounces. Give them to me and I’ll take them up. Then I’ll give you a hand to get the rest.”
“What about Jack?” Harper asked, pivoting on the spot and using his shoulder to push his glasses up his nose. They were large and round with bright red frames that reminded me of the toy fire engine Jack had been obsessed with for the last week. Harper hadn’t been wearing them when he’d come for his interview, so I assumed he normally wore contacts, and I was suddenly struck by how much his glasses suited him.
I couldn’t say that without being weird, though, so I was going to keep my mouth well and truly shut.
“He’s in the playroom,” I said. “He’ll be fine. And we’ll be walking past him every time we go in and out, so I can keep an eye on him.”
“Are you sure? I don’t want to put you out.”
“Trust me, I’d rather you didn’t hurt yourself,” I said as I put my hands out for the boxes.
