Page 5 of Chasing the Sun

“That Mrs. Thomas! Always trying to fix you up,” his assistant, Gianna, said as she slipped back into the room.

“One of the hazards of the job, I guess,” he replied with a shrug.

Gianna smiled at him. “Must be tough being so good looking that even an eighty-year-old woman can’t resist you.”

Gianna didn’t usually flirt with him, but her comment gave him pause. Was it his imagination, or did she sound…jealous? He recalled a few months ago when she’d talked about dating some guy—Ryan, or Randy, or someone—and wondered if she still was.

He preferred not to delve into the personal lives of his staff, but sometimes it couldn’t be helped. Besides, it helped build rapport, and asking a question couldn’t hurt.

“How’s it going with Ryan?” he ventured.

“You mean Randy?”

“Right.” I should have kept my mouth shut.

“We broke up.”

“Oh. Sorry.” And that cinched it.

“It’s okay. He was just a practice guy.”

“A practice guy?”

“Um-hmm. I’m practicing on these guys until I find the right one.”

“Ah,” he said, feeling like the conversation had gotten away from him. “Okay. Well, I need to check on Mr. Kaminski.” He quickly exited the room before she could say any more.

Later, after the staff had left and he was blissfully alone, he went back to thinking about Chloe. Why did she have to be so damn hot? Jamie had omitted that fact, although she was his wife’s best friend, so he could hardly blame him.

Still, when Bryce had first seen her, he’d instantly been struck by her beauty, and he’d had to stop himself from staring. Chloe had long, wavy, reddish-brown hair that she’d kept brushing away from her face.

Her beautiful creamy complexion was set off by big brown eyes, a pert nose, and a full lower lip that she’d sucked between her teeth whenever she’d been concentrating. The move had made him squirm in his chair, and he was thankful she hadn’t been able to see all of him.

Naturally, he’d noticed her teeth, which were small and straight, most likely thanks to the braces she’d worn as a teenager. He’d known she was younger than him, but her expressions and gestures would have given her away. She had an exuberance about her that he associated with youth. He might have possessed it too before the divorce…

He shouldn’t have been noticing any of those things about her, though, and he’d been glad she’d been sitting down so he couldn’t see if her body matched her pretty face.

Jamie had told him Chloe was a dance instructor who’d lost her job when the studio she’d been working at had gone bust. He hadn’t known any dance instructors, but he’d guess she had to be in decent shape. She’d been wearing a short-sleeved crewneck T-shirt, so he hadn’t seen much except for the outline of her lean upper body, toned arms, and delicate hands. Again, all details he shouldn’t have been noticing.

Since his divorce two years ago, he’d hired and fired a few nannies. He’d caught the first one stealing from him, her hand deep inside the glass jar of quarters he’d kept in his closet. He’d been shocked because he thought he paid well enough to prevent such a thing from happening.

He’d found the second nanny in a compromising position with her boyfriend on his couch when he’d come home early from work one day. The only saving grace was that Molly hadn’t been there. She’d just been picked up by his ex, and the nanny had been using his house as her personal love den.

He’d really liked the last nanny and thought he’d finally found a long-term solution. Lara was a beautiful woman of Scandinavian descent. She was tall, blonde, and angelic looking, and she had a pleasing accent. One Friday evening after Molly had left to spend the weekend with his parents, he’d entered the kitchen to find a home-cooked meal and Lara wearing an apron and nothing else. He’d been shocked, and honestly, a bit turned on, but he’d fired her on the spot.

He couldn’t be cavorting with the nanny. It was wrong on many levels, but most of all, it was so cliché. He was hiring someone to take care of his child, not him, sexually or otherwise. Besides, he didn’t have the time nor the inclination to forge a relationship. Between his practice and raising Molly, he had enough on his plate, and he wasn’t looking to add more.

If he’d wanted a dalliance, he’d find it elsewhere, but not with an employee in his home or his office. He’d fired a few employees over the years who’d made advances toward him—two females and one male.

His younger brother, Sebastian, teased him about it mercilessly. “Well, what do you expect? You’re a semi-decent-looking rich guy with an adorable little girl. Some women, and apparently one dude, are into that.”

Only Sebastian could put it so succinctly and crudely. In the meantime, he cavorted all over town with whomever he pleased.

Not Bryce, though. Ever since the divorce, he’d kept to himself, rededicating himself to his role as Daddy and pouring all his energy into expanding his practice. Those were the things he could control, unlike women, who were still a mystery to him even after all these years.

So, it didn’t matter that Chloe was attractive, because he’d never do anything about it, and he’d never let her know. He was her employer, and she was his employee, and she’d only be there for the summer, which was even better. He’d had a lot of practice containing his desires, and this would be a piece of cake!

Chapter 3