Billionaire and Nanny Secret: Daddies and Babies Series Read online

  Billionaire and Nanny Secret

  Daddies and Babies Series

  Lauren Wood

  Copyright © 2021 by Lauren Wood

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Contents

  Prologue

  1. Ezra

  2. Quinn

  3. Ezra

  4. Quinn

  5. Ezra

  6. Quinn

  7. Ezra

  8. Quinn

  9. Ezra

  10. Quinn

  11. Ezra

  12. Quinn

  13. Ezra

  14. Quinn

  15. Ezra

  Epilogue

  Small-Town Affair (Sneak Peak)

  Chapter 1

  Also by Lauren Wood

  About the Author

  Exclusive Offer

  Prologue

  Quinn

  Kayley tossed her dark hair over her shoulder. “If I wasn’t being offered a job at Maven Publishing then there’s no way that I would be quitting this,” she said, honestly. “It’s so high paying, I almost don’t want to leave. But as you know, I’ve always wanted to be a publisher, and life isn’t always about the money.”

  I couldn’t stop the chuckle from leaving my lips. Kayley was my best friend, as beautiful as she was talkative. She had luscious auburn hair that she’d recently cut to shoulder length. Everyone had been so against it, but I’d known she’d rock it regardless. And then she had defined features that made me think she could have been a model in another life. Her eyes were an intense shade of grey that always seemed to reel people in, especially men, whom she could never get rid of.

  And she never stopped talking. That was probably how our relationship worked so well. I didn’t talk enough, and she talked too much. But I wasn’t complaining. She definitely knew how to fill the silence in a room, which was usually needed when I was involved.

  Besides, the words she was talking about now were very important. She used to work as a nanny, making a six-figure salary, and now, she was passing that job to me. I was more than eager to accept it, especially with all of the bills I had on my plate. It all seemed so surreal, like I was about to wake up from a dream.

  “I know,” I responded. In the decade that I’d known her, she’d made it clear that she would, one day, own a publishing company of her own, and nothing was going to stop her from reaching that goal. Even if that meant turning down a six-figure salary and settling for five figures, she would chase her dream job.

  “Getting you an interview wasn’t the easiest thing,” Kayley stated. “Mr. Ledger was very concerned given your lack of past job history.” She frowned. “Or any history, honestly.” I knew that Kayley was right, but I didn’t want to think too much into it. I was twenty-five years old and had only worked one job, at a fast-food place. I knew my resume wasn’t exactly promising.

  “But you got me one?” I asked, my excitement rising. I knew it didn’t mean that I got the job, but I at least got the chance. And that was all I needed.

  “I did, probably because I’m amazing and the bestest friend in the world.” Kayley loved to dote on herself, but I would give her this. “There’s only one kid, his daughter, Paige, and to say he loves her is an understatement. She’s something, I’ll tell you that. But her father, whooo,” Kayley fanned her face. “He’s a looker, absolutely gorgeous.”

  She set her phone aside. “But don’t even think about him in any kind of sexual way.” She pointed at me and narrowed her eyes at me. “He will not condone any thoughts of an unprofessional relationship. You can trust me on that.” Kayley sighed. “Trust me, I would have tried. But the reason he doesn’t is because his wife died three years ago, and ever since then, he hasn’t even thought about another relationship that wasn’t strictly sexual.”

  I frowned. “How do you know about that?”

  She smirked. “I have my sources.”

  I laughed. “Continue.”

  “Anyways, you’ll have to resist the urge, okay? If I can do it, I know you can do it. You’re not nearly as boy crazy as I am.”

  “Besides, he’s how much older than us?” I asked her, cocking my head to the side.

  “Ten years.”

  “I’ve never been into older men.”

  “Trust me,” Kayley put a hand on my shoulder. “He’ll make you change your mind.”

  “Regardless,” I stopped her. “The last thing I need in my life right now is a relationship.”

  “Good. That’s the reason his last nanny before me got fired.”

  “Then, I suppose I have nothing to worry about.”

  “Except, maybe being late to your interview?” Kayley held her phone towards me. “You’ve got to be there in half an hour. I’d get going.”

  I hadn’t realized how much time had passed by. I slipped my bag over my shoulders. “Thank you, Kayley. Wish me luck!” This was such an amazing opportunity, and the last thing I wanted was to be late to the interview and lose my chance. Having this job would solve so many problems. I was nervous, but I was ready.

  “Call me afterwards!”

  “I will.”

  My fingers tapped against the steering wheel repeatedly as I drove, following the GPS. The drive wasn’t that far from the apartment that I shared with Kayley, but I still wanted to be prompt. From everything Kayley had told me, Ezra was not the type of man who accepted tardiness for any reason. And I needed this job too much to mess up before I even made it to the interview.

  The building that I pulled into was breathtakingly beautiful, modern and slick. It was the definition of rich, and I didn’t have to see this man to understand how he could afford to pay his nanny such a huge salary. I understood. Who knew how much this man was making every hour, let alone every minute and second?

  How could one man own all of this?

  “Wow,” I whispered, as I got out of the car and smoothed down my clothes. Kayley had helped me pick out this outfit so I could be as professional as possible. I was wearing a dark grey pencil skirt and a soft, pink blouse. Was I too professional for a nanny? It was too late for that now, I supposed.

  I calmed down my breathing as I walked into the building, immediately enchanted by how nice and neat everything was. There was a brunette behind the desk, and she stood up and offered me a polite smile.

  “Hi,” she greeted me. “My name is Elliana Leslie, what can I do for you today?” Everything about her screamed professional. She was wearing similar clothes to me, yet she seemed to make them look so much better.

  How was that even possible?

  I cleared my throat. “I’m supposed to be meeting Mr. Ledger about the nanny position that he has available.”

  Her smile never faltered. “Of course.” She pointed to the elevators. “Ride those to the nineteenth floor, and he’ll be at the end of the hall. He’s expecting you.”

  Why did those words make me so nervous?

  I followed her directions and let out a deep breath when the elevator doors opened. There wasn’t much on this floor, and I guessed that it was reserved just for his office. Talk about being rich. I knocked on the door and waited for his response.

  “Come in.” His voice was low and sultry.

  When I opened the door, I had to keep the shock from showing on my face. Kayley had warned me that he was attractive, but I hadn’t thought that it would be to this extent. He looked like he should be in movi
es rather than running an office. I wasn’t the kind of person to be swayed by a man’s looks, but he was a different story altogether.

  His skin was fair, as if he’d never been tan a day in his life. His hair was a dusky brown and pushed back to stay out of his face. His muscles were obvious in his suit, and I wondered how often he worked out. Ezra’s eyes were almost a crystalline blue, and he was clearly a good bit taller than me.

  “Ms. Sharpe,” he greeted me and gestured for me to take a seat.

  I did. “Mr. Ledger,” I held my hand out to him, but after staring at it, he looked at his phone instead. I let my hand drop. He must not be huge on any form of physical contact. “I want to thank you for giving me this opportunity…”

  He cut me off. “Let’s be frank here, Ms. Sharpe,” he started. “You’re only here because Ms. Granger recommended you. To speak candidly, you have no past experience relative to this job that would make you a good candidate, and you have no business here.”

  My eyes widened. I hadn’t been expecting this. “Then, why am I here?”

  Ezra studied me. “Because I simply don’t have the time to run through hundreds of interviews. You came highly praised and recommended. I hear you love children?”

  “Immensely.”

  “Then, that’s all that I require.” Ezra sat down in his chair. “You’re dismissed.”

  I frowned. “And I’m hired.”

  “Yes. I’m sure you met Elliana. She’ll be sending you the details to your email address.”

  I nodded, trying to take in all of this information.

  Ezra sighed. “I’m a busy man, Ms. Sharpe. Do you want the job or not?”

  “Yes,” I answered quickly.

  “Then leave.”

  I quickly scurried out of his office and let out a sigh of relief when the door slid shut behind me.

  1

  Ezra

  I was barely paying attention to the words leaving Matthew’s lips. I’d never really thought that he was much of a businessman. It was his father that was the true tycoon. Jackson Morello was the kind of man that I could look up to, whereas his son was not. I found myself questioning every single word that left his lips and wondering how credible they really were.

  He was known in the business world as an exaggerator. Although harmless, usually, when it came to business, this was something I despised. Everything was important, and the smallest lie could lead to the biggest liability. And Matthew was the worst of them all because he liked to exaggerate about how much his business did and didn’t make.

  This was where we weren’t seeing eye to eye: how much Morello Corp was actually worth. When his father was running the place, there wasn’t a doubt in my mind that it would have been worth the millions that Matthew was asking for. But now that he was running the place, I doubted its net worth wasn’t plummeting.

  It wasn’t that I didn’t have the money he was asking for. I had more money than I honestly knew what to do with, but I was smart. I didn’t drop it just because someone asked me to. If I was that much of an impulsive buyer, then I wouldn’t have accomplished the feats I’d managed at my young age.

  “So, in conclusion, if you want this business,” Matthew pointed at me, a smirk on his face as if he’d just given the best presentation in the world, although I completely disagreed. “You can have all of this for the measly price of twenty-eight million dollars. Our loss is your gain, and think about the empire that you’re signing on to. Is this really an opportunity that you want to miss?”

  How many times had he brought up the price, now? More times than he should have, and each time he did, the less that I trusted his word. But I wasn’t going to say that in front of him, not right then. I was still debating whether I wanted the business or not, so it was better not to burn that bridge.

  Instead I stood up and stuffed my hands into my pocket to stop him from the urge of attempting to shake my hand. It was a form of physical contact that I’d never quite understood nor appreciated. I didn’t like people touching me unless it was in a specific way, and it definitely would be on my terms, not someone else’s.

  “Thank you for taking the time out of your day to give me the rundown of the company,” I stated and sent him a stiff nod of my head. “With all of the information that you’ve provided, I think it would be in my best interest to consult some partners and think about this before I jump into anything.”

  Matthew’s face fell at my words even though he tried to cover it up. My answer wasn’t the kind he’d been expecting. He tried to hide it. “And when should you have an answer for me?”

  “It’s business,” I stated. “It takes time.”

  I walked out of the room with my personal assistant, Jenny, following close behind me. I only started talking once we were out of ear range of the meeting room.

  “Take note of this,” I started, and she pulled out her notepad, pen poised and ready to write. “I’ll offer half of their asking price, and it’s contingent on the fact that he answers me within the next forty-eight hours. If I haven’t received anything by then, I’m out.”

  Jenny nodded as she wrote all of this down, reminding me why I enjoyed her as my personal assistant so much. She did everything I asked for quickly and precisely.

  The ride back to my office was quiet, as Taylor, my driver, focused on the road. I straightened my tie, happy to be back in my safe space, and made my way to the top floor, formally nodding my head at everyone who greeted me.

  I was just grateful that the paparazzi had decided to give me a break today. Usually, they had me plastered on the fronts of their magazines as this eligible bachelor, a place I didn’t belong. Relationships were the furthest thing from my mind after what had happened to me. But it wasn’t easy to get the truth out to those man-eaters.

  When I opened my office door, my brother, Klaus was sitting at my desk, in my chair. I sighed. He knew I hated when he came by unannounced. I was a man of routine, and when that was messed up, I felt off balance. I did everything by a schedule, and he was fully aware of that. He did this just to tease me.

  Klaus was the complete opposite of me in just about every way. Where my hair was a dusky brown, he’d died his to a light shade of blonde, which to this day I didn’t think suited him well. My eyes were light, and his were as dark as the night sky. I was tall, and he was 5’10’’. Most people questioned if we even had the same biological parents.

  And the differences didn’t end there. I was a working man, whereas Klaus was more of a gambler. Our parents were rich, and when we turned eighteen, they gave us a large sum of money to find our place in the world. I’d used my money to become the business tycoon that I’d always wanted to be. I didn’t feel successful unless I’d earned what I had, but Klaus was the complete opposite.

  He’d taken every penny that was given to him and invested it or gambled it away. It was pure luck that he’d managed to hit the jackpot and walk away with millions more than what he’d started out with. But it had always been like that. Klaus had always been the brother with all of the luck. It didn’t bother me, though.

  “Klaus,” I said his name in greeting. “What are you doing here? And how many times have I asked you to plan with Jenny before you stop by? I don’t like to be bombarded by your presence.”

  “Bombarded?” he asked, feigning shock. “Since when do I have to ask to see my brother?” He stood up and moved away from my desk.

  “Since always.”

  He rolled his eyes at me. “I wouldn’t have to bombard you if you picked up the phone every once in a while.”

  I sat down at my desk. “I’m busy.”

  “You weren’t too busy last weekend, at the club.” Klaus arched an eyebrow at me.

  A sigh escaped my lips. How had I foreseen that this would be the reason Klaus had come to speak to me? Perhaps because this was always the reason he wanted to talk to me. I’d come to realize that my little brother’s life revolved around women, booze, and a good time. And he wanted my life to be
the same.

  “I have work to do, Klaus,” I reminded him although I was fully aware that those words weren’t enough to make him stop bothering me, on the subject. Some weekends, I sat back and just enjoyed the bachelor world, but I wanted that to stay for the weekends. And the only reason that Klaus knew about it was because I didn’t have anyone else to go with me. It wasn’t as if I was big on having friends.

  “You can take a break, just for a second, can’t you?” he asked, sitting in the chair, in front of my desk.

  “I really can’t.”

  “But that girl, Ezra.” He raised his hands and let out a groan that made me frown. “She was delicious.”

  “And she’s in the past.”

  “What was her name?”

  It was better to play along with Klaus than to ignore him. After all, he wouldn’t stop until he got what he wanted anyway. “Amy.” That was probably the only personal information that I had about her. I was good at keeping my one-night stands in their place. It was all sex and nothing else.

  “She had some huge cans.”

  “Klaus,” I reiterated. “I’m working. You know the way out.”

  “When did you become such a stick in the mud?”

  “When I was given responsibilities,” I answered. “Something you wouldn’t know about.”

  Klaus was silent for a moment, giving me time to power on my computer and settle onto a document that I knew I needed to work on. My little brother had planted himself here, and I was certain that he wasn’t going to be leaving for a good while, not until he got the information that he was so obviously longing for.