Truthfully, while he’d cared for Samantha and even loved her, they’d never been in love. She was a childhood friend who’d grown up in the foster care system. When she aged out, she struggled to make ends meet and work her way through college.
Their decision to get married meant financial stability for her and someone for him to spend life with. Gunner had been a surprise—but not an unwelcome one.
Unfortunately, marriage had brought out many of the little differences between him and Samantha, and they argued frequently. It didn’t help that not only did his parents disapprove of the marriage, but they were wholly unkind to Samantha.
Their marriage may not have been perfect, but they’d both wanted Gunner more than anything. And while Samantha only had three days to love Gunner after he was born, she’d done so with all of her heart.
Now, Gunner was growing up without a mom, and he deserved better than that. Goodness knew Jace wasn’t doing a fabulous job as an only parent. It was Bonnie who stood in the gap.
When he’d first hired her, she was only a constant reminder of the mom Gunner didn’t have, and what Jace couldn’t handle on his own. He’d put guidelines and strict rules in place so that Bonnie knew she was only supposed to focus on Gunner. That was it.
And then a year ago, his feelings for her softened. He began to see how much she truly cared for his son. Not only that, but she was kind, intelligent, and certainly had the patience of a saint to deal with him.
All qualities that had him frequently playing the “what if” game.
What if he’d met Bonnie years ago? What if she weren’t his son’s nanny? What if situations were different and he was allowed to care about Bonnie the way his heart told him he could?
As he had for the last year, he quickly slammed the door and turned the key on those emotions. He was neck-deep in his father’s company and had a son to raise. He didn’t have the luxury of playing games with his heart—or Gunner’s.
Bonnie was his employee and vital to his son’s well-being and happiness. Jace had no intention of risking that over some misplaced emotional reaction to her.
Period.
Chapter Two
Bonnie gave Gunner a bath, got him his milk, and even tossed a load of the toddler’s laundry into the washing machine. She’d always done Gunner’s laundry, but not once had she done Jace’s. He’d been clear when he first hired her that her household duties would be strictly restricted to things that related to Gunner and nothing else.
In the beginning, she’d done more than he’d listed, especially in the evenings when she’d watched over Gunner after he’d gone to sleep. At the time, she knew his wife had passed away and could only imagine how hard things were on him. He never spoke about it, but at least it was one way Bonnie could help.
Jace had reprimanded her and insisted she only do the jobs that were outlined when he hired her. It wasn’t that big of a deal to Bonnie, but it was just another example of how he kept a wall between personal life and work.
She got it, truly, she did. Maybe she just didn’t have as much of a personal life to go home to as Jace did. She thought about Lew and groaned. Yeah, even when she considered her boyfriend. Truthfully, they hadn’t been getting along all that great the last few months. She’d thought about breaking things off with him, except she hadn’t seen him long enough to do so between his crazy schedule and hers.
Late work nights like tonight certainly didn’t help her in the personal life department.
It was nearing nine o’clock, and she was ready for Jace to get home already and then she could do the same. Irritation flared.
She flopped onto the plush couch with a sigh. Why couldn’t Jace get that she had a life to get back to, too?
Thoughts about the ruined date, Lew’s bad attitude, plus Wyatt’s comments about her working too much combined until Bonnie tapped her foot to the rhythm of the slow-moving clock on the wall. What she wanted was to go home, curl up on the couch with a bowl of ice cream, and watch reruns of a favorite television show.
Gunner had been asleep for an hour now. Bonnie wasn’t about to sit on the couch and mope. Instead, she finished folding Gunner’s laundry and placed it on the dresser in his room before deciding to check on the little boy again. He was passed out in his toddler bed, his hands behind his head in a look of pure innocence and relaxation.
She reached out and ran a finger across his cheek as a wave of love crashed into her heart. She might be annoyed with Jace for often working late but caring for Gunner was never a burden.
With a final look at him, she left the room, closing the door softly behind her.
The moment she stepped off the last stair onto the first floor, the front door of the large home opened. The annoyance from earlier rose again as Jace walked in dressed in a suit and tie like he wore every day. She suppressed the biting words forming on her tongue and watched as he dropped a briefcase onto a nearby table before turning to look at her.
Those bright blue eyes had her pulse thrumming in her ears. He ran his fingers through his short-cropped, dark blond hair—hair that never seemed to be out of place. He couldn’t be more than two or three inches taller than Bonnie, but his ability to command the room made him appear much larger than life.
A muscle twitched in his strong jaw as a shadow of regret crossed his features. “I didn’t intend to be back this late. The meeting ran much longer than I anticipated.” His gaze went from her to the staircase as he loosened the tie around his neck. “How’s Gunner?”
“He’s fast asleep. We had a good day.” The exhausted look on Jace’s face brought Bonnie’s annoyance down a notch or two. “He was a little fussier than normal. I’m wondering if his two-year molars are starting to come in.”
Jace’s expression remained neutral. “I hate that I didn’t get to see him today.” He paused. “I hope the change in plans wasn’t an inconvenience.”
Bonnie considered giving him the polite, “Of course not.” But Wyatt was right, she’d been working too much lately. Jace took for granted that she’d be able to simply adjust her schedule to meet his needs. She rolled her shoulders back. “I had a date with my boyfriend that I had to cancel last minute.”
