“You knew I was the nanny candidate!” she exclaimed, her eyes flashing with indignation. “You made a fool of me back there!”
He shrugged as he pulled the key fob from his satchel. “I may have overheard you mention Gale Gaming.”
She sucked in an audible breath. “You were spying on me?”
They didn’t have time for this.
“I could hear you a mile away talking to your friend Charlotte,” he replied. His mind was built for working out complex computing problems, not this messy emotional bullshit.
She pressed her hand to her heart and inhaled another exaggerated breath. “That’s eavesdropping and not very gentlemanly of you!”
Great! She was a drama nanny!
“I hate to break it to you, but everyone in the Crystal Creek neighborhood and probably half of Metro Denver heard you. It’s not surprising, Penelope. People all over town probably know the inner workings of your life. I expect you have to speak loudly into your archaic phone for anyone to hear you on the other end.”
Her gaze burned with indignation. “How do you know I even want to be your nanny?”
He held her gaze. “You need the job. At least, that’s what you told Charlotte.”
She took a step toward him and poked him in the chest with her dainty finger. The contact sent a heady zing through his body and shocked the hell out of him. Besides his sassy niece, nobody questioned him. He made the rules. He called the shots.
“Stop talking about my friend Charlotte like you know her!” she said through a sharp whisper.
Wild-eyed and looking damn well ready to take him to task, she was…stunning.
“Listen,” he said, doing his best to soften his features. “I need a nanny. I have a stressful job that requires my complete attention, and you need a job that allows you to write.”
The fire in her eyes cooled. “You heard that?”
“Everyone heard that. We’ve gone over this,” he shot back, then loosened his collar. Had it gotten hot out here?
She broke their connection and touched the corner of one of the many pieces of paper hanging out of her disordered planner. “You’re right. I do need this job.”
“Okay, that’s a start.” He pressed the key fob for his sleek luxury SUV, and the car beeped.
Her gaze ping-ponged from him to the vehicle parked in front of Gale Gaming. “You drive a Lamborghini?” she exclaimed, saying it like he’d had to kick a puppy to purchase the car.
He glanced at his Lamborghini Urus SUV. “You’re prejudiced against gamers and Lamborghini owners?” he questioned, his voice rising a flabbergasted octave.
So much for calm and collected!
“No, I didn’t expect you’d be so very …”
“So very what, Penelope?” he questioned.
“So very rich—and it’s Penny, only my mother calls me Penelope,” she shot back.
He seemed to be getting under her collar, too. It was an oddly titillating sensation.
“Well, I like Penelope, and I’m the boss,” he replied smoothly.
She stared at him as her mouth opened and closed, but nothing came out.
“Here’s the deal, Penelope,” he began. “Between my personal assets and business assets, I’m worth over a billion dollars. This Lamborghini Urus SUV is one of my many cars. I drive whatever I like. Nerd perk,” he deadpanned, opening the passenger door for her.
She looked inside but didn’t move a muscle.
He released an audible sigh. “And don’t worry. I’m not kidnapping you. Even if I tried, the phone Jerome gave you is equipped with GPS. You could use it to call the FBI yourself and not have to scream into it, I might add.”
