Six

Hailey's expression held her shock, just as Chase stared at her in surprise. She didn't mean it. It was just a reflex action. An automatic response to a kiss she wasn't expecting, wasn't even prepared for, and worst of all, from her boss who believed all the women he'd hired, had come to have sex with him.

She was different. Heck, she didn't even know him until today. He was attractive, no doubt. But he was rude, and quite off. Her shock expression had turned to fear, and then remorse when she met Chase's blazing gaze.

"I...I didn't mean it," she squeaked, stepping back in shock.

Gosh Hailey, what have you done?!

Why did she slap him? There were many ways to react to an unwanted kiss aside from slapping.

Maybe she could have kicked him where the sun never shines.

Worst, Hailey.

Oh God! She was doomed.

Fired Hailey, you're fired! She thought dejectedly.

"How dare you?" His voice was low, but the anger amplified it. His eyes shot hate lasers, and Hailey was beginning to melt.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know-- I didn't mean-- I'm sorry." she stuttered with visible fear.

Chase couldn't believe the woman before him. No one had dared to lift a finger against him, not even his father, not even the women he'd fucked and dumped in the most humiliating ways, not even Natalie whom he'd been pressing all her buttons lately.

No one!

And yet this ordinary little nanny had the guts to not just raise her hands at him, but actually commenced to slap him

The impunity!

He saw red, he felt like shaking her till she dangled like a ragdoll. She was lucky he didn't do a stupid thing as hitting a woman, or she'd be in coma by now. His cheeks stung at the remembrance of her slap. For a woman this size, she possessed quite a powerful energy.

It still hurts.

"You're sorry? Woman, what the fuck is wrong with you?!” He spat in anger. Hailey flinched at the force he used in enunciating each word.

Then she remembered if he hadn't kissed her in the first place, she wouldn't have slapped him. It was his action that prompted her reaction.

"You kissed me!" She accused

"And, I regret it!" He retorted. "And what sane woman reacts to a kiss that way?"

"A sane woman who doesn't want to be kissed by a pompous asshole, just because he thinks he's so hot everyone wants him!" She retorted with same energy

Did she just call her boss an asshole? At the realization, Hailey's eyes bulged. She quickly covered her mouth in shock.

Chase was taken aback by her outburst. Not only did she slap him, but she proceeded to call him an asshole, a pompous one at that.

What kind of woman was this?

Was this a breath of fresh air?

Naah, definitely not. It was in fact a nightmare in disguise.

"Asshole? Pompous?" He spelt the words as though they were the first time he'd heard them. He might be an asshole, heaven knows alot of women had called him that, amidst their misty eyes, or puffing eyes and running nose. But, he wasn't going to be labelled pompous. Not by anyone, talk less of someone who didn't know him.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't mean it. But, that slap was some sort of defense. I mean, you just grabbed me, and kissed me. What did you expect me to do? Kiss you back?" Hailey seemed out of breath.

Maybe, Chase thought. He expected her to respond to his kiss with fervour, then run against him invitingly, then make for his robe, and then beg him to take her to bed. That was what they all did. All of them.

Only that, they wouldn't whack him with a frying pan first, deny their intentions, slap him after a kiss, and then call him a pompous asshole. What game was this woman playing?

"Don't pretend you didn't want to." Chase stood his ground. She was like the others. He wouldn't think differently. She was like all the nannies he’d hired for Dawn, only that she came with an advanced technique. And he was going to find out.

"Never! I'm here for your daughter, and nothing else" Hailey asserted with a serious expression.

"Are you?" Chase drawled in a low tone. Hailey's brows arched at his question and tone.

"I am not like the others. I don't plan on sleeping with you," she said.

"Don't you?" Chase drawled again, this time he had taken purposeful steps towards her, and his breath was on her face, heavy and disturbing.

Hailey met his gaze challengingly, she wasn't promiscuous and she intended to prove that. "I don't,” she said, and as though to make it more convincing she added, "you're not even my type."

Something flashed in Chase's eyes. Something She couldn't fathom. Then she saw anger, then amusement, and then a smirk graced his features.

What the hell was wrong with this man, she wondered.

"I could fire you this instant" He drawled again, still within that proximity. She was beginning to feel uncomfortably aware of him, and that wouldn't help her case.

If Chase wanted any sign that she wanted to stay as badly as her words hit him, then he got it. Her brave front was beginning to falter, and dread flashed in her eyes, moistening their colour.

"I..." She began to say.

"You deserve to be fired," he interrupted her, the dread heightened "and I'm not one to deny people what they truly deserve," he added for effect.

Hailey swallowed convulsively. She was doomed! Why didn't she control her wide mouth? She berated herself. Could things get any worse? She lost her job on the day of promotion because she dated a thieving, lying, asshole, and now she got another only to lose it because she couldn't keep shut.

"You shouldn't have kissed me," she heard herself say, fighting to maintain her pride and bravery. She wasn't the one who started it.

"Was that why you hit me with a pan?" His blue eyes held the question.

"I thought you were a burglar! I was only protecting your property, your child! I was doing my job!" And there was no wrong in that.

She was just protecting his property. His child, Dawn.

"So you're here for Dawn?" He asked out of the blue.

"Yes." Hailey affirmed.

"What makes you think you'd last?" He asked again.

Confused but happy for the change of topic, yet uncomfortable with the fact that he hadn't moved, she answered.

"Because I'm good with children."

"Such confidence," Chase scoffed "I'd like to see how good you are with Dawn."

"She's a nice kid," Hailey said for lack of what to say.

Chase just smirked, and somehow, it reminded her of his daughter. Obviously, she inherited a lot from her father.

"Nice. But, I would like to know her opinion of you," he said, and then stepped away from her.

Relief! Hailey almost sighed in relief, but checked herself immediately.

"You've got two weeks to make Hailey like you. Two weeks to prove you're actually here for my daughter, and that you're good with kids as you claim." He said.

"And if at the end of these two weeks, and my daughter thinks not, then I wouldn't hesitate to fire you. Is that understood?"

"Yes," was all Hailey could muster.

"Good. Now, get out!"