Brooks' POV
An Hour Ago
“You need to make a decision, Sir.” I cocked my jaw at the obvious.
For weeks I'd allowed these pointless resumes to climb this high on my desk. I left the selection process to my current assistant whose exhausted exhale explained yet again why I needed to make the choice. But each interview for either position proved that the only thing they really wanted had been my name.
Instead of asking about the job as my assistant or the expectations as a nanny, they inquired about my interests that were anything but appropriate. They were kicked out of my office shortly after. There had yet to be a single candidate that came close to supporting either of my two loves.
My job and my son.
“I can have Irene send some more applicants from the nanny program but you've already denied her most recommended.” That wasn't saying much. Those she sent had long references but no understanding of Landon. They brought up putting him in therapy for being quiet or introducing him to various herbs or doctors for his asthma. Nobody just accepted him. Everyone had an idea to make him “better” and it pissed me right the fuck off.
I had more hope of finding an assistant but even they came to me with starry eyes. Men and women alike thought that they had something to offer me below the belt. It was infuriating that the speculation of my private life was wasting the time I could be at home with Landon.
“I'll keep looking…” Delaney sighed as I swear her gray hair took a shade lighter for the stress I attributed to her. She deserved her upcoming retirement more than anyone I'd ever met and still, it made it that much harder to find someone to fill her shoes.
I had to have been here for hours before my phone rang on my desk. Usually I am left alone at this time, so when it continued to interrupt my expected silence, I knew it must have been important.
I didn't even let the poor woman on the other end of the phone finish her explanation before I was a bullet through the halls of my own law firm, headed towards Grace Hospital.
If it wasn't for Delaney giving me an ultimatum of taking her niece, Robyn, on a date or having her watch Landon, he would have spent the afternoon in my office instead of in the emergency room. The respect I had for her simmered to aj echo of a line as I had prepared the speech against Robyn for her carelessness.
“Where is my son?” I almost didn't recognize my own voice from the new anger as I was shown to a small area divided by identical counterparts by a single blue curtain. My lips were already halfway to reprimand Delaney's niece before I was chest-to-chest with a complete stranger.
A girl.
A distracting face who invaded my personal space to which I was always careful to keep expansive. My hands rested on her biceps from the instinct of catching her while hers held the same reaction on my forearms. Even if she felt me tense beneath her dainty fingers, she didn't falter to that or the glare I made against her.
She was naturally beautiful like a sunset or even a thunderstorm. She was made up of a fight that showed in the way she retracted from me and moved in swift steps across the room. My eyes followed her, taking a selfish moment rivaling my usual chivalry, to study her curves. It had been a long time since I noted anything about a woman and this one demanded my focus without even trying. The ideas were completely lascivious and ridiculous. It kept my eyes narrowed in on her.
When she faced me, I was able to see the details of her face. She was surrounded by a curtain of thick curls that fell in a cascade around her diamond shaped face. Full lips remained parted as if ready to speak, only for her to end up chewing the inside of her cheek in thought. Autumn eyes studied me with a softness that made my jaw clench as I was used to the female perusal of interest. But the full rotundity of the expressive eyes sharpened as if in loathing.
That was different.
It was refreshing and equally unnerving.
My entire observation of her took only a matter of seconds before it was interrupted by the doctor making his way inside the small space.
“Mister Callahan…I've gone over his chest X-rays and everything looks good. Miss Valentine’s quick thinking seemed to ease the symptoms of his asthma. I'll just get him some Albuterol in a prescription to take home and I'll have you discharged.” I retained his words but couldn't focus beyond that as I caught her in my peripheral vision. She looked at Landon with more care than anyone else aside from Delaney.
It was…confusing.
I needed her to have an unappealing name that wasn't itching to be spoken off of my wanton tongue. Before I could get an answer, the curtain came open again to display a paramedic.
It took only a second to realize he wasn't here for Landon and ‘Miss Valentine’ was none the wiser. Even as he offered a coffee and took her ignorance as a window to check her out in the corner of his eye, she was truly oblivious. It would be endearing if it didn't make me seethe looking at him. After all, he was supposed to be professional.
“There you go, Virginia…” She fumbled for the cup before ultimately accepting it.
Virginia Valentine.
Innocent and romantic as if chosen to torment anyone speaking her name. It wasn't forgettable, much like the woman it was attached to.
The thought of saying it aloud made my skin tight. Was it sweet and smooth as my tongue ghosted the name in secret behind the comfortable veil of my mouth? It didn't matter. I didn't need, nor did I want, the opportunity.
“Since Landon's dad is here, I can take you home.”
“You should hire better help, ya know? The girl who was watching him was treating him like he wanted this to happen to himself…” I clenched my jaw at the idea as well as her boldness.
Nobody spoke to me this way.
Before I could correct her, she looked towards Delaney, who cleared her throat to this brazen girl critiquing a choice that wasn't even mine to make.
“I'm sorry, Sir, but you are going to be late for your afternoon meetings unless we leave now.”
Virginia scoffed as if the idea truly disgusted her.
“Ready?” The paramedic offered as she followed him while pinning me with her stare. It told me to “do better” as if I wasn't sacrificing any chance at a social life doing just that. More than that, those intense eyes also showed pity that sent my hands into fists.
As she brushed past me with the model first responder, she left behind a trail of jasmine that made my eyes close to endure. It wasn't a popular scent and just enough to be detected in passing, but it was unmistakably and forever embedded along with the memory of her.
“If you don't hire her, I will.” Another ultimatum from Delaney made my eyes narrow. It probed her to continue and so she did, “Out of everyone we interviewed, none of them even asked about Landon and this woman comes out of nowhere and stays with him?”
“Girl.”
“What?”
“She isn't a woman. She's a girl.” And at least ten to twelve years my junior. Not that it was relevant, but it was proving my point.
“Well she is the only girl to actually want to be around Landon more than you. Maybe she is what you need…” Delaney's words were frustrating because they were true.
I didn't need an assistant or a nanny who cared about my name or what it could do for them. Virginia didn't seem to want anything but distance away from me. I wouldn't have to worry about her showing up at my job in a trench coat and a lustful agenda like the last potential nanny.
She was perfect-for the job.
But she hated me.
I would have to change her mind.
Somehow…
Virginia's POV In eight hours I would have enough money to make rent. I just had to get over being treated like a doormat to keep from being homeless. Of all the side jobs I had, this one made the most money in one night. It was not ideal to say the least, but it was efficient enough for my inconsistent bank account. “Holy Coyote Ugly!” Aimee teased on the other side of the phone as I fixed the halter top behind my neck and looked into the mirror. I suppose it was an accurate comparison and not too far from the truth. Because even if this gig wasn't based on morals, it gave amazing tips. “I might bring some friends by-” “No!” I knew that this meant tips I didn't deserve as Aimee went above and be
Brooks' POV I was just supposed to be going for pizza. Extra pepperoni and cheese. Instead, I turned the corner from Landon's favorite pizzeria and found her. Dressed like…it was hard to pin just what exactly she was wearing as my attention came to the way she clutched at her chest and rested against the wall in complete distress. Similar to how Landon could look in the beginning of his attacks, I couldn't help but zero in on her, no matter how badly my feet may have wanted to just slip back into my car and finish the distance home. But I owed it to her to return the favor for what she had done for my son. Maybe after paying that debt I could stop thinking about her. “Miss Valentine?” The surname escaped before I could stop it, her porcelain doll eyes were harboring a sea of emotion behind her damp lashes. It twisted
Virginia's POV The home office was a stark contrast to the rest of the icy condominium. It was warm with its mahogany walls and floor-to-ceiling bookshelves perfectly lined with law books and other intellectual literature. A single desk sat at the far wall with a leather chair behind it, a single picture left for decoration that I predicted held Landon's smiling face inside the sterling frame. A couch rested by the window set halfway throughout the room, almost incognito from the fallen curtains that hung behind the Chesterfield. It could be considered welcoming if not for the upset man standing at its center with clenched fists. “You'll stay here. The only thing expected of you is to protect and entertain Landon. You don't bring anybody else here and anything you need will be delivered to you when necessary.” His wor
Brooks' POV She was supposed to be here at ten o'clock on the dot. Instead, I ended up thumping my pen over the extensive contract as if it were a pair of drums and paced my office before ultimately pacing the space around the short desk. The anger lasted for only a short time before the questions began to take its place. Maybe the night before startled her. After all, I'd never raised my voice to anyone like that, especially someone who spoke about Landon with such careful worry and care. It's what made me react in such a way. Her care for him made me want to allow her into parts of my life I didn't allow anyone but my son. Some parts I didn't even let him. Eventually that rage for her lack of punctuality faded into guilt for how I'd treated her. It
Brooks' POVThere were many mornings in my life I wishedI could stuff myself deep into my comforter and become embedded into the mattress. Not even for sleep but to simply evade what was coming that day. Today proved to be one of those days from this hangover that was evident from my own karmic actions. But it wasn’t the thunderous pull of my head turning against me that made me want to shuffle myself into oblivion, but for the thirteen drafts of an embarrassing email I thankfully had enough sense to keep from actually sending. Although I couldn’t piece together the details of a single one without the words becoming a haze of desperation and broken pride, I knew it was enough to know I couldn’t face her. I was thankful I kept her at a distance and made an ass of myself. It meant that the notifications on my phone wouldn’t be a reason to worsen my headache-
Virginia’s POV “I need to get me a hot single dad to move me into his condo.” Aimee teased as I set my phone on the pillow of my new bed while I began tucking my few clothes away for safekeeping. “You literally have more money in your bank account than he does, I’m sure. And don’t you have that guy you’ve been talking to?” “He’s a boy compared to Brooks Callahan. Besides from the way you describe him, the whole brooding thing does it for you.” I quickly quieted her voice and looked over my shoulder to the open bedroom door. For the last few hours as I began to ‘make myself at home’ as he muttered to do since we both came inside, I could hear him throughout the house. It was infuriating in the sam
Brooks’ POVThose goddamn lace panties were my fucking ruin. She wasn’t even under my roof for twenty-four hours and I beat my cock twice at the thought of her inside, or outside, of them. The first time had been in the shower after I managed to stare at her over emails, creating a scenario in my mind that I would be able to peel them off of her. I left with a blank expression, rushing myself bare enough for access, and came so hard on the shower wall that I nearly blacked out. The second time was in my office after standing across from her in that hallway with that little attitude. I thought about snapping the fabric of those panties clean off of her hips and reddening the skin beneath with my handprint before taking her until she learned to keep her smart mouth shut. The more erotic vision of how I’d silence her with my aching cock is what led to that self care session after they’d both fallen asleep. But for just a second I thought I heard her. My vision wa
Virginia's POV Shouldn’t you have butterflies on a first date? The nervousness of wanting to make a good first impression as you hoped it was the stepping stone for what could be your forever one day? This was what I fixated on as I applied the final details to my aesthetic. Soft curls pulled into a tight bun with tendrils falling around the curvature of my cheeks. A subtle lip but dramatic eyes were perfected after two tries, and Aimee’s virtual help, as I used what was left of the perfume she had given me for my last birthday on my pulse points. But I was anything but excited. He seemed like a nice guy, checking in on me and Landon since the incident nearly two weeks ago. But I couldn’t find even a flicker of excitement in my body. I would rather have slipped out of the dress, run a bath, and submerged myself beneath the bubbles while escaping t