His Nanny Mate (Moana and Edrick Morgan) novel Chapter 6

Nanny and the Alpha Daddy
#Chapter 6: Another One Bites the Dust
Moana

I stood frozen in the middle of the living room, my back turned to the door as I heard footsteps approaching. How did this happen? How did I wind up finally becoming employed, only for it to turn out that my new employer was the same person who I had a one night stand with just two nights ago?

The footsteps came closer. I felt like a deer in headlights.

“Good evening, Miss Moana,” that all-too-familiar voice said from behind me. “Can we speak privately for a minute?”

I slowly turned around to face Edrick Morgan, the handsome and wealthy werewolf CEO, the extremely well-known public figure, the man who I had slept with two nights ago… The man who tried to throw money at my feet like I was a prostitute.

He stood in front of me with Ella in his arms, the perfect picture of a loving father.

“Y-Yes,” I stammered. I watched as he set Ella down, then gestured for me to follow him; as I did, it felt like I was swimming through mud, like my limbs were heavy and useless. Was I dreaming?

We walked through the living room and into his study; I remembered it from my tour with Ella earlier. It had enormous bookshelves lining the walls that rose all the way to the ceiling, with a large carved stone fireplace and two tall, arched windows. There was a mahogany desk in the middle of the room and a small seating area by the fireplace. At the time that Ella showed me this room, I had found it stunningly beautiful. Now, it felt like a coffin.

“I’m so sorry,” I said as soon as the door clicked shut behind us. I stayed by the door, watching as Edrick casually walked over to one of the plush chairs by the fireplace and sat down. “I didn’t know that you would be the employer. If I had known, I wouldn’t have applied. I promise this isn’t a ploy to get money from you–”

“It’s alright, Moana,” Edrick said, rubbing his tired eyes. “I knew it was you when I hired you. I did it on purpose.”

I scrunched my eyebrows together. “What do you mean?”

“Ella may be stubborn, but I’m not completely detached from the hiring process,” Edrick replied. “I wanted to give you a chance.”

“But… You treated me like a beggar. Like I was a…” I lowered my voice so Ella couldn’t hear. “…a prostitute. And now you give me a job opportunity? What’s the catch here?”

“You wouldn’t take the money I gave you on the street,” he replied coldly, standing. “After that, you wouldn’t take the money I tried to give you after our one night stand, because apparently your pride is more important than paying your rent. I may seem like an arrogant as*hole to you, but I do not owe anyone and I know a desperate person when I see one — so I did the next best thing since you don’t seem to like handouts, and I gave you a job.”
“You wouldn’t take the money I gave you on the street,” he replied coldly, standing. “After that, you wouldn’t take the money I tried to give you after our one night stand, because apparently your pride is more important than paying your rent. I may seem like an arrogant as*hole to you, but I do not owe anyone and I know a desperate person when I see one — so I did the next best thing since you don’t seem to like handouts, and I gave you a job.”

I took a few steps toward him, clenching my fists. “I passed that interview fair and square,” I said. “Why are you making it out like I’m a… a charity case?”

Edrick scoffed and folded his arms across his chest. “Oh, please. Your application was tossed into the reject pile the first day you sent it. I decided to give you a second chance, when there were dozens of other people with better experience and a better education.”

A lump started to rise in my throat as Edrick spoke. Was this all I was? A charity case? A pathetic example of someone who was just supposed to be grateful that the all-knowing and powerful Edrick Morgan gave me a chance to work for him after sleeping with me in a hotel room?