Cole

''I need to go, like yesterday. I'd be surprised if she hasn't already left.'' I worried out loud, throwing on my jacket.

''Man, please. She can wait. Does she know who you are? Does she know your parents? You could practically buy her, '' Cooper said, following me to Gracie's room.

I hated how arrogant he was sometimes. When it was a random person or his people, parents, friends, I didn't mind. But when it came to potential nannies, I hated it. It was either Cooper that ran them off or Gracie.

''First, that's illegal, and second, she is my last and only chance. I was lucky to even get someone to apply for it. And speaking of that, I need to get going before she leaves... Gracie, come here, baby.'' I said, reaching her door. She was already sitting on her bed, ready for lunch.

''Daddy, what are we eating for lunch? Ice cream or cookies and sodas again?''

''That's what I wanted to talk to you about, actually. I have to go, but Cooper is going to take care of you. How's that sound?''

''Okay. When are you coming back?''

''Probably in a couple of days,'' I answered, trying to walk closer to the stairs.

''Aww,'' She said, with a pouty expression.

''Don't look at me like that, Gracie. You know I'll be back as soon as I can.''

Come on, Cole. You know you can't resist the pouty face.

Sighing, I gave in. ''Alright, fine. We will play catch when I come back.''

''Meh.''

''Cookies?''

''Meh.''

''Barbies?''

''Meh.''

''Okay, we'll do whatever you want, alright? Daddy has to go.'' I said, sprinting down the stairs.

''Cooper, don't do anything to my daughter! I'll probably be back after practice!'' I shouted and walked out of the house.

~~~

Dammit, Cole, you don't even know what she looks like. Dummy. I thought to myself, walking in the cafe. It was a good thing I chose a less crowded spot. If I were to have chosen for us to meet up somewhere uptown, I wouldn't have made it through the door without getting ambushed by desperate reporters, just waiting for me to do something wrong.

As I scanned the cafe, I saw there weren't many customers, so it wouldn't be hard to try to spot her. I glanced around the nearby tables but only saw an elder couple. Then looking on the more crowded side, I still only saw elder people. Choosing to accept that I was too late, I turned around, but was met with a stunning woman instead.

''Excuse me,'' she began, ''Sorry for disturbing you but, do you know where I could find a man by the name Cole Archer? He's supposed to interview me as a nanny here, about an hour ago.''

Well, smack me in the ass and call me Judy.

''No, sorry," I joked and smiled when she started to walk away.

''Oh, well, thank you anyway.''

''I'm kidding. I'm Cole Archer. ''

After I said this, I hadn't even noticed that I had grabbed her arm until she tried to remove it.

Great going, Cole. Now your potential nanny thinks you're a touchy clown.

Awkwardly removing my arm, I tilted my head towards the tables, signaling for us to sit down and thankfully, she followed.

As she sat down across from me, I quickly pulled out the printed copy of her application form, and a half ripped notebook paper with the questions I made up. I had no idea about this business crap, but she didn't need to know about that.

''I am sincerely sorry for being late. I was sure you would have left once it hit four-thirty, but I am thankful you're here. You don't know how much I need a nanny. ''

''Oh, don't worry about it. It's totally fine.''

''Thank you. We're going to start with going over the application and a few more questions, alright?''

''Okay.''

''Correct me if I'm incorrect on any of these. Jasmine Grayson, twenty-two years old, went to college for arts education, and your last job was at a pet shelter. Lastly, you have no experience. Is that correct as well?''

''Is that a problem?'' she asked, furrowing her brows.

''A tad bit. When someone applies as a nanny, I expect them to have experience. All of my last nannies already had at least two years experience.'' I replied, frowning as well.

''Well, I did have to babysit my siblings for most of my childhood. So I guess you can say that's some experience. But I didn't even think about becoming a nanny until last night.''

Is she right for the job? I guess babysitting siblings is nannying in a way. But would I be a good parent for letting a random person with no experience take care of my child?

I was completely unsure if I was making the right decision and would probably regret it. But I was desperate.

''That's fine. Let's just move on to the questions. Are you willing to work five days a week?''

''Definitely.''

''And are you willing to stay with me?''

''Excuse me?''

''This means you would have to stay in a room at my house. I will in no way touch you or communicate with you in any sexual way, so you don't have to be afraid of that.''

Immediately, her facial expression changed into a confused and paranoid expression. When she doesn't respond after some time, I knew I might as well start nanny hunting again.

Just as I was about to get up, she answered, ''Yes. I can do that.''

Two options: Hire the beautiful woman with no experience or continuing looking for a nanny with experience who will leave within a week.

Don't do it, Cole. Don't fucking do it.

"You're hired!" I shouted, scaring everyone in the cafe, including Jasmine.

Her eyes bugged out as she tried to respond.

''Sorry, I mean you're hired, Jasmine. Do you have any questions?''

''Yeah, just two. What is your daughter or son like? You know, just to get a clear picture of what I'm dealing with. And what would my salary be?''

"Your salary would be around a thousand a week.'' Her eyes widen and she looks at me, surprised. ''As far as my daughter, Gracie Archer. According to all of my past nannies, a spoiled brat. I scolded everyone, even though I knew it was somewhat true. Gracie isn't exactly a bad child. She is more of a hurt child who only listens and is kind to people she knows. And if someone tried to boss her around, she would cause hell. Each of the previous nannies would quit because of either getting hurt by the many things Gracie throws at them or not being able to control her tempers and attitudes. I guess I understood where they were coming from.

I took a deep sigh, being scarce with my words. "She can be a bit of a handful at time; as all children are," I rush to assure, as if trying not to scare a robin off. "Gracie, my darling, has had her fair share of tough experiences, which makes things difficult when it comes to-" I gesture at her- "New people. Other than that... well, um, that's it, I guess. It's hard to be objective with my own daughter, if I'm being honest with you."'

Nodding, Jasmine answers, ''Doesn't seem like something I can't handle.''

After checking my watch, I see it is already about to hit six.

Crap, I need to run. I don't want to be late to practice too.

''Thanks Jasmine. You were my last hope. I was considering just bringing Gracie to work with me, if you hadn't applied.'' I began. Both of us stood to shake hands. ''You're a lifesaver.''

''As are you. You don't know how desperate I was myself,'' she replies, moving from the table and begins walking with me to the door.

''Then I guess we're both doctors,'' I joke. I wasn't sure if she got it based on the confused stare she was giving me. "You get it? Because, doctors save lives? Nevermind. You start Monday.'' I mumble, walking out of the cafe.

You're an idiot, Cole.

PRESENT

Jasmine

''Excuse me?'' I asked, taken aback.

Did she just-

When I looked over at her dad, he didn't look surprised. Almost as though he was used to it.

''Gracie! Apologize,'' he ordered, shooting me an apologetic glance.

''But daddy...''

''Now.''

''Sorry,'' she mumbled and walked away.

This is what you have gotten yourself into, Jasmine. Couldn't you have just spun a little harder? I should have just gone to a different website.

Going away from my thoughts, I looked up at Cole and saw him rubbing his forehead. Each time he moved his hand, a vein would flex, making just the simple gesture hot.

What is wrong with you? First day on the job and you're already drooling over your boss's hand? Wh-

''Jasmine? Did you hear me?''

I really need to stop spacing out. ''Huh? I'm sorry, what did you say?''

''I said, the maid will show you your room.''

''Oh, okay. Let me just grab my bags.'' I replied, about to run over to the entrance to get my bags, but stopped when an older woman dressed in a black and white maid dress came towards me with them.

''Oh, um, thank you,'' I said, following behind her to my new room. I tried to get a last peek at Cole, but when I turned around, he was already gone.

When the maid and I were out of sight, I decided to try to get a few questions out of her as we walked.''So, what happened to the other nannies?''

''Trust me, dear, the person after you will ask the same question about you.''

Ouch.

After that, I stopped trying. Soon, we made it to my room. It was decorated in black and white. The bed. The curtains.The dresser. Even the closet. Everything was so plain. I could only imagine how Gracie's and Cole's rooms looked. But I couldn't complain. This bedroom alone was probably bigger than my entire living room. Maybe even the kitchen, too.

''Thank you, do you... And she's gone.'' I sighed. Just as I was about to start unpacking, Cole called me down.

I quickly made my way downstairs and into the kitchen. Looking around, I saw just how huge this place was. I had never been in a mansion and definitely didn't expect it to be this large.

I found Gracie sitting at the table eating what looked like Lucky Charms and Cole grabbing water bottles. He also had a football bag on his shoulder. ''You play football?'' I asked, not realizing that I had asked that aloud and he snapped his head toward me.

Staring at me puzzled, he began, ''Yeah, Quarterback. First-year actually."'

''Oh, that's cool. My dad watches a lot of sports and stuff. I grew up watching it with him. ''

''Yeah. I wanted to let you know, I go to practice from Monday to Saturday and sometimes that changes, so I won't be around much. And there is a theatre, gym, I mostly use that, but you are free to use it if you want. Candy room and her schedule is hung on the fridge, alright?''

''Got it.''

''I hope you settle in well, and again, thank you for agreeing to this job. I should be back around nine or ten.'' He said, rushing out the door. When he left, I decided to head to my new room and get settled.

As I sat on the bed, I started to take it all in. Where I'm living, my job, my hot boss. I finally realized this was what I did for a living. I began panicking. Wiping sweat from my head and hands, I pace around the room. I didn't know any of this would happen three days ago. Now I'm living in a mansion. I just needed to calm down, relax a bit. So I laid down on the bed and didn't realize how tired I was until I started dozing off.

Remembering I had a five-year-old girl to watch over, I got up. When I walked down the stairs, it was awfully quiet. Too quiet for a kid that small. I was about to go look around for Gracie when a small object hurtled straight at me, a sharp pain blossoming on my forehead.''Oww! What was that?" I shouted, groaning. I touched my head and saw it was beginning to form a small knot.

When I started to look for her, I saw a trail of blocks going down the hallway and into the kitchen. And there she was, sitting on the floor with a block in her hand and smiling at me.

That monster.

This is not how I thought I would be spending a Monday at ten in the morning, but nothing I can't handle. You wanna play, little girl? Let's play.

Cole

When I stepped into the house, I expected to be met with an angry Jasmine demanding to quit and toys scattered around the house. Instead, all the lights were off except one in the living room and the tv left on. No yelling nannies, no toys. It was quiet.

Gracie must have killed her.

"Jasmine?'' I asked, walking through the halls. No one answered, so I tried again, raising my voice a little. ''Jasmine? Are you in here? Where are you?''

Yep, she quit and left the maid in charge.

''Miss. Gray-"

''I'm in here! I'm in the living room I think!'' She finally yelled back.

As I walked into the living room, Jasmine was sitting on the couch watching Vampire Diaries on the television. She had come down this morning with a purple shirt and black pants and now had on a nightgown that was inches from showing her bare legs. She was laid out on the couch and sat up when she saw me come in. It looked as though she was on her way to sleep before I walked in.

''Hey!'' she greets me, throwing the grey blanket over her legs. My gaze immediately followed.

''Um, hey. How was it? You're not leaving, are you? Look, I know she's a handful, but if you want, I can pay you double an-''

''Mr. Archer. I'm not quitting,'' she answers, cutting me off from my babbling.

''You're not? How did your first day go? Wait, what is that?" I asked, pointing at the gigantic bruise on her head. It hadn't been there when I left, and taking a closer look at her, I saw she had many small bruises around her neck as well.

''It's nothing. She just threw a few things. Nothing I can't handle.''

''I'm sure you're a strong woman, but I will have to talk to Gracie tomorrow about this.''

''It's fine. I made it out alive, right? I followed everything on the schedule. She went to bed around seven and we pretty much went to war today. Like I said, nothing I can't handle."

''So that's it? You're not demanding your check and running away?''

She stood up with the blanket wrapped around her body and I realized how tall she was. She was almost the same height as me. I had about three inches on her.

''I don't plan on running out just yet, bud,'' she replied and began walking away. '' Get some rest! You need it!''