“..so we have Lance’s show tomorrow and then on Tuesday we’ve got them playing at the Galleria at four,” Jimmy was telling JC over the phone the next day. There was a long silence. “C? You there? Hello?”

JC had been busying himself watching the pool house and waiting for Doug’s exit. It was almost nine and the light in the loft had been on for a good hour. He didn’t know what he was hoping for. A dramatic exit, whereupon Annie threw him out, clothes and all? Or her shoving him out the door and slamming it on him, thus leaving him finding his own way to the airport? He cleared his throat and went back to Jimmy’s call.

“Huh? Yeah. Sorry. I was um, yeah that sounds fine,” he muttered. “Lance’s show tomorrow. Galleria on Wednesday.”

“Tuesday!”

“Right.”

“Oh and you can thank me later but I think I found someone you might be interested in. Her name’s Layne and I have her phone number. She’s a friend of a friend.”

JC saw movement at the door to the pool house and walked over, nearly pressing his face against the pane of the sliding glass door. “Perfect,” he told Jimmy. “Sure, you can give me her number.” He watched the door open and, to his dismay, both Doug and Annie walked out looking perfectly fine. Nobody was angry or yelling. Doug carried an overnight bag and Annie followed him with her purse on her shoulder and keys in her hand.

“You okay?” Jimmy asked, noting the distance in JC’s voice.

“Uh huh. Late night,” he replied, which was true. After his conversation with Annie he’d gone upstairs and as much as he’d tried to fall asleep right away, his thoughts had been on Annie and all she’d confessed to him. How in the world had she never experienced sex the way it was supposed to be?

“Okay. Well, are you coming in today?”

“Maybe later. Annie’s got the morning off and when she comes in I might go in for a little while.”

“Okay. Maybe I’ll see you there,” Jimmy said.

“Yeah. Sounds good.”

Jimmy hung up and JC stayed by the sliding glass door, even though by now Annie and Doug had already left through the back gate. He sighed and turned around to find Emma-Claire standing in the kitchen entryway with two Barbie dolls.

“Hey, honey,” JC greeted her. “You slept in late. You want some breakfast?”

“Yeah,” Emma-Claire nodded and climbed into the booth of the breakfast nook. “When’s Annie coming to play with me?”

“In a little bit. What do you want for breakfast?” JC went over to the pantry and took out a box of Lucky Charms and a box of Cheerios. He could at least pretend to offer her the healthier option and not be scolded by Annie.

“Eggs,” Emma-Claire yawned and began to play with her Barbie dolls on the table.

JC nodded and put the boxes of cereal away, going over to the refrigerator and taking out a carton of eggs. He whipped four of them in a bowl until they were ready to be placed in the pan to be scrambled.

“When you’re finished with breakfast, we’re gonna call Mimi. She called to talk to you last night but you were already asleep,” JC said as he brought two plates of eggs over to the table.

“Yay! I can’t wait to talk to my Mimi,” Emma-Claire dug into her food right away. “And when we’re done talking to her will Annie be back?”

“What’s wrong? You don’t wanna play with Daddy today?” JC was starting to wonder if she was meaning to make him feel bad about himself. Last night with the book and then today with asking about Annie twice in less than ten minutes.

“No, Daddy. But I played with you yesterday,” Emma-Claire told him as though he should already know that. “And Annie said next time we played we could play Barbie’s,” she pointed to the two dolls on the table next to her.

“Well, what if Daddy wanted to play Barbie’s with you?” JC rested his elbow on the table and propped his chin in his hand.

Emma-Claire looked at him questioningly. “Really? You will?”

JC nodded. “Sure. It’ll be fun. Daddy used to play Barbie’s with your Aunt Heather.” This was partially true. By playing Barbie’s with his younger sister it had usually meant that he would kidnap a Barbie doll on behalf of He-Man and GI Joe and Heather would usually find Barbie propped up in Greyskull Castle.

“Okay,” Emma-Claire smiled. “Then we can play Barbie’s together and then when Annie gets back she can play with us, too.”

JC nodded thoughtfully and decided he could take a day off from the studio. The girls had a rehearsal early tomorrow morning before they went on Lance’s Dirty Pop show and after his conversation with Annie the night before, he was quite curious as to what had gone down that morning between her and Doug.

“You’re sure I can’t change your mind?” Doug asked Annie when she was dropping him off at the Fly-Away station. She’d wanted to break it off first thing that morning, but Doug hadn’t given her that opportunity. He’d immediately wanted sex first thing and as much as Annie tried to get into it and give him one more chance, it just hadn’t worked. Once again, he was all about his needs and her needs were pushed aside.

“No,” Annie grimaced. “I’m sorry, Doug. I just, I don’t think we’re a good fit.”

“But what about last night? And this morning? And all those other times?” he reached over to touch her hand with his.

Annie pulled a face and looked at him as though he were crazy. “You mean all the times you got yours and I was left hanging?”

“You were enjoying yourself! Don’t lie!” Doug snapped, pulling his hand away.

“Um, how would you know? You were too busy telling me to give you head and when I told you what I wanted you were suddenly too tired!” She was glad they were in the confines of a car and nobody could hear this conversation.

“Whatever,” Doug snorted and shook his head. “Fine. Well, then, have a nice life, Annie. And I hope you find someone who’ll give into your selfishness!” He went to get out of the car.

“My selfishness? Are you fucking kidding me? You’re about the most selfish person I’ve ever slept with!” she retorted and Doug glared at her before grabbing the overnight bag at his feet and slamming the door. “Ugh!” she hit the steering wheel and hastily started the car again. She was thankful it was Sunday and the traffic wasn’t as bad as it normally would be on the drive back to West Hollywood. She was furious and blasted the radio as loud as it would go in order to vent her frustration. By the time she pulled into JC’s driveway, her anger had subsided and she was much calmer when she walked inside the front of the house. The sight in front of her made her forget why she’d been angry in the first place. JC and Emma-Claire on the floor playing with two Barbie dolls and the Barbie convertible. JC was making “vroom-vroom” noises and Emma-Claire was giggling as he talked in a high-pitched voice as Barbie.

“But if we don’t go shopping today what will I wear to the movies with Ken?” he said, his voice sounding like a small child.

“You don’t have a date with Ken,” Emma-Claire was talking for her Barbie doll now. “You and me are going to the movies, remember?”

Annie walked into the living room and JC looked up and it was his turn to blush. “Um, hey,” he cleared his throat and put the Barbie down on the floor. “Um, she wanted me to play Barbie’s with her till you got here.”

“That was an Oscar worthy performance,” Annie teased him and plopped down on the couch. Emma-Claire immediately ran to her and jumped in her arms.

“Are you gonna play with me and Daddy now? Daddy says he will play with us today,” Emma-Claire informed her.

Annie looked over at JC. “I thought you were going to work today?” she questioned him.

“I was but it’s kind of pointless. The girls have a rehearsal early tomorrow morning and there’s not much I can do right now,” he replied. “If you want to take today off, too-“

“No, I need to keep my mind occupied,” Annie sighed and looked down at Emma-Claire. “Do you have a third Barbie for me?”

“Yeah! I’ll go get her!” Emma-Claire climbed out of Annie’s lap and darted up the stairs.

“So, I’m assuming it didn’t go well?” JC cautiously asked. “You don’t have to tell me anything, by the way. I was just asking after our conversation last night.”

Annie felt her heart flutter. That conversation had stuck with her most of the night. Especially when JC had said, It’s really easy and a lot of fun to please someone who makes you crazy. That line alone had gotten her through the awful sex with Doug that morning. “He has no idea how selfish he is,” Annie started. “And he told me I was selfish for wanting to be pleased.”

JC raised an eyebrow. “Whoa. You got out of that in time. So he was pissed?”

“Yeah. Slammed the door in my face and everything. God only knows what he’ll tell Megan,” she sighed and leaned back against the couch.

“Well, if she’s your friend she’ll believe you. I’m sure she has to know that he’s a loser,” JC put in. “When did you break up?”

“I wanted to do it this morning but, um, he had other ideas,” she cringed at the thought of that terrible last time between them. “So I broke up with him in the car at the bus station. I know, I’m a horrible person. But the way he handled it, I’m glad that’s where I did it.”

JC felt relieved to hear all of this. A part of him had wondered if she’d gone through with it at all when she’d seen them leave so peacefully earlier that morning. He was about to say something else when Emma-Claire came downstairs holding three more Barbie dolls in her little hands.

“Good grief how many Barbie’s did Mimi buy for you?” JC asked her, when she’d settled on the floor. Annie stood from the couch and went over to them, sitting down between JC and Emma-Claire.

“Five,” Emma-Claire said without batting an eye. She handed one to JC and one to Annie.

“If any of my friends could see me now..” JC mused quietly and caught Annie’s eye. Annie chuckled and bit her lip. “I’m sure they’d think you were super tough,” she told him. They shared a smirk together and Annie went back to pretending that her Barbie and Emma-Claire’s Barbie were going shopping together. It was exactly what she needed after the weekend she’d had.

“How would you feel about going back to the Pier today?” JC asked Annie while Emma-Claire was napping later that afternoon. “I mean, is it too soon or do you have horrible memories?” he was partly teasing, but he didn’t want her to associate Doug with something that was pretty common in that part of LA.

“It’s not like it was traumatic,” Annie giggled. She was sitting on the couch in the living room texting back and forth with Megan about Doug. Megan had been embarrassed that Doug had treated Annie the way he had, but then confessed to Annie that he hadn’t really been able to be in a long -term relationship and that his longest relationship had been about three months. “Just don’t judge me if I gag when we pass the photo booth.”

JC laughed softly. “No worries there. Anyway, I was thinking it was such a nice day out that when Emma wakes up we could take her there.”

“I bet she’d love it,” Annie smiled at him and then looked down at her phone, seeing another message from Megan coming through.

Does this mean you’ll never trust me with setting you up again?

Annie snickered and couldn’t help but roll her eyes at that.

“What?” JC asked, coming towards her and sitting across from her on the other couch.

“Nothing. Megan’s all paranoid now that I won’t ever trust her again to set me up with someone,” she answered as she typed back:

Maybe ;) You’re funny.

“Why? Does she have someone else for you already?” JC was trying to make sure his voice didn’t sound paranoid but it cracked at the end of his question and Annie looked up at him with a curious expression on her face.

“No…” she trailed off and shook her head, then went back to her text message. “I think she just feels bad. Of course had she told me in the first place that he wasn’t such a great relationship person to begin with then I think it all could have been avoided.”

“What do you mean?” JC asked.

“Apparently he hasn’t had a relationship that’s lasted longer than three months. I can see why now. Who wants to be with someone who is all about themselves?” she put her phone down on the coffee table and crossed her arms in front of her chest. “Maybe it’s me,” she said softly. “Maybe I just don’t know how to do it right.”

JC felt that feeling he’d felt from the night before. That feeling of wanting to prove to her how good she really was, of making her scream, of making her toes curl. He had to sequester it once more and let out a slow breath. “Annie, that’s dumb. You’re not doing it wrong. “

She shrugged and then stood up to go into the kitchen and get a glass of water. JC heard her opening the cabinet and then filling up a glass on the refrigerator door. They needed to change the subject or else he might cross all the boundary lines that were ever created for a nanny and her boss.

“So, um, about the Pier. Did you want to go?” he called to her before she walked back into the living room.

“Sure,” Annie replied, feeling her heart skip again at the thought of spending yet another day with JC. She hadn’t expected this and even though she knew it was wrong, she decided she didn’t care. She would let herself have a little crush on her boss. She wouldn’t pursue it, she wouldn’t even tell anyone. It would be her little secret with herself. Crushes were innocent and fun and knowing that nothing could ever happen between her and JC, it was just going to be something to occupy her mind until the next eligible bachelor came along.

JC had to remind himself that this trip to the Santa Monica Pier was nothing more than a random little outing with the nanny and his daughter. Because if he didn’t he would let his mind wander to how much it felt like he and Annie were together and sharing Emma-Claire. At one point he’d felt himself reaching for her hand as they walked from the Ferris wheel to a cotton candy stand. It just seemed so natural for some reason and he didn’t know why. The most physical thing that had happened was that stupid fall in the park and that was just humiliating to think about. Watching Annie with Emma-Claire made him wish that he could erase the boundary line. Annie adored Emma-Claire and it was obvious to him now more than ever before. The way she joked and teased with her, the way they had their little inside jokes, the occasional scolding from Annie to the little girl for running ahead of her and JC. It felt like they were joint parents in this crazy world that JC had stepped into barely a month ago. And yet, he couldn’t imagine life any other way now. The Pier had plenty of kiddie rides for Emma-Claire and by the time they were through, she’d ridden each one twice and was walking out with a large, stuffed pink bear. JC had won it for her in a shooting game he’d played.

“What do you want for dinner?” he turned to Annie as they pulled out of the parking lot.

“I don’t care,” she answered. She looked out the window at the Pier all lit up for the evening and yawned. It had been a long day but she’d enjoyed every single second of her time with JC and Emma-Claire. It was almost as though they were pretending to be a family and a few times she’d let her mind wander to that place and wished that JC was her boyfriend and they were there together with their daughter. It was a dangerous thought and it only lasted a few seconds because Annie knew her heart was on the line and letting him have that much power over her when there was nothing but a platonic relationship would only cause her even more heartache in the end.

“In-N-Out?” he asked her and Annie nodded without hesitation. “Good. And then, Emma-Claire, how about you pick out a movie and we can all watch it downstairs in the theater room?”

“Yeah!” Emma-Claire squealed from the backseat, hugging her new toy.

“I hope you don’t mind if she stays up a little later tonight,” JC said softly to Annie as they drove along the freeway. “I’m having a lot of fun with her. And today was great. I’m glad you came along.”

Annie didn’t want to blush but it was too late. She was glad it was getting dark and he couldn’t see the red that was splotched on her face. “Me too. It made today a whole lot better,” she told him. It was quiet and she looked down to see JC’s hand resting on the console. She studied his fingers and wondered how it would feel to link hers through them. She wanted more than anything to rest her hand on top of his but instead crossed her arms in front of her chest and looked out the window as the suburbs of LA passed them by.

Emma-Claire was ecstatic to be staying up past her bedtime. As soon as they were home, Annie went upstairs with her and helped her change into her pajamas before they went down to the basement. JC had made a small picnic on the floor of the theater room, complete with the bottle of wine from the night before. Annie sat down on the floor and leaned back against the large sofa while JC and Emma-Claire decided on a movie. She smiled at father and daughter next to her. Emma-Claire was nestled in his lap, JC’s head was resting on top of hers, and he held the remote out towards the large movie screen. When it landed on The Sound of Music, Emma-Claire gleefully stated that this was the movie she wanted.

“Perfect,” JC muttered to Annie. “She’ll be out before it’s over.”

Annie chuckled softly. “I know. “

“Is this one okay with you?” he asked, hitting PLAY on the remote and Annie nodded in agreement, picking up her hamburger and taking a bite. JC moved Emma-Claire to the floor and poured a glass of wine each for him and Annie, then handed it to her. Annie looked at her surroundings. It certainly couldn’t get much better than this. And it only made the fantasy in her head of JC and her together even easier to visualize.

After they’d finished eating, the threesome moved to the couch. Emma-Claire took the liberty of laying her head in JC’s lap and her feet in Annie’s. This made both adults have to sit extremely close to one another and Annie was doing her best not to inch her arm any closer to JC’s. What she didn’t know was that JC was trying not to do the same. Annie felt her eyes growing heavier and Maria hadn’t even gotten to the Captain’s house yet to meet the children. She looked down at Emma-Claire who was still awake and glued to the movie. She glanced at JC who was nodding off himself and trying to keep his eyes open. Annie sunk down into the plush sofa and closed her eyes. I’ll just rest for a minute, were her last thoughts before she drifted off to sleep.

The next thing she knew, the room was dark and somehow her head had ended up on JC’s chest. His arm was resting on her back, his hand barely touching her backside. Emma-Claire was nestled between them. She looked around for any sign of the time but her phone was upstairs and the room was windowless. Annie didn’t want to move. It felt too good to be like this with him but she knew it was only feeding that stupid fantasy from earlier. Still, it wasn’t as though she’d done this on purpose. They’d all fallen asleep together at some point. She was still curious as to how she’d leaned right into him. She closed her eyes again and reveled in the moment.

JC felt her stir beneath him but he didn’t dare make a sound. When her head had bobbed down to her chest earlier in the evening, he couldn’t help but pull her into his arms like this. He wouldn’t ever tell her because what would she think? He looked down at her nuzzled beneath him and then at Emma-Claire who hadn’t moved at all since she’d taken that position at the start of the movie. He closed his eyes again and pulled Annie tighter against him. He was just about to doze off when Emma-Claire sat up, causing Annie to quickly move away.

“I want to go to my bed, Daddy,” she whimpered groggily.

Annie let out a tired sigh and stretched as she stood to her feet. JC followed suit and picked up his daughter.

“Sorry about that,” Annie mumbled, rubbing her eyes.

“I didn’t mind,” JC replied, not caring at all what it might have sounded like. “Let’s get her to bed.”

They stumbled up the stairs and then up one more flight to the third floor. JC held Emma-Claire while Annie pulled back the covers. Emma-Claire reached for her pillow and Annie covered her up, kissing her cheek.

“Night baby girl,” JC whispered and kissed the top of her head. He followed Annie out, remembering what had transpired before when they’d been in this situation.

“Today was fun,” he told her when they were out in the hallway.

“Yeah. Thanks for inviting me along,” she smiled in the dark. She realized just how close they were standing and she could feel his breath on her face. Something in her told her to stay and not move towards the stairs.

“Anytime,” JC moved even closer, not thinking twice about it. He inched his way towards her until his face was right above hers. “Tired?”

“Uh huh,” Annie could barely get it out. He was there. He was so close. Was she imagining this?

“You should go to sleep,” his lips were nearly on her forehead and Annie was sure he could hear her heart beating inside of her chest.

“JC,” she almost whimpered.

“What?” he looked down at her and they were standing so close together that Annie wasn’t sure where he began and she ended. She gulped and opened her mouth slightly to answer him. Her lips were dry and she licked them, a shaky sigh escaping her.

“Annie?”

“Huh?” she looked right into his eyes. They were like fluorescent blue bulbs in the darkness.

He didn’t answer, only bent down and kissed her gently on the lips. Annie’s heart raced and she soon found herself wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him in for more. The kiss was soft and wet and delicious and everything that Annie had thought it might be with JC. And it was happening. It was really happening. When he pulled away she looked at him with uncertainty but he reassured her with a smile, moved his hands down her body and took her hand in his. She was following him down the hall to his bedroom and her heart began to pound in her chest. He opened the door and the only light in the room was from the moon and the light on the patio that automatically came on after nine.

“Come here,” pulled her to him again, his arms resting on her backside, their bodies so close together that Annie swore she could feel his heartbeat. His forehead rested on hers and she didn’t know whether to look at him or look away. “I’m not gonna lie, Annie. I’ve been thinking about you. A lot. You kind of make me crazy.” He kissed her cheek and her jawline and then his lips met her neck and found a spot that made Annie literally collapse. She gasped and held him tightly around his neck. His hands draped down to the hem of her shirt and he held it between his fingers. His lips still on her neck, he pushed the fabric up to her bra and Annie broke away from him, lifting her arms above her head as he lifted the shirt over her head. Pulling her back to him, he rubbed her back and she felt his fingers toying with the clasp on her bra. “I don’t want to do anything you don’t want to do. But Annie, I can’t get you out of my mind. You’re all I think about.”

She was all he thought about. She kept repeating it in her head. How was she all he thought about? She was Annie the Nanny. He’d even said it himself. He tugged at her clasp, holding it between his fingers and looked at her. “I kind of get that you’ve been feeling the same way?”

Annie could barely muster a, “Uh huh,” because she felt like she might keel over from how he was making her feel.  She placed hear hands on his chest and studied the buttons on his shirt. One by one she undid them and when she reached the last one, she slowly pushed it from his body. She remembered when she’d first been hired how she’d seen him twice without a shirt and both times she’d been quite impressed. And now here he was and that body was hers to kiss and to lick and to do whatever he wanted her to do. She leaned in and placed soft kisses on his chest. A low moan escaped his lips and she felt his fingers unhook her bra. She continued to kiss him, her hands gently rubbing his stomach and landing on the buckle of his jeans. Her bra landed in a puddle between them and JC pulled her closer so that they were now chest to chest. Moving away from him, she went over to the bed and leaned back on her elbows daring him to come to her.

JC sauntered over slowly and crawled next to her, one hand cupping her breast and massaging it ever so carefully and the other unzipping her jeans and yanking them down to her knees. She kicked them away and looked at him hungrily as his hand made circles around her nipple and his other rested on her thigh. She leaned back and pulled him on top of her, thrusting against him and letting him know that she wanted him to continue this assault on her body. She’d never before been so turned on in her life and after what he’d said to her just the night before, she knew it would be more than she’d ever imagined. The tiredness they’d felt only minutes before had dissipated and the fear of being together this way, of crossing that boundary, was no more, at least for now.

His lips kissed hers ravenously and Annie didn’t care that she was moaning and gasping as his fingers tore away at her panties. She didn’t care that she was lying there naked and that he was exploring every single inch of her. She bucked against him when he forced two fingers inside of her and at the same time licked at her breast. Her hands tugged at his hair, moving down to his neck and back again.

“Are you almost there?” his voice was husky and low and quite sexy, Annie thought.

“Yeah. Shit, JC!” she moaned even louder and JC couldn’t help but laugh softly. “What the hell are you laughing at?”

“I made you say my name,” he kissed her and took his fingers away. Annie almost protested but then watched him move down her body and soon his tongue was where his fingers had been and Annie felt herself arch her back. She grabbed at whatever she could find to hang onto. The sheets, the headboard behind her, anything.  Whatever he was making his tongue do she’d never ever had any other man do before. Soon she felt her orgasm come over her like a wave of pleasure that she’d never before experienced. Her back arched so much that she was coming off of the bed and a noise escaped her lips that was something between a grunt and a moan and a gasp. JC was relentless and didn’t stop. She was shaking and trembling and he kept going. She felt another orgasm rip through her, this one even stronger than before, though she could hardly believe it. JC looked up at her and she was gasping for breath. He moved up to her again and pulled her to him.

“I bet you’re amazing at sex,” he whispered, kissing her once more on the mouth.

Annie suddenly felt exhausted and as much as she wanted to try out his hypothesis, she knew tonight it might backfire for as tired as she was feeling.

“Um, JC…” she didn’t know how to tell him she was too tired to have sex, especially after what he’d just done to her. He could read her facial expression and knew she was sleepy.

“It’s okay. It doesn’t have to be tonight,” he whispered. He stood up and she watched him take off his jeans and then climbed into bed. “Sleep with me tonight.”

Annie bit her lip uncertainly. “But what if Emma-Claire-“

He stood up and went to his door and locked it. “That takes care of her wandering in tomorrow morning.” He crawled back into bed and Annie shivered as she pulled the covers on top of her. “Do you want a t-shirt?”

“Yeah,” she nodded and watched as he once more left the bed and went over to his dresser drawer to pull out an oversized t-shirt for her. He walked over to her side of the bed and handed it to her but not before leaning over her and kissing her again. Annie put the t-shirt over her head and lay down against the pillows. JC edged in next to her and took her in his arms.

“Goodnight,” he whispered, his lips on her forehead.

“Goodnight,” she moved so that her arm rested on his. She couldn’t fall asleep right away. Her brain was on overdrive after what had just happened. And what would happen tomorrow when they woke up? She looked at JC who was already asleep and decided she’d just have to wait and instead of worrying about it, she fell asleep, too.