The alarm went off at 6:30 the next morning. JC groaned and rolled over. He’d slept nearly most of the night with Annie in his arms but at some point she’d rolled away from him and was curled into a ball still facing him. He wanted to wake her and kiss her and tell her how much he had enjoyed last night. He loved pleasing her like he had and watching her tremble as she experienced what he’d given her was better than anything he’d shared with a woman in a long time. He reached over and rubbed her shoulder gently but Annie didn’t stir. She was completely out of it. Slowly he rose from the bed and stretched his arms, his neck cracking as he stood to his feet. He had to be at the rehearsal hall in two hours but all he really wanted to do was wake up Annie and talk to her about what had happened between them. He didn’t want her to wake up and him not be there and think that he’d abandoned her. He wasn’t stupid. He was pretty sure all women felt that way when they woke up to find the guy they’d shared a bed with had left in the middle of the night. JC went into the bathroom to take a shower, hoping she’d wake up before he left.

Annie heard the shower running when she finally opened her eyes. She had forgotten where she was at first until she looked over and saw the empty spot next to her. She snuggled beneath the sheets again and sighed contentedly, reveling in all that had happened the night before. She’d wanted to do more, she’d wanted for JC to receive just as much pleasure as he’d given her, but her exhaustion had won instead. Looking at the time, she knew that Emma-Claire might be up fairly soon but Annie didn’t want to move. She wanted to see him before he left and perhaps be assured that last night hadn’t been just a one-time deal. He’d told her, hadn’t he, that she made him crazy? She didn’t just dream that. Then again, Annie wasn’t stupid and she knew plenty of guys –even friends of hers- that had used lines even worse than that to get women into bed. But it had felt so good. So good.

Her thoughts drifted to Emma-Claire and she tried to ignore the negative feelings welling inside of her. The feelings telling her to be cautious. The feelings telling her that just because they’d shared that intimate moment together, JC could be like every other guy and walk away now. The feeling of knowing that Emma-Claire loved both Annie and JC and that if they started something, it would devastate the child if it went sour. She closed her eyes and tried to fall asleep again, knowing that she had to be up soon anyway, but wanting to forget the thoughts of regret that could be there if, in the end, they decided it wasn’t worth it. No matter, Annie knew they connected. They were so in tune with each other the night before that her body hadn’t quit trembling until minutes after he’d already fallen asleep. She knew it had never, ever been that good with anyone else and it filled her with excitement to think that there was plenty more to be had.

The bathroom door opened and JC walked out clad only in a towel around his waist. She rolled over and faced him and they both smiled at each other. He wandered over and sat down on the edge of the bed next to her. His arm propped next to her head, he leaned down and placed a sweet kiss on her lips. He smelled of soapy aftershave and toothpaste and, quite aware that she’d not even brushed her teeth the night before, Annie didn’t open her mouth when he tried to pry it with his tongue. It didn’t seem to stop him from kissing her elsewhere. Her cheek, her jawline, and when his teeth nibbled at her ear, Annie moved so that he was on top of her.

“Good morning,” he mumbled, pulling the sheet away from her. He lifted the t-shirt that covered her top half and smiled when he looked down to see her bottom half completely exposed. His lips met her stomach, and Annie saw the towel that had draped his body, fall to the floor. He lifted his head and chuckled. “Guess you get to see all of me now, huh?”

Annie still hadn’t said a word and he had maneuvered his way back into bed with her. His hand cupped her face, his other hand was moving down the side of her body and Annie trembled at his touch. Nothing was between them except the shirt Annie was wearing.

“JC,” she whispered, finally speaking. He was still kissing on her, moving from her stomach to her thigh. “JC, wait.” She’d wanted him to continue but she also knew they needed to talk and she didn’t want her cloudy, hormone-induced brain taking over just yet. He looked up at her and kissed her thigh again, dragging his tongue right where her thigh met her pelvis.

“You want me to stop?” he asked, and propped himself up on his elbow. He rested his hand on her leg and circled his fingers in some sort of a pattern.

“Yes. I mean, no, I don’t want you to stop but I just…” she trailed off and didn’t know how to finish her thought. She turned over on her side and reached down to stroke his face. He kissed her palm as it brushed past his lips and smiled at her, waiting for her to continue. “I don’t want to do anything else until we talk. And I know that’s a cliché thing to say, but we’ve got a little girl that we both love and if this isn’t going to be anything other than just sex with each other, then I don’t know if I want to pursue it.” She couldn’t help but run her fingers through his hair and stroked his cheek as she spoke. “I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t thought about you. But there’s just a lot to consider. How’s it going to look for you to be sleeping with your nanny?”

“Define sleeping,” JC teased her. “Because technically, we’ve only slept together once and that was without sex. But-“

“I’m serious,” Annie sighed and sat up pulling the sheets back over her legs. “I care about your reputation and I don’t want people thinking that you’re some sleazy Hollywood-ite who’s shacking up with a woman who’s hired to care for his daughter.”

JC knew she had a point. He lifted himself up and moved next to her. “I know, Annie. We can talk about it. I promise. I don’t want you to get the wrong idea that I only wanted you for a night. I think you’re amazing. I really do. And I was going to say that when I got back tonight we could talk more about it. But seeing you in my bed, something came over me and I just wanted to be with you again.” He caught her looking down at his exposed erection and snorted. “See something you like?”

Annie bit her lip and laughed softly. “Maybe,” she leaned in closer to him, their cheeks touching slightly.

“Do you want it now?” his breath was right in her ear and it made Annie quiver slightly.

“Are you gonna be late?” she whispered, her breath tickling his face.

“I’m the boss. So it doesn’t matter,” he pulled her to him and Annie pushed him down so that she could straddle him.

“I don’t want to have sex,” she looked in his eyes, realizing just how hard that would be since neither of them had anything on. “But I’ll give you a little treat before you go to work.”

“That’s fine,” JC breathed, lowering himself so that she could have complete access to his body. “Because I’ll rock your world later and show you what a real man does when he makes love.”
Annie dragged her tongue down his taut stomach and glanced up at him to see his eyes half-opened and looking at her with pure lust. She was just about to take him in, when the door rattled and Emma-Claire’s little voice called out for her father. Annie’s eyes flew open and she looked up at JC. There was evidence of her everywhere in the room. Her clothes strewn about, her bra and panties in a puddle by the bed. JC kissed her quickly, stood up and grabbed his towel and threw her clothes under his bed.

“Go hide in the bathroom,” he whispered and Annie obeyed, jumping off the bed and literally flying into the bathroom and shutting the door.

“Hang on, honey. Daddy’s changing,” JC called to her.

“When’s Annie coming over?” she asked.

“Soon. Why don’t you go watch TV until she gets here,” JC was trying to put on his jeans but kept tripping over his feet from nerves.

“Okay,” Emma-Claire replied and JC heard her run down the hallway. He opened the door to the bathroom and Annie was standing there smirking at him.

“How am I supposed to get to the kitchen without coming downstairs first?” she bypassed him and went to retrieve her clothes from underneath the bed. JC watched as she took off her t-shirt and fastened her bra and wanted to kick himself for scheduling an early morning rehearsal. “JC, seriously, what do we do?” He snapped to attention and shook his head.

“Tell her you spent the night in the guest bedroom,” JC suggested, as he took a shirt from the closet and threw the hanger on the ground. “Just tell her you were too tired to go back to the pool house after the movie.”

Annie nodded and zipped her jeans. She walked over to him and he smiled at her as she pressed her lips to his. “We still have to talk about stuff.”

“I know,” his forehead met hers and he brought her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles. “We’ll talk when I get home. I should be back pretty early. We can put Emma to bed and if it’s nice outside, we’ll go out by the pool with some wine.”

Annie nodded and looked down at their hands intertwined together, then back up at him. “This is really fast, you know that right? I mean, I normally don’t ever do what I did with you last night until the third date.”

“What can I say? I have that effect on women, I guess,” he teased her and she pushed him away, walking over to the door.

“Hey, wait,” he followed her.

“What?” she turned around and he immediately cupped her face in both of his hands and kissed her lips.

“Okay, now you can go,” he kissed her forehead.

Annie slipped out the door and quietly down the hall. She snuck into the guest bedroom and looked at herself in the mirror, running her hand through her matted hair and smoothing out the wrinkles in her shirt. If anything, she could go over to the pool house and take a shower before JC left. She walked downstairs and Emma-Claire was sitting on the couch watching television. She looked up at Annie and grinned in surprise.

“You slept at my house last night?” Emma-Claire asked.

“Uh huh,” Annie replied. “I was so tired after the movie that I went to bed here. I’m going to go back to my house and take a shower and I’ll be over in a few minutes, okay?”

“Okay. Then can I have oatmeal?” Emma-Claire wanted to know.

“Of course, sweetie,” Annie went over to her and pecked the top of her head before leaving the house.

JC came downstairs minutes later and went over to Emma-Claire, kissing her cheek and tickling her neck. Emma-Claire turned around and giggled, then stood to throw her arms around her father’s neck.

“Hi, Daddy,” she kissed his cheek and followed him into the kitchen. JC started the coffee pot as Emma-Claire settled into the breakfast nook. “Annie’s coming back to make me oatmeal.”

“Good,” JC smiled, as he waited for the coffee to brew. He looked outside waiting for Annie to appear and begin her trek across the patio to the back door. His mind was still filled with images from the night before and this morning. If she had agreed to continue and if Emma-Claire hadn’t interrupted, he would have gladly been late today. He looked up just as Annie was opening the door. They shared a knowing glance at each other before Annie went to the pantry to get the oatmeal for Emma-Claire.

“Daddy has a radio show today and it should be over early,” JC turned to Emma-Claire as he was pouring his coffee into a thermos. “So, I’ll come home and have dinner with you and Annie.”

“Again?” Emma-Claire’s eyes widened. “And can we watch a movie and can Annie spend the night again?”

JC looked at Annie and she was smirking at him. “If Annie wants to, she can,” he answered, winking at her.

“I might,” Annie shrugged as nonchalantly as she possibly could and walked over to the stove to boil the water for the oatmeal. JC made sure Emma-Claire was looking away and rubbed up against Annie.

“I hope you do,” he whispered into her ear.

Annie had to ignore the feelings of desire that were coursing through her veins right then and cleared her throat. “Emma-Claire do you want bananas in your oatmeal?”

“Yeah,” Emma-Claire replied, swinging her feet back and forth.

“I’ll text you later,” JC told Annie, then turned to Emma-Claire. “Bye honey. Love you.” He reached down to kiss his daughter’s cheek and then glanced at Annie, winking at her before he walked out through the garage. He’d wanted nothing more than to kiss again, but he knew they were being careful not to show any affection right now in front of Emma-Claire.

“Excuse me, what did you just say?!” Megan shrieked on the other end of the phone and Annie had to pull the phone away from her ear. She’d called Megan while Emma-Claire was down for her nap because she had to talk to someone and while Megan was loud and obnoxious, she was also one of the only people Annie knew that could truly keep something like this confidential.

“I said JC and me fooled around and I ended up sleeping in his bed last night,” Annie repeated.

“So, what does this mean?”
“From what he says, I think he wants…more.”

“More what? Sex? Well, of course he does.”

“No, I mean yeah, that, but more of a, I don’t know, a relationship…” her voice trailed off because she didn’t know if it was a question or a statement.

“Oh god, Annie. Are you sure that’s what he said?”

“He said he was crazy about me. He said he wanted to talk tonight after dinner. He said he didn’t want it to be just a one time thing and that he’s thought about me a lot lately.”

Megan was quiet and Annie chewed on her lip nervously while she waited for her friend to say something again. “You know you’re on dangerous ground, don’t you? I mean, you’re sleeping with your boss-“

“We didn’t have sex,” Annie interrupted.

“Fine. You’re fooling around with your boss. You ended up spending the night with him. You already know Emma-Claire’s in a vulnerable state of mind right now. I just, I don’t know if it’s such a wise decision.”

Annie was silent. It wasn’t what she wanted to hear, but she needed to hear reality and reality was that it could all turn out to be a huge loss and Annie might lose the one little person that made her feel more whole than Ruby or Henry had ever thought about doing.

“I know,” Annie said softly.

“I’m not saying don’t go for it. Or maybe I am. I don’t know. I just think you have to be careful. It’s not like you’re just dating anyone. Forget the fact that he’s kind of famous, he’s your boss.”

“Yeah.”

“Oh, Ann, I’m sorry. I mean, talk to him, right? Just see what you can figure out. Who knows, he could be the best thing that ever happened to you. Tell me, was he at least good at what he did last night?”

Annie chuckled into the phone. “Oh, yeah. I’ve never, well, let’s just say no one’s ever made me do what I did with him last night.”

“Damn. And you haven’t even had sex. Geez, a part of me wants to tell you to just have sex with him to see what that’s like!”

“Yeah, well, I don’t know. I mean yeah, I’m already thinking that part would be amazing but if it means Emma-Claire getting hurt then I don’t want to risk it.”

“Sometimes you have to risk stuff, Annie. But at the same time, I’m not blaming you for what you’re feeling or how you’re processing it. Talk to him and maybe see how you feel after that.”

“Yeah, you’re right. I’ll let you know how it goes tomorrow. Or I’ll text you tonight if, you know…”

Megan snickered. “If you don’t end up in his bed again?”

“Exactly.”

JC had been in the zone all day working with the girls and then going on Lance’s show. His mind had been on and off of Annie all day but he’d learned when it came to women he was seeing that he had to turn that part of his brain off or else he’d never get anything done when it came to work. At a point where he was able to take a break, he’d texted a short message to her, telling her that he’d be home by six at the latest and couldn’t wait to see her. She’d replied with a smiley face and told him she couldn’t wait to see him, either. After that, he’d put his phone away and concentrated on the tasks at hand and that was getting their songs down for the Galleria performance the next day and then their interview on Dirty Pop. Then he could go home and turn work off and be with Annie and Emma-Claire.

“Hey, you busy on Friday?” Lance asked him, when the interview was done. The girls were gathering their things and Jimmy was trying to herd them all into the awaiting van outside.

“No plans right now,” JC replied. “Why?”

“Michael and I thought it might be fun to go out to dinner with you. Maybe hit up a club afterwards,” Lance placed his headset down and walked from around the control booth.

“Sure,” JC nodded. “Let me get back to you and see what’s going on but I don’t really think I have anything.” His mind immediately went to Annie and wondered how he could incorporate her into their plans. If he was going to start dating his nanny, it might cause a few glitches in their social life.

“Great. Glad you got to come on the show. Call me later in the week about Friday,” Lance clapped his shoulder and JC turned to leave, following Jimmy and the girls to the van. As he slid into the front, Jimmy handed him a slip of paper.

“Almost forgot. This is Layne’s number. I told her you’d call her sometime this week,” Jimmy winked at him and JC looked down at the number in his hand. He crumpled it up and slid it in his back pocket.

“Thanks,” he said absentmindedly.

“You’re welcome,” Jimmy eyed him suspiciously. “Figured you might be more excited about that.”

JC shrugged. “I don’t know if I’ll need it like I thought I would.”

“Oh? Did you already meet someone?” Jimmy was trying to talk over the chatter of the eleven girls in the back who were all gabbing to one another about the radio show.

“In a manner of speaking, yes, I guess you could say that,” JC was being coy and he knew it but he didn’t know how else to say that he’d been with Annie the night before.

“Who?” Jimmy looked at him skeptically.

“Just a girl,” JC liked his private life private, even if Jimmy was one of his good friends.

“Just a girl? You ask me to set you up and all the sudden you’ve met someone when I’ve seen you here almost everyday for the last eleven months,” Jimmy shook his head. “What? Did you get a call girl or something?”

JC rolled his eyes. “No, she’s not a call girl,” he sighed, knowing he should’ve just kept his mouth shut. He narrowed his eyes and quietly said, “It’s Annie.”

“No shit? Your nanny?!” Jimmy whispered loudly, trying to be out of earshot of the girls. “Whoa. Are you two serious now?”

“Well, it all kind of happened last night,” JC replied, “so we’re gonna talk tonight when I get home.”

“Interesting,” Jimmy looked at JC and chuckled softly to himself. “So you’re paying the woman you’re dating. You know in some cultures that’s completely acceptable.”

“Shut up,” JC rubbed his face in his hands. “We’re not dating. We’re….we’re talking about dating right now. Or something to that effect. I just know that I’ve been thinking about her for awhile now and last night something just sparked inside of me and I couldn’t hold back any longer.”

“Nice. Does she know your dating record?”

“What about my dating record?”

“You know how you date a woman for a few months, get bored, and dump them?”

JC cringed but disregarded Jimmy’s response. “Well, this time it might be different.”

“I hope so. Listen, I’m not telling you what to do but you’d essentially be dating the only other person who’s with your daughter more than you are on a day- to -day basis. And from what you’ve told me about Emma, she’s pretty crazy about Annie. I’d just hate to see you do what you’ve done in the past and hurt not only Annie but Emma, too,” Jimmy was trying to be helpful but it was only making JC angry.

“Look, I know I don’t have the best reputation when it comes to women, but people can change, Jimmy. And as far as Emma-Claire is concerned, I think we’d probably hide it from her as long as we could. I don’t know. All I know is that I acted on what I was feeling and it was reciprocated so that tells me that I’m not the only one thinking these thoughts. She was thinking the same thing about me,” JC had tried his best not to raise his voice and glanced behind him at the girls, who thankfully were either on their phones or listening to their iPods.

“C, I think it’s great, I really do. You don’t have to get upset or defensive. I’m just thinking about Emma-Claire. I’m a dad, too, and I know the worst thing in the world is seeing the look in your kid’s eyes when you’ve disappointed them. Just think about all she’s been through and how you’d handle it if you and Annie didn’t work out. How would Annie handle it? Would she quit? Because then you’ve got to deal with that, too.”

“I need to talk to Annie. We have to figure all of that out. I just want to hear what she’s feeling before I start thinking about all of the ‘what ifs’, you know?” JC leaned back against the seat and lowered the baseball cap on his head.

“Sorry, C. I hope your talk goes well tonight. I mean that,” Jimmy told him and JC only nodded and leaned forward watching the sun as it slowly dropped behind the horizon.

When he walked into the kitchen, Annie was taking a lasagna out of the oven and Emma-Claire was dancing around the kitchen while David Guetta sounded through the iPod dock in the living room. Annie looked up and smiled at him as he set his keys on the island and gathered Emma-Claire in his arms, throwing her in the air. She laughed cheerfully and kissed JC’s cheek, holding him around his neck. JC looked over at Annie and wanted to greet her with a long kiss on the mouth, but waited until he’d put Emma-Claire down and she’d run into the living room to retrieve a toy.

“Hi,” he came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her against him. He kissed her cheek and she turned to quickly brush her lips against his.

“Hey,” Annie grinned and then giggled as JC playfully grabbed at one of her breasts before walking back over to the island and hopping up on it. “How did the radio show go?”

“It was good. The girls were really excited to be on the air. Oh, tomorrow we’re at the Galleria in Sherman Oaks. You and Emma could come out and watch them perform. We’re on at four,” he plucked a grape from the fruit bowl next to him and popped it in his mouth.

“That would be fun. I know she’d love that,” Annie nodded and walked over to him. She stood between his legs and looked up at him with a flirtatious grin. Her hands rested on his thighs and he leaned his forehead down to rest on hers. He kissed her softly and Annie could feel everything in her want to forget about dinner, put Emma-Claire to bed, and go back to his bed with him but she resisted the urge and kissed him back, then pulled away.

“Why’d you tease me like that?” JC hopped off of the island and followed her back to the stove, where she began to cut into the lasagna.

“Because if Emma-Claire walked back in here and saw us like that we’d have a lot of explaining to do,” she put a large piece of lasagna on a plate and handed it to him. “Here. Is that enough or do you want more?”

JC smirked and leaned into her. “More.”

Annie felt her insides turning to mush and she let out a shaky breath. “Well, if our little talk tonight goes well, you may get more of what you want.”

JC was just about to say something else suggestive, when Emma-Claire walked in with a Barbie doll and climbed into the booth. He moved away and went to join his daughter for dinner, already anticipating the talk he would be having with Annie and wondering if what Jimmy said would even matter. They had to be on the same page and Emma-Claire was first and foremost the one they had to take into consideration. It couldn’t be just something JC would get bored with after a few months. Looking across at Annie as she laughed at something Emma-Claire said to her, he knew he couldn’t get bored of her. He didn’t want to.

When Emma-Claire was tucked into bed and the kitchen had been cleaned, Annie followed JC outside and they took a seat on the patio couch that overlooked the fire pit and the pool. They were careful not to sit too close to each other because they both knew that their physical attraction was strong and they were easily able to forego the talk and just start making out with each other.

“I’m just going to tell you what I’m thinking,” Annie began after JC poured her a glass of wine. “I really like you. I didn’t ever expect this to happen and to be honest, I’m violating the nanny codes all over the planet, but I don’t care. But I’m worried that we’re going to get Emma-Claire all confused and if she sees us as a couple and something were to happen….well, I just don’t know if I could handle seeing her hurt again. She’s still dealing with what happened to her mother and her grandmother and I don’t want to be the cause of something else.” Annie let out a sigh and looked at JC, who seemed to be studying her and taking in everything she said. “But I don’t want to miss out on something that could be really great, either.”

JC’s lips formed into a smile and he rested his hand on her leg. “Annie, I feel the same way. Look, I’m not perfect at relationships. And I’m scared to death of hurting my little girl. But I don’t want to not give this a shot because we’re too scared of the unknown.”

Annie nodded her head slowly. “Right. I know,” she moved closer to him. “I don’t want to make our working relationship weird if, I mean, you know if something happened and we…” she didn’t want to finish that sentence but JC could read her mind and pulled her even closer to him.

“I think we just take it one day at a time,” his voice was barely above a whisper and she felt his lips graze hers as he spoke. “And we’re just gonna have to be careful in front of Emma-Claire right now. We won’t be affectionate towards each other unless we’re alone and after a while, maybe we’ll let her in on our secret.”

“So, this, I mean, us,” Annie held his face in her hands and he kissed her again. “We’re gonna give it a try?”

JC sighed, his forehead pressed to hers, and a wide grin on his face. “Yeah. We’re gonna give it a try.”