Caught Between Three Billionaire Tycoons - Willa Hart Page 0,10

into it. The last thing I wanted to do was project my own romantic needs on to someone who might be emotionally unavailable.

It would be a disaster for both of us.

The kids were silent now, watching their little DVD screens. Adara seemed to have recovered her sweetness, but Egan still scowled. He looked just like his father when a shipment was coming in late. He had his dad’s gold eyes and dark brows, but his hair was bright blonde. Cute kid.

Adara had very dark hair and even darker eyes. Her delicate features looked nothing like Aleksy. She must take after her mother.

I felt nervous that Aleksy might be there waiting for us. His whole reason for getting me to do this was that he would be a few days late. He had told me, if he finished up early, he’d be waiting there for us. I knew there was a good possibility he finished up early and he could be there.

I was already nervous enough before little Egan had to give me a little speech.

I tried to focus on that overtime he promised me. I was to be on call the whole time, so he was literally paying for every single hour. This job was not a hard one—looking after gorgeous kids and some bookkeeping—and I was getting paid ridiculous sums of money. All I had to do was lay aside my feelings, any expectations of romantic entanglements. This could be a great working holiday. I just had to handle myself properly!

“Your dad will be so pleased to see you.” I checked the rear view again, seeing Egan’s frown had not listed. “He’s probably waiting there right now. He had to go away earlier, so you haven’t seen each other for like a week, huh?”

“We’ve gone without him for longer. It’s not unusual.” Egan sounded like kid twice his age. My heart went out to him all over again. An eight-year-old shouldn’t have to carry that kind of burden.

“Well, it’s a good thing we got going so early.” I try to cheer him up. “I think your dad’s all done with his work and just waiting to party with you.”

Egan said nothing. Adara watched her DVD, not listening to us. I turned my attention back on to the road. The dirt was slick, and a few turns were coming up. The rain was flying into the car on squalls of wind and then settling again. The sweeping clouds were making it hard to see far ahead of the car.

The car sank a little into a puddle. I felt the wheels stick, and I almost panicked. I didn’t want to get stuck here, especially not with the kids in the car. I pumped the gas, revving the car forward.

I got out of the ditch, but then I felt the wheels spin under us.

Oh, fuck.

I knew the car had just taken our destiny into its own hands. It was like hitting a patch of black ice.

I’d been moving slowly, so thankfully, there wasn’t much momentum. But nothing could change the fact that the steering wheel was yanked from my hands as the big car glided slowly across the muddy track and embedded itself in a ditch of thick mud.

4

The car tilted alarmingly as it left the road, and the nose sank into the ditch by the side. An old dirt road like this didn’t have proper gutters, but it did have deep cut mudslides where the water naturally flowed.

As we sank into the ditch, the car evened out just a little. A scream came bursting out of me as the car bucked up and down, finally settling on a gentle angle.

For a few seconds, the only sound was the windscreen wipers flicking back and forth. The rain fell steadily, the rhythm almost soothing as it pattered against the roof and windows.

I turned around quickly, seeing the kids clutching at their seat belts and staring at me.

“Are you guys okay?” I unclicked my seat belt and turned around, gripping the back of my chair.

Egan nodded, too tense to speak. Adara started to cry. I couldn’t get back there to hug her but the second I could get out of the car safely I would cuddle her like there was no tomorrow.

I reached under the seat and grabbed some candy bars. Adara’s face lit up immediately and Egan brightened. I handed over the candy.

“You guys are so brave! Amazingly, completely courageous!”

Egan gave me a face over his candy bar.

“Don’t talk down to me,” he