over a woman. It’s just taking me longer with one as complicated as Layla.
“As of right now, she’s refusing to go to Vancouver. I’ll convince her otherwise as will you. You will ask her to come as a friend! And when we leave, you’ll let her go without a shred of guilt or a promise of keeping in touch.”
“Hell no, Jenna! I don’t know how long it’s going to take to get my business up and running comfortably again. It could take a year! I’m not going to go that long without talking to her.” I slam my hand against the table in anger, causing one of Jenna’s new assistants to jump in her seat and look back at me.
“She needs to live this new life she’s finally having the courage to start! She needs to be distraction-free in order to see your value and that you’re not trying to use her. She needs to date other people to see what she’s missing out on by not having you.”
The thought of another man’s hands on Layla makes my blood boil and I ball my hands into fists. “No, Jenna. Absolutely not!” I growl, refusing to acknowledge her words.
She looks up at the door to see the lock being twisted, indicating that they have arrived back. She leans over the table and gets close to my face, making sure she holds eye contact with me. “You need to go back to Canada and work your ass off. Concentrate only on you, Chase. Heal yourself, heal your family and get your business running. Once that’s done, then come back to win her heart. Think about it because your way isn’t working. She’s not ready!” We stare at each other in a silent challenge before she breaks eye contact and goes back to sit down in her seat.
“Everything okay in here? The air seems to be filled with lots of tension,” Robert questions while unloading the bag of Chinese food. Layla helps him, refusing to make eye contact with me when she hands me my food.
“Everything’s great!” Jenna says a little too enthusiastically, a clear indicator that she’s lying.
“Hmm… I don’t really believe you, but whatever,” Robert says in his know-it-all voice. “The next candidate is sitting in the hallway. She says her flight arrived early, so she decided to come straight here.”
“This is the one that flew in from France and is a family friend of Sean and his family,” Jenna says, referring to Cal’s best friend and famous actor, Sean Lindsey. Jenna picks up her resume from her pile of candidates to review. “Isla Jones. She speaks four languages and has spent the last three years with the family of a British diplomat in Paris. She received her education in child development and is certified to homeschool. She also plays the piano.” She looks up with an impressed expression on her face. “She almost sounds too good to be true.”
“I wonder why she’s not with the British diplomat anymore,” I ask out loud and all three of them look at me in agreement.
“Well, we can’t hire her despite how good she sounds,” Robert says and we all look at him in questioning. “She’s hot. Like hot for teacher hot. You don’t hire hot nannies.”
Jenna rolls her eyes while Layla can’t keep back her giggle. The sound makes my dick stand to attention and I immediately grind my teeth in annoyance.
“You know, now that I think about it, she does kind of resemble Cora, but a much nerdier Cora,” Layla says, tapping her finger against her lips in thought. I stare at those lips a little too long, not caring that she just caught me looking at her. Cora Gregory is a Hollywood actress who went to the same boarding school as Cal and Sean. She’s gorgeous with long, dark hair and cat like green eyes. She’s one of Hollywood’s most beautiful leading ladies, but tends to only get parts due to her physical appearance and not her acting abilities.
“Hopefully she doesn’t have the same temperament as Cora,” Jenna says. I distinctly remember hearing the story that Cora’s in love with Cal, despite his devotion to Jenna and Jenna is now her number one enemy. “We can reheat our food after the interview. Robert, please welcome her in.”
“But I’m hungry!” Robert whines while stomping his foot like a child.
“It’s rude and unprofessional to leave her out there while we eat. You can eat while we interview her if you really want,” Jenna