The Mogul and The Manny (Gay Romance) E-Book

Trina Solet

• Herausgeber: Trina Solet
• Kategorie: Gesellschafts- und Liebesromane
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2021

Beschreibung

Grant is rich, straight and a playboy who is in need of a nanny to look after his little brother, Ethan. Todd is perfect for the job, kind and so good with a vulnerable little kid like Ethan. He might also be perfect for Grant.
But Grant has never been serious about anyone. Is Todd the one who is going to change everything and finally open Grant's heart to love?

Leseprobe

The Mogul and The Manny (Gay Romance) By Trina Solet

Copyright © 2021 by Trina Solet

All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the author except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, locales or actual events is entirely coincidental.

All sexual activity takes place between persons eighteen years of age or older.

This novel contains material intended for mature readers.

Cover image is only for illustrative purposes. Any person depicted is a model.

The Mogul and The Manny

Gay Romance

Trina Solet

Chapter 1

Todd noticed him the second he walked through the doors of Patrice's Bar. Then he looked away just as quickly, intimidated by the expensive suit on an amazing body and the way the guy's gorgeous hazel eyes looked right at him. The guy had the attitude of someone who could buy the place just as easily as order a drink. He sat at the bar and settled for the drink.

Patrice's Bar was so swanky, it hurt Todd's eyes the first time he came in, so it wasn't unusual to have hot, well off guys stroll in. But they didn't usually unsettle Todd like this guy did.

Todd would never have set foot in any place like this if he wasn't desperate for work. But there he was wiping down the bar while behind him the shelves gleamed with various, expensive bottles of booze.

Patrice was behind the bar too, and she started chatting with the hot guy. After a few minutes, she beckoned for Todd.

Going over, he expected she wanted him to clean up something or fetch something. Todd wasn't a bartender, he just helped out part time because Patrice knew he needed money and she was a good friend.

Now she was introducing him to the hot guy. "Someone I want you to meet," she said. "Grant Simmonds, this is the young man I want to recommend to you, Todd Larkin."

"Recommend?" Todd looked from her to this Grant and found himself staring at him once again, taking in those arrogant hazel eyes, dark blond hair, short beard and expensive everything.

"He's hiring," Patrice said and Todd immediately got more serious as he wondered what kind of job they were talking about.

So far, this Grant guy only looked at him appraisingly while Patrice did all the talking.

"Grant needs a nanny and I thought you'd be perfect," she said.

Actually Todd had met Patrice when he was babysitting her two nieces, but that wasn't exactly the kind of job he was looking for these days.

"He's disappointed," Grant said though Todd hadn't meant to be so obvious about it.

Todd opened his mouth to tell Grant that he wasn't interested in the job when Patrice put a hand on his arm. "At least listen to the offer before you decide," she said then she went to deal with something in the back.

She did recommend Todd, and he didn't want to make her look bad by refusing outright. But he also didn't think it was fair to waste this guy's time.

Grant seemed amused by his indecision as he invited Todd to join him at one of the tables in the back where it was quieter.

Sitting across from him at a table in the corner, Grant explained the situation. "Ethan is my little brother, half brother. He's only four and he lost his mom a few years ago so he now lives with our father. Dad is out of town with another soon to be ex girlfriend. Usually my father just leaves Ethan with a nanny, but there was some problem so he's staying with me."

"So this is temporary," Todd said.

"Yes. I expect I would need you for two months at least. If the job ends sooner, you'll still get the full two months pay." He then told Todd how much he would be getting paid. Now Todd wasn't so sure he wasn't interested.

Grant wasn't stingy when it came to paying for someone to take care of his little brother, that was for sure. If he got this job, Todd could save up more money for school instead of earning only enough to live on.

Seeing that he was now considering it, Grant asked him about his previous experience and background. He then slid a business card toward Todd. "We can arrange to have you meet Ethan, see how you do with him," he said. "Tomorrow would be good. Let me know."

Todd nodded. "I'll do that," he said while staring at his business card and not at Grant.

He was even better looking up close, and Todd found his sharp, knowing, hazel eyes kind of unnerving. Right now he needed to keep his head, not get distracted. It was the job that tempted him, not this guy's gorgeous eyes.

The job he had at Patrice's bar was only temporary, and Todd barely qualified to bus tables. Working at a bar wasn't for him anyway. Bad memories came back to him all the time here. Even at an upscale bar like Patrice's, guys got drunk and unruly and he was forced to relive things he wanted to put behind him.

Todd had applied for some entry positions in graphic design, but he didn't have the right qualifications. He would be lucky to get an unpaid internship. That's why he was working and saving up for more classes so he could finish his degree.

But apparently he might now be a nanny. The pay was way better than at the bar. It was still a temporary position though, only until the little boy went back to live with his father. For the sake of the money, Todd had to at least consider this nanny job.

The business card that Grant had given him was sitting on the kitchen counter, and Todd stared at it while next to it he had the newspaper spread open to the jobs section. There was nothing promising in there or online.

Over that night's dinner, Todd was telling Laney about the nanny job. Laney was one of his roommates and they were sharing some warmed up leftovers when their other roommate, Marguerite, joined them.

"Who even reads newspapers any more?" she said then she dug around until she found the comics section and grabbed it for herself.

"You, I guess, and Todd," Laney told her. "He got a job offer from some guy he met at the bar."

"Some guy at a bar? There's only one kind of job he's offering you, honey," Marguerite said to clue him in.

"He's not just some guy at a bar. Patrice vouched for him," Todd informed her. "And there's no offer yet. It's a job as a nanny and I need to meet the kid, see how that goes."

"I don't care what kind of job you get as long as it comes with rent money," Marguerite told him bluntly.

"What if it's live in?" Laney asked.

"Of geez," Todd said as the image of Grant came back to him. Living with a guy who looked like that would drive him crazy.

"We can get Wanda to move in here, I bet," Marguerite was saying.

"You already have me moved out?" Todd said, but she only shrugged, so heartless.

"Whoa, he's loaded. Only a little older than us and a business mogul," Laney said. She had picked up Grant's card, and now she was looking at her phone. She must have Googled Todd's new potential employer, just like he had done. "And whoa again. Is this really him?" She turned the phone to Todd, showing him a photo of Grant from some fancy event.

"Uh, yeah. That's him," he confirmed but didn't mention that the man looked even more gorgeous in person.

"You're going to work for that?" Marguerite said and she whistled.

"I might," Todd said taking the card from Laney. But he wasn't going after this job because he wanted the headache of working for a hot guy that was almost certainly straight. It was the money and only the money.

Chapter 2

Grant hadn't even met his little brother until this last week when his father suddenly came to town for a visit. His father was never a big part of Grant's life, but suddenly he wanted to spend time with him and have him get to know Ethan.

At first Grant thought maybe his father had changed, that he was a more caring father than he had been while Grant was little. But then he casually brought up how he had to take an extended trip out of the country with his new girlfriend and asked if Ethan could stay with Grant.

He asked right in front of Ethan so Grant couldn't refuse, but he didn't know anything about taking care of a kid.

Maybe he didn't do a good enough job hiding that fact. When his father had dropped him off and then left, Ethan had turned to Grant to ask, "Do you know how to take care of me?" The little boy had seen right through him.

Still Grant knew there was only one right answer. "Of course I do. I'm a grown-up," he told his little brother as confidently as he could.

Ethan gave him a small nod, and Grant thought he saw maybe a tiny bit of trust in his blue eyes.

Despite his answer, Grant still needed help taking care of him. Ethan was quiet and very serious, and Grant was completely out of his element. In the few days he had been with Grant, Ethan still hadn't really warmed up to him.

Since he hadn't had much luck getting Ethan to come out of his shell, Grant could only hope that his little brother and Todd might hit it off. If they didn't, he would just have to keep looking for someone to help him take care of Ethan that the little boy might feel comfortable with.

Grant arranged for Todd to meet them at the main office of his investment firm. That way he could take a meeting while Ethan and Todd spent some time together. It seemed like a good test.

Grant walked into the top floor of his office building with Ethan by his side and noticed some surprised looks as his employees greeted him. As for Ethan, he only glanced around briefly before lowering his blond head to frown down at the floor. Seeing him like that, Grant downgraded his expectations for the test run with Todd.

Taking Ethan to the break room, he asked him if he wanted a snack. Grant didn't think to bring anything so he just looked for what was there. He held up a box of cereal he found in the cupboard. "You could have some of this cereal?"

"Is it my cereal?" Ethan asked. "I'm not supposed to eat cereal if it isn't mine."

"It's office cereal," Grant told him. "It's OK if you have it."

Ethan still wasn't sure. He looked at the box. "It's grown up cereal."

Grant knew Ethan would eat it if he told him to, but the little guy wouldn't be happy if he thought he was doing something wrong. Ethan was always worrying about breaking some rule or another. From what little Ethan said, Grant had the impression that his nanny was insanely strict, and his father didn't seem to be much better.

There was a vending machine right there in the break room so Grant got him some juice and a snack, and Ethan looked so relieved not to have to eat some forbidden cereal.

When Todd arrived, Ethan was still busy with his snack and juice. Grant left him to finish in the break room and went to meet Todd in the hall.

"This place is... umm, impressive," Todd said as he looked around.

That's what Grant was striving for when he had it designed, but it could also be intimidating with all the metal sculptures, metallic surfaces and white and black color scheme. No wonder Ethan didn't like it.

Todd didn't seem to be a fan either, and Grant was reminded once again how easy he was to read. His brown eyes were so clear and expressive. As expected, Todd seemed a little anxious so Grant talked to him about the resume he sent over.

"So you studied design."

"I'm still studying," Todd said and Grant wasn't surprised since he was barely twenty-one, even younger than him. "I just need to save up so I can get a degree."

"That means you can draw. Ethan likes to draw too," Grant told him. "My meeting will take half an hour. You can keep him busy with some drawing, and we'll see how you two get along. How does that sound?"

"That sounds fine."

"OK let's go get him."

Grant brought Ethan from the break room, but he wouldn't look up as he introduced him to Todd.

"This is my brother Ethan, and this is Todd. He's the guy I told you about, the one who's going to stay with you while I take a meeting."

Ethan was still looking at the floor.

"It's nice to meet you," Todd told the kid. At the sound of his kind, mellow voice, Ethan glanced up briefly, and Todd smiled at him to try and put him more at ease. "Is it OK if I spend a little time with you while your big brother is working and maybe we can draw something?"

Ethan said a very quiet "OK" to that.

"We have paper and colored pencils," Grant said leading the way to the sitting area of his outer office where there was a coffee table and two club chairs. "You guys can hang out. Make yourselves comfortable. Let Tess, my assistant, know if you need anything."

Tress smiled at them then she and Grant went off and she handed him some materials for his meeting. Instead of looking them over, Grant watched Todd and Ethan as they both took papers to draw on. He couldn't tell how they were getting along yet. It was too soon of course, so Grant went inside his office where two of his executives were already waiting.

When Grant came out of his office, he saw that Ethan was absorbed in his drawing and so was Todd. They were drawing quietly together, sitting on the floor. Going closer, Grant saw that Todd was adding shading to a drawing of a car.

The two of them were completely focused on their drawing. In fact they were so into it, they were both startled when Grant appeared above them and said, "I rushed through my meeting, but maybe I didn't need to. You two didn't even notice I'm here."

Ethan barely gave him a glance as Grant eyed Todd's drawing. "That's the latest Rolls-Royce Dawn," he said.

"Of course you can identify an expensive car," Todd said archly and Grant only shrugged. "I saw one a few days ago. I was trying to capture the way the sun bounced off the hood and the reflection of the buildings."

"Are you giving Ethan a drawing lesson?" Grant asked as he saw that Ethan was working on a drawing of a car as well.

"Ethan knows how to draw already," Todd said.

To prove it, Ethan held up a drawing of his car with its mismatched wheels and what might have been a driver who looked like he was standing inside the car and sticking out of the roof halfway.

"So you like to draw cars," Grant said to Ethan but he didn't answer, so he turned to Todd. "Or was it your idea?"

"I asked Ethan what we should draw, and he told me I could draw whatever I wanted," Todd said and Ethan nodded to confirm it.

"Are you sure you weren't just copying Ethan?" Grant said with a grin at his little brother.

"He wasn't copying me," Ethan said. "It's a different car." Ethan pointed to each drawing while wearing a serious look on his face.

"I see. You both did good," Grant told him. "You want to go to lunch? Todd can come with us too."

"For more drawing?" Ethan asked like lunch didn't entice him unless there was drawing on the menu.

"Sure. You can do more drawing," Grant said.

As they gathered up the drawing supplies to take with them, Grant watched as Todd let Ethan decide what he could carry. He wasn't trying to engage Ethan more than he felt comfortable with. It was like Todd could already read him and knew not to push him.

But it was also just that Todd was quiet by nature, not someone who was looking for attention or demanding to be liked. Though he seemed at ease with Ethan, when he noticed that Grant had been watching him, he got nervous, and he might have even blushed.

Chapter 3

In the parking garage, Grant settled Ethan in his car seat. "There. You're safe as can be."

Before getting in the car, Todd asked Ethan, "Would you like me to sit in the back with you?"

"Grown-ups sit in front," Ethan told him.

That surprised Grant since he would have expected his nannies to have sat in the back with him.

"I'll sit in front then," Todd told him.

"I had Tess call ahead and they have a table for us," Grant said as he drove them to Floating Leaf.

"So I guess we're not going to one of those places where they give kids crayons and a paper tablecloth to draw on," Todd said.

"There are places like that?" Grant asked and Todd looked like he didn't know if he was joking. "I guess there are. But, no, we're not heading to any place like that."

They were going to Floating Leaf because the place wasn't in the center of town so it was reasonably quiet at lunchtime. It was really more of a date night destination than a lunch meeting type of place, but it seemed like the right place to take Todd.

"We're going here?" Todd said as Grant turned into the restaurant parking lot.

"Yes. Not kid friendly enough?" Grant asked, pulling into a parking space and turning to Ethan to try and get his approval. "What do you say?"

Ethan was too busy looking out the window to give him his opinion.

Grant sighed and stepped out of the car. "At kid friendly places, I can't order a decent whiskey with lunch," he admitted as Todd got out too.

"Or any whiskey," Todd muttered, and Grant thought he detected a dark tone to his words. But when Grant looked at him, his expression was determinedly neutral.

Maybe he disapproved of drinking?

When they got Ethan out of his car seat and went into the courtyard in front of the restaurant, Todd exclaimed, "So this is why you wanted to come here." He was looking at the koi pond that was off to the right within the courtyard.

Grant wished he could take credit. "Actually, I forgot it was there," he said, but he noticed that Ethan was craning his neck like he was wondering what was so special about it.

"I think Ethan would like to go closer and have a look," Todd said and looked from Ethan to Grant for his permission.

Of course he gave it, but the way Todd waited for his OK reminded him how Patrice said that he was a by the book kind of guy. Grant hoped he wouldn't be too strict with Ethan if he became his nanny. But other than making Todd sound kind of uptight, Patrice only had good things to say about him.

As of yet, Grant wasn't a hundred percent sure about him. He watched him go with Ethan to look at the koi pond. When they got close, Ethan hesitated and Todd offered him his hand. Ethan got shy but he took it. Now Ethan was pointing excitedly at the fish while holding onto Todd's hand.

OK, now Grant was a little more sure about Todd as Ethan's nanny. He then gently coaxed Ethan away from the pond so they could go and have lunch.

Once inside, Grant asked for a table by the front windows that would let Ethan look out at the pond. Grant was hoping to enjoy a quiet lunch, but he found himself having to silence his phone as he got text after text from Bianca, a model he dated briefly.

He had told a few people his summer plans for him and Ethan, and the texts from Bianca made it sound like she expected to be the first to hear it. She was acting like a wronged girlfriend though he made it clear to her he didn't want a relationship, not with anyone.

He had misjudged her. She seemed exactly like his type, a party girl who only wanted something casual like he did. He thought they were on the same page, but now her conservative parents were pressuring her to change her ways. Out of nowhere she decided that she and Grant could settle down together when he very much wanted to keep partying.

Grant didn't order a whiskey with his lunch, but those texts made him want one. He got a salad of field greens with poached quail eggs. Todd had a grilled chicken wrap, one of the least expensive things on the menu.

For Ethan, Grant ordered sesame panko chicken on artisan sourdough with spring onions and lime avocado mayo. Todd looked at him like he was crazy, but Grant knew he had to make a few substitutions so that Ethan would actually be able to enjoy the sandwich.

Ethan never said that he didn't like anything or that he wouldn't eat it, just got this tragic look on his face and nibbled on his food miserably. Maybe he was told he wasn't allowed to complain about food.

When their lunch arrived, Ethan seemed happy enough, but after a few bites, the view out the window distracted him.

"We'll go back out and look at the fish," Todd told him. "But first you should eat."

Reluctantly Ethan turned to his plate. Then almost immediately looked up to ask, "Can we draw now?"

"After you eat, we can go see the fish and draw them," Todd promised him.

Grant noticed he was getting more assertive fast, but he still had a kind way of speaking to Ethan. He had a nice voice too.

With Todd's encouragement, Ethan did eat his food. Then, as promised, he got to draw outside by the pond. Since he was occupied, Grant took Todd a few steps away to talk.

"I'd say Ethan responds to you pretty well," Grant told him. "So I'd like to hire you, but you should know that we wouldn't be staying here. I had planned on remodeling my penthouse. When Ethan came to stay with me, I was going to reschedule. But now I'm going to go ahead with it and take Ethan to the family vacation house in Caraway Beach. I remember liking the place as a kid."

"Oh, so you want a nanny who can go along with you," Todd said and bit his lip as he considered it.

"Definitely. And who can swim," Grant added.

"I can swim," Todd said and Grant knew he was very close to getting a yes.

"So are you in?" Grant asked.

"OK. I'll take the job," Todd said and Grant felt that surge of excitement like he did every time he cinched a major deal. Except this time he was just hiring a nanny so he didn't expect to get that thrill. Oh well, a deal was a deal.

They talked a little more about the specifics, but not too long since Ethan kept glancing their way. He didn't come over to them though. Grant had noticed that Ethan never came over to him if he was doing anything or talking to anyone.

They went over to Ethan who couldn't wait to show them a drawing that looked more like a fish than Grant expected.

"That's really good," he told Ethan.

"Very nice," Todd told him and Ethan looked at his shoes as he smiled.

"Todd is coming with us to the beach house," Grant told him.

"With me and Grant?" Ethan asked looking between them.

"Yes, and we're going to have fun together," Todd promised him and gave him a warm smile.

Ethan seemed reassured that someone he knew was coming along with them, even if he only just met his new nanny a little while ago. As for Grant, he didn't mind Todd even if he was a little uptight. It wouldn't be too terrible to share the beach house with him.