Prossers Bay Series

by Cheryl Phipps

  It was this time of day that being a single mom of twins proved to be the most difficult.

  “Girls, I need a few minutes. Please go out back and play.”

  “But Mom, we have to do our homework.”

  Megan was always surprised by her daughter’s seriousness. “I know, Mia. Let me deal with the mail and get dinner ready. We can all sit down after dinner and do it together.”

  “I hate homework,” Cody, a dedicated tomboy, stated as she raced outside, relishing the temporary reprieve.

  Mia reluctantly followed. Not happy about it, but always the more amiable of the two.

  Stalling, Megan began to unpack their school bags and clean out the lunch boxes for tomorrow. As usual Cody’s had leftover food squashed into a mess, since she would have been too busy playing to eat. Mia’s was empty and neatly cleaned out. How could they look so alike and be so different?

  With no clear idea how to fix the mess that was her finances, Megan decided that maybe the bills could wait until later. It wasn’t as if they were going anywhere.

  She had started to prepare a salad when there was a knock on the door. She wasn’t up to visitors; she needed a shower after cleaning houses all day, and her hair was a tangled mess. She sighed. What the heck – if people were going to turn up unannounced, then they would have to take her the way she was. She pushed her curls back from her forehead and opened the door.

  She was so surprised to see Jordan Lambert, the American owner of the fancy resort in Prossers Bay, standing there that she simply stared. He gave her one of his disarming smiles that were sexy as hell and annoyed her deeply.

  “Sorry to barge in on short notice, but I’d like to talk to you if you could spare me a few minutes.”

  “I’m in the middle of getting dinner ready.”

  He raised an eyebrow. “At this time? It’s not even four.”

  “In case you don’t remember, I have two young children. They need to eat early.” She hated sounding so defensive. It was none of his damn business what time she ate.

  Just then, the back door banged open and the girls came squealing into the hallway and slid to a halt when they saw a strange man in their house.

  “Hello.”

  Cody sidled up to him, while Mia stayed by Megan’s side.

  “Hello, cutie. What’s your name?”

  “Cody Esther Adams, and that’s my sister, Mia Elizabeth Adams. We’re twins.”

  “Really? I hadn’t noticed.”

  He was of course teasing, since the reverse was obviously true, as the girls were identical. Megan almost laughed at Cody’s surprise, which had made her momentarily speechless. Not an easy thing to achieve, as Megan knew well.

  “How come he’s here, Mommy?” Mia asked in a hushed voice

  Jordan crouched down to their level, as if being around kids was the most natural thing in the world. She’d bet her power bill it wasn’t. Look at his clothes – no marks on his crisp white shirt, and his dress jeans looked like he’d purchased them from a boutique very recently. They still had the creases in them, for goodness’ sake. The one thing about Jordan she’d noticed when she’d first met him was that the man certainly knew how to dress. But then, that’s what money did for you.

  “You girls might remember me from the Christmas lunch last year. I’m Jordan, and I live at Haven Resort.”

  “Ohhh, that’s a cool place, isn’t it? Mia and I want to go there, but Mommy says we can’t because it’s for rich people and we aren’t rich.”

  Unfortunately, Cody had found her voice, which came without a filter. Jordan looked like he was trying hard not to laugh and the last thing she needed right now was for her daughters to entertain him any further. He was looking way too comfortable in her house, another trait he had that annoyed her unreasonably.

  “Maybe you could take a look around one day with your mom. Just so you know what it’s like for yourself.”

  Oh boy, he was pushing it. But she’d had her share of handsome rich men and she wasn’t about to be used again. Now that she was thinking along those lines, her face warmed. She had been celibate for far too long if seeing a man like Jordan, and thinking of being used by him, made her ache in places she’d hoped would forget the feelings a hot-looking man evoked. Darn it, he needed to get out of her house.

  “Say goodbye, girls. Mr. Lambert has to go.”

  “You can stay for dinner if you like. It’s only chicken salad, but Mom makes it taste okay.”

  “Thanks for that, Cody, and for inviting Mr. Lambert to stay, but he really needs to go. Don’t you?” Meagan looked at him pointedly. Thankfully he got the message and moved to the door.

  “Of course. I wouldn’t dream of imposing, although I do love chicken salad and what I have to say really won’t take too long. Maybe I could come back tonight?”

  “I don’t think so. Girls, go and wash up for dinner.” Megan waited until they’d reluctantly left before she turned back to him. “If you’re trying to get me to work for you, I told you the last time that you asked that I already have a job that I’m more than happy doing.”

  “Things have changed.”

  “Not for me they haven’t.”

  “Okay, I get that working for Abby, a good friend and from what I know of her, a wonderful person, is going okay, but I need you.”

  “I find that hard to believe.”

  “It’s true. My last housekeeper wasn’t up to the job, and the resort was suffering. I had to get rid of her. As you can imagine, with no one running that side of things, it’s not going well and it’s only going to get worse. I can’t afford for that to happen, not with Haven being relatively new.”

  “I don’t want to sound rude.” Actually, she kind of did, because he brought that out of her when he wouldn’t back the hell off. “But that’s not really my problem, is it?”

  “No, it’s not, but what I’m prepared to offer you might make you change your mind and help us both out, if you’d just listen to me.”

  “I don’t want or need your help, and I don’t know how many ways I can say that I’m not interested.”

  He was certainly persistent, but she was determined not to give him any encouragement. Besides, the man took up too much room. He must have been working out a lot, because he looked a lot buffer than the last time she’d seen him. His thighs stretched the material of his jeans, and his chest pulled at the buttons on his shirt. He’d let his almost black hair grow longer than the crew cut he usually wore, and it suited him. Made him look more approachable. Made her far more interested than she’d ever let on.

  Megan bunched her fists. Frustrated by him, by herself, by the way he made her feel. There was simply no way she was going to let Jordan charm her. The twins’ father had been every bit as rich and as eloquent as Jordan, and she had learned her lesson the hard way.

  “Fair enough. I’ll leave you to your family, but I’m going to leave this proposal and I’d be grateful if you gave it a look through when you have a few minutes to spare.”

  He smiled disarmingly and held out an envelope, which Megan took automatically. Their fingers brushed and she snatched her hand away.

  “Good night,” she said firmly.

  “Good night, Megan.”

  The way he said her name made her blush again. Jordan left without a backward glance, and Megan felt like he’d tricked her. But how? She’d said no, after all, and he’d gone, hopefully for the last time. Except she had his paperwork in her hand.

  Dropping it on the kitchen table as if it burned her, she went back to preparing the meal. There was no way she was interested in working for him, whatever he had to offer.

  Jordan went down the path resisting the urge to laugh. Megan was a fiery little thing, and not the sort of woman who would normally catch his eye. If he hadn’t been looking for someone with her capabilities he would never have bothered getting to know her, and he guessed he still didn’t know her well to, but what he did know was fascinating.

  Not the whole si
ngle mother thing. That was a bit of a turn-off. Although those girls were a crack-up. Especially Cody. Both cute as a button and the spitting image of their mother, they were a lot less prickly too.

  When he’d turned up at the picnic last Christmas, the one she’d helped organize with Abby and their friends for anyone in Prossers Bay who didn’t have a place to be, with table and chairs for everyone, he’d noticed how loved the little family were by the people around them, and that included Megan. Small towns had a tendency to be a little high-minded about single moms, but the residents of Prossers Bay didn’t appear to give it much thought.

  Of course, he’d noticed Megan long before that. The first time he saw her in town he’d been struck by her casual beauty. She did nothing to enhance her natural good looks. Her untamed auburn hair fell to her shoulders, and her green eyes flashed with all her emotions.

  Her laugh was genuine, sarcasm her trademark. She was witty and kind, and totally devoted to her two girls. Everyone made favorable comments about how she’d worked hard to raise them by herself and what a valuable member of the community she was.

  He’d tamped down his attraction, or so he’d thought, and last year had sought her out and offered her a job cleaning for the resort. She’d flatly refused and he’d been impressed by her loyalty, even though he could tell she was struggling financially.

  Her car had seen better days, and her house was in desperate need of a makeover, and now that he’d been inside it he knew how right he’d been. He hoped like hell that the offer he’d just presented her with would be enough to change her mind.

  Not that he was doing this totally for Megan. He truly needed someone to handle the housekeeping side of the resort and free him up to get back to the marketing and general running of his business again. He hadn’t lied; things were getting progressively worse, and he couldn’t manage things any longer without someone like her.

  As he drove through the gates of the resort he couldn’t help thinking of other ways they could help each other out. Other ways that might not always involve work.

  Hopefully he’d not only be able to make it sound like an offer too good to refuse but wouldn’t sound like a bully with stalkerish tendencies, trying to get his own way. Megan made him feel things he hadn’t felt for some time, which made him a little nervous, and also very puzzled.

  A single mom with twins just didn’t fit into his single, and happy to be so, bachelor life.

  Chapter 2

  The girls were finally in bed, so Megan was able to take time to put her feet up. Homework was a tiring part of the day, with one girl flying through it, and the other treating it like a trip to the dentist. Mia and Cody would stick up for each other like terriers, but when they were trying to get her attention, it was every twin for herself. Mia’s ease when studying made it even harder for Cody, who often got frustrated, then annoyed, and would then do something destructive, like scribble on her work or worse, on Mia’s.

  The reverse happened in sport. Cody would egg Mia on to try something and, like the time Mia got stuck in a tree she hadn’t really wanted to climb, it always ended in tears.

  Megan had thought that once they started school her life would get a lot easier. Yeah, right. The bills hadn’t gotten any smaller. In fact, with school trips and uniforms, things had been tight for a while. As frugal as she’d been and working as many hours as she could, over the last five years her significant savings, intended for a trip of a lifetime, had been sucked into the never-ending void of bills.

  Megan sighed. She wouldn’t trade her gorgeous girls for anything, least of all a trip, but she would like to struggle less. To have a bit more fun that wasn’t centered on the girls. To think these things was bad enough, but to voice them occasionally to her friends made her feel like a terrible mother, no matter that they told her it was normal and that even couples had to endure the financial difficulty of the early years. The difference was that couples had each other.

  Annoyed at herself for being so negative, she flicked through the TV channels instead of dealing with those damn bills, and saw an advertisement for the resort. It looked amazing. Although she’d seen the brochures, and quite a few locals now worked there, she’d never bothered to see it for herself. It wasn’t as if she would fit into a place like that.

  Abby Forth, her boss and good friend, had become a friend of Jordan’s since he’d helped out at last year’s Christmas lunch. He’d supplied all the tables and chairs at no cost and had won the hearts of a lot of town folk, not to mention several of the women, single and married. Luckily, she was not a contender for his affections. Hell, she didn’t even like him.

  Thinking of him made her glance at the envelope on the table. Sticky fingerprints inevitably found their way onto every surface in the house, especially things that had been left to sit for a bit, and the envelope was no exception. She could see from here that one of her darlings had been tempted to open it, because the flap was bent and discolored with splashes of red, probably from the strawberries they’d had after dinner.

  Jordan would probably call her to talk about its contents, so she’d better at least take a quick look. At least then she could answer his questions when she told him ‘no’ yet again, and hopefully he’d leave her alone.

  She got up to make herself a cup of tea, then took her cup, collected the envelope, and sat down to open it. Luckily, she was sitting. She flicked through the pages several times and then went back to the first one. To the offer of employment. To the salary package. It couldn’t possibly be true. Jordan had to be joking. Nobody got this sort of money to manage a resort. Did they? If by some crazy about turn she signed the contract, she would finally be okay financially. More than okay.

  Grabbing her mobile phone from where she’d left it on the arm of the chair, she called Stephanie, who was the one person she knew who didn’t have kids to put to bed and who would give her straight-up advice. Stephanie was clever and worldly; she’d know what to do.

  Being the good friend that she was, and perhaps because she’d heard the panic in Megan’s voice, Stephanie was on Megan’s doorstep within fifteen minutes. Even in her baggy sweats she looked like a model. Her blonde hair tied up in that messy ponytail she favored, and wearing little makeup, the woman was a knockout, and was lusted after by the few single men in town.

  “What’s up, girlfriend? I couldn’t really get what you were mumbling on the phone. Are those gorgeous terrors of yours causing you grief again?”

  “No more than usual, but it’s not them that’s the problem.”

  “Sounds serious.”

  “It is. Do you remember me telling you that Jordan Lambert offered me a job last year?”

  “Do I? Man, you were incensed, and you certainly told him where to go.”

  “Ahem. Yes, it was sort of like that.”

  “You still don’t like him?”

  “Why do you ask?”

  “I just remembered how sharp you were with him last year when he came to help with tables and chairs for the Christmas lunch.”

  “Don’t exaggerate.” Megan blushed a little as she remembered the cold shoulder routine that she practiced on most of the rich men she encountered when she was cleaning Prossers Bay’s elite homes. Jordan had been no exception, and to be fair, had probably deserved it the least.

  Stephanie made a noise of disbelief. “So, what’s he done now?”

  “He’s offered me a job.”

  “Wow! He must want you. He’s certainly persistent.”

  Megan ignored the suggestive wink Stephanie gave her.

  “It’s a better job than the one he already offered. He wants me to take on the whole housekeeping job. With a bundle of money to boot.”

  “What?”

  Megan thrust the paperwork into her friend’s hand. “Here, read this.”

  Stephanie took her time at first, then she was flicking backwards and forwards like she couldn’t believe what she was seeing. Much like Megan had done earlier.

  “Hel
l’s teeth, Megan. You can’t turn this down.”

  “Actually, I can. The question is, should I?”

  “Are you kidding me? The medical plan alone must be worth it. But, man, that salary would make your life a breeze compared to how it is right now.”

  “I know it would. But what about the fact that I don’t want to work for him? And what about Abby? She gave me that job when I was desperate. She lets me work hours around the girls. She’s my friend.”

  “Our friend. And you must know that Abby wouldn’t stand in your way. When I told her about his first offer, she thought you should take it.”

  Megan was astonished. “You told her?”

  Stephanie looked guilty for a split second. “Sorry, yes I did, but it was after you told me you weren’t interested. It was when Abby was still depressed, before Liam’s surprising arrival. I wanted to make her feel better, and to know how we felt about her. That her life was good without children. That she had friends who were there for her.”

  Megan’s eyes filled at the memory of Abby’s years of suffering. “I understand why you did it, but that makes it even harder. She deserves my loyalty. I couldn’t let her down.”

  “You’re crazy. She’d be happy for you. Abby’s been all about family since she and Max decided to adopt Liam. She loves you, and she appreciates how hard it is for you financially to manage on your own. We all do.”

  “I’m sure that’s true, but it wouldn’t feel right.”

  “Do you want this job? Yes or no?”

  Megan had never been able to lie to Stephanie, not even when they were kids at school and she’d wanted to pretend that her parents, who left her with her grandmother for months at a time while they pursued their philanthropic lives, cared about her.

  “The more I think about it, the more I think I do. Managing a team is definitely a step up, and it’s more like what I had planned for myself before I got pregnant. Then there’s the money.”