by Robin Kaye
“What is it? Don’t you like fried chicken?”
Cam smiled at Janie before returning his gaze to Erin. “It’s our favorite. You made it?”
Erin wasn’t sure why he asked. “Where do you think it came from?”
“The grocery store, or KFC.”
“No, sorry to disappoint, but it’s homemade. I used my grandma Jean’s recipe. I never met her, but I have all her recipes and I went home to get her fryer too.” She motioned to the deep cast iron skillet on the stove. “You didn’t have one, and that’s the secret to perfect fried chicken, or so I’m told.”
Cam stood there next to her chair, as if he were waiting for something.
“What is it?”
He just took her hand and helped her into her chair.
“Oh, thanks.” She felt like a stupid debutante. Her cheeks flamed.
Janie climbed onto her seat and grabbed a leg while Cam spooned potato salad and green beans with ham onto her plate, passing the food to Erin before sitting down.
For some reason, she felt suddenly nervous. As if this dinner were some sort of test. She filled her plate, passed the serving bowls back to Cam, and watched him put more food on his plate than she thought it could hold.
He took a bite of a chicken thigh and groaned. Her mouth went dry, her cheeks felt flushed, and she took a big gulp of ice water. The last time she’d heard that sound, they’d been making love.
“This is amazing.” He scooped up a pile of potato salad and shoveled it in with another groan of appreciation.
A phone rang.
Cam pulled his cell off his belt, looked at the caller ID, and swallowed. “I’m sorry, but I have to take this.” He was out of his seat and heading down the hall on his way to the office. “Cam O’Leary.”
Janie put away three chicken legs and even ate her green beans without prodding. “Erin, this is the best meal ever. Could you make it for me on my birthday?”
Erin wasn’t going to be there for Janie’s birthday. “Sure, maybe you and your dad could come over to my apartment and have dinner. I’ll even make a cake.”
“Why do you want to go to your apartment?”
“Because that’s where I’ll be, sweetie. I’m only going to work here for another couple of weeks until Mrs. Truman comes back to take over, remember?”
“You’re not going to stay with us?”
“No, Mrs. Truman will return and I’ll have to move back into my apartment. You know that. I need to get back and start looking for a job in my field. That’s why I’m working so hard to get my thesis done.”
“I knew Mrs. Truman would be coming back, and I knew you were going to look for a job, but I didn’t think you were going to leave us. I don’t want you to leave.”
Erin didn’t want to leave either, but she wouldn’t say it. “Janie, I’m not going very far away, and we’ll still be . . . friends.” God, that sounded so lame, even to her ears. “You can call me whenever you want.”
“But you won’t tuck me into bed every night, and you won’t be here in the morning.” Big tears filled Janie’s eyes and leaked down her sweet little cheeks.
“No, sweetie, I won’t.” She would not cry. “Janie, it’ll be different, but—”
“You’ll be gone.” Janie slid off her seat and ran down the hall.
Erin wanted to go to her, but what could she say? Everything Janie said was the truth—Erin was going to be gone, and Janie and Cam would become part of her past. Maybe they’d talk a few times, meet for dinner, but it wouldn’t be the same. Mrs. Truman would come back in two weeks and Erin would be nothing more to them than a pleasant memory for Janie. For Cam, she wasn’t sure what she’d be. And for the first time in her life she wanted something she had no chance of obtaining. She wanted Janie and Cam. She wanted a family. God help her, she’d gone and fallen in love with them both.
***
Cam hung up the phone and rested his head on the high back of the leather chair at the desk that used to be his. It was cluttered with Erin’s work and Janie’s scribbles. There was a book on bees, one of the Magic School Bus books, and a Junie B. Jones paperback that looked like it had been read a thousand times. The room even smelled like Erin. What the hell was he going to do now? He stood, feeling twice his age, and headed back to the kitchen.
Erin looked like she was on the verge of tears.
“I’m sorry I ruined dinner. Mrs. Truman called and I had to talk to her.”
“Cam, Janie’s upset and I’m not sure how to handle it. She asked if I would make fried chicken for her birthday and I told her I wouldn’t be here and that Mrs. Truman would be back in a few weeks.”
“Yeah, about that.” He turned the chair around and sat with the back between his legs, his arms resting on the top. “Mrs. Truman’s mother fell and broke her hip.”
“Is she going to be alright?”
“I think so, but Mrs. Truman has decided to stay down there permanently to take care of her mom.” He shrugged. “I know it’s a lot to ask, but I need to find another nanny and I was hoping you’d help.”
“You want me to help you hire a nanny?” She looked at him as if he’d asked her to hire a hit man.
“I know you only have a couple more weeks here, so I was thinking if we could find someone to replace Mrs. Truman, you could work with her the last week, get her used to the routine, and ease Janie into the change. I’d do it myself, but I’m on call for the next few days and you know what that’s like.”
Erin still had a weird look on her face, but he had no idea what that particular look meant. He’d never seen it before.
“Oh, okay. If you tell me what agency you got Mrs. Truman from, I’d be happy to make the call, go through their resumes, and check references. I can even set up interview appointments.”
He nodded, proud of himself that he hadn’t begged her to stay. It wouldn’t have been fair to her. And hell, he wanted to date her, not employ her.
“What are we going to tell Janie?”
“The truth.” He took one last look at his plate. “I’ll go up and talk to her.” He stood and Erin did too. “She’ll be fine. I’ll call you if I need backup. And I’m really sorry about ruining dinner.”
“Are you sure you don’t want me to come with you?”
Yeah, he was sure. “Just leave everything and I’ll take care of the dishes later. I’m planning on eating this just as soon as I get Janie calmed down. She’s had a big day—she’s overtired. I’ll give her a bath, we’ll talk, and she’ll be fine.”
“I’ll put the food away while you’re up with Janie, but I’ll leave your plate.”
He knew Erin and that tilt of her chin well enough to know nothing he could say would change her stubborn mind. “Okay.” He leaned over to give her a kiss before he realized what he was doing.
Erin’s eyes widened and her lips parted.
Then it hit him that he had no business kissing her and he pulled back. “Thanks for dinner. What I tasted was incredible.”
He didn’t know if the look she wore was disappointment or relief. Maybe a mix of both. Unfortunately, he didn’t have much time to think about it. He had a little girl waiting for him upstairs, and he had to somehow explain to her that her daddy didn’t want Erin for a nanny; he wanted Erin for a girlfriend. Erin couldn’t be both.
***
Erin scheduled a full day of interviews and had even called Cam’s dad and made sure he could take Janie for the day. Frustration bubbled beneath her breastbone. With every interview, that frustration turned into anger. She showed the ninth interviewee—the fifth and last of the day—to the door, thanked her for coming, and stomped back to the office to confront Cam. “Well?”
Cam looked from the desk chair he filled and shook his head. “No.”
“No?” She placed her hands on her hips to keep from strangling him. “
That’s all I’m going to get?”
He rolled a pencil between each digit of his hand, over one finger, under the next. It was driving her nuts. “No doesn’t cover it? What is it you want?”
She wanted to smack him upside the head and tell him to snap out of whatever funk he was in. “I want you to make a decision. We’ve interviewed nine perfectly good applicants, seven of which I’d hire on the spot. Two of those even have medical experience, not that I think Janie needs it, but they’re available if you want it. There was nothing wrong with any of those women.” Except for the two who looked at Cam like they wanted to eat him for dessert; she’d taken them right off the list. She wanted someone more interested in Janie than in Cam. “What do you want?”
Cam looked her up and down. After the last day of interviews, Erin put a little more thought into her outfit. She’d never make the mistake of interviewing possible nannies wearing a sweatshirt and yoga pants again. She’d pulled on a soft black wool V-neck sweater dress—professional, comfortable, and just tight enough to be sexy.
Cam’s gaze traveled from her new heels to her cleavage and locked in for what seemed like a very long minute before looking her in the eye. “I’ll know it when I see it; I haven’t seen it yet.”
“No?” She tamped down the feelings his once-over always invoked in her. Instead she focused on the anger boiling over the surface of the latent sexual excitement that always simmered whenever she was in the vicinity of Cameron O’Leary. The last two and a half weeks had been a real test of her intestinal fortitude. Damn him. Only Cam could make her horny and angry at the same time.
She turned to pace the small room. “No is all you have to say?” She hit the wall and headed back to him, stopping just a hairsbreadth away from being threatening. It helped that he was seated. “Well, thanks, that explains so much.” She crossed her arms and tapped the toe of her pump. “Has it occurred to you that I’m only contracted to work another five days? I’m supposed to be training whoever you hire, remember?”
Cam stood, took a step forward, popping her personal space bubble, and looked down his nose at her. “Don’t talk to me like I’m an idiot.”
He’d just crossed the line. She stepped forward, rose to her toes, and got in his face. “If you don’t want to be talked to like an idiot”—she poked his chest with every word—“stop acting like one!” She shoved him hard. The brute didn’t even sway. “I have done everything you’ve asked of me. I vetted thirty resumes, checked every one of their references, set up nine interviews, and all you can say is no. No reasonable explanation, no nothing. You won’t even tell me what the hell it is you think you want.”
“I know what I want and they’re not it.” The vein in his temple throbbed and heat radiated off him like a freakin’ furnace.
“If you know what you want, why don’t you tell me and then we can go from there.”
“Fine, I want you, dammit. I want you.”
She landed on her heels, took a step back, and tried to get her balance—both physical and mental. “Oh right, like I believe that.”
“It’s the truth.”
“That’s why your first reaction to the news that Mrs. Truman wasn’t coming back was to ask for my help in hiring my replacement. You never offered me the job—not that I’d take it, but still, you never even asked.”
“I—”
She poked him again. “If you think you can make me stay because you refuse to hire eminently qualified candidates, you’ve got another thing coming. When my contract is up, I’ll be out of here so fast, I’ll leave skid marks.”
Cam grabbed her poking hand in his big paw, caught the other as it neared his chest to take over poking duties, and brought both of them behind her back, which only tugged her body flush against his.
“What are you doing?”
Cam nearly groaned when Erin’s body met his. “My chest can only take so many direct hits. It hurts.”
“Good.” She squirmed in his arms, making it difficult to think of anything other than the way she fit against him. How soft and small she was, how she looked when he made love to her—not unlike the way she looked right now, all flushed and trembling and royally pissed.
“I’m glad you never considered me for the position. I’d never make the cut. Neither would Mary Fuckin’ Poppins.”
He did his best not to laugh or give her the room to knee him. She looked like she was good and rightly pissed, and he knew what happened when you pushed an Irish woman past a certain point. He wanted to retain his ability to father children—her children. “You’re right. None of those women would ever think of rearranging my closet, my medicine cabinet, and even my underwear drawer.”
“It was an improvement.”
“They wouldn’t leave knitting needles and yarn in every seat in the house. I’ve learned to check for sharp objects every time I sit down. They wouldn’t have the audacity to take over not only my desk, but my office too. And it would never occur to them to change the kitchen to make it theirs. With them, I’d never have to spend fifteen minutes looking for a beer mug.”
“They’re in the freezer where they belong.”
“I know that now.”
“And do you have a problem with ice-cold beer?”
“Erin, the difference is, those people we interviewed would see boundaries, but not you. You walked into my house and in less than a week you took over, rearranged everything, and rocked Janie’s and my entire world. If there was a boundary, you knocked it down and smashed the pieces.”
“But—”
“No, Erin.” He squeezed her harder, afraid if he slackened his grip, she’d run. “You would make a terrible nanny.”
“I thought—” God, her eyes filled with unshed tears that, from the look of it, would be dripping sooner rather than later. Shit. He didn’t mean to make her cry. This wasn’t anything like he had planned.
“Erin.” He slid a hand behind her neck and tipped her chin up so she had to look him in the eye. “You couldn’t help it. You see nothing but love and life and color and possibilities. You gave all that to Janie and me. But nannies understand boundaries—they’re not supposed to make their charges and employers love them.”
Damn, the floodgates were breached.
“Kids are supposed to like the nanny, sure, respect her, of course, but not love her. Not the way Janie loves you.”
“I didn’t mean—” She sniffled and it just about killed him.
“I know.” He wiped away her tears with his thumbs and pressed his forehead to hers. “Erin, I don’t want you to stay on as a nanny or a nurse. I want you to stay because I love you.” He kissed her then; he couldn’t stop himself. It was just a soft touch of his lips on hers and she melted against him.
“Love?” She slid her hands to his shoulders. “Am I hearing things?”
“No, your hearing is fine. Erin, I want you to stay because you love Janie and me. I want you to stay because you want to marry us, build a life with us, and be a family.”
She pushed against him, but he wasn’t letting her go. Not ever again. “Marriage? But we’ve only known each other three weeks.”
“I know. Is there a minimum wait time before two people are allowed to marry?”
“I don’t know.”
“Erin, I wanted to do this the right way. I was going to hire a nanny, and just as soon as you weren’t on the payroll, I was going to ask you out—beg if I had to. I was going to take you out on dates, buy you flowers, romance you—check all the dating boxes. But after interviewing those nannies, I knew hiring anyone would be a mistake. They’re not you. Erin, you’ve gone and spoiled everything. You made our house a home. You made us a family. I don’t want to lose that, not even temporarily. I don’t think Janie and I could let you go.”
“But—”
“If you want, we can have a long engagement. That’s fine, but I hope
to God you don’t mind living in sin, because I haven’t gotten a decent night’s sleep since you kicked me out of your bed.”
Her eyes widened and she sucked in a breath. Like the thought of him wanting her came as a shock. He’d finally spilled his guts and said everything he’d been holding back. He went through the list in his head and he didn’t think he’d left anything out. He hoped he hadn’t. He waited, and God help him, he felt sick. The clock on the desk ticked, the furnace clicked on, and his stomach rumbled with nervousness. “Erin? Aren’t you going to say anything?”
“Now you’ve decided to let me speak?”
His face flamed, and if he didn’t know better, he’d swear his eyebrows were toast. “The first time I saw you, I knew you were trouble.”
“Then why did you hire me?”
“I guess I hired you because I like playing with fire. I couldn’t resist you.”
“I’m not very good at resisting you either. And you’re right, I’d make a terrible nanny.”
“But you’d make a great wife and mom.”
“Cam, I do love you and Janie.”
Relief swept through him—she loved him. She loved Janie. He’d known it, but without confirmation, the question mark in his mind kept blinking. “So, is that a yes? Will you marry us?”
“Yes.” She rose onto her tiptoes, wrapping her arms around his neck to bring them nose to nose as a ghost of a smile slid over her face, and then she kissed him as if she’d never initiated a kiss before. Her lips hovered over his, hesitant, whisper soft, and barely touching. It was a tease of a kiss and it took all his strength not to take control. She nibbled on his lower lip and her tongue peeked out and traced the seam before she pressed harder, begging entrance to explore his mouth. Her fingers dug into his shoulders, her bare thigh slid along the outside of his jean-clad leg, and he grasped her waist and lifted her slightly, her dress riding up until he felt the warmth of her against his fly. She groaned and broke the kiss. “Yes, yes, yes, I’ll marry you.”
His heart pounded in time with hers, his hand slipping beneath her skirt, cupping her bottom and finding it bare. She’d been prancing in front of him, teasing him in that sexy dress all day without underwear? God, that was hot. “Where are your panties?”
