Maid for the Single Dad

by Susan Meier

  “Which means you know about her past?”

  Mac pulled an ice bucket from the cabinet. “Bits and pieces.”

  “Has she told you about Sam?”

  He headed for the refrigerator. “Some.”

  “But not everything?”

  “Not yet.”

  Liz shook her head. “She really is taking this slowly.”

  Mac caught her gaze. “We both are.”

  “Okay.”

  Dumping two handfuls of ice into the bucket, Mac chuckled. “I take it I just got your blessing.”

  “Not even close. I don’t know you. There’s so little written about you that I’m not sure anybody knows you.”

  “Ellie’s getting to know me.”

  “And that’s what counts.”

  He gave her points for speaking her mind and also for being accepting when she didn’t hear what she wanted to hear.

  “But the thing is Sam really hurt her. She virtually went into hiding for a year after she…she…left him.” Liz caught Mac’s gaze. “She’s too happy, too fun loving, too good with people to be afraid. If you hurt her, I will find you.”

  “I get it.” There was nothing she could do to him, but he understood the sentiment. He loved that Ellie had good friends, strong relationships. It was part of what he wanted with her—part of what he loved about her.

  He stopped halfway to the French door. Liz turned around and gave him a puzzled look. “What? Are we forgetting something?”

  He rubbed his hand across the back of his neck. “No.” He paused, dazed by the realization that he loved Ellie. He loved her.

  He couldn’t. Not that she wasn’t wonderful. But he knew better. People who fell in love too fast made mistakes. He wanted to take this slowly. Hell, he’d just told Liz they were both taking it slowly. He couldn’t love her.

  Not yet.

  He shook his head a bit to clear the haze then directed Liz toward the French door again. “I’m fine.”

  Ellie had known the minute she looked at Liz that she was pregnant. She knew it for certain when Liz turned down a glass of wine and asked for a cola with dinner. She hadn’t mentioned it in the hope that Liz and Cain would make an announcement. But when they didn’t, Ellie had a choice. Wait for Liz to tell her, or simply spill the beans.

  The news was too exciting to try to hold back, and she also had to worry that she’d inadvertently let it slip to Ava one day, so she had to out them. When Liz and Mac returned with the bucket of ice, Ellie poured another round of drinks, including a soft drink for Liz.

  As she passed the glasses around, she said, “I think I’d like to propose a toast.”

  Mac laughed. “Really?”

  “Yes, to Cain and Liz and their new baby.”

  Ellie smiled, watching Cain’s face fall comically, but Liz only shook her head. “Does anybody ever hide anything from you, Miss Magic?”

  Taking her glass of wine to her seat beside Mac, Ellie laughed, but she didn’t sit. Mac rose and so did Cain and Liz.

  “To your new baby.”

  “To our baby,” Liz and Cain agreed.

  “So this is your first child?” Mac asked as they all took their seats.

  “Actually, we were married before and had a miscarriage,” Liz said quietly.

  Before Ellie could come to his rescue, Mac said, “Oh, I’m sorry.”

  “It’s okay,” Liz said.

  “We had an odd first marriage,” Cain said, taking Liz’s hand. “My brother died three weeks after we eloped. And for three years after that I was difficult to live with.”

  “But that’s our past,” Liz said, smiling at Cain. “And we focus on the future now.”

  “Having a child is a good way to get yourself in the moment,” Mac said.

  Knowing a discussion of kids could potentially turn on Mac, and that the last thing he’d want to explain was his situation with his ex-wife and their children, Ellie quickly said, “So, did you ever get the boat you were looking at, Cain?”

  Cain launched into a discussion of a new sixty-footer he’d bought right after they returned from Paris, and Mac was more than happy to join in. They shifted from boats to fishing and from fishing to professional football and after an hour Liz yawned.

  Cain was on his feet immediately. “You’re ready for bed, aren’t you?”

  “I’m fine.”

  Understanding Cain’s concerns and feeling them herself because of Liz’s prior miscarriage, Ellie rose, too. “You’re sleepy!”

  As Cain pulled Liz to her feet, she yawned again. “I guess I am a bit tired.”

  “Then we’ll say good-night,” Cain said to both Ellie and Mac.

  Mac said, “We’ll walk you to your car.”

  They strolled up the yard, past the moonlight-dappled pool and to the driveway.

  At Cain’s car, Mac held out his hand to shake Cain’s. “It was nice having you here. Call my direct number on Monday and arrange a lunch with my secretary.”

  “Thanks, but you know we didn’t come here to finagle some business. We wanted to meet the guy who’s finally winning Ellie’s heart.”

  Liz slapped Cain’s upper arm. “Cain!”

  He winced. “Sorry. Was I not supposed to notice that they’re living together?”

  Liz groaned.

  Ellie laughed. “We’re not living together, living together. We just happen to live in the same house.”

  Cain raised his hands defensively. “Sorry. My bad.”

  The Nestors got into their Porsche. Liz waved goodbye. Cain tooted the horn once and drove out into the starry night.

  Ellie stood on the driveway, watching them leave. Before she had a chance to think too much about how seeing Liz reminded her that she was abandoning the life she loved, Mac turned her around, led her into the house and followed her up the steps. When they reached her bedroom door, he walked up behind her, put his arms around her waist and kissed her neck. “We could be living together, living together, if you wanted to.”

  His smooth lips tickled her neck, but his eagerness to get her into bed tickled her even more. Oh, she was so tempted.

  She turned in his arms and he kissed her. This time there was something different in his kiss. This time he didn’t start slow and build them to a place where the only thing that existed was each other. This time, his mouth met hers greedily, and, oh, she desperately wanted to simply fall into the kiss. Lose herself in him. Lose herself in the people they were becoming, the life they were creating.

  His hands roamed her back, down her bottom and up to her waist again. He seemed restless, hungry, as if only she could fill a void in his life and he was tired of waiting. She kissed him back, letting him know with her kiss that she felt the same way. But in the last second when she would have totally succumbed to the power of need, Mac pulled back.

  He stared into her eyes for several seconds then he took a long breath and set her away from him.

  “It’s still too soon.”

  She nodded reluctantly. “I think so.”

  With that she quickly slipped behind her bedroom door. She wanted this so much and so did he that she knew they could very easily make a mistake.

  It was better to wait.

  Though it got harder and harder to leave Ellie at her bedroom door, the following Monday night Mac counted his blessings as he walked to his suite. It was good to live such a free life. His kids were happy. He was happy. Ellie was happy. They were being cautious, smart. Everything was good.

  He wasn’t even as concerned about the release of his ex-wife’s picture as he had been. The plan was in place. He and the kids weren’t at the family compound in Atlanta. They weren’t exactly “hiding” but no one really knew where they were. Plus, he had discreet bodyguards and a state-of-the-art security system. He could give Ellie the reasonably normal life she wanted and have a reasonably normal life himself.

  That part was perfect.

  The only possible hitch was Pamela herself. Tonight she had her first intervi
ew scheduled to promote her movie on a late-night talk show. If she focused on her project, Mac, Ellie and the kids would breeze into the next phase of their lives. If she badmouthed him, gave the kids’ names or worse held up their pictures on national television, then there would be trouble.

  But he couldn’t see any reason she’d bring up the kids. She had a movie to promote. Plus, she was trying to get back on track as a Hollywood sex symbol. Kids shouldn’t even come up in her conversations.

  He entered his suite and slumped into one of the white leather chairs in front of the big-screen TV. He didn’t want to have to watch this. Phil had actually volunteered to view the show to see what Pamela would say, but Mac couldn’t leave this to Phil. Yes, Phil knew the whole story. But Mac knew Pamela. He could spot one of her lead-ins to trouble a mile away.

  He sat through fifteen minutes of monologue and a guest who’d wowed the world with a YouTube video and finally it came time for Pamela.

  The host introduced her and she popped from behind a curtain, making her entrance funny. Her long sandy-brown hair swayed around her short sparkly black dress. Mac settled into the chair with a sigh. Ellie ran rings around Pamela any day of the week. He wouldn’t deny that his ex-wife was beautiful, but even the way she mugged for the camera so clearly showed that deep down she was an actress, always working the room, always vying for everyone’s attention. If she’d ever loved him, it had been only for what he could do for her. He had been a fool for not seeing it.

  “So, you have a movie out?” the host said, leading Pam into the discussion that had gotten her onto the very popular show.

  “Yes.” Her face lit with excitement. “It’s a story of a woman who gets involved with a charming man who seems perfect for her. But he’s really a serial killer.”

  Pam again mugged for the camera. Mac rolled his eyes. Phil was right. He didn’t need to watch this.

  They talked for a few more minutes about the movie. Mac leaned an elbow on the arm of the white leather chair and propped up his head, enduring the inane chitchat.

  He was just about to turn off the TV and go to bed when the talk show host said, “I understand you’re divorced now.”

  Mac sat at attention as Pamela’s pretty blue eyes drooped with sadness.

  “Yes.”

  “Want to talk about that?”

  She pulled in a breath as if considering it, and Mac said a silent prayer that she’d say no. She was on the show to talk about her movie, but Mac knew there was another side to fame. Part of getting people to go to her movies was getting people to like her. He couldn’t see how she’d spin their divorce in her favor. The smart thing for her to do would be to simply avoid the topic. Or say something about being back on the market, looking for fun. She was, after all, supposed to be a sex symbol. She shouldn’t want to talk about her failure.

  He leaned forward, held his breath, said a prayer that she’d simply say no. Say no. I don’t want to talk about my divorce.

  “I loved my husband…”

  He slumped back in his chair. Yeah, right.

  “But sometimes things don’t work out.”

  “Hey, look who you’re talking to,” the host said, pointing at his chest. “Divorced three times.”

  Her face fell into sympathetic lines. “Then you know the drill.”

  “Honey, I invented the drill.”

  The audience laughed.

  Mac breathed a sigh of relief. This really was going okay.

  “But I had no kids,” the host said, “I understand there was an issue with yours.”

  Mac’s face fell. An issue? What the hell was that supposed to mean?

  Pam sat back, laid her hands demurely on her lap and looked for all the world like somebody who didn’t want to talk about it. But Mac was familiar with this pose. This was her bid for sympathy pose.

  Once again, he leaned forward and prepared himself for the worst.

  Pam sighed. “I don’t really like to talk about this.”

  Huh! He was right. She damn well better not want to talk about this. How could she spin giving up her own kids?

  “But I don’t have the kids.” She glanced down at her hands again.

  Mac stared at the screen. She was admitting she didn’t have the kids?

  “I was shocked when my husband took them from me.”

  What?

  Damn her!

  Memories of other lies, other deceit came tumbling back, suffocating him. Years of living with her selfishness, years of watching her ignore Lacy, years of feeling like a fool for falling for her so hard, so fast, years of regretting that he’d married her so quickly, all flashed in his head.

  He grabbed his cell phone from his jeans pocket, and almost pushed the number for Phil until he realized he had nothing to say. This wasn’t a security issue. This was a truth issue. He couldn’t do a damned thing about her lie beyond suing her for slander, which would accomplish nothing.

  “That is sad,” the host said, bringing Mac’s attention back to the TV.

  “Yes, but I don’t want to talk about it.”

  The host changed the subject and Mac sat back in his chair again, trying to calm himself down, trying to think logically.

  All right. So she’d lied. She’d lied before. To him. To his face. At least this time he understood. She’d lied to protect her reputation. It would be foolish to try to do anything about it. Hell, it would be stupid to even get upset. He couldn’t expect her to admit she’d walked out on her kids.

  He sucked in a breath. He couldn’t believe he hadn’t seen her for what she was before he married her, but he’d been overwhelmed by her beauty. Almost the way he was being overwhelmed by Ellie’s. He stopped his thoughts. There was no comparing Pam and Ellie. None. No way. No how. They were too different. But he wasn’t. He was the same guy. Prone to the same mistakes. No matter how slowly he thought he was going with Ellie, as Cain had said, they were living together. Already joining their lives. She’d given up the job she loved. He was letting her into his kids’ lives.

  What if he was making another mistake?

  On a growl, he stopped that train of thought too, turned off the TV and went to his room, focusing on Pam, her deceit. The fallout from this might be a few questions from his friends. His parents might want him to sue her for slander. But he could handle them. His kids were safe. Hell, he was safe. She hadn’t even used his name.

  Life could go on.

  And what a good life it might turn out to be.

  Ellie liked him. She trusted him.

  He trusted her.

  The next morning he woke late and raced around to get dressed. Because of a board meeting, he barely had time for a cup of coffee, but when he walked into the kitchen and saw Ellie at the table sitting beside Lacy and feeding Henry, his heart turned over in his chest.

  It seemed as if his entire world had righted itself the night before. His ex-wife, though she’d lied, hadn’t done the damage she could have done. And the woman he was coming to adore was in his kitchen, smiling at him.

  “Good morning.”

  Her voice was soft, sexy, and everything inside of Mac responded. He never thought he’d see the day when he’d really be free. It wasn’t so much the worry of Pam and what she might do, but his own internal fears that had kept him trapped, but Ellie had opened the doors of his heart. She made him feel young, rational, handsome and worthy of love. After the number Pamela had done on him, he almost couldn’t believe it.

  He walked over to the table and bent down and kissed her. On the mouth, in front of the kids. Lacy giggled. But Mac’s heart rate tripled, his pulse scrambled and everything inside him turned to gold.

  When he pulled away, Ellie smiled up at him. “Now, that’s a good morning.”

  Lacy laughed in earnest. “Daddy’s Ellie’s prince.”

  He held her gaze. He hoped he was her prince. Though she liked him and he liked her, there was so much they hadn’t talked about. So much to get to know about each other.

&
nbsp; But instead of being afraid, he was excited. Getting to know her would be wonderful.

  He pulled away at the same time that his cell phone rang and the roar of cars bounding up his driveway filled the kitchen. He glanced at Ellie, whose eyes had gone round with confusion.

  He grabbed his cell phone, saw it was Phil. “What’s up?”

  “Is everyone in the house?”

  “We’re all in the kitchen.”

  “Stay there. We’re coming in.”

  “What’s going on?”

  “Just stay there. I’m two steps away from the garage.”

  Phil burst into the butler’s pantry and was in the kitchen in seconds. He adjusted a microphone at his mouth. “All clear in the kitchen.”

  “Did we have a threat?”

  Phil held up a hand as he apparently listened to someone speaking through the headset.

  Lacy grabbed Mac’s leg. Henry began to cry. Ellie jumped up and lifted him from the highchair.

  Phil blew his breath out on a sigh. “I got the all clear from the guys outside, but you’re all going to have to come outside while they search the rest of the house. Then I’m afraid you’re going to have to leave.”

  Mac’s face turned to stone. “Leave?”

  “You got an e-mail threat this morning.”

  “What kind of threat?”

  Phil glanced at Ellie and the kids just as one of Phil’s top guys, Tom Zunich, stepped into the kitchen. “How about if we talk after Tom takes Ellie and the kids outside to one of our vans?”

  Mac turned to Ellie. He knew Phil wouldn’t ask him to leave the house if the threat to his life wasn’t viable. He was keeping fury and terror at bay by only the barest thread. He needed to talk to Phil to sort this out and Phil was right: he didn’t want Ellie and the kids to hear.

  “Can you go with Tom?”

  She didn’t even hesitate. Holding his gaze, letting him know that the words of trust she’d spoken still held, she said, “Sure.” She tugged Lacy’s hand off Mac’s leg. “Come on, sweetie.”

  Phil and Mac followed Tom and Ellie out of the house. But Tom led Ellie and the kids to a van, while Phil and Mac walked toward the grass.