by Zoe York
“Which is this town.” Violet moved from the desk to pace in front of the window.
“Righto. However, convictions don’t keep you warm at night.”
“We won’t need warmth at night if we keep destroying the planet. Global climate change will keep us darn warm at night.”
“Yes dear, all true. But love is our only chance of saving the planet.”
“All due respect, Nora, love has nothing to do with protecting our environment. Large, greedy countries of the world need to stop emitting dangerous fossil fuels into the environment.” Violet glanced over at her son happily grinning back at Elmo. Her precious boy. What kind of world would they leave him?
“Your parents convictions made them unyielding and without compassion. They hurt you. Perhaps your own convictions are just as damaging. Don’t be so sure of your beliefs that they blind you to something wonderful.” Another silence. “Now, enough of the lecture. Let’s get back to what Kyle needs.”
She’d almost forgotten the whole reason for her call. How did she explain? Maybe she shouldn’t. Perhaps the old busybody deserves to be in the dark, given the juiciness of this gossip. Not nice. Nora means well. Don’t be mean. “Kyle has unexpectedly become a father.” She explained about the mother’s death and subsequent arrival of baby Mollie Blue.
“I’ll be,” Nora said.
“He’s asked me to become her nanny for a year, which as you know, comes at a good time given my personal circumstance.”
“It does appear to be perfect timing. Almost meant to be.” Already Nora had recovered sufficiently to return to her previous theme of Kyle and Violet sitting in a tree.
Violet suppressed a sigh but went ahead with another giant eye roll. “After only one night with a week-old baby, he’s decided he needs a night nurse.”
“It makes perfect sense. He can’t possibly work without decent sleep.”
I did it.
Out loud, Violet murmured a polite agreement.
“As luck would have it, I might have the perfect candidate. Melissa Tipton is her name. She just moved to town from the city after working for a family there. Shall I send her over this evening for an interview?”
Without a doubt, Nora had the perfect candidate. Everything was just meant to be and fell right into place in the world according to Nora. It must be nice.
“That would be great,” Violet said.
That evening, Violet and Kyle ushered Melissa Tipton into the living room of the suite. Since arriving home promptly at 5 p.m., Kyle hadn’t abandoned the baby other than to gobble a quick dinner. If her mother were here, which thankfully she wasn’t, she would have told Kyle that he was spoiling the baby. Mollie would expect to be held all the time if he didn’t set her down for one blessed minute. Violet disagreed. A baby this young couldn’t be spoiled. If anything, bonding with her father was just what she needed.
There was a further problem. Violet was falling in love with baby Mollie too. She must remember that she was the nanny, not the mother. Given the jealous way Dakota was acting, this fact seemed to be eluding them both. When Honor had called to offer to pick him up for dinner with her family, Violet gratefully accepted. He’d been clingy and whiney, neither of which were like him. Honor’s arrival cheered him considerably. He took her hand and followed her out the door without a backward glance at his mother. Typical.
Now, as they gathered in the sitting area for the interview, Violet took a moment to observe Miss Tipton without drawing attention to herself, since the candidate seemed fixated on Kyle the moment she walked in the door. Melissa Tipton couldn’t be over twenty-five but was probably closer to twenty. She had a sleek mane of black hair and exotic, almond shaped eyes that reminded Violet of a Siamese cat. Her interview outfit was a slim, fitted peach suit and four-inch black pumps that showed both her curvy body and shapely legs to utter perfection. Her full lips and wide mouth combined with high cheekbones bordered on the ridiculous. Who looked like this outside of Hollywood?
Violet hated her immediately.
As she leaned closer to peer at the baby in Kyle’s arms, a velvety, almost lyrical sound rose from Melissa Tipton’s ample and almost certainly cosmetically enhanced chest. “She’s adorable. May I hold her?”
Kyle, without taking his eyes from the small-waisted Miss Tipton, handed the baby over like a man in a trance.
“What a doll,” Melissa said. “Has there ever been a prettier baby?”
Kyle beamed. “Thank you, Melissa. I couldn’t agree more.”
“Call me Mel. All my friends do.”
“Thanks, Mel. Will do.” Kyle grinned. There he was. Wolfish Kyle. All thoughts of his baby forgotten the moment a sexy girl walked in the door.
“I’ll take her back now, if you don’t mind,” Kyle said.
“Must I?” Melissa asked.
“You’ll have plenty of time with her later if we agree on employment,” Violet said drily.
“Yes, I suppose so,” Melissa said as she placed Mollie back in Kyle’s arms.
Mollie stiffened for a second but then settled back to sleep.
Violet slid back into her manager skin. Her business may have failed, but she knew how to interview and hire staff. “Melissa, your resume indicates you’ve been with two families as a night nurse.”
“Please, call me Mel. Melissa reminds me of the nuns.” She looked over at Kyle and smiled. “I went to Catholic school and suffer from PTSD.”
Kyle raised an eyebrow and grimaced. “I’m sure.” God, was he this much of a sucker for a pretty woman? I wish he thought I was pretty. Her stomach turned over the moment that thought slipped into her mind. I can’t stand this man, remember. I don’t care if he thinks I’m the most beautiful woman in the world. What’s it to me? This is a job. Nothing more, nothing less.
Get your head in the game.
“Mel, what do you like about this kind of work?” Violet asked.
Melissa smiled and tucked her chin in an expression of reticence and self-effacement. She purred her answer in a tone worthy of a heroine in a classic film from the forties. “My story’s simple, like me. I’m new to town. I’m an artist in need of a day job. Or, night, as the case may be.” She smiled. The tips of her canine teeth were a smidge too sharp. “And, I’m craving time with a baby.” She clutched her chest as she emphasized the word craving, like it was life-giving. “I adore newborns. Until I have my own children, this is the best work ever.”
“Super cool,” Kyle said. “The world needs more people like you.”
If she were in a cartoon, Violet would have done one of those abrupt double takes. What had baby Mollie done to Kyle Hicks? The world needs more people like you? Was he really taken in by this Mel’s act? Violet was not. She could see right through Mel, formerly known as Melissa. This woman was a fake, like a mean girl in high school with her shiny hair and gleaming eyes. She was the kind that acted nice around parents, but the moment they left the room, her panther claws whipped from her paws and slashed anything in her path.
Why had Nora sent this woman? It wasn’t like her not to see through to the essence of a person. That said, Nora had Kyle pegged wrong too. This whole town had lost its bearings and any sense of heritage.
Kyle and Mel continued chatting. She told him of her travels to Europe and how she truly got in touch with her inner soul on the shores of Lake Como. All that clear air and pasta and wine had acted like a crystal ball. “I suddenly knew what to do. I needed to live in a beautiful place—my muse, if you will.”
If you will?
Mel continued. “In art school, I’d lost part of myself because of the competition. Who had more talent? Who had the drive to carry one forward to the next level? These things ate away at me until I was an empty shell going through the motions. When I left my environment, it was as if everything were suddenly clear.” Mel tossed her hair behind one shoulder and crossed her legs. “Now I know that to really connect with my art and the universe, I need to be in a quiet place.” Mel was obvio
usly the type of woman who enjoyed a man’s attention. The type who focused only on the men in the room. She instinctually knew how to play to a man’s weakness and how to exploit it.
Violet slid her gaze to Kyle. He was nodding like a fool, obviously taken with her. I give it two weeks and he’ll be sleeping with her. Disgusted, she turned away and examined her nails. Why had she committed to a year with this ridiculous man?
Because you’re a loser.
She pushed aside her father’s voice and focused on the conversation at hand, asking several questions about Mel’s ideas and experience with newborns. Despite looking like a debutante, she appeared to have a good sense about feedings, swaddling, and strategies for sleep training.
“The ultimate goal is for her to sleep through the night sooner rather than later, correct?” Violet asked.
“As much as it will pain me to leave her, yes.” Mel flashed a dazzling smile.
“When can you start?” Kyle asked.
“Tonight, if you need me,” Mel said. “I’m renting a room from an elderly lady just up the street from here. I can come at ten each evening and stay through until the morning, if that works for you guys.” For the first time, Mel’s gaze turned to Violet. “Look at the two of you. Wow, such a beautiful couple. Violet, you look amazing for just having a baby. Did you do the Kardashian cleanse?”
“What? No, we’re not…I’m not Mollie’s mother,” Violet said.
Kyle, to her irritation, had the gall to look amused. “We’re not together. She’s my day nanny.”
“Oh, my bad. I assumed you were married,” Mel said.
Had she just sat up straighter and stuck her chest out another inch?
“Didn’t Nora tell you about Mr. Hicks’ situation?” Violet asked.
“Not really. She said you were a couple in need of a night nurse,” Mel said.
Damn Nora and her meddling ways. Violet shifted in the chair. Why was it so hot in here? She played with the collar of her blouse to cool her overheated skin.
“I’m a single father,” Kyle said.
His voice hitched, but he offered no further explanation. How was he supposed to explain it? I had a one-night stand with a vulnerable young woman and she died. A sliver of sympathy inched its way into Violet’s consciousness. He was trying to do the right thing. Given the circumstances, he deserved a little grace, even though she hated to admit it.
“I’m sorry to have presumed,” Mel said.
“We’re friends,” Kyle said. “Violet’s doing me a favor.”
“I have a little boy,” Violet said. “Like you, I needed a job, so it’s not really a favor.”
Kyle smiled at her, his eyes like dark blue silk, and for a split second they were on the same team—the two of them in it together.
“How old is your little guy?” Mel asked.
“Dakota’s three,” Violet said.
“And you’re all living here together?” Mel asked.
“For now. Until I find a house,” Kyle said. “I’m a real estate developer, so it shouldn’t take long. I have a piece of property I’m going to build on, but for now I need a rental. Something big enough for all of us.” Kyle went on to explain that the crib would remain in the living room and that Violet and Dakota were in one room while he was in the other.
“Baby Mollie’s arrival was a surprise, then?” The way Mel’s eyes calculated and evaluated everything at once sent a shiver down Violet’s spine. She could almost hear Mel’s mind working. Rich, gorgeous single father available for the catch.
“You could say that, yes,” Kyle said. Again, he didn’t elaborate.
“May I ask about her mother?” Mel leaned forward slightly and widened her eyes as if so very sensitive and compassionate.
I can’t stand her.
“She passed away. So, it’s just Mollie and me.” Kyle cleared his throat.
“How tragic,” Mel said. “I’m sorry for your loss.”
“Yes, it is.” Kyle’s tone and expression converted to an unemotional professionalism. “Let’s talk details. I’ll offer you the going rate for night nannies and will expect you every night of the week from ten p.m. until six a.m. We’ll only need you until Mollie begins to sleep through the night.”
“Excellent,” Mel said.
“Now, I’ll let you go home and do whatever you need to do. We’ll see you around ten tonight.” Kyle stood, still holding Mollie, who slumbered in obvious contentment. She was a good baby, despite last night’s frequent feedings. If Violet guessed correctly, she would sleep through the night in just a few months. Keep eating, baby girl, so we can get rid of Mel.
Kyle looked down at the sleeping baby in his arms, then back up at Mel. “When you arrive tonight, I’ll have a keycard waiting at the front desk. If you ladies will excuse me, I have some business to take care of.” Kyle left the room with Mollie.
Violet stuffed her hands in the pockets of her jeans.
“I shouldn’t have asked about his wife,” Mel said. “But I like to understand the dynamics in a family. I have a holistic approach, if you will.”
Again, with the if you will.
“I think he took it as merely curious,” Violet said.
“I can see that now. It was insensitive of me. The poor man just lost his wife.”
“She wasn’t his wife.”
“Girlfriend then?”
“Something like that. Anyway, your job is to take care of Mollie, not worry about her father.” Even to her own ears she sounded like a scolding school teacher with her naughty pupil. Or a jealous girlfriend. She couldn’t decide which was worse.
“Oh, I see.” Mel elongated the vowels. “You poor thing. We’ve all been there.”
“Excuse me?”
“How you feel about him. But he’s put you in the friend zone even though you’re the one who would do anything for him, even help raise the child he had with someone else.”
“That’s not it at all.”
“Please, you don’t have to pretend with me. I can assure you I’m no threat.” There they were—claws fully extended while her voice dripped with honey.
“You’ve quite the imagination, but you have this wrong,” Violet said. “Kyle and I are barely friends. We’re certainly not involved.”
Mel did the wide-eyed thing again and held out her hands in a sign of submission. “I’m sorry. Again, I’ve misinterpreted.”
“Don’t make a habit of it. I can assure you, I’m the one Kyle will listen to when it comes to his baby. You answer to me as much as you do him. This is a business arrangement. You’re not family or even a friend and I expect you to remember that.” Violet turned toward the door. “I’ll walk you out.”
“No need. I’m quite capable of figuring out how to get where I’m going.”
I bet you can.
A few minutes later, Violet knocked on Kyle’s bedroom. “Do you need anything?”
The door opened. Kyle appeared without Mollie in his arms. He’d changed from his work clothes into a pair of faded jeans and a t-shirt. His tousled hair and bare feet reminded her of an afternoon last August when they’d all hung out at Brody’s pool. She’d stayed as far away from him as possible that day. Now she was close enough to smell his cologne. The heady scent of Kyle.
Behind him, Mollie was in the middle of the bed, swaddled in her pink blanket.
“She woke up, so I changed her,” he said. “It’s time for her evening bottle, right?”
She glanced at the clock. It was just after seven. “Yes, perfect timing. I think we’re getting her on a routine already.”
“You with your routines,” he said.
“You’ll thank me later.”
“I’m thanking you now.” He motioned for her to come inside the room. “Keep me company while I feed her?”
The request pleased her more than it should. “Sure.”
She grabbed the already made bottle from the dresser as he gathered the baby into his arms.
“Let’s go in the liv
ing room,” he said. “Would you like a glass of wine? I imagine it was a long day.”
“It was. I forgot how hard a newborn is.” She led the way to the living room. “Plus, Dakota acted awful. I think he’s jealous.”
“He’s used to having you all to himself.”
“True.”
She helped herself to wine while he settled into the easy chair with the baby. Without asking, she poured him a scotch. He thanked her when she left it on the end table.
Violet found her same spot on the couch from the night before and curled her legs under her. She stole glances at him as she sipped from her glass of wine. His sharp nose and angular features appeared softer in the dim light, making him seem younger and almost vulnerable. He was sexy. No question, unfortunately. His remarkably high cheekbones and chiseled jaw screamed of strength with a dose of danger. Not that he was her type. She liked blond men, surfers, like Zane and Jackson. Not this dangerous, wolfish man before her.
He surely didn’t look wolfish now, not with the way he gazed down at his daughter with a look of pure love, his dark lashes splayed against his cheekbones. A slight dimple on the left side of his mouth twitched occasionally like an involuntary smile.
He glanced up, catching her staring. She flushed and looked away.
“Am I doing it wrong?”
Violet turned back to him. “Wrong? You mean the feeding?”
He nodded. “Is the angle of the bottle right?”
“No, you’re just right.”
“Are you sure? Because I feel like a giant oaf around her.”
“You’re anything but an oaf.”
“She deserves the best. Sadly, I’m all she has.”
“You’re enough.” The back of her throat ached.
“I’m hanging on to every word you’re saying for dear life.”
She looked toward the window, catching their reflection. They looked like a happy couple with their newborn. Hardly. “I remember what it was like those first few weeks. The utter terror.”
