Mountain Daddy's Nanny

by Samantha Leal

  “Oh my God, Sue,” he said, his breathing was ragged and he lay down flat on his face on the table, beside her.

  “Looks like we still got it,” she said with a laugh. He lifted his head to look at her and smiled, then wrapped his arm around her belly and nuzzled his face in her hair.

  “Gerard…” Sue waited a few seconds before saying. He didn’t reply, she knew he was awake.

  “Gerard…” she tried again and he said Shhhh….

  “We can talk about it later, if you really want to talk about it. Just enjoy the moment for what it is, Sue,” he said into her hair and she couldn’t help but smile. She couldn’t remember what she had been sad about a few hours ago.

  Chapter 7

  When Sue woke up, she was alone again. She stretched her arms and realized she was in somebody else’s bed and this bed was very very soft. She sat up with a start and ran her fingers over the spotlessly white bed linen, smooth like butter. She lay down again and her head sank into a pillow, which she was convinced was made from clouds or feathers.

  “Rise and shine,” she heard his voice and smiled. She sat up again and fluffed up the pillows behind her to rest against. Gerard had stepped out of the bathroom and was in a blue satin robe, through which, the muscles of his thighs peeped out, from time to time. His hair was ruffled and he had a hint of a stubble on his chin. She nearly laughed.

  “I don’t believe I’ve seen you with a beard before,” Sue said and he walked over to her side of the bed.

  “Are you implying I wasn’t man enough to grow a beard in college?” He kissed her on her lips. That kiss was enough to remind her of the number of times they’d had sex in the past twelve hours and she blushed.

  “What time is it?” Sue asked, looking around the room for a watch.

  “Where do you need to be?” he asked and walked over to the arrangement of armchairs and a coffee table by the balcony doors.

  “It’s Monday morning…or afternoon. Don’t you have somewhere to be?” She watched him slide the glass doors open and a soft breeze blew in, billowing the white lace curtains in the room.

  “I don’t remember, anymore, and I’ve ordered Luke to hold off all the messages.” He turned to look at her and Sue smiled.

  “You never played hooky in college. God forbid!” she said and her hand flew to her mouth dramatically. Gerard laughed and started pouring coffee from a French press into two mugs on the table.

  “I’m older now, and wiser,” he said without looking at her and Sue stepped out of bed. She found a matching blue satin robe laid out carefully on the ottoman at the end of the bed and she slipped into it while Gerard studied her naked body. She walked over to him and they both sat down facing each other. The balcony overlooked what seemed to be a forest and Sue assumed it was a part of Gerard’s property, his billionaire version of a backyard.

  “What did you want to talk about last night, Sue?” He was blowing over his coffee. She smiled at him and did the same with hers. He remembered the way she liked her coffee.

  “I don’t quite remember. It might have had something to do with the fact that we jumped into bed after twenty years of not seeing each other.” She raised an eyebrow and he laughed.

  “Did it feel strange to you? Was it offensive?” he asked her and sat back in his chair.

  “I can’t say that it did, but I still feel as though there is more conversation involved there. I don’t exactly know what,” she said and shied away from his gaze. She didn’t know how to talk about her feelings anymore. Vincent’s reaction to this would have been to storm out of the room, bang doors and stay somewhere else for the night.

  “Maybe. Or maybe not,” he began and she looked up at him, surprised by the response. “It was unfortunate that we broke up, that you had to experience the pain of a failed marriage. But we’ve found each other again. Yes, we had a rough start, but look at us now,” he said and smiled widely. “Do we need to analyze it? Unless this was a one-time thing for you,” he said and his smile dropped.

  Sue shook her head wildly. “No, it’s not a one-time thing, Gerard. I guess what I’ve been trying to say is that I want us to give it another try. I didn’t know if it was a one-time thing for you.” She looked away from him again, embarrassed.

  “I never stopped loving you, Sue. You left, but I couldn’t forget you.” She detected a quiver in his voice and she looked at him.

  “I was a fool. For not believing in you or your intentions. I love you,” Sue said and stifled a wail.

  “Good. I’m glad you blame yourself because I’ve always blamed you.” She jerked her head up to look at him and he was grinning. She laughed and shook her head, wiping away tears from her cheeks. He always knew how to stop her from dissolving into a crying mess.

  “Can we talk about more optimistic things now? Like when you’re moving in?” he asked casually.

  “Shouldn’t we go on a few dates first? Shouldn’t you woo me and surprise me with a key to the house?”

  “Why? To get to know you? I’ve known you for twenty-three years and nothing has changed. Other than the fact that I don’t live in my parents’ attic anymore, and I have a butler,” he said and they both laughed.

  Sue placed the mug of coffee on the table, stood up and settled herself on Gerard’s lap. They kissed, for several minutes, and finally pulled away for air.

  “I am truly sorry, Gerard,” she said while she played with a lock of his hair.

  “You should be!” he admonished her like she was a small child. “So do you want to tell the others, or should I?”

  “I feel like I’m getting my whole family back,” Sue said as Gerard nudged her off his lap and walked over to the cordless phone on his bedside table. He laughed while dialing Carl on speed-dial.

  “I get the feeling that we’ll have to throw a dinner party again tonight,” he said, just as Carl answered the phone. Sue couldn’t stop giggling while the two men talked, they were back in college.

  “You won’t believe the news I have for you!” Gerard spoke into the phone.

  THE END

  Highlander Time Travel Romance

  Into the Highlander’s Arms

  Samantha Leal

  Copyright ©2015 by Samantha Leal. All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic of mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  1.

  Zoe rolled over and turned off her alarm. It was 7:00 am and it had been blaring at her for half an hour. Even though she’d been determined to get up early, she found herself repeatedly hitting the snooze button and dozing under her quilt.

  The cold nipped her skin each time she moved the blanket and she knew the second she actually got out of bed she was going to be miserable.

  It was mid fall and the days had gone from sunny and mild, to murky and cold within the space of a week. She was resisting giving in and turning on her heating for fear of her bills rising too high too early in the year… She liked to save those kind of luxuries for the dead of winter.

  Zoe rubbed her eyes and looked across the room to the door of her bathroom. She could drag the quilt with her and turn on the shower, letting it all get steamy and warm before getting undressed, but she was already running late and she couldn’t make a bad impression on her first day. She sighed and quickly threw the cover off herself, jumped to her feet and ran into the bathroom. With as much speed as she could muster for someone still half asleep, she flicked on the shower and whipped off her clothes before climbing over the side of the tub and dancing about in the warming water.

  It wasn’t quite how she had envisioned her first day of her new job, but at least she was up and running.

  After Zoe showered, she dried her hair and tied it into a tight ponytail. She moisturized her skin and made her lips dewy with gloss before she slipped into a pencil skirt and a tight cardigan a
nd tied a red scarf around her neck. In her mind’s eye, she would look intellectual, perfect for her first day at work in one of the city’s oldest libraries, but in reality, as she looked at herself in the mirror, she looked more like a flight attendant. She scrunched up her face with disappointment and flashed a glance up at the clock. She didn’t have time to change, so it would have to do. She grabbed her coat and her keys and trotted out of the door of her apartment and into the cold autumn day.

  The job at the library had been one of Zoe’s steps to begin again after her latest failed relationship. When she met Ross, she thought they were meant to be, but after just a short time, she learned that he wasn’t the man she thought he was. He’d broken her heart, even though she would never admit it to him, and after stewing for a few weeks, she decided that she needed a clean break and to mix things up. Her life had been stagnant for too long, and she wanted new and exciting experiences. She had quit her job as a receptionist at a law firm and landed the job at the library as an assistant librarian. It was something completely different to anything she had done before and she was sure it would open her mind to a whole other world of possibilities. She daydreamed about meeting a scholar from Harvard or a professor who would be there researching and poring over ancient tomes. Maybe she would even be inspired to go back to college and take up a new subject. That was the magical pull of an old library—there was so much information under one roof, she was never going to be bored.

  As Zoe walked down the street, she looked up at the trees that had been glowing with red and orange leaves seemingly a few days before. Now they were becoming bare and their branches poked out at different angles like bony fingers. This was her favorite time of year, and it felt perfect to her that she should be starting her new job as the world was preparing to start again, too.

  She rounded a corner and stopped as she looked down the street. The library was standing tall and proud at the end and had an air of so much rich history about it that it made her smile from ear to ear.

  “Here goes,” she said to herself as she stepped forward and walked towards it.

  The Gold Rose Library was a very old building in the center of the city and looked gothic with its gargoyles and high spires. As Zoe approached the main door, her nerves were almost on top of her, but she breathed out deeply and heaved open the huge, heavy handle.

  As she stepped inside, she was greeted almost immediately by a short, plump lady with large glasses and an even bigger smile.

  “Good morning, Zoe!” she beamed. “Welcome to The Gold Rose!”

  2.

  As first mornings went, her time in the library was relatively easy and enjoyable. Zoe had been expecting to be shouldered with a lot of work that no one else really wanted to do, but instead the lady who had greeted her, Mrs. West, let her get accustomed to her surroundings in the main hall.

  The Gold Rose wasn’t due to open until 10:30am, and Zoe had been shown to her desk in the center of the main hall, where she sat at a high oak information point in the middle of a stack of dusty hardcovers. Everything in there seemed ancient, and the whole place oozed with history and secrets. Zoe had never felt more intrigued at what could be hidden there within the walls.

  She flipped through her employee manual, which looked as if it hadn’t been updated in about forty years and snuck a look at her cell phone. She had a text from her mother wishing her good luck on her first day and another from her best friend asking her to go for drinks on Friday night. She smiled. It was nice to have people who cared for her, but it didn’t matter how many friends or caring family members checked in, no one could fill the gap that Ross had left. Even after their short time together, Zoe had grown so used to having a partner that she was struggling without him.

  She sighed and pushed him to the back of her mind. She had taken the new job to forget Ross and move on with her life. She was determined she wouldn’t be defined by a failed relationship and that she would thrive by finding new interests and a new career. She looked up and around her. The main hall really was an amazing sight. Its ceilings seemed as tall as the sky and the dark wood was so brooding and atmospheric it made her shiver. She had never really thought before about why the library had been given its name, but now she could see as she sat there that it had been decorated many years ago all around the edges of the ceiling in gold leaf in the shape of roses. She smiled as she thought about the artist deciding to do this and how he or she would have made it up so high to complete the intricate paintings.

  “Must have taken them a long time,” said a voice from behind her. She turned around to see a girl about her age standing there with a large stack of books in her arms.

  “That’s exactly what I was just thinking,” Zoe smiled.

  The girl climbed up into the desk area and thumped the books down next to her.

  “I’m Rebecca,” she smiled as she held out her hand.

  “Zoe.”

  “It’s nice to have someone else working here who isn’t as ancient as the library,” she laughed.

  Zoe giggled too and nodded. “I can imagine it gets a little boring in here at times with no one to talk to.”

  “Yep,” Rebecca sat down next to her and pulled the manual across the desk. “And I wouldn’t even bother reading this. They make everyone do it on their first day, but it has literally no relevance.”

  “Thank God, I was starting to fall asleep,” Zoe fake yawned.

  “So, Westy sent me down here to show you the ropes,” Rebecca smiled as she swiveled around on her chair. “What made you want to come and work in this place, anyway?”

  “I just thought it would be an interesting change,” Zoe shrugged.

  “We get a load of geeks wanting to work here,” she laughed. “I’m glad they seemed to hire someone normal.”

  “Thanks,” she blushed, unsure of whether it was a compliment or not.

  “Okay,” Rebecca grinned. “So, I guess we should start with the basics, but it’s all pretty straightforward…” She got to her feet and acted as if she was on stage in front of a large audience, and as she spoke her voice echoed around the empty room. “We are the faces of the lovely Gold Rose,” she took a bow and continued. “We are here to serve and educate the masses with the wealth of knowledge we have at our fingertips.”

  Zoe started laughing. Rebecca was certainly funny.

  “Okay, too over the top,” she laughed and sat down. “Basically, we’re information assistants. If anyone can’t find a book, we show them where it is, look it up on our database if necessary, check no one has already borrowed it and it’s still in the building so-to-speak, and then reshelf any books that have been returned…which sounds pretty easy, but it’s actually a lot of work…or hopefully not now you’re here, because I was doing it myself!” She stopped and sucked in a big chest full of air. “You literally have no idea how happy I am to have you here!”

  Rebecca’s enthusiasm and sense of humor was infectious, and Zoe knew she was going to have a lot of fun working with her.

  “Well, believe it or not, I’m really glad to be here, too,” she smiled. “It feels really good to have a fresh start…and just look at this place. It’s so beautiful!”

  “Oh, I know,” Rebecca said as she turned and looked around at the huge hall they were standing in. “I suppose I’ve been here so long now, I take it for granted.”

  “I don’t think I’ll ever get bored at looking around it,” Zoe beamed. “It’s just so full of history.”

  “That sounds a bit geeky,” Rebecca said. “Alert! Alert!”

  “Haha, okay, sorry,” Zoe said as she looked down at the floor. “I promise I’m not a geek… Don’t worry.”

  “Good,” Rebecca said as she swept the books back up into her arms. “Well, come on then, we better get going. We have lots to do this morning.”

  “Okay,” Zoe jumped down from her chair and held her hands up. “What should I bring?”

  “Just yourself for now,” Rebecca said ominously. “You’ll
be helping me with the stack of books from hell any second.”

  “Oh great,” Zoe said as she followed Rebecca out of the information point and down one of the long corridors of books. As they made their way further into the maze of the library, Zoe knew she had definitely made the right decision. She was going to love working there, she could feel it.

  3.

  The girls spent the rest of the morning on their hands and knees at the very back of the main hall, sifting through returned books and checking the library map for where each pile they were making should go on its designated shelf. The doors opened as planned at 10:30 and although the first hour was very quiet with barely anyone coming in, as it approached lunch time there seemed to be a few groups of tourists and the odd actual visitor looking for something in particular.

  Zoe made her way back to the information point as Rebecca shelved some of the returned books. She climbed into her big leather chair and began to read the manual as she tried to get to grips with the database. She was glad that she hadn’t been approached by anyone and asked for help yet as she still didn’t have a clue how anything worked. Rebecca had been a good trainer, but she was so funny the girls had spent most of their time messing around and cracking jokes.

  She looked up at the gold leaf roses all along the ceiling and wondered to herself how much all of the artwork in the library must be worth. She watched the tourists wandering around, snapping photographs and picking up the odd old book to show to one another. She remembered how she and Ross had once visited a bookstore downtown and he bought her a copy of Wuthering Heights. She closed her eyes and sighed.

  Don’t do this to yourself, she thought. You’re having fun… Don’t make it all about him…