The Nanny Proposal

by Donna Clayton

  The sincerity in his voice was her undoing. Over the past couple of days, this man had shown her that he was nothing but genuine. He was kind. Considerate. Caring. He’d taken her in when he thought she was homeless and unemployed.

  And how had she returned his kindness? With nothing but lies.

  Her resolve to keep silent about herself, about her secret, faltered. A strong urge to do the right thing rose up inside her, bright and flaring like a match-stick struck in the blackest night. Maybe he wouldn’t toss her out on her ear if he learned the truth. Maybe…just maybe he would understand. Maybe she could explain the circumstances in a way that would even garner his sympathy.

  But, she wondered frantically, where should she begin?

  The recommendation. The reference from her sister. The call that wasn’t going to come.

  “Greg,” she murmured, “there’s something you need to know.”

  Another thing she’d learned about him this past weekend was that his occupation made him an excellent listener. He trained his silent gaze on her, waiting with what seemed the utmost patience.

  “You see—” her words came haltingly “—my sister isn’t going to call.” Jane swallowed around the lump of fear that suddenly rose in her throat. Was she doing the right thing? In a rush, she continued, “She’s gone. I don’t know where she is. Or when she’ll be back. I need to tell you that I’m—”

  “Oh, honey.”

  He pulled her to him; the feel of his muscular chest, hard and warm against her cheek, made her thoughts turn to utter chaos. Her brain went haywire as she found herself enveloped in his strong, protective arms.

  “You’re crying because you thought I’d fire you without a character reference from your sister?”

  His soft chuckle reverberated against her cheekbone. Jane helplessly closed her eyes, enjoying the feel of him, the sound of him. Her heart kicked against her ribs with such force she was sure he must feel the pounding of it. Blood whooshed thickly through her ears.

  With one side of her forehead pressed against the base of his throat, her ear flattened against his chest, she could feel the rise and fall of his breathing, hear the distinct thump of his heart. Why had he reached out for her? Why had he hugged her to him? She couldn’t think clearly. She couldn’t think at all!

  Pushing himself a few inches away from her, he leveled his green eyes on hers.

  “I want you to stop worrying. Do you hear me? I want you to dry your eyes and stop agonizing about this.”

  All she was able to do was study his gaze. Words wouldn’t come. Neither would movement of any kind. She felt frozen in time. Like a wild, defenseless animal caught in the crosshairs of the scope of a gun.

  She knew he meant his smile to be comforting. However, she found it dazzling—and terribly sensuous. And rather than calming her, it only served to further confuse her thinking processes, further stir her body’s physical reactions to him.

  “The call was just a formality,” he said. “Tomorrow I’ll have the letter from your former boss, right?”

  He didn’t seem to notice that she made no response whatsoever.

  “And I’ve seen for myself how good you are with my little girl. The two of you have developed quite a relationship in a very short time. It’s been—” his head shook back and forth the tiniest fraction “—remarkable.”

  Tell him. Tell him the truth!

  But she couldn’t. Not because she didn’t want to. Not because she meant to continue to hide her true identity from him. It was just…he was so close. Too close. She felt lost. Lost in those forest-green eyes. Lost in the kindness he was showing her. Lost in the concern he was showing her. Lost in the heated touch of his hands on her upper arms. Lost in the warm and seductive scent of him, in his tenderness.

  “You can stay,” he told her. “I want you to stay. I’m sure I’ll talk to your sister sometime.” His tone softened even further as he added, “It’s not important. I feel I know you. I think you’re good for Joy. You’ll stay, won’t you? You do want to stay?”

  Jane blinked. That was all she was able to do.

  He was so good-hearted. And too damned handsome! Again she swallowed. But the lump of fear had dissolved only to be replaced with…something new. Something strange. Then she realized her throat burned. It burned with raw desire.

  This was crazy! She needed to scoot away from him. She needed some distance. But she didn’t move. Couldn’t move. The hunger inside her grew with each passing millisecond.

  She must break this mesmerizing spell she was under. Speak, her brain commanded. Speak! Mustering every ounce of her strength, she hoarsely whispered, “Thank you.”

  Why on earth was she expressing gratitude? The question he’d asked required a simple yes or no answer. He was going to think she was a lunatic. She was a lunatic.

  His touch was feather soft as he slid his fingertips along the length of her jaw. His gaze intensified with some unnamable emotion. The air grew heavy. Throbbing.

  “I’m the one who should be thanking you.”

  His tone was deliciously soft and enticing. The tension magnified. And all the oxygen in the room seemed to dissipate.

  Then he did the most extraordinary thing. He inched toward her, closer and closer, and he covered her mouth with his.

  His kiss was excruciatingly sweet and gentle. Just like his concern for her had been only moments before. Her heart felt squeezed with the preciousness of it. Of him.

  Before she even had time to close her eyes, he’d pulled away from her, leaving her lips feeling cool and desolate and wanting more. Jane knew the uncertainty she felt had her eyes wide and staring. She tucked her bottom lip between her teeth, tasting the honeyed remnants of their sinfully soft kiss.

  One corner of his mouth quirked upward.

  “I should probably apologize for that,” he whispered. Then his grin widened. “But I can’t.” He stood up, went to the door and then turned to face her. “You’re a special woman. And I’m glad you’re here. Now try to get some sleep. You’re going to have a full day with Joy tomorrow. All on your own. You need your rest.”

  He opened the door, offering her one last smile. “Good night.”

  Jane sat there, alone in the dark, wondering what the heck had just happened between them and knowing that rest would be the last thing she’d be getting tonight.

  “Well, to me—” Greg pointed at his own chest, leaning forward for emphasis “—this letter of recommendation sounds like it’s coming from a disgruntled boss.”

  He sat at the large oak table in the conference room with Travis and Sloan. His friends had been surprised when he’d told them he’d allowed Jane to stay the weekend, and that the woman was with Joy now.

  “Her former boss,” Sloan said, “this Max, does say that Jane did a good job while she worked for him.” He paused, looking over the fax that had been waiting for Greg when he arrived at work this morning. Then Sloan said, “However, it doesn’t say why she left his employ.”

  “The important point is that she left the job,” Greg asserted. “She wasn’t fired. She was reliable. She was hardworking. She was responsible.” He ticked off all the attributes the letter mentioned. “And up until she left the restaurant, she was an exceptional employee.”

  “But why did she leave?” Travis’s inquiry made everyone go quiet for a moment. “And why didn’t she give the customary two weeks’ notice? I’d have to say that’s a strike against her.”

  “Maybe.” Tamping down a sudden mild irritation, Greg realized he shouldn’t be annoyed at his friend and partner simply because he’d voiced a question. A very logical one at that. However, for some ungodly reason, Greg just didn’t want his friends to find fault with Jane. He wanted her for his daughter’s nanny. There was just something about her—something he couldn’t quite put his finger on—that told him she deserved this job, that she’d do well in it, and that she wouldn’t let him down.

  “But,” Greg continued, “what if she left her last job
abruptly because of her boss? Because of this Max person?” He didn’t quite know where he was taking this. He was speaking as quickly as the thoughts formed in his head. “What if this Max was harassing her? What if he was hitting on her? Asking her out on a date? And rather than take the pressure of working in that kind of environment, she quit.” Now it was Travis’s turn to say, “Maybe.” Sloan softly, but firmly added, “Maybe not.”

  “Look,” Greg said, “I spent the entire weekend with Jane. She’s great with Joy. I couldn’t ask for a more loving, nurturing person to be with my daughter while I’m at work.” His brows shot upward. “And I am at work, I want you to notice. Early. This is the first morning meeting I’ve made since Joy came to live with me.”

  The expressions of the other two men relaxed in acknowledgment.

  “Besides that—” Greg rushed to shoot home a final point before they had time to reload their bows with more arrows of criticism “—there are more recommendations coming. I expect a call from Jane’s sister any time. Apparently, Jane practically raised her sister’s baby.”

  Thinking it best to change the whole subject, Greg glanced down at the agenda that Rachel, their office manager, had typed up for the meeting.

  “What’s this listed here?” Greg asked Travis. “You need character references yourself?”

  Greg thought this would be a great time to razz his friend a little, but the strain that tensed Travis’s mouth killed his teasing comments before they even formed on his tongue.

  “The Indian Council is asking for references now.” Travis absently rubbed at his forehead with his fingertips. “They keep finding new reasons why I shouldn’t adopt the boys.”

  Travis, half Kolheek Indian himself, had been trying for months to adopt a set of Kolheek twins. Several years earlier, he’d been instrumental in seeing that the children received a life-saving heart operation. The boys were now nearing the age where their chances of finding a good home were growing slimmer with each passing week. So Travis had taken it into his head to become the boys’ father.

  “I’ll be happy to write you a glowing character reference,” Sloan said.

  “Me, too,” Greg added. “I’ll get right to work on it. I just don’t understand what this Council of Elders could have against you.”

  It was hard to fathom that neither the state nor the federal government had any say in who adopted the children. On the Kolheek reservation, the council had the final say in who could or could not become parents of those orphaned twins.

  “Well, I’m single,” Travis said. “And that, I think, is the biggest part of the problem.”

  Greg chuckled, hoping to lighten his friend’s dark mood. “You could always get married. Haven’t you ever heard of a marriage of convenience?”

  “I’m never getting married. You know that.” Travis fairly growled the words. “I can raise Jared and Josh on my own. All I need to prove it is a chance. Look at Sloan. He’s raising three girls. Three. And, you, too, Greg. You’re doing okay as a single dad, aren’t you?”

  Holding his breath, Greg just smiled and hoped his friend’s question was a rhetorical one. He hadn’t been doing so hot at all as a single parent…until Jane had shown up to help smooth out the wrinkles of living with a ten-month-old baby.

  The thought of Jane, and how she seemed to love his daughter, made him grow all warm inside. Who was he kidding? Yes, he was happy that Jane took good care of Joy, but what had him so churned up was that utterly delectable kiss he’d given her last night. He couldn’t say what had possessed him to do such a thing. But he refused to feel badly about it.

  “I’ll make the council see that I can do it.”

  Travis’s voice brought Greg abruptly back to the present.

  “I can do it,” Travis said, his tone emphatic.

  “I know you can.” Sloan was quick to agree.

  “Sure, you can,” Greg told his friend. “There’s no doubt in my mind that you’ll be a good father to those boys. Having a parent—even one who happens to be single—has to be better for the boys than living in an orphanage.”

  Travis’s glance expressed a sudden uncertainty. “So, you guys don’t mind helping me? You’ll write something up and mail it to the reservation in Vermont?”

  “Of course, we will,” Sloan said automatically.

  Greg didn’t like seeing Travis so worried. “That’s what friends are for, Travis. To pitch in when the chips are down.”

  “Thanks,” Travis murmured.

  But Greg didn’t know how much good his reassurance did for his friend. It was pretty obvious that Travis wouldn’t stop worrying until Jared and Josh were settled at home here in Philadelphia.

  “You’re welcome, buddy.” Sloan stood up, reached over and patted Travis on the shoulder. “Like Greg said, this is what friends are for.” Sloan then directed his gaze to Greg. “And I do have to say, I really am glad you attended today’s meeting. We were going to talk about Thanksgiving dinner since it’ll be here in a few weeks, before we all know it, actually. And if you weren’t here, we were going to volunteer your apartment as the place for the celebration.”

  “I’ll have dinner,” Greg said, thinking the idea a very good one. “I’ll be happy to. It’ll give you guys a chance to see Jane up close and personal.” He smiled. “I think you’ll like her.”

  Although he couldn’t quite figure out why, he hoped his friends liked Jane as much as he did.

  One week passed. And then another. And Jane was sure she had found nirvana. This is what it must feel like to be a stay-at-home mom. She enjoyed all the pleasures involved with raising her gorgeous baby Joy and none of the tiresome hassles of having to go out to work every evening as she had for the first ten months of her niece’s life.

  Jane could not fathom how she’d lived under the kind of stress she had for the last ten months: working in the restaurant every night until the wee hours of the morning, and then with only a few hours’ sleep, getting up to tend Joy and clean the house so that Pricilla could sleep in or run off for the day with friends.

  Love for Joy is what had fueled her energy through the stressful weeks, Jane surmised. She paused, knowing she had to admit that there was other fuel, too.

  Guilt. She’d been plagued with tons of it all during Pricilla’s pregnancy, and even more so after Joy was born. Jane felt terrible about the things she’d said to her sister in order to get Pricilla to carry the baby to term, the way she’d acted—

  Jane pushed the thought from her mind. She’d only wanted what was best for Joy. If she hadn’t behaved in that ugly manner—

  Again, Jane did her damnedest to shove the idea aside. Tears welled and scalded the backs of her eyelids just thinking about what might have been if Pricilla had had her way.

  Mercifully, Joy’s coos and giggles captured Jane’s attention.

  “Hey, baby girl,” she said softly, “how about if we bundle up and go out for a walk?”

  Jane believed Joy must be the smartest child on earth. At ten-and-a-half-months old, the baby actually seemed to understand the word walk for, at the sound of it, she dropped the rattle she’d been playing with and reached outstretched arms toward Jane.

  Changing Joy into a dry diaper would be the first order of business, she thought, carrying her niece toward the back of the apartment. When she passed the door of Greg’s room, the lingering scent of his cologne had her steps slowing.

  Ever since Greg had surprised her with that excruciatingly sweet kiss the first weekend she’d moved in, something had happened. A startling awareness had developed between them. An awareness that compressed the oxygen in the air whenever they were together. An awareness that kept her feeling giddy all the time. It was ridiculous, really.

  Of course, she could understand her own feelings. He was a handsome man. It was only natural that she’d find him appealing. His allure was more than mere good looks. He was smart. And strong, physically and emotionally. He was the kind of man a woman could lean on. And he was funny, too.
He made her laugh. He made her feel…good. But for the life of her, she couldn’t understand what he’d ever see in her. Compared to Pricilla—and probably every other woman Greg had ever dated—Jane was downright plain. Plain and undesirable.

  However, she had to admit that this attraction, this awareness she felt throbbing between them, made her feel…pretty. When Greg looked at her with those gorgeous clear green eyes of his, when his intense gaze was leveled on her and was sparked with that mysterious interest, she could easily imagine herself as beautiful as a fashion model.

  “Ha! Fat chance.” Jane’s bark of laughter was humorless and so loud it made Joy start. “I’m sorry, baby,” she crooned as she fastened the diaper over her niece’s bottom.

  “Even if your daddy was interested in me,” she said to Joy, “I’d be an idiot to think anything could ever come of it. As soon as he discovers my lies…and I’ve got to tell him, don’t I, sweetie pie?—” she gave Joy a kiss on the forehead “—he’s going to kick me out on my ear.”

  Guilt. It swelled in her chest until she felt waterlogged. But she’d carried the emotion around for so long, first due to her behavior toward Pricilla and now due to the lies she’d told Greg, that the heavy emotion was starting to feel almost normal.

  “Heaven forbid,” she muttered. She tucked Joy’s knit top into her corduroy trousers and smiled down at her niece. “Okay, let’s go for that walk, my little honey bun.”

  Buttoning up Joy’s coat and tucking the baby’s curls under a warm hat, Jane couldn’t wait to get out into the sunny but chilly November day. Maybe the brisk late fall breeze would clear her mind.

  Jane said a quick hello to the doorman at the main entrance of the apartment complex and then paused to put on Joy’s mittens.

  “If you don’t mind my saying so, ma’am—”

  The doorman’s voice had Jane glancing up at him from where she leaned over the stroller.

  “—your arrival surely has changed Dr. Greg.” The man’s mouth quirked up at one corner in a grin.