She opened the front door and stepped into Daniel’s house. He stood in the kitchen, cell phone to his ear. She sighed softly, like she did whenever she saw him, imagining what it would be like to wrap her arms around his neck and kiss him hello.
When he saw her he snapped the phone shut and said, “Hey, where were you?”
“Next door. I had to change my clothes. I gave April a bath and she got me all wet.”
He walked over and took April from her. “Hey, munchkin!”
April squealed happily as he gave her a big smacking kiss on the cheek. He may not have been ready for the responsibility of a child, but April was sure ready for him. She adored him. It broke Sydney’s heart to think of her being shuffled off to strangers. Especially when Daniel was such a good dad. To see them together, no one would guess he was anything but a loving, devoted father.
“I gave her a bath this morning,” Daniel said.
“I know, but she had rice cereal for dinner, and by the time we were finished she was wearing most of it.”
“How’s it going with the solid foods?”
“Good. But it’s getting hard feeding her in her bouncy seat. She tries to crawl out. You’re going to have to consider getting her a high chair. I’m sure you could find a cheap one at the resale shop in town.”
“It’s a lot to ask, but if I gave you the cash, do you think you could pick one up for me?”
It wasn’t a lot to ask, considering Sydney would be the one who benefited the most.
“Sure. I’ll go tomorrow.” She moved to the kitchen to wash the dirty dishes and bottles. “What are you doing here?”
“I had a few minutes and I wanted to talk to you.”
She tensed. In her experience, when someone said they wanted to “talk” to her, it was never good news. Maybe he was finally going to tell her why he’d been checking up on her.
“Did I do something wrong?” she asked.
The question seemed to surprise him. “Of course not. Why would you think that?”
She shrugged, scrubbing the inside of a bottle with a soapy brush.
“I need to ask you a favor. And you are under no obligation to say yes.”
“What kind of favor?”
“Angie has this boyfriend, Jason—”
“She told me about him. He sounds really nice.”
“Yeah, well, he’s invited our family to his place on the coast for the weekend. Dee and Beth are both going, and I said I would, too, and I thought maybe I could talk you and Lacey into going with us. I could really use your help with April. I’ll pay you, of course.”
Sydney rinsed the bottles and set them in the drain board. “Why would you pay me to come when your sisters are going to be there to help you? You said they adore April.”
Daniel shifted, looking uneasy. There was definitely something he wasn’t telling her.
“Is there another reason you want me to go?” she asked.
He took a deep breath and blew it out. “The thing is, Dee and Beth are both bringing their boyfriends. And Angie will have Jason.”
Leaving Daniel the odd man out. A position she was willing to bet he rarely found himself in.
That made much more sense.
“When?”
“A week from tomorrow. We would leave after work and come back Sunday evening. I guess Jason’s place is right on the water. And he has a boat.”
“It sounds like fun. I’d love to go.”
His brows rose. “Seriously?”
“Sure. Lacey and I could use a vacation. And you don’t have to pay me.”
“Sydney, you have no idea how much I appreciate this. And don’t worry about Lacey being bored because my nephew, Jordan, will be there.”
“I’m sure she’ll have fun. And if you want, we can take my van and car pool. You and me and Angie and the kids.”
“That would be great. You have no idea how much I appreciate this.”
For some stupid reason, the fact that she’d made him happy made her feel good.
“Well, I’d better get back on the road,” Daniel said, handing April over to her, seeming almost reluctant to let her go, to leave her alone with Sydney.
Ugh.
So much for those warm, fuzzy feelings. And though she hadn’t intended to confront him, the words just spilled out. “Is there a reason you don’t trust me?”
He looked genuinely perplexed. “What are you talking about? Why would you think I don’t trust you?”
She set April in her playpen and gave her a toy to amuse herself with. “You stop by home every day. You follow me to the grocery store. What am I supposed to think?”
“Sydney, if I didn’t trust you, I never would have asked you to watch April.”
“Then why do you keep checking up on me?”
“I’m not checking up on you. I just…” He let his words trail off, and dragged a hand across his afternoon stubble.
“You just what?”
“It’s stupid,” he said.
“What?”
“For weeks I was with April 24/7. Now that I’m back to work…” He shrugged, as if he wasn’t sure what he wanted to say.
But Sydney knew, and her heart climbed up and lodged in her throat. How had she not seen it before? “You miss her, don’t you?”
“Maybe. A little,” he admitted, looking so adorably confused she could have hugged him.
There was no maybe. For all his talk about not being ready to be a father, April had gotten under his skin. He cared about her. And if he couldn’t go more than a few hours without seeing her, how would he cope if someone took her away for good?
He couldn’t. Maybe he didn’t know it yet, but April was his. He wouldn’t be giving her up, no matter what he said. Sydney was sure of it.
Could this be the sign she’d been looking for?
She wasn’t certain how it happened, but one second Daniel was standing several feet away, and the next her arms were around him. And oh, it felt wonderful. Her eyes closed as she laid her cheek against his chest. She flattened her hands across his wide, strong back, breathing him in, wishing she could crawl inside his skin to get closer.
“Whoa,” he said, sliding his arms almost tentatively around her. “What’s this for?”
“Because I wanted to,” she said. “And because you looked like you needed it.”
“If you had any idea how tough it’s been not touching you this week, you wouldn’t be getting this close to me.”
His words thrilled and terrified her. And made it all too clear that this was exactly what she wanted. It just felt right. Besides, where was the fun in playing it safe? Hadn’t she been doing that long enough?
“Or maybe you get some sort of warped thrill torturing me,” he said. “In which case I might just have to retaliate.”
“Maybe I want you to retaliate.”
There was a pause, as if he was trying to decide if she was serious. “Maybe, or you do?”
“I definitely do.”
“You said you want a commitment. I can’t give you that. I don’t do forever.”
“I think what I really want right now is to have some fun. To feel like I’m getting on with my life.” It wasn’t completely true, but she knew it was what he needed to hear.
Another pause. “You’re sure?”
She gazed up at him, into the inky depths of his eyes. “Why don’t you kiss me and find out?”
This time there was no hesitation. He cradled the back of her head in his palm, making her tingle, and brushed a tender kiss across her lips. It was nice, but she could feel him holding back and couldn’t blame him. She’d been playing emotional ping-pong for days. But even if she tried to resist him now, she couldn’t. She wanted this too much.
She wrapped her arms around his neck, pulled his head down and kissed him deeply, so there would be no question in his mind what she wanted. The message was received loud and clear. Daniel moaned and pulled her against him, taking command of the kiss, and though he was cl
early calling the shots now, she felt a thrilling sense of power.
He kissed away her doubts and her inhibitions, until Sydney felt herself going limp with need. And she liked it. She wanted more. But she had to pace herself.
She broke the kiss, bracing her palms against his chest, so breathless she felt light-headed. “Wow.”
“Yeah. And for the record, changing your mind again is no longer an option.”
“I won’t. But I need to take this slow, Daniel.”
“I can do slow.” He pressed his forehead to hers. “It might kill me, but I can do it.”
She smiled. She couldn’t deny that it was a thrill to know he wanted her so much, it was going to be a struggle for him to keep control.
Daniel glanced up at the clock and cursed softly. “I’m on duty. I really have to go. What are you doing tonight around eleven-fifteen? You don’t have to rush home for anything, do you?”
Lacey had mentioned going to bed early, so really, there was no reason Sydney had to be at home. “Nothing comes to mind.”
“Maybe we could spend some quality time together?”
“We could do that.”
“Then it’s a date.” He gave her one last deep, mind-numbing kiss, said goodbye to April and headed out the door.
This would be their first date. And despite the fact that they couldn’t actually go anywhere, she had the distinct impression it would be a memorable one.
LACEY PACED in front of the living room window, her eyes fixed on the driveway.
“You’re going to wear a hole through the carpet,” her mom said from the kitchen doorway. She was still in her robe, drinking her first cup of coffee. And she looked exhausted, which Lacey was guessing had a lot to do with whatever was happening at Daniel’s until 1:30 a.m.
Just a friend, huh?
“Are you nervous about your new job?” she asked.
“A little,” Lacey said. Although it wasn’t the work so much as the guy who was supposed to be picking her up.
“I’m sure you’ll do just fine,” her mom assured her.
A horn blared outside and Lacey’s head swung back to the window in time to see a truck pulling into the driveway. She strained to see who was in the driver’s seat. His face was concealed in shadow, but she could tell the person was male, and large.
“Sounds like your ride is here.” Her mom stepped up beside her and looked out the window. The horn blared again. “You’d better go.”
“See you later,” she said, darting out the door and over to the truck. She grabbed the handle and flung the door open.
“Hi,” a cheerful voice said. “You must be Lacey.”
The guy’s light brown hair was shoulder-length and he was really cute. But he wasn’t Jordan.
“The one and only,” she said, trying to disguise the disappointment in her voice as she hopped up on the seat. The interior of the truck was dusty, the carpet was filthy with clumps of dirt, and a pair of heavy work gloves lay on the seat between them.
“I’m Mike,” he said, waiting for her to buckle her seat belt before he backed out of the driveway. “Did you know elephants are the only animal that can’t jump?”
She blinked. “What?”
“It’s true. Every other mammal can jump, but not the elephant.”
“No kidding.”
“Did you also know you can lead a cow upstairs, but not down?”
Lacey shook her head. “Nope, didn’t know that, either.”
“Most people don’t.” Mike glanced her way. “Is your hair always green?”
“Sometimes it’s purple.”
“Cool.” He looked genuinely impressed, and he was so cheerful, Lacey couldn’t help but like him. Even if he wasn’t Jordan.
“Did you know a duck’s quack doesn’t echo but no one knows why?”
She couldn’t resist a smile. “You’re just full of animal trivia, aren’t you?”
“Not just animals. My brain is bursting with useless facts. It’s a gift. Everyone on the crew calls me the Professor.”
“Really? Who else is on the crew?”
Mike, the Professor, told her the names of all the crew members, which she couldn’t help notice were almost all male, but he didn’t mention Jordan.
“I met someone in the office yesterday—I think his name was Jordan,” she hedged.
“He’s Angie’s kid. She puts him on whichever crew needs extra workers.”
Mike chattered nonstop while he drove, soothing Lacey’s frayed nerves. It was hard to be jittery around someone who kept her smiling constantly. But as they pulled up to the house where they were scheduled to work, and she saw Jordan leaning against another truck drinking bottled water, her heart went berserk again.
What was wrong with her? She’d liked guys before and never felt this weirded out.
“Jordan, I’ve got your new recruit,” Mike called as they headed toward him. “Her name is Lacey.”
Keep your cool, Lacey reminded herself. Don’t let him know you’re interested.
“Hi,” she said in the detached, I-couldn’t-care-less-what-you-think-of-me tone she used when she didn’t want people to know what she was thinking. Jordan stared at her, his eyes slowly taking everything in from the top of her head down to her feet, until she felt naked. He was huge—at least a foot taller than her and twice as wide.
“We met yesterday,” she added to break the monotonous silence, and still he stared at her. It wasn’t a good stare, either. This blank stare said she was invisible and not even worth his time. A stab of anger suddenly replaced her nervousness.
“What’s your problem?” she heard herself say.
“Do you have sunblock?” he asked, and she was so surprised he’d spoken, she lost her voice for a second.
“S-sunblock?” she stammered.
Jordan walked to the passenger door of the truck he’d been leaning on and reached in the open window, grabbing a small bottle off the seat. He tossed it to her. It was a tube of sunblock.
“Put it on, then meet me in the back.” He walked away and she watched him, seeing several other workers already laying bricks at the side of the house. She turned to say something to Mike but he was unloading supplies from the truck they’d arrived in. He probably hadn’t heard their conversation. If she could classify what they’d just had as a conversation.
“Hey,” Mike said, coming up behind her with an armful of tools and a flat of petunias. “Did you know thirty-eight percent of America is wilderness, but Africa is only twenty-eight percent wilderness?”
“No, Mike, I didn’t,” she said, tossing the sunblock back through the truck window. She would rather cover herself in battery acid than use Jordan’s sunblock. She also had the sinking feeling this was going to be the longest day of her life.
CHAPTER TEN
UNFORTUNATELY Daniel and Sydney’s date never happened.
There was a huge fight at one of the less reputable bars in town and Daniel was held up at work until after 1:00 a.m. By the time he got home they were both too exhausted to do anything more than get ready for bed.
Sydney was disappointed, but it wasn’t as if they didn’t have the next night, and the next.
Though she hadn’t fallen asleep until after 2:00 a.m., Sydney woke early the next morning to see Lacey off on her first day of her first official job. After she showered and dressed, she dumped the ingredients for spaghetti sauce in the slow cooker and set it to simmer. At eight, she locked up behind her and crossed the lawn to Daniel’s house. Usually he unlocked the door in the morning so she could come in and take care of April while he got ready for work, but today it was locked. Figuring he’d probably forgotten, Sydney used her key and let herself in. She expected to smell coffee brewing, and hear the shower, but the house was dead quiet. Had he forgotten to set his alarm?
She cracked open his bedroom door and peered inside. Daniel was still in bed, snoring softly. If he didn’t get up soon he was going to be late.
She slipped into the ro
om and sat on the edge of the mattress. She wasn’t sure what he was wearing under the sheet, but from the waist up he was naked. And beautiful. His chest was wide and muscular and sprinkled with dark hair, his stomach flat and defined. She considered taking a quick peek under the covers. She even reached for the edge of the sheet, but it seemed wrong to take advantage of him while he was sleeping.
She gently shook his shoulder instead. “Daniel, wake up.”
He snapped awake instantly—no doubt a cop thing—looking up at her with bleary eyes, then glanced over at the clock. “Hey, what are you doing here? Is something wrong?”
“I came to watch April. I thought you had to be to work by nine.”
He rubbed a hand over his face. “I thought I told you, I switched with Dave again. I’m working the afternoon shift. I’m sorry.”
“Oh, that’s okay.”
“I would get up and make coffee, but April woke up at four and didn’t go back down until almost six. I’m beat.”
“Go back to sleep.”
She stood, but Daniel grabbed her wrist. “You don’t have to go.”
“I should let you sleep.”
“Why don’t you slide in with me?” He pulled back the sheet and scooted over to make room for her. She was a little disappointed to see that he was wearing cotton pajama bottoms. But climbing into his bed? She wasn’t sure if that was such a hot idea.
“Maybe I shouldn’t.”
“Nothing is going to happen.” He patted the bed next to him. “Come on,” he coaxed. “I like to cuddle.”
What woman in her right mind could resist a sexy man who wanted to cuddle?
She climbed in beside him. He tucked her against him, spooning her so that her back was against his chest, his skin still warm from sleep.
Oh, this was nice.
It had been a long time since she’d snuggled in bed with a man. It was something she hadn’t even realized she’d missed until now.
She must have been really exhausted because she fell right back to sleep. When she opened her eyes again Daniel was sitting on the edge of the bed, pressing soft, teasing kisses to her bare shoulder. He smelled like soap and toothpaste, and his hair was wet. He was dressed in jeans and nothing else.
Nanny Next Door Page 11
