The baby fussed in her arms, startling them apart. "Sorry, Baby Dalton." She rushed from the room, realizing he'd never answered her question.
In the kitchen, she made him a bottle while she heated up a can of soup for her dinner. Her face was hot, but she wasn't sure if it was from the heat of the soup, embarrassment, or just plain being turned on. Barrett Dalton was one sexy man. How she was going to stay out of his clutches, she had no idea.
*****
Once Baby Dalton was asleep, Ashley returned to her room with a cup of tea. He hadn't been thrilled when she'd first put him in the water for his bath, but after he'd been in there for a minute or two, he'd kicked, and his eyes had widened. She wondered idly if he'd been given a bath since leaving the hospital, but she decided she really didn't want to know. Poor thing. He may not have had a lot of love for his first two weeks, but she was going to shower him in it from now on.
She sat in her bed, pulling out her iPad and going into Kindle app to read the newest book from her favorite author. She was just settling into the story, sipping her tea as she read when her phone rang.
She glanced at the caller ID and groaned. Aunt Lachele must have talked to her parents. She considered not answering, but knowing her father, that would just bring him to Texas. The Daltons weren't exactly hard to locate. "Hello?" she answered after sliding her finger across the screen.
"What do you think you're doing moving in with three single men?" her father's voice bellowed in her ear. "I've raised you better than that, young lady."
"Dad, I'm a nanny. You're making it sound like I'm doing something illicit, but I'm not. I'm just taking care of a sweet baby who needs love." Ashley did her best to keep her voice calm. She didn't need him flying off the handle any more than he already had.
"Do you have any idea who those men are? They're known for womanizing! You need to tell them you're leaving immediately and come home to Montana."
Ashley frowned at the phone. "I can't. I agreed to stay for a full month, as a trial, and you taught me to always keep my promises. I couldn't go back on this one and hold my head up."
"Don't you throw my words back at me! When your mother was dying, I promised her that I would do everything in my power to take good care of you. I'm not taking good care of you by letting you live with three men known for womanizing in Texas, of all places!"
"I'm twenty-five years old. You made that promise when I was five. I think she'd be fine with me taking care of myself now." Ashley rolled her eyes. This was why she'd moved to New York with her aunt. She needed to be able to take care of herself for a change. Of course, her aunt had just been like a spy for her father, reporting back to him and her step-mom every move she'd made. Well, almost every move. "And what's wrong with Texas? I kind of like it here!"
"It's Texas! Do you realize that every third person you see is carrying a gun? That little old lady in the grocery store? She has a gun in her purse!"
Ashley sighed. "You have four guns, Dad, and you never once shot me. I think I'm all right."
"I want you to promise me that you'll leave if even one of them does something he shouldn't! Promise!"
Ashley sighed. She knew her father would want her out of there just for the kiss she and Barrett had shared earlier. She hadn't fought Barrett on it, though, so was it really something he shouldn't have done? "I promise. Now stop worrying!"
"When I'm dead and buried."
Chapter Three
Ashley's first couple of days at the ranch went much more smoothly than she'd first hoped. She did her best to stay out of Barrett's way and rarely left his wing of the house, so she didn't run into his brothers much at all.
Out the window of her room, she kept seeing a pool and hot tub. On Friday morning, her third full day at the ranch, she felt comfortable enough to wander out of the massive wing of the mansion. Each wing was like a house of its own, with full kitchen, multiple beds and baths, and living areas.
The main part of the house was more of an area for entertaining she saw, as she cradled Baby Dalton to her, giving herself the tour. It had a full commercial kitchen, huge living area, and the longest dining table she had ever laid eyes on.
There was a sliding glass door that led to the pool and hot tub area. She wished it was warm enough to get into the pool for a bit. Taking Baby Dalton into the hot tub was not an option, but as soon as she could, she'd have him in the water. Babies were such natural swimmers that she wanted to get him started early.
She noticed an old-fashioned house phone on the wall, and she walked to it, picking it up. She noticed there were three buttons, each labeled with one of the brother's names. Nice. That might come in handy some day.
She heard the doorbell ring and hurried to get the door, a little intimidated by the woman she found there. Ashley thought she seemed like she thought a little more highly of herself than she should have. Once she'd used the nifty intercom she'd found, and Cage was with his guest, she wandered back toward Barrett's wing.
She had yet to use the baby monitor they'd purchased, instead leaving the doors of the bathroom open at night so she would hear the baby crying. But she decided that today, when he napped, she was going to put her bathing suit on and go check out the hot tub. It looked glorious.
*****
Barrett got home from work, rubbing the back of his neck on his way into his wing of the house. He needed to relax a little. Missing work Monday and Tuesday had left him scrambling all week, fighting to catch up. Now that it was Friday, he'd decided to take the entire weekend off. His son wasn't going to know him if he kept working the kind of hours he had been.
Changing into his bathing suit on a whim, he headed out the sliding glass door from his kitchen out to the hot tub. When he got there, he gulped in a breath. His snooty little nanny was sitting in there, her head resting on the pavement behind her, her eyes closed. She looked like she was quite content to sit there all day.
"Don't you think you should be taking care of my child?" he asked, taking the few steps down into the tub. He'd put the bathing suit on to avoid shocking her, but suddenly wished he hadn't. Seeing her blush, as she most certainly would have, would make his day.
Ashley sighed. "He's sleeping."
Barrett raised an eyebrow, moving to the seat across from her and fighting back a groan as the water from the tub soothed his aching muscles. He'd been tense all week as they'd emailed back and forth with the PR firm, trying to get someone out to help them with their image. Women in town were actually moving out of his way as he walked to the office from his car, as if they were afraid to even touch him.
The Daltons had always been the unspoken leaders of the community, and now they were pariahs. Something needed to be done. Fast.
"How will you know if he needs you?" Barrett asked, just to annoy her.
Ashley nodded her head toward the receiver for the baby monitor she'd brought out with her. "If he cries, that makes noise at me. Simple really." She didn't even open her eyes, just stayed as she was. This was the first time she'd been out of the house in days, and she was not about to let him ruin it for her.
"I haven't seen you for a couple of days," he tried again. He didn't know why he wanted to talk to her. She wasn't his type, and he didn't even like her. Of course, she looked good in her one piece bathing suit. He hadn't really noticed if she had curves before, because she'd been running around in a sweatshirt when she arrived. He was pleasantly surprised. Not that he planned to do anything about it, but at least she'd be nice to look at.
"Some girl came here to see Cage today," she told him, still not opening her eyes. She didn't know how often that kind of thing happened, but she planned to tell him she would not play butler for an endless parade of women.
Barrett raised an eyebrow, surprised. To his knowledge Cage hadn't brought a girl back to the house since high school. They all tried to keep their sexual activities away from the mansion out of respect for the ancestors who had worked so hard to build it. "Really?"
The
shock in his voice had Ashley sitting up. "Is that weird?"
He nodded. "Very. What did she look like?"
Ashley shrugged. "Long black hair. Brown eyes. Snooty. I swear, I was waiting for a bug to fly up her nose any second." She sighed. "And she had a huge suitcase with her."
Barrett blinked a couple of times. "That sounds like...but it couldn't be. He wouldn't!"
"Who?" Ashley asked, struggling to remember what the other woman had said her name was. She knew it was a city.
"Brooklyn Rivera." He said the name as if he wanted it to be anyone but her.
Ashley nodded, eyes wide. "That's her!"
Barrett let out a loud groan. "You've got to be kidding me! He needs to stop being so stupid about that woman!"
She frowned at him. "Who is she?"
"She went to school with us, and Cage thought she walked on water. I swear, he followed her everywhere like a lost puppy dog. Our dad, who was not much of a dad, actually offered to buy Cage a hooker to get his mind off Brooklyn. He had it that bad for her."
Ashley shook her head. "Wow. My dad would have grounded me and found a modern chastity belt."
Barrett laughed. "Really? Was he strict?"
"Oh yeah. He was a church deacon. I dated one boy in high school, and only three times, because he was so afraid of my father. The first time they met, my dad was cutting down trees in the backyard with a chainsaw, and he met him at the door with the chainsaw still running. Poor Brian. I think he almost wet his pants. And then Dad told him when I got home, he'd dust for fingerprints." She shook her head. "It was awful."
"I bet you were thrilled to have some sexual freedom at college."
"My roommate was my dad's best friend's daughter. What is this thing you speak of? Sexual freedom? Does that really exist for some people?"
He grinned. "Well, I sure had more than my share of it." Despite what the tabloids had said, he'd never been wild sexually, though. His only one night stand ever had been with MaryBeth, Baby Dalton's mama, and he'd been mad at the world. When she'd come on to him, he hadn't cared. He'd regretted it the next morning, of course, but she'd ended up pregnant. He'd used protection, but things could happen. Didn't matter. Dalton Dalton Dalton was his regardless.
"You know, I always wondered what it would be like to flit around and kiss anyone I pleased." She regretted the words as soon as they left her mouth. He didn't need to get ideas.
"Oh really?" He raised an eyebrow and moved across the hot tub to sit beside her, his arm resting across her shoulders.
"I already kissed you," she said wrinkling her nose. She pointed to the spot across the hot tub from her. "Go back where you came from."
"We only kissed once, and I was mad at you." His free hand came down to trace her cheek with one finger. "Let me show you what a real kiss feels like."
She looked at him in surprise. That had been the most intimate kiss of her life, and he didn't call it a real kiss? What would a real kiss from him be like then? She was almost afraid to find out. "That's not a good idea. I work for you."
"Technically, Baby Dalton is your boss. I'm just the boss's daddy." He cupped her face with both hands. "I'll leave my hands right here. No touching, just kissing. That work for you?"
"I—" Her words were cut off by his lips brushing hers, softly and ever-so-sweetly.
He was true to his word, his mouth capturing hers, his tongue slowly invading her mouth, but his hands never moved from her cheeks.
Ashley let out a soft moan, feeling the tension building deep inside her. So this was how a real kiss felt. Too much of this, and she'd be begging the man to take her to his bed. No wonder the Dalton men didn't have trouble with women.
She wrapped her arms around his neck, pressing her body against his chest. She needed to be closer to him.
A sound startled her from her focus on the kiss. It sounded a little like a baby crying. She jerked away. "Baby Dalton needs me!" She pulled away and climbed from the tub, grabbing the towel she'd laid across a lawn chair and running for the house.
Barrett watched her go, his eyes wide with surprise. Kissing her had been a lot more eye-opening than he'd expected. He shifted uncomfortably in the hot water, his swim trunks no longer big enough to contain his girth comfortably.
Finally, he got up and got out of the water, walking to the pool and plunging into the cold depths. The water wouldn't be warm enough to swim in for another month, but at least it was a quick way to calm down before going back to the house. He suddenly wanted to get to know his little nanny much better.
*****
Ashley rushed into her room, closing the door behind her. She would check the baby and see if she could leave him long enough to dress. She didn't want to hold him with her wet swimsuit on. He might catch a chill in the air conditioned house.
Baby Dalton looked up at her from his bassinet, not really angry, just wanting some attention. He kicked his feet and gurgled when he saw Ashley standing over him.
She laughed, patting his cheek. "I need five minutes to put some clothes on, and then I'm all yours, little man." She hurried from the room to change, wanting to get him up before he got too frustrated.
She pushed the kiss out of her mind. She had a job to do. That baby needed her a lot more than his daddy needed another notch on his bed post.
*****
When Barrett went back into the house, he found Ashley sitting in the rocking chair in her room feeding Baby Dalton. He stopped and watched the two of them together for a moment, liking seeing his son in her arms.
"I'm going to make dinner for the two of us tonight," Barrett told her. He'd done time in several restaurant kitchens as he worked his way through college, and though he didn't admit it to many, he loved to cook. He wanted to impress her and change her mind about him. Suddenly, it was the most important thing he could think of to do.
Ashley looked at him with surprise. "You can cook?"
He sighed. "I do have some skills."
She nodded. She supposed he had to be more than sex on a stick. Besides, she needed to talk to him about having a day off. She loved the baby, but working seven days a week just wasn't a possibility. He paid her well, but not that well.
She watched as he walked off, admiring his body in his swim trunks. Her daddy would kill her if he saw how she was looking at the man, but she was a grown woman. She was twenty five, and her most intense kiss had just taken place in a hot tub, and his hands had never left her cheeks. Looking never hurt anyone.
Barrett changed and rushed to the kitchen looking through the cupboards. It was already after five, and unless they wanted a really late meal, he didn't have time to fix a huge meal entirely from scratch, which would have been his first choice. Instead, he got out what he needed to make Alfredo sauce from scratch, and he'd use store bought fettuccini.
He had picked up some French bread on the way home, thinking he'd make something the next night. He could turn that into a nice garlic bread. Yes, he'd make it special.
Ashley played with the baby for a few minutes after she fed him. He was still so young that she had a very small window before he'd fall right back to sleep. She lay on her side on the bed, and grabbed one of his feet, munching his toes and making silly noises. He just watched her with wide eyes.
She could smell something delicious drifting through the air. She hadn't realized how hungry she was, but now her stomach was rumbling. "Smells like your daddy knows how to cook! And I'm very hungry, so that's a good thing!"
Carrying Baby Dalton back to the rocking chair, she sang him to sleep. She liked the idea of actually eating with two hands for a change. He'd wake up again for another feeding and a bath. He was just a good little sleeper, which was nice.
When she tucked him into his bed, she stopped in front of the mirror to check her appearance, something she rarely did. She'd been taught that inner beauty was the important thing, and that any man who couldn't see her for the beauty she was, didn't deserve her time or energy.
That didn't
mean she didn't want to look good for Barrett though. He made her feel things she'd never felt. While her aunt and father would be protesting loudly, she didn't see that as a bad thing.
She pulled the ponytail holder from her hair and ran a brush over her wild locks. She looked at the sweatshirt she was wearing and fought with herself. No, she wasn't going to change it. She wasn't going to start parading around in tight clothes for him.
Taking a deep breath she went out into the hallway and followed her nose to the kitchen. "Something smells delicious."
Barrett turned around, leaning a hip against the counter. He had a wooden spoon in his hand that had some sort of white sauce all over it. She walked over and trailed a finger along the sauce popping it into her mouth. "Mmm, Alfredo sauce. My favorite!"
He grinned. "Glad to hear it. Everything will be done in a couple of minutes."
She looked at the stove and saw shrimp sautéing in a pan and a big pot of noodles cooking. He had a smaller pot filled with his sauce that he was stirring. "I didn't realize I was hungry until I started to smell it. Then I put the baby to sleep as quick as I could." She grinned at him, thinking about how unbelievably sexy he looked standing in the kitchen with a wooden spoon in his hand. "Is there anything I can do to help?"
He shook his head. "Table's already set. I'll have the last of this done in just a second."
Ashley took her spot at the table, truly amazed at his cooking skill. He must have done more in his life than just have sex. She blushed when that thought popped into her head. All her life, she'd been told not to judge others, and here she was, repeatedly judging the man in front of her, just because he had a child out of wedlock. Many people had. It didn't make him a monster.
She watched him work, enjoying the way he moved. He was truly eye candy as her college friends would say. "Where did you learn to cook?"
The Nanny (The Fabulous Dalton Boys Book 1) Page 3