The Nanny Proposal

by Donna Clayton

  In a rush, she added, “I’m good-hearted…I’m trustworthy…I’m simple and straightforward.…”

  She flushed to the roots of her hair. As complicated as this mess was that she’d created, her life was turning into something that was the exact opposite of simple and straightforward.

  “Look.” Her gaze was beseeching, pleading, and she knew it. “I’m capable. And I’ll work hard. I’ll take good care of Joy. I will. Just give me a chance.”

  He studied her for a long, silent moment. Finally, he heaved a sigh. “I’m sorry. But until you can give me some references…”

  A lump rose up in Jane’s throat, and tears burned her eye sockets. She pressed her lips together tightly to keep her chin from trembling.

  A single, hot and desperate tear trailed slowly down her cheek. She couldn’t have stopped it if she’d tried.

  “Please don’t cry,” he said. “You said you could provide references. You can get them over the weekend. As soon as I look them over, we’ll discuss the job again. Next week.”

  She wasn’t normally a crier. She didn’t allow life to get the best of her. The road of her life had been rocky a time or two. Or three. However, she wasn’t the kind of person to wallow in self-pity. But she hated the idea of walking out Greg Hamilton’s door and leaving Joy behind just when she’d found the baby again.

  Oh, why hadn’t she just been up-front with him from the beginning?

  Because he’s the enemy, a stern voice intoned in her head.

  But he seemed too darned nice to be anyone’s enemy.

  This man is a stranger to you, the voice chided. Just as you are a stranger to him. Pricilla’s told you enough about him to let you know you cannot trust him with the truth.

  He had turned his back on Pricilla. He had refused to offer his daughter monetary support unless he was granted sole custody. Those were the facts. And a man who was that controlling would never allow Jane to care for Joy if he knew she was the sister of the woman who had given birth to his daughter.

  “Please.” Her whisper was husky and paper-dry to her own ears.

  “I’m sorry, honey.”

  He meant the nickname as a comfort, she knew. But all she felt was desolation, humiliation. And anger.

  She was angry with herself for getting into this mess. She was angry with herself for not standing up to Joy’s father.

  But what good would it do? None. Somehow, he’d gotten his hands on her niece. And until she found Pricilla, until she discovered whether or not Greg meant to keep Joy, she really couldn’t do anything but surrender to his whims and wishes.

  A shaky sigh expelled from her lips, and she nodded. “Okay,” she told him. “I’ll go.” She paused, one last spark of an idea coming into her head, an idea that would make it possible for her to have just a few more minutes with Joy. “But would you mind if I put her to bed? It wouldn’t take long. And then I’ll go.”

  Greg shook his head. “I don’t believe that would be wise. It’s an awful chore, anyway, what with all the tears and all. You go get your things together. And we’ll talk again. Next week.”

  She gave him a slow, resigned nod. And then she walked out of the baby’s bedroom.

  Chapter Three

  The baby’s cries continued for every one of the seventeen minutes it took Jane to slowly and reluctantly gather the clothes she’d unpacked earlier and tuck them neatly into her small carryall. She checked her watch every thirty seconds or so, mentally battling the urge to go and comfort her niece. The hallway bathroom was directly opposite Joy’s room, so when Jane went to retrieve her makeup case and personal effects from the marble countertop, the toddler’s sobbing was even more audible, more soul-wrenching.

  Jane was sure her heart was going to rip right in two. She couldn’t leave Joy. Not like this. Not with her crying and upset.

  Greg had mentioned that bedtime for Joy was a nightmare, Jane remembered on her way back toward her bedroom. But it didn’t have to be. Not if she were allowed to rock her niece to sleep.

  Finally, she could take it no longer. Tossing her small makeup case on the bed beside her suitcase, Jane turned around and headed back toward the baby’s room.

  She knocked on the door, and without waiting for an answer, she pushed her way into the room. Greg look flustered and helpless.

  “Here,” she said, hustling over to the two of them, “let me take care of this.” Maybe if she just bullied her way into helping him, he wouldn’t have a chance to reject her offer.

  She scooped Joy up with both her arms, and the baby immediately hugged her tight, stuck a pink thumb into her mouth and rested her head on Jane’s shoulder.

  All was quiet.

  Jane’s ploy worked. Greg’s expression clearly revealed that he’d been steamrollered. He sat in the rocker, blinking, gaping up at the two of them, obviously trying to figure out how the silence came to be.

  Motioning for him to rise with a sweeping movement of her free hand, Jane smiled softly at him.

  “It’ll be all right,” she said in a hushed tone. “Just give me a few minutes alone with her, okay?”

  She sat down in the rocking chair and cradled Joy in her arms. The baby sighed, her eyes locking onto Jane’s face. The love that swelled in Jane’s heart actually hurt. But the achy feeling was wonderful. She hadn’t rocked Joy to sleep in a week…a week that somehow felt like many months.

  Tearing her gaze from Joy’s, Jane looked up at Greg, who still seemed in a daze. Without a word, he stared at the two of them for a second or two. Then he turned on a silent heel and stole from the room.

  Later, after Joy had been sung to sleep and tucked snuggly into her crib, Jane found Greg sitting at the kitchen table, a mug of fragrant coffee hugged tight between his hands.

  “Can I get you some?” he offered, indicating the coffee with a nod.

  Jane shook her head. “I really shouldn’t stay. I have to find a place to sleep tonight. I guess I’ll go back to the hotel. I just hope they have a—”

  “No,” Greg interrupted. “Stay here. At least for tonight.”

  Something akin to giddy delight burst inside her like miniature fireworks. But she refused to allow her hopes to rise to too great a height.

  He poured her a cup of coffee and set it down in front of the chair adjacent to the one in which he’d been sitting. Then he retrieved the sugar bowl, cream pitcher and a spoon from the counter and set them on the table.

  “Sit down.” And when she hesitated, he said, “Please.”

  So she sat.

  “I just can’t get over it. How good you are with her, I mean.”

  He laced the fingers of both hands around his mug again, and Jane got the distinct impression it was a habit of which he wasn’t even aware.

  Feeling a bit awkward, Jane quietly quipped, “I guess it’s just a woman thing.”

  One corner of his mouth quirked. “Now, that’s not very politically correct, is it?”

  They shared a grin, a soft laugh, and the tenseness in him seemed to lessen.

  “Besides,” he continued, “it’s not just that you’re a woman. Joy cries often with Rachel, my office manager. She cries with the nurses in the office, too. But she just seems to be…I don’t know…more comfortable with you than she is with anyone else.” He stared into his mug, studying the steamy brown liquid. Murmuring almost to himself, he added, “Even her own mother.”

  Jane started, her spoon clanging against the side of the porcelain. His mention of Pricilla couldn’t have been more perfect. Finding her sister, discovering how Joy came to be here in Greg’s house was only a casual question away. All Jane had to do was ask about the obvious absence of Joy’s mother.

  But she remained silent. She couldn’t afford to ask, actually. Greg was right in the middle of commending Jane on her care of Joy. On the easy relationship she’d established with his baby girl in what, to him, was an amazingly short time. Jane didn’t want to ruin this moment by diverting his attention. Having the chance to re
main here with Joy took precedence over everything else. Even finding Pricilla.

  Suddenly, his intense green eyes were locked on her, reaching, digging, seeming to perceive everything about her. Jane grew nervous under his scrutiny.

  Finally, he asked, “Why is that?”

  She paused long enough to run her tongue over her lips. Maybe she should have diverted his attention. Her shoulder lifted in a merest of shrugs. “Some people just…click. Maybe your daughter and I are soul mates.”

  Again, one corner of his mouth tipped up in the most sexy half grin Jane had ever seen.

  “Soul mates is a term usually used to describe a special something between a woman and a man…not a woman and a child.”

  His voice was velvety, caressing, and the sound of it caused a shiver to cascade down her spine like a warm, tropical waterfall, and the small hairs at the back of her neck stood on end. Lord, but the man was attractive.

  Silently, she warned herself not to let the conversation veer off its path. She leaned against the chair back. “You know, maternal instinct can be an awesome force.” She smiled at him. Then she repeated, “Awesome. And some women have more than their fair share.”

  It was a belief on to which she’d always held fast. No matter what kind of miserable hand fate might have dealt her where motherhood was concerned.

  He released his laced grip on the mug and reached up to worry his chin between his index finger and thumb. It was obvious to her that something was churning in his head.

  Then he reached over and covered her hand with his palm, the warmth of his skin sending jolts of heat skittering up her arm, over every square inch of her skin. She wanted to pull away from him, knew she should, but she didn’t.

  “Listen,” he said at last, “why don’t you stay on? We’ll have two days to get to know each other. I’m not on call this weekend, so I don’t have to be back into the office until Monday, unless there’s an emergency. Tomorrow, you can call your previous employer and ask him to fax a reference to my office. And you can have your sister call me. I’d like to talk to her. About your experience taking care of her child.”

  Jane felt elated. But something kept her from showing it.

  “B-but what about your friends? What will they say? You made it clear that they disapprove of my being here looking after Joy.”

  She had to test him. See how determined he was to have her stay. She hated the idea of unpacking, of getting settled, only to be asked to leave again come morning after Greg’s other doctor friends had a chance to talk to him.

  “This is my life,” he said. “And Joy is my daughter. Sometimes a man just has to put his foot down and do what he feels is right.”

  The relief that flooded through her made her feel dizzy with happiness.

  “So, will you stay?”

  Trying not to smile too brightly, Jane said, “Of course, I will.”

  She would not like him, damn it! She wouldn’t allow herself to do such a thing.

  Jane woke up feeling grumpy on Sunday morning with these very thoughts running through her head.

  Saturday had been sunny. And although November had come in with the coldest temperatures Pennsylvania had seen in years, Greg and Jane had bundled Joy up and had driven to the nearest park to watch the ice skaters skim across the frozen, shallow pond. They had taken a brisk walk, pushing Joy in her stroller. And then they had stopped at a local eatery for some warm and spicy apple cider.

  There had been times during the day when Jane was struck with the notion that this was how families were meant to be. Laughing and playing. Just being together. And each time she’d made this connection, she’d paused, unable to avoid making a comparison to her own and her sister’s sorely lacking childhood.

  Once, as she was pondering this vast contrast, Greg had begun to stare at her. Of course, he hadn’t known what had been floating through her mind, but he had shown a surprisingly gentle concern about the sadness he’d evidently discerned in her eyes. Jane had simply smiled, waved away his apprehension and had run off to make a snow angel in the pitifully light dusting of snow. Joy didn’t seem to mind the lack of the frozen stuff. She giggled delightedly as Jane lay on the ground and waved her arms and legs wildly to make the angel’s wings and gown.

  Greg had showered attention on his daughter all day long. And he’d been polite and pleasant to Jane, as well. He was nothing like the mean and nasty ogre Jane had imagined him to be. He never even came close to the selfish and petty man Pricilla had described so many times while she had been pregnant with Joy.

  This behavior was confusing, Jane silently determined this Sunday morning as she kicked back the coverlet, swung her legs over the edge of the mattress and sat up. She combed her fingers though her tangled hair. But she knew he was not the good guy he was making himself out to be. And she refused to like him.

  She knew his secrets. She knew he’d refused to give Pricilla money or help of any kind unless he was given full custody of his child. Jane knew this to be the truth. Any man who tried to blackmail the mother of his baby in this manner did not have a good heart.

  No, he wasn’t a good guy. He couldn’t keep up the act forever. He would crack soon. Jane just knew he would. All she had to do was give him time. And everyone knew, to disreputable people, time was like a hefty length of rope. Give them enough of it and they would eventually hang themselves.

  On her way out of the bathroom, she met Greg in the hallway. He’d obviously showered and dressed, the luscious scent of his woodsy cologne wafting in the air, and the sight of his handsome face had her feeling even more grumpy than before.

  Why did her blood seem to heat up at the mere sight of him? Automatically, she reached up and clutched the facings of her satin bathrobe closer together, as if this action might somehow protect her from her body’s instinctive and uncontrollable reactions to him.

  Protection? The thought irritated her. She didn’t need protection from the likes of him.

  The protection you need is from yourself. The whispery words made her frown.

  “Morning.” His smile was like the brightest sunshine.

  Her frown deepened into a scowl and she grunted an unintelligible greeting, trying to slip past him.

  “Whoa, there.” He reached out, snagging the sleeve of her thin dressing gown in his fingers.

  Pausing, she cut her eyes up to him. She really wasn’t in the mood. Not when she felt so darned confused by this man.

  He chuckled, and Jane felt heat skitter in the pit of her belly. Darn. She hated feeling so out of control. This had never happened to her before. With anyone. Ever.

  “Not a morning person, huh?” he asked, humor tinting his silky tone. “It’s a good thing I’ve already brewed a pot of coffee. That should soothe the morning beast.”

  He was trying to make her smile. Make her laugh at herself. But she wouldn’t give him the satisfaction. Not after awaking to such disturbing thoughts. “Thanks. I’ll have a cup shortly. I’m going to get dressed first.”

  She made her way back to her room, sensing that he hadn’t yet moved from where he stood in the hallway behind her. His gaze was like a tap on her shoulder.

  When she reached her door, he called after her, “It’s a good thing I perked the double-dynamite brand. The caffeine content is guaranteed to kill the beast. Says so right on the label.” His brows rose, his sexy mouth widening in a grin as he added, “Or your money back.”

  A smile twisted her lips, despite her dark disposition. She sighed, reluctant to relinquish her hold on this gray mood. “I appreciate that,” she told him. “I’ll be right there.” Then she went into her room and closed the door.

  Have you lost your mind? she silently railed at herself.

  She couldn’t afford to be unpleasant to Greg. The situation she was in was too tenuous for her to be snippy and sullen, no matter what she thought of his behavior toward Pricilla. Her job as Joy’s nanny was still on the line, was still in its trial stages. She needed to be on her best beh
avior.

  Ah, secrets. They were awful little pests. Irritants that caused a person headaches she didn’t need. Burdens that caused a person to do things she wouldn’t normally do. She had her secrets. And Greg had his. Well, at least he thought he had his.

  The dreadful thing about secrets was that they could jump up and bite you on the butt if you weren’t careful. So the question that ran through Jane’s mind as she dressed was how to go about continuing to protect hers.

  She had a letter of recommendation that needed materializing. Not to mention the telephone call from her sister that Greg was waiting for. How was she going to pull this off?

  Yesterday, she’d been too busy with Greg and Joy in the park to even think about providing him with the things he’d requested. Evidently, he, too, had been too preoccupied to remember that her character needed vouching for. But the letter and the telephone call were weighing heavy on her mind now. And, heavens above, how she hated the idea of being forced to lie yet again. She was not a devious person. However, if she wanted to remain here with Joy, telling more lies was exactly what she was going to have to do.

  Jane dressed quickly in jeans and a sweater. She slipped her feet into warm socks and leather loafers and gave her face a cursory glance in the mirror. The coating of mascara she’d given her lashes earlier in the bathroom made her blue-gray eyes stand out a bit more than usual.

  She exhaled. She’d have to do. It wasn’t that she thought she was ugly. But she sure didn’t have the features of classic beauty. Like Pricilla.

  Suddenly, she squared her shoulders, and straightened her spine as she gazed at her image. Consternation bit into her brow. She’d never focused on her looks before. So why was she so concerned with what she looked like now? Not even wanting to acknowledge the query, let alone try to come up with an answer to it, she shoved the thought from her mind, turned away from the mirror and headed out the door.