Milllionaire Dad, Nanny Needed!

by Susan Meier

  “Oh, Dominic.” She walked over and put her hands on his lapels. “Joshua won’t suffer by knowing you. You’re wonderful, too.”

  She rose to her tiptoes and touched her lips to his. What started off, Dominic was sure, as a simple gesture of approval, turned into something hot and sweet very quickly. Their mouths melded together, their tongues began to twine, their bodies to mold together.

  But the very fact that the kiss was so sweet, so genuine, so wonderful, brought Dominic to his senses. This woman was too nice for him, and he needed to leave her alone.

  He pulled back and turned away. He walked out of the nursery before she had a chance to compose herself enough to stop him.

  Walking into Wedding Belles on Monday morning, Audra thought about that conversation with Dominic—the things that had led to a kiss that she should regret giving him, but didn’t.

  She couldn’t change his overwhelming sense that he was taking Peter’s place, but she did understand. Joshua was too young to have memories of Peter. In time, with Dominic taking over the role as daddy, it would be as if Peter had never existed.

  She entered the foyer, poised to say good-morning to Julie, but Julie wasn’t at her desk. The unexpected quiet of the usually bustling foyer allowed her to hear the low hum of activity in the other rooms.

  Walking back down the hall to the steps, she heard the delighted gasp of a bride as she saw her gown for the first time. She could picture Serena stepping back, enjoying the moment. Gowns were Serena’s art.

  Closer to the kitchen, she smelled the raspberry drizzle before she heard the groan of appreciation as a bride or a mother of the bride took her first taste of one of Natalie’s decadent wedding cake samples. That made her smile.

  But at the bottom of the steps, Audra paused. She smelled Callie’s flowers. Was surrounded by wedding photos that hung on the walls to give brides examples of what Regina could do with a camera.

  She was immersed in the beauty of artists dedicated to creating the perfect wedding. Was it any wonder she’d expected a proposal from David?

  She climbed the steps and walked to her office deep in thought. When she pushed open the door, Julie glanced up from the second desk. “Hey, good morning, Audra!”

  “Julie?”

  “I’m taking tomorrow off, so I’m getting a jump on invoices today.”

  “Oh. Great.” Audra shrugged out of her coat. “Got special plans?”

  Julie jerked her gaze away from the computer screen as if she were surprised by Audra’s question. “Hmm?”

  “Plans? Are you doing something special on your day off?”

  “Oh. Plans.” She shook her head. “No. Not really.” She returned her attention to the invoices on the desk. “I just want a few days to myself.”

  “Tell me about it.” As Audra lowered herself to her wonderful beige suede chair, she felt the familiar sense of control return. Work was what she knew. What she was good at. But as much as she loved being busy, she could see that adding her nanny job into the mix had drained her. “After the taxes are filed, I’m going somewhere.”

  Julie looked up. “Oh, yeah? Where?”

  Audra leaned her elbow on her desk and her chin on her closed fist. “I’m thinking somewhere tropical.”

  Julie mimicked her pose, elbow on her desk, chin on her fist, a faraway look in her eyes. “Somewhere so hot a bathing suit seems like too much clothing and where the ocean is so clear you can see to the bottom.”

  “Yes.”

  Even Audra heard the desperation in her own voice and wasn’t surprised when Julie laughed. “Girlfriend, I think you should be online making travel arrangements.”

  “Can’t.”

  “Why not! You sound like you’re going to snap.”

  Thanking God she had a legitimate excuse that kept her from having to explain her exhaustion, Audra said, “I’m still working on Wedding Belles’ income taxes.”

  “Oh, come on. Don’t tell me you can’t take a weekend off.”

  “I can’t.”

  “Surely one tax return can’t take that long—” Julie’s eyes widened, and then she gasped. “You’re moonlighting!”

  The red of embarrassment seeped into Audra’s cheeks. “Moonlighting?”

  “You’re doing taxes on the side! That’s why you’re so stressed.”

  Liking that excuse, Audra didn’t really confirm or deny it. “You know I have other clients.”

  “Audra, you’re just so on the ball.” Julie turned to the computer again, put her fingers on the keyboard and began inputting invoice information, though she didn’t stop talking. “I wish I were like you.”

  “I wish I were like you.” The words popped out of Audra’s mouth before she even knew they were forming. But once they were out, Audra didn’t want to take them back. “You’re so trusting. You’re so open. Anything to do with people is so easy for you.”

  Julie faced Audra, a shadow passing over her face, but before Audra really had a chance to analyze it, Julie grinned. “People are easy. Taxes are hard.”

  Audra laughed. “To a CPA taxes are easy and people are hard!”

  “Nah, you just have to figure out what makes a person tick and then work with that.”

  Audra tilted her head to one side. “What makes a person tick?”

  “For instance, you like logic. So if I need you to do something for me, I appeal to your sense of logic. Callie likes adventure, so when I need something from her I try to make it sound exciting.”

  Audra laughed. “And with Belle you appeal to her sense of family.”

  “Exactly.”

  Tapping her pencil on her desk blotter, Audra thought about Dominic. “What would you do with a guy who is raising his brother’s son and afraid the little boy will never know his dad?”

  At Julie’s confused frown, Audra added, “My mom works for Dominic Manelli.”

  “The guy you used to chase around at Christmas parties when you were a little girl?” Julie said, smiling at Audra. “You spilled those beans after your third margarita the one and only time you got truly drunk with us.”

  “I told you about Dominic?”

  “Just some basics about what a hottie he is.”

  “Well, now he’s a hottie with a baby to raise.”

  “And you care because?”

  “Because getting control of his family’s business was hard enough for him. When he also got custody of his brother’s son, he began to feel he was living his brother’s life.”

  “He doesn’t want the little boy?”

  “He does want the little boy. Every time they’re together I see that. But he’s grieving for his brother. He’s overwhelmed with the family business. And on top of that, he feels guilty for taking over his brother’s life. He knows that Joshua’s never going to remember his dad. And believes Peter deserves to have his son know him.”

  Julie’s face softened. “Wow.”

  “I don’t know how to get him around this or over it or through it.” And though it wasn’t part of her job as nanny, something inside her couldn’t stand to see Dominic so unhappy. Couldn’t stand that he didn’t see his own goodness because it was blocked by guilt.

  Julie shrugged. “Sometimes time is the only thing that gets a person through. Look at you. This is the first man I’ve heard you talk about since David. And that was almost a year ago.”

  Audra again felt her face redden. Dominic was the first guy she’d even talked about in a year? “It’s not like that.”

  Julie laughed. “Of course it is. You might not like that you’re interested in him, but you are.”

  Well, sure, she was “interested.” He was hot. Deep down inside, he was good. But he didn’t want anything permanent. He only wanted to have some fun with her.

  She frowned. Was that her only reason for not getting involved with him? Because it suddenly seemed odd that she was refusing to have fun. It was almost as if she was demanding a commitment before she even had a date.

  Wow. Was that
what she’d done with David? From the first date pressured him into getting serious?

  “Don’t forget my mother works for him,” Audra said, keeping her questions to herself and turning her attention back to the work on her desk, hoping the subject would drop.

  “So?”

  “What do you mean, ‘so?” ’

  “Audra, I’m not telling you to marry the guy. Lighten up. Have some fun.”

  Audra swallowed. Apparently she had a reputation for not having fun and demanding commitments.

  Julie typed a few things into the computer, then turned to Audra with another sunny smile. “You know, you could talk to Regina about doing some kind of pictorial thing.”

  “A what?”

  “Like a video scrapbook for this Dominic guy. You say he feels guilty because of taking over his brother’s life.” She caught Audra’s gaze. “Solving his business troubles is out of my league, but if you want to ease his guilt a bit about taking over as the baby’s new dad, have your mother gather some pictures, and let Regina put a video together. Then give the CD to Dominic.”

  Audra’s mouth dropped open slightly. “If the video was done properly, Joshua would always have his parents with him. Not his real flesh-and-blood parents, but enough of them through pictures and videos that he’d know them.”

  “Exactly.”

  “And though Dominic would function as Joshua’s real dad, he wouldn’t ‘replace’Peter.”

  “Nope.”

  “And he could stop feeling guilty.”

  “Yep.”

  Audra popped out of her seat. “Julie, you are a genius.”

  “Regina is the genius. You get her the pictures. She’ll make a CD that will give Joshua his parents, lessen Dominic’s sense that he’s replacing his brother and maybe free him up enough that you can swoop in and steal his heart.”

  “I don’t want to steal his heart,” Audra said automatically. But suddenly she wondered if that was true. If she stopped thinking in terms of commitment or marriage, Dominic was exactly the kind of guy she should date. Someone who would show her a good time. Someone she could relax with. Somebody she liked enough to really be herself.

  Hadn’t he been saying that all along?

  The following Saturday Dominic took Joshua outside for a walk around the grounds, making good on his promise to get the baby out of the house. Though he had expected Audra to join them, she breezily refused, telling him they would be fine and she needed a few minutes to get some work done.

  Stepping outside, technically into his own backyard, Dominic felt a little silly, but only two minutes down the path he really looked at his own property and was amazed by how much beauty surrounded him.

  “I really never was one for snow,” he told Joshua as they walked along a stone path. Sunlight glistened off the small drifts. The gardens were knee-deep in sparkling white snow. Benches coated with frosty white.

  “Now, your parents. They were the snow freaks. I like to ski, but they loved to ski.”

  He stopped. Pain twisted his heart. He could see Peter and Marsha waving from a lift, posing before shoving off and racing down a hill.

  “You’ll never know that. I’ll teach you to ski.” He laughed. “Probably badly because I’m not that good. Not like your parents.” Getting his mind off Peter and Marsha and what he couldn’t do, Dominic changed the subject. “What I can teach you is blackjack. I’m not going to be much help with schoolwork or baseball, but, kid, when you turn twenty-one, I will show you the time of your life.”

  Guilt invaded again. The only thing he could say for certain that he could do well was take his nephew to Vegas and teach him to gamble. He was about to do a second-rate job in a role Peter would have aced.

  Joshua slapped his cheeks.

  “I know. You want attention. I already figured out that if I think too much when I’m with you, you’ll slap me.”

  The baby giggled.

  Dominic laughed. God, he was a mess. Missing his brother. Wishing he could handle all his jobs as well as Peter would have. And alone.

  Except for Audra. Who was off-limits. Because she deserved more, better, than him. In fact, now that he was getting along so well with Joshua it was time to end the temptation.

  She hadn’t yet worked the full month, but that was okay. He could not only care for Joshua in a pinch, but he also knew what to look for in a new nanny. He could call a service this afternoon and have a temporary at his home by nightfall. Then he and Mary could begin looking for someone permanent.

  There was no sense delaying the inevitable. Audra should leave.

  CHAPTER NINE

  WHEN Dominic stepped into the foyer, Mary met him. “Let me take the little one.”

  “Where’s Audra?”

  “Waiting for you. She asked me to get Joshua out of his snowsuit and to direct you to go back to the entertainment room. She has something to show you.”

  “In the entertainment room?”

  “Hey, I’m just the messenger,” Mary said with a laugh, already starting up the winding stairway.

  Dominic sighed and headed down the hall. He supposed the entertainment room was as good a place as any to tell her he would be calling an agency and getting the ball rolling to hire a real nanny, freeing her. His heart jerked a bit. He’d be lonely without her. But the new nanny could do all the day-to-day things Joshua needed, and now that Dominic was slipping into his role of dad, he’d do his part, too. There was no sense in Audra staying any longer. And plenty of reason to get her away from him before he couldn’t resist temptation.

  When he reached the entrance of the entertainment room, he pushed open the double doors. His parents had created the small theater long before video tapes and DVDs had become popular. It was the one nod his dad had made toward family time. Though he hadn’t joined them often, he had come along for Christmas movies, played on a real movie screen.

  The reminder made Dominic shake his head as he walked into the room, past the pool tables and two rows of modified recliners that faced a large-screen high-definition television that had replaced the old white screen. It reminded him again of why he felt shaky about his parenting abilities. His dad had been a total wash as a father.

  Wearing comfortable jeans and a bulky red sweater, Audra stood out like a beacon in the butterscotch, tan and yellow room. “Hey.”

  “Hey.” He motioned around. “What’s up?”

  “I have something for you. Sit.” She waited for him to take the few steps that brought him to the recliner beside hers.

  She sat and he reluctantly followed suit.

  “Audra, there’s something we need to talk about.”

  “This won’t take long. We can talk as soon as we’re through with this.” She clicked the remote activating the television. “I know one of your biggest worries is that you’re taking Peter’s place in Joshua’s life.”

  He glanced at her, his gaze catching her blue eyes that were soft with sincerity. Pain shimmered around his heart. He was going to miss her. She was one of the sweetest, kindest people he had ever met. But that was exactly why he was all wrong for her.

  “I adored my brother. Joshua would have adored him, too. It’s not right that he never gets to meet his dad.”

  The door at the back of the room opened. Mary slipped inside and hustled down the aisle. Handing Joshua to Dominic, she said, “Here you go.”

  Audra smiled. “Thanks, Mom.”

  As Mary scurried out of the room, Audra clicked the remote again.

  Dominic suddenly realized he’d been set up. Especially when the wide screen before him displayed a picture of Marsha and Peter on their wedding day, waving out of the limo door. Peter looked strong, capable and incredibly happy. A beautiful bride in white satin and pearls, Marsha had been the picture-perfect mate for him.

  Pain seized Dominic’s heart, but he ignored it. “What’s this?” he asked as he adjusted Joshua on his lap.

  “Watch,” Audra said, then reached for his free hand. Peter’s ho
spital newborn photo flashed on the screen. Audra’s fingers squeezed Dominic’s as pictures of Peter as a baby, then a toddler, and then a grade-school child paraded across the screen. But the snap-shots quickly changed from those of a little boy to a toothless baby girl.

  He turned to Audra. “Marsha?”

  Audra nodded. “My mother contacted Marsha’s mom and got a boatload of pictures.”

  Dominic’s throat tightened. “She was a cute kid.”

  “Probably why Joshua is so adorable.”

  The chuckle that escaped Dominic was heavy with unshed tears. Joshua screeched with unhappiness. Dominic jostled him on his lap, whispering, “Hush.” Then he pointed at the screen. “That’s your mom and dad.”

  The baby glanced at the pictures on screen as he’d been directed, but just as quickly turned away and snuggled into Dominic’s chest.

  Dominic’s heart expanded with an amazing thought. Joshua hadn’t stopped fussing because of the two people on the screen. The baby had settled because he trusted Dominic.

  He looked up at the screen again, once again seeing Peter and Marsha, and his throat tightened. It was obscene that the lives of two people so happy, so in love, so filled with promise had been cut off. The thought tore at him as their baby nestled against Dominic’s chest, not even slightly interested in them. But for once Dominic wasn’t upset. He was here. To Joshua he was real. His parents weren’t even a memory. And maybe that was another thing Audra was trying to show him. Joshua might not have memories, but Dominic did. He remembered so many things about Marsha and Peter—and he had pictures.

  Still shots of Peter and Marsha at picnics and parties, boating and barbecuing, gave way to the video of their wedding, and suddenly the two quiet people from the photos had voices. Their laughter at the toast and happy tears as they said goodbye leaving for their honeymoon.

  “Peter was a softie,” Audra said, her words hushed and solemn.

  Dominic swallowed hard, unable to speak. He wanted to say so many things. Things Joshua should know. Things that would bridge the gap between the living and the dead. But he couldn’t speak. His grief was still raw, weeping. He recognized that Audra hadn’t merely made these tapes to help Joshua know his parents. She’d made them for Dominic, too. So he could see Peter as a real person, not a god of sorts.