The Maid, the Millionaire and the Baby

by Michelle Douglas

  CHAPTER TWO

  IMOGEN BOUNCED THE baby on her hip and winced at Jasper’s white-faced shock. A baby turning up on his doorstep was obviously the last thing he’d expected. Cool eyes darkened and a bitter resignation twisted his lips, making her heart thump. She fought an urge to go over and put her arm around him, to try and comfort him the way she did the baby.

  But why should he need comforting?

  She moistened her lips. ‘This is your nephew?’

  He nodded.

  She waited, but he didn’t offer anything else. ‘What’s his name?’

  ‘George.’

  It was too hard to look at Jasper, so she smiled at George instead. ‘Hello, gorgy Georgie!’

  Jasper swore. Not particularly badly, but with a venom that made both her and the baby jump. Okay. So he really hadn’t expected the arrival of this baby. And he was really unhappy about it.

  But little George stared at his uncle with wide fear-filled eyes and looked as if he was about to start crying again. So she bounced him gently and started singing, ‘I’m a little teapot.’

  The baby turned to her again and his face broke out into a big smile. He waved his hands and made lots of inarticulate noises. What an adorable bundle of chubby-cheeked cuteness!

  ‘Hey, you going to be a singer, little guy?’ She glanced at his uncle. ‘How old is he?’

  ‘Nine months.’ Jasper stared at her oddly. ‘You’re very good with him.’

  ‘Back in the real world I’m Auntie Immy to four of the cutest babies on the planet.’

  ‘I thought you were an only child?’

  Ah, so Aunt Katherine had told him a little about her, then. What other confidences had she shared? ‘An honorary aunt.’ She stuck her nose in the air. ‘Which everyone knows is the best kind.’

  He stared at her for a moment before one side of his mouth hooked up. Her heart stilled mid-beat, before pounding again with ferocious abandon. That half smile transformed him completely—the stern mouth curved with a sensual lilt that chased away some of the shadows in his eyes. It made her think of summer and fun and...ice cream. She fought to catch her breath. From the first moment she’d clapped eyes on Jasper, everything about him had screamed undeniable maleness. But now he was also unmistakably gorgeous.

  He sobered, the frown returning to his face, and she dragged her gaze away. Dear God, please don’t let him have misconstrued her scrutiny.

  She scuffed a toe against the ground and tried to hide a grimace. What was there to misconstrue? She’d been ogling him, which was seriously poor form. But it didn’t mean she had designs on him or anything, and—

  ‘Are you feeling all right, Ms Hartley?’

  She realised she’d scrunched her face up, and immediately set about un-scrunching it. ‘Thought I was going to sneeze.’

  He raised an eyebrow.

  ‘It didn’t seem like a good idea with an armful of baby,’ she improvised. She wanted—no, needed—him to stop looking at her in that way. She gestured to the series of bags that George’s minder had dropped to the doorstep. ‘I guess we should get these out of the sun.’ Without another word, she grabbed the baby capsule at her feet and strode through into Jasper’s impeccable living room.

  She grinned at the baby. ‘Oh, you’re going to mess this up perfectly, master George.’

  ‘How is he going to mess it up?’ Jasper said, coming in behind her. ‘Is he old enough to walk?’

  ‘Unlikely, though he might be crawling. Hey, little dude, are you speeding around yet?’ She sent Jasper a grin. ‘I’ll show you what I mean.’ She went to hand him George, but he took a physical step away, a look of horror speeding across his face.

  Whoa.

  She gulped down the words that pressed against the back of her throat. There was something going on here that she didn’t understand, and the last thing little George needed was for her to make it worse. So she instead pointed to the bags. ‘In one of those there are bound to be some toys and a baby blanket.’

  Without another word, he started rummaging and eventually found what she’d asked for. Handing her the blanket, he held a toy out in each hand—a plastic set of keys on a key ring in primary colours, and a plush bunny rabbit with long ears. With a squeal, George reached for the keys.

  Very carefully, Jasper handed them over.

  Imogen spread the blanket on the living room’s thick designer rug and then upended the rest of the contents of the bag across it.

  ‘What the—?’

  Setting a boomerang pillow in the middle of it all, she very gently settled George into its curve before pulling the toys closer. He threw the keys, waved his arms about and started making broom-broom noises.

  She reached for a toy car. ‘Is this what you’re after, little guy?’

  He grabbed it, immediately shoving one corner of it in his mouth.

  Imogen rose and gestured to the baby, the rug, and the assortment of toys. ‘Hey, presto, your living room isn’t quite so immaculate.’

  He eyed her carefully. ‘You sound as if you approve of the change.’

  ‘It’s very hard to disapprove of babies, Uncle Jasp—Mr Coleman,’ she amended in a rush, heat flushing through her cheeks.

  What on earth...? Just because there was a baby in the house didn’t mean she could dispense with normal boss-employee formality.

  He let her near slip pass, just continued to stare at her. Um...?

  Oh! She was supposed to be working. He was probably wondering what on earth she was still doing here lingering in his living room as if she owned it. Swallowing, she backed up a step. ‘I guess I better get back to work and—’

  ‘No!’

  She halted, mentally tutoring herself on the appropriate levels of deference due to an employer. ‘Sir?’

  ‘I have a proposition to put to you, Ms Hartley.’

  She glanced at baby George, who was happily banging a plastic hammer against his foot, and she started to laugh. ‘I just bet you do.’

  Damn! Couldn’t she maintain a semblance of polite dutifulness for even thirty seconds?

  He eyed the baby and then her. ‘You did say you wanted a promotion.’

  She’d been joking! And while it hadn’t been a joke that’d made him laugh, or even smile, she knew he hadn’t taken her seriously. ‘Is nanny a promotion?’

  ‘Absolutely. It comes with a higher pay grade, for a start.’

  She didn’t care about the money. The money wasn’t the reason she was here.

  ‘With all the associated security clearances.’

  Had he just made a joke? She grinned—partly in shock but mostly in delight. ‘Now that is an attractive fringe benefit.’

  ‘Is that a yes, then?’

  She glanced at the baby. It’d be way more fun to look after George, but it wasn’t why she was here.

  ‘You’re hesitating. May I ask why?’ He gestured to the baby. ‘You seem a natural. While I understand there may be some allure to dancing with vacuum cleaners, you did seem to enjoy singing nursery rhymes too.’

  She’d definitely rather look after George than dust and vacuum, but she’d promised her mother she’d find out what was troubling Aunt Katherine. Looking after a baby 24/7 could put a serious dent in the amount of time she could give to that.

  ‘Ms Hartley?’

  ‘Mr Coleman, I have a feeling that your idea of what being a nanny involves and my idea of the same are worlds apart.’

  He blinked.

  She nodded at the letter he held—the letter from his sister that he still hadn’t opened. ‘You don’t know how long George is here for. You don’t know what his mother’s wishes are and—’

  ‘How will our ideas about a nanny’s duties differ?’

  She eyed him uncertainly. ‘I think you’ll expect me to be on duty twenty-four hours a day, seven days
a week. And I’m sorry, but I’m not interested in working those kinds of hours. That’s not the reason I came to Tesoura. I’m here to spend some time with my aunt. And in my free time I plan to lap up all of the tropical gorgeousness that I can.’ Until she returned home, and her real life started. A thrill rippled through her at the thought...along with a growing thread of fear. ‘The former is going to prove difficult and the latter impossible with a baby in tow.’

  He tapped a finger against his lips. ‘Asking you to work those hours would be completely unreasonable.’ He said the words with such a deep regret that in other circumstances she might’ve laughed.

  She didn’t laugh. She edged towards the door before she weakened and did what he wanted—became a full-time carer to that gorgeous bundle of baby.

  ‘Where are you going?’

  His sharp tone pulled her to a halt. ‘To go and perform the duties you’re currently paying me for.’

  ‘You can’t leave me alone with the baby.’ Panic rippled across his face. ‘Please.’

  That please caught at her, tugged on all of her sympathies and completely baffled her. ‘Why not?’

  ‘I don’t know a single thing about babies.’

  George had been staring at them as if aware of the tension that had started to zing through the air, and he promptly burst into tears. She didn’t blame him. She swooped down and lifted him in her arms, patting his back as he snuffled against her neck. ‘Well, lesson number one is to not yell around them. It upsets them.’

  Aunt Katherine came into the room with her brisk step. ‘Goodness, I thought I heard a baby. So the cot and pram that were just delivered weren’t mistakes, then?’

  Jasper gave a curt shake of his head and gestured towards George. ‘Emily’s baby.’

  Her aunt’s eyes widened. ‘Well, now, that’s a turn up for the books.’ She moved across and clasped one of George’s hands. ‘Hello, little man, it’s nice to meet you. I knew your mummy, back in the days before you were born.’ She glanced back at Jasper. ‘Poor little tyke looks tired. How long is he here for?’

  He shook his head. ‘I don’t know.’

  Imogen refrained from pointing out that if he read his sister’s letter, they might get an answer to that particular question.

  Katherine pursed her lips. ‘Right.’

  Imogen glanced from one to the other, trying to make their relationship out. Katherine had been on the island for the past two years. Before that she’d worked for the Coleman family for seventeen years. Were they friends? She bit her lip. Were they lovers? The question disturbed her, though she couldn’t have said why. At forty-nine Katherine was still young, and she was certainly attractive. While Jasper would be what—mid-thirties? It didn’t seem outside the realm of possibility.

  Her aunt was keeping secrets. Every instinct Imogen had told her that. Was Jasper one of those secrets?

  If he were either a friend or a lover, though, he’d have given Katherine the week’s leave she’d requested at Christmastime.

  Her aunt’s laughter hurtled her back. ‘Don’t look at me like that, Jasper, because the answer is a big fat no. If I’d wanted to look after a baby, I’d have had one of my own.’

  That made Imogen smile. Katherine didn’t have a maternal bone in her body.

  ‘But—’

  ‘No buts,’ Katherine said without ceremony. She glanced at Imogen and then Jasper again, and her eyes started to gleam. ‘I’ll let you continue your negotiations with Imogen, shall I?’

  ‘What negotiations?’ he grumbled. ‘She’s as hard-headed as you.’

  Imogen surveyed her perplexing boss. For someone who’d been shocked into white-faced silence at the arrival of the baby, he seemed to have taken it into his stride now, seemed almost...resigned. Why—if he didn’t want the baby here—wasn’t he making arrangements to send the child back?

  Katherine turned and patted Imogen’s arm. In a low voice she said, ‘Get him to help with the baby,’ before disappearing into the kitchen.

  If she did what her aunt asked, would Katherine stop avoiding her and tell her what was wrong?

  ‘What did your aunt just say to you?’

  She did her best to smooth out her face. ‘Only that lunch is ready.’

  His eyes narrowed, but he didn’t call her on the lie. She pulled in a breath. ‘Mr Coleman, I think between the three of us we can work something out.’

  He widened his stance. ‘You heard your aunt—she’ll have nothing to do with him.’

  ‘She won’t change dirty nappies or bathe George. But she’ll give him a bottle and be happy to keep an eye on him when he’s napping.’

  ‘There’s one other thing you need to take into consideration, Ms Hartley, and that’s the fact that I’m not looking after that baby.’

  ‘Mr Coleman,’ she said very gently, ‘that’s not my problem. It’s yours.’

  * * *

  He knew he was being unreasonable—not to mention irrational—but he could barely check the panic coursing through him. It’d smashed through the walls he’d put up to contain it, and while part of him knew the panic was illogical, another part understood all too clearly that he had every reason to fear the consequences of his nephew’s visit.

  Aaron wanted revenge, and Jasper didn’t doubt that his brother-in-law would use George as a weapon—to hurt him or extort money from him. That was the best-case scenario he could come up with—that Aaron wanted money. And Jasper would give money—a lot of money—to keep this child safe.

  But he’d learned to not rely on best-case scenarios. With his luck in another day or two police would show up and arrest him for allegedly kidnapping the baby. And then he’d be charged, and there’d be court proceedings...again. The thought had exhaustion sweeping through him.

  Ms Hartley was right, though. This wasn’t her problem. It was his. He dropped to the edge of the nearest sofa.

  Focus.

  Fact number one: the baby was here now, and arrangements needed to be made for his care. Fact number two: he didn’t want the press getting wind of this—whatever this was. Instinct warned him it’d be wiser to scotch any rumours before they started. He had to keep this as quiet as possible, which meant the fewer people who knew, the better. Those were the important facts for the moment. He could worry about the rest later.

  ‘Can...can you just stay there with the baby while I make a phone call?’

  She frowned but nodded. Not giving her a chance to change her mind, he grabbed his phone and speed-dialled his assistant in Sydney. He needed information. ‘Evan, my sister has just had a nanny service deliver her baby to my house without warning.’

  Two seconds of silence greeted him before Evan said, ‘What do you need me to do?’

  ‘Can you find out what Emily and Aaron’s movements are at the moment? Discreetly.’

  ‘I’ll be in touch as soon as I find anything out.’

  ‘The sooner the better, please.’

  He tossed his phone to the coffee table and scratched a hand across his head. It was entirely unreasonable to ask Imogen to be on call with the baby all the hours of the day and night. It contravened every workplace agreement he subscribed to. It was unethical. He’d taken great pains to ensure his company’s workplace practices were above reproach. It was especially important now to continue in the same vein.

  Besides, neither Katherine nor Imogen were the kind of women to be browbeaten by a domineering boss. Not that he was domineering, but he wouldn’t be able to cajole either one of them into doing something they didn’t want to do. There was a part of him that was glad about that. It indicated that they had integrity. It was important right now to surround himself with people of integrity.

  The sofa dipped a little as Imogen sat beside him. ‘I want to pat your back much the same way as I am little George’s at the moment.’

  He met warm brown ey
es flecked with green and filled with sympathy. He straightened. ‘Please don’t.’ The thought of her touching him...

  He cut the thought off.

  George had nestled his head in against her shoulder and noisily sucked a dummy, while she rubbed slow, soothing circles to his back—lulling and hypnotic. It took a force of will to lift his gaze back to her face. Up this close he could see the light spattering of freckles across her nose.

  ‘Of course I’d not do anything so forward. But it’s obvious your nephew’s arrival has come as something of a shock.’

  Understatement of the century.

  ‘I think I should leave you in peace for the next hour or so to read your sister’s letter, and to take stock of the situation. I’ll keep this little guy with me for the present.’

  That was kind, but...

  ‘Wait,’ he said as she started to rise.

  She subsided back to the sofa. He let out a low breath. He wasn’t ready to read Emily’s letter yet. He wasn’t sure he’d be able to believe a single word it said. ‘You honestly believe that between the three of us, we’d be able to look after the baby?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘How would you see that working?’

  She shrugged, and her chin-length hair—a mass of dark curls—bounced and bobbed. ‘A little bit of give and take on all sides, I expect. Though probably mostly from yours.’

  He didn’t like the sound of that much. Still...needs must. ‘In what way?’

  ‘You’d need to cut down on some of your working hours to help out with George.’

  He’d expected that.

  ‘Mind you, that could be a good thing. Seems to me you work too hard anyway.’

  The moment the words left her mouth, she shot back in her seat. ‘I can’t believe I just said that. It was way too personal and completely out of line. I’m sorry.’

  She was holding his nephew, rubbing his back—and she spoke the truth—so he let it pass. He worked long hours because, like the swimming and the running, it helped to keep the demons at bay. Keeping busy kept him sane. For the duration of the baby’s stay he’d simply be busy helping look after him instead of wrestling with complicated computer code. It wouldn’t have to be any different from his current routine.