Maid for the Single Dad (7 page)

She stopped as Mac stepped into the room.

“Hey, don't stop talking on my account.”

Ellie sent Ava a pleading look. Ava's eyes narrowed shrewdly. “I was just on my way out the door.”

Lacy said, “Miss Ava has a date.”

Mac laughed.

Her gaze on Ellie, Ava said, “Yeah, I've gotta scoot. But we will continue this discussion later. Especially since you and I have to figure out a place to hold the Labor Day picnic for A Friend Indeed.” She glanced at Lacy then Mac, letting Ellie know exactly why she wasn't pursuing Ellie's non-dating status. “I'll see you tomorrow.”

Grateful Ava had taken the hint and didn't say any more, Ellie spun on Mac. “You're home early.”

“And you're using sauce from Fredrick's.”

She grimaced. “And meatballs. I forgot to take hamburger out of the freezer. Fredrick's food is always great. I thought if I tossed a salad and added freshly made spaghetti everybody would be happy.”

Mac grabbed an apple from the refrigerator and headed out of the kitchen. “That's fine. When you buy things like that just remember to keep the slip from the store. My accountant will reimburse you. I'll be in my office on a conference call. I should be done by six.”

“Great.”

Ellie breathed a sigh of relief when he was gone. Lacy went back to coloring. Henry slapped his chubby fist on the highchair tray.

Everything was back to normal except the beating of Ellie's heart. Mac always looked ridiculously sexy in his suits and ties, but today the blue shirt he'd worn had picked
up the color of his eyes and he looked amazing. With things so comfortable and companionable between them she'd nearly told him that. But she couldn't. Though she wasn't his permanent housekeeper, she was here in a housekeeping capacity. Forget about the fact that she was befriending his children and getting along with him. She was still a servant and she was going to have to do something about this crush of hers.

 

That night Mac waited until the kids were in bed before he began searching for Ellie. He hoped she hadn't decided to retreat to her room and was glad when he found her sitting on one of the two chaise lounges by the pool.

“Can we talk for a second?”

He asked his question before he walked around the chaise and saw she wasn't sitting in shorts and a T-shirt, having a glass of tea to unwind for the day. She wore a red one-piece bathing suit. Her damp, curling hair indicated she'd been in the pool. And the contented expression on her face reminded him of the expression of a woman after a particularly satisfying love-making session.

He swallowed as visions of satin sheets and palming smooth naked skin filled his brain. But before he could stutter and stammer or even run the hell away, Ellie glanced up from the book she was reading. “Sure. What do you want to talk about?”

Her bathing suit, though a sensual red that revealed the swell of her breasts, was very demure. So why it sent his pulse scrambling, Mac couldn't say. Still, he'd be a blathering idiot to ask her to slip into her cover-up. Instead, he locked his gaze on her face. “You're really doing a great job with the kids.”

“Thank you.”

“Actually, the reason I came looking for you is that I wanted to thank you for taking such good care of them.”

Ellie laughed. “I am the nanny.”

He shook his head. “You'd be surprised how many nannies think that just being in the same room with their charges is sufficient.” He drew in a breath, sneaked another peek at her swimsuit—the way the taut red material caressed her curves, particularly accenting her tiny waist—then forced his mind back on his purpose for being outside with her.

“You play with the kids. You're especially good for Lacy. I appreciate that.”

She ducked her head. “Well, you're welcome.”

Mac took a deep breath. Oh, Lord. He hoped he hadn't embarrassed her by looking at her. He was such an idiot. But in his defense she was so beautiful it was damned difficult not to stare.

But he was here on a mission. He'd only used wanting to thank her for taking such good care of his kids as his conversational in. Now that he'd gotten his full report from Phil, it was awkward knowing things about her that she didn't realize he'd been told. Somehow or another he had to get her to tell him about being a foster child, about leaving an abusive relationship, and her close friendship with Liz Harper, so he didn't have to worry that he'd slip up and reveal that he knew any or all of it someday.

He lowered himself to the chaise beside hers. Sitting sideways, so his feet were on the decorative tiles that made up the seating area around the pool, he dropped his clasped hands into the space between his knees. Focused on what he had to say, he ignored the tingling of his fingers. This close to her, every inch of his body jumped to red alert, but his fingers itched to touch her. And that was wrong. And he was an adult. He could ignore one simple attraction.

“You know, we've never really talked.”

She peeked at him. “About what?”

“About…you know…about your past.”

The confused expression on her face told him this wasn't going well at all. His attraction was making him sound like a starstruck teenager finally alone with his first crush. Which was ridiculous. He was a grown man who had been married. Hell, now that he was free again, he could have his pick of women. Why this one made him stutter was beyond him.

“Like an interview?”

He sucked in a breath and expelled it quickly. “More like a conversation.”

She sat up, shifting to sit sideways on her chaise, facing him. The knees of her perfect legs angled only inches away from his. They were so close he could touch her accidentally, satisfy his curiosity about whether her skin was as soft as it looked. But that would be wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong.

“You mean like you would fill me in on a bit of your past and I'd fill you in on a bit of mine?”

Thank God she was thinking like a normal, rational human being and kept the conversation going where he wanted it to go. He could handle telling her a bit of his past. After all, she probably should know some of it in order to properly care for the children.

“Yeah. We should share information about our pasts.”

“Okay. I'm really curious about the kids' mom.” She grimaced. “Not curious in a gossipy way. But curious in a way that helps me to care for them. I don't want to accidentally say something I shouldn't.”

Damn.

He'd hoped she'd start off by talking about herself. Instead she'd led with a question about him. This was what he got for being tongue-tied and stupid just because she was wearing a bathing suit.

“The children's mom left me because having a second child made her career difficult.”

Ellie gaped in horror. “Are you kidding?”

His sentiment exactly. “She left when she got pregnant, using the pregnancy months to reestablish herself so that when Henry was born, she could hand him off to me and jump back in again.”

“I don't care how liberated you rich people are—that stinks.”

He couldn't agree more. Oddly, talking about Pamela had given him back perspective about being attracted to Ellie. He knew the consequences of falling too hard for someone. He had to keep this professional. He couldn't talk in great detail about his ex-wife with a servant. He'd stick with the information she needed to know to do her job. “She visits the kids about once a month—”

Ellie bounced from her chaise indignantly. “Once a month!”

“And I spend the next week answering questions from Lacy. Consider yourself lucky that she's cancelled her visit for July or you would be too.”

“How nice of her to let you know in advance,” Ellie said sarcastically.

Mac laughed. “I'm sorry. Normally I don't find anything humorous about this situation. But your reaction is a bit funny.”

She paced to the pool then back to the side-by-side chaise lounges. Looking down at Mac, she said, “I volunteer for a charity called A Friend Indeed. We work with women with children who are forced to leave abusive homes. I've
seen the trauma of a child who misses a parent—even when that parent is abusive. Considering her probable feeling of abandonment, Lacy's fairly well-adjusted.”

Finally! The conversation had shifted, and in a brilliant way. Though talking about Lacy, she'd thrown in some pertinent information about herself. Now he could get everything out that he already knew and he could stop tiptoeing around her.

“Well, her mom's been gone eighteen months. Time is healing the wound, helping her adjust,” he said, then instantly turned the discussion back to Ellie. “So tell me about this charity. I don't think I've ever heard of them.”

“That's because the work they do is confidential.”

“I understand. Everything you tell me will be kept in strictest confidence. What, exactly, do they do?”

The mental debate she held about whether to trust him changed her expression at least twice. Finally, he said, “My family's charitable foundation is always looking for worthwhile causes, charities that actually go in the trenches and help people. We know how to be discreet.” He caught her gaze. “And we can be very generous. It might be beneficial to A Friend Indeed for you to tell me about them.”

Obviously seeing his point, she sucked in a breath and began to pace alongside the pool again. “The charity purchases homes and places abused women in them.”

“That's wonderful. How do the women who need help find them?”

“Social Services doesn't exactly recommend a woman leave her husband, but they do provide information about A Friend Indeed to women with kids in high-risk situations.”

He frowned. That was the second time she'd mentioned women with children. He knew Ellie had gone to A Friend
Indeed for help. Did this mean she had a child? By forcing her into working for him, was he keeping her away from her own kids?

“How did you get involved with them?”

“I found them.” She stopped pacing and faced him, as if suddenly realizing he'd led her to talk about herself, maybe even a part of her past that she wanted to keep hidden.

Feeling the game was up, he smiled sheepishly. “I told you about my wife.”

“Because I'm caring for your children. I need to know.”

“I'm employing you. Trusting you with those same children. I'd like to know about you.”

She licked her lips, drawing Mac's attention to them. Full and smooth, they all but begged a man to kiss her. Now that he'd gotten control of himself, he wouldn't let himself stare too long or want too much, but he couldn't believe a man would be so foolish as to have her and then mistreat her.

“I was…or wanted to be helped by A Friend Indeed.” She walked away again, toward the pool, keeping her back to him. “But the night I ran, when I got to the charity, they told me they only take women with kids. Liz happened to be with Ayleen, the group's leader, that night, and she offered me her couch.”

That answered his question about her having kids and also explained her fierce loyalty to Cain Nestor's wife.

“And she hired you?”

Ellie nodded then turned suddenly. “So what does your wife do for a living that's so important that she can only see her kids once a month?”

He stifled a sigh. She wasn't going to tell him about the pizza shop owner. Wasn't going to share her fears or the
struggle to get back to a good place in life. And both of those were too personal for him to push her into talking about them.

Of course, maybe if he answered a few more questions about Pamela, Ellie would answer a few more personal questions about her life.

He caught her gaze. “It's not what she does. It's where she lives. California.”

Ellie's pretty mouth dropped open. “California!” She blinked a few times then she said, “Oh, my gosh! She's on TV or something, isn't she?”

“Or something.”

His vague answer brought a spark of fire to Ellie's amber eyes. “Oh, I get it. I can tell you about me, but you're not going to give me any more information than you have to.”

He was tempted to debate that. Not only had he revealed much, much more than she had, but also she hadn't really told him about herself. Thanks to Phil, he knew there was more.
Lots
more. But he also understood what she was saying. Her admissions were difficult. His was merely embarrassing. Sad for his children, but not gut-wrenching, the way hers had been. He had to tell her everything, make himself vulnerable, if he wanted her to share with him.

“Okay. She was a movie star. She's trying to edge her way into a comeback.” He rose from his chaise and walked over to her. “Nothing seriously awful happened in our marriage. We fell out of love. She wanted her career back. She deserted her kids. But she didn't abuse them. She isn't one of Satan's minions. She's a selfish, narcissistic pain in the ass, but we survived her leaving. My big secret and the reason I don't talk about this is that we're sort of in hiding.”

“Sort of?”

He got close enough to smell her soft scent, tempting fate because they were in one of those odd positions of life. They were too attracted to be friends, but he had to trust her and she had to trust him if this situation was to work. They were both pushing. And his admissions, though less serious, weren't any easier than hers. So why not get a tiny reward? Why not step close to the fire?

“Mrs. Pomeroy was my nanny. She called me when this house came on the market and suggested that we hide in plain sight. Our neighbors know who we are. But when Pamela's movie comes out next month, the paparazzi who come looking for us will go first to the family mansion in Atlanta. By the time they realize we're not there and investigate where we've moved, the noise Pamela tries to create might be over. If it's not, we'll move again.”

Her big brown eyes captured his, holding his gaze. She studied him, as if trying to figure out if he were being honest. A few seconds stretched into a minute, and before common sense had time to remind him that they couldn't be this close for this long without resurrecting their chemistry, suddenly the air between them crackled with life and energy. His blood heated. His fingers itched to sink into her curling hair. His mouth longed to taste her. And though he knew nothing could ever come of this, he once again stepped closer to the fire.