Nanny Next Door (9 page)

She felt paralyzed by indecision.

“So why is your heart pounding?” He reached up and caressed the pulse point at the base of her throat, which only made it beat faster. She tried to think of some clever comeback, but her mind had gone blank.

“No comment?” he asked.

She opened her mouth to say something, anything, but then he stroked her throat with the backs of his fingers and a sigh slipped out instead. His eyes locked on hers and she went limp all over.

“You don’t have the slightest clue how beautiful you are, do you?” he asked. “What did he do to make you so unsure of yourself?”

It was what he hadn’t done.

Sure, at first Jeff had been amazing. He’d showered her with gifts and affection. He’d made her feel that she was the most important thing in his entire world. But it hadn’t lasted. She wanted to believe that Daniel would be different, but experience had taught her otherwise.

“You’re going to make me prove it, aren’t you?” he asked, but the heat in his eyes told her he didn’t mind in the least.

Oh, please do, she thought, even though she was terrified. But Daniel was leaning in to kiss her, and she could feel herself being drawn closer, like a moth to a flame.

His lips hardly brushed hers, teasingly, and before she knew what she was doing her arms were around his neck, pulling him down.

It had to be the full moon, she rationalized, but then he deepened the kiss, and she stopped thinking altogether. She could only feel. The sensual rhythm of his tongue, the strength of his arms as they pressed her against his body, his beard stubble scratching her chin. Good Lord, did the man know how to kiss.

His hands slid slowly down her back to cup her behind, and when he held her tightly, there was no doubt that he wanted her just as much as she wanted him.

But was it really Daniel she wanted, or the idea of Daniel? Someone who would treat her well, be nice to her. Maybe she wasn’t ready to be with
anyone
yet. Especially when she knew this was an impossible, dead-end relationship.

What
was she
doing?

She broke the kiss and pushed gently at his chest.

“We need to stop doing that,” she said.

“Why?”

“Because I don’t date cops, and you don’t date single moms.”

“Who said anything about dating?” he asked with a wicked grin.

“Daniel, I’m serious.”

“So am I.”

She shot him a look, and when he realized she meant it, he sobered. “Why?”

She untangled herself from his arms and backed away. “Because I can’t do this. Not with you.”

“You can’t tell me you’re not attracted to me.”

“That doesn’t mean it’s a good idea. When it comes to relationships, we want very different things.”

“You want a commitment?”

Yes, and it was obvious by the edge to his tone, he didn’t. “I wasted fifteen years in a lousy relationship. I have a chance to start over now, and this time I refuse to compromise.” She took his hand. “The past few days have been great. You’ve been a wonderful friend. I don’t want to lose that.”

He squeezed her hand. “You won’t. And I didn’t mean to pressure you into anything.”

“How could you have known, with all the mixed signals I’ve been sending out? Maybe
I
didn’t even know.”

“But you do now.”

And it was because of him. He forced her to take a good hard look at her life. The way she had been wasting it. She’d been happier this past week, felt more like
herself,
than she had in years.

“Well, the message is clear this time,” he told her. “From now on, we’ll just be friends.”

He actually sounded disappointed, which made her feel good and rotten at the same time. What woman didn’t enjoy being wanted? And she wanted him, more than she had ever wanted a man before. She knew that sex with Daniel would be nothing short of thrilling.

But she wasn’t in it for the sex. At least, not entirely. She wanted someone kind and gentle and responsible. And safe. A man who was interested in going the long haul, and maybe having another baby. She wanted a real relationship.

Daniel wanted none of those things.

“This isn’t the beer talking, is it?” he asked.

“Not this time.” Maybe the beer made it easier to say the words, but the feelings were genuine.

So why did she feel so darned unsure of herself?

But she couldn’t get any job if she didn’t at least try. She pulled open the door and stepped inside. She figured she’d find an entire staff, but there was only one woman sitting at a desk doing something on a computer.

At the sound of the door opening, the woman looked up and Lacey knew she had to be Daniel’s sister. She was dark like Daniel and really pretty. She had long, glossy black hair pulled back in a ponytail that hung halfway down her back.

She smiled. “Hi, there, can I help you?”

“Hi,” Lacey said. “My mom is Sydney, your brother’s nanny, and she said that you said you were hiring.”

“You’re Lacey!” she said, rising to shake her hand. Her grip was so firm it actually hurt a bit. “Your mom said she would send you by. I thought maybe she forgot, or you found a job somewhere else.”

“Well, school just let out yesterday, and before that I had finals to study for.”

“Right! Of course. Your mom did mention that.” She shook her head and laughed. “I’d forget my head if it wasn’t attached. Come on in and grab a seat. I’ll get you an application.”

Lacey sat down while Angie rifled through a file cabinet. She seemed a little flighty, but super nice. She found what she was looking for and shoved the drawer closed with her hip. She handed the application to Lacey and gave her a pen.

“I don’t have much experience,” Lacey said, toying with the ring in her brow—the stupid thing still hurt like hell. “Just some babysitting. Is that okay?”

“Sure.” Angie propped her feet up on the desk. “We all have to start somewhere. Don’t even worry about that part. I just need your personal info and your social security number.”

Did that mean Angie was actually considering hiring her?

As Lacey was filling out the form, the door opened behind her, and a deep voice said, “Hey, Mom, we’re leaving to do the strip mall.”

Lacey turned, her eyes traveling way, way,
way
up to the face of the guy standing behind her, and for a second she could swear her heart actually stopped beating. This was Angie’s
kid?
Her mom had mentioned that Angie had a seventeen-year-old son, but for some reason, Lacey had pictured a scrawny, nerdy kid. There was nothing nerdy about this guy.

He was
totally smoking hot.

“Jordan, this is Lacey,” Angie said. “Her mom is April’s nanny.”

“Hey,” he said, barely even glancing at her. He looked a lot like his mom. And Daniel, too, and he was just as big. Definitely a jock. And though she didn’t usually go for the athletic type, she would make an exception. If she didn’t already have a boyfriend, that is.

Jordan took off his baseball cap and swabbed his sweaty forehead with the hem of his T-shirt, exposing a totally ripped and tanned stomach.

Shane?
Shane who?

Lacey realized that she was practically drooling and forced herself to look away.

“I got a call from the Petersons,” Angie told Jordan. “They’re throwing an engagement party for their son and they want to totally revamp their yard by next week.”

“Seriously?” Jordan said, sounding exasperated.

“Yeah, and they’re paying handsomely, so try to see how many people you can talk into working overtime. Tell them they’ll get time and a half.”

“I’ll see what I can do.” He turned, his heavy work boots thudding on the linoleum floor, and Lacey resisted the urge to check out his ass. She doubted it would be anything but perfect.

“How are you doing with that application?” Angie asked.

“Um, done, I think.”

Angie took the application and scanned it quickly. “Ever plant flowers or shrubs, do any landscaping?”

“I’ve helped my mom with the garden and she makes me cut the lawn.”

“You free this week, starting tomorrow?”

She nodded. “Sure.”

“Awesome! I’ll have Jordan pick you up on his way to the Petersons in the morning.”

“Does that mean I’m hired?”

Angie laughed. “Of course you’re hired. The job starts at minimum wage.”

“Okay.” Minimum wage was better than no wage.

“Do you own a pair of work boots?”

“I have hiking boots.”

“That’ll do. And wear jeans. It’s supposed to be close to ninety degrees tomorrow so bring lots of water.”

“Okay. Cool.” Lacey rose from her chair. “I better go. My boyfriend is waiting for me outside.”

“Don’t forget, 7:00 a.m.”

“I won’t. Thanks, Angie!”

Out in the parking lot Shane was lying on the hood of his Camaro smoking a cigarette, a pair of sunglasses shading his eyes. As she made her way to the car, she saw a man across the street and immediately recognized him as her dad’s creepy handyman. That was weird. She could have sworn she saw him outside the school two days ago when classes let out.

He didn’t look her way, or act as if he knew she was there, so she wrote it off as a coincidence.

“It’s about time,” Shane said as she approached, rolling to his feet. “How long does it take to fill out one stupid application?”

“It’s not stupid,” she snapped, her excitement instantly overshadowed by a wave of prickly irritation. He still didn’t take any of this job stuff seriously. “They hired me. I start tomorrow.”

Shane ground his cigarette into the pavement with his running shoe and opened the driver’s side door. “What am I supposed to do while you’re working?”

Like I care,
she thought, getting in the car. He was being such a jerk, maybe she didn’t want to see him anymore. Maybe it was time to find a new boyfriend. One who treated her with respect.

One who was tall, dark and
hot.

Shane started the car and peeled out of the parking lot. Lacey grabbed the edge of the seat to keep from tumbling over.

“I still don’t get why you need a job.”

“I told you a million times, I want a car.”

“So ask your dad to buy you one.”

She snapped her seat belt into place as he rounded another sharp turn at excessive speed. “I don’t want anything from him. I’ll earn it myself.”

He shrugged. “Hey, whatever. Just don’t expect me to sit around waiting.”

“Is that a threat?”

Shane didn’t understand. His parents practically trampled over each other to buy him everything he asked for. At first she had thought it was pretty cool dating a guy with the hottest car and money to burn, but he didn’t have any ambition.

Not that she was in the market for a marriage-material type of guy. But sometimes she got so bored with Shane she wanted to scream. He treated her as if she didn’t have a brain half the time—and seemed to like it that way!

Lacey thought about seeing Jordan in the morning, and got a squishy feeling in her stomach. “Lacey!”

“Huh?” She turned to Shane.

“I asked if you want to go to your house. It’s too hot to be outside.”

She shrugged. “Yeah, sure. Whatever.”

“Are you dense or something? I called your name three times and you didn’t even hear me.”

It was amazing how much he sounded like her dad just then. But she didn’t care.

“Sorry.” She turned her head and looked out the window, unable to suppress a smile. “Just thinking about my new job.”

Lately it had been a full-time job.

He got out of the cruiser and pushed through the door into the building. Angie was sitting at her desk and Jason Parkman, her “boyfriend,” sat perched on the edge of the desk in golf attire, leering at her bare legs.

Daniel was instantly on alert. Jason was too…
perfect.
His clothes were never wrinkled, his shoes never scuffed, and Daniel often wondered if he cut his prematurely salt-and-pepper hair on a weekly basis because it was always the exact same length. Even worse, the man was perpetually nice—nice to the point of being irritating. And though he never flaunted it, Daniel knew he came from a wealthy family, just like Richard.

Richard had been a nice guy, too, and possessed that same air of casual sophistication. He’d once told Daniel he fell in love with Angie’s quirky personality and admired her spunk and free spirit. But he’d had a dark side no one knew about. At least Angie had gotten a pretty fantastic kid out of the deal. And since Jordan only saw his dad a couple of times a year, Daniel had been the only consistent male role model he’d had.

As Daniel came through the door Angie looked up and flashed him a nervous smile. “Hey, Danny.”

“Hello, Daniel.” Jason slid off the desk, extending a hand to shake. Daniel gripped it firmly.

“Jason,” he said, being polite for Angie’s sake.

“How is Sydney today?” Angie asked with that teasing look he’d grown accustomed to this past week, since he was getting it from everyone, despite how many times he insisted he and Sydney were just friends.

“You wanted to see me?” he asked his sister.

“That’s my cue to leave,” Jason said, leaning over to kiss Angie, making Daniel glower behind his sunglasses. He could have the decency not to do that when Daniel was around.

“Bye, sweetie,” she said, watching him leave with a sappy, lovesick expression that made Daniel want to vomit. The man had her completely snowed.

“Bye, Daniel. See you next weekend.”

“Don’t even say it,” Angie said after he was gone.

“I didn’t say a word.”

“Yeah, but you want to. I just don’t get why you don’t like Jason.
Everyone
else likes him. Even Abbi, and she hates
all
men!”

Which was why it sucked being the only man left in a family full of gullible women.

“I’ve been seeing him for six months. When are you going to accept that he and I are serious? I love him.”

He would never accept that, because this relationship wasn’t going to last. “He said he would see me next weekend. What did he mean?”

Angie took a deep breath and blew it out. “Okay, now I don’t want you to get mad—”

Daniel groaned and rolled his eyes. When she started a conversation that way, he knew it would be bad. “What did you do?”

“Just listen,” Angie pleaded. “I probably told you that Jason has a house on the coast, off the cove in Stillwater.”

“Yes, you’ve told me.”

“Well, he’s invited the family to come stay for the weekend.”

“The
whole
family?”

“Mom can’t come because she has to work, but Beth and Dee will be there. And Jordan, of course. And I said you would come, too.”

“Angie—”

“Danny,
please.
It would mean so much to me. And I know you won’t believe it, but it will mean a lot to Jason, too. He loves me, and he knows how unhappy it makes me that you disapprove. He wants to give you a chance to get to know him.”

She got up from her chair and grabbed his hands. “Please, Danny? You know you owe me. Big-time.”

He hated it when she played the guilt card. She
had
been an enormous help when April had been dumped in his lap. He hadn’t had a clue what he needed to buy or what to feed her. Angie had saved his behind. And April’s.

“Pretty please,” she said. “Do this for me and I swear I’ll never ask another favor from you ever again.”

Well, they both knew that was crap. But this weekend obviously meant a lot to her. And maybe if he did go, it would be an opportunity to somehow to drive a wedge between her and Jason.

“How long would we be gone? Because if you recall I’ve taken an awful lot of time off work lately.”

“We would drive there Friday evening after work and come back Sunday afternoon.”

“When?”

“A week from this Friday.” She steepled her hands under her chin.
“Please.”

Daniel cursed under his breath. He knew he was going to regret this… “Fine, I’ll go.”

She squealed and threw her arms around his neck. “Thank you so much! You’re the best brother in the world!”

“All right, all right,” he said, disentangling himself.

“This is going to be so much fun! Dee is going to bring Jake and Beth is bringing Louis.”

“So everyone is bringing a date but me?”

Her smile evaporated. “Um, yeah. I guess so. I hadn’t really thought about that.”

Wonderful. So everyone would pair off and he’d be left with April and Jordan? Sounded like a blast.

“You can bring someone, too.”

“Who? I haven’t been on a date in over a month. I’m not seeing anyone.”

“Hey, why don’t you ask Sydney?”

“Sydney and I are
not
dating,” he snapped. And it had been hard as hell keeping his hands to himself the past few days. He didn’t know why but he found her…fascinating. The way she looked, the way she moved. The scent of her skin. He couldn’t stop thinking about touching her. And it was obvious she wanted him, too.

And a commitment.

What was it with women? After suffering through such a rotten marriage, why would she want to do that to herself again?

“Ask her anyway, as a friend. She can bring Lacey. That will give Jordan someone his own age to hang around with. And Sydney can help you with April.”

That actually wasn’t a bad idea. But would she agree? Maybe if he made it part of the job, and offered to pay her.

“Why aren’t you dating her, by the way?” Angie asked. “I’ve seen the way you look at her.”

“How do I look at her?”

“Like she’s a nasturtium, and you’re a bee looking to do some pollinating.”

“Nice,” he said, shaking his head, unable to suppress a laugh.

“And you two were going at it pretty hot and heavy on the dance floor Friday night.”

“I’m not dating her because she just wants to be friends.”

“That’s never stopped you before.”

“Yeah, well, this is different.” He could see Angie was waiting for him to elaborate. “She wants a real relationship.”

She gasped. “Oh, horrors! A
real
relationship?”

“I don’t want to hurt her.”

“Again, that’s never stopped you before.”

“Sydney is different. I…I like her. She deserves better than someone like me.”

“If you like her that much, have you considered the possibility that you might be ready to have a real relationship?” He glared at her, so she shrugged and said, “Or not.”

“I’m happy being single. Indefinitely.”

“And childless?”

The way she said it made Daniel feel like an ogre, when he was only doing what was best for April. “April will be better off with her real family. With two people to raise her. I can’t give her what she needs.”

“How’s the search going?”

Not well, unfortunately. “The P.I. called yesterday and said that he may have tracked down a cousin of Reanne’s in Utah. But to know for sure, he has to actually go there, and that will cost more than I can afford right now.”

“I would think that if Reanne had wanted this cousin to have April, she would have made sure that happened.”

“I want to exhaust all possibilities before I resort to adoption.”

Angie’s tight-lipped silence said she didn’t approve. Nor did his mom, or his other sisters. But if they were asked to take in a virtual stranger’s baby, he’d bet they’d react the exact same way.

And he wasn’t going to rehash his motivations all over again, because Angie wouldn’t listen anyway. “I have to go.”

“Let me know what Sydney says so I can tell Jason.”

She had better hope that Sydney agreed to go, and if she didn’t, Daniel was able to find someone else who would. Because he’d be damned if he was going by himself.