The Nanny Proposal

Her gray-blue eyes were clouded. Intense. Desperate.

It didn’t take a medical degree to clearly see that she’d had at least one sleepless night. And from the look of the dark smudges on the porcelain skin under her eyes, she hadn’t slept well for days. Something deep inside him stirred.

Instinct had urged him to reach for her, hug her to him. Give her the comfort she so obviously needed. However, that would have been behavior of the most unprofessional kind. So he’d made an excuse out of studying the few facts he had about her. Height. Weight. Blood pressure. Temperature.

Truth was, he needed to put some space between them. To get a grip on himself. His reaction to Jane Dale had taken him completely by surprise.

He was sure his new attitude about women was to blame. He’d really been shaken when Pricilla had shown up with Joy. The past week with his daughter had been hard. Oh, boy, had it ever been! But being a father had also been like having a small piece of heaven dropped right into his lap.

Yet, it was the situation—his having made Pricilla pregnant over a year and a half ago and him without a clue that it had happened—that had totally altered his thinking where women were concerned. Had he really been so callous, so careless, that he could have made a woman pregnant and not known about it? His whole outlook on life had been shattered.

He gave the woman a surreptitious glance, wondering what on earth was troubling her. Only one way to find out. Straightening his spine, he turned to face her. “So what can I do for you today?”

“A physical.”

Her answer was rushed, her tone curt, and that made Greg all the more intrigued by this delicate-looking woman.

He automatically reached for his stethoscope. “Have you been feeling okay lately?”

“Oh, yes,” she assured him. “I’m not sick or anything. But I need a physical.” Almost as an afterthought, she quickly added, “For a job.”

“Ah, so you’re starting a new job.” A little doctor-patient dialogue might help him find out something about her, something about her life-style…her troubles.

“Well…” She hesitated. “I don’t have a job yet. I’m new in town. But I plan to be working soon. I’ve got to be. To pay for a place to live. The hotel where I’m staying isn’t cheap.”

He smiled. “Welcome to Philadelphia. What type of job are you looking for?”

As he spoke, he moved toward her with the metallic diaphragm of the stethoscope outstretched. And he was taken aback when she leaned away from him.

“I just need to take a quick listen to your heart and lungs,” he explained, hoping to put her at ease.

Those huge cloud-gray eyes of hers slid away from his gaze, but she remained still while he slipped the diaphragm between the facings of her blouse and pressed it to her chest.

Her skin was like warm satin against his fingertips, and the lacy edge of her bra had him averting his own gaze toward the far corner of the small cubicle.

What was the matter with him? He caught glimpses of people’s underclothing all day long. Seeing a bit of lace during an examination had never flustered him before. But he was sure flustered now. In fact, he was so disconcerted by his reaction to this woman that he hoped his hands didn’t begin to shake. This was crazy!

Occupy your mind. Let routine take over.

Conversation. That’s what he needed. Get lost in some small talk.

He realized then that she hadn’t answered his question regarding what kind of job she was seeking.

“I see you as…maybe…an elementary schoolteacher?”

Jane Dale actually smiled at his out-of-the-blue guess, and her whole face was transformed by the expression. The edges of her mouth softened. Even the anxiety in her gaze seemed to relent just a little.

She was pretty. In a natural kind of way. A natural beauty. That’s how Greg would describe her.

However, rather than taking note of her looks, he knew he should be focusing on her physical health. Period.

“I do love kids,” she said wistfully. “But I’m not a teacher.”

“A photographer, then,” he suggested. “Or a bank manager. A nurse. A cement truck driver?”

“A what?” There was laughter in her voice, despite whatever turmoil was plaguing her.

Greg thought he’d never heard a more beautiful sound. “Hey, this is a new millennium. Women can do and be whatever they want.”

Her smile faltered. “Well…if you say so.”

There it was again. That haunted expression shadowing those unusual gray-blue eyes.

Pressing his fingers to either side of her long, slender throat, he felt the left and right lobes of her thyroid gland, and at the same time he wondered what it would be like to press his lips against the silky length of her neck. The thought made his heart trip in his chest.

“So what do you want to be when you grow up,” he asked, his tone unwittingly dropping to a soft murmur as he forced the sexy image of him kissing her from his mind’s eye.

“Does that really matter? What I am is a plain old waitress.”

There’s nothing plain or old about you, Jane Dale. I just wish I could get into your head. Find out what it is that’s troubling you so.

The thoughts came out of nowhere and nearly made him step back away from her. But he quelled the reaction and made yet another silent vow to keep these very inappropriate thoughts at bay.

Being a doctor often meant more than simply finding a cure for his patient’s physical ills. Often, he had to delve into a person’s psyche. Get into the mind to try to discover what worries might be harrying a person and adding to their suffering.

What was so confusing about what he was experiencing at this moment was the strange mixture of intrigue, curiosity and…attraction. Yes, attraction.

He knew very well that his confusion was caused by the change in his attitude. Ever since Pricilla showed up on his doorstep with Joy, he’d been beating himself up for taking women for granted. It was this transformation in his thinking that had him so…mesmerized. So intrigued by Jane Dale and whatever was so obviously bothering her. That’s what was behind this discombobulated reaction he was experiencing.

“I’d like to be able to say that I have a teaching certificate,” she told him. “Or that I’m certified as a nurse. Or trained as a photographer.” She sighed. “But my only claim to fame is that I’m pretty good at slinging hash.”

Jane Dale had a sense of humor. Greg grinned. He liked the woman.

He found himself murmuring, “It’s too bad you’re not a Mary Poppins type.”

She went utterly still. “I beg your pardon?”

“Oh, you know, a governess. An au pair. A nanny.” Absently, Greg reached up and rubbed his fingers over his day’s growth of beard and thought about just how badly he needed help at home with Joy. “If you had experience with children, I just might have a job for you.”

Hell, he couldn’t say why he’d make such an offer. He didn’t even know this woman. But thoughts of Joy, of the sleepless nights he’d had, of the seemingly endless piles of baby clothes waiting at home to be laundered, added with Rachel’s complaint just a few minutes ago that she was an office manager and not a baby-sitter…all these things had him speaking before he really had time to think about what he was saying. Jane was a nice woman. A healthy woman. He’d just checked that out, hadn’t he? He smiled to himself. And he liked her. Besides that, she needed a job.

“Oh? You need someone…”

He chuckled. “But, of course, being a waitress, you’re not going to be interested in changing diapers and finding ways to make a baby girl eat strained peas.”

“A-a b-baby girl?”

Greg nodded. “I have a brand-new baby.” Then he said, “Well, not brand-new. Joy is ten months old. She’s cute as a button. And best of all, she’s got my dimples.” He smiled big and pointed to his cheeks.

Okay, so he was a proud daddy. Jane Dale would just have to understand.

“Y-you need a sitter?”

“Actually, I was thinking of live-in help. Like a—” he shrugged “—a nanny. But you probably wouldn’t be interested, seeing as how your experience is in food services.”

“Wait.” Her voice sounded small, almost uncertain. “I do have experience with children. I, um, I just came from living with my sister. She’s got a baby. And I handled, well, I handled most all of the child care. When I wasn’t working at my job at the restaurant, that is.”

Greg was amazed that she would even consider his suggestion. He hadn’t really expected anything to come of the offer.

“Wow. This is great.” He moistened his lips, reality sinking in. “Could I meet her? Your sister, I mean? Or could you at least supply some kind of…” He felt like a heel for asking, but couldn’t help himself. This was his daughter they were talking about. “Um, letter of recommendation?”

“Sure.”

He watched her throat convulse with what looked like a nervous swallow. Apprehension fairly pulsed from her. A blaring hint of just how badly she must need a job.

“I’ll get my sister to write a glowing recommendation. And—and I’ll even get her to stop in the next time she’s down this way.”

She frowned and nibbled on her bottom lip, and Greg had to drag his gaze from her mouth.

“Would that be sufficient?” she asked.

Something made him pause. He was rushing into this. And maybe he shouldn’t be. But for the first time since he’d come into the room and made this woman’s acquaintance, the shadows cleared from her gaze.

He’d lifted the worry from her shoulders. That made him feel pretty darned good, even if he did say so himself.

His head bobbed and he grinned at her. “That will be great.” He shook her hand, then caught her attention with raised brows. “Do you have any qualms about starting immediately? As in, this very second?”

Chapter Two

“You did what?”

Radcliff, the older of Greg’s two partners, stared at Greg, disbelief and disapproval darkening his countenance like a storm cloud.

Greg leaned his elbows on the counter of the office’s waiting room. All the patients were gone, the staff, too, and the partners had just happened to meet up at the end of this long day.

“I hired a nanny for Joy. What’s so bad about that?”

With his brows raised high, Sloan continued to censure Greg’s actions with a small shake of his head.

Travis Westcott, Greg’s other partner, stood just behind Sloan and obviously couldn’t find the words to even respond to this surprising turn of events.

“This woman might have made a good impression on you this morning, Greg,” Sloan said. “But she’s still a stranger. You know nothing about her. And you’re trusting her to care for your baby girl.”

Greg couldn’t tell if this last sentence was a statement or a question. And the doubt his friend tossed out affected him mightily. Maybe he had jumped into this too quickly.

The manner in which he’d become a father—so out of the blue—had Greg leaning on his buddies a great deal this past week. And Sloan and Travis had come through for him with plenty of advice and support. He respected their opinions. And it was clear that Sloan didn’t think very highly of his decision to hire Jane on the spot this morning.

“Well, I was pretty desperate for some help,” Greg said, knowing his words made him sound defensive. Why shouldn’t they? He was on the defensive. “You should have seen Joy’s eyes light up at the sight of Jane. It was like they were old friends or something. Joy took to Jane like a duck to water. It was amazing, I tell you.”

He shifted his weight onto the other foot. “I stopped in at the house unannounced today at lunch. And Jane was doing great with Joy. They were playing with blocks. Making little stacks and knocking them down in the middle of the living room floor. And Jane had already dived into that mountain of laundry. And the kitchen sink was free of dirty dishes for the first time all week. The beds were made. The toys picked up. And she’d done all this in just a couple of hours. When I get home, I just may discover that she’s given the whole apartment complex an overhaul.” His hollow laughter died quickly when his friends didn’t join in. His brow wrinkled in a pitiful frown. “Look, guys, I need the woman. I need her help. Try to understand.”

Travis and Sloan just looked at him, and Greg surrendered to the welling urge to try again to convince his friends that what he was doing was the right thing for him and his daughter.

“Look,” he said passionately, “you guys know that I was happy to take Joy from Pricilla. I want to be responsible for my actions. And I have every intention of being a good father to my daughter for the rest of my life.”

The stern-lipped disapproval on the other men’s faces softened.

“But single parents can’t do it alone,” he continued. “Sloan, as the father of triplets, you should know that. You get a sitter for the girls once every couple of weeks. You go out. You have a good time. And you have a housekeeper, too, to help you with the cooking and cleaning. I can’t do this alone.”

Greg hated the accusatory tone he used. He hated throwing up into Sloan’s face any fun the man might have. Sloan, the father of nearly teen triplet girls, was a widower—a widower who was still grieving almost two years after losing his wife. But Greg was being bested by the desperation he felt to make his friends comprehend his plight.

“Yes,” Sloan agreed quietly, “I do get a sitter every now and then. But only so that I can have a beer with you two after work. I never stay out late. And I always get home in plenty of time to tuck my girls into bed.”

Guilt solidified in the pit of Greg’s stomach. He hadn’t the right to make his friend feel the need to defend himself like this. But before he could apologize, he discovered Sloan had more to say.

“And I do have a housekeeper. With three pre-teens running rampant in my house, I’d be a lunatic not to.” Sloan ran his finger absently along the corner of the counter as if he was debating how to word what was on his mind. Finally, he said, “But there’s a big difference between having a housekeeper come in a few times a week and having live-in help. Especially when you just met this woman.” He raised his eyes, locking gazes with Greg. “I’m going to say something you’re not going to like.”

Instant wariness had Greg steeling himself.

His friend sighed. “Travis and I both know that this past week has been hard on you. Dealing with fatherhood has really thrown a monkey wrench into the cogs of your life. And we also realize that finding out about Joy…finding out that a casual affair you had made you a dad…has, ah—” he stammered for the first time “—done something radical to your thinking.”

“Now, wait just a minute—”

“This has to be said,” Travis softly interrupted, the step he took closer to Sloan clear evidence that he agreed with whatever revelation the man was about to make.

Sloan plowed ahead. “You’ve taken this woman into your home—”

“Her name’s Jane,” Greg said, his hackles rising. “Jane Dale.”

“Okay, Jane Dale.” This time when Sloan continued, his tone was gentler. “I think your hiring her has a great deal to do with what happened to you. Your thinking about women has become…confused. You think you can save this woman. This Jane. You found out she was needy. So you gave her a job and a place to live. You’re somehow trying to make up for your behavior in the past.”

This was the truth. Greg had known it. He’d thought that very thing himself this morning when he was examining Jane in his office, hadn’t he? But why did his motivation for hiring Jane sound so blasted twisted coming from someone else’s mouth?

“We want you to know,” Travis added, “that we don’t believe you’ve done anything to make up for. It’s not a crime to date women. Pricilla was a consenting adult, right? And it’s your habit to practice safe sex, right?” Lifting his hand, palm up, Travis said, “Mistakes happen. Yes, you have to take responsibility for your actions. And you’re doing that. But you don’t have to try to save the world.”

But I never called Pricilla, the silent lamentation screeched across Greg’s mind like fingernails on a blackboard. I never reached out to her afterward. If I had, I’d have found out about my daughter sooner. All I thought about was getting away from a bad situation. All I thought about was myself.

Shoving the thoughts aside, he decided not to allow himself to get sidetracked with these dark recriminations regarding what he should have done. He needed to stick to the topic at hand.

“B-but,” he stuttered lamely, “I’m not just helping Jane. She’s helping me, too.” Then he let his eyes slide from one friend to the other. “Do you guys really think I’m a nutcase for hiring her?”

Both men remained silent for a moment. Travis shifted his overstuffed briefcase from one hand to the other. Then leveled a steady gaze at Greg.

“My friend,” Travis said, “just think about what you’ve done, and how out of sorts it seems with your usual actions. When we wanted to hire a new nurse for the practice, you refused to let the woman near the patients until we had three letters of recommendation from her previous employers. Three. Like Sloan said, you don’t know this Jane Dale.” He bit his bottom lip a moment. Quietly, he pointed out, “This is your daughter we’re talking about. Your daughter.”

A cold shiver clawed its way up Greg’s spine as revelation struck. “And I’ve left her with a complete stranger all day. A woman I know nothing about.”

Without another word, Greg snatched up his valise and headed for the front door.

Jane could not believe her good fortune. She’d actually lied her way into a job as Joy’s nanny. She was once again with the light of her life. Nothing could have made her happier.

When she’d arrived in town, she’d had no idea what she meant to do other than to throw herself on Greg Hamilton’s mercy, beg him for information about where Pricilla and Joy might be. During the days since her sister had disappeared with the baby, Jane had called every friend Pricilla had ever talked about. When a week had passed with no word from her sister, Jane felt she simply couldn’t hang around the apartment any longer. She wasn’t eating. Wasn’t sleeping. Couldn’t keep her mind on her work. She’d reached the end of her rope. She simply had to find Joy. However, when Jane had gone to her boss to ask for some time off to search for her family, she’d been told that if she walked out the door, she’d be walking away from her job. For good.

Jane had walked out the door without a backward glance.

She’d been that desperate to find her niece. She’d been that desperate to somehow heal the aching hole the baby’s disappearance had left in her heart. In her soul. She’d been that desperate to put to rest the worry she’d felt for Joy’s welfare. Pricilla had proved time and again during the past ten months that she wasn’t a good mother. Heck, Pricilla hadn’t wanted Joy. Who knew what her sister might do? Jane had been terribly anxious for Joy’s well-being.

Once she’d left her job, Jane had visited all Pricilla’s friends, hoping against hope that one of them had lied about harboring her sister and niece. Jane had questioned each of them. None of them had known where Pricilla might be. A few of them had told Jane that surely Pricilla would show up. Eventually.

Jane couldn’t take that chance. Not with Joy’s health and safety at stake.

It might have sounded strange, but little Joy always seemed to feel discomfited by her own mother’s presence. The baby would fidget and cry and reach for Jane. Jane suspected the child sensed Pricilla’s lack of mothering instinct.

To be absolutely honest, Jane loved Joy as if she were her own daughter. She felt like Joy’s mother. She loved the child to distraction. And that’s why she was willing to give up everything in order to find her.

And she had!

Jane had hardly believed her ears when the doctor mentioned needing a nanny for his daughter. She’d nearly toppled right off the examining table onto the floor.

Images of her appointment with Dr. Greg Hamilton this morning swirled, unbidden, into her brain like the heated waters of some tropic flood, invading and filling every nook and cranny of her thoughts. His hands had been so warm, so gentle on her skin as he’d listened to her heartbeat. She’d been certain that her pulse had accelerated. And she’d been utterly mortified when the silky touch of his fingers brushing her chest had caused her nipples to bud to life. However, she’d noticed that his gaze had been averted, and for that she’d been terribly relieved. Even now, as she thought about the way his mahogany hair fell in thick waves, the way his forest-green eyes studied her with concern, her heartbeat pounded, her face flushed.

“Stop.” She whispered the word aloud and Joy looked up at her from where she sat on the floor, gnawing happily on a teething ring.

How Joy came to be in Greg’s care, Jane couldn’t be sure. But there could only be one answer. Pricilla had given the baby to Greg.

Jane had no idea if Pricilla planned to return for Joy. Or if her sister simply meant to give Greg all parental rights to the baby.

The mere idea made Jane tremble with fear. She couldn’t imagine her life without this baby in it. She just couldn’t.

The lies she’d told Greg were wrong. She’d known that even as the grand stories had come rushing from her. However, she had good cause. And she reached for that cause, a big smile spreading across her face.

“Are you ready for a bath?” Jane asked Joy.

Joy chuckled, the dimples in her creamy cheeks deepening. The baby was so happy with any small amount of attention she received. Joy was an angel. She was Jane’s angel. It was true that Jane hadn’t given birth to this little girl, but she couldn’t love the child more even if she had.

“Let’s go have a tubby,” Jane crooned.

She’d have to tell Greg the truth. She knew that. But she’d win his trust first. She’d show him that she was the mother for Joy that Pricilla simply didn’t have it in her to be.

As she gathered together a towel, the baby shampoo and a washcloth, she felt her whole abdomen seize with icy dread. She had no legal claim on Joy. She couldn’t fight Greg for custody. Not when she was only the baby’s aunt. No court of law would side with her. And it seemed that Pricilla had lost all interest in helping her raise Joy.

Hot tears blurred Jane’s vision as she plugged up the drain of the kitchen’s big porcelain sink and turned on the spigot. Joy reached up and tweaked Jane’s bottom lip between her chubby fingers, seeming to sense her melancholy mood.

“It’s okay,” Jane said. And she didn’t know whether her words were meant more to assure the baby or herself. Then she whispered, “It really is going to be okay.”

She was with Joy. And for the moment, that was going to have to be enough.

Joy was still splashing in the warm water of the sink when Jane heard Greg come in through the front door.

“Hello? Jane? Where are you?”

The frantic tone of the doctor’s voice had her frowning. Something was wrong. Something terrible. Goose bumps rose on her arms as some kind of intrinsic proof.

Leaving the baby unattended wasn’t an option, so she called out, “We’re in here. In the kitchen.”

He literally burst through the doorway.

“What?” The anxiety pulsing from him frightened Jane and she reached for Joy with both hands, pulling her from the sink and clutching the baby’s wet body to her, heedless of the water dribbling down her clothing. “What’s the matter?”

The sight of them seemed to assuage the apprehension that darkened his green eyes.

“I was just…worried.”

She didn’t like his tone. Or his frown. Or the way he was looking at her. This morning—and then again when he’d come home at lunchtime—he had been so confident in her, so at ease with the idea that she was caring for Joy, so relieved to have her help.

“You see,” he continued in a rush to explain his abrupt arrival, “I was feeling a little nervous. It’s been quite a while since lunch and…and this is your first day with Joy and all.”