The Millionaire's Nanny Arrangement

He could read through an applicant’s motives faster than gossip and Kelsey’s were nothing short of desperation.

Sympathetic feelings had no place in business dealings, but he had to admit to having some. The Kelsey he remembered was a nice girl, almost too good, if talk among the guys was to be trusted. But hiring a nanny who could also homeschool his daughter in the manner he considered best was business. Purely business. If Kelsey had those qualifications—and she did—those were the only things that mattered. However, her attitude toward child-rearing was far different than his. He knew what was best for his daughter and if he hired Kelsey, she’d have to do things his way.

But he didn’t want to hire her. She was pregnant. And a little too bossy. Nope, no way. No deal.

Then why couldn’t he get past the lines of tension around her soft mouth or the worry in those stunning eyes? Why did he keep sitting here beside her, listening to the soft drawl in her voice and wondering what it would be like to have her in his employ, in his house?

“What about your family?” Surely, she was returning to Dallas to be with caring family members. Someone who could keep a close eye on her until the baby came.

Pink tinged the crest of her cheekbones. Any makeup she might have worn was long gone by now, and a smattering of freckles popped through the clear, lovely skin. The color of her hair, the fascinating freckles were like sprinkles of colored sugar on a bowl of cream.

Good lord, when had he become a poet? He really was too tired.

“My dad and stepmother still live in Dallas,” Kelsey was saying, a little too stiffly. “But I’m not a charity case. I do not want to live off them or anyone else. I earn my way.”

Ryan realized he had insulted her somehow.

But in doing so, he’d discovered something important. For whatever reasons, Kelsey was down on her luck but she had a lot of pride. He’d been there, done that. Could completely relate. So much so that he admired the thrust of her chin and the glitter of pride in her eyes. She was stubborn, opinionated and pregnant. But she was also smart and qualified and someone he knew.

Mariah was right. They did need Kelsey Slater, boy hater. He’d interviewed half a dozen women already, but none that suited. On the other hand, none were pregnant former classmates who attracted him either. Everything in that sentence, other than the former classmate part, was not in Kelsey’s favor.

Still, he needed to concentrate on his work, especially right now with the Toliver takeover on the horizon. Something about Kelsey annoyed and worried him as much as it attracted him—but maybe that could actually work to his advantage. He was gone sixteen hours a day or more anyway. No need to even see her or her pretty mouth or pregnant belly.

He shivered at the last thought. That was the deal breaker right there.

But his schedule next week was now doubled due to this airport delay. Given his aversion to day-care centers, he needed someone reliable—and fast.

If not for the pregnancy, Kelsey Slater, boy hater could fill the bill very well.

In high school, she’d been friendly to him even though he’d never run in her social circle. Truth was, his social circle had been on the outer edges, the group of boys and girls just shy of trouble. He’d been their leader, though most of his after-hours were spent working and trying to keep his family afloat. With a father who wandered in and out of his life at odd intervals, the role of man of the house had fallen to him most of the time. He’d worked his butt off, too, all the while plotting his way out.

His jaw tightened. He’d made it. With the sweat of his brow, unholy hours and a few unholy alliances he wasn’t particularly proud of, he’d scratched his way to the top. By all that was good and right, he was going to stay there. Mariah would never know what it was like to come from the bottom of the barrel.

To keep his relentless work pace, he needed someone reliable to care for his daughter. He flicked another glance at the familiar woman with the blue-green eyes.

In his world, those who hesitated were lost. Deals could make or break on five minutes of indecision. He was known to make decisions quickly on gut instinct. So he swallowed down the last inner scream of protest and made one.

“You’re hired.”

Kelsey couldn’t believe her ears. A gift horse had arrived upon the scene, literally falling from the sky. Did this mean the fickle finger of fate had decided to smile on her for a change?

“But I can’t be.”

Annoyance flashed on chiseled features. “Are we going to have this argument again?”

“Don’t you want references? Shouldn’t we discuss expectations and duties, days off and salary? You could be hiring a serial killer to care for your daughter.” Shut up, Kelsey. Shut up!

Ryan raised a finger in silent command. Thank goodness. “You aren’t a stranger. You just told me you were totally trustworthy and I believe you. And I’m a very good judge of character, as is Mariah.”

Kelsey huffed. “Six-year-olds trust anyone with bubble gum or a puppy.”

No wonder lady luck enjoyed tormenting her. She made it so easy.

Mariah came to life, face alight. “Do you have a puppy?”

“No honey, I don’t.” Kelsey ran a hand down the child’s arm to soften the disappointment.

Mariah had just made her point. “See what I mean?” she said to Ryan.

“You cheated. Even I’m a sucker for puppies.”

She’d have to give him points for that. “But still, there are things to discuss.”

“We can evaluate references and execute a contract once we’re back in Dallas. If at that time the particulars don’t suit one of us, we can, as Mariah says, negotiate.”

And she knew who would come out on the short end of that stick. Her. Ryan had pulled himself out of poverty to multi-millionaire status. He hadn’t gotten to the top of the heap on those stunning looks alone.

“You need a job. I need a nanny. Let’s say a trial run. Thirty days. Deal or no deal?”

Who was she kidding? There was no way she could turn down his offer.

“Fine,” she said. In her desperate state, she should be kissing his feet in gratitude. For the past five months, she’d held herself together with pride and spunk and not much else. When the cars and the house, the boats and the business all went on the auction block to pay off debts left by her late husband, Kelsey had gone from being the Mercedes-driving wife of a successful yacht dealer to being pregnant, alone and dead broke.

She should be grateful instead of argumentative. But she hated feeling obligated and something about Ryan Storm irritated her. Rubbing at tired eyes, she fought back tears. Resentment and despair welled in her. The baby reacted to her distress and fluttered around like an oversized butterfly. She laid a hand to the mound beneath her heavy sweater.

As if she’d slapped him, Ryan jerked, riveting his attention on her stomach. “Are you okay?”

“Sure.” If she’d survived the last few months, she could survive being stranded in an airport.

Ryan swallowed. Kelsey wondered if the question had been deeper than a polite inquiry.

“Good. Good,” he said. “You don’t look fine. You look dead on your feet and stressed to the max.”

“Thanks.” Roadkill. She looked like roadkill.

“No insult meant.”

“None taken.” Yeah right.

“Mind if I ask what happened to your husband?”

The nightmare that had begun five months ago was never far from her thoughts. If she was going to work for this man, he needed to know.

She shook her head setting her hair into motion. It felt heavy and greasy against her scalp. What she wouldn’t give for a shower and shampoo and a comfy bed.

“Mark was sailing a yacht to its new owner in Greece when something went wrong. An explo

sion of some kind. He was lost at sea.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Thank you.” She never knew what else to say, though her answer sounded so unfeeling. It wasn’t that she didn’t feel terrible about Mark’s death. It was that she was still so angry and bewildered at what he’d done.

“He was never found?”

One of the reasons the insurance company had refused to pay. No body, no money. A morbid prospect, she thought. “No. The investigation is ongoing but the Coast Guard insists no one could have survived the explosion and subsequent fire. There was nothing left of the yacht other than debris.”

She’d heard the story and repeated the words so often to investigators, insurance adjusters, reporters and friends, but they still held that element of horror. No matter how she felt about Mark, she’d never wanted him dead.

The marriage had been rocky for so long that Kelsey was embarrassed to play the grieving widow. Still, hadn’t she gotten pregnant in an attempt to draw them closer together? Foolhardy, she knew now because, instead of fixing the problem she’d made things worse. Mark had not been happy to add, as he called it, the financial burden of rearing a child to his busy life. She’d thought the notion ridiculous given how well they were doing financially. Or so she had thought.

Only after the accident did she discover some important details Mark had forgotten to mention. The business was in deep trouble. The money he took with him was all they had. He’d also put Mason Marine and all the accounts payable in her name. At first, she’d thought the action was sweet and loving—until reality dawned. Her husband had not left her the business as a means to care for her and their baby. He’d left her holding the bag.

A warm, masculine hand pressed against hers. Both Ryan and Mariah were studying her with concern. “Hey. You went a million miles away. Sorry to bring up such a painful topic.”

She’d expected compassion from the child, but from Ryan? The man was as much as an enigma now as he’d been in high school.

How did she explain to him, or to anyone, that the greatest pain was not in losing a husband but in the knowledge that her husband hadn’t really cared for her, or their child, at all?

She didn’t. Her personal pain was her own.

“It’s behind me now.” A total lie. A mountain of debt and a string of bill collectors snapped at her heels like Doberman pinschers. Somehow, some way, she’d repay all that was owed.

He hitched an eyebrow in the direction of the soccer ball around her middle. “Not everything.”

For the first time since Ryan Storm had stormed into her life in the middle of a snow storm, Kelsey felt a sense of calm at the mention of her pregnancy. However inconvenient the timing might be, her baby was the one joy, the one good thing, left in her life.

She stroked a protective hand over her belly. “Yes, there is the baby.”

And she’d do whatever it took to make a good life for her unborn child.

“So is it a deal? You’ll come to work for me? I promise you’ll be well-compensated.”

Well-compensated. She could deal with that. Here was a chance to save for the future, to pay off debts, to start over again for the sake of her child. What else could she say?

“A thirty-day trial?”

Ryan’s smile was more dazzling than the Texas sun at high noon. He offered a hand. As his long, competent fingers encircled her slender hand, Kelsey experienced an array of emotions. Relief. Safety. And oh dear, a zing of physical attraction too strong to be ignored.

Ryan must have felt it, too, for he didn’t turn loose of her hand for the longest time. Instead, he stared down at her with an intense and probing expression. Butterflies that had nothing to do with the baby fluttered in Kelsey’s belly.

“Daddy, Kelsey, look,” Mariah’s little voice interrupted. The adults dropped their hands as if they’d held hot potatoes and turned toward the little girl. She pointed at the windows. “The snow stopped.”

“So it has.” As though nothing had passed between them, Ryan turned away from Kelsey and got up for a closer look.

Maybe the moment had been her wild imagination. Maybe it had been her fluxuating and unpredictable hormones. But she didn’t think so.

The flutter intensified and she thought of her baby. This job was the best thing for him or her. And since Kelsey had no intention of ever getting romantic with a success-oriented workaholic like Ryan, she was perfectly safe. With that firmly in mind, she rose to follow Ryan and Mariah to the windows. Her cramped legs and back thanked her.

“The cloud cover seems to be breaking,” Ryan was saying.

“It is, Daddy. See right there?” Nose pressed to the window, Mariah turned her face toward her father. Her expression was sweet and confident. “Just like I told you before. Everything will work out fine. And it has. We found Kelsey, and now the storm has stopped. Things are looking up.”

Kelsey caught Ryan’s eye and both adults chuckled.

Yes, indeed. Maybe things were finally looking up.

Even if Ryan Storm was a little too attractive.

CHAPTER THREE

MARIAH HAD BEEN RIGHT. Planes began to fly again in a matter of hours. Once their seats were secured, the newly formed trio trudged to an eatery for a late-night snack and a round of general conversation. In that hour, Kelsey began to feel far more comfortable with the idea of working for Ryan and tutoring Mariah. The child desperately needed a woman’s influence and nurturing. And if there was one thing Kelsey could do, it was nurture.

The first sign of a snag came when Ryan said, “Before we board, I’ll call ahead to be sure a car is available to take us home from the airport.”

“I can get a cab.” She poked a fork into her fruit cup, spearing a piece of melon. It was the only thing on the menu she could afford.

Ryan, who’d ordered a full country breakfast, paused in mid-bite, frown puzzled. The result of not shaving in a while framed his mouth in such a sexy manner, Kelsey could hardly stop staring.

“Why would you need to do that?”

“It beats walking.”

“You aren’t walking. You’re going home with us.” The words were a statement of fact that brooked no argument.

Kelsey gulped, swallowing a whole grape. “You’re kidding, right?”

“I hired you because I need you now. Tonight. Tomorrow.”

The choice of words, coupled with his manly, scruffy look, brought to mind all kinds of possibilities. Troubling possibilities.

“I wasn’t expecting to begin work quite this soon.”

Nonchalantly, he applied grape jelly to his toast. The sound of knife against toast scraped against her nerves. “That was the deal.”

Not the way Kelsey remembered. She shook her head. “I’d be a lunatic to go home with a strange man in the middle of the night.”

“I’m not a stranger, Kelsey. You know me, and you have my assurance. You are perfectly safe with me and Mariah.” He wiped a bit of ketchup from Mariah’s chin. “Right, peanut?”

Mouth full of hamburger, Mariah batted her long-lashed eyes and bobbed her head at Kelsey in reassurance.

The little girl was such a sweetheart. Kelsey patted her hand and winked.

Though she’d been away from Dallas since her marriage four years ago, she still kept up with the local news. Ryan made the business news quite often and was known as a straight arrow who didn’t party, much to the dismay of Dallas society. And he had a child, for goodness sake.

“But my family is expecting me.” Sort of.

“Call them.”

“At this time of night?”

He gestured with his fork. “Either way, you’ll wake them.”

The man had an answer for every argument. “Now I understand how you became successful at such an early age.”

He grinned. Her stomach dipped so that she almost backed out of the entire deal.

But in the end, her desperate need for a job and a place to live, along with Ryan’s quiet insistence, won out and she agreed to go straight to his home. As a last-ditch effort at common sense, she’d phoned her father to let him know her where-abouts. He’d been none too happy about the late call, so she’d been brief, promising to drop by as soon as she was settled in her new job. Jim Slater had mumbled, “Fine,” and hung up. It was no more than Kelsey had expected. Relations had been strained since her father remarried so soon after her mother’s death.

Still, she felt strange following Ryan Storm around the airport, through the terminal and into the waiting limo.

The sensation didn’t improve upon arriving at his upscale, two-story town house in east Dallas.

Ryan, on the other hand, behaved as though he brought strange women home all the time. The thought gave Kelsey pause. Maybe he did. Maybe he was just ultra sneaky about it.

With Mariah draped across his shoulder asleep, he nudged his chin toward the stairs. “Second door on the right.”

Kelsey went ahead of him, flipped on the light and stripped the covers back on the canopy bed in preparation for the slumbering child. Ryan smiled his thanks and slid his small, limp load between the pink princess sheets.

“Shall I undress her?” Kelsey asked but didn’t wait for an answer. She reached for the child’s shoes while Ryan stripped away her coat.

“Good enough for tonight,” he said quietly. “Let her sleep.”

In the hush, she watched him tuck the cover beneath the sleeping beauty before placing a kiss on her forehead. Mariah squirmed, mumbled and then flopped over, burrowing deeper into the soft, inviting bed.

Tenderness crept into Ryan’s exhausted face. He stood beside the bed, looking down at his child for several long, sweet seconds. Emotion fluttered beneath Kelsey’s ribcage as she wondered about the man who was never home but who appeared to adore his child. Was he simply unaware of how much his child needed him? Or was he, like Mark, more concerned with success than with his family?

She also wondered about Mariah’s mother. What kind of tragedy had taken her at such a young age? What kind of woman was she that a man like Ryan Storm had married her? Did he still love her? How well had Mariah dealt with her mother’s loss?

Straightening, Ryan snapped off the bedside lamp, plunging the room into semidarkness. The resulting atmosphere was softly intimate, too much so. With a tilt of his head Ryan motioned toward the door. They brushed arms in the doorway and Ryan stepped back, letting her pass first. The air between them trembled with the same something she’d felt in the airport when their hands had touched.

“This way,” he murmured, gesturing to the left. “Your room will be this one next to Mariah’s if it suits.”

“I’m sure it will.” Right now, she just wanted someplace to lie down and put her feet up. And a shower. Oh, a shower would be heaven.

“I’ll bring your bags up in a minute.”

“I can get them.”

As if she’d threatened to burn the house down, Ryan spun around, jaw tight, eyes blazing. His mood had gone from tender to angry.

“You will not carry bags upstairs. You will not even carry grocery bags from the car to the house. Nor will you lift anything heavy while in my employ. Ever. Understand?”

Kelsey took one step back, surprised at the intensity of the remark. Was this guy moody or what?

“I’d be pretty stupid not to,” she snapped. “Although I see no need for you to be cranky about it.”

Ryan said nothing else, but his odd mood quivered in the air. Pushing a door open, he motioned her inside. Still miffed by his sharp comments, she brushed past him, but the move was too close for comfort. As in the airport, she caught the scent of expensive male cologne, glanced the surprisingly muscled arm stretched flat across the raise-paneled door. He still hadn’t shaved and his shirt—unbuttoned at the collar, his tie long ago stuffed into a pocket—was coming untucked. The result was bedroom sexy and deliciously rumpled.

Darn. There she went again.

Living under the same roof with a man who caused her mind to think such things might not be such a smart move. But it was done. At least for thirty days.

“It’s lovely,” she said when they entered the bedroom. A small sitting area, complete with desk, chair and television opened into a bed and bath. Sleek, elegant and modern with mint-green walls and cream trim, it was generically right for a guest or an employee of status.

The room was as beautiful as any she’d ever seen, but Kelsey felt oddly disappointed. A lump of loneliness rose in her throat. She and her baby had no home to call their own. All her dreams of decorating a nursery, buying the perfect furniture and giving her baby everything tormented her. The only thing she could give her baby now was love.

She must have looked as lost as she felt because Ryan touched her shoulder. She glanced up, saw the mood had changed again. “You’re dead on your feet. Go to bed.”

At the unexpected kindness, tears burned the back of her eyes. “I have to take a shower first.”

He remained there, staring at her for several seconds. “You’ll be okay here?”

She swallowed back the troublesome emotions and forced a cheeky grin. “Sure I will. You promised not to murder me.”

The corner of Ryan’s mouth quirked. “If you need anything tonight—”

“I won’t. Go to bed, Ryan. You’re as tired as I am.” And if he stood around any longer, she might cry and embarrass them both.

“But I’m not pregnant.” The comment was an accusation, as though he resented the fact that he’d hired a pregnant nanny.

“It isn’t a terminal disease,” she said.

As though she’d slapped him, Ryan recoiled. Behind the outline of dark beard, his natural tan drained away. For a moment he wrestled with something. His mouth opened and closed. His chest rose and fell. And then without another word, he whipped around and left the room.

But not before Kelsey saw the misery in his eyes.

“Kelsey, wake up.”

Kelsey awakened in a strange room, disoriented. She lay very still, moving only her eyes until they focused on Mariah perched cross-legged next to her, books spread about her in a circle. The cobwebs cleared. She’d thought it was a dream, but she was really here, in the home of Ryan Storm. Memory came flooding in. In some moment of insanity she’d agreed to work for a man she barely knew.

Okay, so she’d been attracted to him. What woman on planet Earth, pregnant or not, wouldn’t be? And she’d been flattered at the instant trust he’d placed in her. After all, he was Ryan Storm, king of Dallas. Able to buy tall buildings with a single check.

Taking the position was a good thing, she’d told herself last night as she’d stood beneath the rain showerhead, washing hours of stomach-churning airport smells down the drain. She had a paying job, and both she and the baby had a place to live. At least temporarily.

She just wished she didn’t feel so weird about it.

Small fingers patted her knee. “Good morning. Are you awake yet?”

Then there was the other reason she’d agreed to come here. Mariah. The brilliant child who had touched her heart in Denver.

“Good morning,” she muttered after clearing the gravel from her throat. She stretched and looked around for a clock. An Asian-influenced wall hanging, more art than clock, read seven o’clock. Kelsey stifled a groan. Five hours of sleep to a pregnant woman was next to none.

“I hear Daddy downstairs,” Mariah said, raising up on her knees. “If we want to see him, we’ll have to hurry. He’s a very busy man.”

Kelsey’s heart squeezed. The little girl must have gotten up some time ago to bathe and dress herself in anticipation of spending time with her dad. Except for the mismatched colors, she appeared to have done a good job, fully dressed in a purple hoodie and green sweat pants. Her natural curls, still damp from a shampoo, had been ruthlessly stripped back from her face with a red headband.

Kelsey patted the child’s knee. “I doubt he’ll leave until we’ve had an opportunity to work out the conditions of my nannyship.”

Mariah giggled, putting both hands over her mouth in that adorable manner. “That’s a good one. Nannyship. Is it a real word I should add to my lexicon?”