Dynasties: The Barones

“She looks just like Mr. Barone,” Gail heard one woman say as she walked past.

“When she gets older, I bet she’ll attract the opposite sex with the same ease as her dad,” another murmured.

Gail caught sight of Nicholas flanked by two stylishly dressed women. She shook off concerns about her brown jumper. She was dressed appropriately, she told herself. She was a nanny, not a runway model. Nicholas glanced up, and Gail’s heart dipped. He looked at Molly and smiled.

Molly began to kick and Gail coached the baby in a whisper. “Da-da.”

“Da-da-da-da-da-da,” Molly called.

“I wondered when you two would get here,” Nicholas said. “Don’t you look gorgeous,” he said, chucking Molly’s chin.

His daughter coyly ducked, and it occurred to Gail that Nicholas’s ability to charm was beginning to extend to Molly.

“Oh, she’s just beautiful,” one of the women beside Nicholas cooed. “May I hold her for a moment?”

Nicholas hesitated, glancing at Molly’s fingers gripping Gail’s hair. “Maybe in a little bit, Jen. There are a lot of unfamiliar faces, so we probably need to give her a chance to get comfortable. Jen, this is Gail Fenton. She’s the miracle nanny.”

Jen looked at Gail as if trying to imagine how she could possibly work miracles. Gail resisted the urge to feel inadequate and extended her hand, instead. “It’s nice to meet you, Jen,” she said.

After that, Nicholas held his hands out for Molly and to Gail’s relief, his daughter went to him with no fussing. She noticed that every now and then Molly looked back to make sure Gail was still close by. Nicholas introduced several people, including his brother, Joseph Barone, CFO of Baronessa.

Gail couldn’t help noticing the stark difference in personality between Nicholas and Joseph. Nicholas’s eyes were alight with humor and sharp wit, while Joseph appeared rather serious and formal. She sensed a deep sadness in him and thought she might ask Nicholas about it later.

A lovely, tall, slender woman with long, curly light-brown hair walked into the public area of the executive suite, and the crowd immediately parted for her. Her violet eyes sparkled like firecrackers, but she emanated a cool, sophisticated aura. Her expression said “Don’t underestimate me.”

“I heard a rumor that my niece is here. I know you’ve been keeping her close to home, Nicholas, so she’s not getting away until I get a good look at her.” She turned to Molly. “Bellisima. Little one, you are going to break hearts and drive my arrogant brother crazy.” She looked at Nicholas and shot him a wide, wicked smile. “You are so in trouble with this one. With all the hearts you’ve broken, it’s time for you to get a little of your own back.”

“Thank you for your words of comfort and support,” Nicholas said dryly. “This is my little sister, Gina. She’s in charge of PR. Gina, this is Gail.”

She nodded. “The wonder nanny,” Gina said, and extended her hand. “I’m very pleased to meet you. Molly cried so much in the beginning that my mother was afraid you would quit. So was Nick,” she murmured.

“Really?” Gail said, surprised. “It was an adjustment period.”

“Yes, but most adjustment periods don’t require a truckload of headache medication.”

Gail smiled, liking the woman immediately. “I didn’t really need a truckload,” she said. “Maybe a crate. But look at her now.”

Molly extended her arms to Gail.

“Mr. Barone, you have an international conference call on line one,” his secretary said. “Shall I postpone it?”

Nicholas shook his head, passing Molly to Gail. “No, I should take it. Can you wait a few more minutes?” he asked Gail.

She nodded. “I brought treats in case we needed to wait.”

“Good planning,” he said, his gaze locking with hers as an electric understanding hummed between them.

Gail’s heart bumped. It was amazing how one look from that man could affect a woman. Any woman, she reminded herself. In this case, she was not unique.

“They can come down to my office while they wait,” Gina offered.

“Okay, I’ll be there as soon as I finish the call,” he said, and headed for his office.

Gina led Gail to her office on the fourth floor. “I’d love to hold her,” she said as she ushered them inside and closed the door, “but Nicholas told me Molly’s a little tense around new people.”

“She is,” Gail agreed. “I would offer for you to give her a cookie, but she’s a messy eater, and I’m afraid you might end up with wet cookie on your dress.”

Gina motioned for Gail to sit next to her desk, then sat down and wiggled her fingers. “I’ll risk the mess. I don’t have any appointments today. What’s dry cleaning for, anyway? Right?”

Gail pulled the treat from her bag and handed it to Gina. “Aunt Gina wants to give you a cookie,” she said in Molly’s ear. She moved Molly to Gina’s lap and gingerly disentangled the baby’s fingers from her hair.

When Molly happily nibbled on the cookie, Gail exhaled a sigh of relief.

“You really have worked wonders,” Gina said, stroking Molly’s cheek. “Both Nick and Mom told me she cried all the time when Nick first brought her home. He also told me you used to work for a computer company.”

“Molly’s a lot more fun,” Gail said. “Although I’m starting to think I may need to adjust my image during my off-hours. Maybe cut my hair or buy some new clothes. I didn’t think about it much before now, but—” Gail stopped and shrugged, finding it difficult to explain her feelings to someone when she didn’t understand them herself. Before, it had always been okay to be every guy’s buddy. Before what? Before Nicholas, her conscience whispered. She frowned.

“I’m sure Molly and Nicholas are fine with your image,” Gina said.

Her image as a nanny, Gail added, and felt a knot of distress. She shouldn’t be concerned about Nicholas’s opinion of her image. Heaven knows, she’d never be in his league. Even so, she didn’t like the idea of being perceived as a sexless nanny by the rest of the male population.

“If you’d really like a change, I can recommend a great hairstylist,” Gina said, pulling a business card from her top drawer. “Henri’s the best. Tell him I sent you.”

Gail took the card. “Thanks. I’ll do that.”

“So how do you like working for my brother?”

“He’s very smart and knows exactly what he wants. I admire how quickly he’s taken on his responsibilities for Molly. Not every man would.”

“True, but Nick is the oldest sibling and has always been expected to perform at a higher level than most mere mortals. He’s protective of all of us.” She rolled her eyes, but her expression couldn’t hide a deep fondness. “I have to fight some of the baby-sister routine on a regular basis, both in the boardroom and at home.”

“Looks like you’re holding your own,” Gail said, surprised at the connection she felt with Nicholas’s sister.

A sharp rap sounded and the door whisked open. “How are my girls?” Nicholas asked.

Gail’s heart tripped. What would it be like to be Nicholas’s girl? She immediately felt foolish for her reaction. When would she learn? Nicholas was a player. She was not, and she didn’t really want to be.

With a thank-you to his sister, Nicholas ushered Gail and Molly to the elevator. He joined them on the ride down and pulled Gail to a quiet corner in the lobby. “Listen,” he said, “I need to apologize.”

Her chest tightened with a weird knot of dread. “Apologize for what?”

“For the way I acted last night.” He shook his head. “I don’t know what got into me. Maybe it was insanity brought on by lack of sleep.”

Gail felt the knot in her chest tighten painfully. “You’re saying you kissed me because you were insane and sleepy.” She tried to remember when she’d felt more insulted.

“I know it’s lame,” he confessed. “But I can’t come up with any reasonable explanation for my behavior.”

Such as you were at least remotely attracted to me, she thought. She felt a slow sizzle of anger burn through her blood.

“I need to apologize to you,” he went on. “You are very important to Molly and me, and I don’t want to mess that up. Molly is my primary concern and I don’t want to jeopardize her care.”

Gail nodded slowly, feeling her temperature rise. “You’re right.”

He let out a sigh of relief. “I’m glad you understand.”

“I understand completely. I have the same problem. I can’t come up with one logical reason why I kissed you last night. I’ve never gone for the arrogant, playboy type. Never,” she said with emphasis.

He blinked. “You haven’t?”

His surprised expression soothed her battered ego. “I sure haven’t. I totally agree with you. Last night was a crazy aberration. You’re not my type at all,” she said, and planned to mentally repeat those statements until she washed all erotic, seductive images of Nicholas Barone from her mind.

Five

His daughter’s nanny had a date.

The prospect irritated the hell out of Nicholas, but he kept his grumpiness to himself. During the past few days, he’d watched Gail undergo a transformation before his very eyes. Someone had cut her hair in a sexy, layered style that celebrated her curls, instead of trying to tame them. Yesterday he could have sworn that when she came home, she was wearing makeup.

Nicholas shouldn’t care. As long as she took good care of Molly, then it was none of his business what Gail did during her off-hours. He was just concerned about her. With seven younger siblings and four of them sisters, he came by his highly developed protectiveness honestly. He felt the same kind of protectiveness for Gail that he felt for his sisters, he told himself as he reread a paragraph in an article on the future of the economy from the latest edition of the Wall Street Journal.

Molly had gone to sleep early and Nicholas was settled in for a much-needed peaceful evening in front of the fire in the den.

He heard the click of high heels on the staircase. Gail. Curiosity burning him up inside, he craned his neck for a peek at her, but he couldn’t see. He casually repositioned himself in another chair just inside the den and waited until she moved closer.

When he saw her, his eyes nearly fell out of his head. The Wall Street Journal slipped from his fingers.

What had the woman done to herself? Her wild hair fell in sexy tendrils around her face, and she had on enough makeup for three women. Still, the eyeliner emphasized her eyes in a sultry way. She wore a purple dress that faithfully clung to every curve and stopped several inches above her knees, revealing her shapely legs. Her red lips were pursed in a moue of unhappiness as she glanced down at the high heels with an expression of complete exasperation.

“Might as well be walking on a pair of stilts,” she muttered, then glanced up and abruptly met Nicholas’s gaze. He felt as if he’d been punched in the stomach. A wave of self-consciousness crossed her face, then she lifted her chin as if to fight it off. “How do you like my new look?”

Nicholas blinked and stood, shoving his hands into his pockets. The sight of her mouth accented with red lipstick brought his forbidden visual to the forefront of his mind. He cleared his throat. “It’s different. You look very different.”

Her face fell. “You don’t like it,” she said.

“I didn’t say that,” he said quickly. “I’m still just taking it all in. Who cut your hair?”

“Henri. Gina recommended him.”

I should have known, he thought, resisting the urge to grind his teeth.

“He was just as good as she said he was. He recommended a complete makeover, hair, makeup, clothes. I haven’t quite perfected the eye-makeup techniques yet.”

“That probably takes practice,” Nicholas said in the most neutral tone he could muster.

“But Henri also recommended this dress. I had nothing like it in my wardrobe. What do you think?”

“It fits,” he said. “It fits like a glove. And the color is good on you.”

“Thanks,” she said with a smile. “I love my job as nanny, but it just recently occurred to me that guys perceive me as, well, asexual partly because of my job. I’m already everyone’s favorite buddy, so I thought I might need to counter the nanny image.

“Henri also recommended a magazine called Goddess,” she continued. “It sounds kinda silly, but the idea is to unleash your inner goddess, so I’m trying some of the suggestions from the magazine.”

He nodded, but he had no earthly idea what she was talking about.

“But some of the suggestions,” she said, shaking her head, “I just can’t see myself doing.”

“Like what?”

She shot him a doubtful look. “Are you sure you’re interested?”

“Trust me. This is a helluva lot more interesting than the article I was just reading about the economy.”

“Okay, I can get used to wearing thong underwear and learn how to walk in heels even though it may kill me, but one of the articles featured suggested pickup lines for women to use with men. I can’t imagine myself saying some of them.”

Nicholas felt his neck tighten with an inexplicable tension. “Give me an example.”

“I can imagine going panty-less for one evening, but I just can’t imagine going up to some guy I don’t know very well and saying, ‘Oops, I forgot my panties.’ Is it just me or is that a little over the top?”

Nicholas couldn’t prevent his gaze from skimming down over her hips. No panty lines. Was she naked beneath that man-eater dress? His neck tightened again. “I guess it depends on what kind of man you’re trying to attract.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean some men prefer understated, natural beauty. Some men are attracted to modesty,” he said.

“Really?” she said, tilting her head to one side as if considering the notion. She bit her plump lip, then shook her head. “But don’t you think most men like that are in their sixties or seventies?”

Nicholas’s head began to throb. “Not necessarily.”

“Well, think about it. If a woman came up to you and said, ‘Oops I forgot my panties,’ you must admit you wouldn’t forget her, would you? I’ve been forgotten and passed over by men my entire life. I think it’s time that stopped. Do you think if I stand in front of the mirror and practice, I might eventually be able to say it?”

“Say what?”

“Oops, I forgot my panties,” she said, getting her coat from the closet.

God, I hope not, he thought. He was saved from responding by the ringing doorbell. A dozen warnings and cautionary statements raced through his head as she put her hand on the doorknob. Wear your coat the entire time. Slap him if he touches you. Keep your legs crossed. He swallowed them all except one. “Be careful.”

She glanced back at him and met his gaze for a long moment. “I’ve been careful since the day I was born. A goddess is wild and wise.”

Watching her whirl out the front door, Nicholas instinctively made the sign of the cross. What had gotten into his daughter’s sweet, innocent nanny? If her date tried to act out half the scenarios that had raced through Nicholas’s head, then she wouldn’t be home until February.

Pacing the den, he swore under his breath. He should have hired the middle-aged woman in orthopedic shoes. That woman wouldn’t have given him acid indigestion. She probably wouldn’t have allowed Molly to nearly pull her hair out by her roots like Gail did, either, though, he reminded himself.

Pushing his fingers through his hair, he told himself he needed to remember that Gail might try to be wild, but underneath the sexpot trappings, she was sensible and careful. She would never use that crazy pickup line about panties. Never, he told himself, and wondered why he felt jumpy.

He forced himself to sit down and pick up the paper. This was going to be a peaceful evening. A relaxing evening, he told himself, and began to read the article he’d put aside.

With every other sentence, however, a question plagued him without mercy. Was she wearing panties or not?

Gail decided to pretend that Nicholas was her uncle. It was the only way she was going to survive such close proximity with the sexiest man she’d ever met. They talked every evening about Molly, his day, her day. It would be too easy to slide into a futile crush on him.

Since he was her theoretical uncle, she decided she would also share her quest to unleash her inner goddess with him. Talking about thigh-high stockings removed all the forbidden mystery and would further ensure that she would be able to keep her head on straight.

“Molly’s going to walk any day,” she told Nicholas as she grabbed a soda and joined him in the den for their nightly conversation.

He looked at her in surprised pleasure. “Really? Any day?”

“Any day,” she said with a nod, sitting across from him on the leather sofa. “She loves it when I hold her hands above her head and get her moving.”

He sank into a chair, loosened his tie, unbuttoned the top button to his shirt and took a long swallow from his glass of red wine. “I don’t want to miss it,” he said.

Her heart squeezed tight and she smiled. “That’s gonna be tough. I don’t think Baronessa’s will let you stay away that long.”

He frowned. “True. Maybe you could videotape it.”

“It’s possible, but I have no idea when and where she’ll decide to take her first steps.”

He took another swallow of wine. “Okay. Just promise you’ll call me the minute she walks.”

“What if you’re in a meeting?”

“Interrupt,” he said.

She nodded and lifted her fingers in a quick little salute. “Whatever you say.”

“Good. I love the acquiescence. Nice change,” he said with a sexy grin.

“It’s temporary. Don’t get used to it.”

“Should have known,” he said wryly.

“Goddesses only acquiesce when it suits them,” she told him.

He looked at her and gave a slow nod. “Ah, we’re back to that.”

“We were never really away.”

He raked his hand through his hair. “What’s the latest?”

“You don’t have to pretend interest,” she said.

“Oh, I’m dying to know.”

“You’re making fun of me.” She stood, her feelings oddly hurt.

“I’m not,” he insisted, also standing. “I’m interested. Tell me the latest.”

She hesitated, then slowly sat down. “You’ve probably never had a very hard time with this because you’ve always been very—” She broke off. She refused to call him “hot” to his face again.

“Very what?” he prompted.

“Very appealing to the opposite sex. I’m sure you’ve never had any trouble attracting women.”

“True, but I may not have attracted the right kind of women. Case in point was Molly’s mother. She was always looking for a bigger paycheck. In fact, the only reason she didn’t come back to me when she found out she was pregnant was because she’d found another man with a bigger bank account and she told him that Molly was his daughter. I attracted a female barracuda.”

The bitterness in his voice was so strong she could almost taste it in the air she inhaled. “Do you still love her?”

He looked stunned. “Hell, no. I stopped loving her the day I broke up with her.”

“Then why do you let her continue to control your love life?”

His brow furrowed thoughtfully. “What do you mean?”

“I mean you’re so determined not to have a committed relationship with a woman that you could miss the chance to experience real love.”

He turned silent and brooding, taking a sip of his wine. “I’ll take that under advisement. What about you? If you dress like a tart, what kind of guy do you think you’ll attract?”

Gail gaped at him. “I’m not dressing like a tart.”

“Okay, that was a slight exaggeration,” he conceded in a grudging tone.

Gail continued, “Besides, I have different goals than you do. I’ve spent my entire life being regarded as one of the guys. I want to be…” She hesitated, feeling a flush of self-consciousness. “I want to experience my femininity. I’m younger than you and—”

Nicholas choked on his wine. “Younger? You make me sound ancient.”

“Well, not exactly ancient, but I think of you almost as an uncle and—”

“Uncle?”

“You are ten years older than I am.”

“That doesn’t make me old enough to put out to pasture.”

“I wasn’t suggesting that,” she said, wondering if she’d gone a little too far with the mention of the uncle thing. She shook her head. “We’ve strayed from my original point. The whole goddess thing got started when I took a sexy quiz.”

Nicholas went very still. “With whom did you take this quiz?” he asked in clipped tones.

“With myself,” she said. “The magazine had a quiz to test your sexiness, and the reason I’m trying to do some of this goddess stuff is because I flunked it. I flunked the sexy quiz. I bet you’ve never flunked a sexy quiz in your life.”

Nicholas gave a long-suffering sigh. “That quiz didn’t prove anything. The only sexy quiz worth a damn is conducted in bed with a member of the opposite sex.”

He would know, Gail thought, feeling that assurance in every feminine pore of her body. He would know everything she didn’t know about being sexy. “Well, as I’ve previously mentioned, you’re an expert in this area, and I’m trying to become more expert, if that’s possible.”

He nodded and took a long drink of wine. “So what’s the latest?”

“Just girl things, like an eight-hour lipstick designed to last through marathon lovemaking. The magazine does tests,” she said, feeling a little silly.

“Did you buy some?” he asked her, his gaze intent.

Her cheeks heated, but she nodded.

“Found someone you want to test it on?”

“Not yet,” she said, lifting her chin. “But I’ll be ready when I do.”

While Nicholas attended a managers’ meeting at corporate headquarters two days later his assistant slipped into the room and gave him a note.

Your daughter is walking all over the place.

A rush of pride and joy raced through Nicholas. Molly was walking. He excused himself from the meeting and put his first vice president in charge. He grabbed the car keys from his office, told his assistant he would return later and immediately drove home.

He threw open the door and headed for the den, where Gail was holding Molly’s hand as the toddler marched around the room. Gail spotted him first.

“Look, Molly! It’s Daddy!” she said.

Molly’s face lit up.

“Show Daddy how you can walk,” Gail gently urged.

Her brows furrowed in concentration, the toddler wobbled toward him with no assistance from Gail.

Nicholas dropped to his knees to catch her. He praised her and cherished the wet kiss she plastered on his cheek. His daughter was beaming. His heart felt so full it almost hurt to breathe. When Molly had first come to live with him, a secret part of him had feared she would remain sad and afraid for a long, long time. Just a few weeks in Gail’s care, however, had turned her around. Nicholas wondered if Gail had any idea of her impact.

“A few weeks ago I never would have dreamed she would be walking so soon,” he said, allowing Molly to cling to his hand as she continued to practice her new skill around the room.

“It was time,” Gail said.

“But all she did was cry in the beginning.”

“She just needed time to regroup. You probably wouldn’t understand it since you seem to operate on a different level,” she said with a wry gentleness, “but most of us humans need a little time to catch our breath when we suffer a loss.”

“What do you mean I operate on a different level?”

“I mean a lot has been expected of you and you have always risen to the occasion. You don’t appear to stumble or fall very often.”

He filed that in a corner of his brain, determined to think about it later. Lifting Molly and holding her against him, he met Gail’s gaze. “You’ve done a great job with her. She wasn’t at all easy in the beginning.”

“Thanks, but there’s something really special about knowing such a vulnerable little person needs you.” She smiled. “It makes you willing to do just about anything for them.”