Kitabı oku: «Nanny and the Beast»

Chapter One

“It’s him! It’s him! He just pulled up out front.”

Sophia Stanton refused to let the tension in Karen’s voice rattle her. Her part-time assistant was easily flustered.

“Him?” Sophia asked, placing her pen on the desktop and glancing toward the doorway. “Him who?”

Karen’s eyes widened and her voice lowered to a whisper. “The Beast.” She reached up and plucked at the short, spiky locks behind her ear. Then she craned her neck to look out the front window. “He just took his baby out of the back of his SUV.” She sucked in a tight breath. “And Lily just got out, too. Her face is four shades of red.”

Sophia stifled a groan. She didn’t need more aggravation this morning; two of her girls had called in sick and replacements were yet to be found. But knowing the track record of Mr. Michael Taylor, aka “The Beast,” she steeled herself for the worst.

When it came to providing care for his month-old daughter, the man seemed impossible to please. He’d fired two of Sophia’s nannies in the past three weeks. The young women had come back to the office reporting that he was demanding and inflexible, so much so that everyone at The Nanny Place was certain he must sport horns and a spiked tail. One thing was certain—Mr. Taylor was fast becoming a beastly pain in Sophia’s butt.

“Okay,” Sophia told Karen, inhaling deeply to prepare herself. “Let’s just stay calm. Keep Lily out there with you, and show him in here immediately. And then I need for you to get in touch with Terry. Ask her if she’s able to cover for Isabel today.”

“Terry lives below the canal,” Karen reminded her. “She’ll never reach the city in time for Mrs. Schaffer to get to work on time.”

“I’ll call and explain.” Sophia gathered up the paperwork on her desk and set it to one side. The Beast would be here any second. “And I’ll find someone to fill in for Paula, too. Just as soon as I take care of this problem.”

Karen tugged at her hair again, the pen curled between her fingers nearly poking her chin. “They’re here.” Trepidation rippled through her whisper. “Good luck,” she added, before disappearing from the doorway.

Sophia stood, smoothed her hand over the skirt of her dark suit and then paused long enough to take one more deep breath, the kind she’d learned in her yoga class. Her instructor swore yoga could help in every aspect of her life and right now she was willing to take all the help she could get.

Michael Taylor didn’t just walk in to her office, he stormed in, closing the door firmly behind him. Anger honed his handsome features and seemed out of sync with the awkward gentleness with which he cradled his baby girl.

His most striking feature was his gaze. Those deep brown eyes flashed with extreme intensity—irritation, yes, but something else, too, some powerful force emanating from within. He had the kind of good looks and trim, athletic body that made a sensible woman think thoughts she shouldn’t, and consider doing things she normally wouldn’t. Sophia wouldn’t have been the least surprised to learn that females who passed him on the street routinely broke out into appreciative wolf whistles.

“Good morning, Mr. Taylor,” Sophia greeted, infusing a bright friendliness into her voice while completely ignoring the palpable ire radiating off the man.

“There’s not much good about it, I’m afraid.” Annoyance sharpened every word.

Oh, yeah, women might whistle for his attention, but all they’d get for their trouble was a rumbling growl.

“I fired Lily this morning,” he told her.

Sophia wanted to swear, but held her tongue. He was a client and she had to do her best to please him. Her mind raced. Did she even have anyone else willing to work for the man?

“We need to fix the problem I’ve been having with the nannies you’re sending me, Ms. Stanton, and we need to fix it now.”

A sigh of frustration gathered in Sophia’s chest, but she didn’t allow it to escape with any kind of real force. “Of course we do. And we will, I assure you.” Then she asked, “What did Lily do?”

“It’s what she didn’t do. She didn’t follow the rules. It’s not as if my needs are difficult to meet. But I do insist that any nanny working for me will follow the damn rules.”

The Damn Rules was an apt description, Sophia thought. Apparently, there were literally pages of them, and they covered every conceivable notion when it came to his daughter’s care. There was even a dress code for the nannies. It wasn’t enough that the young women she’d sent him were highly trained in childcare. Michael Taylor wanted them to look and dress and act a certain way. To better focus on the childcare, is what she’d heard. Demanding such a thing was his prerogative, she guessed. However, no woman wanted to be told she couldn’t wear nail polish or eye shadow or dangly earrings, or that her skirt had to hang below her knees, or that her hair had to be pulled back in a bun. A bun! Buns went out with pixie bobs, for goodness sake. What was he running? A Catholic grade school? It was ridiculous.

“First off,” he continued, “I take exception to the fact that the nannies you’re sending me are barely out of their teens. How can girls—” the emphasis he placed on the word made Sophia want to cringe “—with so little life experience make sound, common-sense judgments in day-to-day circumstances, let alone emergency situations? I’m supposed to trust them with my daughter?”

“I beg your pardon, Mr. Taylor.” Although she understood his fears—he was a new father—she felt she had to stand up for her employees. “Both of them—” Lily flashed into Sophia’s mind, and she instantly corrected herself. “All three of the nannies you’ve fired this month have been thoroughly trained. They have earned a childcare diploma from an accredited nanny school as well as a medical safety certificate. That’s the only way they qualify to register at The Nanny Place. I complete the background checks myself. Your daughter has been in capable hands—”

“I manage people for a living,” he interrupted. “I have seen, firsthand, that training isn’t always enough. A healthy dose of life experience goes a long way in helping people make sensible decisions when they’re faced with even the most mundane choices. I’ll take a forty-year-old with firm common sense over a green Gen-Xer any day of the week. The girls you’ve sent me need just that—a healthy dose of life experience. I don’t want them acquiring it at the sake of Hailey’s well-being.”

“But—”

“No,” he interrupted. “No buts. I want you to send me someone older. Someone wiser. Lily has worked for me for three days. She knows the daily schedule we keep. Yet she stepped into the shower just five minutes before I was supposed to leave for work. I want you to send me someone who can follow a simple schedule.”

Sophia silently groaned. Lily was going to get an earful from her.

“I want someone with professionalism,” he continued, “and experience. Someone who’s lived long enough to have gained some practical knowledge of what it takes to care for an infant. A motherly type. Better yet, a grandmotherly type.”

“Sounds like you want a Mrs. Doubtfire.” The joking sarcasm rolled off her tongue before she’d had a chance to stop it.

He went dead silent for a moment, staring at her. Then the harsh angles of his face softened and he chuckled. He actually laughed. The sexy, delicious rumble was completely unexpected. Some sort of strange electricity shot through her body, scrambling her thoughts. This was a side of The Beast she’d never experienced. She blinked a couple of times in quick succession, and then gathered her wits as quickly as she could. Fostering the lighthearted moment seemed a good idea.

“Um, Mr. Taylor, you do know that, although she was great with children, she was a middle-aged man in drag? A fictional character created by some Hollywood screenwriter.”

“Of course, I do.”

His amusement was gone as quickly as it had come. But the humming current he’d cause to flutter through her lingered with irritating tenacity.

“I think I’ve made my needs quite clear,” he told her. “If you’re unable to provide what I’m asking, then that can only mean that your business motto is a sham. I don’t mind telling you that I’m not happy, and I seriously think we ought to consider parting ways. I’ll have to find a nanny on my own.”

“Hold on just a second,” Sophia said. Her mind raced. “Backing out of our contract is a little extreme, isn’t it?”

She’d read that a satisfied customer might express his or her opinion about a company to approximately fifty friends, relatives and casual acquaintances, whereas a disgruntled one could be expected to complain to many times that.

“I don’t think so. You’ve had three chances to send a nanny that would meet my approval. You’ve failed three times.”

He sure didn’t have a problem speaking his mind, now, did he?

She hadn’t faced this kind of fiasco since opening the doors of The Nanny Place. No one had ever called her a failure before. To the contrary, Delaware Today magazine had awarded her business the title of “Best childcare in the city of Wilmington” for the last two years running.

“What you don’t seem to understand,” Sophia stressed, putting every effort into coming up with a swift recovery, “is that when women reach that ‘older, wiser’ stage you’ve described, they’re either ready to settle down and have children of their own—”

She shook her head, unable to believe the words tumbling out of her mouth. They had a jarring, sexist ring to them, but that couldn’t be helped. She needed an argument. Any argument.

“Or they’re ready to retire, do some traveling, take a cruise, enjoy their golden years. Or their own grandchildren. I only have two women over the age of twenty-five registered at The Nanny Place. Both are grandmothers in their mid-to-late fifties and they’re on long-term assignments with families in Wilmington.”

He glanced down at his sleeping daughter, and then leveled his gaze at Sophia. Calmly, he said, “So you’re telling me the bottom line is I’m going to remain an unsatisfied client?”

Discontent crackled in the air as he waited for her response and Sophia fought the urge to squirm. Damn it! The man wasn’t going to best her.

“I intend to make sure you are very satisfied, Mr. Taylor,” she blurted out. Heat suffused her face when she realized what she’d said and how those words could very easily be misconstrued. Ignoring the embarrassment she felt, she plowed full steam ahead. “Even if I’m the one who has to come do the job,” she heard herself say.

His brows arched the slightest bit and he absently smoothed his fingers down the short length of his daughter’s milky arm. “Now there’s a good idea.” He nodded slowly, evidently liking the notion more with each passing second.

Her comment had been merely meant to assure him she honestly intended to find him the perfect nanny, and she wouldn’t stop trying until she’d succeeded. Apparently, he hadn’t taken it that way. Not at all. A sense of panic washed over her. “Mr. Taylor—”

“You’re certainly older than twenty-five,” he mused, his fingers toying with the edge of the baby blanket.

She bristled. He made her sound downright matronly.

“And the fact that you’re running your own business tells me that you’ve got intellect and common sense. Two important characteristics for the person I want caring for my daughter.”

He was clearly warming up to this surprising turn of events. She opened her mouth to speak.

“If you spend a few weeks getting to know Hailey,” he said, not giving her a chance to restate what she’d actually intended, “getting to know me, getting to know our situation and our needs, you’d be better equipped to find the kind of nanny I’m looking for.”

It was on the tip of her tongue to say “but…but,” to backpedal herself out of the tight space she’d inadvertently talked herself into. She couldn’t do this! She had a business to run. She wasn’t a nanny. She was the administrator.

Oh, she’d had all the proper training and she even took over childcare duties once in a while when the rare problem or an emergency cropped up, so she was fully capable of—

“I usually take dead silence to have negative meaning,” he said, studying her intently. “Should I assume you aren’t going to honor your guarantee? And that your motto of ‘no client left unsatisfied’ is simply a string of meaningless words?” He lifted a shoulder. “If that’s the case, then I have no choice but to cancel our contract as of this moment.”

“Wait. I’m not saying any of that,” she sputtered. “I’m also not saying I won’t do it. I’m just thinking things through. Working out the logistics.”

Her mind whirled; other than scheduling appointments with prospective clients and handling a few glitches that arose, there wasn’t a whole lot Sophia couldn’t take care of with her cell phone. And her assistant, Karen, had been asking—no, begging—to go full-time since coming to work for her, but up until now Sophia had only needed help in the office during the busy morning hours.

“I hope you’re thinking fast,” he persisted, “because I don’t have all day.” He tenderly shifted his daughter to his other arm and checked his watch. “In fact, I have to be at the office in forty-five minutes.”

Darn! He wasn’t going to give her an inch. She gritted her teeth. All he was worried about was himself. What about her business? What about the people depending on her?

But how else was she going to make Michael Taylor happy, at this point, other than to take over as his daughter’s nanny for the few weeks, as he was demanding?

Keeping him happy would mean keeping her pristine business reputation. That was very important to her. She prided herself on the fact that not one client, past or present, had a single grievance against her or The Nanny Place. Oh, there were small insignificant matters that surfaced from time to time between the nannies and their employers, but there hadn’t been even one instance where Sophia hadn’t been able to straighten everything out, and make everyone concerned content and happy. She refused to allow this man to mar her perfect record.

“Okay,” she said. “I’ll do it. If you’ll let me sort a few things out here, I can be at your place in forty-five minutes.”

“Excellent. Less than forty-five minutes, actually. I’ll head home and wait for you.” He turned toward the door.

“Hold it,” she said, an idea popping into her head. “Why don’t you just leave Hailey with me now? I can use your carseat to get her back to your place. That way you won’t be late for work, and I can take my time getting things settled here.”

Seemed like a perfectly good plan to her, but evidently he didn’t think so.

“Won’t work.” His tone brooked no argument. “We still have to go over the rules and Hailey’s schedule. They’re at my place. Typed out in black and white. I’d also feel more comfortable if I had the chance to show you around. Make you acquainted with where things are.”

That did make sense, she thought.

“You have my address?” he asked.

“Yes, of course.” She hurried around him and opened the door. This was happening much too fast. She followed him out to the reception area where she noticed that Lily stood stewing near Karen’s desk. Her hair was still damp from that ill-fated shower she’d taken this morning. Karen looked as if she expected something horrible to happen at any moment. Sophia quickly added, “I’ll have my assistant download driving directions to your home from the ’Net, Mr. Taylor. No problem.”

As soon as Sophia spoke the words, Karen’s head dipped and her fingers flew over her computer keyboard.

His back was to Sophia as he walked across the room and headed for the door. His pin-striped dress shirt accentuated his broad shoulders, and his navy trousers cuddled a firm butt. He paused and turned to face Sophia, and her gaze darted up to where it belonged—his face.

Again, he checked his watch. “I’ll see you soon, Ms. Stanton.”

She nodded once, and then he was out the door. She continued to stare as he stepped off the curb, her gaze inadvertently traveling down the full length of him.

Her spine straightened and she blinked. She was going to have to hustle to get everything done here at the office. She made a quick mental list; a short talk with Lily, then give Karen instructions, a couple of phone calls, a quick stop in the powder room and she’d be out the door.

“Lily said he fired her.” Karen’s eyes were wide.

“It was so unfair,” Lily chimed in.

Karen shifted in her chair. “Who are you going to send this time, Sophia? Do we have anyone left who isn’t afraid of that guy?”

“We most certainly do,” Sophia murmured, her gaze continuing to linger on Michael Taylor. The morning sunlight burnished his tawny hair. Why she was standing here wasting time baffled her, yet there was something about the man that made it hard to tear her eyes away.

“Well, who?”

Ignoring her assistant’s question, Sophia turned her attention to Lily. “What happened this morning? How could you get yourself fired after only three days?”

Lily’s chin tipped upward.

Sophia lifted her hands in frustration. “He said you showered late. That you couldn’t keep to the schedule.”

“This had nothing to do with his precious schedule,” Lily spat out. “This was about that stupid robe rule. I wasn’t wearing mine this morning.”

“He has a rule about wearing a robe?” Karen asked. “That’s a new one, isn’t it?”

“He added it the second day I worked for him. He has rules for everything,” Lily complained. “Rules for when his daughter eats, when she sleeps. What music is played in the house. What books are read and when. There are pages and pages of rules. And he keeps adding to them.”

Sophia had heard it all before from the other nannies who had cared for Michael Taylor’s daughter.

“And the ones dictating our dress code are the worst. I wanted to flip on the bitch-switch several times, Sophia. But I controlled myself.” Lily turned her eyes to Karen. “And even though it cost me that job, I refused to say I was sorry this morning. Heck, I was just being me.”

Obvious rebellion tinged Lily’s voice. Sophia crossed her arms. “And what exactly does that mean?”

Sucking in a long-suffering breath, Lily explained, “The baby had been up most of last night. I knew she wasn’t going to wake up anytime soon. I needed a shower so I could feel human, okay? I was tired. I forgot my robe. Why should it matter, anyway, when my room was right across the hall from the bathroom?”

Sophia’s patience thinned. “Okay, so you weren’t wearing a robe. What were you wearing?”

There was mutiny in Lily’s silence.

Karen softly sang, “Can you say scanty panties from Victoria’s Secret?”

Picturing the barely clad models in the famous lingerie catalog, astonishment made Sophia’s jaw go slack. “Lily! You didn’t. How could you? Why would you? You know he’s asked all the nannies to be covered from neck to knee. Why would you prance around halfnaked in front of the man?”

Lily pursed her lips, her expression a mixture of anger and insult. “I wasn’t prancing. And I was wearing a nightie.” Then she muttered, “The least he could have done was notice. I swear the man has ice water running through his veins.”

Only a nineteen-year-old would feel offended when her employer hadn’t seemed to notice her shapely figure even though he’d specifically asked not to see it.

“So you did it on purpose.” Sophia let her hands fall to her sides.

“Of course I didn’t do it on purpose,” Lily said. “I told you. I’d been up half the night with Hailey. I was exhausted. What I wear to bed is my business.”

Sophia rubbed at the dull ache thumping behind her temple. “Being caught in the hallway wearing skimpy pj’s shouldn’t warrant being fired.”

Chagrin made Lily balk. “It wasn’t the first time.” She grimaced, reluctantly admitting, “Or the second.”

Karen snickered, and Sophia silenced her with a sharp glance. She’d heard enough of Lily’s predicament.

“What you’re saying is that he had good reason for implementing a robe rule.” Remembering the ticking clock, Sophia’s irritation simmered over. “I don’t have time for this. Lily, if you can’t be more considerate of the people paying your salary, maybe you don’t deserve to work here.”

“But I need this job!”

“I know you do. That’s why I’m not letting you go. But I am putting you on probation. If you show me you’ve learned something from this experience—”

“Yeah.” Karen smirked. “Like maybe buying some flannel nightgowns and white cotton granny panties.”

“Hush, Karen.” Sophia had had all she could take. She looked at Lily. “You can fill in for Paula for today and Karen will work on getting you another full-time position.”

“I will?” Karen asked, clearly surprised. “But that’s not usually in my job description.”

“Your job description is changing as of right now.” The wake Sophia created as she breezed past Karen’s desk on her way to the powder room made several papers flutter. “You’ve been asking to go full-time, haven’t you?”

“You know I have.” Karen went very still and serious.

Sophia flipped on the powder room light. “Well, now’s your chance. You’ll be running the office for the next two weeks. It’s a big job. Can you handle the responsibility?” She glanced into the mirror over the sink.

Gathering her thick hair in her fingers, Sophia twisted it into a knot and secured it with a clip. She knew Mr. Taylor liked his nannies to keep their hair out of their eyes.

“Are you kidding me? You know I can handle it. That reminds me, Terry’s on her way to the Schaffers to cover for Isabel. I’ve already called Mrs. Schaffer to let her know Terry would be late. But what’s going on? Where will you be?”

“Yeah, Sophia,” Lily chimed in. “You going to tell us what’s up? You never said which lucky nanny gets to go work for The Beast.”

While Lily talked, Sophia turned on the faucet and scrubbed the makeup from her face. Then she patted her forehead, cheeks and chin dry. “He likes his nannies plain, right?”

Slowly but surely, both Karen and Lily figured out the plan. “You?” they asked in unison.

“That’s right.” Sophia smoothed her hand over the lapel of her jacket and then tugged at its hem. “I’m saving the spotless reputation of The Nanny Place. If Mr. Michael Taylor wants a sedate, older nanny, I’m going to give him just that,” she declared, adjusting her Mrs. Doubtfire bun.

“But you’ve never gone out on an assignment for more than a couple hours, a day at most. Why would you—”

“Because he’s left me no choice, Karen. That man fired three perfectly acceptable nannies.”

“Damn right, he did,” Lily grumbled.

Karen smirked. “Lily, you might be perfectly qualified to take care of a baby, but I have to point out that you did break the robe rule.”

Lily made a face at Karen.

Sophia ignored the ruckus. “I need to get over there myself and see exactly what the problem is. Obviously, there’s something going on with that man. I need to figure this out before I start losing clients.” She absently fingered the buttons at each cuff. “I just have to remember my ultimate goal.”

“You have a goal?” Karen asked.

“Oh, yes. I’ve got two actually.” A slow smile spread across her lips and she forced her tense shoulder muscles to relax. “I’m going to preserve my pristine business reputation by making Michael Taylor happy.”

The mischievous sparkle in Sophia’s eyes had Lily prompting, “Yes? And?”

There was determination in every syllable when Sophia declared, “Whatever it takes, I’m going to tame the flippin’ Beast.”