Kitabı oku: «The Nanny Proposition»

Contents

Cover

Introduction

Title Page

About the Author

Dedication

Acknowledgments

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Extract

Copyright

One

Liam Hawke held the cell phone tightly against his ear, but it didn’t help. The person on the other end of the phone wasn’t making any sense.

“Mr. Hawke? Are you there?”

“Hang on a moment,” he said and pulled his Jeep to the side of the road. At his brother’s enquiring stare, Liam said in an undertone, “Listen,” and hit the speaker button on his cell. “Can you repeat that, please?”

“I’m a midwife at the Sacred Heart Hospital and I just informed you that you’ve become a father. Congratulations.” Liam frowned, Dylan’s eyes widened and the woman continued. “Your daughter, Bonnie, is two days old and still here with her mother. Unfortunately, her mother has had some complications following the birth and has asked me to contact you. It would be best if you came right away.”

A baby? Dylan mouthed as Liam loosened his tie and undid the top button on his shirt, which had suddenly become too tight. There had to be a mistake. Babies didn’t magically appear. Usually there was nine months’ notice, for one thing.

The L.A. sun shone down on them through the sunroof as Liam swallowed and tried to get his voice to work. “Are you sure you have the right person?”

“You’re Liam John Hawke?” she asked.

“I am.”

“You were in a relationship with Rebecca Clancy?”

“Yes” —if you could call their arrangement a relationship— “but she wasn’t pregnant when we broke up.” Which had been a good while ago. He struggled to remember when he’d last seen her but couldn’t bring a time or place to mind.

How long had it been? It could have been eight months ago.... An uncomfortable heat crawled across his skin. Then another piece of information registered. “You said Rebecca had some complications. Is she all right?”

The midwife drew in a measured breath. “I think it would be better if we spoke in person.”

“I’ll be there as soon as I can,” he said and disconnected. He pulled the Jeep back out into the flow of traffic and made a U-turn.

Dylan pulled out his cell. “I’ll cancel the meeting.”

When Dylan ended the call, Liam threw him a tight smile. “Thanks.”

“You had no idea?” Dylan asked.

“I still have no idea.” He ran a hand through his hair, then brought it back to grip the wheel. “Sure, I was dating Rebecca back then, but that doesn’t prove I’m the father of her baby.” He’d heard she’d been dating again soon after their breakup. First order of business would be a paternity test.

After a frustrating delay in L.A. traffic, they arrived at the hospital. They made their way to the neonatal unit, where they were greeted by a woman in a pale blue uniform. She led them through to the nursery. “Ms. Clancy took a turn for the worse after I called you, and she’s been taken back to surgery. Her parents went up with her, so they’ve left Bonnie with us here in the nursery.” She leaned over and picked up a bundle of soft pink blanket with a tiny face peeping out.

“Hello, sweetheart,” she cooed. “Your daddy’s here to meet you.”

Before Liam could head the nurse off with an explanation about needing a paternity test, she’d placed the baby in his arms. Large eyes fringed by long dark lashes blinked open and looked up at him. Her tiny pale pink face seemed so fragile, yet somehow more real than anything else in the room.

“I’ll leave you two to get to know each other for a few minutes,” the midwife said. “There’s a comfy chair over there in the corner.”

Dylan cleared his throat. “I’ll just...ah...pop out and get us a couple of coffees.”

But Liam was only vaguely paying attention to them. Bonnie was all he could see. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d held a baby and he wasn’t one-hundred-percent sure he was doing it right, but he held her closer and breathed in her clean, sweet smell. He could feel the warmth of her body through the blanket, and a ghost of a smile crept across his face.

All three Hawke brothers had their mother’s unusual hair color of darkest brown shot through with deep red—and Bonnie already had a thick crop of hair exactly that shade. He’d still demand a paternity test, no question, and he’d need to have a full and frank discussion with Rebecca, but he was sure of one thing: Bonnie was his.

She was a Hawke.

As he sank into the chair and stared into the eyes of his daughter, the world stilled. His baby. His heart clenched tight, then expanded to fill his chest, his body. And for the first time in his life, Liam Hawke fell head over heels in love.

He lost track of time as he sat there, holding his daughter and telling her stories about her new family, of her two uncles and of his parents, who would adore and spoil their first grandchild rotten. An hour ago he was on his way to a business meeting with Dylan for their family company, Hawke’s Blooms. How had his day gone from thinking about the business of growing and selling flowers to thinking about a having a little girl in his life?

A movement out of the corner of his eye made him look up to see a middle-aged couple enter the nursery. They stumbled to a halt just inside the door. “Who are you?” the heavily made-up woman demanded.

Instinctively, he held Bonnie a little tighter. This had to be Rebecca’s parents. He’d never met them when he’d dated Rebecca—given the relationship had barely lasted three months before he’d ended it, the opportunity had never arisen. He guessed he’d be seeing more of them now.

“Liam Hawke,” he said calmly, politely. “Bonnie’s father.”

Scowling, the man stepped forward on one Italian-shoed foot. “How do you even know about Bonnie?”

“Rebecca asked the nurse to call me.” Not wanting to disrupt the baby, he stayed in the chair and kept his voice level. “But the real question is, why wouldn’t I know about her?”

“Rebecca would never have done that,” the woman said, her eyes narrowing. “When Rebecca’s discharged, she and the baby will be coming back to live with us—she moved in two months ago. We’ll raise Bonnie together. In fact, you can hand her over now and leave before Rebecca gets out of surgery. If she’d wanted to see you, she’d have mentioned it before now.”

Liam took a breath, prepared to give the couple some slack given their daughter was in surgery. But they were seriously mistaken if they thought he was going anywhere.

“So your plan was to never tell me I have a child?” he asked and met their gazes steadily.

“Rebecca’s plan,” the man corrected.

Their arrogance was astounding. To deliberately keep a baby’s birth—the existence of a person—secret was beyond comprehension. “She didn’t think I’d want to know? That Bonnie would need a father?”

The woman sniffed. “You can’t provide anything that she won’t already have. Your wealth is nothing to ours. And she’ll have people around her capable of love.”

He heard the unspoken critique of his family’s wealth clear enough—the Hawke family didn’t just have less money, they had new money. He felt his blood pressure rise another notch. He’d come across the prejudice often, always from people who’d never put in a hard day’s work in their lives, whose riches had been passed down and all they’d had to do was spend and perhaps adjust the investments. He’d never been able to conjure up any respect for someone who’d inherited their money and position.

About to respond, Liam frowned and paused. Something in that last dig had been especially pointed. What exactly had Rebecca told them about him? They hadn’t broken up on the best of terms, sure, but he hadn’t thought it had been too bad. Though, now that he thought about it, hadn’t Rebecca talked about her parents being cold and manipulative? Was this coming from Rebecca or from them...?

A man in a surgeon’s gown appeared in the doorway. His face was drawn as he took off the paper cap that had covered his hair. “Mr. and Mrs. Clancy?”

“Yes?” Rebecca’s mother grabbed her husband’s hand. “Is she out of surgery? How is she?”

“I’m afraid I have some bad news. Rebecca fought hard, but her body had—”

“She’s gone?” Mr. Clancy said, his voice hoarse.

The doctor nodded. “I’m sorry.”

Mrs. Clancy let out a loud, broken sob and slumped against her husband, who pulled her against him. The noise made Bonnie’s face crumple, then she began to wail. Stunned, Liam looked down at her. Her mother had just died. She was motherless. Her life would always be affected by this one tragic incident.

And he had no idea what to do.

The midwife rushed through the door, jostling to get past the doctor, who was still talking to Rebecca’s parents, and took Bonnie from him. Liam watched her soothe Bonnie as if from a distance. As if it wasn’t really happening.

“I’m so sorry about the news, Mr. Hawke,” she said.

“What—” He cleared his throat. “What happens to Bonnie now?”

“Rebecca had already filled in the birth certificate and named you as the father. So as far as the hospital is concerned, you have custody of her. If you don’t want her, I know Rebecca’s parents were talking about raising her. How about I call the social worker to help you sort through your options?”

Bonnie had calmed down to a mild hiccup. Bonnie. His baby. She had worked her little arm free from the blanket and was waving it in the air. He reached out to touch her tiny fist, enclosing it in his.

“There’s no need,” he said and met the midwife’s gaze. “Bonnie will live with me. I’ll raise my own daughter.”

The midwife smiled in approval. “We’ll show you some basics, like how to feed her, then you’ll be on your way. She’s already had all her tests and passed everything with flying colors.”

Liam blinked. Now? Just like that? He knew next to nothing about babies....

Suddenly Rebecca’s mother was in front of them, making a grab for the baby. “I’ll take her,” she said, shooting Liam a defiant look. “We’re going home.”

Unperturbed, the midwife handed Bonnie to Liam. “I’m sorry, but Mr. Hawke is her father. Your daughter named him on the birth certificate. He has custody.”

Mr. Clancy came to stand beside his wife and narrowed reddened eyes at Liam. “We’ll see about that. He’s not fit to raise a baby and I’ll say that in court if I have to.”

Liam didn’t flinch. The Clancys could try whatever they liked. No one was taking his daughter from him.

* * *

As Jenna arranged the last of the weekly flower delivery—fragrant jasmine and sunshine-yellow lilies today—into a crystal vase, she heard her boss, Dylan Hawke, arrive home from an all-nighter. Judging by the voices coming from the penthouse foyer, his brother Liam was with him. Liam had a smooth, deep voice that always made her melt....

And that is a completely inappropriate way to think about your employer’s family. Or any man. It had been falling for a man and forgetting her duty that had put her in this position.

She gathered up the flower stems she’d trimmed and ducked into the hall before the men made it into the living room. One of the things she’d learned growing up in a royal palace was that housekeepers were expected to keep a low profile—like magic cleaning and cooking fairies who were rarely seen.

From the adjoining kitchen, she heard a baby’s cry and she stilled. It sounded like the cry of a newborn. Her arms ached for her own little Meg, but she was in day care, and at eight months old, her cry was different. Her boss, Dylan, and his two brothers, Liam and Adam, were all bachelors, and none of Dylan’s friends had been expecting as far as she knew. She’d been pregnant herself for part of the time she’d worked here, so an expectant mother would have caught her attention.

Footsteps sounded down the hall, and then Dylan’s face appeared around the corner. “Jenna, we could use your help with a slight baby problem.”

“Sure,” she said, wiping her hands and following him back out. The Santa Monica penthouse apartment’s large living room was decorated in whites and neutrals so the only spots of color were the flowers she’d just arranged and the two men who stood in the center, one awkwardly holding the tiny bundle that was now crying loudly. Jenna breathed an “ohhh,” her arms aching with the need to comfort the little thing.

As they approached, Liam glanced up at his brother, then back to the baby he was gently jiggling. Even as her heart sighed at the sight of the six-foot-plus man with the tiny pink bundle, Jenna frowned. Who would leave their new baby with two clueless men? Despite being respected and feared businessmen, they were clearly out of their depth.

“Liam,” Dylan said. “You remember Jenna. She’ll know what to do.”

Jenna glanced at her boss and asked in an undertone, “What to do about what, exactly?”

He stared blankly at her and then shrugged. “About the baby,” he whispered.

Right. Well, maybe if she could calm the baby, she could find out what she needed to do.

“Yes,” she said, her eyes on the little person nestled in Liam’s strong arms. “Maybe I can help?”

Liam regarded her with an assessing gaze—he was less certain of her ability. He needed help—that was evident from the baby’s cries becoming more desperate and the awkward way he was holding her—but his eyes held a fierce protectiveness. He wasn’t handing this baby over to just anyone. She respected that—in fact, the sight of a man being so protective brought a lump of emotion to her throat. She’d have to lay his fears to rest if she was going to help.

“Hi, Mr. Hawke,” she said, smiling brightly. “I’m not sure you remember me, but I’m Jenna Peters.” She generally tried to stay out of the way when Dylan had guests, so she and Liam had never had a conversation, but she hoped he might at least recognize her.

He nodded in acknowledgment, but he then turned his attention back to the tiny, squirming girl he held.

“I have an eight-month-old daughter, Meg, and she cried like this when I first brought her home. Would you like me to try some of the tricks I learned with Meg on this little girl?”

Liam looked down at the baby, stroked a fingertip softly down her cheek, took a deep breath and oh-so-carefully placed the baby in Jenna’s arms.

“Bonnie,” he said, his voice rough. “Her name is Bonnie.”

As he said the name, his dark green eyes softened and Jenna’s stomach looped. He was still standing close, as if not wanting to be too far from the baby. Jenna shivered. She could feel the heat from his body, see the day’s growth of dark beard, smell the masculine scent of his skin....

She stepped back, away from this man’s aura. The priority here was Bonnie.

Jenna pulled the pale pink blanket a bit more firmly around the little girl, laid her across her heart so the baby could feel the beat and began to pace and rock, crooning as she went. The cries gradually quieted until a wet-faced Bonnie peered up at her.

“Hello, little one,” Jenna murmured, unable to stop the smile spreading across her face.

Dylan crept across to look over Jenna’s shoulder. “Good work, Jenna,” he whispered.

But Jenna’s gaze was drawn to Liam. He looked from the baby across to her, his features holding too many emotions to be easily deciphered, though gratitude was definitely one of them. He and this baby must have a strong link—perhaps they were related, or he was close to the parents.

He cleared his throat. “How did you do that?”

“I’ve laid her over my heart,” she said, smoothing the fine, dark hair on Bonnie’s head. “Babies like to feel the beat.”

“Thank you,” he said. His voice was low and full of sincerity.

She glanced up and opened her mouth to tell him he was welcome, but her throat suddenly refused to cooperate. She’d been around Dylan’s brothers before, enough to know that good looks and hair like dark, polished mahogany ran in the family, but she’d never before been exposed to the full force of Liam Hawke’s intensity. He looked like Dylan, yet nothing like him. Liam’s hair gleamed in the sunlight streaming through the tall windows. His eyes didn’t sparkle like her boss’s; they simmered, a deep green maelstrom focused on her.

She swallowed and forced her mouth to work. “She’s lovely. Are you looking after her?”

“You could say that,” he said, his voice flat. “Her mother died.”

Her heart breaking for the little girl, Jenna stared down at the baby who was drifting off to sleep. “Oh, I’m so sorry. Is she yours?”

“Yes,” Liam said. A world of meaning was in that one word.

She lifted a hand to touch his forearm but thought better of it and laid it back around Bonnie. This man was still her boss’s brother.

Dylan moved closer and looked over Jenna’s shoulder. “Before we left the hospital, they showed Liam how to look after her. And while he was doing that, I ducked out and got a baby seat fitted to his Jeep. But once we hit the road, she started crying and nothing we did seemed to help. I suggested that when he dropped me off, he come up and see if you could get Bonnie settled before he drove home.”

She sneaked a glance at Liam, curious about the circumstances that had led to this situation. Curious about why he didn’t already have a car seat fitted when he went to pick up a baby. Curious about him. Instead she asked, “Could she be hungry?”

Liam shook his head. “She shouldn’t be. We fed her last thing before we left the hospital.”

“She’s settled now,” Jenna said. “Would you like to take her back?”

He nodded, but she saw the uncertainty in his eyes. Jenna positioned the baby across his chest, unable to avoid touching his shirt, then stepped back.

Bonnie squirmed, then settled as her father stroked her back.

“You live alone downstairs, don’t you?” Liam asked, his gaze not leaving his daughter.

“On the bottom floor with my little girl.” Dylan’s apartment had three floors—Dylan slept on the top and she and Meg were on the lowest level. Luckily noise didn’t travel in this apartment so Meg didn’t disturb Dylan.

Jenna had been working as his housekeeper for more than a year now. She’d applied for the job at four-months’ pregnant, and he’d been good to her, more than she’d expected from an employer. Having a job that gave her a place to live as well as an income was exactly what she’d needed in her situation.

An unmarried princess from the ancient royal family of Larsland falling pregnant had been intolerable, so Princess Jensine Larsen had left her homeland before anyone found out and started a new life in Los Angeles as Jenna Peters. But she had no support network, no family, no friends to fall back on. This job with Dylan had been a godsend and she didn’t want to jeopardize it.

“I really need to get back—” she said as she turned away, but Liam cut her off.

“Where’s your baby while you work?”

Jenna thought about the most precious thing in her life and held back a wince. “She’s in day care.”

“Wouldn’t you prefer to have her with you?”

Jenna hesitated, looking from Liam to Dylan and back to Liam. The answer was obvious, but her boss was sitting in the room. “In an ideal world, of course I’d like to spend all day with my daughter.” Even if she were at home giving Meg a royal upbringing, they wouldn’t see much of each other—Meg would be raised by nannies and nursery staff, as Jenna herself had been. “But I need to earn a living to support us both, and I’m prepared to make sacrifices for that. Dylan’s been good to me. I’m really grateful for this job. Speaking of which,” she said, edging out of the room, “I have to go—”

“Wait,” he said, and despite herself, she stopped.

* * *

Liam looked into the clear blue eyes of his brother’s housekeeper. “I’m going to need help with Bonnie.”

She nodded and smiled encouragingly. “That’s probably a good idea,” she said in her musical Scandinavian accent. “Being a single parent is a hard road. Will your parents help?”

That would have been best, and if he’d known he was about to become a father, he could probably have arranged it. He rubbed his fingertips across his forehead. “My parents are overseas for a couple of months.”

Dylan let out an ironic chuckle. “They’d been looking forward to their big European holiday, but it turns out it was bad timing.”

“You might want to think about hiring a nanny,” Jenna said.

That had been his thought exactly. When the midwife had handed the tiny bundle to him, Liam had awkwardly accepted Bonnie and held her against his chest. He’d played a lot of sports in his life and coaches had often told him he had natural grace and agility. Yet he wasn’t comfortable holding his own daughter. At least his heart knew no such awkwardness—in that moment, with his baby clasped to him, his heart had expanded as if it could reach out and encompass both of them with a love stronger than anything he’d ever experienced.

When they’d arrived at Dylan’s penthouse, he’d held a fussy, sad-eyed Bonnie, and the sight had slayed him. He’d move heaven and Earth for this little girl, but she hadn’t seemed to want anything from him. Now, if everything went to plan, he’d found somebody she would want—Jenna Peters.

And he was going to get her for Bonnie.

Liam looked at his younger brother. “You’re going to do me a favor, Dylan.”

“I am?” he said, folding his arms across his chest. “What is it?”

“You’re going to let your housekeeper go without serving out her notice.”

Dylan slowly uncrossed his arms and planted his hands low on his hips. “Why would I do that? I like Jenna.”

Liam smiled, feeling the satisfaction of a good plan coming together. “She can’t be your housekeeper because she’s about to become my nanny.”

“Your nanny?” Jenna said, her pale eyebrows drawing together. “I’m not leaving my job.”

“Not just a nanny. You’ll also teach me how to be a parent.”

“You’re already her father.”

“I might be her father, but parenting is not part of my skill set.” He shifted his weight to his other leg. Admitting a weakness so freely was tough, but he had to be completely honest if he wanted this to work. “I need to learn how to take care of a baby and bond with her. Circumstances mean I haven’t had time to prepare for this and I’m not willing for Bonnie to suffer while I’m catching up. You’d be something of a parenthood coach.”

Bonnie’s grandparents had been furious that he’d been sent home with her, but he’d left them to their grief over losing Rebecca. He expected to hear from them soon about a bid for custody, and he’d deal with that when it happened. For now, he was focused on the immediate future. On being exactly what Bonnie needed.

“I’m no expert,” Jenna said, shaking her head. “Many other people are more qualified for that. Agencies devoted to nannies and babysitters.”

He glanced pointedly at his daughter, now sleeping soundly, then back to Jenna. “Bonnie seems to disagree.”

“Getting a tired baby to sleep is one thing. I’m still working out so many other things as I go along through trial and error. Of course, I read books and articles.” She tucked a strand of blond hair that had escaped her ponytail behind her ear, somehow making the simple gesture elegant. “But sometimes I’m just guessing.”

He shrugged. None of that worried him—he’d already assumed as much. “You’re many steps ahead of me. You’ll share what you know and I’ll pick it up as we go along. It won’t take long before I’ll know everything I need to know about babies.”

Her eyebrows lifted to almost her hairline and she seemed uncertain about whether to laugh or not. She didn’t believe him. That was fine—she didn’t know him. He’d never shied from a challenge before, and this challenge was about his daughter. He wouldn’t fail.

“So, you’ll take the job?”

“Thing is, this is more than a job—it’s my home too.” She tapped her fingers against her lips, drawing his attention to their softly curved shape. “What will happen to me once you know all you need to know? I have a stable job and home for my daughter here, and I’m sure Dylan would replace me fairly quickly so I wouldn’t be able to come back.”

“Even when you’ve finished coaching me in the role of parent, I’ll still need a nanny, at least until she goes to school. You won’t be kicked out on the street.”

She chewed on her lip, and he could see her mind going at a hundred miles an hour, thinking through all the possibilities. He liked that trait in his daughter’s nanny. Hell, he liked that trait in anyone.

Jenna rubbed a delicate finger across her forehead. “Can I think about it?”

“I’d prefer you didn’t. As you can see, I’m on my way home now. I only stopped in here to drop Dylan off and I wanted to try and settle her before the drive out of town. I’d like you to come with me and help with the feeding and bathing from the start.”

“Now?” she asked, blue eyes widening.

“Pack a bag and we’ll pick up Meg on the way. I’ll send a moving company over to grab the rest of your things tomorrow.”

“Hey, what about me?” Dylan asked, looking at them in bewilderment.

Liam waved the concern away with a flick of his wrist. “I’m sure you’ll survive without a housekeeper until you can get an agency to send over a temp.” He turned back to Jenna. “You’ll take it?”

She lifted a hand to circle her throat, looking from him to Dylan and back again. “But—”

“Don’t overanalyze it, Jenna. I have a job vacancy and you’re qualified to fill it. I’ll match the wage Dylan is paying you with a twenty percent raise, and the job comes with accommodation. Best of all, you can keep your baby with you during the day instead of having her in day care. Just say yes. Go on—” he smiled “—you know you want to. Say yes.”

Her eyes flicked back to his brother. “Go on,” Dylan said, clearly resigned to being housekeeper-less in the short term. “If you want the job, take it. I’ll be fine. My brother and my niece need you more than I do right now.”