The Nanny and the CEO (7 page)

“And on the left here we'll set up your computer system. Keep in mind that if you get tired, you only have to take a few steps to the bed.”

His hands went to his hips in a purely male stance. He glanced around at all his state-of-the-art equipment without saying anything. She wandered over to the window and looked out while she waited for him to make a decision.

“I've got a better idea.” Reese turned to him, curious to hear what he had to say. She felt his penetrating glance. “I'm going to give up having an office altogether and work from a laptop in my bedroom when I'm forced to.”

“I don't understand.” She was incredulous.

“There are only so many hours in the day. If I can't accomplish what I need to do at the office, then I'll turn it over to someone else. I have my son to think about now.” His explanation sounded more like a declaration, as if his mind had been somewhere else. “Please feel free to enjoy the rest of your day. I'm going out to the pool.”

Reese had been dismissed. Now that their business was concluded, naturally he had other plans that didn't include her. Silly how bereft she felt.

Needing to shake the feeling, Reese went to her bedroom to start studying. But an hour later she realized she'd been going over the same section of work a dozen times and nothing was sinking in. All she could think of was a pair of dark eyes that set her heart rate fluttering.

What she needed was a good walk in the park to clear her head.

 

“Albert?” Nick approached the front desk at three in the afternoon. “Has Ms. Chamberlain gone out with Jamie yet?” It was Friday. He'd turned over some work for one of the office staffers to finish up so he could come home early and spend it with Jamie.

“She left maybe a half hour ago.”

“Thank you.”

Disappointment crept through him because it wasn't only his son he'd been longing to see. All week he'd found himself watching the clock. When it was a quarter to five, he'd called Paul to be out in front of the building to drive him home. Today he couldn't take it any longer and knew he had raised eyebrows when he'd taken off from work two hours before time.

He realized that their constant togetherness over those first two days had spoiled him. Now, Nick missed talking to Reese. She was the most alive woman he'd ever met. Intelligent. Her conversation stimulated him and there was no question Jamie adored her.

Since he had no legitimate reason to prevent her from doing what she wanted with her spare time, he usually took his son up on the roof to the gym and worked out in front of him.

Throughout the week she hadn't called down to the
kitchen for dinner once. That gave him no opening to join her. Apparently she liked fixing her own food and ate before he arrived, frustrating him no end.

Not able to take it any longer, he broke his own rule and phoned her. She answered on the fourth ring. “Hello, Nick? Are you phoning from your office?”

Her voice sounded tentative, if not a trifle anxious. He brushed aside the thought that he knew her voice so well already, knew how she was feeling simply from the tone of it. He had to remind himself that as much as he enjoyed Reese's company, she was only temporary in his and Jamie's life.

“No. Where are you and Jamie?”

“At the park. Is anything wrong?”

He sucked in his breath because it seemed there had to be some kind of emergency in order for him to be with her at a different time than the schedule dictated. The schedule
you
established, Wainwright!

“I was able to tie up work early and decided to spend the rest of the day with my son.”

“I'll come right home then.”

“That won't be necessary. Tell me where to find you.”

Nick heard her hesitation. He didn't know if it was because she wasn't sure of her exact location, or if she didn't want his company. If it was the latter, was it because she was afraid to be alone with him? In his gut he knew she wasn't indifferent to him, but maybe she didn't want the relationship between them to move to a more personal level. He knew it would be a mistake to blur the lines between them, but Nick was becoming more and more enchanted with Reese.

He grimaced when he thought she might be in contact
with her ex-fiancé. Was it possible she still had feelings for him? Nick had too many questions for which there were no answers yet.

“We're in front of the Sweet Café watching the sailboats.”

“Don't leave. I'll see you shortly.”

Once he'd hung up, he shrugged out of his suit and changed into more casual clothes. To save time, he had Paul drop him off near the east rim of the pond.

A mild breeze kept the sun from being too hot. Tourists and locals came here in any kind of weather, but there were more people than usual milling about this afternoon. Quite a few of them were pushing children in prams and strollers. Nick scanned the area looking for Reese's ponytail. She didn't appear to be around.

One knockout blonde with hair attractively tangled caught his eye over by the water where she was examining one of the sailboats. She wore a filmy layered top in blues and greens over a pair of jeans defining womanly hips. Her slender yet rounded body reminded him of someone. He moved closer and suddenly his heart pounded with ferocity because he saw Jamie in the stroller in front of her.

“Reese?”

She whipped around, causing her wavy ash-blond hair to swish against the top of her shoulders. The change of hairstyle had thrown him. He couldn't decide which one he liked better. Her hair had the kind of texture he'd love to work his fingers into.

At first glance her eyes flickered, causing them to reflect the blue off the water. They seemed to search his for a long moment before she averted them and leaned over to pull Jamie out of his seat.

“Look who's here.” The second Jamie saw Nick, he grew more animated and squirmed to reach him. “You know your daddy all right.” Reese gave a gentle laugh as she handed him over.

Nick kissed his son, rocking him for a minute while he enjoyed the smell of her flowery scent on the baby's cheeks and neck. “Have you missed me today? I know I've missed you.” He pressed a kiss to Jamie's tummy, provoking more smiles and laughter.

Today she'd put him in the green suit with the grouper fish on the front. In his tiny white socks and white high-tops, the picture he made tugged at Nick's heart. He was proud to claim him and grateful for the meticulous care Reese took of him.

He flicked his gaze to her. “Have you walked to the north end to see the Alice in Wonderland statue?”

She nodded. “It's wonderful. I particularly loved the Mad Hatter. I can't wait until Jamie's old enough t—” She stopped midsentence. He found it fascinating how an unexpected flush spilled into her cheeks.

“To
what
?” he prodded, already knowing the answer.

“I have a tendency to run on sometimes. Obviously I won't be around when he's older…it's just sometimes difficult to think about not seeing this little one grow up.” Nick was gratified to find her this attached to Jamie already. In truth, for the past week he'd been imagining a future that included the three of them. Since the moment he'd brought her to the penthouse, he'd been happier than he'd ever been in his life.

He couldn't pin it down to any one thing or moment. All he knew was that she was on his mind to the point
it was interfering with his concentration at the office. “Let's grab a bite while we're here. Have you eaten?”

“I hadn't planned to until we got back to the penthouse.”

“Are you hungry?”

“I have to admit a salad and lemonade would hit the spot.” No doubt she kept her expenses down by not spending money on food.

“I'm hungrier than that.” Since the advent of Reese in his life, his appetite had grown. Food tasted better. The sky looked bluer. When he woke up in the morning, the world seemed filled with new possibilities. He looked down at his son. “What about you, sport?”

Reese answered for him. “I'm sure he wouldn't turn down a bottle. It's warm out here.”

With Jamie against his shoulder, Nick pushed the stroller. Together they made their way to an empty table and sat down beneath the umbrella, welcoming the shade. As he looked around, it dawned on him he hadn't been here in years. He'd been so busy making money for the brokerage, this part of life had passed him by completely.

“Here's a bottle for him.” Reese handed him a burp cloth, too.

“Thank you.” His breath caught when their eyes met. “The waiter's coming over. Will you order me a steak sandwich and coffee while I feed Jamie?”

The baby nestled in his arm, eager for his formula. He was hungry and virtually inhaled it, then let out several burps loud enough to bring some other diners' heads around with a smile.

Laughter bubbled out of Reese. He loved hearing it.
“Your son would be welcome in some parts of the world where it's polite to burp after a good meal.”

He continued to rub Jamie's back in order to get out all the air. By the time his eyes fluttered closed, their food had arrived. Nick lowered him into the stroller and put the canopy down to shield him from the sun.

While Reese ate her salad, he attacked his sandwich. “Did I tell you I'm taking him to his grandparents in the morning?”

She nodded. “I bet they can't wait to see him.”

“Next time I'll take you with us.”

A shadow crossed over her lovely face. “Why would you do that?”

“For one reason, you'll be ready for a change of scenery. For another, Jamie is already attached to you. Another week of enjoying your exclusive attention and he'll have a hard time being separated for a whole day. With you along to reassure him, things will go better.” He could tell by the shadows in her eyes she was worried about it.

“Don't be concerned. You'll be free to walk around certain parts of the grounds. Hirst Hollow is open to the public on Saturdays. You'll be enchanted with the flower gardens.”

Reese finished her lemonade. He could practically see her mind taking it all in, working up a protest. After she put her glass down, she didn't disappoint him. “No matter what, your mother-in-law won't be enchanted to see the nanny along for the ride, especially this nanny!”

“Anne's going to have to get used to it. You're an integral part of my household.”

“But Jamie doesn't come from a normal household.”

“Go on,” Nick urged, drinking the rest of his coffee. He was curious to hear the words she was getting ready to spout from lips he suddenly realized he'd love to taste.

“You don't really want me to spell it out.”

“You're wrong,” he fired back. “I'm fascinated by everything you have to say on the subject.”

“If I told you, it could be taken as an insult, and that's the last thing I would want to do when I've been given a dream job.”

“At least do me the courtesy of telling me how my son's home is
not
normal. I have to work, and I need someone to look after Jamie—what's wrong with that?”

He was prepared to hear that he made the kind of money that separated him from the masses, but she said something else instead—something that touched on that painful area of his soul no one else knew about or understood.

“In the short time I've worked for you, I've learned that Jamie is a Hirst and a Wainwright, two blue-blooded American families.”

“You mean we only breathe the rarified atmosphere of the elite upper class from England going back several hundred years? You're right, Ms. Chamberlain. Someone put it much better than I could. ‘In our world men were better than women, horses better than dogs, and Harvard better than anything.'”

Her cheeks turned to flame, but she held his gaze. “I should never have brought this up.”

“Why not? It's the truth. Did you know the
Wainwrights have had horses on Long Island going back at least two hundred years? Nothing's more important than pedigree and belonging to the right clubs. Not even marriages have as much significance as long as the principles belong to that exclusive world where the women provide the decoration.

“Everyone has rank, some higher than others. One is aware of his social placement at all times. That's only the outer shell we're talking about. Unlike the soft meat of the crab, their inner stuffing is even harder. It blinds them to the loving and understanding of their own children.”

As he spoke, emotion darkened her eyes.

“Erica's and my family share an ancestry that has been in love with itself for generations. They've continued to hone the ‘right' way to do things to a fine art while at the same time distancing their offspring by their criticism and lack of affection.”

He heard Reese's sharp intake of breath before she said, “For that very reason certain things aren't done, like hiring an unsuitable nanny, someone like me.”

“Correct. The way you hug and kiss Jamie all the time, you're probably the most unsuitable nanny in existence, which makes you perfect for the job.”

Her delicately arched brows knit together. “That sounded like a declaration of war.”

“War…divorce… Ultimately they're the same thing. It's time the cycle of neglect ended, starting with Jamie.”

“So you're using me for a guinea pig?”

Nick nodded without shame.

“Mrs. Tribe mentioned that you'd be hiring another nanny in the fall. What about her?”

“Since my mother-in-law was the one who arranged for her in the first place, I'll let her fix the mistake. Barbara Cosgriff's another blue blood. She and Anne make up part of a very elite circle. The Cosgriffs won't be in need of their nanny by September, therefore, they're delighted to do this favor for my mother-in-law, who spoke for me without my permission, something she's good at doing.”