Triple Trouble (7 page)

Or not, she thought, still not completely convinced.

But in any event, she had to find a way to insulate herself against the powerful attraction she felt. Especially since it appeared Nick didn’t have to do anything, or even say anything, to make her nerves sizzle and her body heat up. Apparently, he just needed to breathe in her presence.

Groaning, she climbed back into bed and pulled the sheet and blanket over her head. The triplets were still fast asleep in their cribs upstairs when Charlene tiptoed down the stairs and into the kitchen just before eight the following morning. Nick glanced over his shoulder and took down another mug from the open cupboard.

“Morning,” he said. “Coffee’s nearly done.”

Charlene breathed in the rich scent filling the kitchen and nearly groaned. “Bless you.”

Nick’s grin flashed, his eyes lit with amusement. He poured the rich brew into their mugs at the same moment that a knock sounded on the back door.

“That’ll be Melissa,” Nick told Charlene. He grabbed his computer case and crossed the kitchen to pull open the door.

A huge chocolate Labrador retriever leaped over the threshold and planted his paws on Nick’s shoulders, whining with excitement, his tail whipping back and forth.

“Ouch.” Melissa stepped inside, moving sideways to avoid getting hit. “That tail of yours is a lethal weapon, Rufus.” She waved her hand at the travel coffee mug and leather case in Nick’s left hand. “On your way out to work, boss?”

“Yeah.” Nick rubbed Rufus’s ears. “That’s enough. Down, boy.” The Lab dropped back onto four paws but continued to wag his tail, pink tongue lolling as he stared adoringly up at Nick. “I’ll check with the employment agency today,” Nick said, looking over his shoulder at Charlene, “and find out if they’ve lined up applicants for a second nanny.”

“I’ll keep my fingers crossed that they have—then maybe we both can start getting more sleep.”

Nick grinned, his eyes lit with rueful amusement as his mouth curved upward to reveal a flash of white teeth. Charlene suspected she was staring at him like a hopelessly lovestruck teenager, but she couldn’t bring herself to look away. No man should be that gorgeous.

“I’ll tell them we’re staggering from sleep deprivation. Maybe they’ll take pity on us,” he said.

“We can only hope,” Charlene said, tearing her gaze away from his smile. Unfortunately, she was immediately snagged by his glossy black hair, thick-lashed brown eyes, tanned skin with a faint beard shadow despite the early hour, handsome features…Were all the Fortune men this blessed by nature? she wondered. If so, heaven help the women who caught their attention—because females didn’t stand a chance against all that powerful, charming, handsome male virility. Perhaps she was fortunate that he was her boss and thus off-limits, not to mention he was also clearly far more sophisticated than she. Never mind the fact that he was also not interested in her. Because if he ever turned that undeniable charm on her, she’d give in without a whimper.

It’s a pitiful thing when a woman has no resistance to a man, she realized with wry acknowledgment.

“So long, boss,” Melissa’s voice yanked Charlene out of her thoughts. “Have a good day.”

“Good luck with the triplets.” Nick bent to give Rufus’s silky ears one last rub before disappearing through the door.

Charlene echoed Melissa’s goodbye before pouring herself another mug of coffee.

“The coffee’s fresh,” she told Melissa. “Want some?”

“Sure, why not.” Melissa slid onto a stool at the counter.

Charlene handed her a steaming cup and took a seat opposite her.

“Are the babies still asleep?” Melissa asked.

“Yes.” Charlene glanced at the digital clock on the microwave. “They’re sleeping in, probably because they were awake several times last night.”

“I was telling my Ed about the triplets just this morning—” Melissa began. Whatever she was about to say was lost as someone rapped sharply on the back door.

Charlene looked inquiringly at Melissa.

“That’s probably LouAnn,” Melissa said as she left the counter and crossed the room.

Charlene barely had time to wonder who LouAnn was before Melissa pulled open the door. She felt her eyes widen.

“Good morning, Melissa.” The throaty rasp seemed incongruous, coming as it did from a woman who Charlene guessed weighed at best a hundred pounds, maybe a hundred and ten at the most.

“Hi, LouAnn.” Melissa gestured her inside. “We’re just having coffee. Want some?”

“Of course.” LouAnn followed Melissa to the counter, her bright blue gaze full of curiosity and fixed on Charlene. “And who are you, dearie?”

“I’m Charlene, the nanny.” Charlene tried not to stare, but the silver-haired woman’s attire was eye-popping. She wore a turquoise T-shirt with a bucking horse and rider picked out in silver rhinestones. The black leggings below the T-shirt clung to her nonexistent curves and hot-pink, high-top tennis shoes covered her feet. Skinny arms poked out of the loose short sleeves of the shirt, and both hands boasted jewelry that dazzled. Charlene was pretty sure the huge diamond on her left hand was real, and more than likely, so was the sapphire on her right. Not to mention the large diamond studs that glittered in her earlobes. She was tan, toned and exuded energy that fairly vibrated the air around her pixie frame.

“Nanny?” LouAnn’s penciled eyebrows shot toward the permed silver curls of her immaculate, short hairdo. “Why does Nick need a nanny?”

“Have a seat, LouAnn, and we’ll fill you in.” Melissa pulled out a chair next to hers and across the island’s countertop from Charlene. “Charlene, this is Nick’s neighbor, LouAnn Harris.”

“Pleased to meetcha.” LouAnn hopped onto the tall chair, crossed her legs and beamed at Charlene. “You might as well know you’re likely to see a lot of me. I’m a widow. I live alone and my son and daughter live too far away to visit me often, so I tend to get bored. I was delighted when Nick moved in here and hired Melissa—

we’ve known each other for at least twenty years. My, you’re young, aren’t you?”

“Uh, well…” Charlene looked at Melissa for guidance. The housekeeper grinned, her eyes twinkling. Clearly, she wasn’t bothered by the neighbor’s bluntness. “I suppose I am, sort of,” Charlene replied, taking her cue from Melissa.

LouAnn snorted. “No ‘sort of’ about it, honey. Compared to me, you’re a child. But then, I’m seventy-six, so most everyone is younger.” She sipped her coffee. “I have to get me a coffeemaker like Nick’s. Your coffee is always better than mine, Melissa.”

“That might be because I grind the beans. Nick has them sent from the coffee shop he used to go to in L.A.,” Melissa explained to Charlene.

“I thought it was the coffeemaker.” LouAnn leaned forward and lowered her voice to a raspy whisper. “It looks like it belongs on a space ship.”

Charlene laughed, charmed by LouAnn’s warm camaraderie.

LouAnn grinned at her, winked, and turned back to Melissa. “Now, tell me why Nick needs a nanny. I thought he was a confirmed bachelor with no interest in kids.”

“He is—and he doesn’t, or didn’t, pay attention to children,” Melissa agreed. “At least, he had no interest in children until recently. It’s a sad story, really.”

When she finished relaying a condensed version of the situation, LouAnn clucked in sympathy. “How terrible for those poor little girls. And how lucky for them—and Nick—that you were willing to step in and help,” she added, reaching across the marble countertop to pat Charlene’s hand.

“It was fate,” Melissa said firmly. “That’s what I think.”

“Three little ones—all the same age.” LouAnn shook her head. “How are you all coping?”

“Except for a serious lack of sleep, fairly well, I think.” Charlene looked at Melissa.

“Sometimes it’s chaos, of course, but the girls seem to be doing okay. Jessie has an ear infection at the moment, so she’s a little cranky. But by and large, they’re very sweet little girls.”

“I can’t wait to see them. How old are they?”

“They’re a year—uh-oh.” The sound of one of the girls, chattering away upstairs floated down the stairway and into the kitchen. “I think you’re about to meet the dynamic trio.” Charlene slipped off her chair and headed for the door.

“I’m coming up with you,” LouAnn announced, joining Charlene.

Melissa brought up the rear as the three women left the kitchen. Nick had a long list of priorities for the day, but as he backed his Porsche out of the garage and drove away, he wasn’t focusing on the work waiting for him at the Fortune Foundation. Instead, he was distracted by the memory of Charlene coping with the babies in the middle of the night.

The picture of her in the bedroom, lit only by the glow of a night-light, was seared in his memory. Her auburn hair had been rumpled from sleep, her long legs covered in soft-looking, blue-and-white pajama bottoms. Jackie had clutched the neckline of the brief little white tank top Charlene wore, pulling it down to reveal the upper curve of her breasts.

Even half-asleep, he’d been damn sure she wasn’t wearing anything under that top. He felt like a dog for looking, and hoped she hadn’t noticed.

He’d known having the beautiful redhead living in his house was bound to cause difficult moments, but he hadn’t been prepared to be blindsided by a half-naked woman when he was barely awake.

Which was stupid of me, he thought with disgust. She’s living in my house. I knew she’d be getting out of bed if one of the triplets woke during the night. And as long as he was being brutally honest, he had to admit the pajamas she wore hadn’t come close to being blatantly suggestive. Nevertheless, Charlene’s simple pajama bottoms and tank top would stop traffic on an L.A. freeway. Maybe he wouldn’t have felt as if he’d been hit by lightning when he saw her in those pajamas if she were a woman with fewer curves.

Or maybe, he thought with self-derision, if she’d been wearing a sack I’d still have been interested.

He knew he was completely out of line. He just didn’t know how to turn off his body’s response to her. Not only was she his employee, she was too damned young for him. His office assistant had telephoned with results of a preemployment background check before he’d left his hotel to drive to the triplets’ foster home. The report not only confirmed Charlene had a spotless employment record, it also told him she’d graduated from college only three years earlier. A brief mental calculation told him that if she’d gone to college immediately after high school, then graduated after four or five years before working for three more years, she most likely was twenty-five or twenty-six years old. And he was thirty-seven. Too old for her.

Unfortunately, his libido didn’t appear to be paying attention to the math. He’d reached the office while he’d been preoccupied with the situation at home, and swung the Porsche into a parking slot. He left the car and headed for his office, determined to put thoughts of the curvy redhead at home, busy with his new instant family, out of his mind.

He quickly scanned the pink message slips the receptionist had handed him and tossed the stack on his desktop. He rang his brother Darr while he plugged in his laptop and arranged to meet him for lunch at their favorite diner, SusieMae’s. Then he closed his office door and tackled an inbox filled with documents and files. Nick gave the waitress his and Darr’s usual lunch order and she bustled off. SusieMae’s Café was crowded, but he had a clear view of the door, and saw his brother enter.

Darr swept the comfortable interior with a quick glance, nodding at acquaintances as he crossed the room and slid into the booth across from Nick.

“Where have you been?” he demanded without preamble. “I left two messages on your machine. You never called back.”

“You didn’t say it was an emergency.” Nick shrugged out of his jacket and eyed his brother across the width of the scarred tabletop. “Was it?”

“Not exactly. I wanted to know if you’d talked to Dad or J.R. lately.”

“I haven’t.” Nick took a drink of water. “Why?”

“Because I called and neither one answered. Come to think of it,” Darr frowned at Nick, “none of you called me back.”

Nick grinned. “Probably because we all assumed you were too busy with Bethany to care if we called you or not.”

“Huh,” Darr grumbled.

Nick noticed his younger brother didn’t deny the charge.

“How’s Bethany doing?” he asked. He felt distinctly protective toward the petite, pregnant blonde, especially since Darr was in love with her. When the two married, she’d become Nick’s sister-in-law. As far as he was concerned, Bethany Burdett was a welcome addition to their all-male family.

“Good.” Darr leaned back to let their waitress set plates and coffee mugs on the tabletop in front of them. “She’s good.”

Nick didn’t miss the softening of his brother’s face. He was glad Darr had found a good woman. Bethany made him happy, and he seemed content in a way Nick hadn’t seen before.

“You didn’t answer my question, where have you been?”

Nick waited until the waitress left before he spoke. “I made a trip to Amarillo. I’ve been pretty busy since I got back.”

“Yeah? What were you doing in Amarillo?” Darr took a bite of his sandwich, eyeing Nick over the top of a double-decker bacon-and-tomato on wheat.

“I picked up Stan’s kids.” Nick saw Darr’s eyes widen. “Three of them,” he added, smiling slightly at the shock on his brother’s face. “They’re all girls—only a year old. Triplets.”

Darr choked, set down his sandwich, grabbed his coffee and washed down the bite in record time. “What the hell? Why? What happened?”

Nick lost any amusement he’d felt at his brother’s dumfounded expression. “He and Amy were in a car accident—neither one of them made it out alive.” Saying the words aloud didn’t make the truth any less surreal.

The shock on Darr’s face made it clear he was just as stunned as Nick had been at first hearing the news.

“Both of them?” He shook his head in disbelief when Nick nodded. “They were so young. You and Stan are the same age, right?”

Again, Nick nodded. “And Amy was a year younger.”

“And you have custody of their babies?” Darr queried,

“Yeah.”

“Why?”