Nanny and the Beast. Donna Clayton

different directions.

      As the bottle was warming, Sophia thought back over the time she’d spent in Michael’s home. She’d arrived feeling angry and resentful over his treatment of the women she’d placed in his home to care for Hailey. The nannies had described him as harsh and bossy and superior, and Sophia had bore the brunt of that behavior from him, too. But what those young women hadn’t seemed to grasp was that there was a logical reason behind The Beast’s growling exterior. Sophia suspected his controlling, inflexible conduct regarding his daughter was due more to his feelings of paternal inadequacy than it was his need to flaunt his authority as their employer. Of course, Sophia would never try to delude herself. He was a complicated man whose strong personality could never be completely comprehended—not in just two short days, at least. However, he had proven to her that he was willing to compromise, although she had pushed the issue a time or two. Although his list of rules remained in plain sight so they wouldn’t be forgotten, Michael had made concessions on some of the sillier ones. In fact, just last evening the three of them had taken a stroll to the park.

      Sophia thought it funny, the many times over the past few days he’d staunchly referred to the information he’d read in the outdated parenting manual he’d been using as a reference. Patiently, she had worked to show him that there was a huge difference in reading instructions printed in a book and in the real, hands-on experience of caring for a newborn. And he’d been an excellent pupil, as eager to learn as any other new father would be.

      She placed a drop of the formula on the tender skin of her wrist and, finding the temperature to be perfect, she twisted the top back onto the bottle securely and headed toward the nursery. Michael was just then swaddling a cranky Hailey in her blanket as Sophia entered the room.

      “Good morning, Hailey,” Sophia called softly, peering around Michael’s shoulder. The baby was too busy fussing to give her much notice. “Are you hungry, honey? I’ve got your breakfast right here.”

      Michael still looked a little freaked when he took the bottle she held out to him. Tucking his daughter in the crook of his arm, he said, “Let’s go out into the living room. As soon as I can get her quiet, you can go.”

      “I’m in no hurry,” she assured him. Any other response would have only added to his anxiety. Besides, she spoke the truth.

      He went down the hall, murmuring softly to Hailey. Walking behind him, Sophia couldn’t help but notice how he was dressed. He looked good in the business suits he wore during the work week. But today he was dressed very casually. The horizontal hunter-green piping that spanned the upper back of his cream-colored polo shirt emphasized his broad shoulders. The denim fabric of his jeans hugged his muscular thighs. The man had a great body.