Praise for Barbara McMahon:
“Barbara McMahon takes a simple love story
—employer falls for the employee—and turns it into a tale filled with romance, heartache and love. While the basis for this novel may be timeless, the issues both Caitlin and Zack face are enough to give this novel the feeling it has never been done before. These two characters rock!” www.loveromancesandmore.webs.com on Caitlin’s Cowboy
“A great story, The Tycoon Prince is fit for any woman (and perhaps a few men) who wished they kissed a few less frogs and had more princes to sweep them off their feet!” www.aromancereview.com
“A fresh spin on some tried-and-true plot
elements makes this story work beautifully— and its outspoken, honest heroine is a delight.” RT Book Reviews on The Daredevil Tycoon
Dear Reader,
Have you ever thought about a dream job? For me it was being a flight attendant for an international airline back in the day. I traveled the world—at the airline’s expense. I saw exotic locales I could never afford to visit on my own. And I met the most wonderful and incredible people along the way.
Not everyone is so lucky to get to travel like that. Other jobs provide other ways. Come join Stacey Williams as she lives her dream as a Vacation Nanny—traveling to foreign countries, seeing sights she’d never be able to afford on her own—combining her love for children with her desire to see the world. She has it all.
Yet after years of this dream job, she’s wondering if there might be something more. What does the future hold? A family perhaps? Can she find the right man to build a future with, who can replace the excitement of travel with love and devotion and a world of two that will be so special she’d never miss her job?
How does a nanny meet an eligible bachelor? Or if she meets him, how can she surmount the obstacles he erects every step of the way?
I hope you enjoy Stacey’s journey. The setting is near Altea on the Costa Blanca where my parents lived for many years. I have such lovely memories of spending one entire summer in Spain. I hope to go back one day. But in the meantime—I’m enjoying it through Stacey’s eyes.
I hope you will, too.
All the best,
Barbara
About the Author
BARBARA McMAHON was born and raised in the south USA, but settled in California after spending a year flying around the world for an international airline. After settling down to raise a family and work for a computer firm, she began writing when her children started school. Now, feeling fortunate in being able to realize a long-held dream of quitting her “day job” and writing full time, she and her husband have moved to the Sierra Nevada mountains of California, where she finds her desire to write is stronger than ever. With the beauty of the mountains visible from her windows, and the pace of life slower than the hectic San Francisco Bay Area where they previously resided, she finds more time than ever to think up stories and characters and share them with others through writing. Barbara loves to hear from readers. You can reach her at PO Box 977, Pioneer, CA 95666-0977, USA. Readers can also contact Barbara at her website: www.barbaramcmahon.com.
The Nanny and
The Boss’s Twins
Barbara McMahon
To my wonderful editor Lucy Gilmour for being such
a gem to work with and always uplifting her authors. Thank you, Lucy!
CHAPTER ONE
STACEY WILLIAMS checked her watch for the tenth time. It was still a few minutes before the agreed-upon time, but still she scanned the crowd as passengers walked by. The international terminal at Kennedy Airport was crowded as people checked in for flights all over the world. She had the correct check-in line, she’d verified that before she’d begun her vigil, but she didn’t have a ticket. Her new boss would have her ticket.
Watching for Luis Aldivista, she zeroed in on any men with children in attendance. She’d recognize the twin boys and their father after meeting with them yesterday. Still, she scanned each face. Would their regular nanny accompany them to the airport? Or was Luis arriving here expecting her to take charge immediately? Their meeting yesterday had been necessarily brief. Only after she’d left had she thought of questions.
There, a tall dark-haired man with two children—and a woman carrying a baby right beside him. For a moment Stacey felt a pang of envy. She and her sister were all the family each had, but one day she’d love to fall in love, get married and have a family of her own with lots of children. She loved children—it was why she did the job she did, but watching other people’s children wasn’t the same as raising some of her own.
She was jostled as the crowd grew. It was prime time for late afternoon departures and more and more people arrived by the moment. JFK International Airport was one of the country’s busiest, and with the start of summer vacations she expected it would continue to be crowded for the next several weeks.
She checked her watch again and, looking up, she spotted the man holding two squirmy boys enter the terminal. A porter pushed a luggage cart behind them. It struck her again that Luis didn’t fit her idea of a typical Spaniard. Instead of the dark hair she’d expected, this man had sandy brown hair. He was tall, and fit, but the strong jaw and tightly pressed lips also didn’t fit her image of a fiery Latino. Somehow in the past she’d always pictured Spanish men as lovers, with soft words to whisper into a woman’s ear and a delightful manner in making a woman feel special.
Luis looked nothing like her fantasies.
He looked around the terminal, spotted her and said something to the boys. They both looked up at him at the same time. She smiled at the twin expressions. When she’d met them yesterday she’d wondered how she’d ever tell them apart. They were identical in every way—except personality. Juan was much more outgoing than his brother Pablo.
She pulled her bag behind her as she approached them, her travel tote slung over one shoulder.
“Mr. Aldivista,” she greeted him as she got closer.
He looked at her. “Right on time, I see.”
She nodded and looked at the boys, smiling. Both clung to their father and studied her with wary eyes.
“Boys, say hello to Miss Williams.”
“I don’t want to go,” one of the boys complained.
“I don’t need a babysitter,” the other protested, frowning at Stacey. His look mirrored that of his father. She knew they would be a handful. She’d seen evidence of that on their pre-trip interview yesterday, but she was up to the challenge. She hoped.
When she’d showed up for the interview, Luis Aldivista’s first comment had been about her appearance—too young to be a nanny for his boys. Even a temporary nanny for their trip to Spain. For a second she’d thought he’d refuse to hire her but, having left it so close to their departure date, there wasn’t a lot he could do.
She’d explained again the credentials of all the nannies in the company. She herself had graduated from college with a degree in early childhood education, and then taken the course from the prestigious Miss Pritchards’ School for Nannies. Which he already knew since Stephanie, their office manager, had provided references and credentials when he had visited the agency.
She should be used to people thinking she looked too young for the job, she heard it often enough. One of her friends had said she’d appreciate that youthful look