“Yes. I’m sorry if you’ve been waiting. I’m still in line to pay my bill. Could I leave my suitcase with you? I’ll run back inside. I shouldn’t be much longer.”
“Take your time.”
“Thank you.”
Ten minutes later she rushed back outside. The driver opened the rear door of the limo for her so she could get in.
“Oh—”
“Oh” was right, Nick thought to himself as the longlegged, ash-blonde female took the seat opposite him and Jamie. She brought a flowery fragrance into the limo with her. What was she? Twenty-five, twenty-six?
Her modest blouse and skirt couldn’t hide the curves of a body well put together. She had to be five-eight in her bone-colored sandals and was so different from the image he had in mind of a plump, fortyish maternal type, he couldn’t imagine what Leah had been thinking.
Maybe the wrong person had gotten in the limo, but she was wearing yellow.
“You’re Reese Chamberlain?”
“Yes.”
“I’m Nicholas Wainwright.”
Her light blue eyes flared as if in surprise. “How do you do,” she said in a slightly husky voice that for no particular reason appealed to him. When she saw the baby who’d fallen asleep, her eyes sparkled with life. She leaned toward Jamie, seemingly oblivious to Nick. “Oh—look how darling! All that black hair and those long, silky lashes against his cheeks.”
Her gaze finally darted to Nick’s. “I’m sorry to have kept you. Mrs. Tribe warned me you were a punctual man, and now I’ve already committed my first sin. But the computers were down at the hotel and I had to wait in line until they could check me out.”
No New Yorker here or anything close. Midwest maybe? “So my driver explained. We’re not in a hurry. Jamie’s being very cooperative.”
“He’s a wonderful boy.” When her eyes lifted, he could see they’d darkened with emotion. “I’m so sorry about your loss. If you decide to hire me, I promise to do everything I can to make your son as secure and happy as possible until your permanent nanny comes to live with you.”
Either she was the greatest actress alive, or this was her true self. Leah was a shrewd judge of character. Something had to have appealed to his secretary for her to pick a woman whose age and looks were totally wrong for the position. She appeared too healthy to be a model, yet had the right bones and height. All Walter and Anne had to do—or anyone else for that matter—was get a glimpse of her and…
The limo was already working its way through traffic. Paul would have them deposited at the front of the apartment before long. Nick needed more information so he could decide if he would send her back to the hotel before they ever got out of the car.
“Room and board aside, what kind of salary were you expecting, Ms. Chamberlain?”
She named a figure below what he’d anticipated she would ask for. “Does that sound all right to you?”
“It’s fine,” he muttered, bemused by everything that came out of her mouth. “Tell me what happens when you leave me in September?”
“I’ll move back to Philadelphia.”
His dark brows lifted. “Another nanny position?”
She studied him with a puzzled expression. “No. I’ll be in school again. I guess Mrs. Tribe failed to mention that to you.”
Something had been going on with Leah he didn’t understand. Without all the facts, he was at a loss. “She probably did, but I’m afraid I’ve been preoccupied with the arrangements for my son.”
“Of course. She said your in-laws have been helping out. There’s nothing like family coming to the rescue in a crisis. The baby will probably have a hard time with me at first, always looking for you or his grandparents. Were you thinking of giving me a trial run? I’ll do whatever. And please don’t worry. If you decide to look for someone else, I have a backup plan.”
He blinked in surprise. “I thought you needed a job.”
“I do, but if all else fails, I’ll fly home and my father will let me work for him this summer. It isn’t what I want to do,” she added, sounding far away, “but as I told you, there’s nothing like family in an emergency. Dad’s a sweetheart.”
What had Leah said? I’ll wager she’s not like anyone you ever met.
“Where is home?”
“Lincoln, Nebraska.”
So Nick was right. “What does your father do for a living?”
“He owns a lumberyard. I’ve helped in the office before.”
“You’re a long way from home. I presume college brought you to the East Coast.”
“That’s right. I’m a business major.”
Nick’s black brows furrowed. “Have you ever been a nanny?”
“No,” she said forthrightly, “but I come from a large family and have done my share of tending children.”
“Your mother worked, too?”
A gentle laugh escaped. “Oh, she worked—but not outside the home. Being the mother of six children is like running a major corporation. She’s been on call 24/7 since I was born.” Her eyes wandered to Jamie. “There’s nothing sweeter than a new baby. All they really need is lots of love between eating and sleeping.”
Suddenly the door opened. Paul stood there, reminding Nick they’d arrived. He’d been so engrossed in the conversation he hadn’t noticed the limo had stopped. Unless he could come up with a compelling reason not to hire her right now, taking her upstairs would be as good as a fait accompli.
While he hesitated, a piercing siren filled the air, the kind that sent an alarm through your body. It was so loud it woke Jamie, who came awake startled and crying. Before Nick could turn to get the baby’s straps undone, Ms. Chamberlain had already accomplished it and plucked him out of the car seat.
In an instant she had him cuddled against her shoulder. She’d moved too fast for it to be anything more than her natural instinct to comfort. “Did that mean old siren scare you?” Her hand shaped the back of his head. “It scared me, too, but it’s all right.” She rocked him, giving him kisses until his frightened cries turned into whimpers.
“Sorry,” she said, flicking her gaze to Nick. “I didn’t mean to grab him, but that siren made me jump and it was easier for me to dive for him than you. His heart is pounding like a jackhammer.” She started to hand the baby to Nick, but he shook his head.
“He seems perfectly happy where he is for the moment.”
With those words it appeared he’d sealed his own fate. Still bemused by what had happened, he turned to an oddly silent Paul who’d already pulled the diaper bag and her suitcase out of the limo.
The baby was gorgeous. He had the overall look and coloring of his dark, striking father, but it was apparent his mother had been a beauty in her own right. No wonder Mr. Wainwright seemed to brood even as he spoke to Reese. She hadn’t the slightest idea how long he and his wife had been married. What mattered was that she’d only been dead ten weeks.
Reese had undergone her own crushing pain when Jeremy had broken their engagement, but at least they hadn’t been married or had a child. She didn’t even want to think about the white-hot pain Jamie’s father must still be in. Reese couldn’t figure out how he was coping.
There was nothing she could do to alleviate his anguish. But if given the chance, she would love his little boy and make him feel secure during