The Nanny and the CEO (14 page)

He pushed himself away from the table and stood up. “And you're telling me you feel the exact same way?”

She let out a caustic laugh. “That's inconceivable to you, isn't it.
Moi?
A mere woman who has that same fire in her? Impossible. A woman who wants to make a difference? Unheard of, right?”

“Frankly, yes,” he said in a voice of irony, “particularly when I see the way you are with Jamie. No one would ever guess you weren't his mother.”

“You're not even listening to me because in your eyes a woman can't be both.” She circled in front of him. “Let me tell you something about yourself, Nick. Though you've come a long way to rid yourself of the shackles imposed by thirty-four years of emotional neglect, you'll never be a man who could compromise on something so vital to your very existence as your work.”

The glitter in those black depths should have warned her, but she was just getting warmed up.

“Yet you hand out advice to me and suggest I go home to patch things up with Jeremy as if my problem is nothing more than a bagatelle that can be swept under the rug. Be a good girl and do what girls are supposed to do, Reese. Let Jeremy take care of business so you can take care of his babies. Compromise for the sake of your love.
That's great advice, Mr. Wainwright, as long as
you're
not the one being forced to do the compromising.”

“Are you finished?” he asked as if he'd grown tired of her tantrum. She couldn't bear his condescension.

“Not quite,” she fired back. “One day I intend to open my own brokerage company right here in New York and be a
huge
success. In the meantime I'm contracted with you to take care of Jamie until I start my internship at Miroff's. For your information I never renege on my commitments, unlike you who would send me back to Nebraska on the next flight without a qualm.”

She paused at the sliding door. “If you need me, I'll be in my bedroom studying.”

 

Nick buzzed his secretary. “Leah? I'll be in Lew's office for a while.” He'd done a little research and had requested this conference. “Hold my calls.” If Reese needed him, she'd phone his cell. But she didn't need or want anything from him.

He still had the scars from their scalding conversation of three weeks ago. Nothing about their routine had altered since then, but the atmosphere had undergone a drastic change. When they talked about Jamie, everything was civil, but the gloom that had enveloped him after Erica had died couldn't compare to the darkness enveloping him now. A wall of ice had grown around his nanny. He couldn't find her anywhere. Her love and animation were reserved exclusively for his son.

Unable to take it, he'd gone off to Martha's Vineyard with Jamie every Friday afternoon. They'd sailed the whole weekend. Sunday nights he returned to the penthouse, always finding her bedroom door closed. He'd see the light beneath and know she was in there.

Today he knew she was taking her online exam. When he'd told her he would stay home to keep Jamie occupied, she'd told him it wouldn't be necessary. She'd handle both just fine, underscoring her assertions made during their heated exchange earlier.

On that black night Reese had delivered some salvos he'd never seen coming. Stunned by their impact, he'd barely functioned since then. This morning he'd found himself floundering in a dark sea and knew he couldn't go this way any longer.

The emotional temperature was distinctly cooler in his uncle's office. Lew sat at his desk, more or less squinting up at Nick as he walked in. Nick had committed the unpardonable at the club for which he'd been collectively shunned by the family.

That didn't bother him, but it had thrown Lew out of his comfort zone. The business Nick was about to conduct with him would dissolve what little relationship they had left. This meeting would supply the final punctuation mark.

“What was so important I had to tell my secretary to cancel my last two appointments for the day?”

Nick sat on the arm of one of the leather love seats. “I'm resigning from the company effective immediately and wanted you to be the first to know, besides Leah, of course.”

“What?”
Suddenly the mask of implacability fell from his face to reveal a vulnerability Nick had never seen before. “You haven't told Stan? Not even your father?”

“No. I'll leave that to you since you're closest to them.”

“But you
can't
resign—this place would fall around our ears without you.”

A genuine emotion for once. Who would have believed?

“I've named Greg as my replacement in the resignation letter I gave to Leah this morning. It's been dated and notarized. Your son has earned the right to head the firm. I've earned the right to do what's best for me.”

He shook his head, clearly aghast. “What are your plans?”

“I'm keeping those to myself for the time being. This is my last day here. Except for a few personal items I'm taking with me, my office is ready for Greg to claim. My accounts are now his. Leah will stay on as his private secretary to make certain there's a smooth transition.”

His uncle rose slowly to his feet. “Are you dying of a fatal disease?”

Nick made a sound in his throat. Illness was the only reason Lew could possibly imagine for one of the family to do something unprecedented and heretical.

“In a manner of speaking, but that's confidential. I'll be seeing you.” He got up from the chair to shake his hand. His uncle's response reminded him of a person who'd just gone into shock.

On Nick's way out he stopped by Leah's office. “Is everything done?”

“It is.”

“Did you get everything I needed?”

“It's all there in your briefcase. Paul's waiting out in front.”

“You're the best friend a man ever had.” The fact that it was a woman didn't escape him.

He slipped her an envelope with a check in it made
out to her, gave her a hug, then rode down the elevator and walked out of the building as if he had wings on his feet. A few minutes later he walked in the door of the penthouse feeling as if he'd been given his get-out-of-jail-free card.

“Reese?”

When she didn't answer, he headed for the terrace. The second he opened the sliding door he could hear her laughter. Over the hedge he could see her and Jamie in the pool. She'd pinned her ponytail on top of her head and was pulling him around on an inflated plastic duck. Evidently her exam was over and she'd decided to let off some excess energy. She was a knockout in that tangerine-colored bikini.

Since Reese hadn't seen him yet, he dashed back to his bedroom and changed into his swimming trunks. On his way out he grabbed a couple of bath towels and headed for the pool once more.

To his delight she and Jamie were still moving around in the water. She sprinkled his tummy several times, provoking little laughs from him. Would the day might come when she'd do that to Nick, but it would be more than laughter she'd get in return.

He dived in the deep end and swam underwater on purpose where he could feast his eyes on her long, gorgeous legs. They were an enticement he couldn't resist, but he
had
to.

A few feet from her, he surfaced and heaved himself up on the tile. She was all eyes when he came out of the water.
“Nick—”

Yes, Nick. For a split second he could have sworn he saw longing in them before she turned to Jamie, who'd become her shield. “How was the exam?” His eyes were
drawn to the small nerve throbbing at the base of her throat.

“Maybe I had a different battery than others who've taken it, but it wasn't as hard as I'd thought it would be.”

“I'm sure you're glad it's over.”

“Definitely.” She twirled the duck around so Jamie could see him. “He's been waiting for you to come home.”

What a sight! Her blue eyes were more dazzling than the water. He slid back in the pool and swam over to his son.

“Look at you having the time of your life out here.” Jamie almost fell out of the floater trying to get to him. With a laugh, Nick caught him up to his shoulder and kissed him. While he was enjoying his son, Reese did a backflip and swam to the other end of the pool to get out. It was a good exit line, but he wasn't about to let her get away with it.

“Reese?” She looked back at him as she was about to walk off. “Whatever your plans are this evening, I need to talk to you first. Give me ten minutes and I'll meet you in the dining room.”

“All right.”

When she'd gone, he looked down at Jamie. “We've got to get out and dressed, sport. Tonight's kind of important.” He swam over to the steps and climbed out. After wrapping him in a towel, he headed for the nursery and put him in a diaper and shirt.

Since he seemed content, Nick let him stay in the crib with his pacifier. Then he went to his bedroom to shower and change into trousers and a sport shirt.

Fifteen minutes later he gathered Jamie and the
swing. Reese was already waiting for them at the table in the dining room with her ponytail redone. The waiter had already brought their meal and had set everything up.

With Jamie ensconced in the swing, Nick was able to concentrate on Reese, who'd changed into a pale blue cotton top and denims. “Do you like lamb?” He lifted the covers off their plates.

“I love it.”

“Then I think you'll enjoy Cesar's rack of lamb.” So saying, he poured both of them water before starting to eat.

She followed suit. “Sounds like you're celebrating.”

“I thought it sounded like a good idea. Your exam is over, and a Greek friend of mine named Andreas Simonides has invited me to spend some time with him and his wife, Gabi, on the island of Milos in the Aegean. We met a few years ago when we were both single and did some sailing together. He has stayed here at the penthouse on several occasions. He's married now with a three-month-old baby girl himself and is anxious to meet Jamie. So I told him I'd come.”

“That sounds exciting.” She was doing her best to act pleased for him, but she'd been with him and Jamie every day for weeks now. The thought of a separation caused such a great upheaval inside her, she could hardly breathe from the pain.

“I think so, too.”

“When are you leaving?”

“Tomorrow morning.”

That soon? “How long will you be gone?” She fought to keep her voice steady.

“Two weeks.”

She didn't have time to hide her shock.

“Now that I've got Jamie, I feel like a long holiday. You'll be coming with us of course. His wife is an American, which will be nice for you.”

 

Reese and Gabi sat in deck chairs on the patio surrounding the pool of the Simonides villa, watching the babies in their swings. Little Cristiana was as golden-blonde as Jamie was dark headed. They looked adorable together. Reese had never envied anyone until now, but she envied Gabi, who had Andreas's love and his baby.

Moaning inwardly, she looked all around her. The Simonides' family retreat was so gorgeous, it was beyond impossible to describe. A myriad of white, cubed-styled villas were clustered against the cliff abounding in flowers of every color and greenery all the way down to the water. There the white sand merged with an aquamarine ocean that took your breath.

This morning the men had gone fishing early, but they'd promised to be back by lunchtime. Reese's holiday would have been heaven on earth if she and Nick were lovers, but such wasn't the case. Nick had behaved like the perfect employer, albeit a kind, generous one. But he'd kept his distance and had given her plenty of time off so she could enjoy herself without having to tend Jamie every second.

Gabi was a sweetheart. She'd been the manager of an advertising agency back in Alexandria, Virginia, so they had a lot in common. The two of them had taken to each other at once and had flown to Athens several times to meet other members of the Simonides clan. They shopped and went to the opera, but for the most
part, the time was spent on Andreas's fabulous gleaming white luxury cabin cruiser probably forty to forty-five feet long.

With the babies, the four of them visited all the wonders of the island. They walked through the little villages, ate local food, swam at the unique beaches and soaked up the Grecian sun in absolute luxury. But this idyllic time was fast coming to a close. Tomorrow they were due to fly back to New York.

True to their word, Nick came out on the patio with Andreas, both in shorts and nothing else, just as lunch was about to be served. The latter kissed his wife soundly before pulling Cristiana out of her swing to kiss her.

Writhing with unassuaged longings, Reese got up and slipped on her beach jacket while Nick grabbed Jamie and got into the pool with him. When they emerged and everyone was seated around the patio table eating, Nick glanced at her. “I've made arrangements for one of the maids to tend Jamie this afternoon so I can take you to a beach you haven't seen before.”

“It's our favorite spot on Milos,” Andreas said, covering his wife's hand.

“That sounds wonderful,” Reese murmured, though something inside told her she'd be a fool to spend that much time alone with Nick. But she didn't want to argue in front of their hosts who'd been so fabulous to them, she'd never be able to repay them.

“Good. You're already in your bathing suit, so as soon as you've finished eating, we'll go.”

Reese swallowed the last of her iced lemon drink and got up to give Jamie a goodbye kiss. “Be a good boy. We'll be back soon.” The baby got all excited. His reaction warmed her heart.

“We'll go down this path.” He started ahead of her. They zigzagged down to the private pier lined on both sides with various types of boats. Nick headed for a small jet boat they hadn't ridden in yet.