Urgent: One Nanny Required (Crimson Romance) (8 page)

Pushing the drink aside, he dropped his head slowly onto the table, raising it up and slowly banging it back down again. Maybe, if he was lucky he could knock away any thoughts he was having about her.

“Dad?”

Looking up, he saw his son, pajamas crumpled, hair tousled from sleep, rubbing his eyes at the bright light.

“What’s up, schmoo?” he asked, motioning him over as he pulled Rania’s recently emptied chair closer.

“I heard voices so I came downstairs,” he yawned, collapsing onto it, reaching for her empty glass.

“It’s still only 6:30. Bit too early for you to be up yet,” Nick said as he poured out the juice and watched as his son drank greedily. “How are the lessons coming? What are you learning at the moment?”

Wiping his mouth along the length of his sleeve, Theo leaned back, legs swinging on the large chair. “French. Rania says I need to do French first because that’s what we do at school and she wants me to be top of my class. She’s been helping me do my math, too” he said, while his eyes began to skim the kitchen for anything edible.

“Is that right?” Nick was impressed. He hated to admit that his choice of past nannies had been lacking, but he could never remember Theo saying they had helped him with any schoolwork. “So what French words or sentences can you tell me?”

He smiled proudly as Theo rattled off various words and phrases, directing him what to say if Theo asked him a question, and explained why he had to say
le
and not
la
when naming the things in the kitchen. He could never remember Theo being this animated about learning before. And he had Rania to thank for it all.

“Wow, I’m impressed, kid. She’s taught you a lot and you haven’t even been on holiday that long. When you get back, you’ll be a star!”

His heart swelled as he saw the little face light up. “Do you think so?”

“Definitely.” He moved aside as Theo scooted off his own chair and onto his lap. The blond hair tickled his nose as he hugged him, knowing there probably wasn’t going to be much time left for this sort of thing before Theo grew up and away from him. His smart little boy, who for some reason only known to him, was now reading the nutritional information on the back of the orange juice bottle.

Taking a deep breath, he now almost felt stupid for asking this question, especially as the answer was pretty clear; but as the parent it was his job to ask anyway. “So, do you like Rania, then?”

Theo’s eyes were still scanning the information, so he found himself staring at the back of his son’s head. “Yeah. I love her. She’s the best.”

Nick felt his heart jerk at the childlike simplicity of that statement. “Good, I’m glad you do.”

“Do you like her, Dad?” Theo stopped scanning now and had swiveled around to face him, brown eyes wide and serious. He had inherited Lila’s eyes, though they weren’t the dark brown of his mother. At some point over the last eight years, they had become lighter, gold and green flecks lightening them to hazel.

He nodded, the small action enough to pacify his son.

“Where is she? I’m hungry. Can I have some breakfast now?” The softly spoken request, coupled with the rubbing of his hand over his tummy, was enough for Nick to not care if he was late onto the set. His son was hungry and that was enough for him.

“Rania’s still asleep, kiddo, but I can get you some food. What do you fancy?” The dubious expression he received at the statement would have been laughable if it didn’t show him exactly what his son thought of his abilities in the kitchen.

“Cereal. The one in the top cupboard with the chocolate in it,” came the authoritative demand.

Opening up the top cupboard, he was astounded by the amount of cereal inside. When had he asked for all this? Lifting out a box with chocolate aliens on the front, he put it on the table, only to be met with a petulant glare. “Not that one; the other chocolate one.” Reining in a sigh, he replaced the cereal, rummaging around for another box.

“He means the chocolate dinosaurs, don’t you, Theo?”

His hand froze at the softly spoken voice and he closed the cupboard door to find her standing in the archway, now freshly washed if the state of her wet hair was anything to go by and dressed in faded jeans and a baggy white V-neck jumper. The overall effect shouldn’t have made his mouth go dry, but it did.

She moved quickly and efficiently around the kitchen, placing bowls, spoons and a fresh cup in front of Theo, who looked relieved to have his favorite person back; one who also knew what she was doing.

Nick’s feet felt glued to the floor and she moved around him to the cupboard. “You can go to work now. It’s okay; I’ll take over from here.” The softly whispered comment — accompanied by the sweet apple scent of her shampoo, which wafted up his nose as she reached past him — had his tongue feel as if it had spent a night in the Sahara. Yes, maybe it was time to go. As far away as possible.

Unfortunately, the only place left was work, where he would most likely be bombarded with Valentine’s Day music and flowers. Great, just what he needed. The image of the two heads together, one light and one dark, stuck in his mind as he went to grab a shower. A fleeting thought entered with it, despite his attempt to shake it off. It was ridiculous.

As the cold water cascaded over him, he found it kept coming back. The real question was, could he? Should he?

• • •

“Belle, I’m going to do a handstand in the water. Watch me!”

Laying down her Kindle, she pushed her sunshades further up her face, the rays of sun blazing down.

Giving a thumbs-up, she watched as he dived down. Seconds later, two scrawny legs emerged, leaning to the right then flopping back in with a splash as he surfaced. Laughing, she wiped the droplets of water from her arms, placing the Kindle back into its pouch and onto a side table.

Grabbing a nearby floating rubber ring, Theo plopped himself in, paddling around in circles, each time trying to go faster and faster.

The sun was still high up in the sky and she grabbed her phone to check the time. It’d felt like they’d been out there for ages. Actually, they probably had. After Nick had left, they’d played a few games on the X-box and learned some more phrases in French before they took up residence at the pool.

She couldn’t help cringing when she thought about that morning. About how she’d almost knocked out her boss with a utensil, and then proceeded to have a conversation with him while in her dressing gown. Boy, did she know how to behave in front of guys.
Boss
, she corrected herself. He was her boss. Not just some guy.

Her phone buzzed with an incoming message. She’d told Tanya to contact her if there was any emergencies. Yes, she couldn’t fly back and fix them, but she could give advice. It was still her business, after all.

Tanya’s number flashed up, followed by a whole stream of capital letters and exclamation marks. “DELIVERY ARRIVED!!! WE’RE SAVED!!! WHOO HOO!!!”

What the … how had that happened? They’d been waiting for the delivery for the last three days and now it had turned up. Like pieces of a jigsaw, a bizarre picture started to form in her mind. Dismissing it, she shook her head. That couldn’t be possible. Other than Tanya and herself, the only other person who knew had been Nick and he wouldn’t have done anything.

The question gnawed at her and clicking on reply, she suddenly heard another splash as more droplets landed on the phone screen.

“Are you coming in?” Theo cried, falling out of the ring and pushing it to one side.

“I’ll be there in a sec,” she replied, standing up and unwrapping the sea blue sarong. Pulling the straps of the old black one piece bathing suit up, she stood at the deepest end and executed a perfect dive, swimming under till she was next to him.

“Wow, you’re really good!” he said, clapping so hard water splashed up her nose.

Smiling through the coughing fit, she bowed theatrically.

“I bet I can swim to the end and back in a minute.” His face was determined as he stood near the shallow end, body posed like a dolphin to take off.

“Hold on, mister. Have you ever been down to the deep end before?”

Eyes locked on the floor, he shook his head, his wet hair plastered to his face partly covering his eyes.

“All right, how about I teach you?” More for safety than anything else, she figured, especially if he was determined to get down to the other end.

“Okay, so we start with a normal crawl,” she told him, pushing off from the edge and swimming till she reached deeper water. “Then you tread water like this,” she sputtered, trying hard not to swallow the chlorine-treated water as it splashed into her mouth, before deftly twisting onto her front and swimming back to the side, “Tell you what, I’ll swim with you to the end. That way if you get tired, I can pull you back. Okay?”

Seeing his nod, she waited for him to push off before following after, slowing her pace to match his. He slowed as they reached the end, his face getting redder and redder as they reached the other side. Swimming a little ahead, she grabbed hold of the railing, reaching out a hand to pull him in.

“Yay! Well done, Theo!” she exclaimed, pulling him in for a quick hug.

“Yeah, well done, kiddo!” She froze, looking up slowly.

Nick stood near the end of the pool, watching them. The early evening sun highlighted his hair and made him seem for all purposes, a living, breathing Adonis.

“Dad! Did you see me? I swam all the way from the other side!” Theo shouted excitedly at the tall figure.

“I sure did.” Nick said, kneeling down beside him.

Plastering herself against the side, she wondered what else he had seen. Hell, if she were being honest with herself, the worry was how much of her in a swimsuit he had seen! She watched as he pulled Theo out and wrapped a towel around him.

Pulling herself toward the stairs, she stopped as a hand came down in front of her face. “Need a lift?” His voice was smooth and husky.

Despite the heat, she could feel the goose pimples rise on her arms as he took her hand. In one fluid motion, he pulled her out of the water as if she were as light as a feather. Which, she knew for sure, she was not.

Ducking her head so she wouldn’t have to look at him, she made a beeline for her sarong, wrapping it tightly around her and trying to ignore the fact that it stuck to her like a second skin. At least it was another layer.

“How come you’re back so early?” Theo asked, making his way toward the doors.

That was a good question. Why couldn’t he have come back when she was asleep? Not in a bathing suit.

“It’s Valentine’s Day and everyone wanted to get home so we finished a little earlier than expected,” he explained, following his son into the kitchen with Rania trailing behind, hoping against hope that at the first opportunity she could escape upstairs.

She was not prepared for the mounds of food when she entered the kitchen, nor the sheepish expression on Nick’s face when he saw she had spotted it.

“So I was thinking … how about I make us all dinner tonight?”

Speechless again. Really, this was becoming as bad a habit as sticking her nose in where it didn’t belong.

“Cool,” Theo piped up, reaching for a cupcake from a brown bag.

“Bath first mister, then chocolate,” came the firm admonishment ruined by the twinkling eyes.

“Oh, okay!” he said, scurrying off without even so much as a backward glance.

“I should, ummm … ” She stammered, fingers pointing to the staircase Theo had just exited up.

“Yeah, sure.” He seemed distracted, his eyes and hands busy taking out the various food things. And the champagne. Rania felt frozen to the spot, eyes glued to the bottle in his hand. He looked up at her and she could swear she could see a tinge of pink lighting his cheeks. “Well since it’s Valentine’s Day and all … ” His voice trailed off as his gaze dropped to the bottle.

“Yeah, of course. Probably a Valentine’s Day special reduction sort of thing,” she laughed, the sound coming out more Wicked Witch of the West than the tinkling laugh of the Good Witch of the North. Just perfect; now she sounded like a witch and not even the nice one.

Turning, she fled up the stairs, finally able to breathe normally as she hit the safety of her bedroom.

She’d never remembered showering or dressing so quickly in her life. Or worrying about what to wear. Her relationship with Ben hadn’t actually seen a Valentine’s Day so she’d never had to worry. She’d been convinced she hadn’t inherited that girlie-girl gene from her mother who used to make a point of dressing up to the nines on every occasion.

Thinking about Ben reminded her that he’d never bought her champagne before. Nor was he over six feet tall and had the body of someone straight from her fantasies. As she corralled her straying thoughts, she corrected herself. Nick hadn’t bought her champagne. He’d bought champagne, probably because it was discounted and he didn’t want to drink alone. She had never been the sort of girl to inspire the champagne-drinking, flower-buying sort of behavior. And she never wanted to be that kind of girl, either, she thought, frowning at herself in the mirror. Especially not with a director from Hollywood.

The girl in the mirror frowned back, although Rania was unsure whether she was agreeing with her or frowning at her new V-necked sleeveless red dress. The “just above the knee” hemline meant it was modest enough for dinner and she knew the color suited her. Adjusting her dress, she grabbed her tan pumps as her gaze drifted to a pair of black jeweled flip-flops. Dropping the pumps, she slid her feet into the flip-flops, glad she’d done her mani-pedi during one of Theo’s nap times. Letting her hair dry loosely she took a deep breath as she descended the stairs. She felt her heart thump with each step. If she had been the fanciful kind — which she was not — she would have pretended she really was Belle from
Beauty and the Beast.

Her breath hitched in her throat as he came out of the kitchen. Boss or no boss, it should be illegal to be cooking and still look that good. Not a sign of any splatter was on the crisp white shirt. In fact, the only sign he’d been anywhere near the kitchen was the two bubbling champagne flutes he held.