The Nanny Proposition. Rachel Bailey

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СКАЧАТЬ enough to know that good looks and hair like dark, polished mahogany ran in the family, but she’d never before been exposed to the full force of Liam Hawke’s intensity. He looked like Dylan, yet nothing like him. Liam’s hair gleamed in the sunlight streaming through the tall windows. His eyes didn’t sparkle like her boss’s; they simmered, a deep green maelstrom focused on her.

      She swallowed and forced her mouth to work. “She’s lovely. Are you looking after her?”

      “You could say that,” he said, his voice flat. “Her mother died.”

      Her heart breaking for the little girl, Jenna stared down at the baby who was drifting off to sleep. “Oh, I’m so sorry. Is she yours?”

      “Yes,” Liam said. A world of meaning was in that one word.

      She lifted a hand to touch his forearm but thought better of it and laid it back around Bonnie. This man was still her boss’s brother.

      Dylan moved closer and looked over Jenna’s shoulder. “Before we left the hospital, they showed Liam how to look after her. And while he was doing that, I ducked out and got a baby seat fitted to his Jeep. But once we hit the road, she started crying and nothing we did seemed to help. I suggested that when he dropped me off, he come up and see if you could get Bonnie settled before he drove home.”

      She sneaked a glance at Liam, curious about the circumstances that had led to this situation. Curious about why he didn’t already have a car seat fitted when he went to pick up a baby. Curious about him. Instead she asked, “Could she be hungry?”

      Liam shook his head. “She shouldn’t be. We fed her last thing before we left the hospital.”

      “She’s settled now,” Jenna said. “Would you like to take her back?”

      He nodded, but she saw the uncertainty in his eyes. Jenna positioned the baby across his chest, unable to avoid touching his shirt, then stepped back.

      Bonnie squirmed, then settled as her father stroked her back.

      “You live alone downstairs, don’t you?” Liam asked, his gaze not leaving his daughter.

      “On the bottom floor with my little girl.” Dylan’s apartment had three floors—Dylan slept on the top and she and Meg were on the lowest level. Luckily noise didn’t travel in this apartment so Meg didn’t disturb Dylan.

      Jenna had been working as his housekeeper for more than a year now. She’d applied for the job at four-months’ pregnant, and he’d been good to her, more than she’d expected from an employer. Having a job that gave her a place to live as well as an income was exactly what she’d needed in her situation.

      An unmarried princess from the ancient royal family of Larsland falling pregnant had been intolerable, so Princess Jensine Larsen had left her homeland before anyone found out and started a new life in Los Angeles as Jenna Peters. But she had no support network, no family, no friends to fall back on. This job with Dylan had been a godsend and she didn’t want to jeopardize it.

      “I really need to get back—” she said as she turned away, but Liam cut her off.

      “Where’s your baby while you work?”

      Jenna thought about the most precious thing in her life and held back a wince. “She’s in day care.”

      “Wouldn’t you prefer to have her with you?”

      Jenna hesitated, looking from Liam to Dylan and back to Liam. The answer was obvious, but her boss was sitting in the room. “In an ideal world, of course I’d like to spend all day with my daughter.” Even if she were at home giving Meg a royal upbringing, they wouldn’t see much of each other—Meg would be raised by nannies and nursery staff, as Jenna herself had been. “But I need to earn a living to support us both, and I’m prepared to make sacrifices for that. Dylan’s been good to me. I’m really grateful for this job. Speaking of which,” she said, edging out of the room, “I have to go—”

      “Wait,” he said, and despite herself, she stopped.

      * * *

      Liam looked into the clear blue eyes of his brother’s housekeeper. “I’m going to need help with Bonnie.”

      She nodded and smiled encouragingly. “That’s probably a good idea,” she said in her musical Scandinavian accent. “Being a single parent is a hard road. Will your parents help?”

      That would have been best, and if he’d known he was about to become a father, he could probably have arranged it. He rubbed his fingertips across his forehead. “My parents are overseas for a couple of months.”

      Dylan let out an ironic chuckle. “They’d been looking forward to their big European holiday, but it turns out it was bad timing.”

      “You might want to think about hiring a nanny,” Jenna said.

      That had been his thought exactly. When the midwife had handed the tiny bundle to him, Liam had awkwardly accepted Bonnie and held her against his chest. He’d played a lot of sports in his life and coaches had often told him he had natural grace and agility. Yet he wasn’t comfortable holding his own daughter. At least his heart knew no such awkwardness—in that moment, with his baby clasped to him, his heart had expanded as if it could reach out and encompass both of them with a love stronger than anything he’d ever experienced.

      When they’d arrived at Dylan’s penthouse, he’d held a fussy, sad-eyed Bonnie, and the sight had slayed him. He’d move heaven and Earth for this little girl, but she hadn’t seemed to want anything from him. Now, if everything went to plan, he’d found somebody she would want—Jenna Peters.

      And he was going to get her for Bonnie.

      Liam looked at his younger brother. “You’re going to do me a favor, Dylan.”

      “I am?” he said, folding his arms across his chest. “What is it?”

      “You’re going to let your housekeeper go without serving out her notice.”

      Dylan slowly uncrossed his arms and planted his hands low on his hips. “Why would I do that? I like Jenna.”

      Liam smiled, feeling the satisfaction of a good plan coming together. “She can’t be your housekeeper because she’s about to become my nanny.”

      “Your nanny?” Jenna said, her pale eyebrows drawing together. “I’m not leaving my job.”

      “Not just a nanny. You’ll also teach me how to be a parent.”

      “You’re already her father.”

      “I might be her father, but parenting is not part of my skill set.” He shifted his weight to his other leg. Admitting a weakness so freely was tough, but he had to be completely honest if he wanted this to work. “I need to learn how to take care of a baby and bond with her. Circumstances mean I haven’t had time to prepare for this and I’m not willing for Bonnie to suffer while I’m catching up. You’d be something of a parenthood coach.”

      Bonnie’s grandparents had been furious that he’d been sent home with her, but he’d left them to their grief over losing Rebecca. He expected to hear from them soon about a bid for custody, СКАЧАТЬ