The Rancher's Nanny Bargain. Sara Orwig

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СКАЧАТЬ when he looked into her big, green eyes?

      They entered the kitchen where a slender woman with braided blond hair wiped the countertops. “Ahh, hello, there,” she said. “You must be Luke’s younger sister. I can see a family resemblance.”

      Erin laughed. “I’ve heard that before, but not often.”

      “Erin, meet Maisie Elsworth, my cook and the person who keeps this place going. If you have questions about Amelia, the job or the ranch, or need help, Maisie is the person to ask.”

      “Absolutely,” Maisie replied, smiling. “You’ll love little Amelia and maybe you can teach this Wild West cowboy how to calm her. She’s adorable.” Maisie looked away and wiped her eyes, turning her back. “You’ll have to give me a moment. I feel as if I lost one of my own boys when we lost Amelia’s dad. The same for the little one’s mother. So sad, and sometimes it hits me out of the blue,” she said, still wiping her eyes.

      Cade stepped up to put his arm around her and give her a squeeze. He stood quietly while she became composed again and turned to Erin.

      “Sorry,” Maisie said. “Moments come without warning when I realize they’re gone forever and I think of little Amelia.”

      “Don’t ever apologize because you love someone,” Erin said. Cade thought about her miscarriage and how much she must have hurt over losing her baby, and how much she was still hurting.

      “Ahh, you’ll be a good nanny for our little baby,” Maisie told her. “I hope your brother is fine. I miss seeing him. They were fun boys, but now they’re grown men and busy and I don’t see them.”

      “You see me plenty, Maisie,” Cade said with a grin. “You’ll see more of me today, but right now, I want to show Erin where she’ll be staying when she moves in.”

      “It’ll be good to have you with us,” she said to Erin and Cade wondered whether he had just complicated his future while making Amelia’s more secure.

      Next, Cade took Erin to a suite that held four rooms. She walked into the center of the living area, turning to look at the room that had oak floors, a thick area rug in two tones of blue, watercolor paintings of horses on the walls, and glass and teak furniture.

      Cade watched her turn to look around, his gaze running over her. He was still amazed by the changes in her appearance, even though common sense told him she wouldn’t look the way she had at ten.

      “Go ahead and look at the bedroom, the closet and the adjoining bathroom,” Cade urged, wanting her to be happy with the job and where she would live. “There’s also a small office with computer equipment.”

      He watched her thick red hair swing slightly across her shoulders as she walked out of sight into the bedroom. When she returned, she smiled—another friendly, dimpled smile that under other circumstances he would have accepted as an invitation to flirt.

      “This is marvelous,” she said. “I’ll go back to the office and give notice today. They won’t mind letting me go because I’m temporary anyway. I’ll just leave sooner than I had planned.”

      He suspected they were going to mind letting her go, but he merely nodded. “Good. We’ll stop by my office and I’ll write a check to you for your signing bonus.” They fell into step and he was aware of her close beside him. When they entered his office he hastily wrote the check, his fingers brushing hers when he handed it to her.

      Every physical contact, no matter how slight or how much he tried to ignore it, was noticeable—all red flag warnings that he would have to deal carefully with her.

      What made the feathery brushes of their hands noticeable besides his reaction was awareness that she responded, too. Her reaction showed in tiny ways: a surprised look, a flicker in her eyes, a deep breath. Some kind of chemistry existed between them, an attraction that he could not pursue and she didn’t want.

      When they walked to his front porch, she turned to face him, offering her hand.

      “Thank you for this fantastic offer. I’m going to love taking care of Amelia and now I won’t have to worry about finances so much,” she said, withdrawing her hand that was soft and slender.

      “Even though you’re on a full scholarship, I know your brother has offered to pay your college expenses and you’ve always turned him down.”

      “He put himself through school and I want to do this on my own, too, the way he did. I have my undergraduate degree now, so I’m making progress and I see the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel.”

      “Congratulations. That’s commendable,” Cade said, realizing she had a streak of independence that was so like her brother. “For the present, you have my phone number in case you need anything. And the offer of help to move still stands. I’ll see you Monday.”

      “Thanks. I never dreamed I’d be in a business arrangement with you someday. And I’m sure you wouldn’t have thought it possible to be in one with me,” she said, her eyes twinkling. “I might as well have been wallpaper for all the attention you ever gave me back then.”

      He smiled and held back a reply that came to mind instantly, that he definitely noticed her now and she wasn’t anything like wallpaper. He glanced at her full lips and wondered again about kissing her. More forbidden thoughts plagued him, thoughts that he would have to squelch. How many times would he have to remind himself?

      “Cade, thank you again so very much for this job. I’m thrilled and looking forward to getting started,” she said.

      With an effort, he stepped back. “See you Monday,” he said, taking a deep breath.

      “Sure,” she said, giving him one more long look before she hurried to her small black car. She waved as she drove away.

      He had an excellent, trustworthy nanny—and a nagging worry that he might be bringing trouble home in a big way. Was he going to be able to ignore the chemistry that smoldered between them today? Was he going to be careful to avoid trying to seduce his nanny? He had to or he’d lose his best friend forever. Besides, he wasn’t interested in commitment and Erin was the marrying kind. She had already been hurt badly and was vulnerable. He couldn’t hurt her more.

      Cade watched her car go down the ranch drive, but all he really saw were big green eyes and a rosy mouth that looked ripe for kissing.

      * * *

      When Erin glanced at her rearview mirror, Cade still stood on the porch of his sprawling ranch house. A tall Texas rancher, a man worth millions, yet he looked like other cowboys from ranches all over Texas. Except he was more handsome than most.

      Smiling, she thought about how he had been shocked that she had grown up. He had never paid attention to her the years he was in high school. All her brother’s friends had seemed big and intimidating and they had seldom taken notice of her, which was a relief to her. She just tried to avoid them and go ahead with what she wanted to do.

      By the time Cade graduated from college, she was in her early teens and was attracted to him, thinking he was to-die-for handsome. She had a silly, schoolgirl crush that she told no one about. She knew the times he was at their house he didn’t notice her any more than he had when she was nine years old and he had been in high school.

      She hadn’t seen Cade in years СКАЧАТЬ