The Nanny Proposal. Joss Wood

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СКАЧАТЬ of looking after a dog, Kasey.”

      “This isn’t about being responsible, Aaron. It’s about her having something in her life she can hold on to,” she reiterated. “Having something to love. Everyone needs someone or something to love and, God knows, dogs are a hundred times more reliable than humans.”

      And didn’t that statement, Aaron thought as she walked out of the room, give him a glimpse into her soul.

      * * *

      Kasey stomped down the hallway and ducked into her room. Kicking off her sandals, she immediately walked over to the French doors and flung them open, allowing the heat of the hot Texas day to slide into her bedroom. For the last year or so she’d felt perpetually cold—a physical reaction to emotional pain—so she didn’t mind a little heat.

      Kasey rested her head against the door frame and closed her eyes. She was exhausted, which was the only reason she’d allowed those revealing words to leave her lips. Everyone needs someone or something to love and, God knows, dogs are a hundred times more reliable than humans...

      And wasn’t that the truth. Kasey looked at the small picture on her bedside table, her gaze focusing on the mixed breed she held in her arms. She’d found Rufus in Cleveland, the puppy half-starved, for food and affection. Because her parents were generally oblivious, she’d managed to keep him hidden until they moved to... God, what city came after Cleveland? Cincinnati? Boston? It was all a blur. But she did remember the screaming fight she’d had with her parents, that if they insisted on lugging her from place to place, school to school, then the least they could do was let her have one friend, even if it was a canine. Ru, like her, had endured the moves and loved the summer holidays at her grandparents’ house in Houston. All she’d wanted was a stable home life, a place to settle down in, and she’d found that for three months of the year, in Houston.

      Years later she’d believed that she’d found her place, her permanent home with Dale. Yeah, that hadn’t turned out the way she expected it to.

      Kasey walked over to the king-size bed covered in expensive, white Egyptian cotton and picked up her phone. There were two missed calls from Michelle, one from Dale. Knowing it was more of the same old, same old, she blew out a frustrated breath and tossed her phone back onto the bed.

      Dale and Michelle were in a race to win her back. Both wanted to be the first to earn her forgiveness. They were both sorry...they’d made a mistake...could she forgive them?

      Hell, no.

      Their infidelity had not only left her unable to fathom being in a relationship again, but also riddled her with insane trust issues. She’d spent the last eight months rebuilding her life. She was starting to feel vaguely normal and she was so much stronger. She liked her job, she liked Royal and she liked not having to deal with their neediness and drama. At some point she’d have to meet with them, face them, but today wasn’t that day. Tomorrow wasn’t looking good for them, either.

      “I’m ready, Kasey.”

      Kasey turned and smiled at Savannah, who stood in her open doorway, dressed in a pink-and-purple swimsuit, her swimming goggles high on her head.

      Savannah noticed that Kasey was still wearing her sundress and her expression turned to resignation, her face crumpling. “Okay, well...if you’re not going to swim, then I’ll just go to my room.”

      So much pain, Kasey thought, her heart flipping over. Savannah was nearly six but she expected adults to disappoint her.

      “Honey, I was just woolgathering. Of course I’m going to swim with you.” Kasey walked over to the dresser and pulled open the top drawer. Yanking out her swimsuits, she held them up. “The blue racer or the orange bikini?”

      Savannah, because she was a mini fashionista, tipped her head, giving the question her complete attention. “The orange bikini.”

      Damn, Kasey silently thought. The bikini was modest, but it was still four triangles and she didn’t feel comfortable showing Aaron that much skin.

       A little too late, Monroe, considering the man once managed to kiss every inch of your skin.

      But she wasn’t thinking about that, about him, about how his touch made her combust from the inside out... She remembered the taste of his mouth, his skin, how his fingers trailed over her—

      No! Stop!

      Enough. They’d had their one insanely hot night together and, as mind-blowing as it had been, it could never be repeated again.

      She was permanently unavailable and he was her super-professional boss, so getting worked up about showing a little flesh was just...stupid. Apart from that kiss in her house days ago, Aaron never made any reference to what they’d done, how they’d done it and how hot it had been. He was so inscrutable that some days she even doubted that night had ever happened and she sometimes wondered whether Aaron naked was a very erotic, very sexy, figment of her imagination.

      “Kasey!”

      Kasey blinked and looked at Savannah, hands on her tiny hips, her green eyes frustrated. She clapped her hands and made a shooing motion. “You are wool-grabbing again.”

      Kasey started to correct her but smiled instead. “You’re right, I am.”

      God, she really, really liked this kid. She had to be careful. After her marriage imploded, she’d promised herself she wasn’t going to form emotional attachments again. She didn’t trust herself enough to do that. Because trust and attachment led to a shattered heart and hers was only just starting to heal.

      * * *

      Aaron sat on a pool lounger a few yards from the pool. Kasey and Savannah were sitting in the water, on the wide, first step of the massive pool. Nearly every doll Savannah owned was in the pool with them and Kasey was helping Savannah to teach them to swim.

      Kasey, long-limbed and slim, flipped a chubby plastic doll onto its back to make it float. Savannah, sitting between Kasey’s legs, guided the doll through the water, her one hand on Kasey’s thigh. They were lost in their own conversation, oblivious to his presence.

      At one point in his life, while he’d still been at college, he’d dreamed of this: a big house, money in the bank, a hot wife and a cute kid. He’d been happy to play the field, but in the back of his mind he’d always been on the lookout for “the One.” His perfect match. Instant recognition of his soul mate. God, for a guy who’d always had nerves of steel when it came to finance, he’d been such a damn romantic.

      There was nothing romantic about being the direct cause of his parents’ car accident or having his fiancée run off with his client list six months after opening their investment firm together, nearly bankrupting him in the process. Kate had been six years older than him, sophisticated, and he’d hung on her every word. He’d believed her when she’d insisted he was bright enough to make it without completing his last semester of college, that he didn’t need his degree in finance and that he needed to concentrate on their business. So in love with her, he’d dropped out of college, breaking his parents’ hearts and ultimately causing their deaths.

      Afterward he’d flung himself into their business, working crazy hours to get their company off the ground, to distance himself from the grief. How had Kate repaid him? The month after he’d made his first five-million trade, she’d visited every one of their clients and told them that she was СКАЧАТЬ