The Single Dad's Virgin Wife. Susan Crosby

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      Zoe raised her hand. “I want a swimming pool.”

      “Basketball court,” Adam added.

      Noah did smile then. How easily their focus changed. “Nice try.”

      Zach jumped out of his chair and raced to the window at the sound of a car coming down the driveway. “She’s—Nope. It’s Uncle David.”

      “Alone?”

      “No. Valerie and Hannah, too.”

      Three of the children raced off to greet their uncle, his fiancée and her eight-year-old daughter, Hannah. Ashley lingered, moving more slowly with Noah toward the kitchen.

      “Something else on your mind?” he asked.

      She shrugged.

      “Talk to me,” he said, stopping just outside the kitchen door, his hand on her arm to keep her there, too.

      “Can we watch the videos of Mom again sometime soon?”

      “You know where they are. You’re welcome to watch them anytime.”

      “I mean as a family.”

      He didn’t know if he wanted to bring back all that pain. He’d stopped watching the videos when he realized they hurt more than helped. “Do the others want to watch, too?”

      “Not Zach.”

      Which didn’t surprise Noah. Zach kept the most inside.

      “Okay. We’ll do it tonight.”

      “Not tonight,” she said in a hurry as the kitchen door opened and everyone came in, talking and laughing. “I’ll tell you when, okay?”

      “Sure.” He was grateful for the reprieve.

      Suddenly the kitchen teemed with people, then the kids all took off upstairs with their cousin-to-be Hannah in tow.

      “We brought dinner,” Valerie said, as David set a covered casserole in the oven and a bowl in the refrigerator.

      “I chauffeured. Valerie brought dinner,” David said. “She made everything.”

      “Thanks,” Noah said, surprised. “But why?”

      “To welcome your new nanny,” Valerie said.

      “Teacher,” he corrected, looking over David’s head to try to see what was in the bowl, guessing it was salad. David had lucked out when he’d hired Valerie through At Your Service. She was the calm, competent woman Noah had been looking for, too. He didn’t think that description applied to Tricia. Well, competent, maybe. But calm? Probably not. Lively. That was a better word. “I hope you’re staying for dinner, too,” Noah said.

      David made clucking sounds.

      “What’s that for?” Noah asked. “I’m not a chicken.”

      “You don’t want to make small talk with your help.”

      “So? I’ve never liked to. It’s no different with Tricia.”

      David stood. “She’s just your type.”

      “She’s on the other side of the world from being my type.”

      “Leave him alone,” Valerie said to her fiancé, slipping her hand into his, firing a heat-seeking caution look with her eyes. “Yes, we’ll stay for dinner. That was our goal, although David was supposed to call and alert you. I want to meet Tricia myself. I expect we’ll become friends.”

      “She’s here!” came a shout from upstairs, followed by the rush of footfalls scurrying down the staircase. As a group they ran through the kitchen and out the back door, Hannah grinning as she came last—following just to follow, Noah supposed.

      “That’s quite a reception,” David commented, wandering to the window to watch.

      Noah went to take a look. Ashley and Zach got up close to her. Tricia hugged Ashley, her face alight with pleasure, and said something to Zach that caused him to smile then look down at the ground. Adam and Zoe didn’t allow her close enough to hug. She held out a hand to Hannah, an outgoing, happy girl who was just as caught up in Tricia’s arrival as the rest of them.

      Tricia opened the back of her SUV and started passing things to each child, then they marched toward the house like safari porters, carrying bags, boxes and garments on hangers, with Tricia bringing up the rear with the largest box.

      “Aren’t either of you big, strong men going to help her?” Valerie asked as the back door flew open and the children tramped through.

      Criticized into action, Noah met Tricia at the back door and took the box from her.

      “A welcoming committee. How fun,” she said. “Hi, Noah. I’m glad to see you again, David.”

      “I’m more glad to see you,” he said with a grin. “Tricia McBride, this is my fiancée, Valerie Sinclair.”

      The women shook hands. “Hannah must be yours. She looks just like you. She’s darling.”

      “Thank you, yes, she’s mine.”

      “They brought dinner,” Noah said, balancing the box on the edge of the counter.

      “Oh, how nice of you. And since you’re not running off, would you mind if I excuse myself for a few minutes and go make sure the children haven’t just heaped all my clothes on the floor?”

      David and Valerie encouraged Tricia to go.

      “Be right back,” Noah said, then trailed her up the stairs. As he eyed her from behind he started to rethink the idea of putting in a pool, as Zoe requested. Getting a chance to see the teacher in a skimpy bikini—

      “Maybe you should just come up beside me,” Tricia said, stopping and turning around.

      He kept his expression blank. Okay, she’d caught him. He was a healthy male who’d been without female companionship for three years. So sue him for admiring her very sexy body.

      “I got it!” a child yelled from down the hall.

      “I brought it up here!”

      “I think the troops need a mediator,” Noah said, hiding his surprise at the fact any of them were yelling, something that almost never happened. They all got along eerily well.

      Tricia’s mouth tightened, but she continued up the stairs again, and he allowed himself the pleasure of watching her hips sway until they reached the landing.

      She stopped there instead of heading toward the yelling down the hall. “Do we need to have a discussion?” she asked him.

      “About what?”

      “Appropriate employer/employee behavior.”

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