“Because you couldn’t keep your eyes off her.”
Hard to argue the truth, so he turned away from his too-knowing assistant and looked for Melissa, who for a little thing had disappeared awfully quickly.
“Quick,” Nikki warned, pointing at the blond head bobbing its way across the room. “Never mind, I’ve got her.”
Melissa was zeroing in on the candy jar on Nikki’s desk.
Nikki beat her to it. With a triumphant smile, she set the jar in her desk drawer and turned the lock. “Not anywhere near my desk, you don’t.”
Melissa folded her arms and stuck out her lower lip.
“Try it on someone who falls for the act, kid. So…” Nikki looked at Sean. “Where is she? Parking the car, right? She’ll be here any second to take over-”
When Sean shook his head, Nikki groaned. “What happened?”
“Nothing. Everything,” he added miserably.
“See?” she cried. “This is why messing around with co-workers is such a bad idea.”
“Tell me about it.”
Nikki put her hands on her hips. “Just answer me one question. Why? Why did you have to blow it with her before your sister got back? You only had, like, what? A few days left?”
“How do you know I blew it?”
“Because you’re the guy, slick. Guys are always the one to blow it.” She sighed loudly and looked at the still-pouting Melissa. “Okay, missy, listen up. No candy. No feeding the CD player. No touching any buttons on anything, especially the telephone. Keep that in mind, and we’ll all get along. Got it?”
Melissa thought about that. “How about all those pretty colored pens in your desk?”
“The Hi-Liters? Consider them yours, if you color only on the paper I give you. Deal?”
Melissa smiled her killer four-year-old bargaining smile. “Ice cream?”
“You haven’t had lunch yet.”
“We could have ice cream for lunch.”
“Nope.”
“For dessert?”
“If the ice cream truck comes by.”
Melissa’s smile spread. “’Kay.”
With some relief, Sean went into his office, determined to keep himself so busy he couldn’t think.
It turned out to be impossible. Oh, he could keep busy, no problem. Melissa was helpful in that area, running both Nikki and himself ragged with terrifying ease.
But the thinking part…he couldn’t seem to stop himself.
And busybody Nikki was no help.
After awhile, she popped her head into his office. “I’ve got Melissa counting paper clips.” Getting comfortable, she leaned against his desk. “So…what did you do to Carly?”
Other than take her three times on the dark beach, then yet again in his steamy shower, all in ways that were going to fill his dreams with heat and longing for years to come? “Nothing.”
“Melissa said you fired her because she changed her hair color.”
“I didn’t fire her.”
“But she changed her hair color?”
“Nikki.”
Ignoring his warning tone, she sank into a chair and looked at him expectantly.
He sighed. “She’s Princess Carlyne Fortier.”
Nikki’s eyes widened. “Wow, this is better than my soap opera. I thought she was at a retreat or something.”
“Or something.” He scrubbed a hand down his face. “For whatever reason, she was hiding out here. With me. Playing at being a nanny.”
Nikki frowned. “I don’t think she was playing, Sean. She seemed really into Melissa. And you,” she added. “I don’t think she could have faked that. So why did she do it?”
“I don’t know.”
“What did she say when you asked her?” At his silence, she groaned. “You didn’t ask her.”
“No.”
“Sean!”
“Well, why the hell would she have wanted to be a nanny, anyway?” She was hot. Beautiful. Sexy. Intelligent. It made no sense at all.
And why did he even care? She’d lied. Used him.
Hurt him.
“Maybe she wanted a break from her life,” Nikki suggested.
“Yeah, all that money must be tiresome.” He thought of what he’d paid her and was embarrassed. It had been a very fair salary, but he hadn’t known she was a damn princess. To her, it would have been pocket change. “Look, she lied, Nikki.”
“Ah.”
There was a volume of knowledge in that ah. “What does that mean?”
“Sean,” she said gently. “Not all women lie just to screw with you. Carly is different than Tina. Tina hurt you just because she could. That was the kind of woman she was. I think Carly, on the other hand, probably has a good reason.”
Maybe. But regardless, he’d really fallen for her. And when they’d made love, he’d felt the earth move.
Hell, he was so confused. And more hurt than he could have believed possible, especially when he’d promised himself never to get hurt again. “Whatever her reason, she’s gone.”
“She just…left?”
“Well…”
“Sean!”
“Okay, so maybe I told her she’d be wanting to go back now.”
“You kicked her out? You poor, stupid idiot. Did she even hesitate?”
No, he wanted to say, but that would be a lie of his own making. Truth was, she had hesitated. The look she’d given him when he told her to go home had twisted his heart before he’d managed to harden himself. “She might have hesitated. A little.”
She shook her head. “And now you’ll never know what could have been.”
Now he’d never know. He’d never know if what they’d shared had been real or fake. He’d never know if she might have wanted to stay. He’d never know how she might have reacted if he’d told his truth, that he’d fallen in love with her.
He’d never know any of it.
FRANCESCA picked Carlyne up at the airport. She didn’t ask for conversation, which was good, as Carlyne didn’t have anything to say.
“Your family is thrilled you’re going to be able to make it to the party tomorrow night,” Francesca told her.
Her grandfather’s eightieth birthday. It was going to be a huge event, with celebrities and politicians from all over the world. She’d be expected to greet guests, start conversations and keep everything running smoothly. She’d certainly be expected to smile a lot.
How could she do that?
Francesca looked over, saw her eyes fill and squeezed her hand. “I’m sorry.”
“Thank you.” God, she missed Melissa. She missed Santa Barbara. She missed the ocean. She missed the freedom.
She even missed Mrs. Trykowski.
But most of all, she missed Sean. He had made her smile, had made her laugh. He’d made her live. “I’m just tired,” she whispered, her voice wobbly. “Very tired.”
Leaning back, she closed her eyes. But all she saw was Sean, and the way he’d held her, as if she was the most important person in the entire world.
And for her short time with him, she had been.
TWO DAYS LATER Stacy came back for Melissa.
Sean had expected to feel great elation. Freedom.
Instead, his house was too quiet. He no longer had a bossy little girl demanding kisses. He no longer had a hot woman demanding kisses.
He was lonely, dammit. And he had no idea what to do about it.
13
“YOO-HOO!”
Sean got out of his car and waited for Mrs. Trykowski to leap over her flower bed and waddle up to him. He waited because it wasn’t worth the effort to outrun her.
Not that he could have, because the woman, old as she was, moved faster than anyone he knew.
“Hello, dear,” she said. “I saw Carlyne on the news. She’s home, back in France with her family. Why is that, exactly?”
Yeah, Sean, why is that? “Because that’s her home, Mrs. Trykowski. This was temporary, remember? A nanny job, and Melissa is gone.”