Prologue
Haydyn
Five months ago
Ardnoch, Scottish Highlands
As soon as I opened the door and saw Kenna Smith standing on the other side of it, I immediately thought, No way in hell.
It was bad enough interviewing people to replace Jean, a woman Michael adored and who’d made our lives easier for the last ten years, but there was no bloody way I was hiring an attractive young thing who’d get the whole village yammering.
A few years back, all anyone could talk about was the gorgeous American nanny Thane Adair had hired.
The one who was thirteen years his junior and living on the property.
I usually wasn’t privy to local gossip, but the parents wouldn’t shut up about it at school events, plus Thane’s son Lewis was in my son Michael’s class.
As it was, rumors turned out to be true that Thane was carrying on an affair with his nanny. He married her.
I would not put Michael in the position of having his father and new nanny gossiped about.
Kenna beamed up at me from the doorstep. “Dr. Barr?”
I felt a flutter in my belly at the sight of that gorgeous smile. Aye, this definitely wasn’t happening. The next ten minutes would be a waste, but it would be unprofessional and illegal to shut the door in her face because she was gorgeous. “Kenna Smith?”
“That’s me.” Sunlight captured gold striations in her chestnut-brown eyes and I was struck dumb for a second. I’d never seen such beautiful eyes. Her smile dimmed. “Is … oh, have you already filled the position?”
Tell her yes. I cleared my throat and stepped back to allow her entrance. “No, please come in.”
Years ago, just before Michael started school, I’d decided I wanted to bring my son up in a village much like the one I’d grown up in near Aberdeen.
After searching for plots of land to build a house, I found one on the outskirts of Ardnoch.
It meant a two-hour round-trip commute to the university where I worked, but the village was everything I wanted for Michael.
It had since turned into a bit of a tourist trap when local gentry and ex-Hollywood actor Lachlan Adair turned his family’s estate into a members-only club for the Hollywood elite, but it was still a quaint and friendly place to raise a child.
Despite the fortune few knew about, I’d built a modest but luxurious three-bedroom home on the village outskirts. It had everything Michael and I needed.
“Your home is stunning,” Kenna opined, eyes wide as she took in our open-plan living area.
Kitchen, dining, and living space all in one with floor-to-ceiling glass windows to the front, overlooking our private driveway and the trees surrounding it.
Sliding doors behind the kitchen led out to the back garden.
It wasn’t a huge space out there, but we were surrounded by picturesque woodland.
“I had an interior designer do everything,” I admitted as I gestured for her to take a seat on the couch. “Tea, coffee?”
“A coffee, please. Milk, no sugar.” She gazed around. “The designer did a great job. They really captured that modern midcentury look.”
My mouth tugged up in amusement as I moved into the kitchen to make the attractive brunette a coffee. “You sound like you might know a thing or two about design.”
“Oh no, not really. I just love home renovation shows.” She chuckled and the husky, throaty sound caused heat to flare where it shouldn’t.
Damn it.
Time to hurry this up. I quickly made her a coffee and sat across from her once she’d taken it from me.
I was careful not to touch her in the exchange, though I noted her elegant long fingers and even longer legs as she crossed them.
As she sipped the coffee, I saw a flicker of nervousness in her eyes that her cheerful friendliness was doing an imperfect job of hiding.
I knew from her application that Kenna was twenty-seven years old, had a qualification in childcare, and had been an early years’ practitioner for five years.
She’d moved on to working as a nanny but only had one previous employer for that on her résumé.
I’d called her in for an interview, anyway, because I’d only had four people apply for the position.
It wasn’t easy to hire a nanny in rural Scotland.
“So,” Kenna spoke before I could, “may I ask why you’re looking for a nanny?”
Who was doing the interviewing here? I straightened in my armchair, greedily taking in her stunning face.
She wore very little makeup, from what I could tell.
A bit of mascara, maybe. Her olive skin was naturally tan, and she had a healthy flush to her cheeks that didn’t look manufactured.
I didn’t think I had a type, but if I did, Kenna Smith was it.
Pointless, pointless interview. Still, I answered, “I hired Jean when Michael was a baby. She was a widowed nanny looking for a fresh start, so she moved out to Ardnoch to be with us. However …” I smiled, happy for her, even though we’d miss the hell out of her.
“She met someone on a dating app. Together, they’ve found a new lease on life. They want to travel.”
Kenna grinned. “That’s a good reason to lose her.”
“Oh, very much so. And as she keeps reminding us, we’re not really losing her.”
“I bet not.” She cocked her head. “So, is it just you and Michael?”
“Oh … well, yes, since he was an infant. But without going into the details, Michael’s mum has come back into his life.
” Deena’s return had made me a nervous wreck this past year, but I’d do anything to make my son happy, and he wanted a relationship with his mother.
“Anyway, I should ask you some questions,” I remarked pointedly.
She flushed a delightful pink and some very bad thoughts sprang into my mind. “Of course.”
I tapped my phone screen, looking at her résumé as an excuse not to look at her. “May I ask why you left your last employer and decided to move from Inverness to Ardnoch?”
Her hesitation made me look up. “We … um … I needed a change, and I have a cousin who lives in Ardnoch. She was looking for a new roommate.”
There was something like unease in her eyes, suggesting that wasn’t the whole truth. However, her last employer had given Kenna a good reference when I’d called her to confirm it, so I wouldn’t push the subject.
“It’s good that you already have accommodation because this isn’t a live-in position.
” Not that you’re getting the job. After years of mistrusting women because of Deena, resulting in nothing but casual hookups, I’d finally decided it was time to stop letting one woman ruin my future.
It would be nice to have someone to share a home with, for Michael to have a stepmum who cared.
Unfortunately, there had only been two women who captured my interest in the last few years, and two other lucky bastards had beaten me to them.
Since casual hookups no longer did it for me, it had been six months since I’d last had sex.
And I was not putting a long-legged brunette with eyes I could drown in, in temptation’s range.
“Aye. My cousin lives in a flat on Castle Street and I’ll stay with her until I can find my own place.
And I have my car, so it’s no problem for me to get here and take Michael to school and back.
” She gestured out the window. I’d been so busy looking at her, I hadn’t even noticed the very nice Audi Q5 parked in my driveway.
How did a twenty-seven-year-old nanny afford a fancy SUV?
I turned back to her, and she shifted in her seat before taking a quick sip of coffee.
Fuck it. “Nice motor?”
She heard my nosy question in my tone and sighed. “It’s a long story.”
In other words, mind your own business. Difficult for me to do when I was supposed to put the care of my most precious possession in this woman’s hands.
The subject was moot, anyway. I’d already decided that I very much wanted to get to know Kenna Smith in the way a man gets to know a woman.
I would not be hiring her, but I did want her phone number.
I’d allow some time to pass after our interview and then I could seek her out in Ardnoch to ask her for a date. I opened my mouth to bring the interview to a short end, but an engine sounded and cut me off.
I glanced sharply out the window to see Innes Williams parking behind Kenna’s Audi. What the hell? The back passenger door of the old SUV flew open and Michael jumped out, hurrying toward our front door.
“Problem?” Kenna asked.
“My son’s home early.”
He was supposed to hang out with his best friend Grant Williams and his mum all day, so I could do these interviews.
“Dad!” Michael flew into the house as I stood from the armchair. “Mrs. Williams told me you’re interviewing new nannies.”
Bloody Innes. I cleared my throat. “I am. Michael—”
“Don’t you think I should be here?” He crossed his arms over his chest and tilted his chin stubbornly.
Even as he tried to stare me down, his gaze kept flicking to Kenna.
He was lucky I found him adorable because he was also a pain in my arse.
Deena and I had brought a smart kid into the world.
Michael was precocious and too switched on for his age.
Because it had just been him and me for so long, he believed everything should be decided as a team.
The only times I was reminded he was still a child were his excitement at Christmas and the way Deena had a way of turning his emotions upside down.
Before I could argue that no, I didn’t think he should be here to interview his nanny, Kenna stood and held out her hand to him. “Hi, Michael, I’m Kenna.”
Michael’s arms dropped as he stared up at her as if she were an angel from heaven.
Fuuuuuck.
He shook her hand, suddenly beaming from ear to ear. “Do you like video games?”
“I do, and I’m really good at them. But I also like walking and football and going for bike rides.”
His eyes widened in delight. “I like all those things too.”
“No way.” She grinned that enchanting smile. “So, what’s your favorite video game right now? Let me guess … Fortnite?”
“Of course.”
“Cool. I like Mizuki.”
Michael was practically bouncing on the balls of his feet. “You really play it? Do you want to play now?”
The front door opened before Kenna could reply, and Innes popped her head through. Her expression apologetic, she said, “I’m sorry. It slipped out and then he wouldn’t stop pleading to come home.”
“It’s fine, Innes.” It wasn’t, but it wasn’t her fault either. “I’ve got him.”
“Okay. Have a nice …” Her words trailed off when she caught sight of Kenna. “Day,” she squeaked out and then shot me a look.
I’m pretty sure my expression begged her to help me.
Her lips pressed together like she was trying not to laugh. Then she waved at Kenna. “I’m Innes Williams. My son’s best friends with Michael.”
“I’m Kenna.”
“My new nanny,” Michael offered, making my stomach drop. “So you’ll see her around. Come on.” He grabbed Kenna’s hand. “Let’s play Fortnite.”
Kenna looked at me.
I could feel Innes watching us.
My gaze dropped to Michael, whose eyes had grown round like a puppy dog, begging me not to disagree.
This … this was why I didn’t want him involved in the interviews. I would pick a friendly, warm-spirited older lady much like Jean. And Michael would pick the stunning twenty-something who knew who the characters in Fortnite were.
And because I was terrified of disappointing him the way Deena had his whole life, I knew at that moment I was sentencing myself to an indefinite period of blue balls.