Chapter 1 #3
She’d always been careful and professional in her dealings with him. She’d never been intrusive or inappropriate—never going outside of the boundaries of her given position. But they’d known each other for a long time, and it didn’t feel strange or unnatural for her to ask such a question.
In fact, James was strongly tempted to tell her his whole list of stresses starting with Jill and her nightmares and ending with his upcoming marriage, which seemed to be looming up more every day.
He bit back the words though. It wouldn’t be right for him to confide in her. He was her employer, and he couldn’t take advantage of her sweetness and sensitivity.
He wasn’t paying her to pour out his troubles to. He was paying her to look after his daughters. That was her slot, and he was careful not to let the categories of his life dissolve into each other.
Ever since his wife died, he’d managed his world by keeping everything in its proper place.
When he didn’t answer, Rose said, “The girls are doing fine.”
“How long has Jill been having nightmares?”
“Just a few times this week.” She opened her mouth as if she would add something but then she didn’t.
Noticing her hesitance, he prompted rather gruffly, “What?”
“The dream was evidently about an evil stepmother.”
James thought about that, suddenly realizing what Rose wasn’t saying. “You think she’s worried about Genevieve?”
“I think so.”
“What should I do?”
“I don’t know. But I don’t think the girls know her very well, and that makes them afraid of the whole situation. Maybe they could be given the opportunity to get to know her better? That might help.”
James nodded, relieved by this common-sense idea.
Of course they’d be nervous about his marrying someone they didn’t really know.
He’d tried to get them to spend time together, but it hadn’t really worked out very often.
He’d talk to Genevieve. She would understand, and then surely she’d make some extra time for them so the girls wouldn’t be so nervous about her.
He hated the idea of his sensitive little Jill so upset she was dreaming about it.
“They’ll be fine,” Rose said as if she’d read his mind. “They love you, and they want you to be happy. Give them a little time, and they’ll get used to it.”
“I don’t just want them to get used to it. I want them to love her.” He wasn’t sure why he’d said such a thing since it revealed far more than he was used to revealing.
Something strange twisted on Rose’s face, but all she said was, “Give them time.”
He knew she was right, so he nodded as he repositioned the hot pad on his jaw. Rose was looking out the window in his office, and for some reason his eyes lingered on her face.
She had beautiful ivory skin with pink cheeks, and he particularly noticed how delicately clear her complexion was in the morning light. Her lashes were thick and dark even without any makeup, and his eyes lowered to the curve of her neck, leading down to her shoulders.
It was strangely lush and graceful—for such an innocuous part of her body. A section of hair had slipped out of her ponytail, and it slid against her skin, accentuating the curve.
For no good reason—completely to his surprise—he felt an entirely new surge of physical response to Rose.
She wasn’t doing anything provocative or sexual.
Her body was totally covered with a loose T-shirt.
But something about the graceful line of her neck and the swing of her hair provoked the most unexpected response from him.
He felt heat rush through him and his groin tighten a little. He was hard-pressed not to reach out and touch her hair, her skin.
When he realized what he was feeling, he stiffened in his chair. What the hell was wrong with him? Those kinds of thoughts were entirely inappropriate—for more reasons than he could count.
It must have just been one of those random flukes. It was part of being a man—being hit with lust occasionally, even when there was nothing real underlying it.
He’d never been particularly attracted to Rose before. She was just part of the background of his life. He was engaged to a beautiful woman, and his whole life was mapped out for him accordingly.
If he let the various aspects of his life bleed into each other, his world would turn back into chaos—the way it had when Melissa had died and he’d barely been able to function at all. He wasn’t going to let that happen again.
He shook the stray feeling away and lowered the hot pad. “Okay. Thanks for this. I need to get some work done.”
Rose’s eyes widened, obviously surprised by his gruffness. She took the hot pad though, and lowered her eyes. “Of course. I need to get the girls to school anyway.”
He watched her leave, feeling another flicker of interest at the sway of her full hips beneath the hemline of her T-shirt.
Shit, he needed to pull himself together. It was probably just another outgrowth of the stress, but he had to get it under control immediately.
He wasn’t the kind of man who lusted after his nanny, and there was no way in hell he was going to take advantage of Rose.
She’d been so good to him and the girls over the past couple of years, and he simply couldn’t lose her.