Kieran couldn’t believe how close he’d come to kissing Dana last night. But when he’d gazed into her blue eyes, he’d nearly met a sweet death. His brains deserted him, and he’d reached out and touched her face.
That was bad enough, but then he’d brushed his thumb across her cheek, felt the softness of her skin, and his hormones had shot into overdrive. For a moment, he’d forgotten who she was.
And that was a big mistake. Thankfully, he’d finally wrapped his mind around what he’d almost done, and he’d come to a screeching halt and walked away. But the damage had already been done, and he had no idea how to correct it.
Dana must have been uncomfortable, too, because once they got back to the house, she’d quickly said her goodbyes, mentioning something about a neighbor who needed her to do a favor. But he’d wager that had only been an excuse to escape him—and one that was only slightly better than having to shampoo her hair.
Needless to say, he couldn’t call her anymore to ask for her help. He couldn’t risk the temptation. Because next time, he just might take her in his arms and kiss her senseless. And then he’d be in a real fix.
He needed to get contact numbers for other babysitters for when he was at the office and in meetings, but he couldn’t ask Sandra. She’d insist upon watching Rosie herself, and she already had too much on her plate. Besides, her health wasn’t the best.
Still, that meant he had to come up with something else—or rather, someone else. Someone permanent to look after Rosie for him.
For that reason, on Friday morning he’d spent an hour on the phone with an agency that provided experienced nannies for working families. Then he spent most of Saturday interviewing several potential caregivers.
He settled on Megan Baker, a reasonably attractive brunette in her late twenties, and asked her to show up bright and early on Tuesday morning. He would be going into the office, no longer working from home now that he’d hired a nanny who would solve his problem once and for all.
Megan was friendly and outgoing. She also seemed competent, so he’d left Rosie in her care. But after he returned from work Tuesday afternoon and Megan had left, Rosie met him in the kitchen with her arms crossed, her little face scrunched into a frown.
“What’s wrong, princess?”
“I don’t like her.”
The new nanny had seemed nice enough to him. “You mean Megan? Why not?”
Rosie harrumphed, then unfolded her arms and slapped her hands on her hips. “Because she ate the pink ice cream all gone. And she made me eat the chocolate, even when I don’t like it. Then she filled up her bowl again and wouldn’t even share it with me. And she only wanted to watch TV. And even when I said please, she wouldn’t play or color or read stories with me.”
At that, Kieran decided he didn’t like Megan, either.
“I’ll tell you what, Rosie. We’ll find a different nanny—one who will play with you and share the strawberry ice cream.”
She made her way to where he stood, then lifted her arms to him, indicating she wanted him to pick her up. When he did, she rested her head against his and asked, “Why can’t I just stay with you, Uncle Daddy? I’ll be really, really good.”
His heart swelled with myriad emotions, only one of which was remorse at having to leave her with a sitter. “Because I have to go into the office. And I also have to attend a lot of boring meetings.”
In spite of the guilt, a flutter of pride rose in his chest. It was nice to know that she preferred to be with him.
So the next morning, after taking her to preschool, he told the agency that he wouldn’t need Megan anymore and moved on to the next nanny candidate.
Darla Sue Williams, a maternal, heavyset woman in her midfifties, seemed to be the perfect choice. So when she arrived bright and early on Thursday morning, he again headed for the office. But when he returned just after five that evening, and after Darla Sue had waddled out the door, he turned to Rosie, who stood before him, frowning yet again.
But this time, he knew what was wrong. The little princess had found fault with nanny number two.
“I take it you didn’t like Darla Sue, either,” he said.
Rosie crossed her arms and shifted her weight to one hip. “She can’t sit down on the floor and color with me ’cause she broke her knee one day and has Arthur Right Us in it. And when she was still eating lunch and I was going to play with my dolls, she let out a big toot and didn’t say ’scuse me.”
“She probably thought that you hadn’t heard her.”
Rosie rolled her eyes and sighed. “Then she has broken ears, too, because it was really loud and I think everyone in the world heard it.”
Kieran bit back a laugh. There was no pleasing this kid, although he had to admit Darla Sue might not be the perfect fit, either. But now what?
“Uncle Daddy,” Rosie said, “can’t you work right here like you did before? I just want to be with you.”
Damn. The blond-haired princess was too adorable for words, and it warmed his heart to know that she’d rather be with him—even if that wasn’t possible.
The most obvious solution was to increase the number of days she spent at preschool, but he’d tried doing that the first week she’d moved in with him. Miss Peggy, the preschool director, said she was sorry, but they were full. She then offered to add Rosie to the waiting list, which had seemed fair enough. That is, until Kieran learned there were already more than a dozen names on it.
“I’m sure that’s not what you wanted to hear,” Miss Peggy had said. When he agreed, she’d added, “You may not know this, but we have one of the best preschools in Austin.”
“Super,” he’d said, although he’d wondered if it might help Rosie’s chances of moving up to the top of the list if he made a donation of some kind. But the school wasn’t a nonprofit organization. Besides, a move like that smacked of something his father might try to pull.
So that left only one thing for Kieran to do. He’d have to take Rosie to the office with him next Tuesday morning, because there was no way he’d call Dana—no matter how badly he wanted to.
* * *
At five minutes to one o’clock on Wednesday, right after Dana returned to work from lunch, a twentysomething brunette arrived at the history center.
Normally Dana didn’t assess the visitors, but this one was attractive and had an interesting Bohemian style. Dressed in high-heeled boots, flared jeans and a paisley tunic top, the woman also carried a floppy, soft leather purse, a loose leaf notebook and a padded laptop case.
“I’m Ariana Lamonte,” she said. “I spoke to someone on the telephone last week and made an appointment to do some research today.”
“Actually, you talked to me.” Dana reached out and shook Ariana’s hand. “You’re doing an article on the new Fortunes for your blog and for Weird Life magazine.”
“That’s right.” Ariana smiled, as she wrapped Dana’s hand in a strong, confident grip. “I came to check the archives for newspapers and magazines from about thirty years ago.”
“No problem. But before I take you to the reading room, you’ll need to sign in at the front desk.”
Ariana did as instructed.
“You’ll also have to place your bags in one of our lockers,” Dana added.
At that, Ariana shot her a questioning look.
“We ask everyone to do that so we can ensure the security and preservation of our material.”
“I understand,” Ariana said. “But what about my laptop? I’d like to take notes, if that’s all right.”
“As long as you lock up the case, you can have the laptop.”
“What about my cell phone?”
“If you take it out of your purse, you can have that, too.”
“Perfect. Are there any other rules I should be aware of?”
“They’re posted on the wall,” Dana said. “But if you want to take any handwritten notes, you can’t use a pen. I can provide a pencil and notepaper. And once you’re in the reading room, if you’d like a specific magazine or newspaper, you’ll have to fill out a call slip. One of the staff will get it for you.”
“I understand. And I guess it’s safe to assume that I can’t check out anything, and that all the material needs to stay on the premises.”
“That’s right.”
After Ariana signed in, Dana took her first to the lockers. After she put away her bags, she took her to the reading room.
“Let me know if I can get anything for you,” Dana said.
“Thank you.” Ariana smiled. “I’ll do that.”
About an hour later, after requesting several different magazines and studying various microforms for news articles, Ariana began to close up her laptop.
“Did you find everything you were looking for?” Dana asked.
“Not really.”
“What were you looking for?” Dana asked.
“At least a hint of why Jerome Fortune went to such extremes when he left home and changed his name to Gerald Robinson.”
Dana wasn’t about to say it, but from what she’d heard, Gerald’s children all seemed to have accepted whatever reason he might have had. So who was she to question them?
“But that doesn’t mean my research was a bust,” Ariana said. “One of the interviews I read implied that Gerald Robinson came to Austin nursing a broken heart, and that Charlotte Prendergast helped him pick up the pieces.”
That must be true. The couple had married and gone on to have eight children, one of whom was Kieran.
Dana had gotten most of her information from Zach, who hadn’t told her a lot. But she knew that Gerald, or rather Jerome, had lost his father and had been rejected by his mother. Zach hadn’t gone into detail, but she’d assumed that things had gotten so unbearable that Jerome Fortune had staged his own death, then changed his name.
“There’s a lot to sort through,” Ariana said.
“He was probably grief stricken by his father’s death and hurt by his mother’s rejection.” Dana had no more than uttered the assumption out loud when she wished she could reel it back in. After all, she wasn’t a family member and didn’t know the facts.
“Maybe,” Ariana said, “but I have reason to believe there was more to it than that.”
Dana wasn’t sure what the journalist meant, although she was curious and tempted to prod for more details. But she didn’t want Ariana to think she had a personal interest in that article. And she really didn’t.
She wasn’t a Fortune and never would be.
* * *
Kieran’s decision to take Rosie to the office with him the following Tuesday morning had seemed like a good idea at the time, but it hadn’t worked out that way.
Sure, everyone at Robinson Tech had oohed and aahed over the precocious little girl, who’d sat at the receptionist’s desk for an hour that morning and chatted with each employee and guest. Then Karen, his administrative assistant, had taken her into the break room and given her something to drink and a granola bar for a snack. Things went well until Rosie dropped a full, adult-size glass of OJ, scattering broken glass and sticky juice all over the floor.
For lunch, Kieran took her to Gregorio’s, a trendy Italian deli, for lunch. He ordered macaroni and cheese for her, but she pushed it aside after taking a single bite.
“What’s the matter?” he asked.
“It’s not the right kind. I like the mac and cheese that comes out of the box. This kind is yucky.”
Kieran would have preferred Gregorio’s variety, especially since they made the pasta on the premises and used three different types of cheese for the sauce. But what was he supposed to do if she wouldn’t eat?
As a result, he ordered the chicken tenders to go.
By two o’clock, he realized she needed a nap. So he removed the cushions from the two chairs in front of his desk and made a small bed for her on the floor. She might have dozed off, but his phone rang several times, causing her to stir.
An hour later, he gave up and let her sit at his desk to color. But she must have left the cap off the orange marker for days, if not longer, because it was dry as a bone. Apparently, that was the only color she could possibly use to draw a butterfly, so she had a meltdown.
At that point, he gave up and took her home.
He hadn’t thought that being a parent would be easy, but he hadn’t had any idea how tough the job really was. Nor had he realized it would make it damn near impossible to get any work done.
And that wasn’t the only thing that had suffered since he brought Rosie to live with him. His love life was at a complete standstill.
If he’d had a relationship with someone right now, he might actually have a love life. And that realization made him wonder why he’d been such a commitment phobe in the first place.
Not that he was sorry he had Rosie. He actually enjoyed being with her—when he didn’t have any work or projects that needed to get done.
On Wednesday morning, while at the preschool, he asked the director if Rosie had moved up on the waitlist to attend full time. She had, but only by one child. “I’m not sure how helpful this will be,” Miss Peggy added. “One of our families is on vacation this week, so we can let Rosie take her place this Thursday.”
Kieran had thanked her, relieved that he had child care for the rest of the week. But then he received word on Friday afternoon that the board of directors had scheduled an important meeting on Saturday morning.
He’d called Kelly as soon as he’d heard the news, but she was on a camping trip with a friend’s family. Even the nanny agency couldn’t help since the office was closed for the weekend. So it was official: he’d run out of child care options once again.
That is, until Dana crossed his mind. Once he envisioned her smiling face, her long, silky hair, those expressive blue eyes...well, hope soared.
In spite of his resolve to avoid her, he had no other choice than to call her. And with each ring of the phone, his mood lightened even more.
For a moment, he worried that she might not answer, then he heard her sweet voice dance across the line. “Hi, Kieran. What’s up?”
“I’m having nanny problems,” he blurted out. Realizing his desperation had run away with him, he added, “I’m not asking you to help with that, but do you know of any other people Zach might have used to watch Rosie when Kelly wasn’t available? I’m talking about adult women Rosie might actually like.”
“He had a few girls he’d call sometimes, but they’re all teenagers and not available as full-time sitters. I’m afraid Sandra was always his first choice.”
And Sandra wasn’t going to be an option these days.
Kieran raked a hand through his hair and blew out a sigh of frustration. “I have a meeting tomorrow that I can’t miss or reschedule. And I really dread the thought of taking Rosie with me.” Did he dare tell her he knew firsthand why that wasn’t going to work?
“I can watch her for you,” Dana said.
In spite of his resolve, relief washed over him. Dana had come to his rescue yet again.
“But if you don’t mind,” she added, “I’d rather you brought her to my house. That way, we can play dress up.”
“What’s that?” Kieran asked, although he suspected Rosie wouldn’t object to anything Dana suggested.
“It’s just something we do—a game, actually.”
Then Rosie would definitely be on board for that. “You have no idea how much I appreciate that offer.”
Nor did she realize how much he was looking forward to seeing her again.
* * *
On Saturday morning, Kieran drove to Dana’s place in Hyde Park. Dana had told him that she’d renovated one of the homes that had been built right after World War II. But nothing prepared him for what he saw when he pulled up in front of the small, wood-framed house that was painted mustard yellow. The roof and shutters were dark brown, while the porch and window were framed in white, the front door a bright orange.
He doubted it was much bigger than 1200 square feet, but the exterior seemed to suit Dana. And so did the well-manicured yard, with freshly mowed grass and a variety of orange and yellow marigolds lining the walkway.
In fact, he sat in the car a moment, just studying the unique decor and style. He had no idea what the place had looked like when she purchased it, but she’d done an amazing job with the renovation. No wonder she wanted to keep the house for a while before selling it. She ought to enjoy the fruits of her labor.
“Can I get out of my car seat?” Rosie asked. “I can do it myself.”
“Sure, princess.” Kieran slid out from behind the wheel, circled the car and opened the rear passenger door for the little girl who was determined to unbuckle herself.
“See?” Rosie said, clearly proud of her efforts. Then she reached for her backpack and hurried up the walkway to the front porch.
Dana, his beautiful lifesaver, opened the door and greeted them with a bright-eyed smile before Rosie could ring the bell.
The child practically jumped with glee, and Kieran’s heart reacted the same way. Damn, he hadn’t realized how badly he’d missed her.
“Just wait until you see what I have planned for us to do this morning,” Dana told the happy little girl.
“Can we go to the park again?” Rosie asked. “Like we did last time I came here?”
“If you want to. But first, we’re going to make old-fashioned sugar cookies with sprinkles. Then we’re going to play dress up.”
Rosie glanced over her shoulder at Kieran, a smile stretched across her face. “You don’t have to come back and pick me up until nighttime, Uncle Daddy.”
Now, that was the kind of reaction every parent hoped their child would have when dropping them off at day care or with a sitter.
Kieran looked over the child’s head at Dana and winked. “Don’t worry. I’ll be back sooner than that.”
“It really doesn’t matter to me. We have a full day planned, especially if we pack a lunch and go to the park.” Dana placed a gentle hand on Rosie’s head, taking a moment to stroke her hair. “Honey, why don’t you take your things into the living room?”
Rosie slipped past Dana and hurried into the house, taking her backpack with her. That left the adults alone on the porch, which wasn’t nearly as awkward as he’d once thought it would be.
“Before you go,” Dana said, “I want to share something with you. A couple of days ago, when Ariana Lamonte came by the history center and researched some old magazines and newspaper articles, I assumed she was interested in your father’s move to Austin and the formation of Robinson Tech.”
That’s what Kieran had thought, too. “What was she looking for?”
“I’m not entirely sure. Apparently, she uncovered an article that suggested your father came to town brokenhearted, and that your mother helped put him on the mend.”
“I can see how my mom would have helped him forget the life he once had as Jerome Fortune.”
“Maybe, but when I implied something similar, Ariana said she wasn’t so sure and suggested there was more to it than that.”
Kieran bristled at the thought of a journalist digging into his father’s past. Sure, his old man had kept a lot of secrets from the family for years. But what appeared to be an article about the younger Fortunes was sounding more like an exposé of Gerald Robinson aka Jerome Fortune.
Recently, thanks to their dad’s numerous affairs, they’d met several half siblings they hadn’t realized existed. Kieran had been a little embarrassed by it, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t curious about the past.
He couldn’t very well blame Ariana for her interest in the family, but the fact that there might be some old skeletons for her to uncover didn’t sit well with him.
At first when he’d heard about the article she was writing, he’d thought highlighting some of the younger Fortunes might be good publicity for the company as well as for the Fortune Foundation and Peter’s Place, a home for wayward teenage boys his brother Graham had established. But now he feared it might have the opposite effect.
He wouldn’t mention that to Dana, though. Instead, he shrugged it off, pretending it didn’t interest him in the least.
“Nothing about my father would surprise me,” he said, glancing at his wristwatch.
“You’d better go,” Dana said.
“You’re right. I still have to drive across town, and I don’t want to be late for that meeting.”
Dana glanced over her shoulder and into the living room, where Rosie was already unloading her books and markers. “And don’t worry about us. We’re going to have fun today.”
Kieran didn’t doubt that. He took a moment to study the pretty redhead who had proven to be a good friend. “I know I’ve told you this before, but it’s true. I really appreciate you.”
And not just for helping him out as a sitter.
Dana’s smile set off a glimmer in her eyes. “And like I said, I’m happy to do it.”
The morning sun cast a shimmer of gold in her auburn hair. Framed within the doorway of her newly painted house, the colors reminding him of fall, she seemed to fit nicely, leaving her mark on the decor in a special way.
“I love what you’ve done to this house.” And he did, which was odd coming from a man who made it a point to never use the L word, especially when he was with a single woman who might get the wrong idea about him.
But this woman was different, and whenever he was around her, he felt a lot of different emotions stirring up inside him.
“Thanks,” she said. “When you come back for Rosie, I’ll give you a tour of the inside.”
“I’d lo...like that.” Then he did something completely unexpected—he leaned forward, cupped her jaw and brushed a kiss on her cheek.
A show of affection like that wouldn’t have been so bad. But when he caught a whiff of her scent... Was that Coco Chanel? If not, it was a darn good knockoff. It also knocked him off stride. And rather than end the thanks-and-goodbye kiss, his lips lingered on her cheek a beat too long.
Dammit. What was wrong with him?
He needed this woman in the worst way. Maybe even in the best way. And he was really going to screw things up if he wasn’t careful.
“I’m sorry if I just stepped over the line or dishonored Zach in any way.”
“You didn’t,” she said, her eyes wide, her lips parted.
If she knew what he was thinking, she’d disagree.
“I’ll be back in a couple of hours,” he said.
“Take all the time you need.”
He nodded, then turned to go, knowing that he was going to need a hell of a lot more time to get his racing pulse under control and his mind back on track.