Cat Schield - The Nanny Trap

As the limo eased toward the curb in front of his stepsister’s building, Blake gathered up the baby and his bright blue diaper bag. Slinging it over his shoulder, lips quirking as he contemplated how becoming a parent had domesticated him, Blake strode into Jeanne’s building, nodding at the doorman as he passed.

“You’re late,” his stepsister announced when he stepped off the elevator. She raised her arms in welcome as she advanced to take her nephew. Murmuring in soothing tones, she plucked Drew out of Blake’s arms and cuddled him. “I’ve been worried.”

“I had to make a slight detour.” Blake smiled when Drew latched onto Jeanne’s chunky gold necklace and blinked sleepily up at her.

“Well, you’re here now and just in time to hear my wonderful news.” Jeanne’s gaze cut to her stepbrother. “We’re going to be neighbors this summer. Isn’t that great? Now you don’t need to worry about a nanny for Drew. I can take care of him until Talia gets back on her feet.”

“You found a rental this close to summer?”

“Connie and Gideon are getting divorced and they can’t agree on who gets the beach house, so they’re letting Peter and me lease it. We’ll be living two doors away. It’ll be such great fun. Of course, Peter will only come up on the weekends, but I’m planning on spending as much time as I can at the beach. Isn’t it wonderful?”

“Wonderful,” Blake echoed, his voice flat. He hadn’t yet shared his summer plans with Jeanne because he was certain she wouldn’t approve. “But you don’t need to watch Drew this summer. I found someone to fill in as his nanny.”

“Oh.” Jeanne looked disappointed. Two months ago she’d found out she was having a baby and her maternal instincts had kicked into high gear. “I was hoping to spend the summer with my nephew. I hope the woman comes from a reputable agency.”

“I didn’t use an agency.” Blake decided to deliver his news without preamble. “I asked Bella.”

“Oh, Blake, no.”

He ignored Jeanne’s dismay. “You knew that she’s been working at St. Vincent’s this past year, didn’t you?”

Jeanne had been the one who’d gotten Bella a job at the prestigious school a year ago last fall. It was her husband’s alma mater and the endowment they gave to the school each year gave them a certain pull when it came to asking favors.

“Yes,” his stepsister admitted with an exaggerated sigh.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Wasn’t it you who said she didn’t want to have anything to do with Drew?” Jeanne hadn’t liked Bella, but she’d never explained why. “Why would you want to bother with her?”

Because he hadn’t been completely satisfied with Bella’s explanation for why she wanted to sever all contact. Because for reasons he couldn’t rationalize, something unfinished lay between them.

“I need a nanny for Drew for a couple months until Talia’s broken leg heals.” This was what had prompted him to start looking for Bella. But it turned out that wasn’t his only reason for tracking her down.

Jeanne’s brow creased. “Let me help you hire someone.”

Why couldn’t she understand that he didn’t want just anyone? “I’m leaving for the Hamptons in two days. I don’t have time to interview a bunch of candidates. I know Bella. I trust her with Drew.”

“Do you think that’s wise?”

“Not only did she help raise her brothers and sisters, but she’s a kindergarten teacher. Who could be better?”

“I don’t think this is a good plan, Blake.” Jeanne carried the sleeping Drew to the portable playpen set up in her stylish living room and settled the baby, fussing with his blanket until she was satisfied. “Bella declined contact with Drew. No pictures or updates. Why do you think she’d want to take care of him for two months?”

Jeanne’s skepticism echoed Blake’s own concerns. “She’ll do it.” The money he intended to offer would be hard for her to refuse.

“Pick someone else. Anyone else.”

“Why?”

“That girl is trouble.”

Jeanne’s proclamation was so ridiculous, Blake laughed. “Bella? She’s the furthest thing from trouble.”

“Are you going to tell me you never noticed the way she looked at you?”

Blake’s amusement dried up. “What are you talking about? She and I were friends. Nothing more.”

“Maybe nothing more from your perspective, but I think she was more than half in love with you.” Jeanne crossed her arms and frowned. “Not that I blame her. You are wealthy, handsome and charming.”

“In that order?” Blake muttered, unsettled by the interest that had flared inside him. Was Bella attracted to him? Maybe that’s what accounted for his unexpected awareness of her—he was merely responding to her subliminal signals. Body language. The chemistry of pheromones. Building blocks of sexual desire. Easy to disregard now that he knew the root cause.

“But the two of you together alone in the Hamptons will give her ample opportunity to get her hooks into you.”

“That isn’t going to happen.”

“No?”

“First of all, I believe I have some say in who I get involved with.” Blake arched his eyebrows when Jeanne opened her mouth to protest. “Secondly, Bella isn’t interested in getting her hooks in me. You said it yourself. She declined any contact with Drew. She told me she doesn’t want to be a mother. She did enough parenting with her siblings. So you don’t need to worry that I’m going to do something as foolish as fall for her.”

“That’s good to hear. But hasn’t it occurred to you that Drew needs more than a series of nannies? He needs a mother. Someone who will love him with all her heart.”

“I’ve been thinking along those lines myself.”

First Bella had turned her back on Drew. Then Vicky. He could do nothing about the latter. His ex-wife had let him believe she wanted a family when what she really wanted was for their relationship to remain unchanged, but Bella’s values were different. She’d come from a large family. And if he’d learned anything at all about her in the months before Drew was born, he’d seen that she had a nurturing nature. Even if she was determined to deny it.

With Vicky there’d been no such mothering instinct. His ex-wife had insisted on hiring a nanny before Drew was born. She maintained she didn’t have the temperament to be a full-time mother. He should have listened to her. But he’d been too set on having his son grow up in the perfect family Blake had not had growing up.

Jeanne lit up. “I’m so glad to hear you say that.”

“Glad why?”

“Victoria ended her relationship with Gregory.” His stepsister’s animated expression warned Blake she was in full interference mode.

He’d heard something to that effect. “I suspect that had something to do with the fact that her play closed after two weeks?” Blake made no effort to hide his cynicism.

“That’s not it at all,” Jeanne insisted. “She never stopped loving you.”

“She loves her career more.”

It had been a bitter blow when he’d discovered how she’d fooled him into believing having a family was her first priority when her true passion was show business.

“That’s not true,” Jeanne insisted.

While Blake admired Jeanne’s loyalty to her best friend, he was in no mood to forgive his ex-wife. “I know you want to defend her, but you’re wasting your breath trying to convince me to take her back. She put her career before her family.”

“I know it’s something she’d never do again.”

Despite her conviction, his stepsister’s argument failed to shift Blake’s opinion of Vicky’s desires. “She left me. She left Drew.” And it was the latter that prevented him from trusting her ever again.