Roxann Delaney - A Nanny for the Cowboy

“Sammich!” He wiggled in her arms, but she managed to hold tight until she pulled the high chair over next to his dad and set him in it.

“He’s a bright little guy,” she told Luke. While father and son chattered at each other, she retrieved the jelly sandwich she’d prepared for Brayden earlier and poured a cup of milk.

“You managed to find your way around?” Luke asked.

“Yes,” she answered, tying a bib around Brayden’s neck. “It’s a beautiful house. And so much room, too,” she added, but suddenly wished she hadn’t.

He put his elbow on the table and propped his chin in his hand, obviously comfortable with the question, unlike earlier. “You like it?”

She took a seat on the other side of Brayden, and answered without thinking. “Who wouldn’t?”

Fearing it had been the wrong thing to say, she held her breath as Luke shrugged and pushed away from the counter. “It’s just big,” he said. “More room than Brayden and I need, that’s for sure.” He ruffled his son’s hair and stood. “You need to leave by six, right?”

“No, not tonight. I have early classes on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.”

“You’ll need a little time to settle in, then. I can be done by six.”

“If that works for you, I won’t argue. Would it be all right if I take Brayden into town, after lunch?” she asked, then hurried to add, “I’ll make sure he gets a longer nap when we get back. I’d like to pick up some groceries, if you don’t mind, and Brayden might enjoy the outing.”

Luke rubbed his chin with his knuckles and nodded. “Yeah, we do need some stuff.” He gave her a sheepish smile. “I never seem to know what to get and usually end up with nothing I need and everything I don’t.”

She cleaned the jelly from Brayden’s face and hands and helped him down from the chair. “Don’t worry about it,” she told Luke. “I’ll get you back up to par with the food.”

“I’ll call the grocery store and have them charge it to me.”

She nodded. “Just give me a limit, and I’ll go from there.”

“Whatever we need,” he said with a shrug. “No limit.”

She wasn’t accustomed to buying food for someone she didn’t know and hoped she would make wise decisions. Brayden was easy to figure out, but she wasn’t so sure about his dad. “Is there anything special you like?” she asked.

“Just about everything. Meat and potatoes or whatever. I’m not picky, as long as it’s easy to fix. No need for you to spend a lot of time cooking.” He glanced at his watch and frowned. “I’d better get back to work, or I won’t be done by six.”

“I only need to know where Brayden’s car seat is, and we’ll be all set for the rest of the day.”

He walked to the doorway that led to the garage, but didn’t open the door. “The spare is out here. I hardly use it, so just keep it in your car. I can get it for you.”

“No need,” she said in a rush. “I’ll find it. I’ve taken up enough of your time.”

He gave a quick nod. When Brayden ran to him and clasped his arms around his daddy’s legs, Luke reached down and mussed his hair. “I’ll be back later, buddy. You be good for Hayley, okay?”

Both of them looked at Hayley, and she offered them a smile. “We’ll be fine.”

“Well, okay then,” Luke said, while removing his son from his legs. “I’ll bring your suitcases in. I guess you saw that there’s a spare room right around the corner there.”

“Yes, a very nice room. It’ll be fine. Thank you.”

“And you can put your car in the garage, too.” he told her, and she thanked him again.

Hesitating, he finally opened the door and left without saying anything else. Hayley breathed a sigh of pure relief. She had a job. And she loved Brayden. But her new boss unnerved her. One minute he was all business and unwilling to talk, and she could handle that. But when he loosened up and became what she suspected was the real Luke Walker, she felt that old, familiar fluttery feeling in her stomach. That same feeling she’d had when she first met Nathan. But that had eventually turned sour, and she’d ended it, relieved that she did. She’d learned a lesson from the whole experience, and now she was determined to concentrate on finishing school. She’d simply focus on her studies and her tiny charge until that fluttering went away.

* * *

LUKE DRIED HIS HANDS on the towel and checked the time. Right on the dot. He wasn’t late.

Opening the door leading from the garage mudroom to the house, he was nearly bowled over by the mouthwatering smells coming from the kitchen. He hadn’t had the pleasure of enjoying a home-cooked meal for longer than he wanted to admit, but he sure hadn’t forgotten what it was like.

He spied Hayley in the kitchen and looked around. To his surprise, he found Brayden playing quietly in the corner with the toys she’d brought him. For the past year and a half, his son had been like a burr, sticking to him at all times. He wasn’t sure what magic Hayley was working or how she was doing it, but he was happy to see Brayden being more like a kid should be.

Hunkering down next to the boy, he pointed at the plastic pony Brayden held. “Hey, guy, whatcha got there?”

Brayden looked up at him. “Sorsey,” he answered and put the pony in his dad’s hand.

Luke chuckled at Brayden’s habit of replacing an S for an H in words. “Yep, it sure is. And a mighty fine one, too.”

Spying a plastic cowboy, he picked it up and studied it. Remembering the similar set he and Dylan had played with when they were small boys, he felt the oddly familiar ache in his chest as memories of his own childhood flooded him. His early years had been happy and normal, but the later ones had brought sorrow, and he quickly pushed aside the painful thoughts.

“So how’d you and Hayley get along, Brayden? Everything go okay?”

His son looked up at him, his dark brown eyes round and full of an innocence Luke knew came and went with the wind. As if he suddenly understood, Brayden turned to look at the new nanny and responded with a throaty giggle, a sure sign that he and Hayley had hit it off.

Tugging at one of Brayden’s short curls, Luke smiled and kept his voice low. “Yeah, that’s what I figured. You got your old man’s good taste in women.”

When he realized what he had just said to his son, Luke clamped his mouth shut. Good taste? Hardly. He had been so sure that Kendra was the one-and-only girl for him. He’d been as wrong as anybody could ever be. If he could turn back the clock...

Beside him, Brayden bumped the truck against his knee. No, no turning back the clock. Kendra had given him the one thing he cared about more than life itself. Even the ranch didn’t hold a candle to the way he felt about his son. And Brayden was all his.

Getting to his feet, Luke walked the length of the long room. “Something sure smells good,” he said as he walked through the room to stand behind her. He breathed in, just as he remembered his manners. “But you really didn’t have to go to so much trouble.”

She glanced over her shoulder at him and moved to her left, away from him. “No trouble. I did some shopping today. It’s in the slow cooker. It’s ready, whenever you are.”

“I sure appreciate it.” She looked up and he caught her gaze and held it. “First day on the job, and I should be giving you a raise already,” he teased.

“No need,” she replied, her face taking on a pink color. “I expected to help with other things besides child care when I was hired.”

He felt like kicking himself for giving in to the temptation to tease her. It obviously made her uncomfortable. And why shouldn’t it? He was her employer. He hadn’t meant for his comment to come out the way it had, hadn’t meant to make it sound so... He ducked his head, wishing he could take the words back. Hell, he wasn’t trying to seduce her, so why had he felt the need to tease her in a way that sounded like he was?