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Maid for the Single Dad
SUSAN MEIER
To: LizHarper@HappyMaids. com From: EllieSwanson@HappyMaids. comAs my boss and best friend, could we have a chat when you’re next in the office? I’ve got a dilemma… My newest client is single dad Mac Carmichael, and he’s really hot, but very difficult to figure out. I think I’m falling for him! That’s not all. He’s asked me to be a live-in nanny as well as a maid! I don’t know much about family life – especially the ultra-wealthy type! Help! Ellie x
Even if an employer felt an attraction for the hired help, most wouldn’t let it show. Mac hadn’t let it show all day. But, being half asleep, his guard had been down. Nine chances out of ten he wouldn’t even acknowledge this in the morning.
But what if he did?
What if he liked her?
What if living with him for a month was enough that their barriers broke down?
He already had her stuttering and staring. If he made a pass at her, could she resist him?
And what if she didn’t?
No one knew better than Ellie that there were consequences to relationships.
Especially relationships with bosses.
Maid for the Single Dad
by
Susan Meier
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
SUSAN MEIER spent most of her twenties thinking she was a job-hopper—until she began to write and realised everything that had come before was only research! One of eleven children, with twenty-four nieces and nephews and three kids of her own, Susan has had plenty of real-life experience watching romance blossom in unexpected ways. She lives in Western Pennsylvania with her wonderful husband, Mike, three children, and two over-fed, well-cuddled cats, Sophie and Fluffy. You can visit Susan’s website at www.susanmeier.com
Two maids in Miami…two drop-dead-gorgeous clients…two marriages in the making?
Find out in Susan Meier’s new duet
HOUSEKEEPERS SAY I DO!
Last month you read all about Liz and Cain in
MAID FOR THE MILLIONAIRE
This month enjoy Ellie’s story in
MAID FOR THE SINGLE DAD
Chapter One
ELLIE Swanson had not signed up for this.
Yes, she’d agreed to run Happy Maids while her boss, Liz Harper Nestor, took a well-deserved honeymoon after remarrying her gorgeous ex-husband, Cain. And, yes, she was perfectly capable of supervising the fourteen or so employees on Happy Maids’s payroll for the four weeks Liz would be in Paris. But she wasn’t authorized to make a change in the company’s business plan, as the man across the desk wanted her to.
“I’m a friend of Cain’s.”
Of course he was. Tall and slender with perfect blue eyes and black hair cut short and businesslike, Mac Carmichael wore his tailored navy blue suit with the casual ease of a man accustomed to handmade suits, fine wines and people taking his orders. Just like Cain.
“And he told me his wife’s company was the best in town.”
“But we’re a weekly cleaning service. We don’t place maids in clients’ homes.”
“You should.”
A bead of sweat rolled down Ellie’s back. The air-conditioning had broken the day Liz left. But Ellie could handle the heat and humidity of June in Miami. What she couldn’t abide was failure. Her first day on the job and already she was turning away a client. An important client. A client who could not only tell Cain that Happy Maids hadn’t come through for him; he could also tell all his wealthy friends—the very people Liz would be marketing to when she returned.
Ellie leaned back on the chair, tapping a pencil on the desk blotter. “Explain again what you’re looking for.”
“My maid quit unexpectedly. I need to hire a temporary replacement while I interview for another one.”
“I can send someone to your house a few times a week to clean,” she said hopefully.
He shook his head. “I have a daughter and a son. They need breakfast every morning.”
“Then I’ll be happy to send someone every day at seven.”
“Lacy gets up at five.”
“Then I’ll have someone at four.”
“I work some nights.”
Ellie gaped at him. “You want the maid to be a nanny too?”
He caught her gaze. His sinfully blue eyes held hers and she fought the urge to swallow as pinpricks of attraction sparkled along her nerve endings.
“And live in.”
She gasped. “Live in?”
“I also pay very well.”
Ah, the magic words. A victim of domestic violence herself, Liz had gotten involved with A Friend Indeed, a charity that helped women transition out of their abusive homes and into new lives. It was a natural fit that Liz should begin employing the women from A Friend Indeed until they got on their feet. Ellie had actually been the first employee Liz had hired after they met at the charity. The company needed every job—especially the good paying ones—to provide work for all the women who wanted help.
Mac rose from his seat. “Look, if your firm can’t handle it, I’ll be on my way.”
He turned to the door.
Stop him!
She bounced out of her chair. “Wait.”
He faced her again. This time she did swallow. His eyes reminded her of the ocean in the dead of summer, calm and deep and perfect blue. His dark hair gleamed in the sunlight pouring in from the window to his right. High cheekbones angled to blissfully full lips, the kind that made most women take a second glance and wonder what it would be like to kiss him. It should have been pure pleasure to look at him. Instead, the scowl on his face caused Ellie to doubt the intuition that guided her life.
“Yes?”
“I—” Why had her intuition told her to stop him? She didn’t have anybody who could work as a maid/nanny. Most of Liz’s employees had kids of their own and homes to get back to every night. They couldn’t live in. And that’s what he needed.
“I—um—maybe we can work something out.”
His scowl grew even darker. “I don’t work things out.”
No kidding. She didn’t need intuition to tell her that.
“I want someone today.”
Don’t let him go.
She groaned inwardly, wondering why her sixth sense was so insistent on this. But accustomed to listening to the intuition that had saved her life, she couldn’t ignore it.
“I’ll do it.”
His scowl shifted into a look of confusion. “You?”
“I know I’m behind the desk today, but I’m only filling in for Cain’s wife, Liz. She runs the business herself, but this month she’s on her honeymoon. I’m more than capable of cooking, cleaning and caring for children.”
His eyes held hers for another second or two. Then his gaze dipped from her face to her pretty red dress, and Ellie suddenly regretted her decision to wear something as exposing as the short strapless creation made more for having lunch with friends on a sunny sidewalk café than working in an office. But not having air-conditioning had made the choice for her. How was she supposed to know a client would show up?
He smiled and all the air whooshed out of Ellie’s lungs. The temperature in her blood rose to an almost unbearable level. She could have melted where she stood. If this guy lived up north, snowflakes wouldn’t stand a chance against that smile.
“We have air-conditioning, so you might want to change into jeans and a T-shirt.” He took a business card out of his jacket pocket, scribbled on the back and handed it to her. “That’s my home address. I’ll meet you there in an hour.” Then he turned and walked out the door.
Ellie collapsed on the office chair. Damn it! What had she gotten herself into? Now she not only had all of Liz’s work, she also had a full-time job. More than full-time! She had to live in!
With a sigh of frustration at herself, she lifted the receiver of the phone on the desk and quickly dialed the number for Cain’s personal assistant, Ava.
“Are you busy?”
“Hey, good morning, Magic. How’s your first day going?”
“Abysmally. Don’t call me Magic anymore. I think my intuition is on the fritz.”
Ava laughed.
“I’m serious. Some guy came in here this morning, demanding a full-time maid and nanny—someone to live in—and I volunteered to take the job.”
“Yourself?”
Angling her elbow on the desk, Ellie cradled her chin on her palm. “Yes.”
“Oh, that’s so not like you!”
“I know. But he’s a friend of Cain’s and I worried about disappointing him. My intuition got all jumbled while he was here and before I knew it I was taking the job myself.” She winced. “I was thinking maybe you could find an agency that can get him a real temporary maid, then call him back and tell him I made a mistake.”
“All right. I’ll handle it. Give me his name.”
Ellie flipped the card over. “Mac Carmichael.”
“Oh, damn.”
Oh, damn?
“Oh, damn what?”
“Ellie, you’re stuck. He is a major pain in the butt, so not even finding him a real full-time maid would fix this. He’d never change a deal he’s already made. But he’s also somebody Cain’s been courting for years.”
“Courting?”
“His family owns hotels all over the world. Cain’s been trying to get in on the construction end. This might be a test for Cain.”
Ellie lowered her forehead to her palm. “Which is probably why my intuition wouldn’t let me tell him no.”
“I’m guessing,” Ava agreed. “Okay, here’s what we’ll do. It doesn’t matter where I work, so I’ll forward my calls to the Happy Maids office and handle your phone and walk-ins during the day. Then we’ll spend an hour or so together every night doing the day’s paperwork.”
“You’d do that for me?”
“Of course! This isn’t just Happy Maids on the line. It’s also Cain’s business and I’m Cain’s assistant. I have to do whatever needs to be done. Beside, I like you.”
Ellie laughed. “Okay.”
“Okay? Miss Magic, it will be more than okay. We will make it great. You’ll do such a good job for Mac that you’ll earn all kinds of brownie points for Liz and Happy Maids, and you might just get Cain the ‘in’ with Carmichael Incorporated that he’s been lobbying for for years.”
Ellie sat up. “Yeah. You’re right. This is a good thing.”
“This is potentially a very good thing,” Ava agreed. “And I will do anything at all you need me to do.”
“Handling the office during the day should be all the help I need.”
“I’ll be over in an hour.”
“Bring a key because I have to leave right now. Mr. Carmichael wants me at his house in—” she glanced down at the card again “—Coral Gables in an hour, and I need to pack a bag if I’m going to be living there.”
“You better get a move on.”
“Okay. And Ava?”
“Yes.”
Ellie winced. “You might want to stop on your way and buy a tank top and shorts.”
Ava laughed. “How about if I just call an HVAC repairman?”
“That’ll do it, too. I’ll see you tonight.”
