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Anna unlocked her door, mentally contrasting her simple home with the luxurious perfectly decorated estate belonging to the man shadowing her like a hovering bird of prey. Her entire apartment would fit into the living room where Mrs. Findley had conducted the preliminary interview and shared the particulars of the position.
Except for Anna providing directions from the drug testing lab to her apartment, the ride over had been a silent one—and not a comfortable silence either. She had the distinct impression her new boss disapproved of her. And the contract had been confusing. Why would she need to sign a nondisclosure agreement? What went on in the Hollister household that anyone would want to know?
Hollister followed her in, his sharp green and gold flecked eyes taking in her sparse furnishings—a secondhand sofa and table lamp, a red plastic clothes basket holding Cody’s toys and a tiny kitchen table with two chairs and a high chair. She didn’t have much, but then she and Cody didn’t need much. Besides, having less furniture gave Cody more floor space to play.
“Just moving in?” her new boss asked.
“I’ve been here close to four years.”
“Redecorating?”
“No.” Many of the students she tutored lived in showcase homes like his, and like him, those families probably had no clue how the less fortunate lived. On the upside, not having a job meant her place was cleaner than it had ever been.
“You’re going for the minimalist look?”
“My ex took most of our furniture when he left,” she admitted reluctantly. Along with their car, and her trust and her belief in love.
“When was that?”
Inquisitive, wasn’t he? But he had a right to be cautious. She’d be living in his house with access to his valuables. She didn’t need her minor in art to recognize that any of his original paintings and sculptures would be valued at more than she’d made in a year teaching at the academy.
Just as she had a right, given her recent experience, to be a little leery of being isolated with a strange, wealthy, influential man. She’d learned the hard way that wealth often led to arrogance, and arrogance to a sense of entitlement. And entitlement led to an inability to accept “no” gracefully.
She deliberately left the door to the hall slightly ajar. “Todd moved out while I was in the hospital giving birth to our son.”
“Is that relevant to my job?”
“Yes.”
Hollister’s eyes narrowed. Something in her tone must have alerted him to the betrayal that still stung when she thought of Todd’s rejection of not only of her but their child. It was one thing to get tired of her, but to ignore his own flesh and blood…She hated him for that.
“He didn’t tell you he was leaving?”
“No. He dropped me off at the emergency room and said he was going to park the car. He didn’t return. I was afraid that— I didn’t know he’d moved out until the taxi brought Cody and me home to an empty apartment.”
“I take it your husband didn’t appreciate you getting pregnant?”
She stiffened. “It takes two to make a baby. Cody was a surprise for both of us. Todd and I were newlyweds, and we’d intended to wait a few years before starting our family, but…things happen.”
“What does he think about you applying for a live-in position?”
“He doesn’t get a say. He’s not a part of our lives.”
“Still married?”
“Divorced. Please have a seat, Mr. Hollister. I’ll pack as quickly as I can.”
“Does he pay child support?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t even know where he is, and if he doesn’t want us I’d rather not have any ties.”
“There are no custody issues?”
“He relinquished his parental rights as part of the divorce settlement.” That he’d been all too happy to do so had killed any tender feelings she might have had for him. “You don’t have to worry about Todd showing up at your home and causing a problem. Excuse me.”
Anna raced from the room before he could ask more questions. She didn’t want to discuss her failed marriage or how badly she’d misjudged her ex-husband. If she wanted to have that conversation all she had to do was call her mother and listen to one of her I-told-you-so rants.
Anna packed Cody’s clothes and his favorite stuffed monkey in a duffel bag. Her life would have been much easier if she’d listened when her parents had deemed Todd a freeloader and forbidden her to see him, but at twenty she’d been flush with the freedom of college, overwhelmed by Todd’s attention and too naive to see anything but what he had wanted her to see—his mesmerizing charm, his amazing musical talent, and the big dreams he’d spun.
That love-struck blindness had peaked when Todd had convinced her to elope right after graduation. And even though her parents had packed her belongings, set them on their front porch and told her she’d have to live with the consequences of her impulsive behavior when Anna had shared the news of her marriage, she couldn’t regret her decision.
If she’d heeded her parents’ advice she wouldn’t have Cody, and her little angel was worth any pain or sacrifice she had to endure.
The most important thing her parents’ and Todd’s betrayals had taught her was that she was better off on her own—just her and Cody. She didn’t need a man, and Cody was all the family she needed.
She carried the duffel bag and the economy pack of diapers to the den and piled them in the toy basket. She hadn’t noticed any toys at Hollister’s. But then she hadn’t been shown the playroom. Perhaps her new boss insisted on keeping the clutter there.
Hollister indicated the loaded basket. “Is all this going?”
“Yes.”
“I’ll take it to the car and come back for the rest.”
“But it’s four flights—”
“I remember.”
Of course he did. He’d climbed the stairs since the elevator was broken. Again. The building wasn’t bad. It just wasn’t all that good either. But it was clean and had been within walking distance of her old job. She knew her neighbors and felt safe here.
“I’ll be ready by the time you return.”
When he left the apartment tension instantly drained from her. She snatched the stack of bills off the breakfast bar and shoved them into her purse. She had a job that would enable her to pay her bills. For now. And with a good reference from Pierce Hollister maybe she could land another position soon after this one.
She quickly packed her clothing and toiletries into her old suitcase. She’d forgotten to ask how he expected her to dress. She hoped her wardrobe of casual dresses and skorts would suffice.
She headed for the den just as a knock sounded on the door. Elle peeked through the opening. “You got the job?”
“Yes, Elle, I did. I start today.”
The thirteen-year-old’s narrow shoulders drooped. “I guess you won’t need me to babysit then?”
The downside of accepting a live-in position meant Anna couldn’t pay her neighbor to babysit, and Elle’s family needed the money. “I’m sure I’ll need you when I get back. This is a temporary situation.”
“I’m going to miss you and Cody.” Elle’s lips quivered.
Anna pulled the fragile teen into her arms. “We’ll miss you, too.”
Anna’s new boss returned, stopping abruptly behind the girl and scowling as he took in the scene. “Ready?”
Anna released Elle. “Almost. Elle, this is Mr. Hollister. I’ll be taking care of his little boy, Graham.”
Hollister’s mouth opened then snapped closed as if he were going to speak then changed his mind.
The teen blinked back her tears and sniffed. “N-nice to meet you, sir.”
Anna smoothed a hand over Elle’s baby-fine hair. “Elle lives next door. Honey, why don’t you check my fridge for perishables? Take them to your place. No need to let them spoil here. Oh, and there are a couple of open boxes of cereal and a jar of peanut butter in the cabinet. Grab those and the bread on the counter, too.”
Elle shuffled off. Hollister hiked an eyebrow. “You feed the neighbors?”
How did he manage to make that sound like an insult? “She watches Cody for me when I’m tutoring students. With us gone she won’t make any money.”
“I’m sure she can afford a few missed trips to the mall.”
“It’s the missed trips to the grocery store I’m worried about,” she replied as quietly as possible.
His apparently perpetual frown deepened. When Elle returned with two bags loaded with food he scrutinized her in that same uncomfortable way he had Anna until Elle squirmed and shot a worried glance at Anna.
“You sure you want me to take all this, Miss Anna?”
“Absolutely, Elle. It’ll spoil here. And you know I hate waste.”
“Do you have a cell phone?” Hollister asked Anna.
“No.” Another casualty of her finances.
He pulled his wallet from his back pocket and extracted a business card then a couple of bills. He folded them in quarters and covered them with his card before Anna could make out the denomination. Then he wrote on the back of the white rectangle. “Keep an eye on Ms. Aronson’s place while she’s gone. You can reach her at this number if any problems arise.”
Elle goggled at the money then him then Anna. Anna had to bite her lip to hide her surprise. She nodded, encouraging Elle to take whatever he’d given her. “I’d appreciate it, Elle. I’ll try to keep you updated on when Cody and I’ll return. Oh. Wait.”
She rushed from the room and brought back her windowsill herb garden. “You might as well take this too. The plants will die without water, and you and your sister can experiment with the different flavors when you cook. Be sure to write down any good recipes you concoct for me.”
“Sure. That’ll be fun.”
Hollister nodded toward Cody’s high chair. “You’d better bring that.”
He followed Elle out of the apartment carrying Anna’s remaining luggage. She folded up the lightweight high chair, locked up and trailed him down the stairs.
She stopped beside him on the sidewalk. “That was nice of you. Giving Elle the money and contact information, I mean.”
“It was nothing.” He closed the trunk on her stuff and stowed the baby chair in the backseat.
“Her father’s disabled and—”
“I don’t care, nor do I need to know her circumstances.”
His cold tone cut like a new scalpel, revealing the armor-plated personality his assistant had mentioned. “Yessir.”
For a moment he’d seemed human, compassionate even. But she must have misread him.
She hoped she wasn’t making a huge mistake.
Pierce didn’t buy Anna’s goody-two-shoes act.
He’d taken her home rather than put her on the train not out of generosity, but because he’d wanted her taking over the care of Kat’s kid immediately. And he’d wanted insight into the woman who had hoodwinked his usually astute executive assistant.
Sarah had been with him since his father’s sudden death had forced Pierce to take the reins of the company seven years ago, and she’d been his father’s executive assistant for twenty years before that. No one knew the company like she did, and in all the time they’d worked together he’d never once doubted her intelligence as he did today.
But she was too valuable an employee to lose—especially now at crunch time with thousands of scholarship applications still left to go through and his aggressive agenda for Hollister Ltd. He had a distinct impression she’d have quit if he hadn’t hired Aronson.
He glanced at the freckled female with the long auburn hair and even longer legs sitting in his passenger seat. Pretty, but not so much so that she’d drive men wild with lust, and her conservative clothing wasn’t going to lead a man to believe she was looking for a lover. Her story didn’t add up. And then there was the way she’d studied his artwork as if she knew the value of each piece. The collection was insured. But he’d have to watch her.
Her almost empty apartment and her soap opera sob story about her ex-husband combined with the pile of bills on the counter indicated a woman in dire straights. A woman desperate enough to do things to make a few bucks.
Like proposition a wealthy parent.
Or fence stolen paintings.
He’d been convinced he’d made a mistake in hiring her, then she’d helped the girl, doing so in a manner that made giving handouts look as if the teen was doing Anna a favor by taking them.
Pierce had been surprised when the girl had opened Anna’s refrigerator and cabinets because those too had been nearly empty. He hadn’t seen a pantry or refrigerator that bare since his stint in foster care.
It was only after Anna’s comment about missed groceries that he’d noticed the girl wasn’t fashionably thin. She was emaciated. And Anna had given her what little food she had. Sure, Aronson would be eating on his dime in the foreseeable future, but she’d handled the delicate situation with a sensitivity that he couldn’t help but respect.
He kept his eyes on the road and the traffic, but his brain waves remained tuned in to the pale and silent woman sitting in the seat beside him.
Sarah might believe that having a woman with Anna’s qualifications fall into his lap when he was desperate was a godsend, but if life had taught him anything, it was that when something looked too good to be true, ninety-nine percent of the time it was.
He’d definitely have to keep his eye on Anna Aronson.
Two
Anna’s nerves were getting the better of her. Her boss’s frowning silence in the driver’s seat didn’t help.
Without the contract to read or the need to give directions during the car ride back to the estate she had time to think, time to worry about whether moving into a stranger’s house—a stranger who thought she was a liar—was the right thing to do for Cody and herself. It made them vulnerable. Much more vulnerable than she’d been in her remote classroom at the far end of the hall at the academy where no one had heard Dan’s illicit invitation or his threat to make her regret saying no.
But what choice did she have? It was mid-September and schools had already filled their teacher positions. This had been the only job available for which she was even slightly qualified.
She swallowed, trying and failing to ease the dryness in her mouth. “Does Mrs. Findley—Sarah—live with you?”
“She has stayed at the house for this past week, but tonight she’ll go back to her cottage.”
“And the housekeeper?”
“Comes in three times a week.”
