With a Little T.L.C.

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“Yes. But I can’t help feeling that you don’t know the meaning of the word longevity or sincerity. And your heart is a revolving door. I’m sorry, but based on what I’ve seen it’s hard for me to believe your motivation is anything but self-serving.”

Joe considered himself a pretty easygoing guy. From the moment he’d walked into her office, he’d taken it in the shorts from Nurse Ratchett without fighting back. No more Mr. Nice Guy. It was time to set the record straight.

He rolled his sandwich wrapping into a ball and tossed it into a nearby trash can. Then he turned to Liz.

“All right,” he said seriously. “You win. I’ll tell you my ulterior motive.”

Chapter Three

Liz couldn’t believe she’d heard him right. “You’re going to tell the truth?”

“Yeah.”

Blow his cover? Come clean so soon? She couldn’t imagine why he would do that. But then what harm could it do? No doubt there were females at the hospital just as anxious to meet him as he was to meet them. She only wanted honesty from him. Although for some men that was too much to ask.

But what if she was wrong? What if he’d already told her the truth? His motivation might have something to do with wanting to help. But he wouldn’t turn his back on the opportunity to meet a woman. After all, Sam had given him the speech about the program.

“It’s Samantha, isn’t it?” she asked.

“Samantha?”

“She’s a tall redhead. It’s understandable that you would want to get to know her better. Although why you’d go to all the trouble of volunteering is beyond me. A simple phone call would suffice. As a matter of fact, why didn’t you take her to lunch? You’re slipping, Slick. Missed a golden opportunity there—” She realized he hadn’t said a word. He was just watching her run off at the mouth.

“Are you finished?” he asked.

“I can be.”

“Good. Because you’re way off base.”

“Am I?” she asked warily.

“Number one, I genuinely want to give a little time to the hospital as a volunteer for the reasons I told you. And for the fact that my sister and my niece received wonderful care. Not to mention my grandmother when she was there for tests.”

“Okay, if you say so.”

“Number two, and here’s the good part.”

He half turned toward her looking intensely serious, which was very cute. But he also had an earnest expression, so full of an emotion she’d accused him of not having—sincerity. It nearly convinced her that he would tell her the truth.

“I’ve been thinking about something for a while,” he said. “And this is work related.”

“What?” she asked, sipping her soda.

“On-site child care for restaurant employees in every location.”

He looked dead serious. She stared at him. “Say again.”

“It’s my job to be a liaison between management and the employees. To me there’s more involved than staffing and monitoring benefits. One of the biggest problems I see is child care. Finding reliable, affordable, trustworthy help is tough.”

“You could have hired a company to check this out for you.”

He shook his head. “Marchetti’s is a family-owned business. A good part of our success is directly related to hands-on managing. This is my ‘baby.’ Pardon the pun.”

Liz took off her sunglasses and looked at him. Was it possible that her first impression of Joe Marchetti was wrong? Could it be that he wasn’t the shallow philanderer she’d taken him for? But what about Trish and the way he’d used her?

“What do you hope to accomplish by observing a hospital newborn nursery?” she asked.

“For one thing, it will give me some idea whether or not on-site care is feasible for infants. I’m not sure we can provide that much help.”

“But it’s such an important stage.”

“I know. It’s a bonding time for mothers and babies.”

“You’ve done your homework.” When the compliment earned her an attractive grin, her heart skipped a beat. But she managed another question. “So what happens after you critique our facility?”

Liz found that she was warming to the idea. Even if he was fabricating the whole thing, the fact that he had given the subject so much thought elevated him in her eyes.

“I need to observe different child-care environments to see if we can furnish adequate attention for such a broad age range. Once they start kindergarten, the parents have more choices. Schools have programs in place for supervision.”

She shook her head in disbelief. “Wow.”

“What?”

“You really have done your homework. This is an important issue. Not just for your company, but everywhere. With the economic climate what it is, very often it takes two paychecks to support a family.”

He nodded thoughtfully. “A high percentage of our employees are women. The lucky ones have family to look after the kids. But we lose way too many skilled and dedicated workers because they can’t find dependable, affordable nurturing people to watch their children. I already told you about my secretary.”

She nodded. “We have the same problem at the hospital.”

“It’s a domino effect. The babysitter doesn’t show up. Someone doesn’t come to work because they can’t leave their children unattended. I sympathize, but I have a business to run.” He studied her a moment. “In your business inadequate staffing could mean life and death.”

“A long shot. But, worst case scenario, definitely possible,” she agreed.

In his enthusiasm he angled his body toward her, causing their legs to brush. The contact sent a wave of warmth crashing through her. His excitement wasn’t all she’d noticed. And his boyish appeal was making it harder not to go there—to that place where she liked him. Before she could do that there had to be trust. That wasn’t going to happen.

“I’ve been reading up on the pros as well as the cons of child care,” he said.

“What have you found?” she asked, pleased that her voice sounded relatively normal.

“Leaving a baby or young child with someone other than a parent doesn’t have to be a negative. They can learn to interact with people other than their parents in a positive way. Very often other adults have something to offer a child that can make them a more well-rounded individual. They become accustomed to others and less shy.”

“I’m impressed, Joe.”

“Really?”

His pleased smile set off a chain reaction within her that was one part fear, three parts surrender. This was unacceptable.

“You bet,” she said. “When you set out to do something, you really scope out your objective.”

His grin slipped. “What does that mean?”

“Whatever your real purpose for volunteering, you’ve put major time and effort into it. Most guys aren’t so imaginative. ‘What’s your sign’ is as creative as they get.”

As soon as the words were out she wanted to call them back. He didn’t deserve that.

“Now I see.”

She didn’t know what he saw, but it didn’t make him want to do the dance of joy. Her words had extinguished the warmth and passionate animation from his eyes. The coldness there made her shiver. It also made her sad. Just a moment ago his lips were smiling and full—so much so that she couldn’t help wondering if they would be warm and soft against her own. Now his mouth pulled tight. Tense. Angry.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

“You still think I’m on the make.”

She didn’t bother to deny it. Game playing wasn’t her style. She’d learned to hate it. “It’s a reasonable assumption.”