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To his dismay he discovered Reese had another quality he liked besides her ability to have fun. She enjoyed everything and ate her meal with real pleasure. No female of his acquaintance did that, certainly not Erica, who was constantly watching her figure.
He found Reese a woman devoid of self-consciousness. For some men, it might be off-putting, but for Nick it had the opposite effect…a fact that troubled him more than a little bit. She was his nanny for heaven’s sake!
After finishing her coffee, she looked across at him with a definite smile in her eyes. “Before we put our shoulders to the wheel—is there anything I should be worried about in the Wall Street Journal this morning?”
He chuckled. “Not unless you’ve been following news on the euro.”
“Is it good or bad?”
Her question surprised him for the simple reason he couldn’t imagine it being of interest to her, but she was being polite so he would return the compliment. “Overnight it staged a late surge in U.S. trading, rebounding sharply against the dollar. As a result it unwound the ‘carry’ trades and sent the Australian dollar and Brazilian real plunging.”
Her well-shaped brows knit together. “Is that a critical situation in your eyes?”
“No, but it has some global economists rattled.”
“Well, if you’re not upset, then I’m certainly not going to be.” She got to her feet. “If you don’t mind, I’ll carry him back to my bedroom and give him a quick bath. Then we’re all yours.”
Nick had no idea what to make of her. But as he watched her disappear with Jamie, he decided it didn’t matter because his son appeared to be in the best of hands. Yesterday morning he couldn’t have foreseen the changes that had already taken place since he’d picked her up in front of the hotel.
He gathered up the swing and headed for the nursery. After putting it in the corner, some impulse had him walking across the hall to her room. She’d left all the doors open, so he continued on through. When he reached the bathroom, the sight that greeted him brought a lump to his throat.
Reese had filled one of the sinks with water. While she cradled the back of Jamie’s head in the water, she washed his scalp and talked to him in soothing tones. His son was mesmerized. Slowly she rinsed off the baby shampoo, then took a bar of baby soap and washed his limbs. With the greatest tenderness she turned him over and washed his back. He made little cooing sounds Nick felt resonate in his body.
Without conscious thought he reached for one of the towels and held it up for her. Their eyes met for an instant. She said, “While you dry him off, I’ll find him a new outfit to put on.”
Nick cuddled his boy to him, uncaring that he was still wet. He smelled so sweet. As he felt Jamie burrow into his neck, a feeling of love flowed through him so intense, he was staggered by it.
“What do you think?” she asked when he appeared in the doorway to the nursery, holding up three outfits. “The white with the tiger, the green with the fish or the navy with the Snoopy?”
“Maybe we should let Jamie decide.” He turned him around in his arms and walked over to her. “I wonder which one he’ll go for.”
She laughed in anticipation, watching him closely. “His eyes keep looking at the dog.”
“Every boy should have one,” Nick declared. “Snoopy it is.”
“Did you have a dog?”
“No. What about you?”
“We went through three before I left home.”
Reese had the diaper ready. Nick lowered his son in the crib and put it on with no hesitation this time. She handed him the one-piece fitted suit with no legs. After he’d snapped it, he picked him up again.
“Let me brush his hair and then he’s ready for the day.” As she lifted her arm, it brushed against Nick’s. An unconscious thing to be sure, the lightest of touches. But he’d felt her warmth against his skin and the next thing he knew it had swamped his sensitized body.
He hadn’t been intimate with a woman since the last time he’d slept with Erica. That was the reason for this total physical reaction. It had to be.
“First things first,” she declared. “There’s a diaper pail around here somewhere with a scented deodorizer. Ah—” She opened one of the cartons. “Just what we need.” After lining it, in went the diaper. Then she lifted her head, causing her ponytail to swish like quicksilver. “Where do you want the crib to go?”
He struggled to concentrate. “How about the far wall. The sun won’t reach him there when the shutters are open, and it will leave both doorways free.”
“Perfect.” She moved things out of the way so she could roll it into position across the hardwood floor.
Nick settled Jamie back in his swing and they got to work opening all the boxes. While he put the stroller together, she stacked diapers, baby wipes, powder, baby cream, lotion and ear swabs in the changing-table compartments. After watching her bathe the baby with nonallergenic products, he realized there was a reason for everything she’d bought.
“I’m glad you took the Oriental rug away. I can’t wait for you to see the baby furniture,” she said as he reached for one of the bigger cartons.
Curious himself, Nick opened the box and discovered a child’s antique white dresser with olive-green trim and a Winnie the Pooh hand-painted over the drawers. The next box held a child’s chair in the shape of Piglet. A big Eyeore dominated the oval hook rug. In another carton he found a lamp whose base was shaped like a honey pot. The last carton was the biggest. When he opened it, he found an adult rocking chair with Owl as the motif.
“That’s so you can sit in here and feed him while you rock him to sleep.” She’d thought of everything. The set charmed him. She charmed him.
He took all the boxes out of the apartment and piled them in the hall. When he came back, Reese had placed the furniture around and had put a soft, furry Winnie the Pooh in one corner of his crib.
“You’ve turned this room into the Hundred Acre Wood. I like it.”
She whirled around with an anxious look on her face. “Honestly?”
“I doubt there’s another nursery more inviting. Jamie will grow up loving to be in here. Thank you for helping me.” She was an amazing person who had the knack of making everything exciting.
“I haven’t had so much fun in years.”
Neither had he. The ramifications of that admission were beginning to haunt him. “It’s noon. We need a break.”
Reese nodded. “I think your son is ready for another bottle.” She finished putting the outfits she’d bought into the dresser drawers.
“As soon as I wash my hands, I’ll be right back to try out the rocker with him.”
When Nick returned a few minutes later he found her putting more things on top of the dresser. Besides a large, colorfully illustrated edition of Winnie the Pooh, plus a leather-bound book that said Baby’s Memories, she’d added a pacifier, a couple of rattles, some infant painkiller, a baby thermometer, his little brush and a box of tissues.
In an incredibly short period of time she’d written Jamie’s signature on the face of his apartment. Now it was their home, father and son.
At the thought of what would have happened if he hadn’t hired her, he experienced real terror because it had opened up an old window of time. For a moment he’d glimpsed the painful gray emptiness of yesterday. He wanted that window closed forever so he wouldn’t have to know those emotions again.
Needing to feel his son’s wiggly body, he drew him out of the swing and they sat down in the rocker. Reese had put the bottle of formula next to it. While Nick fed him, she placed a burp cloth over his shoulder. He felt her gaze and could tell something was on that fascinating mind of hers. “I’ll be right back.”
Before long she returned with her phone and started snapping pictures of him and Jamie, of the room itself. “I’ll get these photos made into prints and start his scrapbook. My mom kept one for each of us and I still look at mine. When you get time, give me any photos you’d like to add.”
“I’ll do that.” When he’d separated from Erica, he’d instructed the maids to put the wedding album and photos in the dresser drawer of the bedroom at the other end of the hall.
“While you’re at it, if you have his birth certificate and the picture they took of him at the hospital, I could add it,” Reese suggested. “There’s a family tree in his book where I can put in pictures of you and his mother, and his grandparents. After he’s older, he’ll pore over them for hours.”
Nick smiled as the ideas rolled from her. She seemed to really care about Jamie and his future. She was remarkable.
“Later on I’ll see what I can dig up.”
“Good.” She took one more picture of the stuffed animal in the bed. “We’ll call his baby book The Penthouse at Pooh Corner.”
Nick broke into laughter. He couldn’t help it, even though it startled Jamie, who fussed for a minute before settling down again. Her way of putting things was a never-ending source of delight.
In the doorway to the hall she said, “You two deserve some quality time together so I’m going to leave you alone. While you’re feeding him, would you mind if I took a tour of your apartment?”
“This is your home for the next three months. I want you to treat it as such.”
“Thank you.”
Actually Reese’s request was an excuse to go back to her room. She’d have all summer to admire the treasures in Nick’s home and much preferred to do it when she had the apartment to herself.
The important thing here was to give him time alone with Jamie. Tomorrow he’d have to go back to work. Today was a gift he could enjoy with that adorable little boy who was an absolute dream to take care of.
For the moment she needed to acquaint herself with his kitchen. The disposable bottles of formula the nurse had sent in the diaper bag would be gone in another couple of feedings. Reese had bought the same brand of powdered formula and a set of bottles yesterday. She needed to run them through the dishwasher.
When she reached the fantasy kitchen, she wished Julia Child had been with her so she could hear her go into ecstasy. Now there was a chopping block befitting a piece of veal she could slap down and pound the life out of before she turned it into mouthwatering escalope de veau.
While Reese was still in a bemused state, the house phone rang. It sounded so loud, she jumped in surprise and hurried to pick it up for fear it would wake Jamie, who was probably asleep by now.
“Hello?”
“Ms. Chamberlain? This is Albert, the concierge.”
“Oh, yes. Thank you for your help yesterday, Albert.”
“That was quite a collection of things you bought. How’s the nursery coming along?”
“We’ve got it all put together.”
“That sounds like Mr. Wainwright. Does the work of ten without thinking about it. I’m calling because his in-laws have arrived and want to come up. Is he available to talk to?”
Reese was pretty sure Nick wasn’t expecting anyone, but that wasn’t for her to decide. “Just a moment and I’ll tell him to pick up the phone.” She put the receiver down and hurried through the apartment to the nursery.
The baby had finished his bottle and lay against Nick’s shoulder with his little eyelids fluttering. Reese hated to disturb them, but she had no choice. She walked around in front of him. He raised those dark eyes to her face in question.
“Albert is on the phone. He says your in-laws are downstairs and want to come up,” she mouthed the words.
Nick brushed his lips against the baby’s head before getting to his feet in one lithe male move. “I’ll talk to him from the phone in my bedroom.”
After he left with Jamie, she walked back to the kitchen. The second she heard Nick’s deep voice, she hung up the phone.
The bottles were still waiting. She removed the packaging before loading them in the dishwasher. The lids and nipples fit inside the little basket.
Beneath the kitchen sink she found a box of dishwasher detergent that hadn’t been used yet. She undid the seal and poured some in the dispenser. Pretty soon she had the machine going on the wash/dry cycle.
While she waited, she opened the canister of powdered formula and read the directions. Once the items were dry and sterilized, she measured enough instant formula into each, before adding the required amount of water.
Nick chose that moment to bring an attractive, well-dressed older couple into the kitchen. “Sorry. I was just making up Jamie’s formula.” She wiped her hands with a clean cloth.
Nick’s eyes glimmered with some emotion she couldn’t put a name to. “No problem. Reese Chamberlain? I’d like you to meet Jamie’s grandparents, Anne and Walter Hirst. They wanted to be introduced.”
“Of course.” She walked over to shake their hands. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
CHAPTER FOUR (#ulink_442cdf0f-1243-5967-8dbc-f88faf0a5007)
REESE had once seen the original oil painting of Grant Wood’s American Gothic in Chicago. It depicted a farmer and a woman with stern faces standing in front of a white farmhouse. In the man’s hand was an upturned pitchfork.
Though Nick’s in-laws were good-looking people, they could have been the models for the painting. Mr. Hirst wore an expression of dislike in his eyes as he said hello. She could imagine him coming to life to poke her with his farm implement. His wife remained stiff and mute. Reese felt for the brunette woman who’d lost her daughter so recently. Lines of grief were still visible on both their faces. Pain, pain, pain.
This had to be brutal on Nick, who was still trying to deal with the loss of his wife, too. He shifted Jamie to his other shoulder. Looking at Reese he said, “I explained that the three of us are still getting acquainted. Leave what you’re doing and come with us while I show them the nursery.”
There was enough authority underlining his words for Reese to know he expected her to join them. Why, she didn’t know, but she did his bidding without question. When they reached the nursery she heard a sudden gasp from Jamie’s grandmother.
“What a surprise!” his grandfather said. “Where did your office go?”
“It’s dismantled in another bedroom. As you can see, we’re coming along thanks to Ms. Chamberlain, so you don’t need to be concerned about the baby’s welfare. Sit down in the rocking chair and hold Jamie. He just had his bath and a bottle. I doubt he’ll be hungry for another couple of hours.”
Nick handed her the baby. Reese held her breath, hoping he wouldn’t start to cry having to leave Nick’s arms. To her relief he just looked up quietly at his grandmother. It was a sweet moment. Jamie had a wonderful nature.
“I’ll get a chair from my room for you, Walter.” Nick was back in a second. “Now you can enjoy him together.” With wooden movements, he sat down next to his wife.
By tacit agreement Reese left the nursery with Nick and they headed for the kitchen. “What can I do to help?”
Aware of his body close to hers, she was all thumbs. “I just need to finish off making up these bottles.” Nick found the lids and tops and before long the task was done and eight fresh bottles had been put in the fridge.
“I had a feeling they’d make a surprise visit,” he murmured, “but not before tomorrow.”
What he meant was, he knew they’d show up when Reese was alone to see how she was handling their grandson. But by their appearance today, it was clear they hadn’t been able to wait that long.
“They’re missing Jamie,” she said. “Who wouldn’t? He’s as good as gold. Not one tear yet.”
Nick nodded. “I know. I’ve been waiting.”
“Not all babies have his wonderful disposition. It should ease your mother-in-law’s mind that he’s adapting so well to the change in surroundings.”
He trapped her gaze. “That’s because you haven’t given him a chance to get upset. When I put in for a nanny, I never thought Mary Poppins would actually pop inside the limo.”
Reese’s mouth curved upward. His comment took the chill off the remembered moment when his in-laws had first looked at her as if she was an alien. “I’m afraid there’s only one of those.”
Better that Nick saw Reese as a fictional character.
Unfortunately she couldn’t say the same thing about him. Meeting him had caused her to view him as someone very real and charismatic in spite of his deep sorrow, or maybe even because of it. Not for a second could she afford to forget this was a man who’d just lost his wife. It hadn’t even been three months. Reese needed to focus on Jamie and nothing else.
“To be honest, I was afraid I’d pop in that limo and find Captain Von Trapp surrounded by seven precocious children all needing individual attention at the same time.”
His low laughter rang in the spacious confines of the modern kitchen. No matter how hard she fought against it, the pleasing masculine sound connected to every atom in her body. She caught Nick’s gaze and something intense passed between them, stealing Reese’s breath.
“Nick?” Both of them turned in the direction of his mother-in-law’s voice. The interruption had spoiled a conversation she’d been enjoying, and something else had passed between them, too, that Reese wasn’t prepared to think about just yet. “We’d like to talk to you for a minute please.”
Her brittle words expressed in that demanding tone meant she’d heard them laughing together. Reese feared it had been like an affront to her sensibilities. This was awful. Nick shouldn’t have come into the kitchen with her.
“Of course, Anne.” He glanced back at Reese. “Excuse me. Why don’t you call down and order sandwiches and salad for us. Have them set up our lunch on the terrace. Cesar knows what I like.”
