Michelle stared at a collection of Monet landscapes lining one wall of the study. A smile ruffled her lips at the idea that she and the stiff-shirt doctor had something in common. He’d probably choke on that bit of info, she thought, her smile spreading to her eyes. What, a girl from the other side of the river with an acquired appreciation for fine art?
See, that’s the trouble with people, she thought. You think you know them until they surprise the heck out of you by doing something totally unimaginable.
Take her father for instance. He’d been a rotten parent throughout her childhood. In spite of his neglect and abuse, she’d earned a four-year college degree in three years by working two jobs and attending night and summer school. She’d landed a great job as Manager of Customer Operations at a well-established company, and moved into a nice apartment on Elm Street. She had a new car and a so-so boyfriend. Since she had no college loans to pay back, she was able to save a substantial amount of her salary.
Then it was all blown to smithereens one night when her father knocked on her door. He’d knocked on her door before, and she’d offered him a little food here and there—never money, because she knew it would end up in the cash register of the nearest liquor store. Once in a while, if she were in a good mood, she would let him take a shower and sleep off his intoxication on her sofa.
Michelle wiped her hands down her face. She wished she’d been in a bad mood that night. If she hadn’t been so nice to her father, when she was unexpectedly laid off a few months later, she would not have found herself penniless, homeless, and free-loading off her best friend Yasmine until she got back on her feet.
Michelle didn’t even know if she still had feet to stand on. What she did know was that she hated taking charity from anybody, even from her brother who’d been sending her regular checks to help her out. She didn’t want Robert’s money. She didn’t want Yasmine’s pity. She just wanted her life back.
A nanny position was just the kind of job that could give her back some control on her life. She would have a roof over her head, home-cooked meals every night, and time to plan out her future. She wouldn’t need to depend on anyone’s financial support or live in anyone else’s house—well only as an employee.
Michelle’s heart fluttered around in her chest when the door of the study opened and the doctor appeared in the threshold. She didn’t know if it was his presence or the uncertainty of her future that was affecting her ability to breathe.
His expression was still masked as he came further into the room. “Mrs. Hayes assured me that you are harmless,” he said directly.
Michelle wondered what else Mrs. Hayes had told him. She was sure she’d mentioned their acquaintance, and she was doubly sure it was the only reason Erik hadn’t marched back in here and ordered her to leave.
“So I’ve decided to give you the chance to prove yourself.”
Michelle buried the urge to jump up and throw her arms around his neck. “Thank you,” she said, rising to her feet. “Thank you.”
“Don’t be so quick to thank me,” he warned. He glanced quickly back at the half-opened door before continuing in a lowered voice. “My daughter has been in a somber mood since her nanny left. If you can bring a smile to her face, the job is yours.”
“You’re putting me on the spot, Dr. LaCrosse? You advertised for a nanny, not a shrink.”
“Are you saying you’re not up to the challenge, Ms. Carter? You told me you’d be the best thing that ever happened to my daughter. Well, here’s your chance to put your money where your mouth is. Or should I say, my money,” he added with mock severity.
Michelle growled inside as she faced the challenge in his amber-grey eyes. Cad. He’d called her bluff. “Okay. I’ll make your daughter laugh.”
He turned and peeped around the doorframe. “Come here, darling.”
Michelle braced herself.
“Come on, Muffin,” he coaxed when no one appeared.
Muffin? Michelle’s eyes widened. Well, celebrities were known to give their daughters names like Apple, Scout, and Rumer. But Muffin? A child with such a ludicrous name would be the butt and butter of baking jokes in her neighborhood.
When she still refused to come, the doctor stepped into the hallway. Michelle heard a series of childish “Nos” in response to his gentle pleas. She was about to go get the little muffin herself when he reappeared at the door, dragging Muffin who was clutching to one of his long legs like a chimp to its mother.
“Ms. Carter, this is my daughter, Precious.”
Precious. Now that was more like it, Michelle thought, her heart melting at the sight of the little girl with long dark brown pony tails falling on either side of her little heart-shaped face. She was no muffin. She was precious.
“Hi, Precious,” Michelle said in a buoyant voice, coming closer to the tangled pair.
Precious glared at her through a pair of wide cinnamon-brown eyes. There was no doubt this little precious muffin didn’t like her. Well, neither did her father. So… “My name is Michelle, and I’m hoping to be your new—”
“I don’t need a nanny.”
“You’re so right, Precious.” Michelle fell to her knees and sat back on her haunches. “Just for the record, I wasn’t going to say nanny. I hope to be your new friend.”
“I don’t need any new friends. I don’t like you.” Her scowl deepened.
Ignoring her father’s swift intake of air, Michelle pointed to the rag doll tucked under Precious’ arm. “Who’s that? I bet she could use a new friend.” She smiled with hope in her heart. She needed this job and was willing to do anything to win this kid over.
But Precious just stared her down.
Michelle understood her unfriendliness. Her mother was gone, and according to Mrs. Hayes, her nanny recently left to start her own family with her new husband. Precious felt abandoned. She was tired of people leaving her. She was protecting her little heart in the only way she knew how. If she didn’t become attached, she could never be abandoned. It was a hard lesson for someone to learn at such an early age. Michelle empathized. She never knew her own mother, and her father may as well be dead. It hurts like hell when people you depend on abandon you.
Michelle longed to tell Precious that it was okay to need and to love, and that when people left, it was their loss, as Robert had often told her. But in order to do that, she had to make her laugh first.
Michelle stared into the cinnamon-brown eyes staring back at her, and took a deep breath. “Okay, little one. Here’s the deal. We’ll stare each other down and make funny faces and the first one to crack a smile, loses. If I win, you’re stuck with me.” Michelle had no doubt she would win this game. It was how she and Yasmine settled disputes when they were children. Heck, they still did. “Ready?” she asked Precious. “Okay, here goes. We start on three. One… Two…”
“Wait,” Precious yelled, pulling her arm from around her father’s leg and handing him her doll. “What happens if I win?”
You won’t. “I’ll walk out of the house and you’ll never see me again.”
Precious’ brows puckered into a frown. “Okay.” She planted her feet apart and folded her arms across her chest.
Michelle veiled her smile of impending victory. The kid had no idea who she was up against. It would be over in thirty seconds. She settled her buttocks against her heels. “Alright, on three. You can go first. One… two… three.”
Precious made a fish face, stuck her thumbs in her ears, and waved her fingers around.
Cute, but no effect. Michelle shrugged, made a monkey face, and began to sway back and forth on her haunches.
Precious rolled her eyes in boredom.
Darn, the kid was tougher than she thought.
“Your turn, Precious,” her father chimed, clearly amused at the game.
Michelle wondered if he was rooting for Precious.
Precious pulled apart her eyelids and let her tongue hang out of her mouth.
Unimpressed, Michelle decided to pull out the big guns—her unconquerable pig face.
She placed a finger in the space between her nostrils and pulled her nose upward. When she saw the slight hint of a smile flash across Precious’ face, she knew it was over. She rolled her eyes back into their sockets until only the whites were visible, pursed her lips, and began making slurping noises like a pig at the trough.
“Hee, hee, hee, hee…. You’re silly.”
“And you’re precious. C’mere.” Michelle held her arms wide. It was a huge risk, but she let out a long sigh when Precious wrapped her arms around her neck. The feel of those skinny arms about her pushed Michelle over the edge and tears flowed down her cheeks.
Precious was no different from Jessica, Malcolm, Tessa, Ashley, Parker, or any other kid who hung out at the youth center where she volunteered on a regular basis. She may have a lot more toys, nicer clothes, and eat more food in a day than they had in a week, but at the end of the day, all a kid needed was love, and to know that somebody cared enough to fight for them, laugh with them.
Michelle looked up to find Erik staring at her. There was relief and gratitude in his eyes because his daughter had laughed, but there was something else shrouded in their gauging depth. Something she didn’t understand.
“This is Bradie.” Precious pulled her doll from her father’s hand and shoved it into Michelle’s face. “I call her Bradie ‘cause she has a lot of braids.”
“Hello, Bradie.” Michelle shook the doll’s limp hand. “I’m Michelle, your new friend.”
“Are you my friend, too?” Precious asked with a timid smile, apparently unsure if Michelle would forgive her earlier offenses.
“Of course, Sunshine.” Michelle touched her cute button of a nose then tapped a finger to her chest. “That is if you have room for one more friend in that little heart of yours.”
“I do.” Her eyes sparkled with eagerness. “You know what?” She started chattering like a seven-year-old high on life. “I have two goldfish. One’s named Charlie and one’s named Sippy. Charlie is the big one. You wanna see them? You wanna see my room?” She tugged Michelle to her feet.
“Sure, I’d love to see your room and your fish.” She looked at Erik. “If it’s okay with your dad.”
Erik pulled his gaze away from Michelle and walked over to his desk. She was crying, he thought in astonishment. She wasn’t afraid to show her emotions. Tears didn’t bother her. Cassie had hated tears. She never cried, at least not in front of him. He gave his wife’s portrait a quick glance then cleared his throat before trusting his voice not to embarrass him. “Precious, go back to your room now, sweetheart. Ms. Carter—”
“Michelle,” Michelle corrected him.
“Michelle will be along soon. I promise,” he added at the reluctance in his daughter’s eyes.
Precious glanced from Michelle to her father, then back to Michelle again.
Sensing her hesitance, Michelle pushed her hand into the front pocket of her jeans. “Here.” She pulled out a penny and held it out to Precious. “This is my lucky penny. I don’t go anywhere without it. So I can’t leave without seeing you, right?”
Precious stared at the penny. “But it’s old and rusty.”
Michelle smiled. “That’s exactly what I told my big brother when he gave it to me many years ago when I was just a little girl like you. But you know what he said?”
“What?”
“He said, ‘Michelle, this penny may be old and rusty, but it’s worth just as much as any brand new shiny one’. Do you know what that means?”
Precious shrugged. “A penny is a penny, no matter what it looks like?”
“You are so smart. What’s important is what it means to you. So, is this a lucky penny or not?”
Precious snatched the penny from her hand. “It’s a lucky penny.”
“Good. Now the sooner you get upstairs, the sooner I can meet you there.”
With one last big bright smile, Precious ran out of the room.
“Your big brother sounds like a very wise man,” Erik said when they were alone.
“He is.” Michelle smiled. “Precious is a sweet kid,” she added.
“You have no idea what it did to hear her laugh. You almost made me laugh with that horrible pig face. Where did you learn to handle kids like that?”
“Babysitting and working at the youth center. Sometimes the kids walk in with such overwhelming problems that the only way to get them through the day is to make them laugh.”
Erik perched on the edge of his desk, studying the lingering smile on her lips. He would love so much to reach out and grab a ray of that sunshine she’d just showered on his daughter. “Well, you seem to have what it takes to be a nanny,” he said. “You are just what Precious needs. You have the job, Ms. Car—”
“Michelle.”
“Michelle.” He nodded on a smile.
Her black eyes sparkled with relief. “Thank you. I promise you, Precious will be the happiest little girl in Amherst, soon. Just leave her to me.”
“From what I just saw, I think she already is,” he replied, fighting to disentangle himself from the invisible thread that seemed to be forming between them already. How was he going to maintain his sanity with this irresistible woman living under his roof? Erik wondered. It was too late to send her packing. She’d scored big with Precious. His baby had already fallen in love with her. He’d never seen her bond so quickly and eagerly with any other woman. And never had he, Erik realized as heat began generating in his loins again and his heart started to hammer in his chest.
He scooted off the desk and walked around to sit in his chair, but as he tried to escape the intense immediacy, Erik knew that putting physical distance between them was meaningless. He was so hard, he hurt.
His gaze shifted to the portrait of his wife as if she could help cool the fire in his veins. The fingers of his right hand mindlessly toyed with the gold wedding band on his left as he studied her classic pose. She was seated in a Victorian chair in front of the fireplace over which the painting was hung. She looked like a queen in a long flowing red dress—a red rose wedged between her fingers. Her flaming red hair completely covered her bare creamy shoulders. That was his Cassie. Elegant, sophisticated, and…
“She was very beautiful.”
The mellow voice interrupted his musing. “Yes, she was.” He met the million-dollar question in Michelle’s eyes and to avoid it, he immediately asked, “Do you really only wear jeans and tank tops?” He groaned inwardly at how the question sounded, especially after he’d been admiring his wife’s portrait.
“Why? Don’t you like my style?”
“Well,” he said, trying to choose his words carefully. “I was just hoping you had something a little less… How should I say this? Um—”
“Trashy?”
“I was thinking… provocative.”
“Oh.” She smiled tentatively. “The truth is, most of my clothes were stolen from a laundromat. Since I lost my job, I could only afford to splurge at thrift stores. They don’t carry much for tall skinny girls, I’m afraid. Actually, I was at the laundromat when the agency called me. I hardly had time to finish my wash and get here. I was planning on wearing a jacket over the top, but when I got in the cab I realized I’d left it hanging on the doorknob. I didn’t have time to go back.”
So the explanation she’d given him earlier was payback for the lie he’d told Mrs. Hayes to relay, Erik thought with a smile.
He knew that Michelle’s world, where people went out to do their laundry and had their clothes stolen, existed. He attended patients at the free clinic in Manchester who came from that world. He was just never part of it. He’d never lived in it.
Even though the circumstances surrounding his birth had raised a few eyebrows in the elite circle, he was born and raised in wealth. His late wife had also come from a wealthy family. Michelle Carter on the other hand had been born and raised in poverty.
As he gazed at her standing in front of him in clothes that someone else had worn and discarded, Erik felt a strong protectiveness toward her. He wanted to provide all the luxuries she’d been denied. Yes, he was physically attracted to the girl, but something about her touched a place deep inside him, a place no other woman—but Cassie—had ever been able to reach. Strange, since the two women were as different as pink diamonds and cubic zirconias. Nevertheless, he couldn’t have her walking around the house or the neighborhood so distastefully dressed. “I’ll give you some money for a new wardrobe,” he said, reaching into his back pocket for his wallet.
Her shoulders stiffened and her eyes flashed with pride. “I don’t take charity.”
“Who said it was charity? Consider it an advance on your first paycheck.”
Her lips relaxed into a smile. “That, I will accept.”
Erik pulled out a stack of bills from his wallet and handed them to her.
“Thank you.” She tucked them into the pocket of her jeans without even looking at them.
Erik sensed her embarrassment for having to accept pay she hadn’t yet earned, especially in cash. A check would have been the normal and appropriate form of payment, but she would have had to wait the usual two days for it to clear, and he needed her clothed in proper attire immediately. “I noticed you brought your suitcase,” he said in an attempt to break the awkward silence between them. “Were you so sure you would get the job?”
She crossed her arms about her body. “I can be very persuasive when I want something.”
Nothing kept her down for long, and she possessed an uninhibited streak he found absolutely enticing, Erik thought as he watched amusement sparkle in her eyes. His gaze roamed down her body as she tightened her arms across her chest, causing her breasts to push upward and her nipples to strain against the stretchy material of her top.
“Well, that’s it for now,” he said, eager to have her gone. “Your bedroom is next to Precious’. Up the stairs, third door on your left. I’ll bring your suitcase up.”
“Thanks for giving me this chance, and the advance on my salary, Dr. La—”
“Come on now,” Erik cut her off with a grin. “If you insist I call you Michelle, you better start calling me Erik. Especially after subjecting me to that horrible pig face you made. It’s the worst I’ve ever seen. Just promise me you’ll never do it again.”
They both burst out laughing.
Michelle’s heart leaped at the sound of his deep chuckles. There was a humorous side to him under that grim exterior he’d initially exhibited. Michelle had no idea what had caused him to take an immediate dislike to her, but his attitude changed the moment she made his daughter laugh.
She could tell he loved his child more than anything else in his world and that he’d appreciate anyone who contributed to her happiness. Today, she was that anyone. She had a job. She had a place to sleep. She would have a home-cooked meal tonight. She wouldn’t have to jump out of bed tomorrow morning and rush over to the corner store for a newspaper to check the want ads, or spend time on the Internet, sending off resume after resume into cyberspace. She could relax for the first time in almost two years.
Well, that is if she could bring herself not to fantasize about the dangerously sexy doctor. From the way he’d gazed at the painting of his wife while fiddling with the wedding band on his finger, Michelle sensed he was still in love with her. They were worlds apart—employer and employee, and the sooner she accepted that fact, the better off she’d be.
“I should check on Precious before she thinks I skipped out on her,” she said, heading for the door on legs that felt like overcooked spaghetti.
“Michelle?”
She stopped, but didn’t turn around. “Yes?” She licked her lips nervously.
“We’ll go over Precious’ schedule later. I have to return to the hospital, but I’ll be back in time for dinner.”
“Okay.”
“And, Michelle.”
“Yes.”
“Thanks again for making my daughter laugh.”
“You’re welcome, Erik.”
Erik watched her go, a fire kindling deep within him as he took in the delicate sway of her hips and buttocks.
Oh yes, she was trouble.
