call came from her study partner, Rich Bonner. He’d asked her to phone him back as soon as she could. He’d flown home to California for a break before returning to Philadelphia. Like her, he was preparing for his exams. They’d done a lot of studying together. Reese knew that Rich wanted more than just a platonic friendship with her, but she wasn’t interested, not that way.
If she didn’t return his call for a while, he’d hopefully get the hint. One of the problems with Rich was that he was highly competitive. As long as they remained friends, he had to be nice to her when she got higher grades than he did.
But Reese wagered that if she were ever to become his girlfriend, he’d start telling her how to live her life. Heaven forbid if she landed a better job than he did after graduation. Worse, what if she were married to him and he expected her to stay at home? Another control freak like Jeremy. Help. No more of that, please.
With a sigh, she turned off the lamp at the bedside and pulled the covers over her. Having taken Nick at his word that he would be getting up with the baby, she’d closed the bedroom door. Starting tomorrow night she’d put the new baby monitor in her room so she could hear him cry.
The day had been long and she felt physically exhausted, but exhilarated, too, because she’d found the kind of job she’d been hoping for, never dreaming it really existed. Now she didn’t have to go home. Instead she could make the kind of money her father wouldn’t be able to pay her by her staying right here in New York.
All she had to do was look after one little baby in surroundings only an exclusive group of people would ever know about or see. When Reese had mentioned Jackie Kennedy to her mom, she’d also been thinking of her son John Jr.’s Tribeca apartment.
It must have been over ten years ago she’d seen a few pictures of the interior following his death when she’d been a teenager. From what she remembered, it wasn’t nearly on the same scale of splendor as Mr. Wainwright’s fantastic residence. The architectural design for making the most of the light was nothing short of breathtaking.
Like the man himself. Breathtaking.
“Good morning, Reese.” Nick put his newspaper down on the glass-top patio table. He’d seen her ponytail swinging as she’d stepped out on the terrace and closed the sliding door. In a modest pale orange top and jeans that still managed to cling to her womanly figure, he was going to have difficulty keeping his eyes off her.
“So this is where you are.” She walked right over and hunkered down in front of Jamie, who was strapped in the swing wide-awake. He liked the motion, but Nick hadn’t turned on the music yet. “I’ve been looking for you.” She kissed his cheek and neck. “Hey—you’re wearing a nightgown. Do you have any idea how cute you look?”
Jamie transferred his attention to her while he took little breaths as if he recognized her. Naturally he did. Nick could have been blindfolded but would still know her by her scent. It reminded him of wildflowers. This time she kissed his son’s tummy, causing him to smile. “Did you sleep through the night like a good boy?”
“He had a bottle at two-thirty and only woke up again at seven-thirty.”
“Well, good for you.” She tickled his chin and got him to laugh out loud. “Five hours is terrific. The sixty-four-thousand-dollar questions is, how’s Dad?” She shot Nick a direct glance. The iridescent blue of her eyes was an extraordinary color.
“Dad’s all right for an old man. What about you?”
“I got a wonderful sleep and now I’m ready to help put that nursery together.”
“Not before you eat breakfast or you’ll hurt Cesar’s feelings.”
“Chef Cesar?” she teased.
“That’s right. He made a crab omelet in your honor with plenty of butter.”
“Did you hear that, Jamie? I guess I’d better eat it while it’s still hot.” She sat down opposite Nick and removed the cover on her plate. “Croissants, too?” Her gaze darted to the baby, who followed her movements while she ate. “We’re going to have to go for a long walk in the stroller to work off the pounds I can already feel going on. But that’s okay because this food is too good to resist.”
Nick couldn’t imagine her ever having that kind of a problem. “Coffee?”
“Please.”
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
