She nodded. “As I said, I grew up on a small farm, although my brothers do most of the work, now that my dad has retired.”
“Yeah, I know how that can be.” His eyes darkened with sadness. “We’ve had our own struggles in the past.”
“I understand that you and your brother operate the ranch,” she said, hoping to draw him out enough to discover what was bothering him. If she was going to work for him, she needed to know if this problem would affect her employment—or his son—in any way.
“Yes, the two of us,” he said, nodding. “This house is on the southern edge of the property. Dylan, my older brother, lives in the same house were we grew up, but north of here. I built this house when—” He stopped for a moment, seemingly lost in thought, then squared his shoulders. “A few years ago.” Leaning forward, he caught her gaze and held it. “If you can start tomorrow, I’d really appreciate it. Dylan will be gone for a week or two, meaning I’ll have more chores to do. That means I’ll have less time to watch after Brayden.” He looked at his son, quietly playing with his toys, and then back at her. “He seems to like you, which is something, considering he’s never had much to do with anybody since— Well, for a long time.”
She guessed that the “long time” he mentioned must have been since Brayden’s mother left. “I can be here at six-thirty or whenever is best tomorrow,” she said. “But you need to know that I have classes on Monday, Wednesday and Friday evenings, and will have to leave here by six.”
“That’s not a problem,” he said, getting to his feet and walking toward her. “I guess you already know what the salary is?”
“Yes,” she answered. “Your sister sent the details in a letter.” Gathering her things, she stood and offered her hand. “Then I’ll see you in the morning, Mr. Walker.”
He hesitated before taking it. When he did, the contact made her warm all over, and she couldn’t seem to pull away. His eyes held a surprised but quizzical gleam, and she wasn’t sure what to think of it or of her own reaction.
“Wouldn’t a first name basis be better?” he asked.
His voice seemed lower and his gaze held her. Gently removing her hand from his, she tried for a smile. “Yes, it—it probably would be. Luke.”
“Good,” he said, in a more businesslike manner, while taking a step back. “I’ll see you in the morning.”
Convinced she’d imagined things, she turned to his son and took a fortifying breath before saying goodbye. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Brayden, okay? And I’ll bring a special treat.” She turned to his dad. “If that’s all right.”
“Sure. No problem.”
“Is there anything else I need to bring?” she asked, as he walked with her to the door. “Besides the usual employment information, that is.”
“Not that I can think of.”
Reaching for the doorknob, she studied him. He still didn’t appear to be aware of everything, but he did look more at ease than he had when she’d arrived.
She opened the door and stepped outside, glad the interview was over and that they’d agreed on the details. “I’ll see you and Brayden in the morning then,” she said, turning back to look at him. “And thank you.”
“My pleasure,” he said.
For the first time, she saw his smile. It nearly blew her away. Without the frown and rigid exterior or the definitely distracted and desperate actions, he was gorgeous. And she was going to be working for him. Not good. Not good at all.
* * *
LUKE SURVEYED THE LAST of the rooms and looked at his watch. Brayden’s new nanny would be arriving at any minute. He’d worked his butt off, trying to get the house as clean and tidy as possible in the short time he’d had. But there’d been other things to deal with, too. Dylan had stopped by with a list of chores, as if Luke had never done the job before, and had been in bad shape. It was easy to see that a vacation from the ranch was needed, and Luke didn’t mind taking care of things near as much as he had when Dylan had first given him the news.
Luke was picking up one of Brayden’s toys from behind a chair when he heard a car pull into the drive. “Keep it professional, man,” he muttered to himself on his way to open the door. “She’s your employee.”
But as soon as he opened the door and saw her standing there in a tight pair of blue jeans and shirt that definitely failed to hide her curves, he knew he was in trouble.
“Good morning,” she said, stepping past him and into the house.
Closing the door behind her, he followed her, keeping his attention on the cardboard box she held in her arms, instead of the view of her enticing backside. “What’s in the box?”
“The special treat I mentioned.”
He hadn’t expected anything quite so large. “That’s a pretty big special treat.”
She looked over her shoulder at him on her way into the living room and gave him a sheepish grin. “Synchronicity.”
“What?”
Setting the box on a small table, she opened it and peered inside. “Synchronicity. An unexpected but happy coincidence.” She pulled out an old metal replica of a farm truck with a small plastic cow and calf in the back. “My mom was getting ready to throw these out a few days ago,” she explained, turning to look at him. “Apparently, my brothers didn’t want them, so I said I’d take them. I didn’t know why, but I see now that it was because of Brayden. I hope he’ll enjoy them. I remember how much we did.”
Luke took the truck from her and studied it. “I think I had one like this. Can’t buy them like this anymore.”
“Exactly,” she said. “I noticed how much Brayden enjoys his farm toys, so I thought, why not? It’s okay, isn’t it? I mean, you don’t mind, do you?”
He looked up at the sound of hesitancy in her voice and wished he hadn’t. Damn those blue eyes! “Yes,” he managed to answer.
“Oh.” She ducked her head and took the truck from him, returning it to the box. “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize...”
“I meant that it was okay,” he hurried to assure her. “I don’t mind. Brayden will get a kick out of it.” He pulled out a small tractor and set it on the table, then peered into the box. “What else is in there?”
She shrugged. “Some wooden building blocks and more farm toys.”
Luke reached into the box at the same time she did, accidentally brushing her hand, and immediately jerked away. Just touching her rattled him, but he pulled himself together before he spoke. “Brayden’s still asleep, but I know he’ll like everything. So... Maybe I should show you around before I have to get to work.”
She returned the toys to the box and closed it. Squaring her shoulders, she stepped away. “Yes, that’s a good idea, although I’m sure I’ll know my way around in no time at all.”
He didn’t doubt she would. She was that
