the next few months.”
Louise looked as if she might explode, though whether that was because she objected to dogs in general or only those she perceived as invading her territory was a moot point. “Oh, Pierce!” she exclaimed. “Do you really think that’s wise? I mean, sweetie, think about it. Dog hair all over everything, and muddy paw prints.” She wrinkled her nose fastidiously. “Not to mention accidents on the carpets.”
Tommy’s ears perked up again, less enthusiastically this time. “Mommy and Daddy had an accident,” he said worriedly, leaning against Nicole’s knee. “They aren’t coming home ever again.”
“Oh, Tommy,” Nicole said, drawing him onto her lap, “that was a different kind of accident. If we got a puppy, nothing bad would happen to it. Uncle Pierce and I would make sure of that.”
“I’m talking about the sort of accident where an animal goes to the toilet in inappropriate places, Thomas,” Louise cut in, sending Nicole the sort of killing glare meant to stunt any other promises she might feel disposed to make.
But Tommy clung to Nicole, winding his arms so anxiously around her neck that she felt constrained to point out, “You’re confusing him, Miss Trent. He’s only just turned four and is having a tough enough time coping with the upheaval in his life. We need to be careful that we don’t inadvertently increase his apprehensions.”
“Thank you for your input, Miss Bennett,” came the sarcastic reply. “I can’t imagine how we’ve managed without it this long. Pierce, are you sure you won’t let me coax you into lunch at the club?”
“Not today, Louise,” he said, hoisting Tommy off Nicole’s lap and onto his shoulder. “A promise is a promise, and it’s time for that swimming lesson. But you go ahead.”
“I will,” she said, smiling fixedly. “I’ll just visit with Miss Bennett for a few minutes first, and watch the swimming lesson.” She blew him a kiss. “See you later, around six?”
“Sure.”
The second he was out of earshot, she launched her offensive. “So tell me,” she purred, “do you always take such a personal interest in your patients, Miss Bennett?”
“Yes,” Nicole said. “Although I don’t exactly see Tommy as a patient.”
“No? Then how do you see him?” Louise crossed her elegant legs and swung a negligent ankle.
“I’m not sure I follow you.”
“Oh, I think you do, my dear.” She rooted in her bag, withdrew a mirrored compact and proceeded to touch up her already flawless mouth with a carmine lip pencil. “Your attachment to Thomas is unnatural. No one walks into a house and takes to a child as you apparently have to him—instantaneously, as it were—unless she has a hidden agenda.” Sunlight dazzled briefly in the reflection from the compact mirror as she snapped it closed. “Just between us women, Nicole, what is it you really want from this job?”
Despite the sun, Nicole went cold, afraid she’d somehow tipped her hand and that the other woman had guessed her secret. But then common sense prevailed. Louise wasn’t interested in Tommy; Pierce was her only concern. “There’s no hidden agenda, Miss Trent. I’m merely bringing to this position the same dedication I’ve brought to others I’ve held.”
“So the child is the drawing card?”
“Yes.”
“And Pierce?”
Certainly no one could ever accuse Louise Trent of skirting an issue! She delivered the question in the form of a challenge, her attractive hazel eyes laser sharp as they tracked Nicole’s face where the beginnings of a blush threatened.
Quickly, before it gave her away completely, Nicole sprang to her feet and began stacking the lunch dishes. “The Commander is merely my employer.”
It was true. He’d done nothing, said nothing, to lead her to believe otherwise. His primary consideration was making a home for Tommy and she was merely an accessory to that end. An entirely disposable accessory, should she not perform satisfactorily.
In the clear light of day, her nighttime thoughts about him showed up for what they were: ridiculous fantasies of the kind that junior nurses often harbored about doctors and which she liked to think she’d outgrown years ago. Louise Trent need fear nothing from her. “I love children,” she said. “I have devoted my entire adult life to them.”
“Very noble of you, I’m sure,” Louise replied silkily. “And very clever, too.”
“Clever?”
“Well, my dear, Pierce would have a difficult time justifying your presence here if Thomas shrieked every time he set eyes on you, now wouldn’t he? As it is, he’s indebted to you.” There followed a small, calculated pause. “As am L Your competence and dedication allow Pierce and me to pursue our private relationship without fear that Thomas is being neglected. We are both very grateful. I’m sure you understand what I’m saying?”
“Perfectly.” Nicole held the stare directed her way without flinching. “Three’s a crowd.”
Louise Trent’s smile was about as subtle as a tiger drawing back its lips to reveal its teeth. “Very good, dear! I so dislike having to belabor a point. You’re a perceptive woman, Nicole.”
I’m a liar, Nicole thought, watching Louise walk away. I’m lying to everyone, including myself. And I can’t afford to make an enemy of a woman who, if she ever uncovered my deceit, would cut me up in little pieces and serve me to Pierce on a platter.
“Hey, Nicole!” Pierce waved from the shallow end of the pool, his dark hair slicked down and gleaming with water. Tommy bobbed at his side, squealing with glee. “Somebody here wants your company.”
Temptation beckoned. Where was the harm, after all? And wasn’t this what she’d been hired to do: stand in as the mother figure for a little boy who’d lost both parents?
Yes, the voice of common sense agreed. But not if, in the process, you forget that Pierce Warner’s role stops short of being your mate. He’s seeing another woman. He’ll be spending the evening with her—maybe the whole night. Three isn’t really a crowd here. It’s just that, job description notwithstanding, you’re not the third member of the party. Louise Trent is, and she won’t willingly abdicate the spot.
“Come on, Nicole. What’s keeping you?”
Although the effort made her teeth ache, she smiled and picked up the lunch dishes. “I promised to help Janet pick raspberries for dessert tonight. I’ll take over later while you get ready to go out.”
He shrugged the broad, tanned shoulders which recently had occupied far too much of her attention. “If that’s what you want.”
It wasn’t. But what she wanted wasn’t hers to have.
He didn’t come home until after one the next morning. Not that Nicole spent the entire time clock watching, but Tommy had woken up crying and she just happened to be on her way to his room when Pierce appeared at the top of the stairs.
“What is it?” he asked in a low voice, striding
