face and found only sincerity in her shining eyes. The glow on her face was more seductive than her dangling earrings or the tantalizing rise and fall of her full breasts. A surge of sexual warmth took him off guard. He knew he’d better squelch it—and quickly!
“Is it all right if I come here often?” she asked, hopefully.
“The only one who might object is Joseph. He’s possessive about his plants, inside and out,” he said shortly, angry with her for having gotten to him with her shining eyes and awed expression. “But I’m sure you can win him over. I can’t imagine any man resisting your charms for long.”
He knew his snide remark had hit its target when her eyes lost their shine as she turned away from him. Just as well, he thought. He had to keep his priorities straight. There was too much at stake for him to jeopardize months of careful effort because she knew how to send a man’s hormones into orbit.
She fell silent as they walked down the hall. “I’ll see you to your room,” he said when they reached the main staircase to the floors above.
“There’s no need. I know my way from here. Good night and thanks for showing me around.”
Ashley quickly brushed past him and was halfway up the stairs when she realized that he was mounting the stairs behind her. She swung around to face him, ready to dismiss him with her professional hauteur. “Why are you following me?”
His mouth tightened. “Even though the tantalizing allure of you climbing the stairs in that tight dress is worth viewing, Jill, I assure you that my intention is not to follow you. We just happen to be going in the same direction.”
“But I thought you were staying in the guest house.”
Kyle raised an eyebrow. Someone had been talking to her about him. Probably Lily. Sometimes that gal knew more than was good for her. He wondered what else Jill Gordon had picked up on the household grapevine.
“Yes, I’m in the guest house, but I’ve been looking in on the kids every night. And if they’re not asleep, I talk to them a little while.” He gave her that sardonic smile of his. “I hope that’s all right with their new nanny?”
Ashley didn’t even grace his remark with an answer. She turned on her heel, and climbed the rest of the stairs without looking back. Fuming silently, she went down the hall to the nursery and closed the door behind her with a punctuating bang that startled Lily.
What was worse, it woke up the baby!
Whatever she’d said about enjoying the solarium was obviously not to his liking, but then why show it to her in the first place? She was bewildered by the sudden distance he’d put between them. What had she done wrong?
Chapter Four
Lily went quickly over to the crib, turned Davie on his stomach and began patting his little rear. “There, there, back to sleep, now. Back to sleep,” she soothed until his cries had faded away and he was sound asleep again.
“I’m sorry,” Ashley apologized quietly, embarrassed that her irritation with Kyle had gotten the best of her. “Thanks for getting him back to sleep. I wasn’t thinking when I closed the door so hard.”
Lily looked at her with raised eyebrows. “You in a snit about something? Didn’t you enjoy your dinner?”
“Dinner was fine,” Ashley answered evenly. She didn’t want to discuss the evening’s happenings. Her emotions were in some kind of a tangle, and she needed time to sort everything out.
Lily followed her into the bedroom. “Was Mr. Stone there?” she asked. At Ashley’s nod, she sighed. “Isn’t he something?”
He was “something,” all right, Ashley silently agreed. She’d never had a man create such a yo-yo of emotions within her. Her usual calm, confident interaction with other people had deserted her. The whole evening had been like a jousting contest, and she was worn-out.
“Does he check on Pamela and Benny every night?” Ashley asked, disgusted with herself for bothering to validate his story. What did it matter? She planned to give him a wide berth from now on.
“Well, I usually get the children settled in bed by nine, but I know that they don’t go right to sleep because in the morning there are books and stuff all over their beds. Benny said something about Mr. Stone reading to him.”
So he wasn’t lying. For some reason that surprised Ashley, and she began to feel foolish about accusing him of following her.
Lily sighed. “He’s such a nice man. I just can’t believe all the things they say about him.”
“What things?” Ashley’s interest was immediate. Even though gossiping with this young maid wasn’t the kind of behavior that she admired, she was going to do it just the same.
Lily’s expression suddenly became guarded. “Sometimes my tongue gets the better of me. It’s none of my business what goes on around here. Mr. Stone has always been fair with me, and I’m not a bit afraid of him.”
“Afraid of him? Is there some reason you should be?”
Lily’s eyes rounded “I wouldn’t be asking things like that if I were you, Jill,” she warned. “And, please, don’t be saying I was talking out of turn. If you start asking questions, I’m likely to get my walking papers. Promise?”
“Of course, Lily.” Ashley assured her. No doubt the truth about Kyle would probably surface from other sources if she kept her ears open. Her own intuitive sense of his duplicity seemed to be validated by what Lily was afraid to tell her. Finding out as much as she could about him before Jill took over suddenly took on major importance.
“Thanks for looking after the baby, Lily. Now, I’d better get to bed and get some sleep before Davie wakes up for his night feeding.”
“There are three bottles of formula left,” Lily said. “That should carry him until I can make up some more in the morning.”
“You’re an angel, Lily. I don’t think I could manage without you,” she said with more truth than the maid would ever know.
“Davie’s a dear. It’s a dirty shame the way your husband up and left you penniless with a raft of debts. Some of them are saying that you’ve got money stashed away, but I don’t believe it. Why would you take on a nanny’s job if you didn’t have to?”
Ashley blinked. The gossip mill had done its work on Jill, all right. No telling what stories were going around about Budge and the missing money. As if her sister were talking through her, Ashley said, “I need this job. And I intend to do my best to keep it.”
“Oh, I don’t think you have to worry. I heard Mrs. Borsch say that Mr. Vandenburg had given it to you out of the kindness of his heart, that all he really wanted was a babysitter for the summer…not a real nanny.”
“Really?” Ashley frowned. Something didn’t add up. “Mrs. Borsch made it clear what the daily schedule is to be, and what I am supposed to accomplish during those hours. She certainly didn’t give me the impression that I was to be a glorified babysitter and neither did Kyle Stone.”
Lily shrugged and started
