his world, those who hesitated were lost. Deals could make or break on five minutes of indecision. He was known to make decisions quickly on gut instinct. So he swallowed down the last inner scream of protest and made one.
“You’re hired.”
Kelsey couldn’t believe her ears. A gift horse had arrived upon the scene, literally falling from the sky. Did this mean the fickle finger of fate had decided to smile on her for a change?
“But I can’t be.”
Annoyance flashed on chiseled features. “Are we going to have this argument again?”
“Don’t you want references? Shouldn’t we discuss expectations and duties, days off and salary? You could be hiring a serial killer to care for your daughter.” Shut up, Kelsey. Shut up!
Ryan raised a finger in silent command. Thank goodness. “You aren’t a stranger. You just told me you were totally trustworthy and I believe you. And I’m a very good judge of character, as is Mariah.”
Kelsey huffed. “Six-year-olds trust anyone with bubble gum or a puppy.”
No wonder lady luck enjoyed tormenting her. She made it so easy.
Mariah came to life, face alight. “Do you have a puppy?”
“No honey, I don’t.” Kelsey ran a hand down the child’s arm to soften the disappointment.
Mariah had just made her point. “See what I mean?” she said to Ryan.
“You cheated. Even I’m a sucker for puppies.”
She’d have to give him points for that. “But still, there are things to discuss.”
“We can evaluate references and execute a contract once we’re back in Dallas. If at that time the particulars don’t suit one of us, we can, as Mariah says, negotiate.”
And she knew who would come out on the short end of that stick. Her. Ryan had pulled himself out of poverty to multi-millionaire status. He hadn’t gotten to the top of the heap on those stunning looks alone.
“You need a job. I need a nanny. Let’s say a trial run. Thirty days. Deal or no deal?”
Who was she kidding? There was no way she could turn down his offer.
“Fine,” she said. In her desperate state, she should be kissing his feet in gratitude. For the past five months, she’d held herself together with pride and spunk and not much else. When the cars and the house, the boats and the business all went on the auction block to pay off debts left by her late husband, Kelsey had gone from being the Mercedes-driving wife of a successful yacht dealer to being pregnant, alone and dead broke.
She should be grateful instead of argumentative. But she hated feeling obligated and something about Ryan Storm irritated her. Rubbing at tired eyes, she fought back tears. Resentment and despair welled in her. The baby reacted to her distress and fluttered around like an oversized butterfly. She laid a hand to the mound beneath her heavy sweater.
As if she’d slapped him, Ryan jerked, riveting his attention on her stomach. “Are you okay?”
“Sure.” If she’d survived the last few months, she could survive being stranded in an airport.
Ryan swallowed. Kelsey wondered if the question had been deeper than a polite inquiry.
“Good. Good,” he said. “You don’t look fine. You look dead on your feet and stressed to the max.”
“Thanks.” Roadkill. She looked like roadkill.
“No insult meant.”
“None taken.” Yeah right.
“Mind if I ask what happened to your husband?”
The nightmare that had begun five months ago was never far from her thoughts. If she was going to work for this man, he needed to know.
She shook her head setting her hair into motion. It felt heavy and greasy against her scalp. What she wouldn’t give for a shower and shampoo and a comfy bed.
“Mark was sailing a yacht to its new owner in Greece when something went wrong. An explo
sion of some kind. He was lost at sea.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Thank you.” She never knew what else to say, though her answer sounded so unfeeling. It wasn’t that she didn’t feel terrible about Mark’s death. It was that she was still so angry and bewildered at what he’d done.
“He was never found?”
One of the reasons the insurance company had refused to pay. No body, no money. A morbid prospect, she thought. “No. The investigation is ongoing but the Coast Guard insists no one could have survived the explosion and subsequent fire. There was nothing left of the yacht other than debris.”
She’d heard the story and repeated the words so often to investigators, insurance adjusters, reporters and friends, but they still held that element of horror. No matter how she felt about Mark, she’d never wanted him dead.
The marriage had been rocky for so long that Kelsey was embarrassed to play the grieving widow. Still, hadn’t she gotten pregnant in an attempt to draw them closer together? Foolhardy, she knew now because, instead of fixing the problem she’d made things worse. Mark had not been happy to add, as he called it, the financial burden of rearing a child to his busy life. She’d thought the notion ridiculous given how well they were doing financially. Or so she had thought.
Only after the accident did she discover some important details Mark had forgotten to mention. The business was in deep trouble. The money he took with him was all they had. He’d also put Mason Marine and all the accounts payable in her name. At first, she’d thought the action was sweet and loving—until reality dawned. Her husband had not left her the business as a means to care for her and their baby. He’d left her holding the bag.
A warm, masculine hand pressed against hers. Both Ryan and Mariah were studying her with concern. “Hey. You went a million miles away. Sorry to bring up such a painful topic.”
She’d expected compassion from the child, but from Ryan? The man was as much as an enigma now as he’d been in high school.
How did she explain to him, or to anyone, that the greatest pain was not in losing a husband but in the knowledge that her husband hadn’t really cared for her, or their child, at all?
She didn’t. Her personal pain was her own.
“It’s behind me now.” A total lie. A mountain of debt and a string of bill collectors snapped at her heels like Doberman pinschers. Somehow, some way, she’d repay all that was owed.
He hitched an eyebrow in the direction of the soccer ball around her middle. “Not everything.”
For the first time since Ryan Storm had stormed into her life in the middle of a snow storm, Kelsey felt a sense of calm at the mention of her pregnancy. However inconvenient the timing might be, her baby was
