be qualified to choose the person who would be best to care for the twins.
“I think you’re going to like this next one,” Ben told him.
“Is she qualified?”
“Overqualified, actually.” He handed Coop the file. “You could say that I was saving the best for last.”
Sierra Evans, twenty-six. She had graduated from college with a degree in nursing, and it listed her current occupation as a pediatric nurse. Coop blinked, then looked at Ben. “Is this right?”
He smiled and nodded. “I was surprised, too.”
She was single and childless with a clean record. She didn’t have so much as a parking ticket. On paper she looked perfect. Although in his experience, if something seemed too good to be true, it usually was. “What’s the catch?”
Ben shrugged. “Maybe there isn’t one. She’s waiting in the lobby. You ready to meet her?”
“Let’s do it,” he said, feeling hopeful for the first time since this whole mess started. Maybe this one would be as good as she sounded.
Using the intercom, Ben asked the receptionist, “Would you send Miss Evans in please?”
A minute later the door opened and a woman walked in. Immediately Coop could see that she was different from the others. She was dressed in scrubs—dark-blue pants and a white top with Sesame Street characters all over it—and comfortable-looking shoes. Not typical attire for a job interview but a decided improvement over the clingy, revealing choices of her predecessors. She was average height, average build … very unremarkable. But her face, that was anything but average.
Her eyes were so dark brown they looked black and a slight tilt in the corners gave her an Asian appearance. Her mouth was wide, lips full and sensual, and though she didn’t wear a stitch of makeup, she didn’t need any. Her black hair was long and glossy and pulled back in a slightly lopsided ponytail.
One thing was clear. This woman was no groupie.
“Miss Evans,” Ben said, rising to shake her hand. “I’m Ben Hearst, and this is Cooper Landon.”
Coop gave her a nod but stayed put in his place by the window.
“I apologize for the scrubs,” she said in a voice that was on the husky side. “I came straight from work.”
“It’s not a problem,” Ben assured her, gesturing to a chair. “Please, have a seat.”
She sat, placing her purse—a nondesigner bag that had seen better days—on the table beside her and folded her hands in her lap. Coop stood silently observing as Ben launched into the litany of questions he’d asked every candidate. She dutifully answered every one of them, darting glances Coop’s way every so often but keeping her attention on Ben. The others had asked Coop questions, tried to engage him in conversation. But from Miss Evans there was no starry-eyed gazing, no flirting or innuendo. No smoldering smiles and suggestions that she would do anything for the job. In fact, she avoided his gaze, as if his presence made her nervous.
“You understand that this is a live-in position. You will be responsible for the twins 24/7. 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on Sundays, and every fourth weekend from Saturday at 8:00 a.m. to Sunday at 8:00 p.m., is yours to spend as you wish,” Ben said.
She nodded. “I understand.”
Ben turned to Coop. “Do you have anything to add?”
“Yeah, I do.” He addressed Miss Evans directly. “Why would you give up a job as a pediatric nurse to be a nanny?”
“I love working with kids … obviously,” she said with a shy smile—a pretty smile. “But working in the neonatal intensive care unit is a very high-stress job. It’s emotionally draining. I need a change of pace. And I can’t deny that the live-in situation is alluring.”
A red flag began to wave furiously. “Why is that?”
“My dad is ill and unable to care for himself. The salary you’re offering, along with not having to pay rent, would make it possible for me to put him in a top-notch facility. In fact, there’s a place in Jersey that has a spot opening up this week, so the timing would be perfect.”
That was the last thing he had expected her to say, and for a second he was speechless. He didn’t know of many people, especially someone in her tax bracket, who would sacrifice such a large chunk of their salary for the care of a parent. Even Ben looked a little surprised.
He shot Coop a look that asked, What do you think? As things stood, Coop couldn’t come up with a single reason not to hire her on the spot, but he didn’t want to act rashly. This was about the girls, not his personal convenience.
“I’d like you to come by and meet my nieces tomorrow,” he told her.
She regarded him hopefully. “Does that mean I have the job?”
“I’d like to see you interact with them before I make the final decision, but I’ll be honest, you’re by far the most qualified candidate we’ve seen so far.”
“Tomorrow is my day off so I can come anytime.”
“Why don’t we say 1:00 p.m., after the girls’ lunch. I’m a novice at this parenting thing, so it usually takes me until then to get them bathed, dressed and fed.”
She smiled. “One is fine.”
“I’m on the Upper East Side. Ben will give you the address.”
Ben jotted down Coop’s address and handed it to her. She took the slip of paper and tucked it into her purse.
Ben stood, and Miss Evans rose to her feet. She grabbed her purse and slung it over her shoulder.
“One more thing, Miss Evans,” Coop said. “Are you a hockey fan?”
She hesitated. “Um … is it a prerequisite for the job?”
He felt a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. “Of course not.”
“Then, no, not really. I’ve never much been into sports. Although I was in a bowling league in college. Until recently my dad was a pretty big hockey fan, though.”
“So you know who I am?”
“Is there anyone in New York who doesn’t?”
Probably not, and only recently had that fact become a liability. “That isn’t going to be an issue?”
She cocked her head slightly. “I’m not sure what you mean.”
Her confusion made him feel like an idiot for even asking. Was he so used to women fawning over him that he’d come to expect it? Maybe he wasn’t her type, or maybe she had a boyfriend. “Never mind.”
She turned to leave, then paused and turned back to him.
“I wanted to say, I was so sorry to hear about your brother and his wife. I know how hard it is to lose someone you love.”
The
