precocious little girl in the whole world.”
“Who?” she asked, frowning.
“My daughter. Madison.”
Nicki stalled, visibly weighing the implications. “Jared…” she said carefully, “you don’t even know me.”
“I know enough to know you’d be perfect for the job,” he stated. “And I need somebody right away. There’re twenty-nine days until Christmas, and this is not the ideal time for me to find a nanny.” He strode over to the baby grand and plucked the most whimsical portrait out of the display. He extended it to her. “Nicki, meet my daughter Madison. My ex, after two years, has decided she’s had enough. She’s giving me joint custody—and it’s the best Christmas present I could have asked for.” Jared unconsciously reached for her upper arm, persuasively squeezing it. “Nicki, think about this. You need a job, I need the help. Come on. Let’s make a deal.”
Chapter Three
Nicki agreed to talk about it on the way home. But in the car, she waffled. She liked Jared—almost more than she should. Yet she knew how he was when it came to business, how would he be when it came to family?
“You’re perfect for the job, Nicki. I read your personnel file. You’re a whiz with the kids. There were a dozen parents who called the store complimenting you.”
“Seeing a child for five minutes is a lot different than being a full-time baby-sitter.”
“You’ve got the imagination to handle it.”
“But there would be a lot involved—”
“Only Madison. Irene has been my housekeeper for years. She cooks, she cleans, she even does the laundry. She runs my place with an iron hand.”
“Oh, good,” Nicki said dryly. “Then I’d get to put up with two of you.”
Jared’s sensuous mouth twitched, but he stared straight ahead at the road. “Irene is efficient, she’s not an ogre.”
Nicki worried the strap of her purse, debating. “I don’t know…your hours for the next few weeks will be long.”
“That’s why I need someone reliable. I don’t have a lot of time to invest, and I have to make this work.”
“It’s going to be an adjustment for Madison. Especially if you aren’t going to be home very much. Maybe you should hire someone more experienced, more…” She lifted both shoulders, at a loss for words.
“Nicki, I’ve seen nothing but praise where you’re concerned. Your background check has already been done for the Santa Claus job, so I know nothing criminal or unsavory is lurking in your past. Reliable help is hard to find, and I need someone right away—someone I can trust.”
“But why does it have to be me?” she nearly wailed.
He stopped at a traffic light, tapping his fingers impatiently against the steering wheel. “Aside from all the other reasons, you convinced me you believe in Christmas. This year I have to make it special. I want someone who can make my house smell like gingerbread and who can pick out and wrap the perfect presents for a five-year-old. Come on…” He wheedled. “I know you’ve got the inside track on that one.”
Nicki’s head fell back against the headrest. “Sunny, the power print doll, and Curious Kendall, the electronic board game,” she intoned.
“See?” he said, depressing the accelerator, “I haven’t spent enough time with Madison in the last few years to know those things. I need someone—maybe a Saint ‘Nick’—to make us a family again.”
Nicki rolled her head over, to study Jared’s silhouette and ponder this new predicament. “You aren’t playing fair,” she said. “You’re using my arguments against me.”
If he only knew what he was doing to her. She had been dreading Christmas, maybe that was why she had been giving her all at work. Without her mom, she was alone—and what Nicki wanted more than anything was a family.
But Jared Gillette wasn’t offering her that, she sternly reminded herself. He was offering her the opportunity to be hired help to his family.
“The thing is, I’d still have transportation problems,” she said.
Jared’s response was lightning-quick. “Not if you move in.”
Nicki’s jaw dropped.
“I have seven bedrooms and six baths. I think we could find you something comfortable. Maybe the guest room,” he said thoughtfully, “it has a sitting room and an efficiency kitchen.”
“Oh, why are you doing this to me,” she moaned.
“What?”
Grimacing, Nicki tried to dredge up one more argument. There weren’t any; there were only positives to this arrangement. Her mom always said things happened for a reason. Maybe this was a time to remember and to embrace mom’s sage old advice.
“My mom’s lease is up at the end of January, and I’d been trying to find something—” she hesitated, ashamed to admit her dire predicament “—less expensive. But if you think that we could manage to get along, in the same house, and not…”
“I do,” Jared said firmly.
For some strange reason his response rattled Nicki. He made it sound as if they were taking vows, not agreeing to a business deal. “Okay,” she said reluctantly. “I’ve got my reservations, but since this is just a temporary arrangement, you’ve got a baby-sitter.”
A smug smile settled onto Jared’s features. He slowed at the entrance to Tammany Hills and flipped on the turn signal. “You’re on the clock,” he said. “Starting now.”
“Now?” Nicki couldn’t keep the ripple of surprise from her voice.
“Mmm-hmm.”
“Oh, that one, to the right,” she directed, as he turned into the complex. “The gray front with the red shutters and trim.” She took a deep breath. “I can’t do it that quickly. I need to get my life in order.”
He pulled up into the assigned parking space. “Get your life in order tomorrow,” he scowled. “Tonight, you put on your dancing shoes and wear something dressy. I want you with me at this charity event.”
Nicki’s jaw slid off center. “But…but…but—” Realizing that she sounded like a motor running out of steam, her mouth whomped shut.
He shut off the car and turned to her, resting an elbow over the back of the seat. He skimmed her front with a challenging look, as if daring her to balk.
“Here’s the deal,” he said flatly. “I told my ex-wife that she wouldn’t have to worry about Maddy, because I have a new woman in my life, one who will be able to help me out and do all the little-girl things.” He shrugged. “For some reason she seemed extraordinarily concerned about that.” He nailed her with a telling glance. “Guess what? That woman is you.”
A
