Even if an employer felt an attraction for the hired help, most wouldn’t let it show. Mac hadn’t let it show all day. But, being half asleep, his guard had been down. Nine chances out of ten he wouldn’t even acknowledge this in the morning.

But what if he did?

What if he liked her?

What if living with him for a month was enough that their barriers broke down?

He already had her stuttering and staring. If he made a pass at her, could she resist him?

And what if she didn’t?

No one knew better than Ellie that there were consequences to relationships.

Especially relationships with bosses.

Maid for the Single Dad

by

Susan Meier

www.millsandboon.co.uk

SUSAN MEIER spent most of her twenties thinking she was a job-hopper—until she began to write and realised everything that had come before was only research! One of eleven children, with twenty-four nieces and nephews and three kids of her own, Susan has had plenty of real-life experience watching romance blossom in unexpected ways. She lives in Western Pennsylvania with her wonderful husband, Mike, three children, and two over-fed, well-cuddled cats, Sophie and Fluffy. You can visit Susan’s website at www.susanmeier.com

Two maids in Miami…two drop-dead-gorgeous clients…two marriages in the making?

Find out in Susan Meier’s new duet

HOUSEKEEPERS SAY I DO!

Last month you read all about Liz and Cain in

MAID FOR THE MILLIONAIRE

This month enjoy Ellie’s story in

MAID FOR THE SINGLE DAD

Chapter One

ELLIE Swanson had not signed up for this.

Yes, she’d agreed to run Happy Maids while her boss, Liz Harper Nestor, took a well-deserved honeymoon after remarrying her gorgeous ex-husband, Cain. And, yes, she was perfectly capable of supervising the fourteen or so employees on Happy Maids’s payroll for the four weeks Liz would be in Paris. But she wasn’t authorized to make a change in the company’s business plan, as the man across the desk wanted her to.

“I’m a friend of Cain’s.”

Of course he was. Tall and slender with perfect blue eyes and black hair cut short and businesslike, Mac Carmichael wore his tailored navy blue suit with the casual ease of a man accustomed to handmade suits, fine wines and people taking his orders. Just like Cain.

“And he told me his wife’s company was the best in town.”

“But we’re a weekly cleaning service. We don’t place maids in clients’ homes.”

“You should.”

A bead of sweat rolled down Ellie’s back. The air-conditioning had broken the day Liz left. But Ellie could handle the heat and humidity of June in Miami. What she couldn’t abide was failure. Her first day on the job and already she was turning away a client. An important client. A client who could not only tell Cain that Happy Maids hadn’t come through for him; he could also tell all his wealthy friends—the very people Liz would be marketing to when she returned.

Ellie leaned back on the chair, tapping a pencil on the desk blotter. “Explain again what you’re looking for.”

“My maid quit unexpectedly. I need to hire a temporary replacement while I interview for another one.”

“I can send someone to your house a few times a week to clean,” she said hopefully.

He shook his head. “I have a daughter and a son. They need breakfast every morning.”

“Then I’ll be happy to send someone every day at seven.”

“Lacy gets up at five.”

“Then I’ll have someone at four.”

“I work some nights.”

Ellie gaped at him. “You want the maid to be a nanny too?”

He caught her gaze. His sinfully blue eyes held hers and she fought the urge to swallow as pinpricks of attraction sparkled along her nerve endings.

“And live in.”

She gasped. “Live in?”

“I also pay very well.”

Ah, the magic words. A victim of domestic violence herself, Liz had gotten involved with A Friend Indeed, a charity that helped women transition out of their abusive homes and into new lives. It was a natural fit that Liz should begin employing the women from A Friend Indeed until they got on their feet. Ellie had actually been the first employee Liz had hired after they met at the charity. The company needed every job—especially the good paying ones—to provide work for all the women who wanted help.

Mac rose from his seat. “Look, if your firm can’t handle it, I’ll be on my way.”

He turned to the door.

Stop him!

She bounced out of her chair. “Wait.”

He faced her again. This time she did swallow. His eyes reminded her of the ocean in the dead of summer, calm and deep and perfect blue. His dark hair gleamed in the sunlight pouring in from the window to his right. High cheekbones angled to blissfully full lips, the kind that made most women take a second glance and wonder what it would be like to kiss him. It should have been pure pleasure to look at him. Instead, the scowl on his face caused Ellie to doubt the intuition that guided her life.

“Yes?”

“I—” Why had her intuition told her to stop him? She didn’t have anybody who could work as a maid/nanny. Most of Liz’s employees had kids of their own and homes to get back to every night. They couldn’t live in. And that’s what he needed.

“I—um—maybe we can work something out.”

His scowl grew even darker. “I don’t work things out.”

No kidding. She didn’t need intuition to tell her that.

“I want someone today.”

Don’t let him go.

She groaned inwardly, wondering why her sixth sense was so insistent on this. But accustomed to listening to the intuition that had saved her life, she couldn’t ignore it.

“I’ll do it.”

His scowl shifted into a look of confusion. “You?”

“I know I’m behind the desk today, but I’m only filling in for Cain’s wife, Liz. She runs the business herself, but this month she’s on her honeymoon. I’m more than capable of cooking, cleaning and caring for children.”

His eyes held hers for another second or two. Then his gaze dipped from her face to her pretty red dress, and Ellie suddenly regretted her decision to wear something as exposing as the short strapless creation made more for having lunch with friends on a sunny sidewalk café than working in an office. But not having air-conditioning had made the choice for her. How was she supposed to know a client would show up?

He smiled and all the air whooshed out of Ellie’s lungs. The temperature in her blood rose to an almost unbearable level. She could have melted where she stood. If this guy lived up north, snowflakes wouldn’t stand a chance against that smile.

“We have air-conditioning, so you might want to change into jeans and a T-shirt.” He took a business card out of his jacket pocket, scribbled on the back and handed it to her. “That’s my home address. I’ll meet you there in an hour.” Then he turned and walked out the door.

Ellie collapsed on the office chair. Damn it! What had she gotten herself into? Now she not only had all of Liz’s work, she also had a full-time job. More than full-time! She had to live in!

With a sigh of frustration at herself, she lifted the receiver of the phone on the desk and quickly dialed the number for Cain’s personal assistant, Ava.

“Are you busy?”

“Hey, good morning, Magic. How’s your first day going?”

“Abysmally. Don’t call me Magic anymore. I think my intuition is on the fritz.”

Ava laughed.

“I’m serious. Some guy came in here this morning, demanding a full-time maid and nanny—someone to live in—and I volunteered to take the job.”

“Yourself?”

Angling her elbow on the desk, Ellie cradled her chin on her palm. “Yes.”

“Oh, that’s so not like you!”

“I know. But he’s a friend of Cain’s and I worried about disappointing him. My intuition got all jumbled while he was here and before I knew it I was taking the job myself.” She winced. “I was thinking maybe you could find an agency that can get him a real temporary maid, then call him back and tell him I made a mistake.”

“All right. I’ll handle it. Give me his name.”

Ellie flipped the card over. “Mac Carmichael.”

“Oh, damn.”

Oh, damn?

“Oh, damn what?”

“Ellie, you’re stuck. He is a major pain in the butt, so not even finding him a real full-time maid would fix this. He’d never change a deal he’s already made. But he’s also somebody Cain’s been courting for years.”

“Courting?”

“His family owns hotels all over the world. Cain’s been trying to get in on the construction end. This might be a test for Cain.”

Ellie lowered her forehead to her palm. “Which is probably why my intuition wouldn’t let me tell him no.”

“I’m guessing,” Ava agreed. “Okay, here’s what we’ll do. It doesn’t matter where I work, so I’ll forward my calls to the Happy Maids office and handle your phone and walk-ins during the day. Then we’ll spend an hour or so together every night doing the day’s paperwork.”

“You’d do that for me?”

“Of course! This isn’t just Happy Maids on the line. It’s also Cain’s business and I’m Cain’s assistant. I have to do whatever needs to be done. Beside, I like you.”

Ellie laughed. “Okay.”

“Okay? Miss Magic, it will be more than okay. We will make it great. You’ll do such a good job for Mac that you’ll earn all kinds of brownie points for Liz and Happy Maids, and you might just get Cain the ‘in’ with Carmichael Incorporated that he’s been lobbying for for years.”

Ellie sat up. “Yeah. You’re right. This is a good thing.”

“This is potentially a very good thing,” Ava agreed. “And I will do anything at all you need me to do.”

“Handling the office during the day should be all the help I need.”

“I’ll be over in an hour.”

“Bring a key because I have to leave right now. Mr. Carmichael wants me at his house in—” she glanced down at the card again “—Coral Gables in an hour, and I need to pack a bag if I’m going to be living there.”

“You better get a move on.”

“Okay. And Ava?”

“Yes.”

Ellie winced. “You might want to stop on your way and buy a tank top and shorts.”

Ava laughed. “How about if I just call an HVAC repairman?”

“That’ll do it, too. I’ll see you tonight.”

Mac Carmichael raced his Bentley along the winding streets of Coral Gables and onto his driveway. He stopped at the gate, punched a code into the box on the left, opening the gate, and then roared up the stone drive to the side of his huge house. The garage door opened with another press of a button and he zipped inside. As the door closed behind him, he hopped out of his car, walked through the garage, into the butler’s pantry then into the huge gourmet kitchen.

His blond-haired six-year-old daughter, Lacy, sat at the long weathered-wood table by the French doors, coloring. Nine-month-old son Henry sat in a highchair beside her. His former nanny and current next-door neighbor, Mrs. Pomeroy, wiped baby food off his mouth with a wet cloth.

“How did it go?”

He sighed. “Well, I found someone.”

“Great.”

“I’m not sure. She’s—” Tall and blond and so good-looking he damned near turned around and sought out another agency. “Well, she seems a little spacey.”

Eighty-year-old Elmira Pomeroy laughed. “Spacey? Is she a drinker?”

“No, she’s just—” inappropriately dressed, too pretty for words “—kind of odd.”

“Are you sure you want her around your kids?”

“She’s not that kind of odd. Besides, I don’t have a choice. I need total and complete privacy. I can’t risk hiring a big impersonal firm or someone who doesn’t need me enough to keep her silence.”

“You think she’s made the connection yet that if she does well her boss’s husband could make millions?”

He tossed his suit coat over the back of a chair. “I’m hoping. If she hasn’t yet, one call to anybody in Cain’s office will get her the info. That should be the carrot on the stick that keeps her here long enough for me to find someone.” He leaned in over Lacy. “Hey, baby. What are you doing?”

She gave him a patient look. “Coloring.”

“Why don’t you put on your swimsuit and we’ll take a dip while Mrs. Pomeroy is still here for Henry.”

Her heart-shaped face wreathed in smiles. Her blue eyes danced with delight. “Okay!”

She raced from the room and Mac pulled Henry from his highchair. “And how are you today?”

Blond-haired, blue-eyed Henry slapped a chubby fist on his father’s cheek.

“Feisty, I see.”

“You better believe he’s been feisty.” Mrs. Pomeroy took his bottle from the warmer and tested the temperature. “I’m not sure if he tired himself out enough that he’ll fall asleep immediately after he drinks this or if he’s too wound up to sleep at all.”

“If you have any problems, come and get me from the pool.”

Mrs. Pomeroy’s wrinkled face fell in sympathetic lines. “No. You take the time with Lacy. You both could use a few minutes of fun.”

“I’m fine. I don’t want to shirk my responsibility to the kids.”

“You’re a good dad.”

He pulled in a breath and turned away, trying to make light of her compliment. “I only do what any father should do.”

That was why it never would have even crossed his mind to desert his children the way their mother had. He couldn’t believe any person would be so narcissistic that she’d abandon her kids just because a second child had been inconvenient to her career. Pamela had been so angry to be pregnant again when she’d read the results of her early pregnancy test that she’d packed a bag, left him and filed for divorce within days. She returned to Hollywood, California, where she immediately resurrected her movie career.

Nine months later, she handed Henry over to Mac. She visited once a month, saying it was difficult to fly across the country anymore than that. But on her last visit she told Mac she might not be able to visit in July. The movie she had made while pregnant with Henry was being released and she would be making the rounds of talk shows promoting it. Mac tried not to panic, but he couldn’t help it. If anybody asked Pamela about her divorce or her kids, he had absolutely no idea what she’d say. But he did know that if she mentioned their names, he and the kids would become fodder for the paparazzi.

He’d lived his entire life with bodyguards, alarm systems and armor-plated limos. He’d thought he knew how it felt to live under lock and key, but that was nothing compared to living in a fishbowl. As the ex-husband of a movie star with custody of that movie star’s kids, protection and visibility had risen to a whole new level. Not only were his kids targets for kidnappers and extortionists because of his money, but their mother’s career could put their faces on the front page of every tabloid in the world. He’d had to go to extreme measures to protect them, and even with those measures in place he wasn’t quite sure they were safe.

“You’re thinking about that crappy wife of yours again aren’t you?”

“No.”

Mrs. P. laughed. “Right. You always scowl before a morning of fun with your daughter in the pool.” Satisfied with the temperature of the milk in Henry’s bottle, she took Henry from Mac’s arms. “You know what you need? A good woman to replace the crappy one.”

Mac laughed. “It will be a cold frosty day in hell before I trust another woman.”

Mrs. P. harrumphed as she headed for the door. “Don’t let one bad apple spoil the whole bunch.”

Lacy skipped into the room dressed in a bright blue one-piece swimsuit. Mac lifted her into his arms. It was very easy for Mrs. P. to spout quaint sayings, quite another for Mac to heed their advice. Pamela had broken Lacy’s heart when she left. Henry would know a mother who only popped in when the spirit moved her. Mac couldn’t risk the hearts of his children a second time.

Ellie debated sliding into one of her Happy Maids uniforms. Nothing said hired help better than a bright yellow ruffled apron and a hairnet. But Mac had suggested she wear jeans and she wasn’t taking any chances. If she had to endure being a full-time maid, then she intended for Cain to get the recommendation into Carmichael Incorporated. The best way to do that would be to follow Mac’s instructions to the letter.

She slowed her car as she wound through the streets of Coral Gables, looking for the address scrawled on the back of the business card. Finally finding the property, she turned onto the driveway only to come face-to-face with an iron gate. She rolled down her car window, pressed a button marked “visitors” on a small stand just within reach of her car and watched as a camera zoomed in on her. She expected a voice to come through the little box, asking for identification. Instead, within seconds, the gate opened.

Good grief. How rich was this guy?

Slowly maneuvering up the wide stone driveway that was a beautiful yellow, not brick-red or brown or even gray, but beautiful butterscotch-yellow, Ellie swiveled her head from side-to-side, taking in the landscaping. Trees stood behind the black iron fence that surrounded the huge front yard, increasing the privacy. Flower gardens filled with red, yellow and orange hibiscus sprang up in no particular order, brightening the green grass with splashes of color. But it was the house that caused her mouth to fall open. Butterscotch-yellow stucco, with rich cocoa-brown trim and columns that rose to the flat roof overhang, and a sparkling glass front door, the house was unlike anything she’d seen before.

She followed the stone driveway around to the side where she found cocoa-brown garage doors and a less auspicious entryway than the front door. She parked her car and got out.

Oppressive heat and humidity buffeted her, making her tank top and jeans feel like a snowmobile suit. The sounds of someone splashing in a pool caught her attention and she walked around back and stopped. Her mouth gaped.

Rows of wide, flat steps made of the same butterscotch-colored stone as in the driveway led from a wall of French doors in the back of the house to an in-ground pool. Shiny butterscotch-colored tiles intermingled with blue and beige tiles, rimming the pool and also creating a walkway that led to a patio of the same stone as the stairs. Behind the patio was a huge gazebo—big enough for a party, not merely a yard decoration—and beyond the grassy backyard was the canal where a bright white yacht was docked.

“Ellie?”

She glanced at the pool again. Mac Carmichael was swimming with a little girl of around six, probably his daughter.

She edged toward them. Trying to sound confident, she said, “Hi.”

The little blonde wearing water wings waved shyly.

Mac wiped both hands down his face and headed for the ladder in the shallow water on the far side of the pool. “I’ll be right with you.”

She wanted to say, “Take your time,” or “Don’t get out on my account. I’ll find my way to the kitchen,” but the sight of Mac pulling himself onto the ladder stopped her cold. His dark swimming trunks clung wetly to his firm behind. Water pulled them down, causing them to slip as he climbed the ladder. By the time he got out of the pool his trunks clung precariously to his lean hips. He walked to a beige-and-white-flowered chaise and grabbed a huge towel.

“You got here quickly.”

She stared. With the blue skies of Florida as a backdrop, his eyes turned a color closer to topaz. Water ran in rivulets down the black hair on his chest. His still-dripping swimming trunks hung on to his hips for dear life.

“I…um…” She cleared her throat as attraction rumbled through her. It had been so long that she’d been overwhelmingly attracted to a man that she’d missed the symptoms. But here they were. Sweaty palms. Stuttering heart. Inability to form a coherent sentence.

Now she knew why her intuition wouldn’t let her allow Mac to leave the Happy Maids office. It wasn’t because of Cain. It was because she was attracted to Mac.

Telling herself not to panic, she could handle one little attraction, she smiled. Her intuition might have brought her here for a frivolous reason, but once Ava had told her about Cain wanting an “in” with Mac, she knew she couldn’t back out. Liz had saved her when she desperately needed someone. Now she finally had a chance to repay the favor. This was a mission. “I just had to run home to put on jeans and pack a bag.”

He motioned to the steps. “You go on up. It’s too hot for you to stand out here in this heat in those jeans. As soon as I get Lacy from the pool I’ll be in.”

This time she could say, “No hurry. I’ll be fine,” because she seriously needed a minute alone to compose herself. How did one man get so lucky as to not only be rich and live in a house that took her breath away, but also be so good-looking he rivaled the pristine Florida sky?

“Just go up the stairs and turn left, into the kitchen. We’ll be there in a minute.”

She nodded and started up the steps, feeling as if she were walking the stairs to a museum or some other prestigious building rather than someone’s residence. Of course, she wasn’t exactly well versed in what a “normal” home should look like. She’d grown up in foster homes until she was seventeen when she ran away. Then she’d slept on the streets and fought tooth and nail just to find something to eat each day until she met Sam. She’d stayed with him, enduring increasing verbal and emotional abuse until the night the abuse became physical. Then she’d run. A Friend Indeed couldn’t take her in because they were a charity chartered to care for women with children, but Liz had offered her her couch and ultimately a job. After four years with Happy Maids, interacting with Liz and the friends she’d made through A Friend Indeed, she was only now coming to understand what normal relationships were.

So, she could forgive herself for being a tad awestruck by this house. She might clean for Miami’s elite but this guy was in a class by himself, and from the outside, his house absolutely looked like a museum.

Pushing open the second door of the four French doors lining the back wall of the house, she found herself standing between a huge kitchen on the left and a comfy family room on the right. Decorated with an overstuffed brown leather sofa and chairs with shiny cherrywood end tables and a huge flat-screen TV between bookcases that ran along the entire back wall, that part of the open floor plan appeared to be where the family did most of their living.

That she liked.

But only a few steps into the kitchen, she swallowed hard. The stove had eight burners. The refrigerator was actually hidden behind panels of the same cherrywood as the cabinets. Copper pots and pans hung from a rack above the stove. Pale salmon-colored granite countertops accented the rich cabinets. A sink with a tall copper faucet sat in the middle of the center island and another sat in a counter along a far wall. Crystal gleamed behind the glass doors of all the cabinets on the right wall.

She looked around in awe. She’d been in kitchens almost as elaborate as this one. She did, after all, clean for some fairly wealthy people. But men in Mac’s caliber weren’t wealthy. They were beyond wealthy. They didn’t hire weekly cleaning services. They had full-time employees and gourmet kitchens big enough to cook food for parties attended by hundreds of people. As a Happy Maid she only cleaned, didn’t cook for any of her clients.

She glanced around again, her mouth slightly open, fear tightening her chest.

She grabbed the cell phone she had stashed in her jeans pocket and hit a speed dial number.

“Ava, I think I’m gonna need a cook book.”

Chapter Two

A FEW minutes later, Mac and Lacy entered the kitchen. “Lacy, this is Ellie.”

Ellie smiled at the wet-haired little girl wrapped in a bright blue towel. “Nice to meet you.”

Lacy glanced down shyly. “Nice to meet you too.”

“Ellie’s going to be staying with us while we look for a replacement for Mrs. Devlin.”

Lacy nodded.

“So why don’t you go upstairs and change out of your swimsuit?”

“I could help her,” Ellie suggested, eager to do a good job more than to get out of the kitchen. She no longer had a problem being alone with Mac. He was definitely good-looking, and everything female inside of her had absolutely taken notice of his ropey muscles and firm butt in his swim trunks. But being attracted to him was wildly inappropriate. People in his tax bracket didn’t mingle with the help. And people in her tax bracket would be foolish to drool or harbor crushes. She’d be safe with him.

Mac shook his head. “Lacy’s fine on her own. I’d like to show you to your room and talk about the job a bit while Henry’s still napping.”

“Henry is your son?”

“Yes.” Mac winced. “He’s only nine months old. I hope that’s not a problem.”

Spending a few weeks with a baby a problem? Ellie nearly laughed. She didn’t have brothers and sisters. The foster homes she’d lived in only took children, not babies. And after Sam she’d vowed she’d never have another “serious” relationship, which put kids out of reach for her. She’d babysat a time or two for new mothers who lived in A Friend Indeed houses, so she knew how to care for a baby. But she’d never be a mother herself. Having such a lovely block of time with a baby would be pure joy.

“Actually, it’s kind of a thrill for me to take care of a baby.”

Her words appeared to startle Mac. His face bloomed with happy surprise. His eyes gleamed. His lips bowed upward, into a breathtaking smile. It was so appealing, so genuine, so gorgeous, she was sure it could move mountains. The air thinned in her lungs and for a few seconds she struggled for breath, but she’d already recognized this attraction would come to nothing. He was her employer and she was his employee. That was that. Even if she had to pretend to cough to recoup her air supply every time he smiled at her, he’d never have a clue that he took her breath away.

“Is your bag in the trunk?”

“Yes.”

“We’ll get that first then I’ll show you to your quarters.”

“Great.” She headed for the door and he followed her. Confused that he was coming with her, she stopped. “I only have one small suitcase. I can get it.”

Mac shook his head. “My mother would shoot me for making a lady carry her own bag.”

His courtesy caught her off guard. Employers were not supposed to help their employees. Or even be overly nice to them for that matter. And she didn’t want him to. She wanted their relationship to be as professional as possible. Decorum was what would keep her safe. She hadn’t slept alone in a house with a man since Sam and part of her would be shimmying with fear except this wasn’t a personal relationship. It was a professional relationship. And as long as they both abided by that, she’d be fine.

“The bag won’t weigh any more than the laundry baskets I’ll be carrying down the stairs to the washer.”

“Washer and dryer are upstairs.” He headed to the left. “Besides, this will be a good opportunity for me to familiarize you with this part of the house.”

Relieved that the trip to her car had more of a purpose than just a courtesy—which was inappropriate—she nodded and he led her through the butler’s pantry. The cupboards were the same rich cherrywood as the kitchen. The countertops the same salmon-colored granite. When he reached the door at the back, he opened it and motioned for her to precede him.

Stepping into the garage, she took note of the four cars—a Bentley, a Corvette, a black Suburban and a Mercedes—and could have happily swooned. But she knew better. Just as she couldn’t even once let her attraction to her new employer show, it was bad form to admire his possessions.

He stepped in front of her again to quickly open the door. Her beat-up compact car came into view. He said nothing—commenting on her possessions would have been bad form for him—and waited while she hit the button on her key fob and popped the trunk.

Without a word, he pulled out her suitcase. Because he still wore his swimming trunks she could see the muscles of his arm bunch and his chest ripple with the simple movement. She averted her eyes instead of reacting, firmly putting herself in “household employee” mode where she belonged.

Retracing their steps, she reached the garage entry first and pulled open the door for him.

“Your suitcase weighs about two pounds. I could have gotten the door.”

“I know.”

Still, she hustled to get ahead of him to open the door to the butler’s pantry. She knew her place and she fully intended to stay in it.

Seeing her stilted smile, a shiver of something worked its way through Mac. He’d grown up around servants and knew that technically Ellie should have gotten her own bag. He also knew she felt duty-bound to open the door for him. Yet, when she mentioned going out to her car an odd stirring of unease started in his stomach and worked its way to his chest. He couldn’t let her carry her own bag. It felt ungentlemanly.

He chalked it up to their unusual meeting. He hadn’t met her as a household employee, but as a woman who was currently running the company he’d needed to cajole into his employ. So he wasn’t seeing her as an employee first, but a woman. An equal. Though that wasn’t exactly good, he could control that. He could even shift their positions back to employer and employee.

Just as soon as he got her settled.

After all, he had sort of manipulated her into taking a job she hadn’t wanted. And he wasn’t being forthright even now. When he discovered Pamela’s new movie was to be released next month, he’d bought the empty house next to Mrs. Pomeroy and put it in the name of one of his family’s smaller corporations so he and his kids could disappear.

Ellie didn’t know any of that. She didn’t need the information, but more than that her being in the dark was another layer of protection for Mac. As long as she didn’t know anything, she couldn’t accidently talk to a reporter in disguise as a grocery bagger.

He was keeping her in the dark, forcing her into a job she normally wouldn’t have done. A little social nicety wasn’t out of line.

In the kitchen, she faced him with a pretty smile. Her full lips turned upward. Her amber eyes sparkled. The blond hair that floated around her head to her shoulders gave her the look of an angel.

“Where to?”

Okay. Maybe this attraction would be a little harder to handle than he’d imagined. She was pretty and sweet. Agreeable. Genuine. She looked like a woman who couldn’t tell a lie if her life depended on it, like somebody he could trust with his life. He wanted to melt into a puddle at her feet, to tell her his secrets, ask for her help protecting his kids.

He almost snorted a laugh. Right. With the exception of Mrs. Pomeroy, the last woman he trusted ran out on those same kids. He already knew his instincts about women were way off-kilter. He didn’t need another experiment with a woman to prove it.

“Turn right and go up the back stairs.”

She frowned. “I don’t have quarters near the kitchen?”

“Since you’ll be the one waking with Henry in the middle of the night, you need to be close to him.”

She hesitated. He couldn’t figure out why she’d want to be by the kitchen. She was far too thin to be a midnight snacker. She could want assurance that she wouldn’t disturb him when she woke to make Lacy’s breakfast—

Or maybe she wanted private space? Damn. He’d forgotten about that. She wasn’t normally a live-in employee. She probably didn’t know how she’d get downtime.

“When I’m home, I care for the kids. With the exception of getting up with Henry for his 2:00 a.m. feeding when I go back to work. That will be your domain. So you can go to your room any time you’re not busy. You can watch TV all you want. You have use of the pool, and you can also leave when I’m here if your work is all caught up.”

She nodded, but didn’t look reassured. Still, she started up the stairs.

Averting his eyes to resist the temptation of watching her bottom as she walked the thin flight of steps, Mac said, “First door on the right is yours.”

She tossed a shaky smile over her shoulder. “So I’m right by the stairway?”

He almost laughed. It sounded as if she wanted assurance that she could make a quick getaway. “Yes. You’re right by the stairway.”

She breathed a sigh of relief and his brow furrowed. Maybe he hadn’t been so far off the mark about the quick getaway? Or at least the possibility of one. She wasn’t normally a live-in worker. If assurance that she had an escape route pleased her, then who was he to argue?

In the upstairs hall, she turned right and entered the suite. But she stopped so quickly Mac almost ran into her back.

Hesitantly stepping into the room, she smoothed her hand along the arm of a simple yellow sofa that sat beside a matching chair and in front of a wide-screen TV. Her head turned from side to side as she walked to the door that led to the bedroom. Then she gasped.

“This is gorgeous.”

He ambled up beside her and glanced into the room which, he supposed, was pretty with its black four-poster bed and pale gold spread and matching curtains.

“It’s a bit of a perk since our maid also has to be a nanny.”

This time when she faced him her angelic smile had been replaced by one of sheer joy. Her amber eyes were so brilliant they virtually shone.

“Maybe I should take this job permanently,” she said with a laugh.

Bowled over by the power in her smile, he nearly said, “That’s a great idea.” Luckily he stopped himself. First, he was too darned attracted to her to keep her forever. Second, she was a stranger hinting for a full-time position caring for his kids. He knew all the employees of Happy Maids were bonded, which meant they’d passed routine background checks, but he’d still ordered his security team to do a full background check on Ellie after she’d agreed to take the job. Within twenty minutes Mac knew she’d never been in jail, never been arrested, never even had an unpaid parking ticket. Which meant his children were somewhat safe with her.

But he still didn’t feel he knew enough to be comfortable leaving her alone with his kids. Lacy and Henry were everything to him. He wouldn’t trust them with just anybody. He’d ordered his security team to keep looking into her past. By this time tomorrow, he hoped to know everything there was to know about Ellie Swanson. If he found anything at all in the report he didn’t like he might actually be asking her to leave, not inviting her to stay permanently.

He walked over to the door leading to the nursery. “Henry’s in here.”

She followed him into the huge room decorated with rainbows and unicorns, white rockers and fuzzy lime-green throw rugs. Henry stirred. Mac leaned in to check on him and Ellie leaned in, too.

She whispered, “Oh, we’re going to wake him?”

Her breath fanned across his cheek. The scent of her cologne wafted to him. Her upper arm brushed against his. He swallowed and decided he’d better speed up his search for a permanent maid. He’d never been more aware of a woman. Let alone someone who was technically help.

But he hadn’t met her as help and she didn’t behave like help. And if he didn’t soon establish a boss/housekeeper relationship between them, this attraction could be trouble. He could embarrass her, or worse, embarrass himself. Then her entire stay would be awkward.

Henry woke and let out a little cry to awaken his voice before he shrieked in earnest. Mac hoisted the baby into his arms before he terrified his new nanny.

To his surprise, though, she laughed. “Oh, gosh, he’s cute.” She tweaked his cheek. “And listen to those lungs! You’re going to be a rock star someday, aren’t you, little pumpkin!”

Henry stopped crying and peered at her curiously.

It appeared Mac wasn’t the only Carmichael male who was being thrown off-kilter by this woman’s looks and far too casual behavior.

“Henry, this is Ellie. She’s going to be caring for you when Daddy can’t. Ellie, this is Henry.”

“Can I hold him?”

“Sure.”

She took the baby from his arms with the ease of someone accustomed to holding a baby.

“Hey, sweetie,” she said, bouncing him a bit. But Henry only continued to stare.

I’m right with you, kid. She’s so beautiful I could stare at her all day too, Mac thought, taking a step back out of range of her cologne. He walked to the changing table and retrieved a diaper and other necessary items to clean up the baby before putting him into a new outfit. “Bring him here. I’m sure he needs to be changed.”

Ellie smiled at him. “I can handle this. You go and do whatever you would usually be doing right now.”

“No.”

“No?” She took a few steps closer to the changing table. “I thought I was here to care for your kids?”

“Yes, you are. But,” he said, keeping his gaze and attention on Henry as he removed his diaper, “as I’ve already mentioned, I’ll care for the children while I’m here.”

“Okay.”

She didn’t sound at all understanding of his position that he’d be caring for his own kids. But Mac didn’t feel the need to explain that he had to make up for his ex-wife’s neglect by being available to his kids as much as he could be. Through his peripheral vision he saw that she stood off to the side, watching him, making Mac nervous until he realized she was waiting for instructions.

Mac glanced up at her. “Why don’t you go to your room and unpack your bag? When I’m done with Henry, I’ll give you the rest of the tour of the house.”

Ten minutes later, Mac knocked on her bedroom door and stepped inside, a clean and happy Henry on his arm.

Closing the closet door where she’d stowed her suitcase, Ellie faced him. “Ready for the tour?”

“Yes.” Mac led her out of her suite and to the right. He pointed at the door beside the nursery door. “This leads to my suite.”

“Okay.”

She didn’t like the warmth that bubbled in her middle with the realization that their bedrooms were so close. Fear or apprehension wouldn’t have surprised her. But anticipation? That was ridiculous and wrong. She’d sworn off men forever. The proximity of their bedrooms shouldn’t matter. Plus, her suite had its own bathroom. She wouldn’t be venturing into the hall in her night-clothes or wrapped in a towel before or after a shower—neither would he. She had nothing to fear and nothing to worry about—except maybe this crazy attraction which seemed to have a life of its own.

Mac opened the next door. With a motion of his hand he invited her to peek into the pink-and-white room. “And this is Lacy’s room. Also close enough for you to hear her if something happens.”

Glad to have her mind moving off his master suite and to the kids, Ellie said, “Good.”

Walking again, they passed eye-popping red statues and etchings done in cocoa-brown ink. Behind a curving cherrywood staircase, a wall of windows displayed a panoramic view of the canal. Sharp, contemporary accent chairs with chrome arms and legs and nubby yellow fabric backs and seats sat by tall, thin chrome lamps. The floor was a warm honey-colored hardwood. Once again she thought of a museum.

“These two doors,” Mac said, pointing to the right and then the left, “lead to two guest suites.”

They turned a corner. Mac pointed at two doors on opposite sides of the hall. “Two more guest suites.”

“Of course.”

“I don’t have guests often,” Mac continued, leading her down the hall. Over his shoulder, blue-eyed Henry grinned toothlessly at Ellie.

She smiled and waved.

“And won’t be having any guests at all until I’ve hired a permanent maid.” He paused at a set of double doors. After shifting Henry on his forearm, he opened them, revealing a laundry room complete with a bright red washer and dryer, a folding table, carts, baskets and cherry wood cabinets that she assumed held laundry detergent and the like.

Smiling her professional household employee smile, Ellie said, “Okay.”

“You can easily gather everyone’s laundry, wash it, dry it, press it in here and return it to the proper room.”

With that he closed the doors and directed her back down another hall.

“As you can see, we’re making a full circle. These steps,” Mac said as they approached the set of back stairs, “are the same ones we used to get up here.”

They started down the wooden steps and at the bottom turned left to enter the kitchen.

“We have a very simple floor plan.”

Glancing around the kitchen, Ellie said, “Yes.”

“Okay, now for the first floor.”

Mac led her out of the kitchen, down a short hall and turned right into a room that had to be the playroom. The back wall held cherrywood bookcases and built-in cupboards, probably for storing toys, and a wide-screen TV. A thick brown-and-red print rug sat in the middle of the hardwood floor. Otherwise, the room was without furniture. Unless you counted the bright blue plastic table and chairs with accompanying yellow plastic dishes and cups where Lacy sat—probably having an imaginary tea party—and the beige plastic stove, refrigerator and sink that Ellie recognized from her last trip to a toy store.

Looking up from her tea party, Lacy said, “Hi, Daddy.”

“Hi, sweetie. You remember Ellie.”

She nodded enthusiastically, her fine blond hair bobbed around her.

“Hi, Lacy. I like your playroom.”

Lacy only grinned and nodded again.

Mac walked over to his daughter, who tugged on his pant leg to get his attention.

“Daddy, I’m hungry.”

Though Lacy tried to whisper, her voice came out loud and clear.

“Okay.” Mac faced Ellie. “Can we finish our tour later?”

She nodded. “Sure.”

Mac said, “Great,” and headed for the doorway on the right. “Let’s go make something for lunch.”

Lacy’s face brightened as Ellie’s stomach fell to the floor. She hadn’t had time to get the cookbook yet! What would she do if Mac asked for something Ellie had no idea how to prepare?

Before she could panic Lacy said, “Can we have peanut butter sandwiches and ice cream?”

Walking into the hall, Mac laughed. “We’ll negotiate the ice cream after you’ve eaten the sandwich.”

Still carrying Henry, Mac left the room with happy Lacy skipping behind him. Ellie took a minute to breathe a sigh of relief before she bounded out of the room. She caught up with them in the kitchen.

Sliding Henry into a highchair, Mac said, “Now that I think about it, Ellie, you could actually finish the tour of the rest of the house by yourself. Dining room and living room are at the front of the house. Over there is the family room.” He pointed at the area beside the kitchen with the leather furniture and big-screen TV. “My office is above the garage, but there’s no reason for you to go there.”

He straightened away from the highchair. “While I feed the kids, you can make a list of what needs to be done cleaningwise. Then when the children and I are done, you can clean the kitchen and get started with supper.”

“Okay.”

He smiled patiently. “Okay.”

Not exactly sure what happened with lunch and feeling oddly dismissed, Ellie turned and walked out of the kitchen. It wasn’t that she had a burning need to make peanut butter sandwiches. She felt unnecessary. He’d insisted that she start today, yet she wasn’t doing any of the things he’d hired her to do. No. He wouldn’t let her do any of the things he’d hired her to do.

Her intuition tried to tell her that something was wrong with this situation, but she ignored it, as she intended to do for the rest of her stay here. After all, her intuition had already steered her wrong about taking this job. She wasn’t letting it in on any more decision making.

And she certainly wasn’t about to let it spark her imagination. That would only result in her becoming too curious about this man and his adorable children and asking some very inappropriate questions. Like what kind of woman would leave such wonderful kids and such a handsome, courteous husband?

Unless Mac had only been putting on a good front for her?

Because he had custody of his kids she automatically assumed he was a good man.

But what if he wasn’t?

What if he had his kids because he was an overbearing rich guy who threw his weight around to get everything he wanted?

What if she was about to spend the next several weeks living with another man like Sam?

Chapter Three

AFTER lunch, Mac took the kids out on his yacht for the afternoon. Standing in the kitchen in front of the French doors, Ellie watched the boat pull away from the dock, grateful for a few minutes to herself.

She had silenced her concerns that Mac might be like Sam by reminding herself of two things. First, she didn’t know Mac. She shouldn’t jump to conclusions. And second, Mac genuinely seemed to like his kids, to like spending time with them. So what if he’d nudged her out of lunch and really wasn’t letting her be the nanny? He might have done it unconsciously. She had no idea how long he’d been without a maid and nanny. But it could have been long enough that caring for his kids was now second nature. And if Ellie didn’t soon stop acting like a high-strung spinster, suspicious of every man she met, she’d lose this job, and Cain and Liz would be the ones to suffer.

Her cell phone rang. She looked down and saw Ava’s number in caller ID.

“Hey.”

“Hey! I’m at the gate. Now what?”

Ellie glanced around. Not only did she not know how to open the gate, but Mac wasn’t here to show her. She couldn’t even attempt to please this privileged family on her limited knowledge of cooking. She had to get that cookbook. “I don’t know. I don’t know how to open the gate and I can’t ask Mac because he just took the kids out on his boat.”

“Well, all I have is the cookbook. Why don’t you come to me and I’ll pass it through the gate to you?”

Ellie sighed with relief. “Good idea.”

Feeling like a criminal, she snuck out the front door of the echoing mansion, raced down the front yard and reached through the gate bars to get the cookbook from Ava.

“Thanks.”

Cain Nestor’s fifty-five-year-old assistant peered over her black frame glasses at Ellie. “Tell me I’ll be able to get through the gate tonight when we have to debrief about Happy Maids.”

“You will. I swear,” Ellie said, walking backward up the grassy front yard to return to the house.

“Good. I’ll see you tonight,” Ava called, but Ellie was already running toward the door. Cookbook under her arm, she tiptoed up the silent hall to the kitchen even though she knew she was alone in the house. Mac had said he and his children would be gone the entire afternoon, yet she still felt as if she was doing something wrong.

But she wasn’t. She could cook. She simply hadn’t memorized recipes for anything beyond burgers and spaghetti. All she had to do was find a recipe, prepare the food, and serve it like a good maid, then Cain and Liz would both get the recommendations they needed.

Sitting at the weathered table by the French doors, she took the cookbook out of the plastic bookstore bag. Easy Main Dishes in Under An Hour. Ellie laughed. Ava was nothing if not perceptive! This should be a cinch.

She perused the recipes, with one eye on the canal so she would see the Carmichael family if they returned unexpectedly. Spotting a recipe she liked—penne pasta with portabella mushrooms and red and yellow peppers—she took the book with her as she walked around the kitchen, checking for supplies.

The well-stocked refrigerator had both red and yellow peppers and portabella mushrooms. The cabinet held penne pasta. Next she found the ingredients for the Alfredo sauce. Interestingly, in the last cabinet on the row closest to the door leading to the stairway, she also found the controls for the gate, including a small computer monitor that displayed the feed from the video camera. One button said “Open gate.” One said “Close gate.” A system couldn’t get any simpler than that.

Because the meal would only take an hour to prepare, she decided to do laundry and some light cleaning while Mac and the kids were out on the ocean.

She found baskets of dirty clothes in each of the kids’ bathrooms, but she stopped at the master suite. Mac hadn’t even opened the door to let her peek in as he’d done with Lacy’s room. A bedroom was such a private space, it felt like an invasion to even look inside. Forget about walking in. She’d feel like an interloper. She’d already had to talk herself out of being suspicious of this guy. She didn’t want to give her free-wheeling imagination any more grist for the mill!

Maybe tomorrow she’d be adjusted enough to collect his laundry, but she’d handled enough for today.

After sorting the kids’ clothes, she put a load into the washer then returned downstairs, this time using the fancy curved cherrywood stairway.

She walked past the living room with shiny marble floor, heavy tapestry drapes and ultramodern furniture with glass tables. Not exactly her taste, but in keeping with the rest of the museum-like décor. The room wasn’t even in need of a light dusting. So she checked the dining room, playroom, sitting room and den and found them all in the same spotless condition. She walked to the kitchen where she grabbed the notepad on which she’d made the list of everything that needed to be done as Mac had suggested, and began arranging things in the best order for cleaning. Whether the rooms “needed” dusting or not, she would begin a rotation that maintained the spotless condition of this home.

By the time the yacht returned, she had a schedule developed that would assure the entire house would be kept spotless, the laundry would be done and three meals would be prepared.

Chopping the peppers, she watched out the window as Mac carried Henry on his arm and led his daughter up the dock to the backyard and toward the house. She fought the suspicion again that something was wrong with this picture because she didn’t know what it was. It wasn’t something she could see or something she’d heard, only a sense she had. If she just had something substantial to base the feeling on, she’d know how to handle it. Instead, she had only an unhappy imagination that was making her crazy.

Annoyed with herself for not dropping this, she waited for them to enter the kitchen, but after fifteen minutes she realized they had probably come in through another door. Two seconds later, Mac walked into the kitchen wearing jeans and a T-shirt.

“Everything okay?”

Trying to behave like a normal maid, not an overly suspicious idiot, she smiled shakily at him. “Great. I spent the afternoon creating a cleaning schedule, so I can hit the ground running tomorrow.”

“There’s no rush.” Mac opened the refrigerator and snagged an apple. “The place is immaculate. It can go a day or two without being dusted. I want you to get accustomed to the house and the cleaning end of things these next few days so that when I go back to work, the kids can be your priority.” He caught her gaze. “I also want this time for the kids to get accustomed to seeing you around the house. To get to know you before you’re their primary caregiver.”

Okay. See? He had a good explanation for having her around the kids, but not actually interacting with them. He was giving her time to get accustomed to the house and giving the kids time to get accustomed to her. That made more sense than to think something was wrong with him.

“I’ll be fine with the kids.” That she could say with complete confidence. “Helping some friends—” She almost said the women living in A Friend Indeed houses, but thought the better of it. She didn’t really know Mac and most of the charity’s work was confidential to protect the identities of the women seeking shelter. “I’ve babysat, played board games and gone to the beach more times than I can count.”

He crunched a bite of the apple, chewed then swallowed and said, “Great.” He paused for a second before he added, “This job won’t last long. My assistant is working with two employment agencies now, looking for a replacement for Mrs. Devlin. She’ll do initial interviews. I’ll do the second interview.”

“So you should have a replacement in three weeks?” Ellie asked hopefully.

He winced. “More like four.”

Liz’s entire honeymoon.

“I’m sorry that I sort of strong-armed you into this. But my kids are important to me and I don’t want just anybody around them.”

Surprised, but pleased that he’d apologized—once again confirming that he was a nice guy and she had to stop looking for bad things about him—she nodded. “I get that. We’ll be fine.”

“And there’s one other thing I forgot to mention. I’d prefer that you not tell anyone where you’re working.”

She winced. “I’m sorry but I already told Ava. She’s helping me with Happy Maids. But you don’t have to worry,” she hastily added, not wanting to anger him unnecessarily. “Ava works for Cain. He owns five businesses. She knows how to be discreet.”

“Okay.” He turned to leave the room, but suddenly faced her again. “What are you making for dinner?”

“Penne pasta with red and yellow peppers.” She glanced up at him. “I never asked what time you’d like to eat.”

“I eat with Lacy, which means we always eat before six.”

“Okay.” That gave her forty minutes. “I better get a move on then.”

Henry’s soft cries poured from the baby monitor and Ellie froze. Already her impulse was to drop everything and rush to get the baby when he cried. But she waited to see what Mac wanted her to do.

He said, “I’ll get him,” and headed for the back stairway. “As I said, when I’m here, I take care of the kids.”

This time his doing her job didn’t bother her. He’d explained that he wanted her to get accustomed to things…the house, the cleaning schedule…All that was good. It even made more sense from the perspective of his wanting to give the kids a chance to get accustomed to her.

She had nothing to worry about.

She gathered the items from the recipe and began preparing the sauce. Her eyes on the list of ingredients, she measured and poured milk, cheese and butter into the pan. Stirring the sauce as it heated, she tried to keep her mind on her cooking, but couldn’t.

The instincts she kept trying to ignore tiptoed into her conscious, whispering that Mac wasn’t being nice. He was keeping his kids away from her because he didn’t really trust her. Sure, he’d apologized about strong-arming her, and, yes, he had a good explanation about why he was doing her job…but there was something in the air in this house. Something that didn’t quite fit.

Something…

The sauce in the pot bubbled over and Ellie jumped back out of the way with a squeak as she snapped off the gas burner.

She heard the sound of Mac racing down the stairs and quickly placed her body in front of the stove to hide the mess.

“Everything okay?” he asked, walking into the kitchen with Henry on his arm.

“Great.”

“I thought I heard a squeal.”

The odd feeling returned again. He had every right to investigate a squeal, but the tone of his voice just didn’t sit right.

Of course, she might be overanalyzing because she was nervous about having just burned a big part of his dinner!

“I…Um…” She swallowed to gather her courage. “My sauce just boiled over.”

“Oh. Okay, if everything’s under control the kids and I are going to take a short walk.”

He took it so casually that Ellie blinked in surprise as Mac turned away. Sam would have screamed at her for hours for ruining dinner, proving Mac wasn’t a full-fledged grouch or even really a control freak. So what the heck was going on here?

As Mac called, “Lacy!” Ellie noticed Henry had on a straw hat and a lightweight one-piece pajama that covered his entire body to protect him from the sun. Ellie didn’t criticize Mac’s diligence. But it did further the theory that he was very protective of his children and she’d better do the absolute best job she could do when she was alone with them—

Ah! Now she got it.

The parents of the kids she typically babysat for trusted her. This guy didn’t know her. So how could he trust her? He couldn’t! That was why he seemed to be keeping the kids from her. Until he got to know her he’d probably huddle over Henry and Lacy rather than let her alone with them…and probably also question her every move. His distrust could even be the “odd” thing she sensed in the air of this house.

Lacy ran into the room. She also wore a straw hat to protect her from the sun. “I’m ready, Daddy.”

Mac said, “Let’s go.” Then he and the kids trooped out of the kitchen.

Ellie spun around and looked at the milk-covered burner on the stove with a groan. She grabbed her cell phone from her jeans pocket.

“Ava, can you get a jar of store-bought Alfredo sauce here in twenty minutes?”

Ava laughed. “Ellie, you’re going to wear me out.”

“This time I can let you in the gate.”

“Great. I’ll fill you in on the Happy Maids stuff while I’m there.”

Twenty minutes later, Ava arrived with two jars of Alfredo sauce and the maids’ time sheets to be signed for payroll. As Ellie poured the penne pasta, portabella mushrooms and red and yellow peppers into a casserole dish and then covered them with Alfredo sauce and popped them into the oven, Ava briefed her on Happy Maids’ day.

“Nothing out of the ordinary happened. The houses were cleaned as scheduled. The Maids have their jobs for tomorrow.”

“Thanks, Ava.”

“You’re welcome. Now, I have to get home. I’ll see you tomorrow afternoon around this time.” Ava headed for the butler’s pantry, but stopped and grinned at Ellie. “Don’t hesitate to call me if you need something.”

Ellie shook her head in dismay. “I’m sorry but this guy is a serious control freak.” She’d finally decided to label him a control freak, if only because distrust was such an ugly word and she didn’t want Ava to realize she was uncomfortable. She might want Ellie to leave and she couldn’t. Cain and Liz needed for her to do a good job. “I didn’t dare risk a mistake.”

Ava laughed. “I was teasing. I don’t mind you calling me for help. You’re doing this as much for my boss as for yours. So we’re in this together.”

With that Ellie scooted out through the butler’s pantry and garage, leaving Ellie to prepare a salad in the twenty minutes it would take to heat the pasta and sauce.

She was just pulling dinner from the oven when Mac and the kids returned.

She greeted them with a smile. “You’re right on time.”

“Great. We’re starving.” He ambled to the door. “You may serve us in the formal dining room.”

Ellie smiled, breathing a silent sigh of relief that he’d told her what to do and quickly set the table. As she did that, Mac grabbed a jar of baby food, a baby dish and a tiny spoon.

She served the food while Mac fed Henry.

“That’ll be all, Ellie.”

Ellie nodded in acknowledgement and scurried back into the kitchen. But she opened the swinging door a crack and peeked into the dining room. Watching the happy little family, she amended her opinion of Mac once again. It seemed wrong to call him a control freak when he was looking out for his kids. In some circles that would make him a good dad.

Still, there was the matter of the missing wife. She couldn’t reconcile herself to thinking that any woman would give full custody of two adorable children to her husband. Had there been a custody battle? Were these two kids scarred for life?

Of course, his wife could be—Ellie swallowed—dead. Oh, dear. That would certainly raise a whole different set of issues! Including the curiosity of why he hadn’t told Ellie, if only to explain whether or not the kids were still dealing with that.

No. He would have told her if his wife were dead. As diligent as he was, he’d want her to be prepared about everything to do with his kids. His wife had to have left.

But where was she? And why had she gone, leaving her kids behind?

Telling herself it was none of her business and that she could handle not knowing for one month if it meant that Liz got the recommendations she needed and Cain got the contracts he wanted, Liz began scrubbing pots and wiping the kitchen counters.

When the Carmichaels were finished eating, Mac leaned into the kitchen. “We’re done. Lacy and I will be upstairs getting Henry ready for bed.”

“Okay.”

“Once you’ve cleaned up, you’re done for the day. You may do whatever you wish. It’s still hot out, so you might want to take a dip in the pool. The kids and I are in for the night, so it’s all yours if you wish. Good night, Ellie.”

He pulled out of the room without waiting for her reply and Ellie leaned against the counter with a sigh of relief.

Day one down!

After clearing the dining room and popping the dishes into the dishwasher, Ellie went to her room.

She wouldn’t mind a swim, but she hadn’t brought a suit. Plus, she needed to get up early the next morning. She set her alarm for four, so that she’d be ready for Lacy whatever time she awoke, then did a quick pirouette in the massive bedroom she’d be staying in for the next month. Her boss’s life might be a bit of a mystery. She might wonder what happened to the kids’ mom. And she absolutely had to get better at cooking. But spending a month in this suite could almost make up for that. It was the lap of luxury.

Running her hand up one of the black posts of the four-poster bed, she noticed the gold decorative rings at the top and sighed dreamily. What must it be like to have so much money that you could have everything you wanted, exactly as you wanted it?

Lifting her makeup bag from the black mirrored dresser, she turned and walked into the bathroom. Again, she stopped and stared in awe. Brown travertine tiles on the floor matched the brown tiles in the shower and surrounding the spa tub. This bathroom was as big as the kitchen in her and her roommate Mitzi’s apartment.

She set the makeup case on the counter of the double sink with black-and-gold granite countertops, then stripped to make good use of the spa tub. After a nice long soak, she stepped into lightweight pajamas, applied face cream and crawled into bed with a book. Cool silk sheets greeted her and she groaned. There was a definite difference between cleaning someone’s house once a week and staying in that house—even if it was as hired help. She certainly hoped she didn’t get used to this!

She read until about ten, then turned out the light of the brushed gold lamp on the bedside table and immediately fell asleep.

What seemed like only minutes later Henry’s loud crying woke her. Slightly disoriented, she bolted up in bed, wondering what the sound was. But the second burst of crying brought her to full alertness and got her to her feet.

“Henry!” she cried, not even sure if the little boy could hear her. “I’m coming, sweetie!”

Intending to change his diaper and take him downstairs while she warmed a bottle, she ran into the room. As her door opened on the left side of the nursery, Mac’s door on the right side of the nursery also opened. Both flew into the room and stopped dead in their tracks.

Her pajamas, though lightweight, were covering. His chest was bare above low-riding bottoms. His dark hair was mussed. His eyelids drooped sexily and his brilliant blue eyes were glazed over. He had the sleepy look of a man who cuddled after sex.

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