Page 19 of Always Be Mine
She nodded. “Trying to balance feuds and friendships within the staff is the hardest part of the job. It’s like a reality show.” Lucy chuckled and then remembered what they were talking about. She pulled her hand away from his, but instantly wished she hadn’t. “But that doesn’t mean I have any experience with a…I don’t even know how old Meri is.”
“She’s almost six.” Craig smiled warmly. “She’s just finishing up her first year of kindergarten in June. So, you’ll have the summer when you’ll have to be with her all day. But until then, on the days when she’s at school, you’re welcome to enjoy the town or do…well, whatever.”
“I didn’t accept the job.” But she knew she would. After all, she had nothing else to do, and Meri did seem like a pretty sweet kid. Besides, apparently, she’d decided to do things differently than she normally would, and it didn’t get any different than working as a nanny. And staying busy would be the perfect way to get over everything she’d left behind. The best kind of distraction.
“I don’t know what the average salary for a nanny is, but I’ll pay you…four thousand a month?”
“Four thousand?”
“And free rent.”
“Free rent?”
“Do you always make it a practice to repeat everything said to you?”
Damn, he was sexy when he laughed.
And that was probably the biggest reason she should have refused the job. From the moment she’d met Craig, she’d been drawn to him, and it had nothing to do with the spontaneous kiss she’d planted on him. It was something more.
And that could be nothing but trouble.
Still, the pros outweighed the cons. And it wasn’t like she had a lot of options, either. Apparently, there was nothing to go back to in Vancouver. At least not right away. Maybe after a few months, things would calm down and she could try to get a restaurant job again. But that wasn’t likely to happen for a while. She didn’t have any other options.
Against her better judgment, Lucy held out her hand. “You have a deal.”
ChapterFive
“Wait.”Craig’s oldest sister, Charli, shook her head and held up her hand. “Back up. You didwhat?” She looked across the kitchen table to Kat who sat, a cup of coffee in front of her and a smug smile on her face. “He didwhat?”
“He hired a woman to be Meri’s nanny without even knowing her last name, let alone looking at her résumé.”
Charli slapped both her hands on the table and stared at Craig. “You did not.”
“He did.” Kat nodded. “The best part is she hasn’t even been in town for a full twenty-four hours.”
“No references?”
Kat shook her head. “Not from Trickle Creek anyway.”
Craig sighed heavily. He was beginning to regret having his sisters over for Saturday morning coffee. Not that he had a choice, considering they more or less told him they were coming over. He cleared his throat, but the women were too engrossed in their discussion of his life to pay any attention to him.
“I would ask if she was cute, but when it comes to Craig…”
“That’s more of an Asher thing,” Kat finished for her. “I don’t think Craig even knows how to date anymore.”
He shot her a look and for a second was tempted to tell them about how Lucy had kissed him. Fortunately, he thought better of it.
Charli nodded knowingly. “Definitely more of an Asher thing.”
“Definitely.”
Craig had heard just about enough. He pushed his chair back as loudly as he could, stood, and pressed both of his palms down on the table between his sisters. “If you two are done dissecting my decisions, I would like to point out that Idoknow her last name. It’s Willis. Plus, I got her references and her résumé, and they all check out. Besides, if you recall, I did not have much of a choice in the matter.”
Both women gave him a slight nod.
“Besides, Kat met her, and she can tell you that Lucy is a very nice woman and she’s great with Meri.”
They looked at each other and shrugged.
