The Nanny Proposal

It didn’t take a medical degree to clearly see that she’d had at least one sleepless night. And from the look of the dark smudges on the porcelain skin under her eyes, she hadn’t slept well for days. Something deep inside him stirred.

Instinct had urged him to reach for her, hug her to him. Give her the comfort she so obviously needed. However, that would have been behavior of the most unprofessional kind. So he’d made an excuse out of studying the few facts he had about her. Height. Weight. Blood pressure. Temperature.

Truth was, he needed to put some space between them. To get a grip on himself. His reaction to Jane Dale had taken him completely by surprise.

He was sure his new attitude about women was to blame. He’d really been shaken when Pricilla had shown up with Joy. The past week with his daughter had been hard. Oh, boy, had it ever been! But being a father had also been like having a small piece of heaven dropped right into his lap.

Yet, it was the situation—his having made Pricilla pregnant over a year and a half ago and him without a clue that it had happened—that had totally altered his thinking where women were concerned. Had he really been so callous, so careless, that he could have made a woman pregnant and not known about it? His whole outlook on life had been shattered.

He gave the woman a surreptitious glance, wondering what on earth was troubling her. Only one way to find out. Straightening his spine, he turned to face her. “So what can I do for you today?”

“A physical.”

Her answer was rushed, her tone curt, and that made Greg all the more intrigued by this delicate-looking woman.

He automatically reached for his stethoscope. “Have you been feeling okay lately?”

“Oh, yes,” she assured him. “I’m not sick or anything. But I need a physical.” Almost as an afterthought, she quickly added, “For a job.”

“Ah, so you’re starting a new job.” A little doctor-patient dialogue might help him find out something about her, something about her life-style…her troubles.

“Well…” She hesitated. “I don’t have a job yet. I’m new in town. But I plan to be working soon. I’ve got to be. To pay for a place to live. The hotel where I’m staying isn’t cheap.”

He smiled. “Welcome to Philadelphia. What type of job are you looking for?”

As he spoke, he moved toward her with the metallic diaphragm of the stethoscope outstretched. And he was taken aback when she leaned away from him.

“I just need to take a quick listen to your heart and lungs,” he explained, hoping to put her at ease.

Those huge cloud-gray eyes of hers slid away from his gaze, but she remained still while he slipped the diaphragm between the facings of her blouse and pressed it to her chest.

Her skin was like warm satin against his fingertips, and the lacy edge of her bra had him averting his own gaze toward the far corner of the small cubicle.

What was the matter with him? He caught glimpses of people’s underclothing all day long. Seeing a bit of lace during an examination had never flustered him before. But he was sure flustered now. In fact, he was so disconcerted by his reaction to this woman that he hoped his hands didn’t begin to shake. This was crazy!

Occupy your mind. Let routine take over.

Conversation. That’s what he needed. Get lost in some small talk.

He realized then that she hadn’t answered his question regarding what kind of job she was seeking.

“I see you as…maybe…an elementary schoolteacher?”

Jane Dale actually smiled at his out-of-the-blue guess, and her whole face was transformed by the expression. The edges of her mouth softened. Even the anxiety in her gaze seemed to relent just a little.

She was pretty. In a natural kind of way. A natural beauty. That’s how Greg would describe her.

However, rather than taking note of her looks, he knew he should be focusing on her physical health. Period.

“I do love kids,” she said wistfully. “But I’m not a teacher.”

“A photographer, then,” he suggested. “Or a bank manager. A nurse. A cement truck driver?”

“A what?” There was laughter in her voice, despite whatever turmoil was plaguing her.

Greg thought he’d never heard a more beautiful sound. “Hey, this is a new millennium. Women can do and be whatever they want.”

Her smile faltered. “Well…if you say so.”

There it was again. That haunted expression shadowing those unusual gray-blue eyes.

Pressing his fingers to either side of her long, slender throat, he felt the left and right lobes of her thyroid gland, and at the same time he wondered what it would be like to press his lips against the silky length of her neck. The thought made his heart trip in his chest.

“So what do you want to be when you grow up,” he asked, his tone unwittingly dropping to a soft murmur as he forced the sexy image of him kissing her from his mind’s eye.

“Does that really matter? What I am is a plain old waitress.”

There’s nothing plain or old about you, Jane Dale. I just wish I could get into your head. Find out what it is that’s troubling you so.

The thoughts came out of nowhere and nearly made him step back away from her. But he quelled the reaction and made yet another silent vow to keep these very inappropriate thoughts at bay.

Being a doctor often meant more than simply finding a cure for his patient’s physical ills. Often, he had to delve into a person’s psyche. Get into the mind to try to discover what worries might be harrying a person and adding to their suffering.

What was so confusing about what he was experiencing at this moment was the strange mixture of intrigue, curiosity and…attraction. Yes, attraction.

He knew very well that his confusion was caused by the change in his attitude. Ever since Pricilla showed up on his doorstep with Joy, he’d been beating himself up for taking women for granted. It was this transformation in his thinking that had him so…mesmerized. So intrigued by Jane Dale and whatever was so obviously bothering her. That’s what was behind this discombobulated reaction he was experiencing.

“I’d like to be able to say that I have a teaching certificate,” she told him. “Or that I’m certified as a nurse. Or trained as a photographer.” She sighed. “But my only claim to fame is that I’m pretty good at slinging hash.”

Jane Dale had a sense of humor. Greg grinned. He liked the woman.

He found himself murmuring, “It’s too bad you’re not a Mary Poppins type.”

She went utterly still. “I beg your pardon?”

“Oh, you know, a governess. An au pair. A nanny.” Absently, Greg reached up and rubbed his fingers over his day’s growth of beard and thought about just how badly he needed help at home with Joy. “If you had experience with children, I just might have a job for you.”

Hell, he couldn’t say why he’d make such an offer. He didn’t even know this woman. But thoughts of Joy, of the sleepless nights he’d had, of the seemingly endless piles of baby clothes waiting at home to be laundered, added with Rachel’s complaint just a few minutes ago that she was an office manager and not a baby-sitter…all these things had him speaking before he really had time to think about what he was saying. Jane was a nice woman. A healthy woman. He’d just checked that out, hadn’t he? He smiled to himself. And he liked her. Besides that, she needed a job.

“Oh? You need someone…”

He chuckled. “But, of course, being a waitress, you’re not going to be interested in changing diapers and finding ways to make a baby girl eat strained peas.”

“A-a b-baby girl?”

Greg nodded. “I have a brand-new baby.” Then he said, “Well, not brand-new. Joy is ten months old. She’s cute as a button. And best of all, she’s got my dimples.” He smiled big and pointed to his cheeks.

Okay, so he was a proud daddy. Jane Dale would just have to understand.