Christmas Bride For The Boss

No wonder he’d said they were too far away.

‘And he said his parents can’t help, either,’ Sophie said. ‘So I’m guessing they’re either too frail or they’ve passed away.’

‘Oh, they could help, all right,’ Eva said, ‘but his mum would take over. Fran said Gwen was really overbearing and forever trying to organise their lives for them. The epitome of a difficult mother-in-law.’

‘Ouch.’ That might explain why Jamie’s sisters had moved so far away from London, Sophie thought. And why Jamie seemed to keep himself at an emotional distance.

‘Fran’s mum is lovely, but Fran looked so much like her, I think it just brings back what he’s lost every time Jamie sees her,’ Eva said. ‘Plus they live in Norfolk, so they’re a bit too far away for him to be able to ask them for help.’

‘Poor man,’ Sophie said. Now she was beginning to see what made Jamie Wallis tick. And he had an even better excuse than she did for avoiding relationships: he was still a grieving widower, whereas she’d simply lost trust in her own judgement of people.

* * *

When Jamie left his office at half-past two, his PA raised an eyebrow as he passed her desk. ‘Is everything all right?’

‘Nanny crisis. I’m getting the potential temp to meet me at the nursery school,’ he explained.

Her face softened. ‘And how is Sienna?’

‘Fine. And hopefully she’ll get on with the temp.’ If he kept referring to Sophie as ‘the temp’, hopefully that was how he’d come to see her. And he was absolutely not going to think about her caramel hair and how it would be lit with gold in the sunshine. For pity’s sake. He didn’t have time to think like that about anyone.

He called in at his house to pick up the file Cindy had left for the temporary nanny while she was on holiday, showing Sienna’s routine, then drove to Plans & Planes. Sophie’s office was very different from his own; the downstairs acted as the shop front for the travel agency, but when Mara showed him upstairs, where the event management side was based, he could see that the office was completely open plan, with two small rooms that he assumed were for client meetings.

Eva, who was sitting at one of the desks, came over and greeted him with a hug. ‘You’re a lifesaver, Jamie. Thanks.’

‘Hopefully, Sophie’s going to be a lifesaver for me, too,’ he said.

‘That all depends on whether Sienna likes me. It’s the deal breaker,’ Sophie reminded him as she joined them.

‘Ready to go?’ he asked.

‘Ready.’

He handed her the file when she got into the car. ‘Cindy put this together for when she was away. It’s Sienna’s routine plus a list of answers to the kind of questions she’d expect someone to ask.’

‘That’s useful. Thank you. I’ll read it on the way to nursery school, if that’s all right with you,’ she said. ‘And maybe you can answer any further questions I might have?’

‘Sure.’ He liked the fact that she was so businesslike.

* * *

Sophie’s misgivings increased as she skim-read the file. ‘Let me get this clear. You expect the nanny to get Sienna up in the mornings, then help her get her bathed and dressed and breakfasted?’

‘And help her clean her teeth, then drop her at nursery school,’ he finished.

‘Why don’t you take your daughter to nursery school yourself?’

‘Because I have a business to run. I need to be in the office quite a while before she needs to be at nursery school.’

Sophie knew Jamie was a single father, but from what she could see the work-life balance just wasn’t there. When did he get to spend quality time with his daughter? According to this file, he didn’t even eat with her in the evenings. There was a menu of what looked like typical nursery food, which clearly she would be expected to cook. Did Sophie eat on her own, or with the nanny? Sophie’s heart sank.

Fran had died two years ago, so surely Jamie should be smothering his daughter in cotton wool rather than using his work to avoid the little girl? It sounded more and more as if he was a cold workaholic who put his business first, second and third.

Sophie could remember what it felt like to be the daughter of a workaholic, one who’d missed every school performance and every parents’ evening because he was always too busy. Her father had never had the chance to put things right because he’d died of a heart attack when she was ten. She was so aware of all the things they’d missed out on; even though her mother had remarried six years later and Sophie loved her stepfather dearly, she still missed her father and wished they’d had the chance to share things.

Maybe, she thought, she could change things for Sienna so the little girl didn’t grow up with that same hole in her life, that same sense of loneliness and wondering secretly if something was wrong with her because her dad didn’t spend time with her the way her friends’ dads did. And, even if seeing Sienna reminded him of what he’d lost, at least Jamie still had his daughter.

Jamie Wallis didn’t just need a nanny, he needed someone who could help him fix his relationship with his little girl.

And Sophie thought she might just be the one to do that.

CHAPTER TWO (#uc10230bf-2b35-5b10-9fda-05035af8ae8b)

WHEN JAMIE PULLED UP in the nursery school car park, Sophie asked, ‘Should I stay here in the car? Because then it won’t confuse anyone.’

‘In case Sienna decides she doesn’t want you to look after her? Good point.’ He nodded. ‘I’ll be as quick as I can.’

He climbed out of the car, went over to the gate and spoke into the intercom, and then disappeared through the gate, shutting it behind him.

Sophie read through Cindy’s file again while she was waiting for him to return with Sienna. The more she read, the more sure she was that things needed to change. Jamie was a workaholic, the way her own father had been, and he wasn’t seeing anywhere near enough of his daughter—which wasn’t good for either of them.

A movement caught her eye and she looked up. She saw a little girl walking nicely down the path next to Jamie; obviously this must be Sienna. She was a pretty child, with a mop of curly blonde hair and her father’s dark eyes.

She climbed out of the car and waited until Jamie and Sienna had reached her before crouching down so she was on the little girl’s level. ‘Hello. I’m Sophie,’ she said. ‘And you’re Sienna, yes?’

The little girl nodded shyly.

‘Sophie’s going to spend the rest of the afternoon with us,’ Jamie said, ‘so you can get to know her a bit better and decide if you want her to look after you until Cindy’s leg is mended.’

Again, there was a shy nod.

Better start as I mean to go on, Sophie thought. ‘Would you like me to help you into the car seat?’ she asked Sienna.

The little girl gave another nod, and Sophie’s heart squeezed. Maybe Sienna was just a bit shy, particularly as Sophie was a stranger. She really hoped that Sienna wouldn’t be this quiet once she’d got to know her; one of the joys of being an aunt was having a niece and nephew who chattered nineteen to the dozen to her and burst into song at the least provocation.

She opened the rear door, helped Sienna get into the car, buckled her into the car seat and double checked it before climbing in next to her and buckling up her own seat belt.

‘So what did you do today at nursery school?’ Sophie asked.

‘Painting,’ Sienna said, her voice little more than a whisper.

‘That’s nice.’ Sophie had always enjoyed the painting activities when she’d worked at Anna’s nursery school. ‘Did you bring any of your paintings home with you?’

Sienna shook her head.

Maybe the nursery school staff had kept the paintings for assessment purposes. Sophie tried another tack. ‘Did the teachers read you any stories today?’

‘Ye—es.’ But Sienna wasn’t forthcoming about what the story was, or what her favourite book was, the way Sophie’s niece Hattie would be.