The Nanny and the CEO

The Nanny and the CEO
Rebecca Winters

“What you said earlier,” Reece whispered. “If I–”

“Forget it,” he broke in. “I’m afraid I’m not myself tonight. We may be employer and nanny, but sometimes the lines get blurred. We’ve lived under the same roof for two weeks now. I find myself wanting to ask you questions I have no right to ask.”

“I know what you mean.” The tremor in her voice made its way through to his insides.

“So you admit you’re a little curious about me?”

“Of course.” He noticed her hands cling to the edge of the crib. “I wouldn’t be human otherwise.”

Nick had talked about the lines between nanny and employer getting blurred after living beneath the same roof. Try spending the whole night together in the same hospital room with the little baby they both adored.

This morning she couldn’t find the lines anywhere.

Dear Reader,

I guess I have to say that the film The Sound of Music, with Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer, is my favourite movie of all time. What’s interesting is that I’m not a great fan of musicals. But I’d just come home from Europe, after being at boarding school in Switzerland for a year, and my parents took our whole family to see the film because it had just come out.

I was so homesick for Switzerland and Europe that when the first scene opened, with the plane flying over the Alps and Julie Andrews bursting into song, it was like being home again at my school, and I fell in love with Europe all over again. All the characters, the clothes, the scenery — everything. But what has stayed with me all these years is Maria’s wonderful spirit as she took over the care of seven children. She made life so wonderful for them and Captain Von Trapp that she filled their starving souls with the thrill of being alive.

When I was asked to write a nanny story I thought of Maria … the way she made every moment exciting. That’s what I wanted the nanny in my story to do — work a miracle. I hope you’ll find that Reese Chamberlain works a special miracle in The Nanny and the CEO.

Enjoy!

Rebecca Winters

About the Author

REBECCA WINTERS, whose family of four children has now swelled to include three beautiful grandchildren, lives in Salt Lake City, Utah, in the land of the Rocky Mountains. With canyons and high Alpine meadows full of wildflowers, she never runs out of places to explore. They, plus her favorite vacation spots in Europe, often end up as backgrounds for her Mills & Boon® Romance novels because writing is her passion, along with her family and church.

Rebecca loves to hear from her readers. If you wish to e-mail her, please visit her website at: www.rebeccawinters-author.com

THE NANNY AND

THE CEO

REBECCA WINTERS

www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)

To my wonderful parents, who made life wonderful all the time and gave me every opportunity to find my life, just as the Mother Superior at the convent helped Maria to find hers.

CHAPTER ONE

“Ms. CHAMBERLAIN? You’re next. Second door on the left.”

“Thank you.”

Reese got up from the chair and walked past the woman at the front desk to reach the hall. At ten o’clock in the morning, the East 59th Street Employment Agency in New York’s east side was already packed with people needing a job. She’d asked around and had learned it was one of the most reputable agencies in the city. The place reminded her of her dentist’s office filled with patients back home in Nebraska.

She had no idea what one wore for an interview to be a nanny. After changing outfits several times she’d opted for a yellow tailored, short-sleeved blouse and skirt, the kind she’d worn to the initial interview on Wednesday. This was her only callback in three days. If she didn’t get hired today, she would have to fly home tomorrow, the last thing she wanted to do.

Her father owned a lumberyard and could always give her a job if she couldn’t find anything that suited her, but it wouldn’t pay her the kind of money she needed. Worse, she didn’t relish the idea of seeing Jeremy again, but it would be inevitable because her ex-fiancé happened to work as a loan officer at the bank where her dad did business. Word would get around she was back.

“Come in, Ms. Chamberlain.”

“Hello, again, Mr. Lloyd.” He was the man who’d taken her initial application.

“Let me introduce you to Mrs. Tribe. She’s the private secretary to a Mr. Nicholas Wainwright here in New York and has been looking for the right nanny for her employer. I’ll leave you two alone for a few minutes.”

The smart-looking brunette woman wearing a professional business suit was probably in her early fifties. “Please sit down. Reese, is it?”

“Yes.”

The other woman cocked her head. “You have excellent references. From your application it’s apparent you’re a student and a scholar. Since you’re single and have no experience taking care of other people’s children, why did you apply to be a nanny?”

Reese could lie, but she had a feeling this woman would see right through her. “I need to earn as much money as possible this summer so I can stay in school until graduation. My academic scholarship doesn’t cover housing and food. Even those of us born in fly-over-country have heard a nanny’s job in New York can pay very well, so I thought I’d try for a position.” Hopefully that explanation was frank enough for her.

“Taking care of children is exceptionally hard work. I know because I raised two of my own.”

Reese smiled. “I’ve never been married, but I’m the oldest in the family of six children and did a lot of babysitting over the years. I was fourteen when my youngest sister was born. My mother had to stay in bed, so I helped with the baby. It was like playing house. My sister was adorable and I loved it. But,” she said as she sighed, “that was twelve years ago. Still, taking care of children is like learning to tie your shoes, don’t you think? Once you’ve figured it out, you never forget.”

The other woman eyed her shrewdly while she nodded. “I agree.”

“How many children do they have?” Please don’t let the number be more than three. Although Reese wouldn’t turn it down if the money was good enough.

“Mr. Wainwright is a widower with a ten-week-old baby boy named Jamie.”

The news concerning the circumstances came as a sobering revelation to Reese. She’d assumed she might end up working for a couple with several children, that is if she were ever offered a job. “Then he’s still grieving for his wife.” She shook her head. “How sad for him and his little boy, who’ll never know his mother.”

Reese got a swelling in her throat just thinking of her own wonderful mom still remarkably young and vital, probably the same age as Mrs. Tribe.

“It’s a tragic loss for both of them. Mr. Wainwright has arranged for a nanny who’s been with another family to start working for him, but she can’t come until September. Because you only wanted summer work, that’s one of the reasons I was interested in your application.”

One of the reasons? She’d aroused Reese’s curiosity. “What were the others?”

“You didn’t name an unrealistic salary. Finally, one of your professors at Wharton told me you’ve been on full academic scholarship there. Good for you. An opportunity like that only comes to a very elite group of graduate students. It means you’re going to have a brilliant career in business one day.”

To run her own brokerage firm was Reese’s goal for the future. “That’s my dream.”

The dream that had torn her and Jeremy apart.

Jeremy had been fine about her finishing up her undergraduate work at the University of Nebraska, but the scholarship to Wharton had meant a big move to Pennsylvania. The insinuation that she was too ambitious led to the core of the problem eating at him. Jeremy hadn’t wanted a future-executive for a wife. In return Reese realized she’d had a lucky escape from a future-controlling-husband. Their breakup had been painful at the time, but the hurt was going away. She didn’t want him back. Therein lay the proof.

Mrs. Tribe sat back in her chair and studied Reese. “It was my dream, too, but I didn’t get the kind of grades I saw on your transcripts. Another of your professors told me he sees a touch of genius in you. I liked hearing that about you.”

Reese couldn’t imagine which professor that was. “You’ve made my day.”