Contracted For The Spaniard's Heir. CATHY WILLIAMS
suggestion—especially if you tell me that you need money.’
‘I never said that I needed money.’
‘You don’t have to but I’m good at joining dots. I heard the anxiety in your voice when you talked to me about reuniting those dogs with their owners. You were apprehensive about upsetting them. You don’t want to upset them because, however much you love dogs and love walking, it’s not a labour of love for you. Ergo, you need the money.
‘Now, don’t get me wrong. I don’t give a damn what you want the money for—addiction to fine wine, an obsession with designer clothes...or maybe you’re saving for a round-the-world cruise. I don’t care. It’s all the same to me. You have no criminal record, because checks would have been done on you before you became a teacher. Here’s the deal.’
He leant forward, palms flattened on the desk. ‘I no longer have a nanny and I can’t afford to spare the time out for babysitting duties. Miss Muller isn’t going to be able to step up to the plate here and I would not ask her to. However, as I said to you, my nephew took to you and that in itself speaks volumes. Combined with the fact that you clearly need the money, we could work together towards a satisfactory solution to my problem.’
Ellie stared at him in a daze. She was accustomed to controlling situations. It was part and parcel of her job, but right now she felt as though she had handed the reins over to someone who was cheerfully steering her in the direction he wanted her to go.
‘I’ll admit my immediate reaction to you showing up at my front door with my godson was one of instant suspicion.’
Ellie was fascinated by Luca’s lack of apology for behaviour that frankly had been pretty outrageous. When she had walked Jake back, she had anticipated gratitude. She had mentally prepared an informative speech about the importance of family and of understanding the psyche of children. It was going to be a severe speech, as befitted the situation. She had even mulled over the possibility that she might step into a quagmire that would necessitate outside intervention. She worked in a school where that sort of thing had occurred on a couple of occasions, although something about Jake had made her think that his family life wasn’t going to be a disaster zone. His clothes had been dishevelled and muddy from the dogs but expensive all the same.
She hadn’t anticipated a series of events that had seen her told coolly that she could have been hauled down to a police station, accused of staging the whole thing for money and then eventually been given the all-clear without a hint of remorse.
‘I got that,’ Ellie said tightly as her mind continued to whirr. She couldn’t take her eyes off him. He was larger than life in every sense of the word and in his presence every nerve-ending in her body was on red alert, every sense and pulse stretched to breaking point. From the proud angle of his head to the luxuriant dark hair and exotically sculpted features, the man oozed more than just sexuality and it knocked her for six.
And now he was offering her a job?
‘Naturally I would do my own background check on you anyway,’ he murmured, half to himself.
‘You’re offering me a job?’ Just in case she’d got hold of the wrong end of the stick.
‘The circumstances are a little unusual,’ Luca admitted. ‘It’s not in my nature to jump into anything without first testing the water, but I need someone to look after Jake, and sooner rather than later...’
‘But you could always just take a couple of weeks off work. Maybe go on holiday with him whilst the agency finds a replacement. If he’s had trouble settling down then a holiday might be just the thing he needs.’
‘I don’t have time for holidays,’ Luca said flatly.
‘Never?’ Ellie asked incredulously, wondering what the point of being rich was if you never took time out to enjoy your hard-earned cash. If she had money, then she would travel the world. It was a luxury she had never had.
‘There’s no time off when you’re running a business the size of mine.’ Luca shrugged. ‘It may sound harsh but I’m simply being realistic.’ He leaned back and sighed heavily, with a hint of impatience. ‘This escapade has made me realise that Jake needs someone who is not only capable of taking him from A to B and making sure he is fed and watered, but someone with whom he has some kind of bond. He clearly didn’t bond with either of the previous nannies, but in the space of a very short time he managed to do that with you, and I’m guessing your experience as a teacher has something to do with that.’ He looked at her shrewdly. ‘So here we are.’
‘I already have a job,’ Ellie said. As job offers went, this one certainly hadn’t been wrapped up in any pretty packaging. He was in a jam and she was a possible solution. No beating about the bush with any niceties.
‘Teaching, and walking dogs for the additional income.’
She decided not to go down the ‘needing money’ road again. Luca made her nervous and uncomfortable and she couldn’t think of anything worse than working for him. ‘There’s no way,’ she said politely, ‘that I would ever consider jacking in my full-time job to become a nanny to your godson. I love my job. I enjoy working with lots of different kids.’
He would make a terrible employer. It was obvious that he was as warm and cuddly as a rattlesnake. He thought nothing of getting rid of people who didn’t live up to his high expectations and, while he was quick to blame, he didn’t seem prepared to accept that he might be the root cause of Jake’s behaviour.
Work for him?
She would rather walk on a bed of burning coals. Part of the reason she enjoyed what she did, aside from the satisfaction of working with the kids, was that she really loved the people she worked alongside.
They were on her wavelength. They were all part of the greater caring community who didn’t rush to put themselves first.
Luca Ross was part of the cut-throat community who thought nothing of taking what they wanted whatever the cost. He was arrogant, ruthless and manipulative. She’d been in his company for a handful of hours and already she felt wrung out.
‘I’m not talking about a long-term position,’ he clarified, still fully confident that he was going to get what he wanted because, frankly, he always did. ‘Of course, a suitable nanny will be found in due course, but that’s going to take time, and this time around I will have more input to the procedure than previously.’
Ellie was making a mental list in her head of all the things she disliked about him and she tacked this new one on. He probably left choosing the nannies to his secretary because he was too busy and couldn’t be bothered...
‘I’m sorry,’ she said, standing up so that he could take the hint that their conversation was at an end. Her body broke out in light perspiration as he slowly rose to his feet. He strolled towards her, in no hurry.
His long, lean body oozed latent strength and suffocating masculinity. She could almost see the flex of sinew and muscle under the charcoal-grey trousers and the white shirt, which he had cuffed to the elbow. His forearms were liberally sprinkled with dark hair. She wondered whether his chest would likewise be sprinkled with dark hair and she furiously stopped herself in crazy mid-thought.
He cast an ominous shadow as he finally paused to stand in front of her, and Ellie had to will herself not to cower.
The mental checklist of things she disliked about the man was growing by the second. Not only did he think he could get whatever he wanted but he was not averse to using sheer brawn and intimidation tactics to get there.
‘Sorry?’
‘I’m not interested in working for you.’ She cleared her throat and their eyes collided, causing the air to rush out of her body in a whoosh. ‘I appreciate the offer, but you’re better off going back to the agency, and maybe taking more of a hands-on approach this time, because you seemed to imply that you hadn’t on the previous occasions.’
‘How can you appreciate my offer when