No one liked to be made a fool of and Casey Thomas had
reason to hate it more than most. The last time someone did
it, her best friend had died.
The last thing she needed was manipulation from her boss.
And what a boss she was. Ginger Davis was a beautiful
brunette who proved that fifty really was the new thirty and
not just a marketing phrase. The president and CEO of the
Las Vegas-based Nanny Network had to be on the far side of
forty-nine but didn't look anywhere close to that.
Apparently she thrived on the stress generated by managing
the exclusive, expensive company specializing in child care
for the rich and famous.
Casey glared across the glass-topped desk in her boss's home
office. "This could have been handled over the phone,
Ginger. You insisted I come here because you don't think I
can tell you no to your face."
Ginger folded her hands, then rested them on a stack of
files, her expression not the least bit apologetic. "I
wanted you to meet Blake Decker and his orphaned
niece and tell him no to his face."
If that wasn't blatant manipulation, Casey would eat her
Child Rearing for Dummies handbook. The woman just
had to get the word orphaned in there. It wasn't
that Casey was unsympathetic. She'd lost her own mother when
she was eleven. But as a nanny, she had rules—and good
reasons for them.
She had the physical and emotional scars to prove that
undoing a system of beliefs ingrained over many years was a
losing proposition and a waste of time and energy. Army
service had taught her that life was unpredictable and
whatever time one had on this earth should not be squandered
by spitting into the wind. If she was going to help a child,
it would be in the child's formative years, before negative
influences took hold.
"You know my focus is on children under ten years old."
Her boss nodded. "And you know that my job is to pair up my
employees with clients who are a good fit. You're happy. The
client is happy. Everyone is happy."
Casey wasn't feeling the love. "Is this where we link arms
and sing 'Kumbaya'?"
"If that works for you." Ginger smiled. "Casey, I know what
happened to you overseas while you were in the service. And
I understand why you specialize in a certain age group. I've
respected your boundaries without question since you joined
the Nanny Network family."
Owing this woman was darned inconvenient. Ginger had taken
her on after she'd been medically discharged from the army.
Casey had received on-the-job training in the preschool
Nooks and Nannies and was now working for the Nanny Network
while taking early childhood development classes to finish
up her elementary school teaching credential.
She was a live-in nanny, caring for children ten and under,
giving them a stable base of operations and showing them how
to be upstanding human beings through example, discipline
and love. The career was incredibly rewarding. And she
needed all the rewarding she could get to fill up her
redemption jar. When a friend paid with their life because
of you, going on with your own life wasn't easy.
Still, she was trying to make a difference as best she
could. Why did Ginger have to put her on the spot? Why
couldn't Ginger let her continue to do what she loved to do
on her own terms?
"I'm already working for the Redmonds."
"You have a break for the next month, while they're in
Europe with Heidi and Jack. I'll have a replacement when
they return."
The truth was, Casey had been dreading having too much time
on her hands to think. That didn't mean she was willing to
bend her rules. "I have plans for my time off."
"And I need to ask you to cancel them as a favor to me. This
little girl is twelve—only two years over your bottom line.
She's a kid who needs a break."
Casey knew she was going to hate herself for asking but
couldn't stop the words. "Why should I make an exception for
Blake Decker and his orphaned niece?"
"See for yourself." Ginger hit her intercom and asked her
assistant to send them in.
There was very little wiggle room between a rock and a hard
place, and Casey hated that, too.
Moments after the summons a man came into the office with a
young girl strolling behind him. He walked right up to
Casey, who was still standing in front of Ginger's desk.
"Blake Decker," he said.
"Casey Thomas," she answered, shaking the hand he held out.
He looked at the girl beside him. "This is my niece Mia Decker."
"Nice to meet you, Mia."
"Yeah. Whatever."
The child barely made eye contact. In her threadbare jeans,
multilayered T-shirts and zippered cardigan sweatshirt,
which was hanging off her shoulders, she was the picture of
bored indifference. She was also a beautiful little girl
with long, wavy brown hair and huge eyes that were an
unusual shade of blue-green, almost turquoise.
Apparently the remarkable Decker DNA was liberally spread
around. Her uncle was an exceptionally good-looking man
somewhere in his mid- to late thirties. Casey had seen her
share of hunks in the army, but this guy's dark hair, blue
eyes and square jaw could fill movie theater seats around
the world.
The dark charcoal suit, red tie and white shirt fit his
tall, lean body perfectly and looked expensive. Instinct
told her that he could afford the Nanny Network's upscale
price tag, but so far she hadn't seen any reason to make an
exception to her personal rules. Not even the fact that he
looked like he wanted to wring his niece's neck for her
rudeness and attitude.
"I'm sorry for Mia's bad manners," he finally said.
"And I'm sorry you're such a dork," Mia shot back.
Ginger cleared her throat. "Why don't you both sit down and
everyone can get better acquainted."
"What for?" Mia asked. "He's just going to dump me like
everyone else."
Her uncle shifted uncomfortably. "Mia, I'm not going to dump
you—"
"Define everyone," Casey said.
The girl stared angrily at her. "Why do you care?"
"I don't," Casey answered honestly. The last thing this kid
needed was an adult patronizing her. "I don't know you well
enough to have an emotional investment in you."
"Then why are you asking questions?" Mia demanded.
"Call it curiosity."
"I'm not show-and-tell," the kid snapped. "This is all just
stupid—"
"Mia—" Blake's cell phone rang and he pulled it from the
case at his waist. After looking at the caller ID, he
replaced the phone and let the call go to voice mail. He
shot his niece a stern look as he stared down at her. "Miss
Davis asked you to sit."
Mia glared defiantly for several moments, then apparently
decided that arguing about this wasn't a hill she wanted to
die on. Without a word she flopped into a chair, although
her body language was anything but silent. The slouch and
scowl said loud and clear that every adult in the room was a
complete moron.
In spite of herself, Casey was getting sucked in, and
apparently her boss knew and planned to capitalize on the
weakness.
The first clue was when Ginger stood and said, "I'm going to
let the three of you talk. I have some calls to make and
I'll just step into the other room to do that."
Before Casey could protest, they were alone. She wanted to
end this meeting and walk out, too, but the girl's words had
struck a nerve. "You didn't answer my question, Mia. Who
else dumped you?"
"My niece has had a tough time," Blake said for Mia. "My
sister wasn't in a good place and never developed the
instincts or skills to handle her. There's no point in going
over all that."
Casey looked up at him, way up. "First of all, Mr. Decker,
my question was directed to Mia." She glanced at the girl
and noticed something in her eyes. It vanished almost
instantly, but for just a moment interest had replaced the
bored look. "Secondly, may I ask what you do for a living?"
"I'm an attorney."
"Family law?"
"Not exactly."
"What exactly?" Casey asked.
"Divorce." He met her gaze but it was impossible to tell
what he was thinking.
"I see." She looked at the child. "Are you going to answer
my question?"
"Do I have to?" Mia glared.
"Yes." Casey folded her arms and looked down, letting Mia
know she was prepared to wait as long as necessary.
"I forgot what it was."
"Who else dumped you?" Casey repeated.
After several moments, Mia huffed out an exasperated breath.
"My father split before I was born. My mother died. I stayed
with his sister for a while but she didn't want me."
"It's not that black-and-white," her uncle said.
"Sure it is," Mia shot back, her beautiful eyes spitting
anger and resentment. "No one wants me. Including you."
The words touched Casey somewhere deep inside and she looked
at the girl. "Mia, would you mind waiting for your uncle in
the other room?"
"Why?"
"Because I'd like to speak with him alone." Casey met the
defiant gaze and said wryly, "What have you got to lose?
This is all stupid, anyway. Right?"
Her full cupid's bow mouth pulled into a straight line
before Mia snapped, "Whatever."
She stomped out of the room and slammed the door.
Casey leaned back against the glass-topped desk as she
looked at the uncle. "If it's not black-and-white, there
must be shades of gray, Mr. Decker. Tell me about your niece."
He unbuttoned his suit jacket and rested his hands on lean
hips. "It's an old story, Miss Thomas. My sister got
involved with the wrong guy. She got pregnant. My parents
threw her out and she disappeared. I was away at college and
never heard from her. I didn't even know I had a niece until
Child Protective Services recently contacted me. There's no
one else to take her."
The kid was right. He didn't want her, either. "You could
let her go into the state system."
"No."
"Why not?"
"That's a good question." His phone rang again, and when he
looked at the number, he said, "Excuse me. I have to take
this." Flipping the phone open, he snapped, "What?" After
listening, he nodded. "I'll be there in a half hour. It's a
deposition. They can wait." He ended the call and replaced
the phone in its case, never taking his gaze from hers. "You
want to know why I took her in and I wish I had an answer.
It could be as simple as the fact that she's family, but it
doesn't feel that way. She's a stranger. All I can tell you
for sure is that she's not going to Child Protective Services."
Casey respected his honesty a lot more than she wanted to.
She wished he were a complete jerk, which would make it easy
to tell him to take a flying leap. Instead she asked, "Why
do you need a nanny?"
"I have to work." He ran his fingers through his hair. "It's
safe to say that I have no idea how to raise any child, let
alone a girl. She's too young to leave unsupervised."
"There are after-school programs." Casey could feel her
resolve weakening. Darn Ginger. She was right about
telling him no to his face. The rock and the hard place were
putting the squeeze on her. "I'd be happy to recommend
activities that will give her supervision while you work."
"First of all, my workday is longer than your after-school
activities." He blew out a long breath. "Second, don't
pretend that she's your average, normal twelve-year-old
girl. She needs more than arts and crafts and a field trip
to the zoo."
"What does she need?"
"You tell me. That's your area of expertise." He held his
hands out in a helpless gesture that looked like it didn't
fit, like it was foreign to him. "If you were a client
wanting to dissolve your marriage, I would be the legal
professional you'd consult."
"But I'm not." She'd never been married. Came close once,
but it didn't happen. She wasn't marriage material. Marriage
required trust and that was blasted out of her by a suicide
bomber in Iraq.
He met her gaze and there was something almost desperate in
his own. "My point is that a good lawyer knows when he is
out of his depth and needs to consult an expert.
Specifically, I need an expert on children. The Nanny
Network comes highly recommended and Miss Davis tells me
you're the expert I need to consult."
This man was asking her to intervene on behalf of an
obviously troubled girl and she didn't want to go there
again. Her judgment couldn't be trusted and it wasn't fair
to either of them for her to agree to the arrangement.
"Did she also tell you that I don't accept clients over a
certain age?"
"Yes. I asked her to prevail upon you to make an exception
in Mia's case."
"I can't do that. I'm sorry." She straightened away from the
desk. "Ginger has a lot of contacts. I'm sure she can help
you find someone."
"She already found you and she tells me you're highly
qualified for Mia's needs. I'd really like you to think it
over," he said.
So she'd finally told him no to his face and he didn't
understand the meaning of the word. Casey walked to the door
and opened it. "I've already made up my mind."
She glanced around, expecting to see a hostile Mia slouched
in a chair, with antagonism rolling off her like sound
waves. Instead the room was empty.
Blake Decker needed this like a brain aneurysm. He had
back-to-back appointments stacked up like planes waiting to
land and was due in court after lunch for a high-profile
celebrity client whose wife had been caught cheating by the
paparazzi. Mia couldn't have picked a worse day to do a
disappearing act.
In the elevator, he glanced down at Casey. "You don't need
to help look for her."
"No. But two pairs of eyes are better than one."
When the elevator reached the ground floor, the doors
whooshed open and he held out a hand, indicating she should
precede him. They hurried across the lobby of the luxurious
high-rise building and walked outside, then scanned up and
down the sidewalk, looking for a glimpse of Mia.
"Do you see her?" he asked.
Casey stood on tiptoe, trying to see around the pedestrians
strolling past. "That green sweatshirt she was wearing will
stand out, but I don't see it."
Blake wondered how this day had gone so horribly wrong.
Technically, things had started south when Mia came to live
with him a couple weeks ago. Since then his days and nights
had been a nightmare of calls from school regarding
tardiness and skipped classes, of not knowing where the kid
was half the time, and of wondering what she was doing while
he was at work.
He was a lawyer. He was good at it and understood the law.