The Nanny Solution. SUSAN MEIER
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of her and that could mean he sensed she was here under false pretenses. But that was only half true. Her main purpose might be to observe how he lived, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t take care of his son. Even analyzing Jake, she could effortlessly fulfill her duties as nanny.
Second, she really liked him. He was funny and, in spite of his wealth, he lived a relatively normal life. His house stood alone on the outskirts of town for privacy, but despite its size and beauty, it was a comfortable house. He was a comfortable guy.
Third, even though he was a jet-setting playboy, Jake made an adorable father. It was a role no one expected to see him play, but just as he did everything else in his life, he made fatherhood look easy.
But that was exactly why Hannah was here. She was sure it was sophistication that helped Jake make everything look simple and she wanted some of that sophistication. She didn’t think just being around him would cause her to absorb the information and experience she needed, and she suspected that once they became better friends she would have to ask him questions. But that only reinforced that she had to be here. Seeing how the other half lived, making friends and asking questions to learn everything she could was Phase One of her new life plan. Phase Two was to get a job in Pittsburgh, once she had sophistication enough that she could ace an interview. And Phase Three was to actually move out of town.
She had to be here. If it killed her, she had to overcome his suspicions of her.
“Well, I’m off,” Jake said. “There’s a maid who comes twice a week, by the way. Don’t even rinse the dishes. Just take care of Dixon.”
“Okay,” Hannah said, smiling at him as he kissed his little boy goodbye.
But when he stepped forward to hand the baby to Hannah, their eyes met and she didn’t know how she knew, but she got the sudden impression he was thinking he should be kissing her goodbye too.
Heat suffused her. So did an awful need. He was absolutely everything any woman would want in a man, and he was within arm’s distance. He also seemed to like her. Was it so hard to believe…
Damn it! She had to stop this wishful thinking! She could not be attracted to him. He was so far out of her league he would hurt her and there was no phase in her new life plan to accommodate getting over a broken heart.
She took Dixon from his hands and stepped back several paces. “Have fun in Paris.”
Jake nodded once quickly, then bolted out the door.
Hannah breathed a sigh of relief. If she didn’t behave herself, he was going to realize that she found him attractive and he would fire her and then she would be sunk.
“So, how did it go?”
Maria asked the question the very second Hannah stepped into the day care with Jake Malloy’s little boy. But Maria wasn’t the only Evans sister at their aunt’s day care that morning, and Hannah knew the crowd hadn’t gathered simply to help Aunt Sadie.
“How did what go?” she asked, being deliberately obtuse because she knew her sisters could be dangerous when they set their minds to something.
Sadie took Dixon, car seat and all, from Hannah’s hands. “The thing with Jake, you idiot.”
“There is no ‘thing’ with me and Jake except an opportunity for me to make money.”
As Hannah said the last, her aunt Sadie came to the doorway where Hannah stood mobbed by her sisters. Tall and slender, dressed in blue jeans and a simple coral-colored blouse, she cut through the half moon made by the three women and effortlessly took Hannah’s hand, turning her away from her sisters and toward herself.
“I’m so sorry that you lost your job.”
Hannah smiled at her aunt. Her dark hair was growing back slowly in curly tufts, and her green eyes had a healthy sparkle that put everybody’s mind at ease. Behind her, the play yards and toy boxes that symbolized Aunt Sadie’s first love rimmed the open area used for games and naps.
“I’m going to be fine, Aunt Sadie. In fact, I have a plan.”
“You do?” all three of her sisters said at once.
“Yes. I might be the baby of the family, but I’m twenty-four years old. An adult. Who can solve her own problems.”
Hannah’s sister Sadie set Dixon’s travel seat on a changing table and began to unfasten the belts that held him secure. “So, what are you going to do?”
“Well, instead of using the money Jake pays me to make my student loan payments—” Hannah began, but Sadie interrupted her.
“Oh, Hannah, I forgot to tell you. On Friday night when Caro mentioned your student loans, Troy told me to tell you to round up your information and he’ll pay them off for you.”
“He doesn’t have to…”
“He knows that. But he’s got more money than he’ll ever use and considers paying tuition and paying college loans as his part to help educate the country. He’s happy to do it. Besides,” Sadie said, laughing as she lifted Dixon out of the seat and gave him a smacking kiss. “If you don’t give him the information, he has ways of getting it. He intends to pay off your college loans. You’re not going to stop him.”
“You know I’d rather try to pay them off myself, but I really appreciate his offer,” Hannah said, realizing her sister was right. If Troy wanted to do this he would. Just as he had provided Aunt Sadie with financial security by giving her the day-care contract for the Sunbright Solutions employees he’d brought from California when he transferred his company to Wil-burn, and just as he was currently building a new facility to accommodate them, Troy appeared to want to give her a start in life too.
“That actually speeds up my plans.”
Caro took the baby from Sadie and nuzzled his neck. “What plans?”
“Jake’s not going to have Dixon forever. So, being his nanny isn’t a permanent job.”
“You can work here,” Aunt Sadie suggested.
Hannah smiled at her. “I know that, but I…”
“But you what?” Maria asked as she took Dixon from Caro.
“I want to leave town.”
All three of her sisters gaped at her. “What?”
“I need to leave town. Look at you guys,” she said, waving her hand in their direction. As comfortable in jeans and soft cotton blouses as they had been in evening gowns, her three sisters had shifted from being glamour girls to being mothers. Maria had her own children. Caro was helping Max raise his eighteen-month-old daughter Bethany. Sadie was mother to Troy’s twins from his first marriage. Hannah could see Max’s Bethany now, in the far corner of the playroom, being entertained by Troy’s two eight-year-old daughters. “I’m not anywhere near like you.”
Sadie gasped. “Of course, you are.”
“No. I’m not. I’ve never been away from home. I want to be away from home.”
Caro stared at her. “Really?”
“Yes.”
“And I agree with her,” Aunt Sadie said, taking Dixon from Maria who had just finished tickling his tummy. “I think if Hannah feels she needs to leave home, then now is the time.”
“Well, now isn’t exactly the time. I still need to get some money together. If Troy’s going to pay off my loans, I’ll save the money Jake pays me and in a few months I’ll have enough to move to whatever town I can find a job in.”
Aunt Sadie smiled. “I think that’s a great idea.”
Marie gave Hannah a concerned look.
Caro bestowed a confused expression.
Sadie Jr. crossed her arms on her chest and studied her.
“Forget