The Wedding Planners

Planning perfect weddings…

finding happy endings!

It’s the biggest and most important day of a woman’s life—and it has to be perfect.

At least, that’s what The Wedding Belles believe, and that’s why they’re Boston’s top wedding planner agency. But amidst the beautiful bouquets, divine dresses and rose petal confetti, these six wedding planners long to be planning their own big day!

But first they have to find Mr Right…

This month: Susan Meier MILLIONAIRE DAD, NANNY NEEDED! Accountant: will Audra’s budget for the big day include a millionaire groom?

And don’t miss the exciting wedding planner tips and author reminiscences that accompany each book!

Susan tells us all about the unexpected twist to her own big day:

‘The day of my wedding a blizzard pounded our side of the state. Only about half the expected guests showed up and they were rowdy—if only because they were thrilled to be out of the storm. After the bridal dance, my aunt took my shoe for luck. So when our car slid off the icy road and got stuck in a snow drift on the drive home, we couldn’t walk. I only had one shoe.

‘Eventually, a Good Samaritan stopped to help—and he just happened to be one of my former bosses. He gave us a ride to a gas station, and the attendant and my husband took the tow truck to get our car. I walked into the garage in my wedding gown, with one bare foot, not sure how long I’d have to wait or how to explain to customers why I was partially shoeless.

‘My husband and I were so tired when we got home that we ended up playing gin rummy most of the night. It seemed like a horrible way to start a marriage, but considering that the marriage has been filled with love and laughter it must not have been. Standing in the garage with one shoe, I never realised I’d come to love that story.

‘Plus, when anybody wants to talk about weddings, I have the best story!’

Catch up with Susan and her latest projects at www.susanmeier.com

Visit http://harlequin-theweddingplanners.blogspot.com to find out more…

MILLIONAIRE DAD, NANNY NEEDED!

BY

SUSAN MEIER

www.millsandboon.co.uk

Audra is the accountant at The Wedding Belles and has some great tips on sticking to a wedding budget, no matter how big or small:

Create a budget. Determine the amount of money you have to spend and apportion it appropriately. Figure out how much you can afford to spend on your dress, the decorations, the caterer…and everything else needed to make your day perfect. Don’t forget the little things, like paying the singers and clergy at the ceremony.

Don’t stop with a budget! Once you determine how much you have to spend, keep track of your real expenditures on a spreadsheet. Review the sheet regularly to have a clear picture of where your money is going and how much you have left to spend.

Bargain shop. Wedding shops frequently run sales on bridal gowns. There are places on the internet to purchase inexpensive invitations. Rather than buy from the first shop, do a little investigating and you may just find exactly what you want at a lower price.

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CHAPTER ONE

THE Wedding Belles’ three-story townhouse in the heart of Boston was always a flurry of activity, but that Friday, the number of people and the noise level they created had hit new heights. Brides—accompanied by their attendants and clucking mothers—filled the offices and spilled into the hallways. The scent of chocolate cake wafted through the air. A rainbow of color flowed from gowns through flower arrangements and favors for the reception dinner tables. Sequins on white bride dresses and veils caught the morning sun pouring in through the windows and sent flashes of light through the foyer, into the corridors, up the stairs.

Audra Greene, accountant for Wedding Belles, worked her way through a gaggle of giggling bridesmaids, creating a rustle of satin and lace. She edged around the wedding party considering various shades of blue and the party trying on dresses in pinks and lavenders, smiling politely and saying, “Hello,” and “Excuse me,” on her way to her third-floor office.

Finally there, she closed the thick wooden door and leaned against it with a sigh.

The Belles’ copper-haired, pixie-featured general assistant, Julie Montgomery, laughed. “It’s a jungle out there.”

Removing her navy blue coat, Audra strode to her antique desk. “How many weddings are they working on?”

“Let’s see. The weddings for June of next year are in the initial planning stages. September brides are finalizing details.”

“And April brides are panicking?” Audra hung her coat in the closet before she slid onto her tall-backed brown suede chair in front of the billowing yellow silk drapes that gave the room the rich, elegant feel that she loved.

Julie tilted her head, considering that. “The Belles like to think of it as maximizing last-minute opportunities.” With a chuckle, she went back to inputting invoices into the computer to pay that month’s bills.

Audra’s chest tightened as she watched Julie. The assistant—and the Belles for that matter—had no reason to check into the most recent deposit in the business account and discover it was actually every cent of Audra’s savings. Or that the estimated income taxes they’d sent in wouldn’t cover this year’s bill. Paying the difference would drain the Wedding Belles’ coffers and they wouldn’t have enough money for the wedding they’d promised to Julie. But Audra knew.

Still, she didn’t immediately turn on her computer and begin writing the e-mail to the other Belles about their dire financial straits. She needed to tell them—this morning—before Julie’s wedding plans went any further. But she couldn’t do it in front of Julie.

“Julie, would you do me a favor?”

Always eager to please, Julie quickly glanced up. “Sure.”

“I should have grabbed a bottle of water from the kitchen, but I have something I have to do right now. It can’t wait—” Loath to ask the Belles’ assistant to run this kind of personal errand, Audra had no choice. She needed a few minutes of privacy, and when Julie entered invoices for payment she shared Audra’s office. “Could you get me a bottle of water?”

“Sure!”

Julie sprang from her seat. “I can’t believe you’d hesitate to ask me! I’m so indebted to you guys. I’d do anything for any of you.”

At the gratitude and affection she heard in Julie’s voice, Audra winced. “Please, you don’t need to say that.”

Julie smiled radiantly, her pretty blue eyes shining. “Are you nuts? That’s like saying I shouldn’t be grateful! There isn’t enough gratitude in the world to show you how much I appreciate what you’re doing for me.”

Disappointment tightened Audra’s chest, squeezing her heart. Julie was the kindest, most unselfish person Audra knew and life had treated her abysmally. The Belles weren’t paying for her wedding because they were wonderful. They had made the decision because Julie was wonderful. Sweet. And she deserved the kindness. Audra felt as if she, personally, were the one letting her down. After all, she was the one in charge of finances.

At the office door, Julie turned with a smile. “I’ll be back in a second.”

Heartsick, Audra said, “Take your time.”

Julie left the room, and Audra sank into her chair, turned on her computer and was about to begin composing the e-mail to the Belles explaining that they couldn’t afford to pick up the tab for Julie’s wedding. But with Julie’s appreciation still hanging in the air, she couldn’t do it. The words simply wouldn’t come. The most she could write was a request for an emergency meeting in the conference room. She hit Send, then shifted over to a word-processing program to try to compose a few lines she could say in the meeting to tell the Belles they couldn’t afford Julie’s wedding.

Once again, she couldn’t think of a way to soften the blow of having to break a promise. So, instead of typing on her keyboard, Audra reached for her phone and tapped out the numbers for her mother’s cell phone.

“Are you busy?”

“Always,” her mother said with a laugh. “But you never call me at work, so you must have a problem that’s more important than the blueberry pies I’m baking.”

“I do.”

“What’s up?”

Worried that Julie would return in the middle of her story, Audra said, “I don’t have time to explain, but we’re out of money.”

Her mother gasped. “Wedding Belles is going bankrupt?”

“No, we have enough money to make it through the next few months if we’re careful. The problem is we promised our assistant a wedding. If we give her the wedding we’ve been planning, we’ll end up over our heads in debt. If we don’t, we have to go back on our word.”

“Oh, honey. That’s terrible.”

Audra glanced at the door. “I shouldn’t have called. Julie’s going to be back any second and I can’t talk in front of her. But I feel awful and I don’t know what to do. I can’t even think of a way to explain our problem in an e-mail to the Belles. I’m a mess!”

“Wow, for you to admit you can’t organize or plan yourself out of a situation, things must be bad. Dominic’s gone,” she said referring to Dominic Manelli, the youngest of the Manelli children, current CEO of Manelli Holdings, only resident of the family home and Mary Greene’s employer. “Left as if his feet were on fire. So why don’t you come over? I’ll make coffee. We’ll talk. Two heads are always better than one. Maybe together we could come up with something?”

The prospect of getting out of the office relieved some of Audra’s stress. Even thinking about staying in the same room with Julie while she entered invoices and chatted happily about her wedding sent a dagger through Audra’s heart. And her mother was smart. Analytical. That’s where Audra had gotten her own logical thinking ability. Maybe together they could figure a solution to this problem? Or if nothing else, maybe they could find a way to soften the blow, not just for Julie, but for the Belles who would be devastated at not being able to keep their promise.

“I’ll be over in about twenty minutes.”

“I should have pie for you by then.”

Audra laughed. Her mother always knew how to make her feel better. “Just make a crust and lots of chocolate pudding.”

Her mother chuckled. “Should I have whipped topping?”

“Yes!” She sighed. “Thanks, Mom.”

Audra hung up the phone and rose from her seat just as Julie entered the room. “Here’s your water.”

“Thanks.” Audra set the bottle on her desk, then pulled her practical coat from the closet and shrugged into it. “I need to go out. I’ll be gone for most of the morning. If anybody’s looking for me, they can reach me on my cell.”

Looking a bit perplexed, Julie said, “Okay.”

Audra slipped out of the office. In the corridors and on the stairs, she once again battled brides, bridesmaids and sparkly gowns to get to the door and out into the fat fluffy flakes falling on Boston.

Traffic prevented her from making it to the Manelli estate in twenty minutes as she’d hoped. Almost forty minutes had passed before the guard at the gate let her onto the property. The heavy snow that had been falling steadily clung to the lush evergreens that lined the long lane and the bare branches of stately oaks in the front yard, making the Manelli estate a winter wonderland. Audra drove around the circular driveway to the servants’ entrance, and was surprised to find a pretty blue Mercedes parked in front of the kitchen door.

Getting out of her car, she noticed a man dipping into the backseat of the car. Dressed in a black suit and topcoat with a white scarf around his neck, he looked as if he could have stepped off the cover of a magazine. Except, when he pulled out of the car again, he was wrestling a baby, a diaper bag and a bottle.

The baby, a boy if the blue snowsuit was any indicator, wiggled out of the extra blanket wrapped around him. It landed in a puddle in the driveway. Then the bottle fell. Then the diaper bag. Even the baby slipped a bit.

“Damn it!”

Audra ran over. “Here,” she said, stooping down to gather the soaked blanket, bottle and diaper bag.

“Thanks.”

Recognizing the voice, Audra snapped her gaze upward. “Dominic?”

He looked down. “Yes?”

Baby items in hand, she rose. She’d last seen Dominic Manelli when she was twelve, attending her final Manelli employee Christmas party with her mother. That would have been fourteen years ago. The teenage Dominic she remembered from her childhood had grown into a tall, lean man. His black hair was as short as he could possibly wear it, making his wide brown eyes his most prominent feature. His once boyish grin was now a sexy smile.

“It’s me. Audra Greene. Mary’s daughter.”

“Oh, my goodness! Audra!” His gaze rippled from her blond hair, down her simple coat. “Wow. Look at you. All grown-up.”

“Yep.” She laughed, but having Dominic notice her as a woman made her tummy flip-flop. She’d had a monster crush on him most of her childhood. “Time didn’t stop just because my mother wished it would.”

Dominic chuckled, juggling the baby, who appeared to be about six months old. Wisps of yellow hair peeked out from the pale blue hood of a one-piece snowsuit. Curious blue eyes studied Audra.

“Whoever decided babies’ winter wear should be made of slippery material needs to be shot.” He jostled the baby again. “I’ll never get used to holding him!”

Audra didn’t know Dominic had gotten married, let alone that he’d had a child, but her mother didn’t talk about the family she worked for. That was one of the reasons the Manellis loved and trusted her…and had promoted her over the years from cook all the way to household manager.

“Your baby looks about six months old. If you’re not accustomed to holding him by now, you’re in trouble.”

“He’s not mine.” He sucked in a breath. “Well, he is now. Joshua is my brother Peter’s son.”

Audra nearly groaned at her stupidity. It had been all over the papers three months ago when Dominic’s brother, Peter, and his wife had been killed when their private plane went down in a wooded area in New York. “Oh, Dominic. I’m so sorry.”

“It’s all right.”

“No, it’s not. I should have realized this was Peter’s son.” To shift the conversation from the painful topic, Audra hoisted the diaper bag over her shoulder and opened her arms to the baby. “Let me take him while you get the rest of his things out of your car.”

Dominic unexpectedly laughed. “I’d let you take him, but I can’t get the rest of his things out of the car. I don’t even know how they installed the car seat. Forget about figuring out how to take it out. And I have to take it out. I’ll be using the SUV for him from now on. I should have thought that through before taking this car to pick him up.”

“You want the car seat out?”

“Yes.”

“I’ll get it.” With a smile, she handed him Joshua’s bottle and slid the diaper bag up his arm onto his shoulder. “I have four nieces and nephews. If I want to take them for ice cream I have to be able to get all their seats out of my sisters’ cars and into mine.”

“Wouldn’t it be simpler just to take your sister’s car?”

She frowned. “I have two sisters. I can’t drive two cars at once. I have to take the seats out of one of them.”

He chuckled again. “I forgot what a stickler for detail you are.”

She made a face at him, then ducked into the back seat of his Mercedes, inspecting for the belts and clasps that secured the seat. “After all the fun we had slipping out of your family’s employee Christmas parties, how could you forget me?”

“I didn’t forget you. I said I forgot what a stickler for detail you are. And, if I remember correctly, we didn’t slip out of my family’s Christmas parties. I slipped out. You always found me and squealed on me.”

“I was twelve. To me that was fun.”

“Right.”

“Bet you were glad when I stopped coming with my mom.”

“About the time you stopped coming I stopped slipping out.” He laughed. “It seems that as I got older, the parties got less boring.”

Bent inside the car, Audra called, “Really?”

***

Dominic took a pace back. She probably didn’t realize she was presenting a very enticing view of her backside, and as a gentleman appreciative of the help she was giving him, Dominic diverted his attention.

“Yes. When I became the administrator of the Manelli College Scholarship, as my first full-fledged family responsibility, I thought it was best to begin getting to know the people in line for the money so I could choose the right recipient.”

“I never did thank you.”

Her voice drew his gaze back to his car where she busily worked on freeing the baby seat. This time he noticed the long length of leg exposed beneath her coat. She certainly wasn’t twelve anymore. And from the way she didn’t hesitate to help him, she’d become a lot like her generous, happy mother. He couldn’t believe he’d thought her annoying all those years ago when she’d always found his Christmas party hiding place and gone running to his dad.

“Why would you want to thank me?”

“For the scholarship.”

“You earned it.”

She pulled out of the car, then reached in and retrieved the car seat. “All set.”

“Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.” She motioned to the kitchen door. “I’ll just follow you in. We’ll give the car seat to my mom and have her assign someone to put it in your SUV.”

Dominic said, “Great.” He started toward the door, but the diaper bag strap slipped off his shoulder and landed with a thump on his forearm. That caused the bottle to fall. The already-wet baby blanket billowed beside the bottle and even the baby looked precarious.

“Damn it.”

Joshua began to cry and Audra grimaced. Obviously feeling sorry for him, she reached for the little blue bundle of joy. “I’ll take the baby. You put the bottle in that side compartment on the diaper bag. Then put the diaper bag in the car seat and the wet blanket behind the diaper bag and then carry the car seat.”

Dominic handed Joshua to her. “I swear I will learn how to do this stuff.”

Baby on her arm, she headed for the door again. “Of course you will. All new parents need a little time.”

Reminded of his brother and sister-in-law and how silly they’d been, fussing over Joshua in the first days after his birth, Dominic sucked in a breath to control a burst of sadness, as he shoved the bottle into the diaper bag.

“Yeah. Well, if there’s one thing I don’t have, it’s time. When Marsha’s mother discovered she had cancer and the doctors recommended she begin chemotherapy immediately, I had to take Joshua. Now. Today. I don’t have a nanny, so I’ll be walking the floor with him tonight. Without a clue of what I’m doing.”

Almost at the door, she glanced over her shoulder at Dominic. Her pretty eyes filled with concern that she quickly masked with a big smile before she said, “You’ll do great.”

Joshua dropped his rattle and without a second’s hesitation, she dipped, scooped it up and tucked it in her coat pocket—not giving the dirty rattle back to Joshua—and without missing a beat in the conversation.

“Waiting for my sisters to come home, I’ve walked the floor. At two o’clock in the morning it seems like hell, but then you cuddle the baby against you and whisper sweet things, and he settles down. You’ll feel like a million dollars because you could soothe him.”

Tucking the diaper bag into the car seat, Dominic stood in awe. She didn’t merely know what to do. She knew what not to do, and both appeared to be second nature to her.

“I’d give you just about anything you wanted if you’d help me tonight.”

Audra laughed.

“I’m serious.” He took a breath and glanced at the baby in her arms who was no longer crying but appeared very happy nestled against her chest. Dominic studied the calm baby and the woman holding him for only a second before he said, “Except, I’d want more than one night’s help. If you could spend the next month with me while I interview nannies, I’d make it worth your while.”

She winced. “Sorry. No can do. I have a job.”

“I know you have a job. I paid for you to get your degree, remember? I’m not asking you to help me forever. Just the three or four weeks that I’ll need to interview nannies.”

When she opened her mouth to argue, he cut her off, saying, “Look, I’m smart enough to recognize when I’m in over my head and smart enough to recognize a person well qualified to get me out. Plus, you’re from a family I know. I can trust you. If we need to juggle a few things, I’m in the right circles and have enough clout that no matter who employs you, I can arrange for you to get the time off.”

She reached for the knob on the back door. “Even if you could arrange it, I can’t take time off right now. I have a big money problem that I have to solve. That’s why I’m here. My mom volunteered to talk me through it.”

“You have a money problem?” Standing in his snow-covered driveway in front of the huge Tudor-style mansion that had been in his family for generations, he motioned in a circle with his hand. “Look around. The one problem I don’t have is money.” A few quick strides brought him beside her. “If you need money, I’m your guy. Didn’t I just say I’d pay you handsomely?”

“My problem’s too big to be covered by the salary of someone you’d hire to be a nanny for a few weeks.”

“How much money would you need to get out of trouble?”

She sighed. “Dominic, it’s too much—”

“Nothing is too much.” He nodded at Joshua. “He’s my family. For Manellis, money is no object when it comes to family.”

She laughed and shook her head. “You can’t pay me a hundred thousand dollars for a little bit of work.”

“Why not?”

“Because it’s illogical.”

“Not really. The way I see this, it will probably take me a month to find a nanny. So you’re giving up a good bit of time. And I’ve already told you money’s no object. Not because I don’t know the value of a dollar but because Joshua’s that important to me. You have the expertise I need but no money. I have money but need your expertise. To me it’s a perfect fit.”

She drew a breath. “Dominic—”

“Please?”

“I can’t take a month off work.”

“You can go to work. I really only need help at nights anyway.”

“Right. Who’s going to watch Joshua during the day?”

“I was hoping your mom could,” he said, his lips lifting into a sheepish smile. “I know it’s not in her job description, but I don’t think she’ll turn me down. Especially since she’s got plenty of staff she can assign to take turns with him. But that still leaves me with nights—” He paused, caught the gaze of Audra’s pretty blue eyes and held it. “Please.”

“I don’t know—”

“I do know. I know your family. It’s in your blood to help people.” Which was why he persisted. Her mother could never resist a person in need, but her mother was also the head of his household. Though she had staff, she and everybody on her staff worked set hours. He might be able to temporarily squeeze Joshua into their schedules during the day, but he couldn’t press them for night duty, too. And he most desperately needed someone for night duty. Not for himself but for the poor baby entrusted to his care. “Think of Joshua.”

She glanced at the baby in her arms. Wonderful Joshua picked that precise second to grin toothlessly at her. She groaned. Joshua was getting to her.

“I’ll give you fifty thousand dollars up front and fifty at end of the month. If it goes longer, I’ll pay you twenty-five thousand a week.” Holding her gaze steadily, he said, “Money’s never been an object for me. You need money, and Joshua needs you.”

CHAPTER TWO

THEY stepped into the enormous working kitchen of the Manelli mansion. Audra’s mom turned from the stainless-steel stove. As always her short brown hair and simple black dress were neat as a pin, and her blue eyes sparkled. Her gaze touched on Dominic then Audra then Joshua.

“I thought you were coming here to chat with me,” she said, shifting from the stove to one of three islands with beige-and-gold-flecked black granite countertops that sat on functional beige ceramic tile floors.

“We met in the driveway.”

“And found a baby under the big oak by the garage?”

“This is Peter’s son, Mary,” Dominic said. “I got a call from Marsha’s mom this morning. She’s ill and can’t raise Joshua as she’d wanted. We all agreed the smartest thing to do was have me take over.”

“Oh, Dominic, I’m so sorry,” Mary said, walking to them. “But this actually might work out better for Joshua.”

“Yeah,” Dominic chided. “He’s much better off in the hands of a guy with absolutely no baby experience.”

“You’ll get the hang of being a daddy,” Mary said, reaching for the baby. “And this baby needs to know his dad’s family, as well as his mom’s.”

Audra handed the squirming little boy to her mother, and he immediately began to cry.

“Oh-oh.” Mary chuckled, and then brushed her lips across the baby’s forehead. “Somebody’s sleepy.”

She made a move to hand him to Dominic, but Audra took him. She wasn’t ready to explain to her mother that she’d agreed to help Dominic for the next month, and decided that was Dominic’s job, anyway. She faced Dominic. “Do you have a crib ready for him to sleep?”

“Damn it!” He ran his hand over the top of his head in frustration. “No.”

“It’s okay.” She laid crying Joshua across her arm and began to rock him. “Did Marsha’s mom give you a baby carrier by any chance?”

“Yes.”

“He’s small enough that he can nap in that. Where is it?”

“In the trunk with two duffel bags of baby clothes and what seems like a hundred stuffed animals that Marsha’s mom said he couldn’t live without.”

“Mom, can you rock him while we bring those things inside?”

Her mother gave her an odd look, but smiled and said, “Sure,” as she took Joshua again. “Come on, little sweetie-pie. Aunt Mary will take off all these heavy clothes and tell you a story.”

Audra’s mom left the kitchen, and Audra and Dominic stepped out into the fat white snowflakes again. “So, I’m guessing you want me to tell your mom about our arrangement.”

“She’s your employee, not mine. Besides, you’re the one making her watch a baby for the next few weeks until you hire a real nanny. The honor falls to you.”

He laughed. “I just didn’t want to step on any toes.”

“When you tell her you’re paying me well to work nights for you, my mom won’t bat an eye. If there’s one thing she understands, it’s not going into debt when someone’s offering you money. It wasn’t easy raising three girls with no husband. She knows a smart person doesn’t turn down a good opportunity. I’ve already told her that Wedding Belles is in a bit of a financial bind.” She shrugged. “She’ll probably be proud of me.”

He chuckled again as he opened the trunk of his car, revealing two duffel bags, a baby carrier and at least twenty stuffed animals. “These are the toys and clothes Marsha’s mom said Joshua can’t do without. I’ll be getting the rest of his things this afternoon.”

“You don’t have somebody you can send to get them?”

He shrugged and bent into the trunk to gather the stuffed animals. As he handed an armload to Audra, he said, “It doesn’t seem right to send someone. Marsha’s mom is family. And she’s sick. I think it’s better for me to do it personally.”

She smiled. What a softie he was. “Yeah.”

Dominic hoisted the two duffel bags out and nodded to the back entrance. “You open the door for me. We’ll dump these in the kitchen and come out and get the rest.”

Leading the way, Audra said, “I think we should leave Joshua with my mom this morning, drive to Marsha’s mom’s for the remainder of the baby things and then hit a furniture store.”

“For a crib?”

“And high chair. Changing table. Dressers. Toy box.” She grinned at him. Having always had to watch her pennies, even talking about spending somebody else’s money was fun. Especially when he had so much. “Then we can go to a department store and get a swing, play yard, baby tub.”

He rolled his eyes. “Nothing else?”

“I thought money was no object.”

“Money might not be an object, but time is. I had four important meetings scheduled for this morning.”

Audra opened the kitchen door and walked to the first of the three islands in the huge room. She set the stuffed animals on it. “If you don’t mind risking my taste in baby furniture, I could do those things for you. I already told our assistant, Julie, that I’d be out most of the morning.”

His dark eyes brightened with hope. “I wouldn’t care if you bought a purple crib.”

Audra laughed. “Actually you would. But I’m thinking more in the line of white furniture.” Familiar with the Manelli home, she added, “I’ll need a suite of rooms for Joshua and his nanny. The nanny’s room can probably stay furnished as it already is. The sitting room will probably be good as is, too. But one bedroom of the suite should be emptied so I can set up the nursery.”

“I think I have just the suite. Come with me.”

As Dominic walked Audra through three long corridors to the opulent entrance hall that led to the stairway, memories flooded her. Every time she’d been in this house, the carved wood banister of the wide circular stairway had been decorated with red velvet bows and twinkling white lights. A ten-foot fir dressed with silver stars and gold ornaments had always filled the foyer.

But as they ascended the stairs, the strongest of Audra’s memories were of scrambling around, opening doors, going into rooms typically off-limits to the guests, trying to find Dominic’s hiding place. She was twelve when she stopped attending the Manelli Christmas parties with her mom. That was the year she’d realized she wasn’t looking for Dominic to rat him out to his dad but because she liked him and she hated being a cliché. The cook’s daughter who swooned over the son of her mom’s wealthy employer? No way. She intended to be a success in her own right, find a man who would swoon over her, and be somebody herself.

If only she’d stuck to that plan.

At the top of the stairway, Dominic said, “This way,” pressing his hand at the small of her back to direct her down the hall to the right.

Audra smiled and nodded, but tingles of awareness formed on her back where his hand rested. Another woman might have been alarmed at the attraction, worried about picking up her crush right where she’d left off when she was twelve, but Audra knew she had no reason for concern. Only this time it wasn’t because she refused to be a cliché. Adult Audra was smart enough to stay away from Dominic because he was a playboy.

That much of his story her mother had told. Not by way of gossip, but through offhand comments. She’d refer to Dominic as flirty Dominic. Or say she had only the senior Manellis to cook for because Dominic was in Monaco or Vegas or with friends again. Or when forced to work a weekend, she’d frequently say that Dominic had charmed her into cooking for yet another party for his friends.

That was why Audra had been so surprised to see him in the driveway with a baby. Not because she hadn’t heard that he’d married or had a child, but because subconsciously she’d never expected him to settle down. Dominic might have taken over the serious job of running his family’s conglomerate, but a playboy leopard like that couldn’t change his lifestyle spots.

And she knew all about those spots. Her fiancé, a supposed “reformed” playboy, had left her at the altar. He’d humiliated her in front of her friends and family. And when he finally did call to explain, he’d blamed it all on her. She was too strong. He was afraid that if he tried to tell her that he didn’t want to marry her, she wouldn’t hear him out. She wouldn’t argue or discuss. She’d simply demand he be at the church. The only way he’d believed he could stop their wedding was to not show up.

Audra swallowed, willing away the sense of failure that caused her breath to freeze in her chest. That had been almost a year ago. She hadn’t even thought about it in months. But right at this moment, standing by a man very similar to the man who had dumped her, it felt like yesterday. The warmth of humiliation washed through her. As if it wasn’t bad enough he’d embarrassed her, he’d all but told her she was a total zero as a woman as well. A bossy, nagging harpy.

Thanks, David.

Yeah. She was perfectly safe with Dominic Manelli.

Dominic removed his hand as they walked into the group of rooms that had been his before he’d taken over the master suite. He couldn’t believe the zing of attraction he’d gotten when he set his palm on Audra’s back to direct her down the hall, but it shouldn’t have surprised him.

Though the Audra he remembered was a short, chubby cherub with big blue eyes and a riot of yellow curls, she’d grown into a beautiful woman. Tall and slender with sleek, sophisticated golden hair and blue eyes that were both warm and sexy, Audra would turn any man’s head.

“This is the sitting room.”

A few steps in front of him, Audra appraised the overstuffed sofa and chair, coffee table, armoire and bar in the corner with a frown.

“It’s not supposed to be huge. It’s just a sitting room.”

She faced him. “It’s okay. I was simply thinking it needs a rocker and maybe a TV.”

He hit a switch, and the armoire doors opened. “TV, CD player, DVD player. The works.”

“Great. I’ll get a rocker at the furniture store, and this room will be perfect for a nanny’s needs.”

He pointed at two white doors on the wall to the right. “That was my bedroom. And that,” he said, motioning to the second door, “leads to a room I used for storage. It’s empty now, so it’s all ready for baby furniture.”

“Is there a door that connects the two rooms?”

“No.”

“We’ll need one.”

“Talk to your mom. She takes care of the house. If there’s anything you need to have fixed, remodeled or repaired, she does the hiring.”

“Got it.” She nodded and turned away from him, still appraising.

Feeling safe, Dominic let his gaze ripple from her tiny waist, down her backside to her shapely legs. The part of him that longed to forget his responsibilities and flirt with her begged to be given at least a few seconds of consideration, but he silenced it. He had to get her set up, rush with her to Marsha’s mom’s, then hurry to the office. He didn’t have time to slow down the process. He honestly wondered if he’d ever get another free minute. Running the monolithic family business was overwhelming all by itself, but as of an hour ago he had also become a daddy.

A daddy.

“Give me another second to check out the empty room.”

Glad she knew what she was doing, Dominic said, “Sure. Knock yourself out.”

Audra disappeared into the storage room, and he blew his breath out on a tired sigh. The second he’d taken Joshua from Olivia Trabold’s arms, memories began tripping over themselves inside his head. Peter talking incessantly about becoming a dad. Agonized Peter suffering with Marsha as they tried unsuccessfully for nearly ten years to create a child. Peter passing out cigars in the hospital waiting room, so proud of his brand-new son that his smile had lasted a week.

And Dominic standing behind him, making faces at his sap of a brother. Dominic didn’t deserve to be Joshua’s father. The baby should have known strong, wonderful Peter. Not crazy, party guy Dominic.

Audra walked out of the empty room. “As soon as we install a door that connects the two bedrooms, this will be perfect. Let’s go see how my mom is making out with Joshua.”

Dominic followed her down the back stairs to Mary’s office. They entered to find her sitting in her tall-backed chair behind her desk with Joshua nestled against her.

Audra sighed. “Look how cute!”

“I know. I’m an adorable grandmother.”

Audra laughed. “I was talking about Joshua. He’s so beautiful.”

Dominic puffed with pride as if he’d had something to do with the little boy’s appearance into this world, but he stopped himself. This was Peter’s son. The child for whom Peter had yearned for a decade. Dominic felt like an interloper, a thief who’d usurped his brother’s job and his child, who wasn’t qualified for any of it. He might have enough accounting knowledge and business savvy to keep Manelli Holdings on top with a good staff to prevent him from making any huge mistakes, but he’d never, ever considered becoming a father. Hell, he’d never wanted a serious relationship. He had friends. He had fun. And now he was the head of a company and somebody’s dad. He didn’t even have enough memories of Peter as a father to try to imitate him. The only parental words in his head belonged to their own father.

“In the Manelli house we don’t call boys beautiful.”

Audra’s mom rose. “Dominic’s right. The senior Manelli would have your head if he heard you call any Manelli male beautiful.”

As Mary rounded her desk, Dominic watched the baby in her arms, unwittingly realizing both Greene women were correct. Though his dad might have anyone’s hide for calling a Manelli male beautiful, with his eyes closed in sleep and his round cheeks flushed pink Joshua was beautiful.

Audra laughed lightly. “He’s stealing your heart, isn’t he?”

And looking into her sparkling blue eyes, Dominic felt another tug of emotion. Except this tug had nothing to do with family love. This one was all about attraction. Audra’s face glowed with life and vitality. Her full lips bowed into a smile so warm he felt it reach out and touch him. In one quick glance he saw and responded to the way her breasts strained against the pretty blue top she wore over a navy-blue skirt that subtly outlined a very shapely bottom.

Two weeks ago he’d have turned on enough charm to light New York City in a blizzard. Today he turned away. “I don’t have time for anybody to be stealing my heart.”

“And that scares you?”

It didn’t scare him as much as it filled him with remorse, regret and even guilt. While Peter had gone looking for a wife, Dominic had had his pleasure with every woman who suited his fancy. While Dominic took trips to Monaco, Peter had studied. While Peter attended business meetings and summits with their father, Dominic hadn’t paid more than a passing glance of attention at the family business.

Dominic had thoroughly enjoyed the past fifteen years that Peter had spent working, settling in, doing the right thing by the family. And now Dominic, the family playboy, suddenly had everything his brother had wanted—the business and the baby. He couldn’t fail. He refused to fail, to let everything Peter had started fall to ruin. Yet Dominic didn’t feel right taking charge, either. He was confused, grief stricken and in over his head.

All he really wanted was his own life back. The one he knew how to live.

Mary quietly said, “Do we now have someplace I can lay him down to sleep?”

Audra turned to the door. “The baby carrier is in the kitchen. I’ll get it.”

Dominic followed her. “I might as well bring the rest of his things to the nanny suite.”

“Good idea.”

“Then I’ll accompany you to Olivia’s, but after that I’m off to work.”

Audra said, “That’s fine. I can handle the furniture shopping this morning.”

“Then this afternoon you can move in.”

***

That comment stopped Audra dead in her tracks. For all her talk of getting up for 2:00 a.m. feedings, it hadn’t sunk in that she’d have to move into the nursery while Dominic scouted a permanent nanny. Still, what difference did it make? She needed money. She was offering to be a nanny to get that money. And nannies usually lived in. No big deal. Especially considering Dominic was the epitome of the type of man she had sworn off forever.

She turned to tell him that she’d be moved in by the time he returned from work, but their gazes caught and she didn’t see the fun teenager who had turned into a playboy. She saw a man who had lost his brother three months ago in a tragic accident and who had gained custody of Peter’s son because of another family tragedy. Circumstances had made him serious and sad in a way that caused Audra’s heart to awaken from a near year-long sleep. She felt it yawn and stretch and open again, as if welcoming him.

Any teasing comment she could have made froze on her lips. She might have been immune to the playboy, but would she really be safe with this guy? With a child to raise, he didn’t have time to gallivant around the globe. He’d be underfoot. A brooding, sexy man aching for love. Like Heathcliff. What woman could resist that?

Worse, they would be living together. Running into each other in various stages of undress as they went about their morning and evening routines.

Still, it was too late to back out now. This deal was all about promises. She’d not only promised Dominic her assistance, but the Belles had promised Julie a wedding. And only she could earn enough money fast enough to pay for that wedding. One way or another she would resist him.

“Not a problem. I’ll call the office and tell them I’ll be out the entire day and move in this afternoon.”

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