Page 32 of Temptation at His Door

But Keely had left Boston and Joa had no friends in the city. She’d simply have to suck it up. Maybe a hotel would be better; if the silence and loneliness overwhelmed her, she could head down to the bar or sit in the lobby.

She didn’t need to talk to anyone or interact, she just needed to feel safe. It wouldn’t be fun, precisely, but she’d be okay. “I think I’ll take a suite at a hotel,” Joa told Ronan, even though her plans shouldn’t concern him at all.

“That will be as expensive as hell.”

Thanks to Isabel, she could live out of a hotel for the rest of her life and still have enough cash to buy a Caribbean island. Or two. She was one of the wealthiest women in Boston, a weird and strange reality. “I can afford it.”

“Maybe. But it’s not something you really want to do.”

Joa jerked her head up, surprised that he’d picked up on her reluctance. Damn, but the man was more perceptive than she gave him credit for. “How did you come to that conclusion?”

“You have the most expressive eyes in the world,” Ronan replied. “And I’m good at reading body language—it’s part of what makes me a good auctioneer.”

Man, she really needed to work on her poker face. She didn’t need him to see her thoughts, especially the ones she had about stripping him naked and exploring that rangy, muscular body.

Ronan walked over to the window and leaned his shoulder into the windowpane, looking down at the snow-covered garden below her window.

“Come home with me.”

Joa frowned, not sure that she’d heard him right. Her heart rate shot up and her stomach whirled and swirled. “Sorry, what?”

Ronan continued to stare down at the drifts of snow. “Come back to West Roxbury. Move in with me...us.”

Uh...

Joa didn’t know what to say. What was he proposing? Or did he just feel sorry for the poor little temporarily homeless rich girl? Realizing that her knees were the consistency of jelly, Joa sat down on the edge of the bed.

Ronan finally turned around, resting his butt on the wide wooden windowsill, stretching out his long legs. “I need a nanny, you need a place to stay. Help me out with the kids in the afternoon and, occasionally, some evenings. I’ll pay you.”

“I don’t need your money, Murphy,” Joa replied, irritated.

“But you do need a place to stay and I do need help,” Ronan stated, his eyes steady on her face. “The boys were devastated to find you gone. From the moment they woke up it’s been Ju this and Ju that.”

His boys were lovely but... “I don’t want to be a nanny, Ronan.”

In fact, she thought she might like to become more involved in Isabel’s foundation. With Keely out of town, she’d started dropping in and was fascinated by the work the foundation did with various shelters, hospices and underfunded schools and she was touched by the impact Isabel’s money made.

But moving in with Ronan was not a good idea; she knew this. Before the Wilsons, she’d stood on the outside of a family circle, looking in and longing to be a part of their world. Then, with her family in Auckland, she’d felt part of that inner circle and she’d loved it. But life moved the goalposts and showed her there was no place for her long-term.

Having what she most wanted, a family, and then losing it, had carved a chunk out of her soul. She wouldn’t do that to herself again. It hurt too damn much.

“It’s not a long-term solution, Joa, not for me, or for you. But it will serve both our needs in the short term. It’ll give you a place to stay that’s not an impersonal hotel and something to occupy your time while you decide on the new direction you want to take. And it will give me time to find a decent, long-term nanny.”

He made the whole notion sound so damn reasonable. And it would be, if they hadn’t nearly set his couch on fire last night. “We made love last night...”

“So?”

Joa widened her eyes and her hands in a you’ve-got-to-be-kidding-me gesture.

Ronan looked down at his feet before lifting his head to look at her. “I admit, that took me by surprise. But, if you agree to work for me, for us, it won’t happen again.

“Look, last night was an aberration. It had been a while and I got a little carried away but I won’t let it happen again,” he added.

He looked so damn sincere, sounded so determined. He really believed what he was saying. Well, hell.

“It shouldn’t have happened last night. My boys were upstairs and had I been thinking straight, I would not have let it go so far, so quickly.”

He looked like he was expecting a response but Joa had no idea what to say. She was both relieved and disappointed, annoyed and thankful for his matter-of-fact approach to their out-of-control, wildfire encounter.

---