Page 3 of Temptation at His Door

“I can pick them up from school, spend the afternoon with them and feed them dinner,” Keely offered, as generous as ever. “They seemed to enjoy themselves last week.”

“Isn’t your sister coming in today?” Ronan asked.

“She’s here.” Keely started to turn the camera toward her and Joa made a slashing motion across her face. Was Keely insane? Joa looked like roadkill.

Keely rolled her eyes but thankfully didn’t turn the camera. “Joa won’t mind, she loves kids.”

She did love kids, but on her first night back in Boston, she wanted to chat with Keely, drink wine, catch up.

Keely ignored Joa’s shaking head, her don’t-do-it expression. “Consider it done.”

Dammit, Keels.

“You are an absolute lifesaver.” Joa heard the gratitude in his voice.

“I’ll let the school know,” Ronan told Keely. “Now I need to start hitting the phones to track down a new nanny.”

Boston had some good agencies; he’d pick up someone in a heartbeat. Joa knew this because she’d researched those agencies back in New Zealand, before she’d decided the Wilsons would be her last au pair job.

Keely tipped her head to one side, her bright blue eyes meeting Joa’s. “Before you hire someone new, talk to me first. I have an idea.”

The temperature of Joa’s blood dropped a degree. No way, Joa mouthed. Absolutely not!

“If you are offering to look after the boys on a full-time basis, my answer is yes. Hell, yes.”

Keely laughed at Ronan’s hopeful statement. “I love you, and your kids, but not that much and not in that way.”

So Keely and Ronan weren’t romantically or, eek, sexually involved. And why did that make Joa happy? She was, obviously, more tired than she thought.

Keely continued, “But I might have a solution for you. Let me talk to someone and I’ll get back to you.”

No, she was exhausted and imagining things. Keely couldn’t possibly have hired her out on her first day back home. Not even Keely was that bold.

Joa was done with au pairing; she didn’t want to drop herself into another family because she couldn’t trust herself not to fall back into her bad habit of pretending it was all real.

After Keely said goodbye to Ronan, Joa gave Keely the stink eye. She wasn’t interested in becoming Ronan Murphy’s nanny, or anybody’s nanny. Not today, tomorrow or anytime in the future.

“Do not even think about it!”

“What?” Keely asked, pulling on her butter-wouldn’t-melt-in-my-mouth expression. Joa knew her better than anyone and knew a diabolical mind lived under that innocent exterior.

“I don’t want to be a nanny again, Keels.”

She was done with au pairing, with pretending she was part of a family only to realize that after a year, sometimes two, her families would move on...without her.

Besides, she didn’t work for single dads, not anymore. She’d learned her lesson with Liam, then with Johan. Joa knew that single dads were her kryptonite, because she found herself easily believing she was the wife they needed, the mother their children craved.

Liam had met and married someone from his office, someone who adored his kids and was happy to be their full-time mom. The week before their wedding, Joa had gotten her marching orders. And Johan, well, he was gay and had wanted another husband...

If Joa wanted a family, she needed to have one of her own and not appropriate someone else’s.

They started to walk up the stairs, Keely’s high heels clicking on the expensive marble. Joa could only hope that she wasn’t trying to figure out a way to get her to fall in line with her wishes... Keely was a force of nature. Not a gentle breeze or soft summer rain but a Category 5 hurricane or an asteroid strike.

Maybe if she changed the subject Keely would be distracted. It was worth a try.

“I know that Murphy’s is going to auction Iz’s art collection for us, but I don’t understand the reason for this meeting. They have the inventory, they auction it off and then cut the foundation a check. I thought it was a simple process.”

“Not exactly,” Keely said, guiding Joa down the hallway to her right. “Murphy’s has to check provenances to make sure all the items are genuine. Most of Isabel’s works have been well documented, but Finn, the younger Murphy brother, found three paintings at Mounton House that we suspect might be lost Homers.”

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