‘Look what I’ve got, Anna.’
Anna gave herself a mental shake and dutifully examined the tiny house, perfect in every detail, beautifully carved out of wood. She turned it over in her hand before handing the beautifully crafted piece back to Jasmine.
‘You have quite a collection now.’ Jasmine had confided her intention of building an entire village with the pieces her uncle brought her back from his trips.
‘Nearly a complete street now and the church. Thank you, Uncle Cesare.’
He tipped his dark head in acknowledgement. ‘You are welcome.’ He laid a hand on Louise’s arm. ‘My niece, Jasmine. Say hello to Miss Gove, Jas.’
‘Hello.’
‘I had no idea you had a niece. Why, isn’t she a darling? Call me Auntie Louise.’
‘Why? You’re not my auntie.’
The tall blonde bent down towards Jas but jerked back in alarm at the last moment. ‘Goodness, you’re covered in mud!’
‘So is Anna,’ Jas offered by way of defence.
‘But I don’t have frosting all around my mouth,’ Anna retorted, pulling a tissue from her pocket to wipe around Jas’s cupid-bow lips.
As the comment drew the tall, elegant couple’s attention Anna stood there and endured the scrutiny, feeling her cheeks heat. It was hard to see what was going on behind his smoked-glass stare but the woman looked amused.
‘Goodness, so she is.’ Her wrinkled nose, as much as her pristine white shift dress, made Anna conscious of the contrast she must make. ‘You’re the nanny?’
Not quite sure how to respond, Anna found herself glancing Cesare’s way.
‘Miss Henderson is helping Angel out for a few weeks as a sort of glorified babysitter.’
Jas tugged her uncle’s sleeve. ‘Call her Anna. She’s not my teacher.’ She giggled as if the idea was hilarious.
It was the tall blonde with her scarlet claws on Cesare’s arm who broke the pregnant silence.
‘I admire teachers,’ she said unexpectedly. ‘Not a job I could do, though,’ she admitted, instantly going up in Anna’s estimation. ‘I’m sure your job has a lot of satisfaction too and without all that responsibility.’
Anna produced a fake smile and realised that first impressions were normally spot on. ‘Now there’s a thought,’ she drawled, directing her stare straight at Cesare, who returned it without any visible sign of discomfiture.
‘Children are the future.’
Anna just managed not to roll her eyes while his companion acted as though he’d just voiced something profound, not blindingly obvious. ‘How true,’ Louise said earnestly.
‘I think that the people who care for them should be above reproach, don’t you, Miss Henderson?’
Anna, who chose to ignore the dig, lifted her chin. ‘Don’t ask me, I’m in it for the money, status and prestige. Come along, Jas, we need to clean up.’ Before she took the child’s hand Anna thought she caught a flash of something approaching amusement in his slate-coloured eyes, but, no, it must have been a trick of the light. He didn’t possess a sense of humour...just a great body and formidable sex appeal.
It didn’t matter how many times he knocked her down verbally, Cesare mused, Anna always got up, brushed herself off and came out fighting. He had waited for her to put a foot wrong, but she hadn’t. His initial concerns for his niece’s welfare in Anna’s charge had diminished. It was now his welfare that concerned him—her presence was driving him insane.
‘Looks like I’m in the wrong job,’ Louise drawled, watching the two make their way across the cobbled courtyard. ‘I think I offended your nanny,’ she teased lightly.
‘She’s not my nanny,’ he gritted back, his eyes still trained on the retreating flame-haired figure. Her walk was like the woman herself—provocative! The swing of her hips, the way she... He clenched his jaw and refused to acknowledge the lustful surge of hunger in his blood and snarled, ‘She’s a damned pain in the—’ He caught Louise’s startled expression and forced a smile while he dragged a hand down his jaw. ‘She is Angel’s choice, not mine.’
‘So get rid of her.’
‘There’s nothing I’d like more.’ A life without those blue eyes judging him. A house without that husky laugh or the perfume that lingered in rooms.
He knew there was a simple solution to his problem. They might be living under the same roof but that roof did not cover a two-up two-down cottage. It would have been easy to avoid the rooms where her scent might linger, remain safely out of hearing distance of her aggravating laugh.