Professor And The Nanny. Phyllis Halldorson

not the biggest problem. I’ll be thirty-six years old in a few months, I was married for eight years and have an eighteen-month-old child who needs constant supervision. I also have a dependent father. Don’t you see? You don’t want my problems. You need a new, young family of your own.”

      She sighed and snuggled deeper into his embrace. This was getting them nowhere. “I don’t want to argue anymore, let’s change the subject. What are you going to do about Danny tomorrow?”

      Ah, yes, Danny, Ethan thought. He’d been so busy trying to explain to Brittany why he didn’t want her, when they both knew he did, that he hadn’t had time to make any plans for coping with the upheaval having his baby son full-time would cause in his life.

      “I don’t know,” he admitted. “I’ll need to take the day off and try to find either a baby-sitter or a child-care center that has room for him. There’s one at the university but I understand it’s always filled to capacity. I’ll have to have someone by Monday because that’s when we start preparing for finals at school and I have to be there.”

      A solution occurred to Brittany. “Why don’t you let me take care of him tomorrow? I’ll be here anyway, and that will free you up to spend your time looking for a permanent situation for Danny.”

      “But you’ve got a full-time job taking care of Nate,” Ethan reminded her.

      She raised her head and looked at him. “Nate’s no bother. Mainly all I have to do is make sure he gets his meds on time and eats regularly. That will leave me plenty of time to look after Danny. As long as they don’t get out of the house or the fenced-in backyard it should be a breeze.”

      Ethan smiled sadly. Ah, the innocence of the young! “Obviously you’ve never been around children much. Especially ones Danny’s age. They can be adorable little brats and usually are. You got a taste of it this afternoon, but you’d have a whole day of chasing after him all by yourself tomorrow.

      Brittany was getting tired of being treated as if she were dim-witted. She moved out of his embrace and sat up. “Look, if you don’t trust me with your child just say so. I’m willing to help you out if you need it, but I’m not going to beg.”

      She stood and went to the closet where she kept her purse. “I’m going home and do some laundry before I go to bed. You make up your mind what you want to do and let me know in the morning.”

      She picked up her purse and was almost to the door when she heard Ethan call her name. It would have given her a great deal of satisfaction to stomp out and slam the door behind her, but that would only prove she was as immature as he thought she was.

      Instead she stopped but didn’t turn to look at him.

      “I would be very grateful if you would take care of Danny as well as Nate tomorrow.” His voice was husky. “Thank you for offering. It will be an immense help.”

      Although she had her back to him, she could hear his footsteps on the tile floor as he approached her. He stopped right behind her, took her shoulders in his hands and turned her to face him.

      “Now, do I get a good-night kiss?” he asked hopefully.

      Without a word she put her arms around his neck and their lips melded.

      During the long weekend Ethan learned, much to his distress, that finding child care in Lexington, Kentucky, was impossible. The care centers, both public and private, were filled and had long waiting lists. Mothers who stayed at home and took care of their own children weren’t interested in taking in the kids of strangers, too. Students with summer holidays coming up were, in his judgment, either too immature to be trusted with such a young child or preferred to play around for the next three months before going off to college in the fall.

      Surely somewhere in this city of more than 200,000 people there was one who fit his admittedly high standards as a nanny.

      That thought sounded dumb even to him. Of course there was such a person and he’d known who it was since before he’d started this search. Brittany could satisfy all his needs. The perfect nanny for Danny, nurse for Nate, and lover for him.

      A shiver ran down his spine. What more could he want? He was almost certain she’d agree to be nanny and nurse. Being his lover might take a little persuasion, but she’d already told him she’d like to make love with him, so why did he hesitate?

      Because he wasn’t that kind of man, dammit! He couldn’t take advantage of a young girl’s naiveté, and she was a girl no matter how much she protested that she was all grown-up. He might burn for her but that was his problem. It was up to him to protect her, even from himself if necessary, and he couldn’t do that if she was living right here in the same house with him.

      My God, he wasn’t a saint!

      Brittany’s phone rang late on Sunday evening. It was Ethan. She hadn’t heard from him since she left his house to come home Friday night, but she’d been thinking of him all weekend.

      He sounded tired and discouraged. “Brittany, I have a big favor to ask of you. Is your offer to take care of Danny on a temporary basis still open?”

      So he hadn’t had any luck finding child care yet. “Of course it is, Ethan,” she hurriedly assured him. “Nate and I are going to take a picnic lunch and go to the park tomorrow. We’ll find one that has a children’s playground. Danny will love that.”