irresistible, putting slight creases in his cheeks.
“I need to see some references before we go any further.”
“I have them in my purse,” she replied.
“Don’t stop with Megan!” Wyatt said hastily, grateful for the baby’s silence and apparent contentment.
“Tell me more about the job,” Grace suggested.
“I’ll be in and out. I have an office here and will have people out here sometimes when I’m working. Other times I’ll be in Stallion Pass or in San Antonio. I’ll have some trips to make. I don’t know whether you know anything about my background or not…” He paused and looked at her questioningly.
“Very little,” she replied.
“A brief family history so you’ll know why I have Megan. My mother died when I was a child. My father raised me and my two brothers. I’m the youngest. Jake, my oldest brother, was killed when he was in high school. Last year my father died.”
“I’m sorry,” Grace said.
Wyatt stiffened. “We weren’t close,” he said. “Megan is my other brother’s child. Hank and his wife, Olivia, were killed recently when their small plane crashed. They left wills appointing me as Megan’s guardian.”
“I’m glad she has you,” Grace said, and he shot her a curious glance.
“Did you grow up in this part of the country?” he asked. No one who’d known him in the past would be pleased that Megan had become Wyatt’s charge. Wyatt knew only too well the reputation he’d left behind.
“Yes. I’ve lived in San Antonio all my life.”
“And you have a friend in Stallion Pass who’s told you about me?”
“Yes, I do. Virginia Udall.”
“I don’t remember her.” Wyatt wondered to what lengths Grace Talmadge would go to get the job. “You must really want this job, Miss Talmadge,” he said, unable to keep the sharp cynicism out of his voice. “Most people in Stallion Pass aren’t happy that I’m Megan’s guardian. My deceased sister-in-law’s family is threatening legal proceedings to take Megan from me.”
Grace raised her head, and her green gaze met his with that unwavering look that held his attention totally. “I can easily see you love your niece and have her best interests at heart.”
“Well, you’re in a minority. You also have no idea how I deal with her. Maybe I take her to bars with me. You don’t know what I do.”
Grace smiled. “You would never take this baby into a bar, and I bet you put her first in your life. Am I right?”
The woman was challenging him in her own quiet way. He realized his first judgment about her immaturity was inaccurate—something that rarely happened where women were concerned.
“You’re right, I wouldn’t take her into a bar and I already love her as if she were my own. For a novice, you’re doing all right,” he observed.
Grace glanced at Megan who had snuggled down on her shoulder, her brown eyes wide open. “She’s a beautiful baby.”
“Yes, she is,” he said, a soft note entering his voice. “Want me to take her?”
“I’m fine and she’s happy. Go ahead and sit down.”
Wyatt was amused. Grace Talmadge sounded as if this was her house and he was the one being interviewed. As he sat, he arched a brow and tilted his head. “If you were to take this job and move in, since we’re both young, rumors will start. Are you prepared for that?”
She smiled at him as if he were a child with a ridiculous problem. “I have no worries about rumors. My grandparents and my parents are in Bolivia, a little far away to hear rumors. My sisters and my friends know me, and I know myself. I don’t care about anyone else or any silly rumors.”
“So you hadn’t heard wild rumors about me before you came out here?”
“I have heard some things. If you had lived up to them, I would have been gone by now, but you have been nothing but a gentleman.”
Wyatt had to bite his lip to keep from laughing. “You tempt me to throw the gentlemanly facade to the winds, but I have Megan to think about, so the order of the day is to keep this impersonal and professional. One more reason I was in hopes of finding someone older. She would be more settled. There wouldn’t be this temptation to flirt with you.”
“Oh, I don’t think you’ll have to worry about that at all. Men like you aren’t tempted to flirt with women like me,” she assured him.
“If I’d kept this interview professional, I’d skim right past that, but somehow we slid out of professional a little while ago. Men like me?”
“You’re experienced and sophisticated. I imagine you like women who share your interests. I’m bookish, straitlaced and a lot of things that don’t attract sophisticated men. Flirting will be no problem, not for me and not for you. Now, how soon did you want your nanny to start?”
“As soon as possible,” he said, once again amused. In her own mild way, Grace was still taking charge, and she had neatly answered his question and taken them back into an impersonal interview.
“I want someone for the long term, not a continual turnover of nannies that will cause more upheaval in Megan’s life,” he said.
“You have no guarantees of a long-term employee with anyone you hire. An older woman could have something happen where she would have to quit just as easily as a younger one. I’m dependable. I told you, I brought references. My college grades are a 4.0 and my attendance in college and at work was and is excellent,” Grace replied, patting Megan’s back as she rocked steadily.
“Do you mind if I contact your current employer?”
“He doesn’t know I’m applying for this, but it would be fine for you to call him. Along with my references, I’ll give you his telephone number.”
“Maybe we better get down to details,” he said, leaning back and stretching out his long legs. “You would be on duty Monday through Friday, all the time, although when I’m here, I’ll spend my evenings with Megan. I want a live-in nanny who will be a stand-in for the mother Megan lost. You’ll live out here. Weekends are your own. No boyfriends on the ranch, no wild parties.”
Her eyes sparkled with the last. “Am I to understand, then, that there will be no wild parties here?”
Again, she amused him. “I meant you, Miss Talmadge, but no, there won’t be any, not by me or by my nanny.”
“I find that satisfactory.”
“You’re trusting.”
“Sometimes when you expect the best of people, they rise to the occasion. And if you don’t, I’ll be gone,” she reminded him, still rocking Megan, who had stopped fussing and fallen quiet.
“Very well. I have some other interviews. Let me have your references.” He crossed to her and Grace gazed up at him, her pulse skittering. “I’ll take Megan now,” he said.
Grace handed him the baby, and as she did, her hands brushed his and tingles raced through her. “She’s sweet.”
“You have her vote,” he said lightly. As he took Megan, her face screwed up and she began to cry again. “Hey, baby. Megan, what’s the matter?” He gave Grace a frustrated glance. “I don’t know what makes her fussy.”
“Maybe she’s cutting teeth.”
“She wasn’t doing this with you.” He walked around, patting Megan and talking to her. Grace, meanwhile, crossed the room and removed some papers from her purse.
“Here are my references,” she said, placing them on the table. “Thank