“I can,” he said, “and you may need them in the future. Being such short notice, I understand you may not have had time to pack properly before you came here. Besides, you obviously had no idea what our life style was.”
A becoming flush colored Sabrina’s face. She should never play poker. Her thoughts were mirrored in her eyes, on her lips and the color of her cheeks. It was best she didn’t know that the twins had told him how few clothes she’d brought. Their motive was of course to show him how unprepared she was for the job and to get him to get rid of her. Which was why they’d put the snake in her bed. But he was not fooled. Just because they didn’t want her here was not a good reason to let her go, in fact just the contrary.
Maybe he’d been too hasty in firing the previous nannies, but seeing Sabrina, he was glad he had. For the twins’ sake, of course. And for his too.Today she’d earned her money and then some. He was glad to furnish the woman with suitable clothes to be worn in town or at the lake, for dinners, lunches or wherever nannies went.
He realized he’d made a decision about her without consciously doing it. Ms. West would stay, no matter what the girls wanted. As for the clothes, he understood that she couldn’t have been prepared for life here in Italy where everyday women walked out the door to the market dressed as if they lived in a villa on Lake Como.
“You’re not in casual California anymore,” he added.
Sabrina West acknowledged his remark with a small tired smile. He glanced over at her from the driver’s seat. She had taken her shoes off and tilted her head back against the leather seat. There were faint smudges under her eyes and along with her pale skin and high cheekbones, she looked fragile. A far cry from the smart business woman who’d just assisted him in an excellent presentation. She was more than a multi-talented woman who’d performed over and beyond her job description. She was a desirable woman and he couldn’t understand why no man had snatched her up yet. What was wrong with American men?
He felt a pang of remorse for putting her to the test. An hour ago she’d been full of energy, now she was suddenly worn out. This was his fault for taking advantage of her. Forcing her to drive to Milan and then fill in for someone who should have been a bank executive or technical consultant.
“I’m sorry. Instead of relaxing by the pool at the villa or instructing my little hellions in history or geography, you had to dress up and assist me in a very important business matter. Which is not what you expected and certainly not in your job description.I’ll make it up to you somehow. Have you had lunch?” he asked. “Of course you haven’t. We’ll stop for something along the lake, if you can wait that long.”
She nodded. He didn’t know if that meant she could or couldn’t wait. He decided to go ahead to the Lake. It was strange, but he felt he’d had enough of Milan for once, and he was sure she had too.
“I want to thank you,” he said. “I believe we may have closed the deal today. They’ll give us their answer next week. I must say your contribution was invaluable. I owe you for that. It was above and beyond your duties.”
She nodded and closed her eyes. In a moment he saw that she’d fallen asleep. She must have jet lag. She’d been up late last night as had he. He couldn’t believe anyone could fall asleep so fast, except for children. He couldn’t stop looking at her, at the way her lips were parted, her skirt twisted above her knees revealing long shapely legs and the way her slim fingers were clasped in her lap.
He drove around the lake twice just to keep from waking her. He took the narrow road lined with tall fences that protected large villas, even more impressed that a foreigner would brave this heavy tourist traffic to come to the bank today merely because he asked her to. He would take her to a late lunch then go back to the villa to work.
When he finally stopped the car in the driveway of the restaurant at the Villa Fiorini, she woke up and looked around as if she was lost. Or at least disoriented. “We’re at a restaurant on the lake,” he explained. “It’s the deepest lake in Europe and the most beautiful, but then I may be prejudiced.” He got out and opened her door for her. First she had to put her shoes on and he had to watch. He stuffed his hands in his pockets to keep from taking her feet in his hands, encircling her ankles with his fingers and feeling her smooth skin all in the interest of helping her, of course.
He tried to look away at the orange and lemon trees that graced the entrance to the venerable old restaurant, but he couldn’t tear his gaze from her spectacular long legs. He took her suit jacket from the car and helped her put it on, his fingers lingering on her arms a little too long.
He was an engaged man, he reminded himself, a man who hadn’t looked at a woman the way he was looking at his nanny for a long seven years. A man who didn’t expect to feel the way he did right now, as if he’d fallen off his sailboat and gotten trapped in an undertow on the lake. That’s the way Sabrina West made him feel, slightly out-of-control, slightly off kilter and not his rigidly disciplined himself at all. What had he done, hiring a woman who made him feel vibrantly alive again and in danger of falling off the path he’d so carefully followed these past seven years? Maybe he should have sent her back on the next ferry. But then where would he be today?
She’d taken off her suit jacket to reveal a silk blouse underneath it. It clung to her curves in a way that drew his attention like a magnet. Again he made a super-human effort to look at something else and again he failed. What was wrong with him? He knew better than to become infatuated with a woman no matter who she was.
Inside the restaurant Sabrina sniffed the air. There was the smell of succulent steak being grilled over an open flame and the rich fruity scent of fresh olive oil.
“I hope you like this place,” he said as he held out her chair for her.
“Like it?” Sabrina sighed happily. “It’s wonderful.” She wasn’t sure if she was still dreaming or if she was really on the shores of Lake Como at a restaurant filled with wooden furniture, all done in warm earth tones with a spectacular view of the lake shimmering below and the promise of a delicious lunch with a man who drew her into his orbit by the look in his eyes, his deep voice that set off vibrations in the air and the sheer strength of his personality. She warned herself he was only being charming and nice because he owed her for helping him out. After lunch it would be back to normal, and a good thing too. They’d be employer and employee, nothing more, nothing less.
From the terrace she saw tiny sailboats bobbing about in the water. Then she glanced across the table. Even more of a dream was that she was having lunch with her handsome boss, the very thing she knew she shouldn’t do. But it was too late to say no. And she was too weak to protest. The same thing that had gotten her into so much trouble before. It was all too horribly familiar. The last time she was a nanny, she’d been swept into the bosom of the family so fast it made her head spin. It was wonderful, magical, and irresistible. She was treated like part of the family she’d always wanted. Until it all came crashing down around her.
This time Sabrina was going to resist. Even though she hadn’t seen much of the girls, she was their nanny. Today was an aberration. Tomorrow would be different.
Tomorrow she’d be a nanny again. It was her job. Her job was not to socialize with her boss, no matter how delightful it was to have lunch on the shores of the deepest and most beautiful lake in Europe with the best-looking man in all of Italy, maybe all of Europe. Not only good-looking, but charming besides, at least when he wanted to be. From their table they had spectacular views of the fields of wildflowers with the lake in the distance. Sabrina ignored her menu in favor of gazing at the scenery and not her boss. It was a view she’d only dreamed of.
The prince broke into her reverie. “May I suggest the polenta with truffles, the porcini mushroom and onion soup and filet mignon in a Cabernet sauce?”
“It sounds wonderful,” she murmured, instead of saying what she should have said,
“No thank you. I’ll have some bread and cheese back at the villa. I can’t have lunch with you. I can’t work with you at your office. I know better and so do you. You’re my employer and I’m your nanny. To you I’m an employee. To me you are….”
That was one sentence she didn’t want to complete.
“I must confess,” the prince said as the waiter filled their glasses with a sparkling white wine, “I was skeptical when you told me that Power Point was an important skill for a nanny. You have proved me wrong.”
“I’m glad I could help,” she said folding her hands primly in her lap. Was this the same autocratic employer who’d fired the previous half dozen nannies? Maybe they should have tried Power Point. If only she had something more to do other than look across the table into her employer’s eyes and get caught like a fly in a mysterious Venus fly trap. There she was staring at him, wondering if his eyes were merely a seductive dark brown or really black as ink. If only it meant nothing to her that she’d been a part of a successful presentation. But it did. She felt a thrill of achievement even though she hadn’t achieved any part of the job she’d come to do.
“What can I do in return?” he asked.
“You’re taking me to lunch,” she said with a glance around the sun-drenched terrace at the other customers, all well-dressed vacationers or local residents. Every man was dressed in white pants, blazers and colorful shirts and the women in bright summer dresses or slacks. If she kept the clothes the secretary had bought her, she’d be dressed just as fashionably as these people. But what about the nanny rules that forbid accepting expensive gifts from your employer?
“As your employer, I am obliged to provide your meals for you, at least that’s what I understand. There must be something else, a bonus, a day off to go shopping?”
“I can’t imagine anything I could shop for if those clothes in the car are really for me.”
“They are,” he said firmly.
“Then I intend to pay you back for them.” She did intend to do that, but she knew at the moment it didn’t seem like a realistic plan. “In the mean time I do have a request.
He hesitated only a moment then he said, “Name it.”
“I’d like you to come to the girls’ sailing class next Friday morning. The parents are invited to see a demonstration of what they’ve learned this summer. There is to be a picnic afterward.”
“I’m afraid it’s out of the question,” he said without a pause. “I have meetings on Friday.”
“Very well. You asked me and I told you.”
“Ask me for something else.”
“There is nothing else. Never mind. I will be there. It’s your loss.”
His expression darkened. She didn’t know what he was thinking, perhaps that she’d gone too far. Maybe she should never have mentioned it, and maybe the twins didn’t care if he came or not. But she knew how it felt to have empty seats where her parents should have been whether it was a piano recital or parents’ night at school. She wouldn’t wish that on anyone.
Sabrina decided not to give up yet. “Perhaps your fiancée would like to attend?”
He gave a mirthless half laugh. “Aurora? I don’t think so. She has a very demanding job and is traveling at the moment. Besides, I don’t know what kind of impression that would make on the girls. As I mentioned they haven’t quite accepted the idea of my marriage to her. And she’s never been very interested in the girls. When you do attend the event, Ms West, you will find that many of the guests are not parents but nannies or servants like yourself.”
Sabrina winced. For a few hours she’d forgotten she was a servant, but he obviously hadn’t. He was right. That’s what she was. It was good to be reminded. It was better that way. That way she wouldn’t let herself believe they were equals, even though she was wearing a beautiful designer suit and they were sharing a very lovely expensive lunch together. He was way out of her reach, way beyond anyone she’d ever met. He was not only rich, but high-class, foreign and descended from royalty, no matter if he disclaimed his right to the throne. By that one remark, he’d made her position indisputably clear.