Nanny Behaving Badly Read Free Page B

did it on a whim?’ Lyle raised a quizzical dark brow that made her skin heat watching him close up. Smelling his scent and seeing every facial detail, the texture of his skin, the colour shade of his lips and eyes felt way too intimate way too soon. And something inside her responded to these details with surprising hunger.
    ‘The restyle was an impulse makeover when my blood was up. Someone turned all my plans upside down.’ Debilitating as well as dangerous. A bit like Lyle himself.
    She recalled Paula’s horrified face when she’d walked through the doors at the agency with radical hair and an announcement about losing her job. Perhaps horrified was too mild – her loyal best friend had looked like she’d just arrived holding a giant wasps’ nest handbag.
    ‘I note you resigned from your last job due to ‘personal issues’. Want to explain that?’ Lyle pushed.
    She’d known this would come up; she’d explained it all fully at interview. She repeated the stock phrases again for Lyle’s benefit. ‘A personal relationship that turned sour. My work and loyalty never came into question. I simply left because relationship-breakdowns can get awkward in the workplace.’
    ‘Hard for me to corroborate your experience though.’
    ‘Call Andrea at Junior Play Space Station. She’ll vouch for my work. I was a U.S. Kids’ Camp counsellor in the States too. It may sound like child’s play but believe me, marshalling thirty hyper kids a day takes stamina and commitment. Sometimes earplugs too. I think I can handle a coffee bar without it causing me a nervous breakdown.’
    ‘So you’re telling me you’ll conform. You won’t push me out again like the earlier stunt.’
    Things about this man pushed lots of instant reaction buttons inside her all at once. His manner, his brusque bravado and his tingle-causing all-man looks. The lurking inner bad boy that she kept seeing glints of in his eyes. Those hands that had such long fingers it almost felt sensual noticing them. Hands that caused her to imagine them touching her skin.
    Maddie shrugged in fake surrender. ‘You won’t regret giving me a second chance and that’s a promise.’
    He shook his head, unimpressed. But she noticed that he chanced a sidelong look at her. ‘Well, so long as you’re clear. Any more crazy stuff and you’ll be gone without further warning. I don’t have time for employees going loco.’
    Something inside her – she wasn’t sure what – clicked and she just had to answer back in the face of his accusations. Perhaps it was the assumptions, the fact he didn’t know her at all and was damning her with stereotypes. The immovable negative standpoint just jarred and cut deep. Something made her bite.
    ‘When I next decide to scale Edinburgh castle’s ramparts naked, I’ll be sure you’re out of the country. Or not looking. Since I’m such a shock-seeker.’
    Lyle stared at her. His sharp grey eyes glittered and his brows even rose a touch. Maddie didn’t actually know where the retort had come from. She’d derailed herself. Now he just thought she was the crazy American woman who couldn’t be trusted. Even to keep her mouth zipped. It was one thing winning an argument and fighting your cause, another thing discussing nude monument ascent like she did it as a weekend hobby.
    But something made her spar with Lyle Sutherland – perhaps the way her heart had been revving since he’d touched her mouth? Or the way he’d judged and trampled all her efforts.
    ‘Maybe I’d prefer to stick around for that spectacle.’
    Maddie laid her hands flat on the table. Tried to keep them steady, her tone even. ‘Look, I’m not work-shy and I’m not here on a free pass. All I want is a fair chance.’
    Lyle rose and fixed her with those eyes. ‘See you back at the café in twenty minutes – punctual, ready to serve. Keen to keep the boss on side even if it means resisting the urge to rock climb.’
    ‘Sure, boss.’ She let out a deep