Page 1 of Forbidden Kisses

CHAPTER ONE

Duncan

"Dad, Dad, I had an awesome day." My son, Jeremy, was beaming with excitement the second I came through the front door.

I smiled at him. His enthusiasm was contagious. "What did you do?" I asked.

"We went on a roller coaster."

I stopped in my tracks, looking from him to Maggie, his nanny. She was in her late sixties, and I wouldn't have pegged her as someone who wanted to go on a roller coaster.

"He insisted," she said, "and I couldn't say no. And it’s appropriate for his age."

"It was awesome. She turned green and threw up." My son was at that age where he found the strangest things exciting.

“I’m sorry, Maggie,” I said. “I’ll have a little something extra in your paycheck for your efforts.”

She, of course, told me it wasn’t necessary, but the poor woman puked! That was over and above the call of duty.

Once that was settled, I turned my attention to Jeremy and asked, "What else did you do?" Catching up with him after work was my favorite part of the day. Hell, if I could, I'd spend the entire afternoon with him, but that wasn't always possible.

"I ate popcorn. And ice cream. But Maggie said she needs to talk to you tonight, so I'm going to my room."

"You do that, buddy," I said.

Jeremy was ten going on eighteen. Sometimes I couldn't believe he was so grown-up. But then he did something like mention poor Maggie’s throwing up to her face, and I remembered once again that he was a kid after all.

Once Jeremy was out of earshot, I asked Maggie, "What's wrong? Are you still feeling sick? Want me to call a doctor?" One of the perks of living in a condominium was that I had 24/7 access to a concierge who could get me anything I needed—including a doctor. It had been a lifesaver when Jeremy was younger.

"No, don't you worry. It wasn't that bad. Although I won't get on a roller coaster again any time soon."

We both smiled at that. Couldn’t say I was a fan of carnival rides either.

"So, what do you want to talk to me about?"

She smiled sadly. Fuck, this wasn't good news. In my extensive experience as co-CEO of Sterling Investments, I’d learned a few things. One of them was that when someone gave an apologetic smile, they were about to drop a bombshell.

"Well, remember when I told you that my mom had surgery last week?"

"Yes, and you said she woke up feeling just fine."

"It turns out that she severely underestimated how much time it’ll take her to recover and how brutal these first weeks will be. But then again, no one tells you that, or probably no one would ever have a hip replacement."

My chest constricted. My first instinct was to tell Maggie that I would gladly pay for her mom to have round-the-clock care before I agreed for her to leave us. But I stopped myself in time.

She frowned. "Duncan, I've been with you and Jeremy for years. I really wouldn't be doing this if my mom didn't need me."

I ran a hand through my hair. I hadn’t expected this. "When do you need to go?"

"As soon as possible. I'd like to go tomorrow, if that's okay with you. A few neighbors are pitching in, but you can't ask strangers for help all day, every day. She can barely make it to the bathroom with her walker. She’s exhausted her insurance that had covered her home health care, so now she’d have to pay out of pocket with money she doesn’t have.”

“I can pay for anything she needs.”

She smiled weakly. “Thank you. That is very generous, but I’d rather take care of her myself.”

Clearly, this was an emergency, and I could see Maggie’s mind was set. I had no choice. "Just let me know when you'll be back."

"I think she's going to need me for the next three months. She insisted that one month would be good, but I spoke to her doctor, and given her medical history, it's going to be a slow recovery rather than fast. I don't want to leave her before she's ready."