Page 160 of Perfectly Matched: Harbor Falls Romance Collection

“Get up, sleepy head. Your work is not done.”

Wynter groaned in her semi-sleepy state, rolled over in her bed taking blankets and pillow with her, and covered her head. “Go away,”

came her muffled response to her roommate.

She’d been dreaming of the kids. And Rob. And all she wanted was to burrow back into the dream and live it all over again. It was Christmas and Chaz wasn’t sick, back to his normal ornery self. They were all having fun—the kids, and Rob, and her—sledding and baking cookies and wrapping presents and doing all sorts of Christmas things. And the way Rob looked at her was sort of magical too, and then—

Lisa jerked the covers away from her body. The chill in the drafty old room hit Wyn’s skin. She sat up quickly.

“What are you doing?”

“You have an audition this morning.”

Wyn fell back on the bed, grasping at the comforter.

“Like hell I do.”

“You got a call-back.”

“It was a technical issue.”

“But all the same, they called.”

“I can’t Lisa. Surely you understand that.”

Her friend stared, and then sat on the edge of the bed.

“Wyn, look. Don’t crumble into your bed and wallow in martinis for the next couple of weeks. Get up, get dressed, throw your shoulders back, and blow your troubles off like I know you can.”

Wyn slapped the bed. “Ugh!”

“You can do it, Wyn. I have faith in you.”

She sat up and faced her friend, wishing she could get back to the dream. Fat chance of that now.

“And I have faith in myself.”

“Then get up and prove it.”

“Goodness, Lisa! If I can do what I did the past few days, I can ace the audition. It’s not that I don’t have faith in myself. I do. For the record, I just wanted to sleep in this morning! I haven’t slept in two days. I have no plans to revisit happy hour. I am moving forward with my life and my career—but all things considered, getting a role in this play is ludicrous. Rob Black not going to cast me.”

“He will if he knows talent and you’ve always said he’s the best in the business.”

“He is.”

“Then take the chance.”

Wyn shook her head.

“I walked out on him last night. I’m sure that won’t bode well for anything.”

“Wyn, your job was finished. No reason for you stay. But that’s not why you’re not auditioning, is it?”

She shook her head.

“You know it isn’t. How can I face him and tell him I wasn’t a nanny after all? Hell, Wyn, I didn’t know what to do yesterday and something bad could have happened to Chaz. It would have been my entire fault because I’m not a properly trained nanny. Besides, yesterday was a pretty emotional day for me and I’m just not ready to face it all again today.”

“Good Lord, woman!”

Lisa grasped her hands.

“First of all, he was at fault as much as you. You both twisted the truth. And worse, he withheld information that could have potentially been bad news for the kids. If anything, you both need to clear the air.”

“You could be right.”

“I am right, Wyn. But for now, separate yourself from what happened yesterday to what needs to happen today. Be the actor today, Wyn Hall. Just do it.”

She stood and started for the door. As her fingers rested on the doorknob, she turned back.

“Besides, it sounds to me that you handled everything quite well yesterday without being properly nanny trained. I think he was lucky to have you and he probably thinks so too.”

“Pfft.”

Wyn rose and stepped toward her closet. She might as well let Lisa think she was right. After all, she was right but Wyn had already decided she needed to go—the additional sideline coaching wasn’t needed. After a few seconds of rummaging through her clothing, she pulled out a black tunic top and a pair of skinny jeans and held them up for Lisa’s inspection.

“These. With boots and maybe that pair of funky earrings I got at the Blue Ridge Artisan Trade Show downtown. What do you think?”

She faced Lisa, who smiled.

“Perfect. Go break a leg.”

Break a leg, indeed. An hour later, Wyn stepped out onto the stage, prepared for her audition. After all, what did she have to lose? Her stomach flittered in anticipation and she wondered how she would feel when her gaze met with Rob’s. What would his reaction be? How would she handle it if he made a scene?

Why would he make a scene?

She was making a mountain out of a molehill. Maybe Lisa was right. Perhaps they did need to talk about all of this and get things out in the open—but the audition wasn’t the time or place.

Not that she didn’t want to talk to him. She did. Last night, she had been too weary to deal with any sort of emotion—or the truth—so she simply dealt with the situation at hand and then fled. She wasn’t avoiding anything, she simply had nothing left to give. She needed space, and peace and quiet. Time to think—away from people, children, and hospitals.

In such a short time she’d come to care for the children which was a tremendous shock to her system. She hadn’t realized she could care for anyone so quickly, especially a child. Not to mention four of them! Their personalities varied and they each warmed her heart in different ways. And in that same space of time, what initially was a physical attraction to Rob Black, because of his stunning good looks and somewhat due to his celebrity, became a growing affection.

Her feelings were getting mixed up inside of her head and her heart.

Perhaps she shouldn’t have come, after all.

She paused, doubt eating at her, and slowed her step. She wasn’t ready to face Rob yet this morning. She had to sort these feelings out first, didn’t she? Almost ready to turn tail and leave, she heard her name called again. In an instant, she changed course—in her head and in her step—and plowed forward. As she approached the edge of the stage, the lights filtered away and she quickly searched out the people below who would be listening, observing, judging….

What will be, will be.

A light shone on the table with the remaining theater dark behind it. Her gaze focused and then skittered left and right—no Rob. Finally, she looked to the lone person sitting there. A woman. Wyn blew out a breath.

“Name please?”

“Wyn Hall.”

“So happy you could return today to read for us today, Ms. Hall.”

“Yes. I am as well.”

“Okay then, let’s get the shots.”

A videographer pointed to a mark on the stage and she stepped to it. Like a week or so earlier, they took head shots, side views, and then began rolling the camera.

“Go, Ms. Hall.”

Wyn read until she reached the end of the script.

****

Rob slept at the hospital.

Mia, Justin, and Ham were with his Aunt Carolyn. He’d called his mother’s sister not long after Wyn left hoping she might be able to help. Last thing he wanted was to leave Chaz alone at the hospital, but the other children were on the verge of tiny meltdowns should they not get out of emergency waiting room soon. His Aunt Carolyn had jumped at the chance to take the three off his hands and arrived at the hospital within thirty minutes. While he was sad to be separated from them again, he was happy to devote time and attention to Chaz. He also knew they would be well-fed and taken care of with his aunt.

Even though he’d had little sleep, and hadn’t showered or shaved since California, when Gina called earlier that morning and asked him to come by the theater later, he said he would—but only if the doctor felt it was okay for him to leave for a while. He’d given out his cell phone number to anyone with a hospital uniform should he be needed while he was gone.

Dr. Kirk delivered the good news about an hour later during his morning rounds saying Chaz had done very well throughout the night and that barring any sort of setback, he’d be released later that day. Since tomorrow was Christmas Eve, Rob hoped that was the case. He had promised his brother and sister-in-law that the kids would have a great Christmas.

So far he hadn’t delivered. He’d let the nanny take care of all that. Now it was time for him to step up to the plate—in more ways than one.

The nanny. Wyn. She wasn’t just a nanny, was she? The kids adored her from what he could tell in the pictures, and from what he’d observed in the emergency room. The way Wyn’s eyes were misty, he was certain she adored them too. And if he wanted to be truthful with himself, in the midst of everything else, he hadn’t stopped thinking about her.

Slamming his car door shut, Rob put his head down against the blowing snow—a far cry from the weather he’d left behind in Los Angeles—and stepped across the sidewalk to the theater. He ducked inside the wide double doors to the lobby and noticed a dozen or more people milling about. Actors, likely. Gina had called several back in for this morning.

Smiling, he brushed snow off his shoulders and realized the kids would get their white Christmas. That would make them happy. Wyn and the children still ever-present in his mind, he pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and flipped through the past days’ barrage of text messages and pictures.

He should have been in those pictures with the kids. He should not have listened to Jack and should have insisted that he could have handled the meeting long distance—or that Jack could have gone it alone. He should have stayed—but then he would never have met Wyn.

And that, he suddenly realized, would have been unfortunate. He liked her and wished he could get to know her better. But what would a relationship with her be like? Small town girl and all. Would someone like Wyn keep his interest for long? Help him settle down?

He glanced off and realized he was an idiot. He didn’t need a hometown girl to settle him down—he needed to settle in and figure out who he was today, and if he was lucky enough to find a small town woman who would love him, flaws and all, then he should probably grab onto the chance and never let go.

Because he had flaws and owned them.

Pausing in the lobby, he stared at the selfie again of Wyn and the kids. He’d quickly become attracted to her. Of course, he’d thought her striking from the beginning but that was not unusual. He frequently found himself attracted to beautiful women. This attraction felt different, however. Awkwardly so, since he had no business being attracted to the woman caring for the children. But perhaps it felt awkward because she was different—different from the kinds of women he generally dated—models, actors, reality TV stars.

He had to admit when she’d left last night his heart tugged a little toward the door she’d exited—liked she’d dragged a part of his heart out of his chest and took it with her. What gives with that?

He didn’t know but it didn’t matter. She was a nanny. It was her job to like the kids.

But he stared at the picture a little longer. His gaze landed on her hand rested casually on Ham’s shoulder. He took in how Mia snuggled trustingly against Wyn’s chest and how Justin looked up at her with a big silly grin on his face. How Chaz stretched to put bunny ears behind her head and how she sideways-glanced at him with a huge, goofy smile on her face. Those interactions seem more than job-like to him. There was genuine care and affection in her eyes and expression.

Later. He’d think about it later.

Tucking the phone into his coat pocket, he strode across the lobby and into the darkened theater. The lights were bright and penetrating and he could see that someone was on stage. He stood for a minute to let his eyes adjust to the contrast of dark and light and when he felt oriented, slowly made his way down the aisle while he listened to the actor on stage reading the script selection.

Her voice stopped him. He studied her.

In that instant, he knew who was standing on that stage. He stood and listened for a few seconds then slowly urged his body closer. He rested on the fringe of the darkness, sat in a seat just out of the light, and watched her body language and her facial expressions as she read—acted—the script.

He absorbed her audition.

She was fabulous.

And he was totally conflicted. Confused. Who was Wynter Holly, anyway?

When she stopped reading, her hand holding the script dropped to her side and her gaze searched through the lights for Gina. She waited while Gina glanced back to look at him. She raised her brow in question and cocked her head to the side. Rob slowly nodded.

“Thank you, Ms. Hall,”

she said, turning back to the stage.

“Are you in town for the holidays?”

“Oh yes,”

Wyn responded.

“I’m available.”

“Good. We’ll be in touch.”

Wyn exited the stage and Rob rose. He moved closer to Gina.

“She was incredible.”

“I think she’s the lead role. The looks, her demeanor, mannerisms. I believe she has what we need.”

Rob nodded.

“Your instincts are almost as good as mine. Better, probably.”

Gina smiled.

“I learned from the master.”

He frowned and stared at the stage curtain. Gina spoke to him.

“Everything okay?”

“No. Yes. I think. I’ll be back.”

Rob jogged to the side exit and entered back stage area. He caught a glimpse of Wyn rounding the corner heading toward the lobby. He raced to catch up with her and called her name when he saw her ready to push through the back door.

“Wyn!”

She stopped and abruptly and turned. As her gaze met his, her eyes grew large and round.

“Oh? Hi. Gosh….”

Rob approached and stood in front of her.

“At a loss for words?”

“Apparently so. I, uh…”

“You were incredible.”

“What?”

“You… What are you doing here?”

She exhaled.

“I, well. Audition.”

“But you’re a nanny.”

She shook her head.

“No, I’m not. I…”

Her words trailed off. Then she tilted her chin up and finished her sentence.

“I lied. I’m not a real nanny.”

“But...”

Rob stare.

“I don’t understand.”

“There are a lot of things I don’t understand either,”

she quickly countered.

He thought about that. “Touche.”

They both stood there for a moment. Then finally, simultaneously they said, “Look…”

Both stopped talking.

“You first,” Rob said.

“No, feel free,”

she offered.

“I, uh…”

Then his cell phone rang.

“I’m sorry,”

he told her, pulling the phone out of his pocket.

“Hospital,” he added.

“No please answer it. How is Chaz? I’ve been worried all night.”

He nodded. He studied her face, etched with concern, while he talked with the nurse. After a moment, he ended the call.

“Chaz is coming home early this afternoon.”

She looked relieved.

“Thank God. How is he?”

“Much better. I just left him to come down here. Gina,”

he glanced back.

“my assistant asked me to stop by for a few minutes. I heard your audition.”

“You’ve heard me before.”

He cocked his head to the side. “I have?”

“Mmhmm. Yes. A week or so ago.”

“No. I would remember.”

She shook her head.

“Look, it doesn’t matter now. I’m glad Chaz is okay. I’m wondering… I mean, Rob, I have a question. Questions, actually…”

“You too?”

Nodding, she agreed. “Yes. I—”

He interrupted and stepped closer.

“Come by and see the kids tonight. Please?”

“Oh,”

she glanced off.

“I actually have a shift at the North Pole this evening.”

Rob angled his gaze to meet hers.

“What time?”

“I have to be there at eight.”

“Come by early. Say, five or six o’clock?”

Softening his voice a bit, he added.

“We can talk.”

“Talk?”

Nodding again, he said.

“Yes. I think we need to talk. Get all of the questions answered.”

She released a pent-up breath and her shoulders visibly relaxed.

“Yes, Rob. I would like to talk.”

“Good. Five then, or is six better?”

“Whatever works best for you and the kiddos. I’m sure they’re exhausted.”

“Let’s make it five. They may be tired and head to be early.”

Wyn agreed.

“Five it is and that gives me plenty of time to get to my shift at the downtown mall. I’ll see you then.”

She said nothing more and moved toward the exit, then quickly turned back.

“Would it be okay if I bring them each a little gift? I don’t want to impose but I left rather abruptly and—”

“They would love it. Thank you.”

She smiled.

“No, thank you.”

Rob watched her go. Some sort of crazy concoction of relief and anticipation flooded his gut. He wasn’t quite certain what had just happened the past few minutes but what he did know was that five o’clock couldn’t get here fast enough to sort it all out.