Page 161 of Perfectly Matched: Harbor Falls Romance Collection

Wyn borrowed Zach’s car for the evening since hers was still in the shop. Two more days of work on it at least, the auto technician said. Parts were delayed due to snow and the holidays. It didn’t really matter. Wyn could get to most places she needed to go around town easy enough anyway—but Rob’s house was a bit on the outskirts and she didn’t want to rely on a cab or Uber, because either of those in Harbor Falls were few-or-far-between or reliably late. Tonight, she wanted wheels close by in case she needed to exit.

She had no clue what to expect this evening but hoped for the best.

As she approached the front door of Rob’s house, her gait slowed. She wanted to do this. Needed to clear the air. Wanted to hear his side of the story too. And it wasn’t as though they were at odds, or that anyone was angry, but there were just things left unsaid, conversations that needed to be had, and she didn’t want things to swell around in her brain, or his, and conjure up more to their stories that weren’t really there.

Don’t let the unspoken words fester, her mom often said. That is never a good thing in the end.

She knocked on the door and within seconds, Rob opened it and motioned her inside. He smiled. A good sign.

“Let’s not let this fester,”

she said, then immediately mentally kicked herself.

“What?”

“Crap. Something I was just thinking about. I’m sorry. Let’s hold that thought at least until I get inside the door.”

Rob grinned and said.

“Okay. Let me take your coat. Do you want to slip off your boots here?”

She did.

“Yes. They are snowy.”

She set her shopping bag down, then unzipped and stepped out of her boots. “There.”

“Get comfortable, okay?”

He took her coat and hung it on the hall tree next to the door.

“The kids are in here.”

He led the way down the hall.

“Dejà vu,” she said.

He glanced back. “What?”

“Dejà vu. We did this same routine about a week ago.”

They entered the great room and turned toward her.

“I think we did. Although I hope this time it’s a little less chaotic.”

“Miss Wyn!”

Two boys rushed forward—Ham and Justin. Her eyes misted over as she locked her gaze with Chaz’s as he lay on the sofa. He looked tired but a smile stretched across his face. She couldn’t wait to give him a hug. Right now, Justin had a bear grip on her left thigh and Ham had grabbed her around the waist. She couldn’t move so went with the group thing and hugged them both right back.

“I’ve missed you guys,”

she whispered.

“We missed you too, Miss Wyn,”

Ham replied.

Mia whimpered and cooed. Wyn broke free and went to the baby. The little girl smiled and reached up for her. Wyn’s heart melted. As she brought the child up and into her arms, she inhaled baby shampoo and sighed.

She looked at Rob.

“She doesn’t smell like pee and chocolate. You did good, uncle.”

He grinned and took her elbow, leading her toward the sofa.

“Someone else wants to see you.”

She handed Mia to him and sat on the edge of the sofa with Chaz. Looking the boy in the eyes, she stroked his temple.

“How are you doing big guy?”

“Much better, Miss Wyn. I’m sorry I puked on your boots.”

“Oh honey. No worries.”

She leaned in to give him a hug, and then whispered into his ear.

“I’m just glad they figured out what was going on. Aren’t you? I’m sorry it took so long.”

She pulled back and cupped his small face in her hands. He looked like he’d lost weight.

“Not your fault Miss Wyn. Thank you for saving me.”

“Me? Oh no. It was Dr. Kirk who took care of you.”

“But I heard him tell Uncle Rob that you got me to the hospital just in time. That it could have been worse….”

Wyn looked up into Rob’s face. Inside, her guts hurt. “Really?”

He nodded and nudged her elbow.

“Hey kids. Miss Wyn and I are going to talk for a while. You guys can watch the movie okay?”

“Yay!”

Wyn stood and then glanced to her bag still sitting by Mia’s bouncy chair.

“But wait. I have something for each of you.”

She retrieved the bag and gave each child a small, wrapped gift.

Justin beamed and said.

“Can we open it?”

“Sure. Go!”

The kids all tore into the paper, except for Mia who chewed on a corner of her box, while still in Rob’s arms.

“A twrain!”

“Baseball cards!”

“Pokemon!”

The boys shouted. Justin and Ham joined Chaz on the sofa. Rob put Mia back into her bouncy chair and traded the gift for a teething toy.

“Ham keep an eye on Mia for me, okay?”

Then he handed Chaz the remote.

“You get first choice.”

“Do I get next, Uncle Rob?”

Ham asked.

“If you’re all not asleep by the time this movie is over, yes.”

He grinned at his nephew.

“You guys be good. Miss Wyn and I are going to talk.”

The boys nodded.

Rob locked eyes with her then as he took her elbow and led her across the great room. Something warm, welcome, and unexpected tripped through Wyn as their bodies drew closer. She liked the simple gesture of his fingertips on her elbow, and the way she felt when she was close to him.

****

For some odd reason, in all of his dating years, Rob had never felt quite as nervous as he was at this moment. This apprehension was on a different level. His normal dating was routine. Ask her out. Take her out. Take her to bed. Repeat. This was not the same. This was getting to know her before any of that—that was the difference.

He sat at the end of the breakfast bar facing the kids. Wyn took the seat around the corner.

“Something to drink?”

“No, no. I’m fine.”

She fiddled with her fingers then wove them together and laid them on the bar. After a lengthy sigh, she looked at him and said.

“I want to go first.”

He countered with.

“I really think I should. I think I started it all.”

One corner of Wyn’s mouth turned up.

“Hm, maybe not.”

“Well let’s see.”

He leaned in closer.

“Did your lie start before the nanny ad hit the paper, or after?”

Her eyes darted back and forth.

“After. Definitely after.”

His head dipped in a nod.

“Then I go first because the first lie was definitely on me then.”

“Which was?”

Her eyebrow shot up. He thought it was the cutest gesture and it warmed his heart a little.

“The lie about a father needing a nanny.”

She thought about that, shaking her head.

“That ad said nothing about a father. It just said, ‘nanny wanted’ or something like that.”

“Hmm.”

He rubbed his chin, realizing he really needed a shave. He’d showered quickly when they got home from the hospital but had no time to remove the facial hair.

“Well, at some point between the ad going out and actually doing interviews, Gina and I decided that I should go incognito. We didn’t want to advertise the fact of who I was, or that I was not the children’s father, just to keep them safe, and keep the tabloids off me. And even the nanny.”

Wyn’s expression opened up.

“Ah, the dreaded tabloids.”

“They have not been nice to me lately.”

“I do know that,”

she responded.

He hedged.

“So you have read the stories?”

“Yes.”

Slowly, she leaned closer and said quietly.

“You are quite the ladies’ man. Models, starlets, maybe a princess…”

He rolled his eyes.

“Was. Not anymore. I didn’t know nannies kept up with things like that.”

She leaned in more.

“I work in the industry, remember? And I’m not really a nanny.”

He snapped his finger then.

“Which leads us to your lie. Does it not?”

“It does,”

she agreed.

“And my response is simple. Sort of. I lied because I was forced to—because of the intervention.”

Now his curiosity was piqued.

“Intervention? Like a drug thing or something?”

Wyn waved her hands.

“No way near. No drugs. Maybe an overindulgence of martinis but no. Nada. My friends intervened.”

“Oh?”

“I told them I was quitting acting”

“And why? You’re a brilliant actor.”

Wyn chuckled.

“Tell that to the last casting director I read for.”

“I will. He or she obviously doesn’t know talent when he or she sees it because—”

“It was you.”

He sat back, stunned. “Me?”

“Oh yes, Mr. Black, you. You see, really and truly, this is all your fault, because had you not flat-out and off-handed rejected me over a week ago during my first audition, I would not have fallen into the clutches happy hour over at Rick’s Cafe and drank too many martinis, which in turned caused my friends to worry unnecessarily about my state of mind, which subsequently caused me whine a lot about quitting acting for good. Thus, the intervention.”

“Which was?”

“To act my way into the nanny job.”

“You were acting?”

She paused, thinking, and looked to the kids. Slowly, she shook her head and smiled.

“No. Only in the beginning. Once I realized I didn’t hate kids, and they didn’t hate me, I was actually having a lot of fun and it felt…natural.”

She stopped talking and looked into his eyes again.

“It felt like real life. Like something I wanted. Something that was missing…”

Her gaze drifted back to the kids.

Rob observed her while she watched the children, the corners of her mouth drawing up into a subtle smile, and her eyes lighting up. That wasn’t acting. That was real. She did care for them.

She went on.

“I lied and I don’t regret it, because I never would have met those beautiful children. They taught me a lot this past couple of days.”

She looked back to Rob and he reached over and grasped one of Wyn’s hands, tucking it inside his. Wyn glanced at their woven fingers and then lifted her gaze to study his face.

“I’m not sure what is happening here.”

“Me either but I think we should go with it.”

She licked her lips.

“I didn’t know you were Rob Black when I answered the ad. I want you to know that. I didn’t even know for certain that it was you until I Googled. I did not try to get this job just so I could get a part in the play. Please know that.”

That notion hadn’t crossed his mind.

“Perhaps that should have occurred to me but honestly, it didn’t. I don’t see you as the kind of person to take advantage of a situation.”

“I’m not.”

Rob knew that. Truly. He looked into her eyes.

“You auditioned last week?”

She nodded.

“Yes. You didn’t let me read ten words. All you heard was that my last significant role was three years old and you dismissed me in a heartbeat. I think you may have been having a bad day.”

“Annelle in Steel Magnolias?”

“Yes.”

“Hell. I sure screwed that up.”

“Lucky for me your videographer screwed up and I got a second chance.”

“No, lucky for both of us. I’m casting you in the lead role, Wyn. Gina and I agree, one hundred percent.”

Her eyes grew wide and Rob could see the excitement in them—but she looked down at their hands again and frowned. After a moment, she said.

“What if I don’t want that role, Rob. What if I say that I want to skip this play?”

He covered her hands with both of his.

“Is that what you want?”

“I think so.”

“Why?”

Wyn turned back to the children again and watched them for a moment.

“Believe me, I wanted a role in that play more than anything and I feel great that I got a role on my own merit and that you think I’m good. But if that is true, I’ll land other roles. This time, Rob, I don’t want to work with you. Not yet anyway and not right now. Maybe in the future. What I would like now though, is to spend some more time with you, and those children, and get to know you better as a friend. Maybe more?”

Rob’s heart smiled a little. He liked the sound of that. Leaning in, he hooked a finger under her chin and tilted her head his way.

“I’d like that too,”

he whispered.

Her eyes grew big.

“You would?”

“Yes. Stay.”

“What?

“Stay this evening with me and the kids. Let’s spend time together and see how this might work. Let’s get started tonight.”

Wyn swallowed.

“I… I would like that but I am expected at the North Pole.”

“She’s Santa’s elf.”

Rob glanced down. At some point, Justin had appeared.

“I know that, little guy.”

Then he looked back up into her face.

“Stay. Please.”

Wyn felt the air rush out of her lungs. He wanted her to stay.

“I… Uh, I shouldn’t. You’re home. The kids need you and…”

“Please? The tree isn’t finished yet and…”

Ham stepped closer too.

“Miss Wyn are you staying? Yay!”

The two boys jumped up and down.

“Stay Miss Wyn! Stay!”

Breathe, Wyn, breathe.

“Really, my job is finished and…”

Rob leaned in closer.

“The kids are so happy and I want to get to know you better. Not to mention all of this stuff?”

He glanced about.

“I don’t know what to do with wrapping presents and putting up decorations. Christmas Eve is tomorrow and we’re clearly not ready.”

She glanced about.

“Clearly, you are not. I do think you could use a hand.”

“Will you stay?”

She looked him square in the eyes.

“I need to be clear. Are you asking me because it’s part of the job that I didn’t finish? If so, then of course I will stay and finish the work and all but—”

Rob couldn’t wait any longer. He silenced her uncertainty by planting a soft, slow and lazy kiss on her lips. He purposely lingered, nibbled, and was very pleased that she let him.

“Screw the job,”

he whispered against her mouth.

Sideline giggles broke out from the peanut gallery.

He eased back and Wyn sighed. Her eyes fluttered open and she searched his eyes.

“Screw the North Pole,”

she returned.

Rob chuckled.

“Will Santa understand?”

She nodded.

“Santa understands everything.”

He tugged her up to a standing position and into his arms.

“Let’s do this Christmas thing up right,”

he said.

“For the kids.”

“Just for the kids?”

“Us too.”

“Okay then.”

Their gazes held for a brief moment. Mia cackled and Justin tugged on Rob’s shirtsleeve.

“Uncle Wob. Wet’s finish the tree. Tome on!”

“Just one more minute,”

he told his nephew, and then leaned in to kiss Wyn again. She melted into his embrace and kissed him back.

“Merry Christmas, Miss Wyn.”

“Merry Christmas to you, Mr. Black.”