Nanny Next Door Read Online Free

watch her when he worked the occasional evening or weekend shift. In the past few weeks Daniel had developed a healthy respect for the stresses a single parent faced. He’d never considered having kids, much less having one alone.
    He still had no idea why April’s mother listed him as the father on the birth certificate. A simple blood test would have proven the baby wasn’t his. Maybe Reanne didn’t know who the father was, and Daniel’s name was the first to come to mind. Or maybe because he was a cop she felt he was the only person she could trust. She’d told him horror stories about growing up in foster care, being shuffled from family to family, never feeling she belonged anywhere. He could understand why she wanted better for April. But he couldn’t be the one to provide that. He didn’t know a damned thing about raising a baby. But when social services had contacted him after Reanne’s death and he saw April, looking so tiny and helpless, he hadn’t been able to turn her away.
    He would take care of her until her real family could be found. He’d hired a buddy of his, a retired cop turned private investigator, to locate a relative willing to adopt her.
    Daniel just had to hold on until then, and in the meantime hope he didn’t scar the kid for life.

    S YDNEY SMOOTHED the putty knife one last time over the newly patched wall. A little sandpaper and paint and it would be good as new.
    After returning home she’d taken a long, hot shower, hoping to wash away some of the festering resentment toward her former employer. It hadn’t worked. And now, as she sorted through the items lying on the table in front of her—handmade gifts from her students, class photos and keepsakes—she felt pitifully empty as well. Teaching was her life. Nothing filled her with joy like spending her day surrounded by her students.
    Through the kitchen window she heard a car door slam. Then the side door flew open and the source of her troubles breezed in like he owned the place. Which he did just to annoy her, despite being warned by her lawyer that it was against the law. Law that he carried conveniently in his pocket.
    Jeff’s short blond hair—which without the dye would now be mostly gray—was neatly combed and sprayed into place, his dark blue Italian silk suit tailored to an impeccable fit. He never left home looking anything less than perfect.
    “Get out,” she told him.
    “What, no kiss?” Jeff shrugged out of his jacket, draped it over the back of a kitchen chair and opened the refrigerator. “What’s for lunch?”
    She stood and clasped her thin silk robe snugly to her chest. He’d seen her in her robe thousands of times, but not since the divorce. It felt like an invasion of her privacy now. “There’s a Taco Hut two blocks away.”
    “I wanted to let you know Kimberly’s class was canceled and I can’t take Lacey out tonight. I’ll pick her up Saturday instead.”
    “That’s what the phone is for.”
    “ And I didn’t think you would mind if I stopped by for a bite to eat, seeing as how I’m paying the mortgage.”
    “How stupid do I look?”
    He glanced at her over the refrigerator door. “You don’t really want me to answer that, do you?”
    “You’re here to gloat, admit it. Someone must have called to congratulate you by now. To let you know you’ve screwed me out of a job.”
    He pulled out a package of lunch meat, the mustard and a butter knife from the drawer, and put them on the counter. “You lost your job?” He flashed her that fake innocent look she could spot a mile away.
    “Don’t patronize me. Have you even thought about Lacey?”
    “What about her?” He opened the pantry, searching for a loaf of bread. She slammed it shut and he yanked his hand away. “Hey! Watch the manicure.”
    “Haven’t you noticed what this is doing to her? These mind games you’re playing. Her grades have dropped, her appearance is atrocious. She’s a mess.”
    “Maybe she’d be better off