Page 31 of Substitute Bride

The truth was, he had no idea what Genevieve would do, especially after what Marta had just told him.

“Oh.” Rose cleared her throat. “I meant to tell you earlier, but there wasn’t a good time. My sister said that Genevieve was at a party a couple of days ago, claiming that you two were still engaged.”

He almost groaned, realizing this was going to be a big deal, no matter how much he wanted to push it under the rug. “Yeah. Marta told me the same thing. Evidently she’s gotten everyone thinking that I’m just hesitating about the marriage because I feel guilty about moving on after Melissa has died.”

“But that’s crazy! Surely she doesn’t think she can trick you into marrying her that way.”

“I don’t know. She doesn’t think like you and me.”

“I guess not.”

He looked at Rose and suddenly remembered he’d been close to making love to her just a minute before. He would have too if someone hadn’t interrupted them.

She was his nanny. His nanny. There was absolutely no way he could give into his feelings for her—not if he wanted her to remain his nanny.

His little girls would be lost without her.

So would he.

He couldn’t lose her, which meant he could never really have her.

He had to do something to make it better. Right now. Before everything started to fall apart, before his world really turned into chaos the way it had after Melissa had died.

Rose was looking awkward and a little embarrassed, and he knew she was wondering what was going on.

So he told her. “I’m sorry about that. Before.”

Rose blinked. “Oh. Okay.”

“I mean, I didn’t mean for it to happen.”

“I didn’t mean for it to either.”

He didn’t really like the sound of that, but he knew it was for the best. He gave a curt nod, avoiding looking at her face because she looked so much like what he wanted. “Good. So we’ll pretend it never happened. Okay?”

There was a longish pause before she answered, “Okay. It never happened.”

James tried to be happy that it was resolved and nothing that occurred would get in the way of their working relationship.

But he wasn’t.

He wasn’t happy at all.

7

“Is there some way to get them professionally cleaned, do you think?” Kelly asked, frowning as she rubbed a dust cloth over the fur of one of the feline members of the Pride.

Rose had pulled the oldest of the stuffed Siamese cats out from the alcove where it was kept—usually behind curtains, when there was any chance of company since their grandmother had discovered early that a lot of people were rather taken aback by her strange choice in collectables.

Rose shook her head, looking at the macabre frozen face and glassy eyes of the creature. This one had died long before she was born. “I’m sure there is, but how much would it cost to get all of them clean? Probably a fortune and we’re just now paying to do all those clothes. We can’t always be asking Deanna and Mitchell for money. It’s not right.”

“I know,” Kelly said with a sigh. She wore two long braids in her hair as she always did, and her glasses were slipping down her nose. “I just hate that, even after we’ve finally got the house redone so nice, everything still seems to be crumbling around us.”

“I guess that happens when you love old things.” Rose gave her sister a smile, wishing the girl didn’t have to worry all the time. She was just twenty—and still in college. Most girls that age weren’t forced to spend their time thinking of ways to scrape together enough money to take care of all the family heirlooms.

Rose and Kelly continued dusting the Pride and their alcove in silence.

It was Sunday, Rose’s day off, and she usually spent it over at the Beaufort house since it was one of the only times in the week that she was guaranteed time to spend with her family. She’d come over as usual first thing this morning, and she wasn’t sure whether she’d go back to the Harwoods this afternoon or not.