Urgent: One Nanny Required (Crimson Romance) (16 page)

“No, you’re not. You’re a very brave boy,” she said, ruffling his hair. “That was very nice of Claudia to take you to the skate park.” In fact, ever since the day she met them at the restaurant five days ago, Claudia and Kirk had been very kind indeed, practically babysitting Theo every other day and hosting sleepovers every other night after that. They stated their reasons were only that the boys rarely saw each other, so why not take advantage of the fact they were both here. She had her doubts those were legit, but it did suddenly give her a lot more alone time with Nick. Which he made sure to take advantage of, both day and night.

The limo eased to a stop outside Lot Three and they stepped out.

“Belle, look! It looks like the man from the picture!” Theo squealed, his voice high with excitement. Shielding her eyes from the sun, she stared at the man standing a few feet in front of her.

Silver strands shot through the thick black hair and she moved in front of Theo as he approached, taking off his sunglasses as he came closer. Her breath caught in her throat as a familiar pair of caramel-gold colored eyes stared back at her. The high cheekbones, the Cupid’s bow mouth … it was the man from the picture, all right. But worse than that, it was as if she was staring into a mirror. An alternative life mirror where she was an older man, but a mirror, nonetheless.

He stopped in front of her and she was aware of Theo peeking around to have a look. She ushered him gently behind her as she and the man stared at each other disbelievingly.

“Hello. I am sorry to be rude, but are you Rania George?” The twang in his American accent hinted at a past spent abroad.

She nodded at his question, not trusting her voice.

“You don’t know me. My name is Nasim Charles and … ”

“You are my father,” she whispered, surprised when he didn’t even blink at her announcement. She had no idea what made her do it. After all, he could have just been asking if she knew Nick. He could have been a journalist writing an expose about him. A journalist in his sixties who had her eyes, cheekbones and chin. Stranger things had happened.

Bowing before her, he reached for her hand, kissing the back of it in a gallant gesture and she pulled her hand back hastily as he straightened up.

“And who is this little man?” he asked, looking past her to Theo who was now standing beside her.

“I’m Theo Trenton. You’re the guy from the picture in the restaurant, aren’t you?”

He seemed more taken aback by this statement than her reversed Darth Vader impression. He smiled, the cheek bones raising in exactly the same way hers did. “I don’t know about that, Theo, but it’s very nice to meet you,” he said, leaning forward to shake Theo’s hand.

“Mr. Charles, it’s an honor to meet you.”

Every nerve cell in her body jumped as she heard Nick behind her.

“The pleasure is all mine, Mr. Trenton. It’s nice to finally meet you. I was just saying hello to your lovely son.” He gestured toward Theo who had forgotten any shyness and was now standing in front of Rania.

“Yes, well, we should get going,” Nick said, clearing his throat. “C’mon, Theo,” he said as he took his son’s hand and led him back to the studio door.

Rania heard Theo ask “but what about Belle?” as the door slammed shut. She felt oddly calm as she stood with Nasim in the lot. She didn’t need proof to know he was her father, she knew it deep down already.

“Miss George, I feel we have a lot to catch up on. Won’t you join me for some coffee? I’ve booked out one of the studio’s offices we can talk in. I’m certain you have tons of questions. I know I do.” His warm smile, so different from her mother’s tight-lipped grimace made her heart fill with unexpected warmth toward him.

“I would be delighted, Mr. Charles. And please call me Rania,” she told him, linking her arm through his.

“In that case, please call me Nasim,” he said, nodding and smiling at the people who passed by them and stopped to stare.

• • •

Where had they gone? It’d been at least two hours and he hadn’t seen hide nor hair of either of them.

He’d thought this was such a great idea a few days ago. After Luke had come back with a whole folder’s worth of information on the elusive Nasim Charles, he’d called knowing as soon as he’d heard the older man’s tale that he wanted Rania to meet him. Arranging it had been easy, especially as he knew Theo wanted to come back to the studios.

Running a hand through his hair, he looked across at his son, deep in discussion with the soundman. Yep, he was a goner, Nick thought, looking at the enraptured expression on Theo’s face and knowing instinctively that he was as bound for a career in this industry as he had been at that age.

He whipped his head around as he saw her come through the door, head tilted down to the floor as she shuffled in. Striding across the floor, he stopped in front of her, clasping her chin in his hands and gently lifting her face up to meet his gaze. Her eyes were red and puffy as if she’d been crying. A lot.
That son of a …

A tide of anger burned through his chest. He’d hunt him down and he’d show him what happened to people who hurt her, older man or not. Wait a second … she was smiling. The watery smile was still there, despite the tear-stained cheeks.

“Rania?” he began, unable to finish as she threw herself into his arms. Carrying her behind a nearby huge prop tree, he set her down, arms still wrapped around her. “Is everything okay? I’m so sorry. This was all my fault. If he hurt you … ” He stopped as she burst into giggles, the sound clearly at odds with her tear-stained face.

“You’re an idiot; you know that, don’t you. An amazing idiot and without you, I wouldn’t have found my father. No point trying to hide it, because he told me everything.”

Relief flooded through him. At least now, he wouldn’t have to go and hunt him down. “So it worked out okay?”

“Okay? It was so much better than okay,” she squealed, practically dancing around in his arms. “He said he tried to find me, but because we kept moving it was too hard. And he told me he really loved Dana, but couldn’t cast her because she wasn’t that great an actress. Which to be honest, if you’d have seen her act, you’d believe, too. He wants to stay in touch with me. He’d never had any other kids despite being divorced twice. It was so wonderful, Nick, and I owe it all to you!”

Reaching up on tiptoe, she brought his head down to hers as their lips merged together, his heart beat racing a mile a minute. She pulled her head away, her eyes darkening to molten gold, reflecting the same feeling coursing through him; they both wished they were alone.

“Knock, knock. Nick, don’t mean to intrude but your boy’s looking for you,” called his runner from the other side of the prop tree.

Pulling herself free, she smoothed down her white sundress. “What shall I tell Theo?” Her worried frown pulled at his heart strings.

“Tell him the truth. You know he has a knack of finding it out, anyway,” he told her, resisting the need to pull her back into his arms.

“Dad, there you are! Belle, where’s that guy from the photo?” Theo chirped, rounding the corner toward them.

“Hey kiddo.” She leaned down to hug him, and then stood up, one hand on his shoulder.

“I’ve got some exciting news. Well it is for me anyway. You see, that guy from the photo is actually my dad. It’s a little complicated but I didn’t grow up with a dad like you did.” Her gaze steady and serious, “I only met mine now.”

“Is he coming here?” Theo’s small blond head moved from left to right, trying to catch a glimpse of the elusive being that was Rania’s father. The important information slid off him like water off a duck’s back.

Grabbing Theo close to her, Nick saw her drop a quick peck onto his head. “Not today, he’s had to run. Maybe some other time.”

Seemingly happy with that answer, Nick watched as his son began to move toward the catering cart, as new trays of pastries were being unveiled.

“I’m pretty much done here for the day” he told her, watching how she had begun glancing at her phone every few seconds, repeating his earlier promise to himself. If this guy hurt her …

“What are you thinking? Beach?” she asked, stuffing the phone back in her bag.

“Beach is perfect.” The promise of being surrounded by his son and Rania as well as the rip curl surf, made him feel like a kid again.

Running up behind his son, he lifted him high into the air, laughing in unison with his high-pitched squeals as he threw him over his shoulder. He grabbed Rania’s hand as she joined in with the laughter, pulling her along to the car.

• • •

It had been a day of one wonders, she reflected, digging her toes in the hot white sand. Her mind churned over her meeting with her father and what he had told her about her mother. He had genuinely loved her and he still did, if the tears after hearing about her death were anything to go by.

He was angry on Rania’s behalf when she told him about her childhood, almost pleading with her not to hate Dana. Nasim told her he felt it was as much as his fault by not staying in contact with her or not trying harder to find them. Then he’d asked a real gem of a question. Even now, she was uneasy thinking about it; what was going on between her and Nick?

She’d laughed it off, joking that now he was going to start playing the role of over-protective father, after twenty-eight years. He hadn’t found it funny, repeating the question until eventually she had to confess she didn’t know. Annoyed by the intrusive question, Rania was still grateful she finally had someone to confide in. He hadn’t warned her to be careful of Nick as she thought he would, only reminded her that whatever she did, he wanted her to be happy.

Trickling the sand through her fingers, she looked down to the ocean to where Nick and Theo were body boarding. The two blond heads were pressed close together as their boards bounced on a wave. She felt her heart squeeze at the sight, the knowledge that her time in this idyllic paradise was coming to an end in exactly three days. The email she’d received from Tanya earlier that day, asking when she’d be back had burst her happy bubble.

They hadn’t talked about what would happen when they got back to London. Would she still be needed to look after Theo? Would Nick still need her? The last question left a bitter taste in her mouth.

And then she’d met her father. Did her mother ever know how much he loved her? Maybe. Not that she’d really seen her mother’s loving side that often.

Drawing circles in the sand, another thought struck her. Maybe her mother
had
known. Maybe she had left because she didn’t want to get hurt. Dana had never told her about her grandparents, so she didn’t know what their marriage was like, but she did know her mother didn’t stick with the same man for long. She’d always assumed it was because they didn’t offer her the roles she wanted. Instead, maybe it was something else her mother wanted; something else she needed but was too scared to stick around long enough to see if it was there.

Not that excused her behavior as a mother, Rania thought, frowning. Since being with Nick, she could understand how the pain of loving someone so much and not being able to have them would make you want to run.

Stop … Love?

Realization dawned slowly but surely. Yes, she loved him. She had loved him since he’d first barged into her shop. And she loved Theo too.

A pain, the worst pain she’d ever known gripped her heart, while the knowledge she couldn’t always be with them made her want to cry out loud.

She had never thought of herself as being a runner like her mother but it appeared she was wrong. The appeal of running away to save herself more pain grew more with each passing second. The bubble of uncertainty growing with every second; she had so many things to think about, and so little time left …

“Belle! Come in!” The high-pitched shout shook her out of her daze. Standing up, she dusted the sand from her black swimsuit, making her way toward them temporarily banishing all thoughts of running from her head.

Wading in slowly as she prepared to accustom her body to the water, she felt a huge splash against her back. She swiveled around and saw Theo quickly paddle his body board away, a huge grin on his face.

“Fancy having a go?” Nick asked, wading toward her, board in his hands.

Eyeing the board hesitantly, she moved her hand toward it, feeling it bob as it was hit by a wave.

“It won’t bite, you know,” he teased, holding onto the board as she eyed it dubiously.

“So how do you work this thing?” she asked.

“You lie on it and when you see a wave, you push against it while paddling.” He told her as she awkwardly positioned herself flat on the board, resisting the urge to lean back and see if her bathing suit bottom had ridden up too far.

He ignored her shrieks of protest as he wrapped an arm around her waist, hauling her on, the close proximity of his naked body next to hers making all thoughts of body boarding fly out of her head.

“Now you have to swim into the wave,” he instructed, pulling the board and her deeper into the sea as a wave came rolling toward the shore.

“Is this payback for the pancake flipping?” Not sure what was worse, the idea that people were staring at a fully grown woman unable to work a body board or her less-than-pure thoughts toward him right now.

“Nope, think of it as returning a favor. You taught me how to flip pancakes and I’m going to teach you how to body board. Both are essential life skills, I’m sure you’ll agree,” He released her waist and moved aside as the wave came closer. Arms swinging in the water, she paddled furiously, her heart lifting as she felt herself bounce on the crest of the wave, the salty spray hitting her face and making the tendrils of her hair stick to it. Standing up as it passed, she turned to Nick, unable to hide the delighted smile.

“What did you think?” he asked.

“It was fantastic. I’ve never done anything like that before. Thanks for the lesson.”

“Anytime,” he drawled, his lazy smile making her skin shiver despite the blazing sun beating down on them.

Pushing the board across, he shook his head and she turned back, lying down on it, letting the sea gently rock her as she stared out at the ocean.