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'Do you?' He put the food on the table and settled himself opposite her. 'I like it, too, but some of the nannies have found it a bit isolated. It's hardly close to the local nightspots.'
She chuckled. 'Are there any?'
'A few.' He handed her a spoon. 'Help yourself.'
Keely helped herself to a generous portion of lasagne. 'So how many nannies have you had?'
'Four in total. It's been a nightmare.' He heaped salad onto his plate and pushed the bowl towards her. 'The first one stayed two months, the second one managed eight months, which was pretty good, the third one stayed one month—that was bad—and the last one, well, you know about her.'
His mouth tightened and Keely pushed his wine towards him.
'Don't think about her,' she advised. 'Why did the others leave?'
'Various reasons. Phoebe was difficult—missing her mother,' His tone was casual but a faint colour touched his hard cheekbones and Keely frowned at him suspiciously.
'And?'
'What?' He took a slug of wine and glanced up at her, his expression remote.
'There must have been more to it than that. A professional nanny should have been able to cope with one little girl, however difficult.' Keely's eyes widened as the penny suddenly dropped. 'It wasn't Phoebe, was it? It was you. They all fell in love with you, didn't they?'
He gave a short laugh. 'I wouldn't exactly put it like that.'
She put her fork down and staged at him. 'Oh, Zach, that must have been the last thing you needed.'
'That's an understatement.' He stabbed his salad with more force than was warranted. 'It certainly made it difficult for Phoebe. Every time she got used to a nanny, I had to get rid of her.'
Ouch. More reasons for him to avoid women.
'Did they cause you real trouble?'
'Yes.'
His economical response made her smile. 'Go on, give me the gory details.'
'You want details?' He sighed and sat back in his chair. 'All right. I found number one lying in my bed, waiting for me, when I came back from the hospital one night. That was tricky.'
Keely gasped and covered her mouth with her hand. 'Oh, Zach! What did you do?'
'Not what she wanted me to do,' he said dryly. 'Number two was slightly more subtle. She made my dinner every night and finally burst into tears and said that she couldn't carry on living with me unless I married her because she was so in love with me.'
'Ouch.' Keely pulled a sympathetic face. 'And number three?'
'Number three was virtually a repeat of number one but slightly more pornographic.'
'Oh, dear.' Keely put her fork down and started to laugh. 'Maybe you should have recruited an older nanny?'
'You think I didn't try that?' He drained his wine and stared into the empty glass. 'Unfortunately they all have their own families and don't want to live in. With the demands of my job, I need someone to live in.'
Keely picked up her fork and started eating again. 'Talking of which, did you manage to speak to your housekeeper today?'
'Barbara?' He nodded. 'Yes. Thankfully she's only too happy to help. She adores Phoebe and really wanted to look after her but couldn't offer before because she couldn't cover the nights.'
Keely's eyes twinkled. 'And will you be safe from your housekeeper or are you likely to find her lying naked in your bed?'
His smile was wry. 'She's fifty-six with two grandchildren of her own, so I think that the only thing she's likely to be doing with my bed is making it.' He cleared his plate and pushed the dish towards her. 'Have some more.'
'Thanks, it's delicious.' She spooned more onto her plate and noticed him watching her curiously. 'What?'
