Passionate Protectors?: Hot Pursuit / The Bedroom Barter / A Passionate Protector

The stage whisper sent Matt’s senses reeling. And aroused an immediate feeling of self-disgust. Dammit, what was wrong with him? he asked himself irritably. What on earth was there about Sara Victor that aroused the kind of fantasies he hadn’t had since he was a teenager? It wasn’t as if she was incredibly beautiful. She was good-looking, yeah, but she was no supermodel. Nor did she behave in a way designed to provoke such a reaction. If he was feeling in need of a woman it was his fault, not hers. He needed to get laid, and quick. Before he was tempted to do something they would all regret.

But right now Rosie took precedence, and, rolling onto his side to face her, he contrived a smile. ‘Hey, sweetheart,’ he said, with what he thought was admirable self-restraint. ‘What are you doing up so early?’

Rosie was hovering by the door. In cropped Winnie the Pooh pyjamas, her cheeks pink, her hair tousled, she looked adorable, and Matt thought again how lucky he was to have her. ‘Can I come in?’ she asked, glancing over her shoulder half apprehensively. ‘I want to talk to you.’

Matt compressed his lips. ‘That sounds ominous,’ he remarked drily, guessing the topic. ‘Why do I get the feeling that I’m not going to like what you have to say?’

‘Oh, Daddy!’ Rosie took his response as an invitation to join him and came to climb onto the bottom of the bed. Then, realising she’d left the door open, she scrambled down again and went to close it. After she’d resumed her position against the footboard, she declared urgently, ‘It’s about Sara.’

Matt had assumed as much, but he didn’t let on. Instead, he pushed himself up against his pillows and regarded his daughter enquiringly. ‘Don’t you mean Miss Victor?’

‘She said I could call her Sara,’ protested Rosie at once. ‘Last night. When she came to say goodnight. She said that calling her Miss Victor made her feel as if she was back in school again.’ She paused. ‘Did you know she used to be a schoolteacher, Daddy?’

Matt blew out a breath. So she’d told Rosie she used to teach, had she? He would like to think it had just been a casual admission, but he couldn’t help wondering if she’d said it deliberately. To persuade him that she hadn’t been lying about that, at least. Or to get the child to speak to him on her behalf.

‘I believe she said something about it,’ he admitted now. ‘So—is that all you wanted to tell me?’

‘Hardly,’ said Rosie indignantly. ‘I just wondered if you knew, that’s all.’

‘Well, I do.’ Matt arched his dark brows. ‘What else is new?’

‘Daddy!’ Rosie looked red-faced now. ‘Give me a chance! I can’t think of everything all at once.’

‘Okay.’ Matt contained his amusement. ‘It must be something serious to get you out of bed before seven o’clock.’

‘Oh, Daddy.’ Rosie gazed at him impatiently. ‘You know what I’m going to say.’ She paused. ‘Why can’t you ask Sara to stay?’

Matt sighed. ‘We talked about this last night, Rosie.’

‘But you need a nanny. You said so yourself. Or I mean I do. Why can’t it be Sara?’

‘Rosie—’

‘Please!’

‘Look,’ he said, trying to reason with her. ‘We know nothing about Sara. We don’t even know where she came from.’

‘Then ask her,’ said Rosie practically. ‘I’m sure she’d tell you if you did. She told me I was very lucky to live by the seaside. She said that when she was just a little girl she had to live in the town.’

‘Did she now?’ Matt absorbed this information, wondering how true it was. He hesitated, loath to pump the child, but compelled to do so anyway, ‘Did she tell you anything else?’

‘Just that she never had a dog when she was little,’ said Rosie thoughtfully. ‘I’ll ask her where she came from, if you like.’

‘No.’ Matt spoke sharply and the little girl’s jaw quivered in response.

‘All right,’ she said, getting down from the bed. ‘I won’t say anything. But I think you’re really—really mean.’

‘Ah, Rosie—’ Matt rolled to the side of the bed and grabbed his daughter’s arm before she could get away. ‘Honey, try to understand. You’re very precious. How can I leave you with someone I hardly know?’

‘You didn’t know any of the other girls who came for the job,’ replied Rosie tremulously, and Matt groaned.

‘Baby, they came from an agency.’

‘So?’

‘So—’ He pulled her towards the bed and swung his feet to the floor. Then, placing a hand on either side of her small waist, he gave her a gentle shake. ‘Try to understand, sweetheart. I don’t like disappointing you, but—’

‘Then don’t,’ pleaded Rosie, seizing the opportunity. ‘Give Sara a chance, please! I promise I’ll be good. I won’t play her up like I used to with Hester.’

‘It’s not you I’m worried about,’ muttered Matt, but he was hesitating. His common sense was telling him to stick to his guns, to ignore the emotional demands his daughter was making on him, but his instincts were telling him something else.

All right, he knew nothing about Sara, but he’d bet his last cent that, whatever she was running away from, she was not a bad person. There was something innately honest about her, an integrity that was at odds with all he knew and suspected about her.

‘Daddy…’

Rosie’s wheedling voice made his decision for him. ‘All right,’ he said, praying he wouldn’t have cause to regret the impulse. ‘We’ll give her a few days’ trial—’

‘Hurray!’ Rosie was excited.

‘—but I’m making no promises beyond the weekend, right?’

‘All right.’ Rosie clasped her hands together. ‘Can I go and ask her? Can I? Can I? I’m sure when she knows that you want her to stay she’ll change her mind—’

‘Hold on.’ Matt held on to the little girl when she would have darted towards the door. ‘What do you mean, you’re sure she’ll change her mind? What have you been saying to her, Rosie? Come on. I want to know.’

Rosie heaved a heavy sigh. ‘Nothing much,’ she mumbled, the sulkiness returning to her expression. ‘I just said I wished she could stay, that’s all.’ She gave a jerky shrug. ‘If you want to know, she said she couldn’t.’ And then, as her father gave her a stunned look, she added, ‘But I know she wanted to, Daddy. Only she thought you didn’t want her here.’

Matt stared. ‘Did she say that?’

‘No.’ Rosie spoke crossly. ‘I’ve told you what she said.’

‘Are you sure?’

‘Yes.’ Rosie was indignant. ‘Don’t you believe me?’

Matt pulled a wry face. ‘Do I have a choice?’

‘So?’ Rosie pulled her lower lip between her teeth. ‘Can I go and ask her?’

Matt glanced at the clock on the cabinet beside the bed. ‘Not yet,’ he said heavily, already regretting his generosity. ‘It’s barely seven o’clock. We’ll discuss it some more at breakfast.’

He let the little girl go, but now Rosie hesitated. ‘You won’t put her off, will you, Daddy?’ she persisted. ‘I mean, you will let her know that we—that we’d both like her to stay?’

Matt stifled an oath. ‘Don’t push your luck, Rosie,’ he said, without making any promises. ‘Go get your wash, and clean your teeth. As I say, we’ll talk about this later. If that’s not good enough for you we’d better forget the whole thing.’

Rosie’s chin wobbled again, but she managed to control it. ‘All right, Daddy,’ she said huskily, and with a tearful smile she made good her escape before he changed his mind again.

Mrs Webb had arrived by the time Matt came downstairs.