“You just about scared that poor girl to death.”

I moved away from my mother as soon as I’d escorted her back to the richly ornate chambers she spent most of her time in.

As I looked out the window at the dark, starlit sky, she took off her crown. That was about as relaxed as she got. My mother could categorically be defined as a monarch 24/7.

As for me, I was half and half: a prince sometimes, and regular guy at other times. Or at least I used to be. Ever since Lisette died, the “regular guy” had been getting less and less screen time. However, he’d emerged tonight and almost caused me to laugh out loud when that potato slid down Cara’s dress.

Though it had heightened my mother’s disapproval, it had chipped away a bit at mine. I’d never expected that snooty agency to send a young woman like Miss Andrews. I’d been anticipating a no-nonsense, experienced nanny. Cara didn’t seem to be any of those things.

Maybe, just for the hell of it, I’d give her a tour of the place tomorrow. It would be interesting to hear her take on a place where my family had lived for centuries. There was really no need to shove her out the door first thing in the morning. Maybe a day or two in a real castle would soften the blow when I told her she wasn’t the right person for the job.

Or course, if my mother frightened her off, then problem solved. “You could’ve warned me you were coming to dinner.”

“I deserve to know who’s going to be minding my grandchildren.”

“She was sent by one of the best agencies in Europe.”

“She’s a child.”

Despite the fact that that had been my first thought, it irritated me to hear her say it. “She’s twenty-three.” Though that still seemed very young to me, an odd realization popped into my head. “I was her age when the twins were born.”

“She looks twelve. You said she was a teacher—she must’ve lied on her application.”

“I’m sure she didn’t do that. The agency does very thorough background checks. I believe they said she had a major in English and a minor in theater or music or something, and that she’d taught high school.” Though she couldn’t have taught for very long even if she’d graduated early. That could be the case—she wasn’t unintelligent. One of the few things they’d sent in time was her application essay. Cara was a good writer and seemed genuinely devoted to working with children.

My mother sat down on a dainty chair by her antique writing desk, while I remained standing. This dynamic was exactly the kind of thing I didn’t want for my children. I didn’t want them to have to follow rules and protocols around me. I wanted to be their dad.

But I also had a country to run, and I couldn’t spend as much time with them as I wanted. Somehow, I found myself saying, “It’s possible she’ll be good for them. You know the past few years haven’t been easy.”

“The tutor helps them keep up their English. Why not just let Gretchen continue to look after them the rest of the time?”

“Because they’re getting too old to follow the head housekeeper around all day.” Plus they hadn’t been, not really. “Gretchen says they wander off for large portions of the day. That’s too much unsupervised time. And grammar and writing lessons aren’t the same as speaking the language day in and day out.” We were speaking German now, but everyone in my family had lived in an English-speaking country at some point. We were all fluent, but I knew that if the children didn’t use it regularly, they’d start to forget.

“She didn’t speak much to them tonight.”

“Don’t you think you were a bit intimidating? She was a chatterbox on the drive here.”

She looked at me sharply. “You picked her up?”

“Relax, no one knew it was me. I wore a disguise.” The look on her face would’ve terrified most the staff around here, but I was used to it—far more than Cara was, at any rate.

She gave a queenly sniff of disapproval. “We have servants for that. Why did you have to go?”

“Sometimes I like to wander off, too. Besides, I wanted to see what she was like before I introduced her to Derrick and Elyse.”

“Obviously you approve, or I suppose she wouldn’t have been invited to dinner.”

That wasn’t exactly my thought process, but I found myself saying, “The jury’s still out, but she deserves a chance.” It was a lie, but I wasn’t ready to admit to my mother that I’d made a mistake. It was better to let Cara stay here a day or two and then claim that she didn’t seem to be a good fit.

In the meantime, I could tell that Cara was going to be a disruptive influence. That was the last thing I needed, but maybe it would be good for the twins, at least in the short term. They hadn’t had a lot of fun in their life since we moved back from the US, and Cara struck me as a person who knew how to have fun. Hell, it’d been fun listening to her excited chatter on the ride up here—a memory that caused dual jolts of guilt and amusement.

Who knew, maybe her enthusiasm would rub off on Derrick and Elyse. When they were younger, they’d spent hours laughing and playing with each other. That definitely wasn’t the case now.

“Keep an eye on her,” Mother said before bidding me good night.

“I definitely will,” I muttered under my breath as I left. At least that much was true. I hadn’t been able to keep my eyes off her for the entire car ride—which made navigating the twisty, narrow road up here even more dangerous. But there was just something so mesmerizing about her energy and enthusiasm, not to mention the nonstop talking. Involuntarily, I recalled her sparkling blue eyes staring up at me as I held her at the train station.

When was the last time I’d held a woman in my arms? She’d been so light, so small. But I suspected her small stature belied a big personality. I couldn’t think of a single other woman on the planet who would’ve been able to laugh at themselves after dropping a potato down their dress. I’d expected Cara to be horrified. To blush. To run from the room. And instead, she’d laughed.

Laughed.

And somehow, she’d made the children laugh as well. Even Elyse. Didn’t that prove I’d been right to let them meet her? A day or two with her wouldn’t hurt them. It’s not like they’d get attached to her in that short time. That much I knew. I’d spent many evenings worried about how different they were now that Lisette was gone. It was night and day.

Tomorrow, I would find out more about Cara and her background, but for tonight, I’d put her out of my mind. Or at least I’d try to.

An under steward brought me coffee as I sat down at my computer. As I tried to settle into work mode, various scenes from the day kept coming to mind. The expression on my mother’s face when Cara had brought her the bottle of wine. The sound of my children’s laughter. The way Cara’s eyes had widened when she’d first seen the castle. And then another visual surfaced: the way the piece of potato had slid into the creamy valley between her breasts. It’d made me want to dive in after it.

Annoyed, I slammed my fist down on the desk, making coffee slosh out from the cup. That was exactly the kind of thing I shouldn’t be thinking about right now. Or ever. I had a country to run, children to raise, my corporation, and a hand in half the international businesses in Falkenberg. Dwelling on the antics of the soon-to-be-ex-nanny wasn’t on my agenda.

And it was so unlike me. Or at least unlike the person I was now. Before? Back in college in the states? That would’ve been a different story. But that man was long gone—for good reason. He’d vanished the day Lisette had died.

There was no reason for him to reemerge now.

No reason at all.