Nerves threatened to force the skinny latte Sara had just inhaled right back up her throat. The only thing stopping the vomiting was the equally terrifying thought that Keith would walk into the food court at exactly the moment she started to spew. This meeting was far too important for her to screw up, so she took a deep breath and swallowed slowly, forcing calm into her twitching limbs.

When he’d called yesterday, she’d barely been able to squeak out a time and place to meet before he abruptly hung up. Not that he was really rude, just busy. And maybe not that interested in meeting with her. Angie had gone out on a limb by befriending her and then asking Keith to consider letting her watch Carter. It just so happened that Keith needed childcare help and Sara was a childcare specialist. Well, almost.

Besides, who would take better care of the baby than his second cousin? Not a stranger, that’s for sure. The problem was Sara suspected that Keith hated Molly, Carter’s mother and Sara’s cousin. Of course, he certainly had every right to dislike Molly, as did several hundred other people within a fifty-mile radius.

Molly was not the nicest girl in the world, to put it mildly, and never had been. She’d picked fights in elementary school, started taking drugs in middle school and slept with half the male athletes in high school, but Molly had always looked out for Sara in her own way. Smaller, nerdy Sara, who lost her parents as a young child and had very few real friends of her own. Molly was her friend, or so she claimed, and dragged Sara into many of her wild escapades. The fact Sara often got bullied into taking the biggest risks or the bulk of the blame didn’t click until her junior year of high school, when straight-A Sara failed every class one quarter due to her lack of attendance. After getting into serious trouble, a month of being grounded, and the very real possibility of not being able to go to college, Sara smartened up and started saying no to Molly’s ridiculous plans. Especially after one particularly humiliating night that she didn’t like to think about. Of course, Molly hadn’t liked that very much and they drifted apart, though they never completely lost contact.

Unfortunately, Molly usually only called Sara when she needed something, like money, but Sara held out hope that one day Molly would clean up her act and follow Sara’s example. They’d both grown up in the same low income neighborhood. Sara was raised by her grandmother just one street over from Molly and her family, but while Sara’s grandmother, who was loving and kind, had tried to provide structure for her, Molly’s parents spent more time drinking and doing drugs than they did caring for their only child. Grandma did her best with both girls, but the older Molly got, the more difficult she became. While Grandma had guardianship of Sara, and didn’t hesitate to discipline her when needed, she didn’t have much of an opportunity to do the same with Molly. Eventually Molly spun out of control while Sara managed to get her feet back under her, before she lost any hope for a decent future.

After graduation, Sara went to the local community college, majoring in education. The plan had been to get her associates degree then go into a four-year program and become a teacher, but life threw her a curveball just a few months in. The grandmother who gave up her retirement to raise Sara after her parents died, had a debilitating stroke, and after a year of taking care of her full time, Sara made the decision to use the insurance money left from her parents’ estate to put Grandma in an assisted living facility close by. That money had been paying her tuition bills, but Sara couldn’t stomach going to school while her grandmother suffered in a subpar facility, and she couldn’t adequately care for all Grandma’s needs alone. So, she’d reduced her course load to part-time and found a job at a local daycare. She worked there full time, took a few classes when she could and still managed to spend time with Grandma.

That had worked for almost three years, and then a few months ago a scandal hit the daycare and forced it to close. Apparently, one of the other caretakers had a bit of a sordid history, and a prospective family managed to dig it up in their very thorough research on the facility. They went public with their information, despite the person having been fired immediately and pleas from the owners to reconsider. The newspaper and local television stations ran multiple stories about the daycare’s failure to do a complete background check on its employees, which led to them hiring a convicted sex offender. A former high school teacher who had sex with a teenaged, but still underage, student. Sara had never seen anything improper between the employee and her charges, though they didn’t normally work in the same room, and the woman was pleasant if a little quiet. In hindsight, she probably kept quiet because she was hiding her past.

Within a week of the news breaking, seventy-five percent of the families that had attended the daycare removed their children, and without any clients, they could no longer operate. Sara had scrambled to find a job, any job, and ended up working at a clothing store in the mall. She absolutely hated it. Hated the monotony and dealing with rude shoppers. And the store manager, who was two years younger than Sara, but thought she knew everything. Children were far more fun and interesting, even when they were crabby. She loved teaching them new things, watching their young minds absorb new skills like a sponge. Folding clothes with a fake smile on her face all day made her want to pull out her own fingernails with a pair of pliers.

She desperately wanted this job as Carter’s nanny, and not just because she needed to get out of her stupid mall job before it rotted her brain. She wanted to get to know him and be a part of his life because he was family, and family was the most important thing in the world. If not for her grandmother stepping up and taking her in, Sara would have grown up in foster care. She couldn’t screw up this interview with Keith no matter how nervous she was. Maybe he’d feel awkward too, meeting his ex-girlfriend’s cousin. She didn’t know how long they had dated, just that they weren’t together when Molly had Carter. One could only hope.

Sara took a deep breath and scanned the area, searching for him. She’d only seen him once, and he hadn’t been at his best after being in the hospital at Carter’s side for days, but even then, he’d been handsome. Dark brown hair that was a bit too long and curled up at the ends. Matching brown eyes framed by long dark lashes gave him a seductive, romantic look, like an old-fashioned pirate, especially when paired with the long hair. She didn’t know if he normally kept it long or if getting a trim just hadn’t been a priority at that time. She did know he worked in the local steel factory and had just bought a house for him and Carter, information Angie helpfully provided.

Thoughts of what Keith might look like now were erased when suddenly the man himself stood in front of her. She knew it was him even though she’d only spent a few minutes in his company almost half a year ago. Same longish hair, same intense brown eyes. Same stony look on his face, though this time he wasn’t yelling irately at her. Yet.

“Sara?” he asked, making butterflies take flight in her stomach. His voice was commanding, even when asking a question with just one word.

“Yes,” she replied after a few seconds of stunned silence. “Hi, Keith. It’s nice to meet you.” She went to stand and shake his hand, but he motioned for her to stay seated as he took the chair opposite her. She barely had her butt back in the seat before he took control of the situation without even a hint of awkwardness or hesitation on his part, dashing her hope that he shared her nerves.

“Let’s not beat around the bush here, Sara, you know who I am and I know who you are. I’m sure you’re aware I’m not a fan of Molly. In fact, I don’t want her anywhere near my son, not that she’s tried to make contact anyway. I need to hire someone to watch Carter and I’d prefer to have someone who actually cares about him. Angie tells me that you might be that person.” He paused long enough for her to nod her head in agreement before he started again. “I’m not sure that you are, but I agreed to meet with you as a favor to her, and because I do trust her judgment.”

Wow! Sara knew he didn’t like Molly, but she had no idea his feelings were so extreme. His tone was firm and left no room for discussion. In fact, it sounded like he actually hated Molly!

Angie hadn’t come close to explaining how much of an uphill battle Sara would have to get this job. Looking at Keith and returning his penetrating stare, she straightened her spine and drew on the same reserve of strength she’d called on when Grandma had her stroke. If she could handle that situation, she could make Keith realize that she was the perfect person to take care of Carter.

“Why don’t I tell you about myself and why I want the job?” she offered, giving him her best retail smile and brightest attitude. Keith started in surprise at her perkiness and Sara stifled a giggle. If he thought his speech would scare her off, he was very wrong. It took more than a hardheaded alpha male to scare Sara Saunders away.

“Sure, let me get a coffee first and then we’ll talk,” he said, standing and reaching for his wallet. “Do you want another one? I’ll buy.”

Sara smiled and gave him her order. As he walked towards the coffee kiosk, she allowed herself a moment to enjoy the view of his backside. And what a view it was! Then she took a deep breath, shook away all dirty thoughts of her future boss and tried to organize her argument. With only twenty minutes of her lunch break left, she needed to make the most of her time. Failure was not an option. She had to persuade Keith to give her a chance.

* * *

Keith hadn’t planned for this to happen.

In fact, he’d planned for exactly the opposite outcome, and had arrived with a bad attitude and rude words on the tip of his tongue. She was supposed to run away, or at the very least see the foolishness of the endeavor and give up, but for some reason, instead of Sara being put off by his blunt assessment of the situation, she took it as a challenge and became determined to prove him wrong. When he first approached the table, he could see that she was nervous, twisting her empty coffee cup in her hands, but once he laid his feelings out, she toughened up and flashed him a smile that made his heart beat loudly in his chest. He bought them coffees and she proceeded to spend the next fifteen minutes telling him her history and why she wanted to watch Carter. He asked her a few follow up questions and then she had to get back to work. He promised he’d think about it and call her soon.

After hearing her story, even Keith had to admit she was a strong and determined young woman. Sacrificing her college education so that her grandmother would have the best care possible showed how deeply she loved her family. She was almost finished with her two-year degree in early childhood education, having taken three years of part-time classes to get to that point. Once her summer classes ended in a few weeks, she was ready to move on to the local university and work on her teaching degree, still going part time. Since Keith worked mostly afternoons and evenings, she could go to school in the morning, and then watch Carter while Keith was at work and study after she put the baby to bed.

It all sounded good, perfect actually, but anyone could put their best face forward for half an hour. He could tell from the way her forehead scrunched up when she told him about her current job, that Sara hated working at the mall and had only taken it because she needed to work. She lived in her grandmother’s old house so she didn’t have rent, but still had to pay for utilities and food on her own, making a job a necessity. He admired that about her as well. That she’d do whatever it took to take care of herself, even if it meant doing something she despised, rather than running up student loans like so many other people.

Even though he knew he’d give her a chance to come over and see how she was with Carter, Keith forced himself to take the night and really think about it. He turned the proposition over in his head, trying to come up with reasons why he shouldn’t give Sara a shot, but what kept filtering to the top of his brain wasn’t anything about her past or her personality. It was a picture of her face, with that determined smile she gave him in the face of his rudeness, framed by silky blond hair that hung past her shoulders. Her clear blue eyes meeting his straight on, without any fear or hesitation, as she told him about herself.

Sara was the exact opposite of Molly, in looks and personality, at least from what he knew of them both. Molly was a red-headed temptress that he’d met at a club and taken to a motel after having far too much to drink. They parted ways the next morning with no plans to meet up again. He didn’t even know he’d given her his number until the day she called two months later and told him she was pregnant. He’d gotten to know a bit about her after that call, and what he learned he didn’t like at all. Molly was a selfish user who only cared about where the next party was at and how messed up she could become. She swore she would stay clean while pregnant, but Keith and the doctors who delivered Carter two months early, seriously doubted that had happened. On top of that, she practically ran out of the hospital the day after the birth and never came back, proving she was an absolute jerk.

Sara, on the other hand, appeared to be honest and trustworthy, two traits he highly regarded. Carter needed stability, and since he didn’t have a mother, Keith had to find an acceptable substitute. Not to mention that Sara looked like the girl next door, something Keith found very attractive. He normally went for women who were a little on the wild side, but look where his choices in ladies had gotten him—single father status at age twenty-five. No more crazy women for him, no matter how good they were in bed. Now when he pictured the type of woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with, someone like Sara popped into his head.

He firmly squashed down the faint idea creeping up from the recesses of his mind that Sara could be a mother to Carter, not just his nanny. If she took the job, she’d be off limits as a girlfriend.

At least that’s what he told his rebellious brain, and all the other parts of his body that wanted to get to know her much, much better.