Maid for the Single Dad by Susan Meier Page B

weren’t any easier than hers. So why not get a tiny reward? Why not step close to the fire?
    â€œMrs. Pomeroy was my nanny. She called me when this house came on the market and suggested that we hide in plain sight. Our neighbors know who we are. But when Pamela’s movie comes out next month, the paparazzi who come looking for us will go first to the family mansion in Atlanta. By the time they realize we’re not there and investigate where we’ve moved, the noise Pamela tries to create might be over. If it’s not, we’ll move again.”
    Her big brown eyes captured his, holding his gaze. She studied him, as if trying to figure out if he were being honest. A few seconds stretched into a minute, and before common sense had time to remind him that they couldn’t be this close for this long without resurrecting their chemistry, suddenly the air between them crackled with life and energy. His blood heated. His fingers itched to sink into her curling hair. His mouth longed to taste her. And though he knew nothing could ever come of this, he once again stepped closer to the fire.
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    Ellie took a step back, away from the powerful pull of him. She longed to run her fingers through his hair, touch his cheek, kiss his wonderful mouth. She told herself that he was off-limits. Yet for some reason or another, her body wasn’t listening to her common sense tonight.
    She took another step back. “Your ex-wife is Pamela Rose?”
    He nodded.
    â€œWow.” She wasn’t surprised by the fact that his ex-wife had been a starlet. He was the kind of guy who’d attract a starlet. What wowed her was that she was here—in his company, living in a mansion. Sometimes she forgot just how rich and powerful he was. And he was confiding in her.
    â€œNow, do you see why we’re in hiding?”
    â€œI guess.”
    He chuckled. “You guess?”
    â€œCome on, Mac. A rich guy like you has to have an army of public relations people at your disposal. Surely, they could dispel a few rumors.”
    â€œI’m not worried about rumors. I’m worried about pictures. Because of my family’s money, I grew up with bodyguards, silent alarms and restrictions on where I could go and what I could do. But I still had a measure of privacy. Once I married Pam, everything changed. When your picture gets on the front page of enough tabloids, people start to recognize you. I don’t want that to happen to my kids. So I have to keep them away from the paparazzi, so they’re not recognizable, because that makes them targets for extortionists and kidnappers.”
    She’d never thought of that. If no one knew what Mac’s kids looked like, they could walk the streets or go to the beach, without anyone suspecting who they were and seeing potential ransom amounts instead of two beautiful children.
    â€œTrue.”
    â€œWhich is why I don’t want the kids off the grounds.”
    She shook her head. “But that’s exactly the opposite of what you’re trying to accomplish.”
    â€œNot really.”
    â€œYes. Really . You’re supposed to be hiding in plain sight but in case you haven’t noticed, you’re a prisoner in your own house.”
    â€œIt’s the price we pay for my stupidity in making such a poor choice for a mate.”
    Her heart thumped at his admission that he’d made a bad choice in his first marriage. He really wasn’t in love with his ex-wife anymore. And he really was attracted to her. So much so that he couldn’t keep his eyes off her. They held her gaze when she stood close, followed her when she paced. And now he was confiding in her. Part of her longed to step closer to take what it seemed he was trying to offer. The other part knew they were a bad match. This very conversation proved it. He was a man who felt he needed to hide. She was a woman who’d only recently learned how to live without hiding.
    She