The Nanny and the CEO by Rebecca Winters Page A

cried. With both their emotions raw, the feel ofhis hand gripping hers gave her the strength to deal with this crisis.
    The technician had called them Mom and Dad. Right now she couldn’t imagine feeling any different if Jamie were her son. She loved that baby with every fiber of her being.
    All these years she’d planned for a career, not realizing what it meant to love a child like she loved Jamie. The bond with him was so strong, it tore her apart to think of leaving him right now. When the day came that she had children of her own, how would she be able to leave them?
    What if she were his mother and had to get back to her job of running a company? She couldn’t see it, not when Jamie needed her and Nick so desperately.
    Together they stood having to endure his frightened cries. “For the last two weeks he’s only been with the two of us, ” she whispered. “He’s not used to anyone else.”
    In a minute the team left and another masked team showed up with their cart. “Stay where you are. This won’t take us long.”
    Nick squeezed her hand gently before letting it go. She presumed their arrival made him realize he’d been holding on to hers all that time. Reese wished he wouldn’t have relinquished it. Without that physical connection, she was snatched back from her fantasy about being Jamie’s mother. Nick had been part of that fantasy, too. The three of them, a family. How was she ever going to say goodbye to them when the time came?
    Deep in turmoil, she heard the baby let out a yelping cry like the one she’d heard through the monitor. They’d just jabbed him, she was sure of it, the poor darling. Inreaction she smoothed her hands nervously over jean-clad hips.
    It had been hours since she’d looked in a mirror. At least her hair was back in a ponytail and not messy. When they’d left for the hospital, she’d been in too alarmed a state to think about changing out of the jade-colored T-shirt she’d put on to study. But none of that mattered with Jamie lying there feverish and sick.
    â€œThey’re taking a hell of a long time in there,” Nick muttered.
    Reese bit her lip. “It seems that way to me, too.”
    â€œAt this rate he’s going to think he’s been abandoned.”
    â€œBut he won’t remember once it’s over.”
    â€œI’m not so sure of that.” Something in his tone told her that wasn’t idle talk. She wanted to ask him what he meant, but one of the team came outside the curtain with the cart, preventing further conversation.
    â€œYou can go back in now. We’ve attached his foot to a pad for protection. You can hold him all you want, just be mindful of the tubing.”
    She and Nick hurried back inside to rescue his howling child, but were met by the other technician. “Wash your hands first, then put on the sterile gloves from the container on the wall. After you’ve done that, wear the masks we’ve left on the counter. Do this every time you leave the cubicle for any reason until the doctor tells you if your baby has Rotavirus or not. Dispose of everything in the bin inside the bathroom here. Leave through the other door that leads into the hallway.”
    â€œThank you,” they both said at the same time.
    Once they were alone, Reese urged Nick to wash first. “Jamie needs you.” Though everything in her screamedto pick up the baby, he wasn’t her son and it wasn’t her place.
    The warning Reese’s mother had given her about not getting too attached to the baby had gone by the wayside the first time she’d laid eyes on Jamie. The beautiful boy had caught at her heartstrings. After meeting his father, Reese knew why. Now—after loving and playing with him over the past two weeks—there were so many heartstrings being pulled by both Wainwrights, she realized she was in terrible trouble.
    Once they were washed, gloved and