The Devine Babysitter Page 7

  "Any time you need to talk, you remember I’m here," Joshua said softly. He placed the palm of his hand on the side of her face and caressed her wet cheek with his thumb. "And I mean that. Any time you need to talk, I’m here for you."

  Their eyes locked. Joshua’s gaze was intoxicating, penetrating. Dominique had to fight to suppress a moan that threatened to escape deep in her throat. The hand that had been on the back of her head slowly moved to slide under her hair and brush the nape of her neck. Gently, she felt that hand pull her head closer. He was going to kiss her! And she wanted him to. Her fantasies may not have been able to make it that far, but the real thing would be so much better anyway.

  She could feel his breath quickening. His heart pounded against the hand she had rested on his chest. Her mouth began to water in anticipation. Her stomach ached from insatiable hunger for him. Her lips parted as their faces became so close their noses brushed. There seemed to be an unspoken communication between them, one that said they both wanted what was about to happen. Yet, when their lips reached the point of almost touching, it was Joshua who broke that silent communication.

  "I--I think I should go," he breathed softly. "Before we do something we may regret."

  Dominique wanted to object, to tell him there would be no regrets, but she couldn’t. Deep down, she knew he was right. Not only did he have a girlfriend standing in the way but there was the true nature of their relationship. Their’s was a employee/employer relationship and if they let it get out of hand, there was no telling what the outcome would be. As hard as it was to fight the temptation, she had vowed not to allow anything to happen between them. And no matter how difficult it was to pull away, she had to keep that vow.

  Six

  By eleven-fifteen the next morning, young Luke Divine’s birthday party was well underway. The backyard of the Divine family’s spacious two-story home swarmed with children of all ages, some family, some not, playing various outdoor games, running around and screaming happily, and Joshua was right in the middle of it all. With a grin as wide as the Mississippi River plastered to his face, he dashed across the yard to catch a football tossed by his brother.

  "Go long," he hollered, taking a step back. His return throw sailed over the heads of several kids, angling down until it landed expertly in little Luke’s arms. "Way to go, dude!" He pumped an arm straight up into the air in victory.

  Luke’s green eyes lit up in sheer surprise. "I caught it Joshua! I caught it!" He jumped up and down, waving the ball in the air.

  "Good job, champ." Joshua clapped, heading toward him. "You’re going to be quarterback for a pro football team before you know it." He ruffled the child’s dark sweaty hair with the palm of his hand. "I’m going to take a short break. The other kids are playing tag over there. Why don’t you join in the with them, and you and I will play some more later?"

  Luke skipped across the warm crisp grass to his friends a few feet away. Joshua shook his head like a large dog, causing sweat to fly through the air as he walked toward the adults who sat conversing on the back patio.

  "Well, look who finally decided to quit running around like a two year old and join the big people," Heather greeted with only a half smile as he approached.

  She squirmed in her chair. She was uncomfortable and on the verge of being angry. Uncomfortable, he knew, because she was an only child from divorced parents and family events were not her forte. Angry at Joshua for leaving her alone with his parents and older siblings so he could play with the children.

  "Only for a few minutes." Joshua plopped into a folding chair beside her, resting his elbows on his knees. Heather instantly scooted closer to him, wrapping her arm around his waist. Her touch felt cold against his shirtless skin as she laid her head on his shoulder. He knew how out of place she felt at his family’s gatherings. Yet she was the one who always insisted on attending.

  "That’s our Joshua." Constance Divine laughed. Her smooth face creased in a large, proud smile. "The Peter Pan of the twenty-first century. Give him a child and a football and he’s set to go for hours."

  "Speaking of children, Heather tells us you have a new job," Mitchell Divine said. His lips thinned to a straight line as he reached for his freshly squeezed lemonade. "Do you want to tell us about it?"

  Casting a quick glance at Heather, Joshua leaned back in his chair and jammed his fingers through his already rumpled sweaty hair. He’d been so busy with college and babysitting that he’d neglected to mention his new job to his parents. The fact that Heather had told them was a bit of a surprise. Not that he feared their disapproval. However, Heather had yet to completely come to secured terms with the job. Was it possible she had mentioned it in hopes his parents would hit the roof and order him to quit? Surely she should know he wouldn’t. His parent’s opinion mattered to him but he did not allow it to rule his life decisions.

  "It’s just a part-time thing." Joshua lifted a shoulder. "I’m babysitting a little boy while his mother works at night. His name is Kalvin." His lips curved into a bright smile. "He’s a precious child. Well behaved, too! I’ve really enjoyed the time I’ve spent with him so far."

  Constance leaned forward in her chair. The smile gone from her statement, she glared at Joshua. For a moment, Joshua thought she was going to hit the roof. But when she spoke, he instantly realized it was her motherly concern and not anger that he saw in her soft hazel eyes. "Are you running low on money, son?"

  "If you are, you know all you had to do was say so," Mitchell chimed in, echoing his wife’s grave tone of voice.

  "No, no, I didn’t take the job for the money. My psychology professor suggested I should find a way to spend more time with children that aren’t my brothers or sisters. I took the job for the time with Kalvin."

  "Kalvin, what a handsome name," Constance said. Her worry and concern seemed to diminish. "It sounds responsible, professional. I bet that child will make something out of himself with a name like that."

  "Yeah, that’s what his mother says."

  Heather let out an irritated moan. Lifting her head from Joshua’s chest, she threw herself back in her chair.

  Joshua simply glared at her. It was the same attitude she exhibited each and every time a single word was mentioned about his new boss.

  Apparently ignoring Heather’s obvious attempt to become the center of attention, Mitchell drilled his son. "And what is the boy’s mother like?"

  Joshua bit his lower lip thoughtfully. How would he describe Dominique? Beautiful, tantalizing, sexy? Maybe in his mind, but never to his parents, and never in front of Heather. A warm, tingling feeling swept through him as he remembered the closeness, the overwhelming need for her that he had experienced when they had almost kissed the previous evening. How he had longed to feel her lustrous lips pressed against his. To feel her arms wrapped around him in a passionate embrace. His willpower had flown the coop last night. Even his imagination had gone haywire! Fantasizing about throwing her on the table, ripping off all her clothes and shoving himself deep inside her. Just knowing what had gone through his mind had left him drowning in guilt.

  Thankfully, reality had stepped in and slapped him hard in the face before he had allowed the situation to get out of control. The realization that she was his boss, that she held an occupation he despised, that he had made an exclusive commitment to Heather, had all come back to him in a blast of common sense.

  Instead of voicing all that was going through his mind about Dominique, Joshua found a more simple, less incriminating way to describe her. "She’s nice." If he’d said anything else, he would have left an opening for a whole slew of questions he’d rather not address. "I had hoped you would get to meet her for yourself. I invited her to bring Kalvin today."

  Heather jerked up straight in her chair. She looked horror-stricken. Her exasperated, potent glare landed on Joshua. "You invited her to the party!"

  "Yeah." Joshua wrinkled his brows. Her shock and apparent anger took him by surprise.

  Yet, if
she knew the thoughts that were going through his mind about Dominique, she would be furious.

  But she didn’t know, and it was going to remain that way. He was determined to get past the insane attraction he felt for Dominique and make things right with Heather. It was the right thing to do. Despite her possessiveness and irritating faults, despite his suspicions of her true intentions, he was more compatible with her than he would ever be with Dominique.

  "With his mom’s work schedule, Kalvin doesn’t get the chance to hang out with a lot of children outside of preschool," Joshua continued, addressing his parents. "I thought he would enjoy coming to Luke’s party, and I was certain Luke wouldn’t mind."

  "You know Luke, the more kids to play with, the merrier." Constance angled her head toward her youngest son in the core of all the youngsters in the yard. "Why didn’t they come? You did tell them how to get here, didn’t you?"

  "Of course! Dominique assured me last night she would think about bringing Kalvin, but she wasn’t exactly comfortable with the idea." Joshua frowned. "I was hoping that wouldn’t hold them back, but I guess it did."

  "Think again," Natalie, the oldest of the three Divine girls, corrected. She raised a finger, pointing through the air. "Unless you invited some other woman with a child that you haven’t told us about yet, I would say she’s here."

  ~ * ~

  Dominique’s heart skipped a beat as her eyes locked with Joshua’s across the enormous yard of the Divine property. The thought of turning around and running away as fast as she could plagued her. She had come close to turning the car around and speeding straight back to the apartment many times before she had even pulled in the driveway. But she had made the mistake of telling Kalvin where she was taking him and knew he would be disappointed beyond belief if she didn’t follow through.

  So, instead of chickening out, she had forced herself to focus on the perfectly manicured lawns that lined the street of estates. Hedges trimmed to perfection, pristine windows that caught the morning sunlight, casting a riot of colorful streams through the clear air. Someday she would live in a place like this.

  It had been the thought of mingling with Joshua’s parents that had her so ill at ease. It was almost as if she were about to meet the parents of a man with whom she was exclusively involved, but much worse. She wasn’t involved with their son at all! What was she supposed to say to a bunch of adults she knew nothing about? Sure, she made conversation with strangers at the bar on a daily basis, but that was different. It was her job. As hard as she tried, she couldn’t even pretend that this was any comparison.

  In a flash, Joshua was close at her side. Instantly, she felt a tumultuous reaction to his presence. Their shoulders brushed, sending arousing chills through her blood. She made no effort to move. He didn’t seem to notice. Either that, or he simply didn’t care. That breathtaking smile she had come to know so well remained fixed on his tan, gorgeous face.

  "Mommy, look at all the kids." Kalvin tugged at the hem of Dominique’s tank top. Her hand flew up to the neckline, gluing it against her skin to prevent it from lowering. "Can I go play, Mommy? Can I?"

  "You most certainly can," Joshua answered, before she had the chance. "See that boy over there in the football jersey? That’s my youngest brother, Luke. He’s the birthday boy. Run up to him and introduce yourself."

  Kalvin bolted across the yard and joined right in with the other children as if he had known them all his life. Dominique watched after him.

  "I’m glad you decided to bring him," Joshua said, his gaze following hers to where Kalvin now stood with the rest of the children laughing and playing merrily. "See, he’s having a great time already."

  Dominique shuffled her sandaled feet on the grass nervously. "Sorry we’re late. We almost didn’t come, but then I remembered what you said about it being good for Kalvin, and decided you were right." Remembering the package she held in her hand, she extended it. "I’ll let you take this. It’s a present for your brother."

  "A gift was not a stipulation of the invitation." Joshua took the neatly wrapped rectangle box from her fingers.

  Dominique lifted a shoulder. "I know but I couldn’t very well show up at a six year old boy’s birthday party without a present, now, could I?" She squinted as she looked up at Joshua. The blinding sunlight behind him cast a yellowish glow around his head, making him appear more of an angel than a mortal being.

  He is an angel. A divine angel at that.

  Dominique shook off the thought. She had expected there to be a bit of tension lingering between the two of them. Despite the fears she had developed over meeting his parents, that was the real reason she almost hadn’t brought Kalvin to the party. After what had nearly happened in her kitchen the night before, she had been certain Joshua wouldn’t act the same around her again.

  But to her surprise, it seemed he had put the incident behind him. A near mistake that was caught and prevented before it happened. That was all it had been. He probably hadn’t thought any more of it. Hormones often caused two people to do strange things, things they wouldn’t do under normal circumstances and, while she was sure his hormones were not in desperate need, hers were definitely out of whack! It had been far too long since a man had touched her in the way he had last night. Come to think of it, twenty-seven years too long. Now all she had to do was succeed in erasing the incident from her mind as he had. Looking at that bare chest with its rippling muscles and curly dark hair, she knew for a fact that was one task that would prove to be easier said than done.

  "Okay, so I guess a gift was in order." Joshua chuckled. "Come on. I’ll introduce you to the adults." He placed a hand on the small of her back and gently propelled her forward.

  There was no denying the pervasive tremor that ran through her from the warmth of his hand on her back. The mere nonchalant touch sent darts of heat to her most secret, sensitive places. Dominique had to ball her fingers into fists at her sides to keep from returning his delicate touch. Her heart was pounding so loudly, she only half heard him when he began to introduce the adults seated on the patio.

  "It’s very nice to meet you, Dominique," Constance greeted her, reaching out to shake her hand. "We’re delighted to have you here. Joshua was just telling us about your son. I must say he looks as precious as my son described."

  "Let me get you a chair," Joshua whispered. His hand slipped down her back, sending sharp arrows of heat through her belly. He stepped off the patio and placed Dominique’s gift with the mound of others lined across a nearby table, then returned with a folding lawn chair for her.

  "Would you like some lemonade?" Natalie offered, standing. "It’s freshly squeezed and a real treat for your tastebuds on such a hot day as this."

  "I would love some. Thank you." Dominique flashed her a jittery smile.

  She sat down in the seat Joshua provided for her, folding her hands in her lap to keep from revealing her sweaty, nervous palms. She was painfully aware of a certain set of eyes that had been boring holes through her every inch since she had stepped foot on the patio. A semi-attractive blond a few seats from her was staring her down as if she were some sort of repulsive creature.

  The name of the blond was one she had missed due to the deafening pounding of her heart, but it didn’t take a genius to figure out who she was. It had to be Heather. The unsettling thing was that she found herself wanting to stare the woman down just as she was doing to her. She wanted to see just what it was that had hooked into the heart of Joshua Divine. Resisting the urge proved to be yet another difficult task, but one that she was able to accomplish even if just for a few moments.

  "I must say we were surprised when our son told us he had found a job. Especially babysitting." An amused gleam rose to Mitchell’s glistening green eyes. It was easy to see where Joshua had obtained his handsome features. Despite the age difference between the two, he and his father could almost pass for twins. "Tell me, Dominique, what is it that you do for a living that requires you to be away from home so la
te at night, dear?"

  Joshua abruptly cleared his throat as if signaling to his father not to ask that question, but it was too late. His chest heaving, he slowly lowered himself into his chair beside Heather. His steady stare remained on Dominique.

  Natalie returned from inside the house with two glasses of lemonade and handed one to Dominique before returning to her seat.

  Thankful to have something back in her hands, Dominique shifted uneasily in her chair. "I work on the highway at Party Paradise," she answered, her voice uneven and choppy. "I’m a bartender on what we call the swing shift."

  "A bartender, huh?" Mitchell nodded. His features tightened. It was obvious that out of respect for company at his house he was trying to hide his thoughts, but the same unnerving look had risen to his face that had appeared on Joshua’s when he’d first found out her occupation.

  Dominique tilted her head. What is it with this family and bartenders? She wondered. They act like bartending is a sin or something!

  The tension on the patio instantly became so thick, the sharpest knife in the world couldn’t have punctured it. Constance seemed to sense this and jumped to Dominique’s aid.

  "You’re son is absolutely adorable." She shot Dominique a wide smile as she gazed across the yard. "He does look a bit older than Luke, though. Joshua said he was in preschool. How old is he?"

  "Kalvin is five," Dominique replied. She attempted to shake the uneasy feeling Mitchell Divine had planted in the pit of her stomach, but much of it still remained. "His birthday falls after the cut-off date for the school, so he won’t be starting big boy school until next year."

  "Big boy school?" Heather’s cutting tone skewered. She made no attempt to hide her scowl.

  Dominique chewed her bottom lip to suppress the smile that threatened to appear at the tone of Joshua’s girlfriend’s voice, but lost the battle. For some reason unbeknownst to her, she felt a sense of victory against the prim, proper woman. "That’s what Kalvin calls it. He’s informed me that as soon as he begins school next year, I will no longer be able to treat him like anything but a big boy."