[joycedb]

Snippet from Where Dreams are Born.

Vicky took little notice as her employer went upstairs to change, still stunned by the trust he placed in her. Especially since their informal interview that morning yielded only trivial information on both sides. He didn’t poke into her life to any great extent, and she, returning the favor, accorded him the same courtesy.

An angry howl from the family room alerted Vicky to trouble brewing. Screaming at the top of her lungs, Suzy struggled to disengage her baby sister’s fingers from her hair. When Jodie refused to let go, Suzy bopped her one. Now two children howled. Linda, oblivious to the battle raging beside her, continued playing with her Barbie doll. Vicky separated the children, dried four teary eyes, and then returned to the kitchen just as the oven timer buzzed.

A movement from outside caught her eye, and she glanced up to see Jack hoist himself from the pool, adjust the fabric of his suit around his tight buttocks, and then stride out of sight.

Remembering her pie, Vicky removed it to a rack to cool. And though she didn’t want to, she found herself searching out her employer again. When he came into view, she couldn’t take her eyes off him, captivated by the sunlight glinting off the slick muscles of his well-toned body. Perched on the edge of the pool, he looked like an Olympic hopeful preparing to win a gold medal. He pushed off, and the force of his dive propelled him halfway across the pool. His movements, smooth and graceful, indicated he was athletic as well as intelligent. It was a combination that had been her undoing once before.

But Jack Hazlett, despite his expensive sheep’s clothing or present lack of same, was her employer. And though she intended to be the best, damn housekeeper and nanny the man ever had, if he expected more than child tending . . . well, he’d have to get his rocks off with someone else. She was through with his kind.

Finished with his swim, Jack came inside. “Damn, it’s cold in here,” he said, shivering. “Do you have the air on?”

“No,” she said, giving him a wide berth.

Wrapping his towel tighter, he inched closer to the oven for warmth. “Mmm, that pie sure smells good.”

“Thanks,” she said, trying not to notice that his hair was as black and shiny as a newborn pup’s, and his ears, pink and nicely shaped, resembled the rare, perfect shells she and Tommy sometimes found at the beach.

Her skittering eyes landed on the water pooling at his feet. Noticing the direction of her gaze, he stared at the puddle like a little boy who’d just had an embarrassing accident. “Sorry,” he said, dropping his towel to the floor and mopping it with his foot.

Unsettled by the sight of a half-naked man less than five feet away, Vicky tore off her apron and reached for her purse. “If there’s nothing else then, I’ll be going now. See you in the morning.” Before he had a chance to engage her in further conversation, she rushed out.

Thanks for reading.
Joyce