The Bachelor Boss (Love Inspired) - Softcover

Baer, Judy

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0373877617 ISBN 13: 9780373877614

Publisher: Love Inspired, 2012

Synopsis

Widowed mother Hannah St. James didn't expect to meet her next employer by crashing into his new Mercedes. But she's in no financial shape to pass up the position that workaholic businessman Tyler Matthews offers: live-in caregiver to his grandmother. Hannah adores caring for feisty Lily, and her son's new room is every boy's dream. But her handsome boss hides his guarded heart behind ledgers and meetings. Underneath Tyler's tycoon exterior is a tender side that stirs her heart and hopes again. It'll take Hannah, an adorable little boy and one determined elderly woman to show him that family always provides the best care.

About this title

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.:

White-knuckled with anxiety, Hannah St. James pulled her car into the parking lot of the Marshall medical complex. She wasn't the kind to beg, but she would if she had to. She'd never needed a job as badly as she did now, and she'd do whatever it took to get one.

Her mind still on losing her job at Family Affairs, a caregiving service for the elderly, she didn't even see the Mercedes until their fenders met.

Hazel eyes wide, she slipped out of her old Kia just as an attractive, dark-haired man emerged from the obscenely shiny Mercedes and strode toward her. His broad shoulders were rigid and his handsome jaw set. Anger fairly oozed off of him.

"You drove right into me," he said in astonishment. His eyes were hidden behind sunglasses and no doubt shooting darts.

He was an undeniably good-looking man. His finely chiseled features reminded her of her late husband, Steve. She guessed he was about her own age—in his early thirties. She fleetingly wished that she'd met him under different, more friendly, circumstances.

She forced that thought to the back of her mind. "I was distracted. I'm sorry." She stared at the fenders of the two cars. The Mercedes had a ding, without a doubt, but the front of her little car looked as if it had been through a trash masher. "I have insurance."

She didn't add that it was liability insurance, which would pay for the Mercedes but not for her old clunker. Now, at least, the hail damage it had suffered would not be so noticeable. All eyes would be fixed on her fender.

"This car is six weeks old," the man muttered. "Six weeks!" He took off his glasses to reveal blue eyes with long, dark lashes.

"Mine is eight years," Hannah said absently as she pulled at one of her red curls. He probably had other cars he could use while his was in the shop. She'd be taking the bus, if she had anywhere to go now that she was unemployed. Unemployed. She groaned inwardly. It would certainly be a mess getting to job interviews without a car.

"Ty, dear, is everything okay?" The car's passenger-side window opened and a white-haired woman with piercing blue eyes peered out.

"It's okay, Gram. We'll take care of it."

Hannah stared in horror at the old woman. She looked fragile. What if she'd been hurt? Hannah raced to the woman's window before she could close it.

"I am so sorry. Are you okay? How does your neck feel?" All Hannah's geriatric nursing skills flooded to the surface. "Do you need to go to the hospital?"

"Mercy no, dear. I'm fine. Besides, I'm here to see my doctor." The wizened woman gestured toward the medical building. "He can look at me. I'm sure he'll say all is well. Thank you for being so concerned."

"Well, she did hit our car," the man pointed out tersely, less forgiving than the old woman. His blue eyes were just like his grandmother's, Hannah noted. Only he had unbelievably long, dark lashes. Very nice. Actually, more than nice. She surprised herself. It had been a long time since she'd noticed much of anything about the opposite sex.

"But see how remorseful she is."

"Insurance companies don't care about remorse, Grams."

Hannah dug a piece of paper and pen from her pocket and began to scribble. "Here is my email address and the name of my insurance company."

He took it without reading it and stuffed it in his pocket. With a sigh, he pulled a business card from the inside pocket of his jacket and handed it to Hannah. TDM Imports and Exports.

"My insurance agent will be in touch," she ventured.

"He'd better be."

Hannah winced. She watched him get into the car, pull forward and park in the handicapped space nearest the door. He then lovingly extracted the tiny white-haired woman from the front seat and lifted her in his arms as a nurse from the clinic appeared with a wheelchair. Gently, he placed the old woman in the chair and they moved away.

"Be still my heart," Hannah murmured as unexpected emotions rushed through her. It wasn't because he was good-looking, though he was, or that he was tall and athletically built, a fact revealed when he shrugged out of his winter coat as he followed his grandmother's wheelchair into the building. It wasn't because his dark brown hair was the kind of hair a woman could happily run her fingers through. What made Hannah's heart go pitty-pat was the sight of a man so concerned and gentle with an elderly woman. For a geriatric nurse like Hannah, it was a joy to see.

Then the enormity of her own problems returned and her thoughts focused on more pressing issues. She'd lost her job through no fault of her own. She was behind on her bills and had no money left in savings. After this accident, her car insurance would probably go up. She'd have to find a way to repair her battered car. And her younger sister Trisha's tuition for summer school would be due before she knew it. The girl had been going to school year round in order to finish quickly. After today, there was no way Trisha could finish soon enough for Hannah.

She got back into her car, crossed her arms over the steering wheel, rested her head on her forearms and allowed the hot tears she'd been holding back to fall. Hannah allowed herself only a few moments of self-pity, however, before she wiped away her running mascara and got back out of her car. She'd have to worry about this later. Right now, she had bigger fish to fry.

When God closes a door He opens a window. A window will open, a window will open... she told herself as she raced up the stairs to Dr. Phillip Harvey's office.

An internist physician who specialized in geriatrics, Doc Harvey had been a close friend of her parents and, later, of hers. The office, with its commercial-grade brown carpeting, beige walls and wildlife prints, was familiar. Little had changed since she'd worked here as a receptionist while she was in nursing school and subbed as an occasional caregiver for his aging father. He'd been very supportive when her parents died and told her more than once since that if she ever needed anything, she should call him. Hannah had never taken him up on his offer until now.

She took a chair in the waiting room, still panting a little from her shortcut up the stairs, and tried to calm her red curls by running her fingers through them. As she did so, the reception room door opened and the tall, attractive man from the Mercedes and the elderly woman in the wheelchair entered. The old woman fixed her eyes on each of Dr. Harvey's patients in turn, seeming to x-ray them with her clear blue gaze. This woman might be elderly, Hannah thought, but she had all her wits about her. Energy and intelligence fairly radiated from her.

The older woman wore expensive clothing appropriate for this chilly March day in Denver—a wool and cashmere coat, fur-lined leather boots and a silk shawl around her shoulders that probably cost as much as Hannah's entire outfit. Every hair was in place and her makeup was expertly applied. She could have been anywhere between seventy-five and ninety, Hannah thought, because although she was frail and in a wheelchair, she looked both youthful and old at once.

Hannah returned her attention to the man pushing the wheelchair. When he laughed at something the receptionist said, his smile flashed white and even. She hadn't been privy to that smile in the parking lot, unfortunately. Still, the most noticeable things about him were the same remarkable blue eyes as those of his grandmother's.

He scanned the room for a place to sit. The only open spot was next to Hannah.

He didn't look any happier than she felt. "Do you mind if my grandmother sits here? There's a spot for her wheelchair."

"Please do." Hannah watched him as he patiently maneuvered the wheelchair into place and tenderly helped his grandmother remove her scarf and coat. In this throwaway society, some people behaved as if the elderly were dispensable, but not this man. He was irate over his car but, given the way he handled the older woman, Hannah could forgive him for that.

Settled, the old lady leaned toward Hannah, put her gnarled hand on Hannah's smooth one and whispered, "Don't mind him. You know how men are about their cars. He's been cranky lately. It's something about falling behind at work and needing to spend more time at his office. The car was just the straw that broke the camel's back. We'll have it fixed in no time."

Hannah wasn't sure it was that simple, but she smiled gratefully at the woman. "Thank you. I really am sorry."

The lady waved a dismissive hand and changed the subject. "This wheelchair is for the birds. I hope my broken foot heals quickly so I can get out of this thing.

I drove my car until I was in my eighties, you know. Unfortunately, my doctor says I'm healing more slowly than I would have when I was younger."

Hannah looked toward the cast on the elderly woman's foot. "How did it happen?"

"I tripped on a Chihuahua, of all things! My friend brought her little dog with her when she came to visit. I'm not accustomed to having a dog around and it got tangled in my feet." Her laughter was like chiming bells. "Imagine that, ninety years old and tripped up by a dog smaller than my purse! My name is Lily, by the way.

What's yours?"

Charmed, Hannah told Lily her first name.

"Oh, Hannah, you should have seen the fuss when I tripped on Wilbur! Imagine naming a dog Wilbur—whatever happened to names like Spot and Rover?" As Lily regaled Hannah with her dog incident, her grandson leaned back in his chair and wearily closed his eyes. He was asleep by the time his grandmother's name was called, Hannah knew, because his features had softened and the frown lines on his forehead were relaxed. He was even more striking in repose.

Without looking at...

About this edition

• Publisher: Love Inspired
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 0373877617
• ISBN 13: 9780373877614
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• Number of pages: 224