Falling for Mr. Wrong by Inara Scott Page B

a garbled sound of despair. “Send someone else.”
    “It wouldn’t be fair to give the kids another temp when they’ve already bonded with you.”
    “They haven’t bonded with me,” Kelsey said. “I’ve alternately starved them and tried to poison them. There’s no bonding to speak of.”
    “That’s exactly the sort of thing kids love, silly.”
    Marie dug her cell phone out of her pocket and pulled up a picture. “Look at this. Hope sent me a picture from the hospital.” Kelsey recoiled from the image of Hope’s face, which looked more like it belonged to one of the undead than the lively young woman she recalled. “They had a horrible time getting the IV started, because she’s so dehydrated. And things are still coming out both ends, if you know what I mean.”
    “Marie, please,” Kelsey held up her hand to block any further explanation. “That’s definitely TMI.”
    “You’re a nanny now.” Marie waved an imperious hand to dismiss any objection. “You can handle it.”
    Kelsey threw down the pillow and stood. “Oh no. I have my limits. If this job involves cleaning something that has emerged from either end of a human being, I’m out of here.”
    A loud noise erupted from the bundle in Marie’s arms. It sounded low and… wet ? Kelsey’s mouth dropped open. “Please tell me that wasn’t what it sounded like.”
    Marie smiled wickedly and held out Oscar. “Hold your nose, sugar. Your training has officially begun.”
    …
    Kelsey woke up early the next morning so she could do one of her favorite training runs—Green Mountain—before she had to leave for Ross’s house. The trail up the mountain was steep and narrow, and in places slick with packed earth and well-worn rocks. By 6:00 a.m., she had watched the sunrise on top of the mountain and run most of the way back down, just as the trail was starting to fill with other runners seeking the high of getting in several thousand feet of altitude before the sun got too hot. Then, near the bottom of the trail, she hit a patch of loose rocks and her feet slid out underneath her.
    This was not, unfortunately, an uncommon experience. The trail was known for being rough on ankles, knees, and other, softer parts, and Kelsey was known for finding ways to injure herself while exercising. Thanks to the weighted backpack that she wore to increase the aerobic impact of the climb, she had a soft cushion for her back and shoulders, but landed with most of her weight on her bottom. A fine layer of dirt, pebbles, and bits of gravel ground itself in her left butt cheek as she slid several feet down the trail.
    “Damn it.” When her descent stopped, she paused to catch her breath. Her butt throbbed with pain. She tried to laugh at herself, as she usually did when she took a tumble, but this time it was different, because this time she could hear Ross’s voice in her head as he looked at her, the eyes she remembered as laughing and warm now cold and distant.
    Are you sure you know what you’re doing?
    She understood his hesitation. Sleeping with the boss wasn’t the way she usually tried to get ahead. But couldn’t he have smiled, just once? Given some indication that she hadn’t dreamed up the whole insane, wonderful affair? Was it crazy for her to have harbored a secret hope that he’d take one look at her and declare his undying love? That he’d admit he’d been looking for her ever since that night, and now all of his dreams had come true?
    At home, she showered and scrubbed the sore patch on her behind, making sure to extract every bit of dirt and gravel so the scrape didn’t get infected. That was the last thing she needed, when she was headed to Nepal in a month.
    Back to the mountain that had almost killed her once before.
    Ross was waiting on the curb when she pulled up in front of the house. Before she could speak, he had steered her down the sidewalk in the other direction. “The kids are occupied for a few minutes. I wanted to have a