Almost Midnight by Teresa McCarthy Page B

there’s something you’re not telling me.”
    Why was this man stirring the deepest emotions from her? Emotions she wanted buried forever. A lump rose in her throat when she turned to face him.
    His words touched her. And even though she hardly knew the man, she could tell that he truly cared.
    “I just lost my job and I have no idea what you want to do with me either.” She hadn’t meant to blurt out the words, but she had.
    His body leaned toward hers and their gazes locked. His reaction was swift and gentle. He brushed her lips. As soon as the kiss started, it stopped. But by that time, Hannah felt as if she had been tipped upside down, ground and shaken like a pepper mill.
    She stared back in shock. Why had she let him kiss her? Because she had wanted the kiss, that’s why. She was more mad at herself than at him.
    He smiled, but the grin never seemed to reach his eyes. “Feeling better?” he asked, turning away and starting the engine.
    “Better?” Hannah blinked. Better than what? A cold fish?
    But he didn’t seem to hear her, or didn’t want to. Maybe Mrs. Gould had been right all along. Maybe he was a man without a heart. Maybe he had driven his wife to her death.
    Guilt instantly assailed her. No, Tanner Clearbrook was just a man who expected women to fall at his feet, but she wasn’t going to be one of them. Not now, not ever.
    “Since I was part of the reason you lost your job, I was wondering if you could come all day tomorrow. I’d like to hire you as full-time nanny for my son as well as a tutor.”
    Hannah stared at him, speechless.
    He seemed to avoid her shocked gaze as he pulled out of the parking lot. “I’d offer you three times as much as the library was giving you.”
    Her chest hurt when she thought about how he’d used her. The kiss had meant nothing to him, nothing but securing her as a tutor. But she needed the money and would have to accept the job...for now. And she sure as heck wouldn’t give him anything else but her time, not a kiss, not her heart, nothing but time.
    “I think I can handle that,” she said stiffly, turning to look out the window.
    “Good. It  seems I’m no cook in the gingerbread department. Hope you’ll remember to make it for Jeremy tomorrow. He’s counting on it.”
    “I said I would bring it to Jeremy. I keep my promises, Mr. Clearbrook. If I say I’ll make it, I will.” Her tone had become edged with anger. She turned and saw the determined clench of his jaw, but she didn’t care. All she wanted to do was go to bed - after she made the gingerbread, of course.
    A taut silence filled the Jaguar as he pulled up to her apartment complex and turned those piercing gray eyes upon her.
    “But I don’t want you staying up all night and losing sleep over it.”
    What an attitude! He needed her for his son and would do whatever it took to get her. She sneezed when she opened the door. “Don’t worry about me. I’m only a tutor and a nanny, easily replaced.” 
    He stepped out of the car and followed her. “I’ll walk you to your apartment. And you’re more than that to Jeremy, Hannah. You’re his friend. Sort of a confidante.”
    She stopped suddenly and spun around as she fished for her keys in her purse. Her patience was lost somewhere between the library and her apartment. “And what am I to you, Mr. Clearbrook, your guinea pig? Do I kiss as well as your other friends? I wonder if Mrs. Gould was right all along. Don’t bother walking me to my door, I think I can manage. And don’t worry about me showing up in the morning. I’ll be there...for Jeremy. With the gingerbread!”
    The implication seemed to hit its mark and Tanner’s stance stiffened. His gaze drilled into hers, but he said nothing as she turned her back on him and marched past the complex entrance, her shoes hitting the worn carpet hallway with iron determination.
    Mr. John Tanner Clearbrook would have the best tutor and nanny for his money, but that was all he was going to