The Heart of a Hero by Janet Chapman

the opposite,” Olivia said. “Nicholas loves children.”
    “Then why vanish?”
    “Because the last time he fell in love with a baby princess, he ended up spending the next thirty-one years as her bodyguard.”
    “Excuse me?”
    “Mac’s sister, Carolina,” Olivia explained. “You’ve met her, haven’t you?”
    Julia was forced to merely nod since Ella was now clasping her face, trying to get Julia to look at her instead of Olivia.
    “Well, Nicholas’s mother was the midwife at Carolina’s birth, and when Rana suddenly took a turn for the worse, Maude apparently handed the minutes-old infant to him—Nicholas was only seven at the time, I’ve been told—and he refused to give her up for the next three days while everyone focused on saving Rana.” Olivia smiled crookedly. “Actually, he refused to give Carolina up for the next thirty-one years, until he decided Alec MacKeage deserved to spend the rest of his life dealing with her.” She gestured at her daughter, who had forgone clasping Julia’s face in favor of fingering the elastic on Julia’s thick braid of hair. “And that’s why he beats a hasty retreat whenever Ella heads for him with her arms raised, afraid of being saddled with another Oceanus princess for thirty-one more years. It’s also why he swears he’s only having sons.” She snorted, even as a gleam came into her eyes. “Assuming he can find a woman willing to marry him.”
    Julia decided she wasn’t touching that little comment with a ten-foot pole. “So Nicholas was a bodyguard before he came to work for you?”
    “Among other things,” Olivia said vaguely, walking down the hall. “You don’t have to clean this apartment yourself, Jules,” she continued as Julia followed carrying Ella. “I can have Bev send over some of her staff, and they’ll have this place spit-shined by the end of the morning.”
    What, and have them see all my worldly possessions in trash bags?
“Thanks, but I’d rather do it myself,” Julia told her. “And for a bachelor, Nicholas was a pretty good housekeeper. Other than a little extra vacuuming, it won’t be any different than giving one of my cottages a good cleaning between guests.”
    Olivia plucked Ella away from Julia and replaced the child with a set of keys. “Well, it’s all yours for however long you need it.” She touched Julia’s arm. “Please don’t run off and rent the first place you find out of stubborn pride. This apartment will just sit empty all winter, so you might as well take your time looking for something that’s nice as well as affordable.” She canted her head, that gleam returning. “Then again, who knows what exciting surprise might be waiting just around the corner for you?”
    Julia caught her breath on the hope that Olivia was referring to the Inglenook position. She nodded. “Okay, I won’t. But Trisha and I are paying rent, right?”
    “For an apartment that’s going to sit empty all winter anyway?” Olivia said with a laugh, heading back out to the living room carrying Ella.
    Julia followed her down the hall. “We’re not living here for free.”
    Olivia turned with her daughter clasping
her
face trying to get her undivided attention. “Then how about if you stop by my office and ask Lucy to show you my babysitting schedule, and you sign up to chase Ella around for a few hours each week?”
    “That’s it? You want me to babysit in exchange for housing? Heck, I’m not afraid of falling in love with a princess. I’ll take her anytime.”
    Olivia gave an ominous little snicker as she headed for the door. “We’ll see how you feel after your first session, when you find yourself peeling her off anyone she can coax into picking her up.” She opened the door and looked back, shaking her head. “Even the horses aren’t safe. And now that she’s found out where the chickens live, they’re not safe, either.”
    “Gallinae!”
Ella squealed, bouncing in her mother’s arms. “Go