Reunited by the Tycoon's Twins

She grabbed another CV from the pile and started to read. Then laid it on top of the first. With the third, she broke into a smile. ‘This one,’ she said simply. ‘Josie. The love she had for her last family totally shines through.’

* * *

Finn smiled. Josie had been top of his list too, and was lined up first for the interviews. Though why it should make him so happy that he and Madeleine agreed on this was anyone’s guess. Oh, for God’s sake, who was he trying to kid? He knew exactly why he was pleased that they saw eye to eye on this decision, and he knew exactly why he should be shutting down any thoughts that pointed in that dangerous direction.

‘Well, I guess we could give them all a fair shot,’ he said, glancing at the clock. ‘I’ll get this cleared away and have them send the first one through. Make sure you have coffee. These things can be gruelling.’

He was on his fourth cup of the day and it was doing nothing to keep his yawns at bay. The babies hadn’t given him any trouble the night before, but he had lain awake regardless, desperately trying not to remember how it had felt to wake up Sunday morning with Madeleine practically in his lap. Saturday night had been long, and thankless. But then, right at the end, a kind of perfect.

He shook his head. Perfect. Except it never could be with her. He’d proved with Caro that he couldn’t hold a marriage together. And failing again? Losing his home again? Compromising his business again? Never going to happen. He could feel the burn of bile in his throat at just the thought of it.

He couldn’t afford to fail. Couldn’t afford to lose any other part of the life that he’d built for himself. Everything up to this point had been about momentum. One success after another had changed his life beyond recognition. Losing Caro, his home—that had been his first failure and it had hit him hard. Hard enough to have learnt his lesson that he couldn’t have both a relationship and his life. There was no way that he was starting something with Madeleine just to prove to himself that it really wasn’t possible.

The stakes were too high to take that kind of risk. He had thought it bad enough when his marriage had broken down and he’d had to keep his life and his business on track. If he had let one more thing drop, he could have lost everything. If he had taken his eye off the ball once in the last year, when he was putting his life back together, it could all have been gone.

Now he had Bella and Hart to think about, the stakes were higher than they had ever been before. The dangers of failing were worse than ever. He wasn’t going to ever let them be in the situation he had faced as a child. And that meant protecting what he had now. Much as he had strong feelings for Madeleine, he couldn’t risk anything that would disrupt the careful equilibrium that he had managed to re-establish in the wake of his marriage failing. And if the only way to avoid that was to turn his back on this thing that was developing with Madeleine, then he’d do it, no matter how much it hurt, because the alternative was all too terrifying.

It would be easier, he supposed, if he could cut her out of his life completely. But he had promised Jake this favour. No. It wasn’t about what he had promised Jake; it was about supporting Madeleine because it was the right thing to do and because he wanted to. He just had to draw that line between friendly support and falling asleep with her in his arms. How hard could that be?

Josie arrived—the nanny candidate who had topped both his and Madeleine’s list—and he turned his attention to finding the best possible person to help care for his children. This was the way to keep his life on track—by concentrating on what his children needed, what would make their lives richer. If he could push his own desires into some tiny space in his mind and ignore them then he would be all the happier for it.

* * *

Madeleine kept one eye on Finn’s expression as he conducted the first of the interviews, and couldn’t put her finger on what was going on in that brain of his. She could sense him withdrawing from her, and if she hadn’t been so relieved that he was fighting this as hard as she was then she would have been hurt.

Maybe it was just the business setting, but any closeness that had been there on Saturday night was well and truly gone by the time that the first interview was over. The twins woke up just in time to have a play with Josie, and as she and Finn took them over to their sensory cupboard Madeleine leaned back in her seat and watched them together. The nanny was perfect, and Madeleine felt a little sorry for the other candidates who were going to have to try and follow her this afternoon.

They’re a perfect unit, Madeleine thought.

And this was what she would be leaving behind when she made a decision about what to do with her life. Finn was already making plans, and she needed to too. Tonight, she promised herself. Tonight she was going to sit down with her laptop and make a real plan.

‘Would you walk down with me, Madeleine?’ Josie asked, tucking her braids behind her ear, and Madeleine’s eyes widened with surprise. She’d asked Josie a couple of questions in the interview, but she had wanted to give Josie and Finn and the kids some time to get to know each other without a practical stranger there making things awkward. She lifted an eyebrow in question at Finn, who just smiled and ti

ckled Bella under the chin.

‘Fine with me,’ he said, smiling as Bella laughed.

Madeleine shrugged and Finn followed her and Josie to the door. ‘Thanks so much for coming in,’ he said with genuine warmth. ‘I’ll be in touch in a couple of days. If you have any questions in the meantime, just send them over.’

‘Great,’ Josie said with a final smile. ‘I’ll look forward to hearing from you then.’

‘So,’ Madeleine said as they crossed to the lift and waited, ‘was there something you wanted to ask?’

Josie hesitated until the lift arrived and, once she was inside, said, ‘I just wanted to ask how it is living with Finn? I’ve had some live-in jobs that were better than others, you know. Finn seems great and Hart and Bella are adorable. I just wanted to sound you out—woman to woman—if there’s anything else I should know about living with them.’

Ah, the penny dropped. Madeleine didn’t need to imagine the awkward situations a live-in nanny could face. Add a single dad into the situation and she should totally understand her asking the question.

She thought back to her first night at Finn’s, when she’d misunderstood his intentions. When he’d done everything in his power to make sure she knew that she was safe.

‘He’s honestly a great guy,’ she told Josie without a hint of hesitation. ‘I wouldn’t have any reservations telling you that you should totally take the job if he offers.’

Josie smiled and Madeleine saw her shoulders relax a fraction. ‘That’s such good news. I hope I’ll see you again,’ she said with a smile.

Madeleine waved her off and returned to the lifts feeling pensive. Well, looked like Josie had found her dream job. Finn had his domestic crisis sorted. She was the only one now who had to get her life in order.

She heard Finn speaking as she approached his office and hesitated in the doorway. He spotted her and gestured for her to wait—it was only then that she realised who he was speaking to. She recognised Caro from her voice, and from the way that Finn was angling the phone, showing the screen to two giggling babies; it was clear that they were video calling again.

‘You’ll Skype me into the second-round interview?’ she heard Caro say as Finn began to wrap up the call.