âYou really are a stickler for rules, huh?â Darcy said.
Before he could say anything, she added, âChildren need room to grow, to flourish. Yes, they need schedules, but they also need to learn to be flexible.â
Colin met and held her stare. There was no way this nanny was going to come in here and wreck everything just for the sake of making memories.
âIâll take her up for her nap,â he told Darcy, picking up little Iris and heading to the nursery, Darcy following. With her little arms around his neck, his daughter still clutched the new doll Darcy had given her. Iris had taken to Darcy exactly how Colin wished his little girl would take to a new nanny.
Yet everything about Darcy hadnât measured up to anything he thought heâd be getting into.
Colin stepped into the pale green and pink nursery. A room fit for a princess ⦠or duchess as the case might be.
He glanced at beautiful Darcy. The woman had no idea who he was â¦
And yet the pull between them was undeniable. Somehow heâd have to resist his sexy new nanny.
What the Prince Wants
is part of Mills & Boon® Desireâ¢âs No.1 bestselling series, Billionaires and Babies: Powerful men ⦠wrapped around their babiesâ little fingers.
One
The curves, the expressive green eyes, rich brown hair the color of his favorite scotchâall made for a punch of primal lust Mikos Colin Alexander hadnât experienced in years. This sure as hell was not the woman heâd expected to see on his doorstep.
Woman? No, she couldnât be more than twenty years old. She looked as if sheâd just stepped out of a photo shoot for some popular American teen magazine. With her pink T-shirt, body-hugging jeans and little white sandals, this was not the image heâd had in mind when heâd gone online seeking a nanny.
Irisâs angry cry drew his attention back to the point of this meeting. The lady at his door immediately shifted her gaze from him to the child on his hip.
âAww, itâs okay, sweetheart.â Her voice, so soft, so gentle, got Irisâs attention. âWhatâs a beautiful princess like you crying about?â
Princess. He cringed at the term, hating how dead-on this stranger was. But he was in LA now, not Galini Isle, a country so small that nobody here knew who he was. Which was just how he preferred it.
His wish to be free from his royal heritage had carried him through life, but the urge had never been stronger than after the accident that nearly took his life. Between that, his failed marriage, Karinaâs death and his being a widowed prince, the media was all over him. There wasnât a momentâs peace back home and he needed to get away, to regroup...and maybe to never return.
Now more than ever he wanted independenceâfor him and his daughter.
âIâm sorry.â Extending her hand, the lady offered him a wide, radiant smile. âIâm Darcy Cooper. You must be Mr. Alexander.â
Darcy. The woman heâd emailed, the woman heâd spoken to on the phone. The woman heâd all but hired sight unseen to be his live-in nanny because of her impressive references and the number of years the agency had been in business.
Na pari i eychi. Damn it.
What happened to the short, round, bun-wearing grandmother type heâd seen pictured on the website? Heâd been assured the woman coming to care for his daughter was the owner. No way could this curvaceous beauty be in charge of Loving Hands Childcare Agency. Perhaps theyâd sent someone else at the last minute.
Colin shifted his irate daughter to his good hip. Damn accident still had him fighting to get back to normal...whatever normal was after nearly dying and then losing your wife. âYouâre not what I expected.â
Quirking a brow, she tipped her head as a smile spread across her face. Her eyes ran over him, no doubt taking in his running shorts, T-shirt and bedhead.
âThat would make two of us.â
Her sparkling eyes held his. Was she mocking him? Of course she was. She had no idea who she was speaking to...not that anybody here knew of his royal status, but still. Nobody mocked him except his brother.
Irisâs piercing wails grew louder, more shrill in his ear. Between lack of sleep and the constant pain in his back and hip, he was done trying to be Father of the Year. The fact that heâd had no choice but to find assistance still angered him. Iris was the only reason he was giving in. Her needs had to come before his prideâwhich is why he now found himself staring down at the petite, yet very shapely, nanny.