Free Daddy's Little Girl (A Homespun Romance) by Geeta Kakade Page A

herself to look at Jason.  If it was part of her job, she'd accept the gift.  "I'm sorry I didn't think about that myself."
    The feeling he'd done something wrong, that to Sara all this was a big deal, bothered Jason.  She'd left the room as if wearing the new things was a chore she couldn't avoid.
    He looked at Kelsey who was watching him over the rim of her cup.  "Women!"  he said with a shrug.  "Who can understand them?"
    Kelsey put her empty cup on the table, shrugged her shoulders exactly as her father had, and smiled.
    Jason picked her up.  "Come here punkin'," he said.  "We have to think up a few games between us.  Think you'll like to play horsie?"
    Peter Wilton, a man he'd done his masters with in northern California, had told him today that his son loved being carried around on his Dad's shoulders.  Jason was going to try it with Kelsey. 
    In her room, Sara put the box on her bed and stared at it.  Jason didn't seem to be the least bit embarrassed about buying her lingerie, but she was. 
    Jason Graham had won this round.  Something about him warned Sara, he would win every round he wanted to.  Sara wished she had enough money to offer to pay for the things, but she didn't.  The box alone looked as if it might cost two weeks salary.  Her heart sank as some of the implications of being Jason's temporary fiancé dawned on her.  It wasn't only everything she was, it was also everything she had, that would have to reflect her new station in life.
    She took the lid off the box again and lifted the things out.  To do her job well, she'd have to act as if it were no big deal to her as well.  She'd have to bury her qualms and learn to fit into Jason's world, so she wouldn't let him down.
    All of a sudden Sara felt scared...as if she were being carried out of her depth by strong, dangerous currents to an area where the things expected of her, would be those she couldn't give. 
     
     
    Laughter greeted Jason as he unlocked the front door the next day.  Sara and Kelsey sat on the carpet, surrounded by dolls and tiny garments.  The flames of the gas fire picked up gold highlights in Sara's hair. 
    She looked up and smiled at him.  It was the first smile that held no trace of shyness and Jason was surprised by the tug of response inside him. 
    "I found the perfect pair," she said, as Kelsey ran to him and wrapped her arms around his legs.
    "You did?"  His expression didn't give away the fact the agency had already told him what had happened.  Lifting Kelsey, he put her up on his shoulders.
    "It's a couple really, Marge and Ed Binty.  They've seen twenty years of domestic service, is how they put it.  Between them they'd cook, clean, and care for Kelsey.  They have passports and a work permit.  They've travelled all over the world with an English couple and their two children who are teenagers now.  The Bintys say they love visiting new places and it doesn't matter to them where they live."
    She had drawn her knees up to her chest, and was staring into the gas fire.
    "But do they tell stories?"  Jason teased.
    Sara nodded seriously.  "She and her husband both do.  They have six grandchildren.  I know Kelsey won't lack for hugs and kisses and kindness with them.  If it's all right with you, they can start Monday."
    "That's fine."  It was strange how he trusted Sara's choice, especially when he'd been afraid to leave Kelsey in the same room with her own mother, when Diana had been drinking. 
    "There's something you should know about them."  Sara bit her lip, let it go.
    "What's that, Sara?"
    "They're not like the other women the agency sent out.  Those women were more...more professional looking and spoke the Queen's English.  The Bintys are ordinary, like me.  They're from Yorkshire and their accents are a bit different."
    Jason's jaw clenched.  "I have no problem with ordinary people, Sara.  Tell them they can start right away."
    "Don't you want to meet them, decide for yourself?"
    "No