Free Falling for the Nanny by Jacqueline Diamond Page B

were well below where they needed to be. My folks said if I didn’t land a scholarship, I’d have to borrow the difference between the total cost and what they’d saved for me. That would have meant tens of thousands ofdollars in loans.” That conversation had been Alec’s first encounter with hard financial reality. He’d also had to confront the possibility that, if he didn’t bring up his scores, he might not be accepted to his first choice college.
    â€œSo your parents didn’t force you to break up?”
    â€œI exaggerated,” he admitted. “I told her they refused to pay any of my tuition if I kept seeing her. I should have told the truth, that it was my decision, but I was too immature. Besides, I liked her so much, I was afraid I’d cave in and change my mind.”
    â€œYou guys seemed so grown-up, being two years older than me,” Bailey said. “It’s hard to remember that you were only seventeen.”
    â€œI’d always been such a well-behaved, obedient kid, and being around Patty brought me this rush of freedom. Breaking the rules was exciting. I had to outgrow that stage, and I couldn’t do it with her.” He still felt guilty about lying, but he didn’t see the point of coming clean now. “You won’t tell her, will you?”
    â€œOf course not. That’s between you and her.” Kicking off her shoes, Bailey stretched her stockinged feet on a chair. “Feel free to go dance with someone else. I’m exhausted.”
    Dance with someone else. Who else but…?
    On the floor, guests had formed a circle around Patty and her latest partner. To a hard-driving beat, she was dancing with boundless energy, laughing and making cracks that set her audience to chuckling. What if Alec dived in there, tapped the other guy and took his place? What fun to cut loose and howl the way they used to.
    In front of all these new colleagues, including the hospital administrator? I haven’t changed as much as I thought.
    Alec could hardly expect them to take him seriously as a perfectionist in his labs and with his staff if they had an image stuck in their minds of him jumping around and screaminglike a madman. Perhaps he was exaggerating the risk to his reputation, but then, he also represented Dr. Tartikoff.
    It would have been fun, though.
    The music ended amid a smattering of applause. “Well, folks, I’d love to stay, but I have it on good authority that the bride and groom are about to depart,” announced the deejay. “For all you singles, there’ll be the ritual tossing of the bouquet to determine who gets married next, so hurry out to the front steps to try your luck.”
    Bailey grabbed her purse. “Might as well give it a shot. Not that I’m even remotely looking for love right now, but you never know. Come on, Alec, you’re single, too.”
    â€œAnd happy to stay that way.” He could hardly refuse to accompany his date, though, so he went with her.
    Outside, where a number of guests had assembled to observe, Alec descended the steps and took a position to one side, well out of danger of catching anything beyond a few dubious glances. Then Patty came out beside Mike.
    â€œFeel free,” she told her boss. “I am not doing this.”
    â€œYou’re the maid of honor. It’s legally required,” he replied.
    With a grumble and a scowl, she took up a post on the opposite side of the steps from Alec, nearly out of flower-grabbing range.
    Bailey didn’t appear to have much of a chance, pitted against several tall women, including an obstetrician whom Alec had heard might be moving her practice to Safe Harbor to work with Dr. Tartikoff. Still, the nurse grinned at him gaily.
    Cheers and applause erupted when the bride emerged into the fading daylight. “Everybody ready?”
    â€œReady as we’ll ever be!” Bailey shouted.
    The bride faced away from the