by Susan Meier
“She cries a lot?”
“Nights are the hardest for her.”
He combed his fingers through his hair. “I don’t want anything to be hard for her. This transition has to be smooth.”
“Well, we don’t have to make any decisions now. Let’s call the nanny service. Maybe there’ll be one who won’t mind sleeping in the room with the door open?”
“She’s going to sleep in the room with the crib?”
“Well, you could give her a suite in another wing, but then she wouldn’t hear Bella cry.”
“So I have to put a bed in there for her, too?”
“Unless you want to drag one of your chairs over there and make her stay awake all night, watching Bella.” She caught his gaze. “And she’s probably going to ask you to close the door while she’s sleeping.”
“Great. That sort of defeats the purpose.”
“Not really. Trust me. That close, you’ll still hear Bella cry. Plus, you have to make some concession somewhere,” she said, leading him out the door.
“I know, but something inside me says I can’t leave Bella. I want to be with her tonight. I want her to know she hasn’t been abandoned.”
Claire’s heart swelled again. Her worries that Matt was going to be like her dad, ignoring Bella the way her father had ignored her, lessened a bit. For all his faults, he truly wanted to care for this baby.
They walked out into the hall, but the second the door to Matt’s bedroom closed behind them, they heard a soft cry. By the time they opened the door and returned to the little room with the crib, Bella was sobbing.
As naturally as breathing, Matt reached in and pulled her up into his arms. “Ah, Bella. Don’t cry.”
Claire’s eyebrows rose. He hadn’t hesitated. He hadn’t deferred to Claire. He’d automatically taken Bella into his arms.
He really wanted to care for this baby.
“You could be very good with her.”
“Right,” Matt said. His voice rose to be heard above the sobbing. “As you can see, my picking her up really stopped her crying.”
“Not yet. But it will. Once she gets accustomed to you.” She walked around Matt, noting that his hold on the baby was secure but not a death grip that would frighten Bella. Though his shirt would be permanently wrinkled where Bella leaned against him, he either didn’t notice or didn’t care. And the baby had her arm on Matt’s shoulder, her hand stopped just at his neck. She was beginning to trust him. “You hold her easily, naturally, as if you’ve done this before.”
“I did have her by myself for an hour.”
“Hmm.” She walked around them again. “You held her the whole time?”
His face reddened a bit. “Yes. Once we got out of the limo I held her.”
“And walked to keep her from crying?”
He licked his lips. “Yes. We...walked.”
“So maybe you can handle her all night on your own.”
He glanced down at Bella, who still sobbed in his arms. “I’d rather the baby in my care not cry all night. If a nanny can get her to sleep, then I say we need to bring in those reinforcements.”
“Okay. Let’s go downstairs and make the call.”
They made it as far as the stairway before sobbing Bella leaned out of Matt’s arms and toward Claire. Once Claire took her, her crying turned to sniffles, then hiccups, then nothing.
Leading them down the hall to the den, Matt turned. “Amazing. That’s at least the second time she’s stopped crying for you.”
“She’s been with me for the four days it took you to return from London.”
In the den, he headed for the office section in the back. Claire sat on one of the chairs in front of the desk, Bella on her lap. Bella immediately reached for her pearls.
Leaning in Claire whispered, “Stop that.”
The baby giggled. Claire tickled her tummy. “If you want to play, there are more fun things to do than suck on pearls.”
Bella squealed.
Claire tickled her belly again. Bella’s giggles filled the room.
Matt said, “Okay, dialing now. Everybody might want to put a lid on it so Daddy can hear.”
Claire’s gaze snapped up. Had he just said Daddy?
“Yes, good evening. This is Matt Patterson. I got custody of a baby today and I’m going to need a nanny.”
He leaned back in his chair, obviously listening to what the person at the nanny service was saying, but Claire studied him.
With his perfect hair, sexy green eyes and disarming smile, he didn’t look like the kind of guy who would refer to himself as Daddy. Especially not immediately. Ultimately, he’d probably accept the title, but at this point Claire thought for sure he’d fight it.
Something was up with him. Something caused him to see this little girl’s plight and respond to it.
But if he got a nanny, a strict one, someone who wouldn’t let him help with Bella tonight, someone who wouldn’t let him assist with feedings or bath time, he could easily slide out of Bella’s life. Grow to depend on the nanny. And then he’d be like her dad. A cold, distant father.
And Bella would have a childhood like Claire’s. Lonely.
“You’re right.”
Matt’s gaze snapped to her when she spoke. He put his hand over the receiver. “What?”
“You’re right. You can’t let her be with the nanny tonight. You have to get up with her. She needs to see you and you need to learn how to care for her.”
Matt took his hand off the receiver and answered the person on the phone. “Yes. I’d need someone temporary for a few days while I choose a permanent employee.”
She stood up, reached over and pressed the button down to disconnect his call.
“Tomorrow you can get a temporary nanny. Tomorrow we can also ask them to fax some résumés of permanent candidates. Tonight, you need to continue to bond with Bella.”
He leaned back in his chair, those sexy eyes holding her gaze. “That had better mean you’re staying.”
She nodded as the implications of that tumbled through her. “Yes. I’ll stay and help.”
“And sleep in the room next to my bedroom?”
She lifted her chin. “We’re adults. Both of us have the best interest of Bella in mind. Besides, there’s a door.”
He smiled. “So, I can trust you?”
Her mouth fell open. “Of course you can trust me!”
“Just checking.”
But his gaze involuntarily fell to her breasts, then her hips and down to her feet. It was the second time he’d “looked” at her. First the subtle peek at her butt when she sat on the desk. Now a full-scale examination.
She swallowed and turned away, pretending to be preoccupied with Bella to give herself a second to resurrect her common sense. So he was attracted to her? She was attracted to him and had absolutely no intention of acting on it. He was a man too much like her father for her to even consider being interested. And she was a woman who refused to settle for anything less than a loving, wonderful husband.
Neither of them had any worries.
She hoped.
CHAPTER FOUR
CLAIRE faced Matt with a crisp, professional smile. “Since I’m staying the night, I’ll need to go home to get some clothes.”
Memories of his hour alone with Bella caused him to freeze with fear, not just because of the noise and the feeling of impotence, but because the baby had been so upset. He couldn’t stand to see her sob like that again.
He rose. “Are you taking Bella with you?”
“You’ll be fine for an hour.”
“I think it’s too soon to risk it.” He didn’t want to admit that he couldn’t stand to see Bella cry. His feelings ran too deep, connected with too many personal things. Things he didn’t care to discuss with a stranger.
So though he didn’t lie, he was happy to have the perfect excuse to make sure he wasn’t alone with the baby again. “Besides, the car seat is in the limo. We’ll all have to go toget
her.”
“Fine. I don’t care how I get to my house. I just want a pair of jeans and a T-shirt and to get out of these shoes.”
She held up her leg to display her red high heels and Matt’s gut tightened. He didn’t have a shoe fetish, but he did know a good set of legs when he saw them and hers were classic. She was a beautiful woman with great legs who was helping him with his baby. If the odd flutter that took over his stomach any time she was sweet with Bella ever combined with the hot need that exploded through him every time he looked at her, he’d be in big trouble.
Especially since her agreeing to stay for Bella’s sake was the kindest, nicest thing he’d ever seen anybody do.
Wincing internally, he told himself not to think like that. Claire was a nice woman and he needed her. He couldn’t hurt her. And that’s what he did—hurt women. Ginny hadn’t hated him after the way he’d destroyed their marriage because he came to the rescue of her second husband, gave him the leg up he needed to become successful. But every other woman he’d dated had. So he didn’t date anymore. He had lovers. Women who knew the score.
He texted Jimmy and led Claire through the house to the garage. When he opened the door and motioned her inside, she gasped. “All these cars are yours?”
He barely glanced at the two rows of cars. Everything from a Bentley to a classic GTO. “Yes.”
Jimmy suddenly appeared at their right. “And he only lets me drive the limo.”
“That’s because I’m perfectly capable of driving the other cars.” He turned to Claire, motioning to the driver. “This is Jimmy.”
“How do, ma’am.”
She smiled. “I’m Claire. It’s nice to meet you.”
Matt said, “We’re going to Claire’s apartment.” He faced Claire again. “Give him the address.”
She rattled off the location of her apartment and they got into the limo. She secured Bella in the car seat and just as she had in her first limo ride, Bella fell asleep.
Claire shifted uncomfortably. “So...” Obviously searching for something to say, she finally settled on, “This is a beautiful car.”
Matt squelched a sigh. He already liked her. He already experienced waves of attraction just looking at her. He didn’t want them...communicating.
He snorted in derision. “Most limos are beautiful.”
“Okay.” Clearly getting the message he’d intended to send that he didn’t want to make conversation, she turned away, pretending great interest in the scene outside her window.
He looked out the opposite window.
Still, though they rode in silence, his gaze fell to her legs, which were primly crossed at the ankles. With a little flick of a few eye muscles, his gaze could travel from those ankles the whole way past her knees because her skirt had bunched a bit—
Damn it! He wasn’t just imagining letting his gaze take a trip up her legs—he had taken the trip!
“She’s such an angel.”
He jerked his gaze up to Claire’s face. She hadn’t noticed him gawking at her legs because she stared lovingly at Bella. His gut twisted again. His feelings for Bella were getting tangled up in his feelings for Claire, and strange emotions and yearnings pumped through him. Like desire interwoven with...something. He’d call it contentment but what the hell did contentment have to do with having a baby? She’d been nothing but trouble....
Except now she was sleeping. Her long black lashes sat on her puffy pink cheeks and her sweet mouth curved upward, filling his heart with the warmth of satisfaction.
He cleared his throat and gruffly said, “Yes, she’s an angel,” just as Jimmy pulled the limo to a curb and faced them.
“You’re not thinking about letting that angel sleep in her seat while you go do whatever it is you have to do here?”
Claire laughed. “Not much of a baby fan, are you?”
“No, ma’am.”
But instead of getting angry with the cheeky driver, Claire laughed again. Her pretty brown eyes shone with delight. “At least you’re honest.”
Matt glanced from Claire to Jimmy and back to Claire again.
Were they flirting?
A surge of jealousy caught him off guard. Since when did he get jealous?
As if only now realizing the limo had stopped, Bella woke and began to cry. Annoyed with himself for being jealous, he reached for the tummy snap, the leg strap and had the round padded thing lifted before Claire could make a move to help him.
“I see you’ve done this before.”
“No thanks to you.”
She slid across the seat. “I’m helping you a heck of a lot here. A little appreciation would be nice.” Outside the limo, she faced him. “Or maybe we should just go back to your house and I’ll get my car so I can come home for real.”
Matt’s stomach plummeted to his toes. And it wasn’t just because he worried about being alone with Bella. He suddenly realized if she left him now, he’d probably never see her again and his heart squeezed.
Good God! He’d known this woman a couple of hours. How could he be jealous, and, worse, afraid of not seeing her again?
He passed Bella to Claire and started across the seat. When he got out of the limo, Claire was halfway up the walk.
Holding the door, Jimmy chuckled. “Better be nice to her unless you want to hear this kid screaming all night.”
As Matt entered the building, Claire patiently waited at the old iron freight elevator of the factory converted to apartments that she called home. She almost wished the thing would have come before he reached her so she could leave him behind. But no. He ambled toward her, looking rich, sophisticated and sexy.
She nervously tried not to notice the exposed brick and pipes that provided a bit of “chic” to the supermodern condos. But every detail popped out at her like objects in a three-dimensional movie. Ben had hated this place. He’d made fun of the pipes, asking if the contractor had run out of money before he could buy materials to cover them. He’d hated the exposed bricks because they were old. He couldn’t believe anybody found anything about a factory appropriate to be seen in a residence.
And supersexy, superrich, supersophisticated Matt probably would snub his nose at her condo, too.
She just hoped he had more tact than Ben and wouldn’t say his thoughts out loud.
The elevator arrived, she stepped inside and so did Matt.
He didn’t say a word as they rose to her floor, but her relief was short-lived when she realized he was probably angry with her for threatening to leave him. Well, she didn’t care. Let him stew a bit. She wasn’t about to let him talk down to her. After Ben, she’d promised herself she’d never go through that again. And that was one promise she intended to keep.
The old metal doors opened noisily. She stepped out into the hall, once more seeing the brick walls, exposed pipes and hardwood floors. Her resolve strengthened. She loved this building. Loved her home. Let him hate it if he wanted. Let him make fun of it. She didn’t care. His feelings meant nothing to her.
Still quiet, Matt followed her down the hall. She held Bella on one arm as she marched to her door, fishing her keys out of her coat pocket. Before he reached her, she had the door open and was inside.
The exposed brick walls and hardwood floors continued throughout her open-plan apartment. Her kitchen was new, dark cabinets with slim silver handles and stainless-steel appliances. The chic dining area, including a table and trim buffet, flowed into her living room space, which had red sofas facing each other and an overstuffed red print chair with matching ottoman.
“Wow.”
She spun to face him. “Wow?”
“Your apartment.” He glanced around. “It’s so modern.” He looked around some more. “I really like it.”
Nerves prickled her skin. Her breath whooshed out. She hadn’t wanted his opinion to matter, but it had and that bothered her. He might be a nice guy with Bella, but he was also blunt and self-important. Guessing he was only trying to make nice after being rude to
her, she grudgingly said, “Thanks.”
“I had a similar condo for a while.” He smiled as if remembering. “Right after I got my first job. Thought I’d hit the big-time because I started off earning six figures.”
She gaped at him. “How does somebody ‘start off’ earning six figures?”
He strolled around the room. “I went to my interview with two five-year plans. One was for the company interviewing me. The other for their competitor.”
She frowned. “So?”
“So, it never hurts to understand what the other guy is probably thinking.” He chuckled. “They said I showed initiative.”
“It sounds like initiative but I wouldn’t know. I’ve never been a businessperson, never even thought about wanting to be one.”
He strolled over. “You’re more of the sensitive type.” He took a step that brought them so close she could almost feel the heat from his body. “But we’ve already discussed this.”
“Yes...” She hated the tremble in her voice. He was just so damned good-looking. “We have.”
“But we’re really not even, you know.”
“Even?”
“About what we know about each other. You have a nice condo. You like working with kids. And that’s all I know about you.”
“I don’t exactly know a lot about you.”
He chuckled. “You’ve been through my house.” He caught her gaze. “In my bedroom. You know I was divorced but my ex-wife and I stayed close enough that she gave me custody of her child. You’ve seen my car collection, met my driver. Know that I give my employees long vacations when I travel for business. You know more about my personal life than most women I date.”
Her skin flushed. A pulse started low in her belly. So did an unwanted sense of anticipation. It meant something that he was telling her things, or letting her see things about his life through his home. And right now, they stood so close he could kiss her—or she could kiss him, if she wanted.
She swallowed. Suddenly grateful for the protection of the baby on her arm, she said, “Why do you want to know about me?”
“I think you know.”