She glanced at Dan, but he was simply staring at his daughter. His lids didn’t blink. He stood frozen, not moving a muscle, except a tiny one in his jaw. Shock. Awe. Fear. Lost in his own world and overwhelmed. Joy rose inside her, filling her to the very brim. She stepped away, leaving him alone by the crib.
“Where are you going?” A hoarse whisper—possibly tinged with panic?
“I’m right here,” she affirmed, her heart dancing for the first time since she’d made the decision to contact him. Dan was the father, but he was more frightened by a ten-pound baby than by the gladiators on the gridiron. A perfect situation, as far as Alexis was concerned. She’d provide the home and child care, while he supplied the check.
DAN STARED AT THE MOST beautiful baby in the world. His daughter. His child. And wanted to run away. A million decisions awaited him. A million arrangements…and lots of stuff to buy. He had a game against the Cowboys this weekend. It wasn’t even midseason yet; there was a long way to go, and he couldn’t screw up. Should he hire a baby nurse and take the kid out of town with him? Should he ask his mother? But she and his dad had a business to run. Should he hire a live-in housekeeper? Maybe two of them? Man, a tiny baby needed a lot of care.
He faced Alexis. “She’s so little,” he whispered.
“Absolutely, but time will cure that.” Her eyes gleamed with amusement.
The lawyer actually had a sense of humor. He tilted his head toward the door and started to leave the room. “Let her sleep.”
Alexis nodded her agreement and smiled at him again. Whew. She had a killer smile. A happy smile. Finally, a genuine smile that brightened her face. Okay. He was starting to read her body language, a skill he was…supposedly…good at.
In the kitchen once again, he inhaled the aroma of coffee. “You did make a pot after all.”
“Want some?”
“Sure.” He watched her pour. Confident now. No shaky hands or voice.
When they were both seated, he said, “First things first. I’ve got a game in Dallas this weekend.”
She held up her palm. “No problem, Dan. The baby’s living with me anyway. In fact, to be perfectly honest…”
He hated that phrase. It was usually followed by something that wasn’t honest at all.
“…I don’t quite know what my sister’s intention was when she revealed your name to me at the end. But I don’t imagine it was for you to be involved with Michelle’s day-to-day care.”
The heart of the matter. A setup. She was setting him up for a one-two punch.
“Oh?” He kept his voice neutral. Let her keep talking before he reacted.
“Think about it,” Alexis continued. “She never told you about the baby. She knew what your schedule was like—” she blinked hard and turned away for a moment “—probably better than you did. And—and I know she planned to raise the baby herself…with my help.” She leaned toward him. “I asked, but she never told me your name until the end. Until she probably felt she had no other choice.”
Her eyes were too shiny. Please don’t cry, lady. Whenever Alexis brought up her sister, a waterfall threatened. But now she was chatting again.
“So, knowing your hectic lifestyle and her plans, I don’t think she had in mind for you to actually be in charge of Michelle…at least, not now.”
Her last words were rushed, as though she were trying to appease him. Dan thought of his own dad. Of his family. His parents lived and breathed for their kids, for their six grandkids. They’d worked hard building their grocery and deli business so their children could have the advantages they hadn’t. And Alexis Brown was trying to tell the son of Nicky Delito to abandon his daughter?
It wasn’t going to happen. But he wasn’t ready to shut down the conversation.
“Not be in charge of my daughter, Alexis?” he asked quietly. “Then why am I here? Are we back to extortion?”
“Good grief, no! I don’t need that kind of money. I’ve known how to stretch a dollar since I was a kid. With careful use of my funds, and a tiny bit of help for day care, I can support my niece just fine.”
She spoke the truth and he relaxed slightly—until another truth popped up, an incredible truth that made his blood pressure rise, that scared the wits out of him. That made him use real effort to keep his voice at a reasonable pitch.
“So, the only reason—the single reason—honorable attorney Alexis Brown contacted me at all was because of a few dollars for child care?”
HIS ATTACK KNOCKED THE breath from Alexis’s body. Surely he didn’t want to be deeply involved in Michelle’s care? He didn’t make sense. He was a single man. He traveled constantly. Hell, a couple of weeks ago, he hadn’t even known he had a daughter. Was he serious?
She willed herself to inhale again and wrestled control of her mind. If two years in the D.A.’s office had taught her nothing else, they had taught her how to stay focused on a goal in the face of determined opposition. And she had to stay focused. Dan was her last hope. If she alienated him, she would likely have to put Michelle in foster care. And that was no place for the child Sherri had entrusted to Alexis’s care.
Dan was staring at her. She had to respond to his accusation. The best defense is an offense, she thought for the second time in a week.
“Michelle is three months old,” she said. “How much quicker would you have acted if your sister had been killed, given birth and left you with a newborn infant, not to mention dealing with cops and social workers? How much faster could you have set up a nursery, gotten a leave from work and learned how to care for a newborn? Did you think it all happened by osmosis?”
So what if he’d guessed the true reason—at least, the immediate reason—for her daddy search? She’d been living one day at a time for awhile and doing the best she could.
He put up his hands. “Whoa. Okay, okay. Points taken,” he said quietly, “but you haven’t answered the question.”
“And I’m not going to.”
Standoff. Hazel eyes challenged brown as they stared at each other in silence. Adrenaline shot through Alexis’s body, raising her awareness of details—the creases in the corners of his eyes, the slight cleft in his chin, the arch in his eyebrow. Like taking a series of snapshots, she memorized the parts of his face. His size didn’t intimidate her, nor did his righteous indignation. In fact, she felt no fear at all.
“Stubborn woman,” he muttered.
“Suspicious man,” she replied.
They both heard Michelle’s cries at the same time and, together, headed toward the bedroom. The baby was kicking and waving at the colorful mobile hanging overhead, but when she saw Alexis, she doubled her speed and cried harder.
“Oh, sweet pea,” Alexis crooned, scooping her up. “You’re all wet and—” she sniffed the diaper “—dirty, too. Come on, my sweet and stinky petunia. We’ll make you nice and clean.” The baby calmed down to a hiccup or two, as she usually did when Alexis held her.
Alexis stepped in front of the big man and went to the changing table, where all the appropriate equipment and toiletries were within easy reach.
Dan hadn’t moved.
Alexis glanced behind her. “Dirty diapers are part of the deal.”
“Hmm…I—I don’t want to interfere.”
If only.
Michelle turned her head toward his voice. “She’s looking for you,” said Alexis, her gaze darting toward him again. “If you can’t handle this, she’ll wind up with a painful diaper rash.”
His suntanned complexion paled. “Painful?” he asked as he strode toward the baby.
Maybe he was rethinking any plans he might be formulating about becoming a full-time dad. Good.
Michelle stared at him as Alexis worked. No gurgling. No crying. Just staring.
“Talk to her,” said Alexis. “She usually vocalizes a bit when she wakes up.”
“What should I say?”
She didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. She was comforted, however, because he knew so little. He
wouldn’t want to take over Michelle’s care when the scope of the responsibility hit him.
Which was just as it should be. Dan hadn’t been in Sherri’s plan at all. Her sister had never mentioned him. Sherri had, however, counted on Alexis—Auntie Alexis—to be part of Michelle’s life. All the planning they’d done, the shopping, the child-care books they’d read together…Alexis and Sherri had gotten closer during the pregnancy. Sherri had been taking responsibility and making plans to return to school. Alexis had been proud of her for that.
It wasn’t until the end, in that ambulance, that Sherri had finally shared the truth. Was it because Alexis would be alone and need help? That was the only reason Alexis could imagine. But now, by approaching Dan, she might have started something she’d be sorry for. His “help” could turn into an arrangement Sherri wouldn’t have wanted, either.
She needed to gain Dan’s trust, tear down his defenses.
“Tell her how smart and beautiful she is,” Alexis suggested. “Tell her how the sun is shining in her window. Anything at all. Just talk.”
He followed her first idea, then went off on his own. “Daddy will hire two nurses. No diaper rash for you, baby girl. And after the season, we’ll go to Florida and have a vacation on the boat, and go to Disney. All little kids love Disney, and you will, too. And we’ll take your cousins.”
The baby remained quiet, watching him, and he beamed at Alexis. “How am I doing?”
“Great,” she muttered. “Just great.” She envisioned wild parties with his teammates on his yacht. She moved her head slightly to look at him. “If you have parties on that boat, drinking is out, you know. Trust me, when you’re caring for an infant, everything in your life changes. Everything.”
“Then I guess it will change,” Dan asserted.
Her stomach knotted and dots of perspiration covered her. Fear had invaded, and she needed a minute by herself. “I’m going to warm her bottle.”
“Wait. You can’t leave me alone with her.”
He was right. She couldn’t risk it, not when panic laced his voice. Alexis lifted Michelle and glanced at Dan. “Come on, Daddy,” she began, with an emphasis on the title. “You’ll hold her on the couch first.” She sensed his panic subsiding. “I thought you had a slew of nephews and nieces.”
“I do. But I didn’t change their diapers, or feed them when they ate mush, for that matter.” His voice trailed off as if he was back in time, remembering. “I played with them. You know—on the floor. In the backyard. On the street. We’d throw a ball, they’d climb all over me and we’d have a great time. In fact, we still do.”
“Oh, I’m sure you do. And I’m also sure you waited until they were out of diapers before you got involved with them,” she said. “You don’t have that option now, if you’re serious.”
“I’m as serious as a Hail Mary pass,” he said, sitting down on the sofa. He lifted his arms for Michelle when Alexis approached. “You can count on it.”
She’d be a fool not to and wanted to weep. “You’ll be fine here. She can’t get hurt. I’ll bring the bottle right away.”
Finally, she escaped to the kitchen. Dan Delito claiming Michelle on a full-time basis wasn’t what she’d envisioned at all. He was Boston’s golden boy, a young Turk so busy with a demanding career…always traveling or practicing…with so much money and prestige, so much power….
She slapped her forehead as all the pieces came together. Sherri must have worried about the same thing—that Dan Delito had the clout to simply take the baby from her, a good-time girl working at low-wage jobs. How could Alexis have been so naive as to not realize that right away?
She was busy for less than a minute when she heard, “Wow! What a smile. Come here, Alexis. Look at her. She’s beautiful. Holy cow! I think she’s flirting with me. How can that be?”
“I have no idea.” And she didn’t. She’d never practiced those feminine wiles herself, didn’t trust them, didn’t use them. She couldn’t remember ever playing little girl games with her father. Not that her avoidance had helped.
“Michelle’s simply gorgeous,” said Alexis. “She’s probably just feeling good, and you’re a new distraction.”
“I agree about the gorgeous part. Abso-pos-a-tutely.”
Alexis brought the bottle over and saw a grinning Michelle looking straight up at her dad. The man was a goner. Right over the moon.
But nothing brought more excitement than the promise of the bottle. The baby spotted it, kicked and waved at it. Alexis looked at Dan, then at the formula. Him? Or herself? Cooperate. Be friendly. Remember the short-term pain and long-term gain philosophy. With a huge sigh, she handed the milk to Dan and once again disappeared into the kitchen, leaving him alone with his daughter.
One thing she knew for sure: a parent had more clout than an aunt in court. She could fight him, but what chance did she have of winning? Less than none. She needed Dan to want to share the baby. Of course, she now understood the chance of that happening was less than none, as well.
CHAPTER FOUR
“A BABY! WHAT ARE YOU talking about?”
In his parents’ large country kitchen, Dan’s mother clutched his arm, her trembling voice revealing the anxiety reflected on her face. His normally upbeat mom wasn’t acting too upbeat today. In fact, she hadn’t been very happy in a long time, at least not with him. He’d disappointed her, disappointed his dad and a pang of guilt pierced him, made him want to reach for some single malt. He clenched his hands into fists and felt his biceps and triceps tighten up. Then he relaxed his muscles. A good quick stress reliever.
On the evening after his visit to Alexis and Michelle, he’d invited himself for dinner at his parents’ house. Andy Romano had already started on the legal paperwork for court. Alexis had promised to call the social worker and arrange a meeting. All Dan had to do was tell his folks the news. Obviously, he wasn’t doing too good a job of it.
“Ma, why don’t you sit down? It’s good news, at least most of it is. I’m talking about my three-month old daughter.”
“Three months! And you never told us?”
He appealed to his dad. “She’s going to have a stroke. Make her sit down.”
“She’s not the only one. What the hell are you talking about, Danny? What baby? Where’s the mother? Did you get married in secret?”
Married? Was his dad nuts? Dan had no plans in that direction.
“Of course I’m not married. But things happen sometimes…you know…like after a game.” He hoped they’d get the picture without a detailed drawing.
“Oh my God! Nicky, did you hear him?” His mom grabbed his dad’s hand. “‘After a game,’ he says. It’s got to be one of those girls, one of those run-around girls who always follow the team. Out for a good time. Out for their money.”
His mom could barely look at him. “How could you, Danny, how could you?” Her words ended on a wail, lingering in the air. “Especially after a wonderful girl like Kim…”
“This has nothing to do with Kim,” he protested. Except, of course, it had everything to do with her. The groupies allowed him to forget for a while.
“So, what’s it going to cost you in support?” his practical dad interrupted. “I assume you’ve gotten proof?”
“Oh, Michelle’s mine, all right,” said Dan, his spirits lifting despite his folks’ reaction to the news. “She’s the cutest, most perfect little baby, no bigger than a football. Yesterday, I gave her a bottle. Wait till you see her….”
Nick held his hand up like a cop. “Stop. I’ll tell you right now that’s not happening until I know everything.”
Dan filled them in, spinning out the story, and watched their reactions. His mom was an easy read. Tears and horror came at Sherri’s murder, then awe at the delivery in the ambulance, pity for a motherless baby, sympathy for Alexis at first, then a question at Alexis’s waiting three months. By the end of his recital, Rita was on the couch, frozen in her seat, murmuring, “Oh my, oh my…” licking her lips
and shaking her head.
“How can you trust this…this Alexis Brown?” asked Nicky. “She probably wants fifty percent of everything you’ve got.”
“Who said anything about trust?” replied Dan. “I’m the father. Alexis has no claim to the baby, other than some visiting now and then. Andy will figure that out.”
“I bet she can’t wait to dump the kid on you,” said his dad.
Maybe if he were hearing the story for the first time, Dan would react exactly as his father had. But now, he wanted to be fair. Alexis had done a great job with Michelle. At some point, Rita and Nicky would probably meet Alexis, and Dan preferred to avoid an awkward encounter.
“That’s not true. Alexis can wait, all right.” He closed his eyes, picturing the lawyer’s expressive face as she played with the baby. “That’s not the problem, Dad. She loves Michelle…actually too much. I saw them together. According to Alexis, she’s the real mom now.”
Nicky’s whistle was long and low. “The real mom? Danny-boy, you’ve got yourself a problem.”
Dan chuckled wryly. “Oh, I’ve got lots of problems, but Alexis Brown isn’t one of them. She’s an attorney. She knows the score. I’ll only see her from time to time in the future, when she visits Michelle.”
He’d say goodbye to those sparkly green eyes and lovely curves, the cute bottom that made his hand itch, and the great legs—not to mention the sharp mind. He’d almost enjoyed their sparring.
Rita stared at him, her complexion back to healthy. “You don’t sound too happy about that, Dan. And besides, maybe you should be friendly toward her. You might need her help with the baby.”
“I’ve already had her help, and now I simply owe her a debt of thanks. She’s taken excellent care of my daughter.” Might as well emphasize his fatherhood and get his folks used to it.
“When can we meet this paragon of a woman?” asked Nicky. “We need to know who we’re dealing with.”
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