by Susan Meier
Damn it! What the hell was happening to him?
Luckily, Sabrina suffered from no qualm of conscience about waking her caregiver. She shrieked, probably as unhappy with her wet diaper as Ty was, and without thinking Ty nuzzled her to settle her down. “Shhh.”
Madelyn stirred, and Ty glanced from the baby to Madelyn and back to the baby. Realizing again that Sabrina had no problem waking Madelyn, Ty nuzzled Sabrina, bringing her close so he could whisper in her ear, “I’m sorry. I spoke that shhh too soon. You go ahead and complain. Your diaper’s wet and leaking. You’ve got to be miserable. Let’s hear it.”
Madelyn awakened to see Ty standing over her, holding the baby, whispering something that made the little girl giggle and pat his face. Her first thought was to wonder how long he’d been standing there watching her sleep, which stirred a whirlwind of emotions inside her. The one she expected was attraction. He was luscious wearing only an undershirt and gray trousers, and it was simply too early in the morning to battle down any instinctive roller-coaster ride her tummy and heart might take. The emotion she hadn’t expected, though, and the one that was infinitely more difficult to deal with, was a kind of joy. Ty was behaving very sweetly with the baby and for some reason—also too early in the morning to dissect—that pleased her enormously.
Cuddling Sabrina, Ty had the air of a man bonding with his baby. He appeared at ease and comfortable starting the day in a private moment with the little girl he had been entrusted to raise. In fact, the whole room was bathed in intimacy. Wrapped in warm covers, watching him nuzzle Sabrina, Madelyn felt very much like a wife watching her husband. And it didn’t seem wrong, or even inappropriate. It seemed absolutely normal.
Because that feeling was dead wrong and also more than a little bit stupid, Madelyn shifted her attention away from herself and Ty, and put it back where it belonged. On Ty and his child. His nuzzling Sabrina appeared effortless. His loose, yet protective hold was instinctive. The way he blew on her neck, teasing and playing, wasn’t something that could be taught. From those simple things it was clear to Madelyn that baby care would come to this man naturally, if he would only spend some time with Sabrina.
Madelyn’s hopes for her boss skyrocketed, until he glanced down and saw she was awake.
“There you are,” he said, and virtually dropped the baby on Madelyn’s stomach. “I’m late.”
With that he pivoted and strode out of the room as Madelyn grabbed the wobbling baby to keep her from rolling to the floor.
So much for celebrating Ty’s instincts.
But at least she knew he had them. And she wasn’t letting him forget. In fact, seeing how easily baby care seemed to come to him fortified her resolve to put “Operation: Baby Love” into effect.
After Ty ran out of the house for work, Madelyn put Sabrina in the baby seat and set it on the floor just beyond the half-open curtain of the shower so she could begin dressing for the day. She had just wrapped herself in a thick terry cloth robe when her mother entered the front door.
“Madelyn?” she called up the steps.
“Mom?”
Her dad called, “Are you decent?”
“Yes.”
Then both parents clambered up the steps and invaded her bedroom simultaneously.
“I’ll take the baby,” her dad said.
“No, I’ll take the baby,” her mother argued. “She needs to be bathed and dressed. I can do that while Madelyn puts on that pretty blue suit you have in your hands.”
Ron handed the suit to Madelyn. “So what do I do?”
“Well, since you’re here, I would love some toast,” Madelyn ventured sheepishly.
“Okay. Okay,” Ron said as he left the room.
Madelyn and her mother worked quickly to get both Madelyn and the baby dressed. Then Madelyn gobbled a piece of toast and took her car keys from her mother. “Did you get the car seat Arlene left in the garage?”
“Yep. It’s already installed.”
“I did that,” her dad said.
“Good,” Madelyn said, lifting the carrier that held Sabrina. “Diaper bag?”
“Check.” Penney slid the tightly packed blue plaid monstrosity onto Madelyn’s free shoulder. “You’re all set to go.”
“Wish me luck.”
“Luck,” her dad said as she walked to the door. “I have a feeling you’re going to need it.”
So did Madelyn, but she wasn’t backing down. First, if it killed her she would get Ty to love his new baby. Second, she had a job to do, too. The CEO of Bryant Development might have forgotten that she now had less than three weeks to get him ready for a Wall Street Journal interview even as she turned around his image to the residents of Porter, Arkansas, but Madelyn hadn’t. She intended to do this job and she intended to do it very, very well.
Ten minutes later, she stepped into the lobby of the Bryant Building. Three stories high and with a skylight that lit the entryway, the open area contained only a cherrywood desk and a semicircle of thickly padded wheat-colored leather chairs.
“Hello, Ginny,” Madelyn called to the receptionist.
Short and thin with glossy brown hair and a personality every bit as bright, Ginny glanced up from the letter she was proofreading. “Hey, Madelyn, who have you got there?” she asked as she bent across her desk to look down at Sabrina who was sitting in the baby carrier that Madelyn held loosely at her side.
“This is Sabrina Bryant.” Madelyn set the baby seat on Ginny’s desk. “Ty got custody of his cousin’s baby Friday afternoon.”
Ginny nodded her understanding. “This must be Scotty’s little girl.”
“Yes. Ty and I were having a meeting when Pete Hauser brought her in. Joni had already gone for the day, so I got elected to help Ty care for Sabrina while he looks for a nanny.”
“Good idea,” Ginny agreed. The baby screeched and banged her rattle against the protective loop of padding that held her in. Ginny laughed. “She’s a noisy one.”
Madelyn rolled her eyes. “You should hear her at 3:00 a.m.”
Ginny laughed with delight. “I’d pay to see Tyrant Ty at 3:00 a.m. with this kid screaming in his ear.”
“Now, Ginny, Ty’s actually very good with her.”
“I’d have to see that myself.”
“You will see him with Sabrina. We have no choice but to bring her to work until he gets a nanny. You’ll have plenty of chances to see him with the baby.”
With that, Madelyn walked through the reception area and to the elevator. She stepped in, pushed the button for the second floor and then took a deep breath. “We’re in now, Sabrina. Once the receptionist knows something, there’s no taking it back. So we might as well keep going.”
Sabrina cooed and grinned toothlessly.
“Right. I hope your new daddy is as happy about it as you are.” The elevator slowed to a stop. Madelyn hoisted the baby about nose level and whispered, “This is accounting. I’ll need to see some real personality from you here because these guys won’t laugh as easily as Ginny did. Can you give me some personality?”
Sabrina screeched joyously.
“That’s my girl.”
An hour later, Madelyn arrived at the group of rooms that comprised Ty’s office suite. “Good morning, Joni.”
“Good morning, Madelyn,” Joni said, looking up from her computer. “Oh, you have the baby!”
“Yeah. What’s Ty doing?”
Joni pointed at the conference room to the right of Ty’s office. “Executive staff meeting.”
“Great. I need to be there anyway.”
Joni’s eyes rounded and became huge. “You can’t go in there!”
“Why not? I have some things I need to tell the department managers. Besides, it’s been about two hours since Ty’s seen the baby. He’s going to want me to bring her in.”
Joni looked totally perplexed. “He’ll want a baby in executive staff?”
“Well, he may not ‘want’ her in executive staff, but we don’t have much c
hoice. He couldn’t hire a nanny over a weekend, too much background checking to be done, and he also realizes that Sabrina’s going to have to spend time with him to get adjusted to him, so we’re sort of killing two birds with one stone by bringing her to work.”
Joni only stared at Madelyn.
“He’s really not quite the grouch everybody thinks he is.”
Joni laughed heartily.
Madelyn said, “You’ll see.” Then she opened the door to Ty’s private conference room and prepared to ignore or—more appropriately—“spin” whatever reaction she got from Ty.
Standing at the head of the conference table, dressed in a dark blue suit and pale blue shirt, he looked gorgeous and Madelyn’s breath caught and her knees wobbled. Just the sight of him caused her pulse rate to triple. He was simply a sexy, heart-stopping man and she realized Ty’s reaction to the baby wasn’t the only reaction she was going to have to spin.
“Whew!” she said, setting Sabrina’s baby seat on the foot of conference room table, pretending to be tired, not bowled over by Ty’s good looks. The heads of eight department managers turned Madelyn’s way. One by one she watched their eyes widen, jaws slacken and mouths fall open. “This is Sabrina.”
Sandy-haired, green-eyed Seth Bryant rose from his seat beside Ty’s place at the head of the table. “Scotty’s little girl?”
Ty took a slow breath and caught Madelyn’s gaze. She saw absolutely nothing in his coal-black eyes. Not amusement. Not anger. Damn. He had to give her something to “spin” or she was going to fall flat on her face.
Finally, he quietly said, “Yes, Seth, that’s Scotty’s daughter. Pete Hauser brought her in Friday afternoon.”
Seth slowly walked toward the baby. When he reached the foot of the table, though, he held back. Still, Madelyn almost expected that. Seth was a quiet, withdrawn man. From what she’d gathered from gossip, Seth had been a real philanderer. A wild card. The Bryant everybody loved. But after losing a contract—which Madelyn now knew was the Florida mansion contract—people said he’d become quiet and subdued.
“She’s cute.”
“Would you like to hold her?” Madelyn prodded.
He pulled back. “I’ve never actually held a baby before.”
“Neither had Ty,” Madeline assured him. “But he took to her like a pro.”
The gazes of the seven remaining department heads shot to Ty, who sighed heavily. “Ms. Gentry, in case you missed it, I’m having a meeting here.”
“Yeah, I know. Executive staff,” Madelyn said as she unbuckled the strap that was looped over Sabrina’s shoulders and Seth quietly made his way back to his seat. “I thought you could hold Sabrina while I brief everyone on the Wall Street Journal interview that’s coming up.” She lifted Sabrina out of the seat.
“And exactly why would you need to brief them?”
“So, they’re aware of what’s going to happen,” Madelyn said as she handed Sabrina to Ty, all but forcing him to take her. The move got Madelyn’s desired effect, though. When Ty didn’t let Sabrina drop to the floor, and quite naturally settled her into the crook of his arm, all eight department managers, including Ty’s own brother, gaped at him.
Madelyn turned to face the group, as if nothing were amiss. “I have a reporter from the Wall Street Journal coming in three weeks. Chances are he’ll want to interview some of you. Be honest. If he asks to speak with your staff, let him.”
Though Madelyn expected a gasp at that, no one uttered a sound. She was just about certain they were in shock. Not only was Ty Bryant holding a baby, but also they’d just been instructed to let their staff speak to the press. Obviously, both were unheard of here at Bryant Development.
“I want the reporter to have access to anybody he wishes to speak with, if only to show him this company has nothing to hide.”
“Madelyn—” Seth began, but Madelyn interrupted him.
“I’m sorry, Seth, did I misinterpret something when you hired me? Does Bryant Development have something to hide?”
All eyes shifted to Ty. He stood off to Madelyn’s right, holding the baby who was currently banging a rattle against his shoulder. They looked at him. He looked at them. No one said a word.
“Okay, then,” Madelyn said, deliberately ignoring the fact that everybody, even Ty, believed he should be hidden from the Wall Street Journal reporter, as she reached to take Sabrina from Ty. “That’s all I needed to tell you. If anybody has any questions for me, I’ll be in my office.”
She walked to the foot of the conference table. Holding Sabrina over the baby seat, she gasped as if she’d forgotten something. “I’m sorry, Ty. I just assumed you would want me to take Sabrina with me to my office. Did you want to keep her here?”
He said only, “No.”
Madelyn set Sabrina in the baby carrier and buckled her in. His answer wasn’t a perfect response but it was good enough. “I’ll see you tonight, then.” She paused on her way out the door. “Oh, unless you’d like to have lunch with the baby?”
This “no” was a little firmer and Madelyn got his message loud and clear that she was pushing things. Whatever. As long as Ty didn’t out-and-out yell, Madelyn knew she was making points with his staff.
That night when Ty returned home, he methodically searched his house for Madelyn. He found neither nanny nor baby, but he did discover a mouthwatering pot roast in the oven. The scent made his stomach growl.
“My parents shopped today and my mother will be cooking dinner every afternoon.”
He spun away from the stove to see Madelyn standing in the doorway. Dressed in denim shorts and a pink T-shirt, she could have been a teenager. Even the baby on her hip didn’t make her look any older. Recognizing that nothing could make Madelyn look old enough for an affair with him should have stifled the immediate surge of attraction Ty felt for her. It didn’t. Instead of her youth and enthusiasm making him feel old and battered, somehow looking at her made him feel younger.
Luckily, he knew better. “I didn’t hire your mother.”
“No, you didn’t. But she’s not helping you. She’s helping me.”
“I’m not paying her.”
“She doesn’t care. She’s helping anyway.”
“Why?”
“Because I bit off more than I can chew and family helps out when trouble strikes.”
“I know what family does. I raised two brothers, remember?”
Madelyn looked at him oddly. “That’s right. You have two brothers.”
He sighed. There was that age difference again. She wasn’t even old enough to remember his younger brother Cooper. “Not only have we talked about this before, but I would have thought you would have easily remembered since there are four bedrooms upstairs. One for my parents, and one each for three kids.”
Madelyn gaped at him. “This was your family home?”
“Why does that surprise you?”
Madelyn sat on one of the kitchen chairs as if too shocked to stand, dropping the baby on her lap. “This explains a few things. Like why everybody thinks you’re a scrooge.”
“Keeping my parents’ house makes me a scrooge?”
“You’re a rich guy. You should have a mansion. Instead you live in a house you inherited.” She glanced around, as if taking inventory. “You probably never even remodeled it.”
“It didn’t need to be remodeled and I don’t need a mansion. This house is good enough.”
“Whatever. But I’ll need to know everything about your second brother. I must have been too young to have met him when I lived here before.”
Well, thanks for rubbing that in. “His name is Cooper. He graduated from college and struck out on his own. End of story.”
Madelyn studied him for a few seconds, then she sighed. “If there’s more to it than that, if you had a big fight, if your brother bad-mouthed you, I need to know what happened.”
“My brother did not bad-mouth me. If anything my brother left so he wouldn’t bad-mouth me.” He squeezed his
eyes shut. Damn. If she didn’t get to him one way, she did another. “Stop poking your nose where it doesn’t belong and do your job.”
“My nose belongs anywhere I sense there’s a problem that’s hurting your reputation. If your brother’s a problem, I need to know.”
“My brother left town with a college education that gave him the opportunity to be as successful as Seth and I are.”
“That’s another thing. Seth is so darned withdrawn and cautious. One public show of support from you would probably turn him into Mr. Personality.”
“He was Mr. Personality until he lost that contract I told you about on Saturday. I like him much better withdrawn and cautious. It doesn’t cost me any money.”
He turned and headed for the door. “I’m going back to the Bryant Building.”
“Fine, but you should know that your constant running out on me, avoiding looking for a nanny, makes you look like even more of a scrooge.”
He backpedaled until he was directly in front of her. “Why do you think I’m going back to the office? So I can make some private calls. Some calls that won’t be overheard, dissected, interpreted and spit back at me like ammunition. If nothing else, Ms. Gentry, you’ve shown me a few traits I definitely do not want in the next care-giver I allow in my home.”
Chapter Five
Ty raced along the streets of Porter, so angry that he finally understood what the term spitting fire meant. He’d intended to lay down the law with Madelyn about her bringing the baby to the office, about pushing her agendas, about meddling in his business and instead she’d blindsided him. She had not only brought her parents into his home—again—without his knowledge, she’d also turned the tables until he was defending himself to her, not putting her on the defensive.
Unfortunately, he knew he wasn’t at his best because his attraction to her distracted him. Worse, the attraction was the only thing he was just about certain she wasn’t using, manipulating or twisting to get him to appear to be something he wasn’t—nice—or to do things he didn’t want to do—like hold Sabrina in the middle of a meeting. So he couldn’t even order her to stop. Hell, he’d tried getting her to stop giving him those lovesick puppy looks on Friday night. By kissing her, he’d forced her to see, feel and taste exactly what she was getting into so she would know…