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“This engagement is just for appearances. You don’t have anything to worry about.”
She’d be the judge of that. Men who looked like Rafe Maitland were always dangerous.
“Do you mind if I ask why you need a fiancée?” She raised her hands before he had a chance to accuse her of backing down. “Not that I’m reneging, I just need a few details if I’m going to be convincing in this part.”
Rafe caught himself watching her mouth as she spoke and looked up into her eyes instead. Her choice of words amused him. Convincing. Now, that was something that could lead to a great many interesting things. If he were in the market for that kind of thing. A couple of years ago, he might have been. But his wild days and his wild oats were all behind him. They had to be. He had a good job, a future and a baby to worry about. Women were the last thing to occupy his thoughts.
But before he could answer her, there was a knock on his front door. The next minute, it was being opened.
The dark-haired woman with the snapping brown eyes and the easy smile who entered was obviously not worried about standing on ceremony, Greer thought as she turned to see her walk in. She had a baby with her comfortably resting on her hip. The baby had dark hair, like she did.
The familiar way the woman looked at Rafe made Greer think they had an intimate relationship. Was she his girlfriend? His mistress? And why was he asking her to pose as his fiancée when this spit-fire was part of his life?
Greer squared her shoulders, feeling suddenly dowdy and lifeless despite the designer suit she had so carefully selected for her trip out here.
The woman flashed a smile at him, then at her. “Sorry, Rafe, I didn’t realize you had company.”
To Greer’s surprise, she saw him reaching for the woman’s baby. Was the little girl his? Why hadn’t Mrs. Maitland mentioned that he had a child? It didn’t seem like the type of oversight she’d make, given how she felt about children.
Maybe Mrs. Maitland hadn’t known, she realized.
Greer had the feeling that she was slipping deeper down the rabbit hole. What she needed right now was a rabbit with answers.
He could almost see the questions in Greer’s eyes. She was chewing on her lower lip, as if to bite them back.
“This isn’t company,” he told the woman as he took Bethany into his arms. “This is Greer.” He figured it was enough of an explanation. Rafe brushed a kiss against the top of the baby’s head. “So, how’re you doing, honey? Did you have a good day?”
In response, the baby made a cooing noise and he smiled as if she’d answered him. He tucked her against him comfortably. The little girl contented herself with playing with the buttons on his shirt.
Taking the initiative, the woman stepped forward and took Greer’s hand in hers. Her smile was genuine even as she swept her eyes over Greer, making a quick appraisal.
“Hello, I’m Alyssa Martinez.” She inclined her head to indicate somewhere beyond the small ranch house. “I help my father with the cooking at the main house, when I’m not watching Bethany. She’s a regular pistol, this one.”
Greer returned the handshake before dropping her hand to her side. For a second, she couldn’t think of anything to say. Women like Alyssa Martinez had been making her feel inferior all of her life. Not deliberately, they did it just by existing. They were bold, vital, and everything looked good on them. So did nothing. Alyssa’s obvious curves, even beneath the peasant blouse and wide skirt she wore, made Greer acutely aware of her almost boyish figure.
Oh, sure, she worked out when she could find the time and that kept her body lean and toned, but it never coaxed forward any curves. For that miracle to occur, she would have had to have submitted to a surgeon’s scalpel and she wasn’t about to do that.
Besides, there was no one to do it for, so the point, even if she had been inclined to consider it, was a moot one. There was no one to make herself pretty for, no one to keep in mind when she shopped for clothes. The items in her closet were all tasteful and from the best stores, but they lacked imagination and color. She didn’t see the need for it.
“Can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear,” Mrs. Malone had told her more than once while she was growing up. Mrs. Malone had run the children’s shelter where she had spent most of her youth, and the message had stuck that much more because Mrs. Malone had meant it to be kind. To prevent her from being set up for any future disappointments. “A girl has to know her limits, you know,” she’d firmly asserted.
And Greer knew hers.
“I’m Greer Lawford,” Greer finally said, retreating to the persona she was most comfortable with, the one she had created when she’d forged out into the corporate world. That Greer was strong and confident, good at whatever she did no matter what it was she chose to do.
In high school she’d discovered that she had an aptitude for learning, and ever since, she had made a point of acquainting herself with whatever world she ventured into. Not just learning about it but mastering it. Like a person deprived of one sense, she made the others that much more sensitive and acute in order to compensate. In her case, she figured that what she lacked was looks. She was determined to make up for it with brains.
And by making herself indispensable to the person she worked for. Which was why she was here when she would much rather be behind a desk, manning phones and pulling together the two hundred and twenty-nine different strings that were involved in making this holiday reunion a success.
She forced herself to return Alyssa’s smile. “I work for Mrs. Megan Maitland.”
Alyssa looked at Rafe. “Maitland. Is that your mother?”
Bethany was trying to chew on one of his buttons. Rafe drew it away from her mouth. “My aunt, according to Greer.”
Why was it that every time he said her name, she had the impression he was going to follow it with a full-bellied laugh? Greer wasn’t that ridiculous a name, she thought defensively.
Alyssa looked surprised and oddly tickled. “Hey, I didn’t know you had a family.”
Rafe shrugged dismissively. He didn’t really like talking about any of his family.
“A very large family,” Greer said before Rafe had the opportunity to say anything. She had a feeling there was a disclaimer on his lips and she didn’t want to give him a chance to utter it. “And Mrs. Maitland wants to gather everyone together in Texas for a big family celebration this year.”
Her arms devoid of the baby, Alyssa smoothed down her shirt and looked at Rafe with what appeared to be a touch of hope. “Sounds like fun. You going to go?”
Afraid he was going to say no, Greer jumped in to answer. “Yes, he is.”
Dark brows drew together over a nose that could almost be called delicate. Greer wondered if he resembled his mother or his father.
“Don’t get carried away with this engagement thing,” he warned her. “I can still do my own talking and my own answering.”
“Engagement?” Alyssa echoed. Curiosity quickly painted itself across her fine features along with more than a touch of disappointment. “When did all this happen?”
“It didn’t,” Rafe told her, switching Bethany to his other side. The area around half his buttons was wet from the toddler’s questing mouth and grasping fingers. “I figured an ‘engagement’ was the best way to keep Bethany and my word to Rory and Lil.”
“But it’s not real.” Alyssa sounded as if she wanted to make perfectly certain of that fact.
“No, it’s not real,” Rafe assured her.
“Oh.” Alyssa nodded, obviously understanding what he was saying.
But she didn’t, Greer thought, and she decided it was time someone filled her in. She turned, looking at Rafe. “I think we’ve come full circle, Mr. Maitland.”
“I think if we’re going to be engaged, you’d better call me Rafe. And,” he added, shaking his head at Bethany, who was once again reaching for his shirt and the fascinating buttons, “you’d better learn how to talk a whole lot plainer than that.” Rafe looked at Greer, his brow raised. “What do you mean, full circle?”
She could feel Alyssa studying her. Her discomfort grew. “Well, I asked you to explain to me why you need a fiancée and you were about to tell me when the door opened.” She spared Alyssa a glance.
To underscore his point, Rafe grasped Bethany by the waist with both hands and held her up. The little girl laughed and cooed, then clapped her hands as if this were a familiar game between them.
“This—” he nodded at Bethany “—is why I need a fiancée.”
Greer still wasn’t quite following him. “Your daughter?”
“Not yet.” Lowering her, he tucked Bethany against him again with a practiced movement Greer found intriguing. Most men she knew were uncomfortable with children that size. “But she will be once I can file adoption papers.” His face grew grave. “In order to do that, I have to have clear claim to her.”
“And you don’t,” Greer guessed. For someone who gave the impression that he was a man of few words, he certainly seemed to like stretching things out.
He scowled, thinking of the threat that Lil’s relatives posed. “No, not right now.”
Still confused, Greer looked to the other woman for a further explanation, but there was no enlightenment coming from that quarter.
“I’d better be getting back,” Alyssa announced suddenly, as if she’d just become aware of the time. “I have to be putting dinner on the table soon. Mr. Owen doesn’t like to be kept waiting. If you need anything—” she underlined the word, looking at Rafe “—just call. Nice meeting you,” she added as an afterthought, glancing at Greer. The next moment, Alyssa slipped out the front door.
“Same here,” Greer murmured, her voice utterly flat.
Rafe caught the uncomfortable note in her voice and looked at her curiously.
She didn’t care for the way he seemed to be continually scrutinizing her. It made her feel awkward, as if she were found wanting. To get his attention off her and back to her yet unanswered questions, Greer nodded at Bethany. “Whose baby is that?”
Because of the hour, Bethany had begun settling down. He knew that Alyssa had already changed and fed her. He stroked the fine, dark hair. “She belonged to Lil and Rory Butler.”
Greer picked up on the past tense. “The friends you mentioned earlier?”
“You were paying attention.” A minor smile gracing his lips, Rafe nodded his approval.
If there was one thing these schoolmarm types were, it was sticklers for detail. He figured that having her in the courtroom as his fiancée might impress the judge enough to make him see things Rafe’s way. After all, he was young, with his whole life in front of him, and the Prestons were well past their primes. Too old to be taking care of a one-year-old, really, he reasoned.
“I always pay attention,” she informed him.
He didn’t like the coolness in her voice. You would have thought he’d insulted her.
“Good.” His voice was crisp, matching hers. “Then I won’t have to repeat myself. Lil and Rory were killed in a car accident a little more than a month ago. I always knew they wanted me to be Bethany’s guardian, but it’s not really the kind of thing you pay attention to when the people you’re talking to are twenty-three years old and in perfect health.”
If he had paid attention, maybe he would have tried to talk them out of it, he thought. Tried to make them pick someone else who could give Bethany more than he could. But what was done was done and, Rafe had to admit, he doubted if anyone could care as much for the little girl as he did.
“Anyway, after the accident I took Bethany in, and not long after that, I heard from some guy claiming that he represented Lil’s aunt and uncle and that they were coming for the baby.”
Most men she knew would have been relieved to relinquish the responsibility of raising a toddler. Especially alone. Her own mother had seen fit to leave her sitting alone in the last pew of a church when she was barely three. That was where she was told they’d found her. Curled up, asleep in a pew with only the clothes on her back and a battered stuffed animal that was so worn it was unidentifiable.
“That would make things easier for you.”
He couldn’t quite read her comment. She wasn’t one of these liberated females who looked down their noses at families, was she? Not that it mattered if she played her part right.
If.
That was the all-important word.
Of course, if he could find the softer side of Megan Maitland, he might be able to get the woman to use her influence and settle things for him, then there’d be no need to continue the engagement charade.
The thought of using his aunt’s influence didn’t sit well with him, even though he wasn’t planning to use it for any personal monetary gain.
Because it raised issues he just didn’t have time to sort through, Rafe put the whole thing out of his mind for now.
“Sometimes ‘easy’ isn’t the best way. I gave my word and I intend to stick by it.”
Rafe didn’t add that giving Bethany up would create a giant-size hole in his heart. The little girl had created a space for herself that he’d never expected to be there. He wasn’t given to attachments or bonding. But he had bonded with the little lady in his arms and he intended to do right by her. No matter what it took or what it cost him.
This wasn’t making any sense to Greer. “And you honestly think that by lying to the court, you’ll get to retain custody?”
He didn’t like being judged. Especially not by a stranger who had no idea what was involved. His eyes grew flinty as he looked at her. “Call it a stopgap maneuver. Until I can come up with something better.”
Her breath caught in her throat. There was no reason to feel as though she’d just been put in her place, and yet she did.
“It’s not a bad idea,” Greer said, backpedaling in case Mrs. Maitland’s long lost nephew thought she was criticizing him. She didn’t want to take a chance on losing him after she’d gotten him to agree to come, albeit with an unusual addendum. “But why didn’t you ask Alyssa to pretend to be your fiancée?” In Greer’s estimation, the fiery-looking woman would have been far more believable in the role. Rafe and Alyssa looked as if they belonged together.
Quite simply, the answer was that he’d only just now thought of the ruse. And asking Alyssa to pose as his fiancée might get sticky. He knew she had more than a passing liking for him, and while he was flattered, he didn’t want to get his life tangled up with anyone else’s at present. Bethany was the only female he could safely handle for the time being.
Rafe took the easy way out. “Because she’s not asking me to go off to Austin and pretend to be happy about some reunion.”
They seemed doomed to continue getting off on the wrong foot. “I’m not asking you to pretend to be happy about it—”
“Good, one less thing to do.” Bethany began fussing against him. He’d gotten good at telling the different noises apart. This one meant she was sleepy.
“I think you’re going about this all wrong.”
Didn’t this woman every stop flapping her gums? “And ‘this’ would be…?”
“The Christmas reunion.” She was beginning to think he was deliberately being difficult. “It’s supposed to be fun.”
“I’ll put on my happy face,” he promised her, sarcasm tingeing his words. And then he thought of something. They couldn’t just say they were engaged and expect the judge to believe them. He needed something to serve as outward proof that he was serious.
“Here, hold her for a minute.”
Not waiting for Greer to say anything, he thrust the baby toward her.
Surprised, Greer had no choice but to take the fussing baby into arms that were far more adept at holding on to stacks of tightly bound quarterly financial reports.
Then, to her further dismay, Rafe walked away from her.
“Where are you going?” she called after him. The baby squirmed in her arms.
“To get something” was all he said.
As Greer tried to hold on to Bethany without dropping her, her dismay deepened. This time it was a pint-size fiery womanette who was making her feel that she was decidedly out of her element. Large or small, the end result was the same.
With a sigh, Greer looked toward the room that Rafe had disappeared into. Now what?
Chapter 3
Once in his bedroom, it took Rafe only a few seconds to locate what he was looking for. The item was just where he’d left it, tucked in the back of the top drawer of the lone nightstand that stood by his bed. He’d never thought he’d have any use for it.
Taking it out, he rubbed his thumb over the top of the black velvet box. Strange the way some things worked out. When he’d won this from Albert Hackett that long weekend he, Albert and a couple of the other hands had played poker until dawn, he’d had every intention of going into town and selling it at the pawnshop the first chance he got. At the time, he’d had no more use for an engagement ring than Albert had. But he’d never gotten around to selling it and now, it looked as if that was a good thing. The ring was going to come in handy.
Closing the drawer, he walked back out into the living room and then stopped dead. If he’d ever seen anyone who looked more awkward than this woman as she tried to hold Bethany, he certainly couldn’t recall it. He didn’t think that even he’d been this ungainly the first time Lil had had him hold the baby. Weren’t women supposed to have some kind of a natural instinct when it came to babies? If so, someone must have forgotten to tell the Lawford woman that.
He shook his head as he crossed to Greer. It was a wonder she hadn’t dropped Bethany.
“You’re holding her like she was a sack of solidified sugar.” She looked as if his comment embarrassed her. That hadn’t been his intention and it chafed his conscience a little, which made him all the more short-tempered. “Haven’t you ever held a baby before?”
