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As she got closer she heard Ethan and Hannah arguing. “There’s no way I can take Danny full-time on such short notice,” Ethan said angrily. “You might at least have given me a few weeks’ warning.”
“I just got word of the promotion yesterday,” Hannah explained testily, “and it’s predicated on whether or not I can be there and take over on Monday. I agree it’s unreasonable, but don’t forget I didn’t want a baby in the first place. If you’d used a little more restraint…”
She let the sentence trail off as Brittany felt the hot flush of embarrassment. “I worked hard to get where I am in my career today,” Hannah continued, “and I don’t intend to give it up. Besides, we always agreed that as soon as Danny was old enough you’d take physical custody of him.”
She glanced up and saw Brittany coming through the doorway with her cocktail. “Well, it’s about time,” she snapped.
Brittany clenched her jaw in an effort not to respond to the other woman’s taunt. As she walked over to the couch and handed the drink to Hannah, the baby let out a wail from the front of the house. Ethan turned and strode quickly up the hall, leaving Brittany and Hannah alone. Neither spoke at first, then Hannah said, “Are you really a nurse?”
“I’m a medical assistant,” Brittany explained. “I see to it that Nate gets his shots and his meals on time, and watch him to make sure he doesn’t wander off.”
Hannah took a sip of her drink. “You aren’t going to be taking care of Danny, are you?” The disapproval in her voice was strong.
“That’s not what I was hired for,” Brittany said angrily. “I’m a nurse and Nate is my patient. You and Ethan will have to decide who takes care of the baby.”
Just then they heard Ethan, Nate and Danny coming back to the family room. Ethan carried the crying child. “Now what’s wrong with him,” Hannah asked sulkily. “He’s been fussing all day.”
“Well, for one thing his diaper’s wet,” Ethan told her. “Also, he’s probably tired and hungry.”
“Well that’s not my fault,” Hannah whined. “I can’t do everything at once. The only reason he was happy when I first brought him over here is because you and Nate spoil him to death.”
Ethan gently patted the child’s back. “Where’s what’s-her-name? The latest nanny.”
“Hayley,” Hannah said, supplying the name. “Ungrateful little snip. She packed up and left as soon as I told her I was moving to Chicago. I thought you might want to hire her to take care of Danny over here, but she said something about going to stay with a friend in Los Angeles and took off. She’d planned to give me her notice tomorrow.”
Even though she hadn’t had much experience with small children, Brittany had always been drawn to them and she could understand why Danny was so upset. The atmosphere in the room was volatile, and even though he wouldn’t understand what was being said, the voices raised in anger were chilling.
Her heart went out to the poor little guy, who was sobbing noisily on his daddy’s shoulder, and she looked at Ethan.
“If you’ll give me a diaper I can change him,” she offered.
“Would you?” Ethan asked.
“Sure,” she said.
“I’ll get them.” He left the room to return a few minutes later with a package of disposable diapers and baby wipes.
He walked over to where Brittany was standing and put the box on an end table, then peeled Danny’s arms from around his neck and handed him to Brittany.
Danny would have none of that and screamed, “No, Da-da, Da-da” as he held his arms out for Ethan to take him again.
Danny was solid and his kicking and squirming made it hard for Brittany to hold on to him, but she backed away when Ethan tried to take him again.
“No, let me keep him,” she said. “If I can wrestle two-hundred-pound men in and out of hospital beds I can surely tame a twenty-five-pound baby.”
She picked up the packages and carried them and the child to the other couch. “There now, little guy,” she crooned. “Don’t be afraid. I just want to put dry pants on you.”
She sat down and held Danny over her shoulder the way Ethan had, then lightly massaged his back and talked quietly to him in a reassuring tone. He still sobbed but he was no longer so frantic.
Finally, when Brittany was fairly sure he would submit to her ministrations, she laid him on the couch on his back and unsnapped the inside seam of his blue denim overalls.
She continued to talk to him all the time she worked. There was no conversation in the room. Everyone watched in silence, undoubtedly afraid he’d tune up again if it was broken.
When she finished, she picked him up and sat him on her lap. He waved his arms and grinned. She had the distinct impression that everyone was fighting the urge to break out in applause.
What a ridiculous idea! She’d managed to quiet Danny, but after all she was a nurse and, besides, she had a natural affinity for children.
She looked up at Ethan. “If you want me to I can give him his supper. Nate’s overdue for something to eat, too. I’m willing to feed them both while you and Ms. Thorpe put all these baby things away—”
“Sorry, guys, but you’re on your own,” Hannah said as she stood up. “I have all I can handle getting my own stuff packed and ready to leave.”
She turned to face Ethan. “Contact our lawyer and have the necessary papers drawn up transferring custody of Danny from joint to you. I’ll sign them. All I ask is reasonable visitation rights.”
She dug her car keys out of her purse. “My flight leaves at three-thirty tomorrow afternoon. I’ll come by on my way to the airport and say goodbye to Danny. Make sure he’s available.”
She turned and walked up the hall and out the door.
Brittany sat on the couch with the contented baby on her lap, and Ethan and Nate stood, all three staring after the retreating figure in utter amazement.
“Well I’ll be damned,” Nate gasped. “Don’t that beat all! I never did like that woman, son, but I figured that since she was the one you chose to marry it wasn’t up to me to criticize, but now…”
He let the sentence trail off and grabbed the back of the couch Brittany was sitting on with both hands. Brittany caught the movement out of the corner of her eye and instinctively called out “Catch him” as Nate wavered back and forth.
The sharpness of her tone set little Danny off again, but Ethan understood the warning and wrapped his arms around his dad’s shoulders.
“It’s okay, Dad,” he said soothingly as he steadied Nate and walked him around to the front of the couch.
Brittany stood up with the crying baby in her arms, and Ethan stretched his father out in a reclining position on the sofa. “You all right now, Dad?” he asked anxiously.
“I’ll get his candy,” Brittany said, and hurried to the kitchen, still carrying the squalling child, to get a roll of fruit-flavored Life Savers. It was a quick way to bring her patient’s blood-sugar level back up to normal and avoid diabetic shock.
When she got back to the family room Ethan stood up and took Danny from her while she sat on the edge of the couch and handed Nate the proper number of candies. While he chewed she kept her hand on the pulse in his wrist and her eyes on the slightly uneven rise and fall of his chest.
“Is he going to be okay?” Ethan asked above the clamor of Danny’s sobs.
“Oh, yeah,” she assured him. “His blood sugar apparently took a dramatic fall due to the stress of all the upsetting things going on around here, plus he missed his afternoon snack. I was fixing him something to eat when your wife arrived and got everything in an uproar.”
“Ex-wife,” Ethan corrected her.
Brittany got a perverse pleasure out of Ethan’s hurry to deny any close relationship with Hannah. How could that woman just abandon their baby like this? It’s true her company hadn’t given her much time to make a choice between her career and her child, but she could have at least shown a little remorse. Instead she didn’t seem to be able to get away fast enough.
“Yes, well whatever,” she said, “Nate needs to eat. I noticed you have an assortment of TV dinners in the freezer. Is it okay if I heat some of those in the microwave?”
“I’d appreciate it very much,” Ethan answered. “I like roast beef. What will you have, Nate?”
“Fried chicken,” Nate said, but before Brittany could protest that deep-fried chicken was filled with fat, Nate continued. “It’s a brand especially made for people with dietary restrictions. My doctor has approved it.”
She was happy to hear that. “Okay, then, and what does Danny eat?”
“I’ll feed him,” Ethan said, “while you fix dinner and take care of Dad. There’s plenty in the freezer. Take whatever you want for yourself.”
“Fine,” she said, and looked at Nate. “You stay right there and don’t try to get up. It won’t take but a few minutes to microwave your frozen chicken. Do you still have black spots in front of your eyes?
He shook his head. “No, that candy did the trick. My hands aren’t shaking, either.”
For the next few hours Ethan and Brittany worked unceasingly. Ethan fed Danny, then put away the baby furnishings he needed and carried all the things he had duplicates of, such as high chairs and cribs, down to the basement. Brittany fixed the TV dinners for the three adults and kept an eye on both Nate and his little grandson.
At seven-thirty she caught up with Danny and gave him a bath. He splashed happily in the tub, getting her almost as wet as he was. She rummaged through the chest of drawers in the nursery upstairs and found a pair of pajamas with cartoon characters printed on them. She put them on him and sat down with him in the handmade chair that Ethan told her had rocked several generations of Thorpe babies to sleep.
For a few moments Danny tried to get away from her and play on the floor, but she held on to him firmly and started to sing lullabies as she rocked. In no time he relaxed, put his thumb in his mouth and nestled against her.
Brittany hadn’t had much experience with infants and toddlers. She’d done a fair amount of baby-sitting in high school, but her charges had been mostly older children. This little one was pure joy. His skin was so soft, his hair still tousled, and he smelled of soap and baby powder.
She was still humming when she heard a soft sound somewhere between a gasp and a sigh and looked up. There, leaning against the doorjamb, stood Ethan. There were lines of fatigue at the corners of his eyes and mouth and he looked exhausted.
Their gazes locked and clung and wouldn’t be torn apart, but it wasn’t the magnetism that held her entranced. It was the raw hunger that seemed to look out of his very soul as he watched her cuddle his child.
Chapter Three
Ethan had been in the basement stashing away Danny’s surplus things when it occurred to him that he hadn’t seen or heard the boy for an uncomfortably long length of time. He’d assumed that Brittany and Nate were taking care of him, but what if they’d thought the same thing about him? They’d all drifted off to various duties without any of them taking specific responsibility for the little guy.
A stab of fear sent Ethan hurrying up to the first floor. There didn’t seem to be anybody there, although the television in the family room was going full blast. He turned it off and called Brittany and Nate but there was no answer.
Ordinarily that wouldn’t be too alarming since the house was big and tightly built. Also, all the floors except the tiled one in the foyer were heavily carpeted, which pretty much soundproofed the structure. But this was no ordinary situation! He was answerable for his little son now, and he should have been watching him more closely.
Quickly he bounded up the stairs to the second story and took a left turn to check the master bedroom-and-bath suite. It was empty, but as he neared the nursery next door he heard the soft strains of a lullaby being sung.
He stopped and listened. The melody wasn’t familiar, but he knew it wasn’t Nate who was singing. This was a woman’s voice, sweet and clear.
Ethan crept slowly to the door and looked in. Brittany was sitting in Nate’s antique rocking chair cradling Danny in the crook of her arm, his little head pillowed against the curvaceous rise of her breast.
His knees turned rubbery and he leaned against the doorjamb to steady himself. She was the perfect model for a modern-day Madonna, dressed casually in blue jeans and a T-shirt after a long day of work, her lovely young face devoid of makeup and her dark hair falling across her creamy, unblemished cheeks as she bowed her head and lovingly stroked Ethan’s sleeping son.
Ethan couldn’t help it. He’d fought so valiantly against his desire for her every time he’d seen her these past two weeks, and now she was holding his little boy the way he longed for her to hold him. A moan escaped from deep in his throat and Brittany raised her head.
The singing stopped abruptly, and for a moment she looked startled. Then their gazes locked and hers softened. Ethan knew he should break that hold. He didn’t want her to see the depth of emotion she stirred in him, but he couldn’t look away. Those big, deep-set green eyes of hers wouldn’t let him.
Slowly he started walking across the room, never breaking eye contact, until he stood in front of the chair. She watched him, and when he hunkered down in front of her and murmured, “Let me take him,’ she put Danny in his outstretched arms.
As he stood he didn’t know where this interlude was going, but he was sure of one thing. She’d have to help get them back on a business-only basis. He couldn’t do it alone.
Ethan laid the sleeping youngster in the crib and covered him with a light blanket, then leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. “Sleep peacefully, son,” he whispered.
Ethan straightened and pulled up the side of the crib, then once again turned around to face Brittany. She was still sitting in the chair. He crossed to her and put out his hands. She took them and he pulled her up and into his aching arms.
He breathed a sigh of relief. The pain of wanting her and the strain of denying it had been torture. She was warm and soft and fit against him in all the right places. His self-control shattered and he kissed her, gently at first because of her youth and inexperience. Dear God, she was only twenty-one. He had no business toying with her this way. He was supposed to be the strong one, the adult.
He was trying to gather the strength to remember he was her employer, not her lover, when she opened her mouth and shyly welcomed him. All thoughts of breaking it off disappeared as his tongue caressed hers and he wrapped her in his embrace.
“Oh, Brittany,” he groaned. “I’m sorry. This is wrong.”
He felt her stiffen, but neither of them made a move to pull apart.
“Why is it wrong?” she asked against his cheek.
He nuzzled her neck. “You know why. I want you so much that I can’t keep my hands off you. I’ve always known you were off limits and even so I’m breaking all the rules.”
She tipped her head back and looked at him. “What rules?” She seemed genuinely puzzled. “You said you and Hannah were divorced.”
He blinked. “We are. This has nothing to do with Hannah. I’m talking about you. Your age, for one thing. You’re so very young.”
Her eyes widened. “You don’t like young women?”
“I teach young women, I don’t make love to them.”
They’d come to a good lead-in and he might as well bring the question he needed to ask out in the open now and get it over with. “Are you experienced, Brittany? Have you ever been with a man?”
For a moment she just looked at him, then she buried her face in his shoulder. “No.” It was little more than a whisper. “But I’ve never before met one I wanted to be…um…with in that way.”
Pride and regret warred within him. He was proud of her for waiting to have that momentous experience until she met the man she considered the right one, and he deeply regretted that he wasn’t and could never be that person.
He brushed her hair away from her cheek. “I’m flattered that you think I might be that man,” he murmured into her ear. “I wish I were, but I’m afraid I’m not. Shall we go downstairs to the family room and talk about it?”
She nodded but made no move to pull away from him, and the very thought of letting her go was intolerable. What harm could it do if he held her for just a little while longer? Now that he knew she was attracted to him, too, they could bring their mutual enticement out into the open and deal with it.
With his left arm he turned her so she could walk along beside him while he hugged her close to his side. As they made their way down the stairs, across the foyer and along the hall to the family room, Ethan belatedly remembered his father.
“Where’s Nate?” he asked Brittany. “I haven’t seen him—”
“He went to bed early,” she said. “He was pretty well worn out after all the upheaval this afternoon and evening.”
Ethan seated her on the sofa and dimmed the lights.
“Would you like something to drink?” he asked.
She nodded. “I’d like a cola if you have one.”
He smiled. “Coming right up.” He headed for the kitchen.
A few minutes later he returned with two glasses and handed one to her. He set the other one on the coffee table and lowered himself down beside her so close that their hips and thighs touched. That was a mistake he hadn’t intended to make, but he had and he wasn’t going to rectify it now. Her soft flesh against his was too alluring for him to deprive himself of the pleasure unless she objected.
She didn’t, and he leaned forward and picked up his glass of vodka and water. He needed something to fortify his fractured nervous system if he ever hoped to keep his wits about him and behave like a gentleman instead of a lusting adolescent.
Brittany locked her fingers around the glass of soda to steady her hands and keep from spilling the contents. She was totally overcome by Ethan’s kiss. Although she’d often dreamed of it happening, she’d thought her feelings had all been one-sided. Until tonight he’d never shown any sign of even liking her let alone being attracted to her. Although they’d only known each other for two weeks, she’d been drawn to him from the minute they’d met.
He put his arm around her shoulders and snuggled her against him. She relaxed and laid her head on his chest. “You were saying,” she murmured.
“I don’t remember,” he admitted as he rained tiny kisses on the top of her head. “All I can think of is the taste of your lips, the scent of baby powder on your hands, and the way our bodies fit together as if they were made for each other.”
