скачать книгу бесплатно
Plus, he’d really have to twist and turn to see her butt, her legs, any part of her, because she wouldn’t be beside him. She’d be slightly behind him.
Casually, carefully, she eased herself onto the chair’s arm. Her feet sighed with relief.
Then her arm brushed his soft silk shirt, she smelled the masculine scent of his shampoo and tingles of electricity shot straight to her middle.
She almost groaned.
He faced her and their gazes connected. Looking into his pretty green eyes made her breathless—but also suddenly curious. He was gorgeous, yet not taken. He had money enough to attract any woman he wanted, yet he lived alone—
Of course, his bossiness probably turned most women off.
So why wasn’t it working for her?
They found the product numbers for a crib, high chair, baby monitor and swing. She eased herself from his chair and sat on the sofa, by Bella, as he made a few calls.
Bella began to cry, so she lifted her to her lap. The baby rubbed her tired eyes, clearly feeling the effects of four sleepless nights.
When Matt hung up the phone, Claire said, “So how long until we get the crib?”
“An hour at most.”
That surprised her so much she smiled. He was quite the optimist. “Really?”
He rose and headed for the door. “Yes. Give me ten minutes to talk to Jimmy.”
“Jimmy?”
“My driver. He’ll be the one assembling everything…since I assume cribs and high chairs don’t come assembled.”
“Probably not.”
“Then give me ten minutes to bribe him into helping me.”
She laughed, but caught herself, not sure if he’d meant that as a joke. Could stiff and formal Matt Patterson know how to joke?
But Matt wasn’t back in ten minutes. In fact, he didn’t return to the den for over an hour. Bella had once again fallen asleep in Claire’s arms, so Claire put her head back and drifted off.
When Matt popped his head into the den saying, “Delivery truck is here. Jimmy and I will handle this,” she bounced up, not sure if she was more embarrassed that she’d fallen asleep or that he’d caught her.
So she didn’t immediately go out to the foyer to see what was going on. Instead, she reminded herself that she was only here a few more minutes. They’d put together the crib and lay the baby down—then she’d help him with the call to the nanny service and be gone.
No reason to be embarrassed that she’d fallen asleep. No reason to be bothered about an attraction. In twenty minutes, she’d get in her car, drive off his property and never see him again.
Or Bella.
Her heart constricted at the thought, but she knew that was life. People came and went. Attachments hurt.
She hoisted herself from the sofa and headed out to the hall. When she reached the foyer, it suddenly struck her that she had no idea where he had gone. He’d said he was going with Jimmy to assemble the crib. Which probably meant he was in a bedroom. She glanced around, guessing there could be as many as fifteen bedrooms in this house.
Before she took the thought any further, Matt appeared at the top of the stairway. “Crib’s assembled. But we forgot to order sheets.”
“Did you notice any flat sheets in the linen closet you found?”
“Yes.”
“We’ll just use one of those. Tomorrow you can order crib sheets.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
She carried Bella up the stairs. At the top, Matt pointed down the hall. “This way.”
He guided her down two corridors and stopped at a set of double doors. Rich with grain that came through the red mahogany stain, they gleamed at her. He took both knobs, opened the doors and walked inside.
Claire stood on the threshold, her mouth gaping. A huge bed sat on a pedestal in the back of the room, near a bank of windows covered in elegant drapes that looked to be silk. What seemed like half a football field of space sat between the door and the bed, and in that space were a fireplace, white shag area rugs and two club chairs in front of a big-screen TV.
But that was it. The place was so open that gleaming hardwood floors dominated the room.
“This is your nursery?”
“I don’t have a nursery, remember? This is my bedroom.”
“Your bedroom.”
“She’s going to cry and get up in the middle of the night, isn’t she?”
“Yes. But I assumed you’d have the nanny get up with her.”
“Not tonight. It feels too much like I’ll be abandoning her. That’s why I put her crib—” he pointed at an open door to the right “—in there.”
“You put her in a closet?”
He snorted a laugh. “No. That’s an empty room beside mine. I was going to put an office in there but changed my mind. So it will come in handy tonight. With the door open, she’ll be close enough that I’ll hear her cry and she won’t feel alone.”
Gratitude tugged on her heart. She didn’t know why this man so easily empathized with Bella’s situation, but she was glad he did. Still—
“Do you know what to do when she gets up?”
“Change her diaper and give her a bottle.” He headed out of the room. A few minutes later he came back with a flat sheet and walked through the open door into the room beside his. “I watched what you did with the diaper. It didn’t seem like rocket science and neither does getting her a bottle.”
“I just don’t see you walking the floor.” She glanced around and took in all the…space. She swore she could fit her condo in the front of his bedroom. “Though there’s plenty of floor to walk a baby in here.” She glanced around again and finally followed him into the room where the newly assembled crib stood. “My God. Your room is huge. Like a high school gymnasium with better furniture.”
“It’s adequate.” He arranged the sheet on the mattress in the crib.
“It’s empty.”
“I don’t have any need for more than a bed, a few chairs and a TV.”
Seeing no point to arguing his personal choices, she laid the baby in the crib. “Whatever. But you still have to consider the hours you’ll be spending walking the floor when Bella cries.”
“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.”
