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His gaze grew dreamy as he thought of her. Cari had to laugh, shaking her head.
“I must be quite a disappointment after all that,” she noted dryly.
Randy was surely planning on coming back with more reassurances, but he didn’t get the chance, as visitors were stopping by their table. Cari looked up right into Max’s intense gaze. Her heart leaped and the room seemed to tilt, and for just a moment she wondered if she was imagining things.
I could get lost in those eyes, was the thought running through her mind. Lost and bewitched. Again.
At the same time, his gaze made a quick trip along the line of her low-cut dress, and he gave every indication of liking what he saw there. Suddenly she realized she’d worn it for just such a reaction from him. And only him. And that only made her more light-headed.
It took her a beat too long to realize there was someone with him. Someone with a head of sumptuous red hair and a rather annoyed look on her beautiful face.
“So I guess we got it right this time,” Max was saying, nodding to Randy. “Max Angeli,” he said shortly, shaking hands with the other man. “And this is C.J. Kerry.”
“We’ve met,” C.J. noted, making an exasperated face at Randy before she favored Cari with a slight smile. “So nice to meet you, date stealer,” she said, making it obvious she was joking, but letting the edge to her tone shine through all the same. “I’m glad we’ve got things straightened out at last.”
Flustered, Cari wasn’t sure what she said in return. Before she knew what was happening, Max was sliding in to sit beside her in the well-padded booth.
“Listen, Cari, I need some advice,” he said, looking serious. “Do you mind?”
“Oh.” Cari knew this had to be about the baby. “No, of course not.” She turned toward him feeling a bit anxious.
“Hey,” C.J. complained, still standing in the aisle, one hand on her hip. With her flaming hair and the tiny shimmering dress that just barely covered up her generous assets, she had heads turning all over the restaurant.
“You can sit down, too,” Max told her in an offhanded manner. He nodded toward the seat beside Randy, who grinned and moved over eagerly, his eyes shining.
“Come on,” Randy said to C.J., noting her outraged face. “I’m not so bad.”
“Hah,” she harrumphed, flouncing the ruffles of her glittering skirt, but she joined him willingly enough.
Max ignored her and leaned toward Cari. He was back in his Italian silk suit with the white shirt open at the throat, looking very sleek and continental. He’d shaved, which was a shame, really. But he still looked lethally sexy.
“The nanny was trying to get him to drink his evening bottle just before I left,” he began. “He wouldn’t touch it, wouldn’t even let it into his mouth.”
Cari frowned, growing a bit concerned. “Was he crying?”
He hesitated. “Not really. Just sort of whimpering.” He thought for a minute. “But he did cry a lot earlier in the afternoon. It was enough to set your teeth on edge.”
“And you’re sure he wasn’t in pain?”
Max shook his head, looking tortured. “You know, that’s really hard to say. Just looking at him, I would say no. I didn’t see any sign of that. But it’s kind of hard to be sure when you don’t speak their language, you know?”
Cari bit her lip, nodding. She could remember many long nights walking the floor with Michelle, wondering whether or not to call the doctor. Barring overt signs of illness, injury or distress, that was always a wrenching decision, especially at two in the morning.
“So here’s what I want to know,” he went on, gazing hard into her eyes, taking up all her attention. “Should I fire the nanny?”
Cari stared back at him. A part of her knew he had no business asking her to give him this sort of advice. What was she to him? She had no responsibility, no ties to this child. Why would he ask her?
But another part wanted to make sure baby Jamie was safe just as much as he did. The thought of a baby left to the winds of chance horrified her any time she came across such a situation. Babies needed protection at all times.
“Do you have someone else you can call?” she asked.
He shook his head, his eyes never leaving hers.
She could see how much this was bothering him, and it completely surprised her. She never would have pegged him for the sensitive type. That was the good thing. But he sure couldn’t seem to handle a crying child. That was the bad thing—a warning flag to her. Brian had been totally intolerant of baby noises. That had been exactly what had triggered what had happened the nightmare night of the accident.
But she couldn’t think about that. This was completely different. Max wasn’t Brian. And listening to babies cry could be very frustrating, especially when you didn’t really know the child. But babies did cry. Sometimes it was nothing more than being unfamiliar with their new surroundings.
“Give it until morning,” she suggested. “By then you’ll have enough experience with the woman to know if you want her to stay or not.”
He seemed to wince and looked away. It was obvious he wanted to be told his instincts were right and he should fire the woman.
C.J. had been watching their exchange, her gaze going back and forth between them as though it were a Ping-Pong match. “So, let me get this straight. You two have a baby together?”
They both looked at her and cried in unison “No!”
“No, no, no,” Max amplified, looking impatient with the interruption. “This is my brother’s baby.”
“Oh.” C.J. looked surprised. “I didn’t know Gino had a baby.”
They stared at her.
“You knew Gino?” Max demanded.
“Sure.” She smiled, looking pleased that the attention was back where—in her mind—it belonged. “I met him when he was here last year.”
Max looked incredulous. “Gino was here? What for?”
She shrugged. “Pretty much the same thing you’re here for,” she noted, giving him a sly look. “He wanted to buy the ranch.”
Max’s head went back. This was news to him. He and his brother had been close in many ways, including the family real estate development business they had taken over from their father and ran together. Why would Gino have come to Texas without telling him? It didn’t make a lot of sense. Unless he’d been as intent on doing something to make their mother happy as he was himself.
“You know that he recently died in a plane crash, don’t you?” he asked her, grimacing at the effort it took to talk casually about him when the pain was still so raw.
“Yes, I know, and I’m so sorry about that.” She nodded her sympathy and actually looked as though she meant it. “He seemed like a great guy. Though I didn’t care much for the woman he had with him.”
“Sheila?” Max frowned.
“Yes, I think that was her name.” C.J. made a face. “Shifty looking.” Then her face changed as though she’d just remembered something. “Actually, funny thing. I heard from her the other day. She was on my answering machine. I didn’t call her back. She said she was here in town, and I could tell she was going to be asking for money.”
“You were probably right. She’s been doing a lot of that lately.” Max was staring at her hard, as though he was seeing something new in her, something that gave him pause. “So Gino couldn’t talk you into selling,” he said softly.
“Of course not.” Her chin came up and her huge green eyes were glittering with resolve. “I’m not selling the ranch. Ever. It’s my heritage. It’s all I’ve got now that all my family is gone.”
Max’s dark eyes narrowed speculatively as he gazed at the woman, but the server arrived with the drinks before he could make a comment on what she’d said.
“We should go get ourselves a table, honey,” C.J. said to him, raising an eyebrow for emphasis.
He looked around as though surprised to find they weren’t where they belonged. Then he decided to do something about it. “There’s plenty of room at this table,” he said. “Let’s eat here.”
“What?” the other three cried, staring at him.
“Is there a problem?” he asked, looking from person to person. There was no sense of give to his attitude, and the others were the ones to back down. One by one, each reluctantly shook his or her head, as he looked at them.
“No. Of course not.”
“Well, then.” He shrugged and looked at the server. “I’ll have a Scotch, neat. And you?” He nodded toward C.J.
C.J. ordered, but Cari wasn’t listening any longer. This evening was turning out almost as surreal as the last one had been. If only Mara had left well enough alone in the first place, she would be home right now with some soft music playing and a nice novel in her hand. If only!
As they ordered their meals and the first course came, Randy and C.J. seemed to be doing all the talking. They were bantering back and forth about things they’d done the night before and what it was like to have been dumped by their respective blind dates. They’d started out using it as a way to tweak Cari and Max, but as things went along, they seemed to be wrapped up in their own little joke, leaving the other two behind.
Not that she cared. Her attention was full of the man beside her and didn’t have much room left for the other two at the table. Max was quiet, almost morose, as though he were pondering life and all its unpleasant pitfalls and annoying blind alleys, and feeling glum about the prospects for happiness in general.
And Cari felt some sympathy for that point of view. She was wondering how she could have chosen the right path at her mythical fork in the road and yet have wound up on the wrong leg of the journey, anyway. Surely there had to be a shortcut to sanity somewhere. She had to get back where she belonged. But every minute she spent in the company of this man only made things worse. Just sitting here in his presence seemed to solidify the extraordinary attraction she felt for him. There was no getting around it—he was hot!
And that was bad. Sexual attraction was an illusion that clouded the mind and made you do stupid things. She had to guard against it. Experience suggested she was susceptible to the influence of strong men, and she had to fight the temptation to succumb. It wasn’t easy.
Every time his gaze accidentally met hers, every time his hand brushed her arm, every time he spoke and his voice seemed to resonate in her soul, all she could think about was the way that full, luscious mouth had felt on hers the night before. This was making her nervous. It took all her control to keep from shaking like a leaf.
At one point, she almost knocked over her wineglass and Max reached out to steady it for her, leaning in close to do it. His crisp, clean scent filled her head, and the sense of his pure masculinity swept over her like a tantalizing breeze.
“Stop it,” she thought to herself, feeling a bit desperate. “Just stop doing that.”
“Stop what?” he murmured as he drew back, looking at her in that heavy-lidded way that caught at the breath in her throat. “I’m not doing anything.”
She stared at him, aghast. She’d only thought the words, surely. How could he have heard her? Had she actually said them aloud—or was she going crazy?
Okay, the votes were in. She was going crazy. Here she was, sitting beside a man who could never be for her, but could ruin her for all the other men in the world if she didn’t watch her step. And what was she doing? Gulping down wine like it was high noon in the Gobi Desert.
Smart, Cari, my dear. Very smart.
Ooops. She looked up quickly, wondering if she’d said that aloud, too. But no one was paying any attention to her. What a relief. Putting her head down, she began to eat automatically. If she cleaned her plate, maybe she would be allowed to go home to that book.
Max was pushing the food around on his own plate. Eating was the last thing he felt like doing right now. His usual calm sense of confidence seemed to be fraying a bit around the edges tonight. Things weren’t going his way. In the first place he was disturbed by C.J.’s attitude. Her bony little feet seemed to be encased in concrete, where holding on to the ranch was concerned. He could tell she thought she was going to scam him. She was just as set on her path as he was on his. He hated to think what that might mean for his long-term prospects of success.
But most of all, he was worried about the baby. What did he know from babies? He was desperately determined to do right by this one, but doubts kept nagging at him. He looked at his watch, wondering how soon he would be able to bid C.J. adieu so he could go back and make sure Mrs. Turner hadn’t fallen asleep in the comfortable chair, leaving Jamie to cry his little heart out.
He looked at Cari, wishing she’d agreed to let him hire her for the job. Instinctively he knew he could trust her with the baby. He’d already seen her in action on that score.
She was acting very jumpy at the moment. Every time he caught her eye, she looked away quickly, as though she was afraid he’d think she liked him or something. Hell, he didn’t like anybody. He had a couple of things to accomplish and “liking” had nothing to do with either thing.
Still, he had to admit he was drawn to her in a way that was unusual for him. He kept thinking about her, even when she was across town working in that funny little café full of cowboys. But mostly he was sure that was because she could be the answer to some of his biggest problems if she would only agree to help him. Though maybe there was a bit more to it than that. After all, he was human, and for a woman who was not really his type, she looked darn appealing tonight. Her little blue dress revealed some very delectable skin that hadn’t seen the light of day for a while. But he wasn’t supposed to be thinking about that.
“You know what?” she said suddenly, leaning toward him and speaking quietly. “I’ve been thinking. If you want, I could come by after dinner, just for a few minutes, and sort of scope out the situation. See what I think of the nanny.”
He stared at her. She was not only the most beautiful woman in the world, how was it he had never noticed that shiny gold halo that hovered over her head? Or those big gorgeous white wings fluttering off her back? There was actually a lump in his throat. He didn’t trust his voice, and he nodded.
“Great,” he managed at last, though it sounded creaky. “Great.”
She must have seen the abject relief and gratitude in his eyes, because she looked startled and drew back as though she was already regretting the offer.
“Excuse me,” she said, gathering her little purse and gesturing toward the way out. “I’m going to go powder my nose.”
“Me too,” said C.J., sliding out right behind her.
Max rose and let her out, amazed at the peace she’d given him with her suggestion to come by and take a look at the nanny. He hated having things hanging over his head this way. When there was a problem, he was used to dealing with it so it would go away. This nanny thing had been like a bad toothache gnawing away at him all day. And now he was going to be able to do something about it. Thanks to Cari.
Sliding back into his seat, he smiled at Randy. “Wonderful woman, isn’t she?” he noted.
And Randy nodded. “Sure is,” he said, though he wasn’t really sure which woman they were talking about.
Cari had groaned inside the moment she realized C.J. was really going to accompany her to the restroom, but she didn’t let it show. The last thing she wanted was company. That was exactly what she was trying to get away from. Nevertheless, C.J. came along, chatting incessantly as they moved through the dining room and headed into the ladies’ lounge. Inside, huge mirrors lined the walls with low vanities and comfortable chairs facing them. Cari sank into one of the chairs and pretended to freshen her makeup. C.J. chattered on.
“That Randy is so funny,” she said, draping herself across the neighboring chair and fluffing her brilliant hair as she watched herself in the mirror. “He keeps me in stitches.”
“He said pretty much the same about you.”
“Did he? Aw, that’s sweet.”
Cari looked into C.J.’s face. She’d already realized the woman was smarter than she seemed at first glance. So what was her purpose here? Surely she’d come along for a reason.
“So what do you do, C.J.?” Max had said something about a ranch, but the woman didn’t look like a working rancher. “For a living, I mean.”
“Well, that’s a question, isn’t it?” C.J. flipped her hair back behind her ears and made a face at herself in the mirror. “I tried college. Didn’t like it. Did some modeling. That was sooo boring. Worked for a while in my friend’s boutique, but that didn’t pay enough to keep a parakeet alive.”
Turning, she leaned toward Cari, who tensed, pretty sure the point was about to be made.
“So I looked around to see what I could do to keep myself in high-fashion lingerie and late-model luxury cars, and I finally realized marrying a rich man seemed to be the best match for my talents.”
“Oh.” Cari almost laughed aloud. What incredible nerve the woman had! “It’s a blessing to know yourself, I guess.”
“It sure is. Saves a lot of unnecessary heartache.” She slicked on some lipstick, pursed her lips, and then looked straight at Cari. “Which reminds me. Just to let you know. I consider Max my territory. I went and planted my little flag in his big ole chest and I mean to bring him in alive.”
Cari choked, amazed at the woman’s candor. She looked at her in wonder. “Does he have anything to say about this?”
C.J. shrugged, smiling smugly. “Not much. You see, I’ve got an ace in the hole.”
“Do you?”
“Sure enough.” She nodded. “It’s no secret that his mama is crazy to get her hands on my ranch. She’s got sentimental ties and all that. I let it be known that I love that place like an armadillo loves the yellow line down the center of the road.” She snapped her fingers. “The results are as good as in the bag.”
Cari shook her head, appalled and amused at the same time. “Why are you telling me this? Aren’t you afraid I might tell Max?”
“Tell him.” She shrugged good-naturedly. “He knows. Facts are facts. I’ve got something he wants and there’s just one way he’s going to get it. We both know the score. I’m just warning you not to try poaching in my paddock.”
Cari had no intention of doing any such thing, but the woman’s attitude certainly rubbed her the wrong way and she was tempted to pretend she had her own designs on Max. It was on the tip of her tongue to blurt out, “Make me!” but that would be childish. Satisfying, but childish. So instead, she rose from her chair with dignity and turned to go.
“Well, we’ll see what happens,” she said calmly.
