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“You know what I mean.”
“I really don’t.” It wasn’t easy to remember innocence, but he put as much as possible into his voice and expression.
Jess was baiting her, plain and simple. He was deliberately agitating her because, as stupid as it sounded, she was beautiful when she was angry. More beautiful, he amended. Not in the classic, statuesque, turn-a-man’s-head way Elena was. But in a down-to-earth way that was more appealing than he would have ever believed.
“Okay.” She put her hands on her hips, drawing his attention to curves that made his palms tingle. “Let me put it like this. Morgan could have walked into a scene featuring a naked woman in your bed. It’s not something I want to explain to her. Do you?” She paused thoughtfully and tapped a finger to her lips. “Oh, wait, you’re the guy who doesn’t do kid talk at all which would make explaining sex to a five-year-old—”
“Almost six,” he pointed out.
“Right. Because a couple months would solve the problem entirely.”
Definitely beautiful, he thought. “The situation was awkward, I’ll admit that. But it wasn’t as bad as it could have been. So, I guess I’m wondering what you want me to do.”
She blew out a breath. “And I guess I’m wondering how many more keys are out there? How many more of your women are going to show up unexpectedly?”
Elena was the only flight attendant he dated. He’d given her a key because it was convenient for both of them. She’d have a place to stay when she was in Las Vegas and he enjoyed her showing up out of the blue.
He could tell Libby there were no more women, but then they’d have nothing left to talk about. For reasons he couldn’t explain, he wasn’t quite ready for this conversation to be over. Scratching his head he said, “It’s hard to put an exact figure on it.”
“Figure being the operative word.” Sarcasm surrounded every syllable.
“No pun intended.” Again he let his expression ooze innocence. “So Morgan had some questions?”
“I managed to do damage control. This time.”
“How?”
Her eyes narrowed and the expression was sexy as hell. “She’s still young and naïve enough to believe that people look past a woman’s appearance to find her inner beauty.”
Her emphasis on the word people told him she really meant men. Truthfully, the kid’s comment about growing up had freaked him out big time. “I’m glad you were able to smooth things over.”
“Is it necessary for me to point out that boobalicious babes arriving without warning is going to be a problem the older Morgan gets?”
“I will take appropriate action to avoid a repeat of the situation,” he assured her.
“How?”
“Excuse me?”
“Do you have a master list of who has access to your home?” she grilled him.
“I’ve never found it to be necessary.”
Her stubborn, pointed little chin lifted slightly. “Now it is.”
“Would you feel more secure if I had the locks changed?” Even though it’s not necessary, he added to himself.
She nodded. “It’s a start.”
“I’ll take care of it.”
“Thank you.” She stared at him and caught her top lip with her teeth.
Heat shot straight through him as his mind went to a place where he kissed her until both of them were clinging to each other because neither could catch their breath. The next part of the mental picture had her naked in his bed. Before the vision went any further, he looked closer and noticed there was something else on her mind. And he would bet it had nothing whatsoever to do with his bed.
“What?” he asked.
She shook her head. “It’s none of my business.”
“Since when has that stopped you?” He shrugged. “Go ahead. Tell me what’s on your mind.”
“You don’t really want to know.”
Probably not. But now he was too curious. “Yeah, I do want to know.”
“Technically you’re my boss. I’m your employee. It’s not my place to offer an opinion.”
Curiouser and curiouser. Now he really needed to hear what she had to say. “Just pretend I’m the company suggestion box. Or better yet, a comment card. The one that says we’re really interested in your feedback. Et cetera. Lay it on me.”
“Okay. If you insist.” She folded her arms over her chest. “I can’t help noticing that you don’t seem like the type of guy who embraces parenting. The sort who doesn’t do the dance of joy at being tied down.”
She was right about that. Ties gave people the power to stab you in the back. If someone was going on the offensive, he preferred to see it coming and take appropriate evasive measures in order to defend himself. Maybe that’s why he was so drawn to Libby. She had no problem with telling him what was on her mind, whether or not he wanted to hear it.
Jess met her gaze as the defensive part of him locked and loaded. “My energy has been focused on business for a very long time. I put together some cash and parlayed that stake into something of much greater value. With one enormously successful resort open on the Strip and another one in development, not to mention partnerships in properties all over the world, there’s not a lot left over for anything else.”
Which is why relationships like Elena worked for him. No demands, just rewards.
“I understand what you’re saying,” she agreed, in a tone that indicated she didn’t see at all. “The problem, as I see it, is that when you’re raising a child, being tied down comes with the territory.”
Okay. She’d nailed him. Mission accomplished. It was a direct hit on the target. What she meant was that Ben and Charity had picked the wrong guy to take care of their kid. Did she really think he wasn’t aware of that?
On the day she’d delivered Morgan, she’d accused him of not really wanting the child. He hadn’t confirmed or denied but defended himself with a question. Who says I don’t want her? Libby was dancing around it again now, but the meaning came through loud and clear. He wasn’t the go-to guy and his friend had misplaced his trust.
He was more than ready now to end this conversation.
“Okay, Libby. Point taken. I’m well aware of my shortcomings and limitations.”
“It’s not a flaw,” she backpedaled. “Some people just aren’t cut out to raise kids. Self-awareness is a good thing.”
Jess ran his fingers through his hair. “I don’t know why Ben chose me to be Morgan’s guardian, but he did.”
“And what you’re doing is admirable, Jess, but—”
He held up a hand to stop her. “I assured my friend that his child would be taken care of if anything happened to him. It was one of the last conversations we had. You’re here in my employ to take care of Morgan. I gave my word and I’m doing my duty.”
Disappointment was evident in her eyes again and he hated putting it there. One of the perks of living alone was not having anyone to let down. He would have to learn not to let it bother him the way it was now.
Chapter Five
After her students had gone home for the day, Libby had work to do while Morgan was being supervised in the Nooks and Nannies after-school program. She sat behind the flat oak desk in her brightly decorated classroom. The walls were filled with pumpkins colored by her kids, as well as witches, ghosts and other costumed characters to commemorate the upcoming event. When Halloween was over next week, she wanted to go right into projects for Thanksgiving and Christmas.
As she thumbed through material for ideas, several caught her eye. Paper plates and brown construction-paper feathers to fashion a turkey. If everything was cut out and ready, the kids would have fun pasting it all together. There was another one that used small magazines with the pages folded to form the turkey body, then a pattern to cut out the long neck and head.
It would make a great centerpiece for the dinner table on the big day but would require a lot of supervision, a higher adult-to-child ratio than normal. Mental note: ask for parent volunteers. There were enough involved parents this year to make it a fun exercise for everyone.
Christmas would be next, a time rich in project material from trees and ornaments to Santa and presents, as well as the spiritual side of the season. She wanted this holiday to be special for Morgan, the first without her parents.
The thought made Libby’s heart heavy. Her own holiday memories were filled with Charity, and then Ben. Some of them included Jess, because he was their friend, too. A vision of him popped into her mind followed by a familiar yearning that lately had turned into an empty ache. Her seeing-him-every-day plan to crush out her crush didn’t seem to be working all that well. Not much had changed from the days when their paths crossed because of mutual friends.
In all fairness, it wasn’t Jess’s fault that she had the hots for him but left him so cold he couldn’t remember her name. She knew that and in spite of it, her longing for him was still an issue even though no one would ever accuse him of being a parent, let alone one she could count on.
The intercom on her phone buzzed and she picked up. “This is Libby.”
“Hi, Lib, it’s Mary in the office.”
“Hey.” The receptionist’s tone was normally upbeat and cheery. It took Libby a couple of seconds to realize that wasn’t the case now. “What’s wrong?”
“Morgan is here. She had a little accident—”
“I’ll be right there.”
Libby ran out of her classroom and to the administration offices, which were in another building. There was a small room just off the reception area where the kids went with minor scrapes and bumps, where first aid was handled. The door was open and she heard whimpering. The knot in her chest squeezed against her heart as she braced herself and walked in.
“Hey kiddo. You have a boo-boo?”
The little girl was sitting on a chair, her right hand wrapped in a towel. There was blood on her pink sweater, jeans and white sneakers. It was more shocking because, for some stupid reason, she hadn’t expected to see blood.
She looked at Sophia Green, the Nooks and Nannies director, who was sitting beside Morgan, an arm around her shoulders.
“What happened?” Libby asked.
Sophia’s gray eyes were serious as she tucked a strand of reddish-brown hair behind her ear. “She cut her hand.”
“How?” Libby knew that question bordered on dense because it didn’t matter. But in that heart-stopping moment, it was all she could think to say.
“The kids were at outside playtime. Morgan was by herself near the perimeter fence. She reached through and picked up a piece of glass.”
Libby dropped to her knees beside the little girl. “Oh, baby—”
“I didn’t know it was sharp, Aunt Libby.” Tears welled in her brown eyes.
Words of censure fueled by her own fear were on the tip of her tongue, but somehow Libby held back. This wasn’t the time for a safety lesson.
“Okay, sweetie. We’ll put a Band-Aid on it and fix you right up.”
“About that, Libby—”
If she’d been thinking more clearly, she’d have realized there would already be a bandage on the boo-boo and Morgan would be showing it off. Because that wasn’t the case she knew it was more serious.
“What?” she asked Sophia.
“It’s a little deep,” the other woman said gently. “I think she needs stitches.”
“Okay.”
Libby was doing her best imitation of calm even though her hand shook as she brushed the hair off Morgan’s forehead. “I’ll call the pediatrician.”
“Lib, it will probably be faster to take her to Mercy Medical Center. The emergency room has a pediatric trauma specialist available twenty-four hours a day.”
Libby glanced up at the little girl’s pale face and frightened eyes. “You don’t think that would be scarier?”
Sophia shook her head. “They’re specially trained for things like this. Not that I think it’s that serious, but the staff knows how to put their littlest patients at ease in these circumstances.”
She trusted implicitly her friend’s judgment. Sophia had been with the Clark County department of family services before job burnout sent her to Nooks and Nannies. The woman had seen trauma. If anyone knew how to deal with it, Sophia did.
“Okay. We’ll go to Mercy Medical Center.”
“I’ll drive you.”
“Thanks.”
That way she could call Jess to meet them there, then she could concentrate on keeping Morgan calm.
A couple of hours later Libby was sitting alone with Morgan in one of the emergency room’s trauma bays. When they’d been called back she’d insisted Sophia didn’t have to stay. That was before she’d known how long they’d be waiting. She still hadn’t spoken to Jess. His cell phone went straight to voice mail, which was now full due to all the messages she’d left. Unable to reach him directly, she’d tried his secretary, who’d informed her he was in a meeting and had left strict orders that he wasn’t to be disturbed. The problem was that Morgan couldn’t be treated until he authorized it.
That wasn’t the only problem, just the most pressing. Somewhere deep down inside, Libby knew she wanted him there for herself. She was scared, too, and could really use his support, a strong shoulder to lean on, someone to talk to. Not just anyone. Him.
At that moment the privacy curtain moved and she expected to see the nurse who had been checking in on them whenever possible for the last couple of hours. Instead, Jess stood there. She hated how glad she was to see him, how badly she wanted to throw herself in his arms and have him hold her.
“I got here as soon as I could,” he said, stopping on the other side of the bed.
Right. Not soon enough, she thought.
Her resentment and anger were out of proportion to the situation and she wasn’t sure why. But this wasn’t the time to call him on it any more than scolding Morgan after the fact would have been.
“How is she?”
Why do you care? she wanted to ask. But part of her knew that was just taking all her fear and frustration out on him.
She blew out a long breath. “Worn out. We’ve been here a long time. You got my messages?”
A muscle jerked in his jaw. “Yeah. I need to give permission for treatment.”
She nodded. “You could have done it over the phone.”
“I’ve never handled something like this. It seemed better to show up.”
“The pediatric trauma specialist—Dr. Tenney—looked at her hand and said no nerves or tendons or anything that would permanently affect her fine motor coordination were compromised.”
