Читать книгу Diamonds are for Sharing: Her Valentine Blind Date / Tipping the Waitress with Diamonds / The Bridesmaid and the Billionaire - Raye Morgan - Страница 8

IN THE harsh and revealing sunlight of morning, it all looked a bit fantastical. Cari buried her face in her pillow and wished she’d done a better job pulling together the drapes on her tall windows before she’d gone to sleep. She wasn’t ready to face reality yet. Did last night really happen? Impossible.

The phone rang, but she let the answering machine take it. Her heart thumped as she waited for the voice she knew was coming.

“Cari?”

Yes. It was Max. His deep baritone sent chills all through her system. She drew in a shuddering breath.

“Go away,” she whispered into the empty air.

“Cari? Surely you are there. I wouldn’t bother you so early, but I need a bit of advice. If you could pick up …”

She knew she shouldn’t pick up. In her sleepy, morning state, she imagined herself standing at a fork in the road. Her life could go one way or the other, depending on what she did in the next few moments.

She knew what she should do. She should mark the whole experience from the night before as lessons learned and move on. She had to ignore him. Go back to real life and not fool around with fairy-tale princes who came breezing in from Italy with a knowing smile and a boatload of hunkiness. She shouldn’t pick up. She knew better. She wasn’t going to do it.

“Cari? Please?”

She writhed beneath her covers. Don’t do it, Cari!

“Cari, it’s about the baby.”

The baby? Well, if it was about the baby …

“Cari?”

With a sigh she reached out and picked up.

“Hello,” she said somewhat mournfully.

“Buongiorno,” he responded.

There was a long pause while neither of them said anything. Cari wondered if he was as hesitant about this as she was. After all, last night it had been assumed they would probably never see each other again. Hadn’t it?

He’d kissed her and she’d swooned. Yes, there was no way to deny it. She’d gone all gaga on him. Luckily a cab had come cruising up before she’d made a complete fool out of herself, and they’d piled in and raced back to the Longhorn Lounge where they’d found Tito waiting anxiously. The two dates they should have been with were long gone, of course. That was only natural. Tito then left for the hotel with the baby while Max headed for the police station to make a stolen car report. And Cari had slipped into her own car and turned toward home, still tingling. Still swooning. Still out of her mind!

But pretty darn sure she would never see or hear from him again. After all, their little—what had he called it? Their encounter? Whatever it was, it had been illegitimate in the first place. Time to wipe it out of her life and her mind.

Only, here he was on the telephone.

“How did you find my number?” she asked at last.

“I have people on my staff who can find these things for me.”

“Oh.”

She supposed he meant Tito. Or were there others? Hmm. She wasn’t sure she liked that.

“How is he?” she asked.

“Who? The baby?”

“Yes.”

“Okay.”

“Has his mother shown up?”

“No. I’ve got someone monitoring the apartment periodically, just in case.”

“Good.” She couldn’t imagine what could have kept a mother away from that beautiful baby. “But you said there was some sort of problem?” she asked quickly. That was what she’d picked up for, after all.

“Not exactly a real problem,” he said. “But … I’ve hired a live-in nanny.”

“Oh. Well, good. You checked her references?”

“Of course.”

She let out a long breath. She didn’t let herself think a lot about the baby she’d held so closely the night before. That was all a part of that other fork in the road she wasn’t going to take—even if she had picked up the phone.

“Okay, then.”

She waited. He had something else to say, but he was having trouble getting it out. She could picture him looking thoughtful, brow furrowed, then she blinked that image away. If she kept doing that sort of thing, she would be swooning again.

“Max, what is it?”

“Nothing, really, it’s just that …” He sighed. “Listen, I’m just not sure about this nanny thing. I did the regular vetting, but what the hell do I know about nannies? Or babies, for that matter. And you seem to know a lot. So I thought maybe you could come over and see if you think she knows what she’s doing.”

Wow. He needed her. That was almost enough to get those tingles started again. Everything in her wanted to say yes. She cared about the baby, but there was more. To see him again, be with him doing something important, wouldn’t that be ideal? But no, that would be wrong—on so many levels. So she didn’t say yes.

“No,” she said instead. Then she waited for the rush of self-congratulations that would surely follow. Funny, but that didn’t happen. “I’m sorry, Max,” she went on, falling back on the honest truth. “I’ve got to go to work.”

“Work? You work?”

It almost made her smile to realize how little they knew about each other. They’d shared a night of intense emotions and setbacks, more in one night than she’d had in months. She felt as if she’d glimpsed a clear picture of his character, his personality. And yet she didn’t know much about him, what he’d done with his life, what he cared about, and he didn’t know those things about her, either. But they were going to leave it that way for the most part. At least, she knew they should.

“Of course I work. What do you think I live on? Air?”

“What do you do?”

He sounded candidly surprised and interested. What the heck? Didn’t he know any women who actually had real jobs? She licked her lips and stuck to the facts.

“I’m a waitress.”

“At a supper club?”

“No. In a local coffee shop.”

There. That ought to be guaranteed to turn him off. She was just a waitress. Not one of those high-falutin’, jet-settin’ fashion models he was surely used to.

She was also the assistant manager and studying for her real estate license, but he didn’t need to know all that. After all, she wasn’t trying to impress him. She was trying to get rid of him.

“Take a day off,” he said bluntly.

“I can’t do that. People are counting on me.”

“And I’m counting on you, too.”

“Yes, but you don’t pay the bills.”

“I could do that,” he said, as though it was a new idea and he rather liked it. “That’s it. I’ll pay you a salary. I’ll hire you.”

“Nonsense.” Her voice was quivering a bit and she bit down on her lip. No! She was not going to give in to that sort of crazy temptation.

“But it would be perfect.”

“For you, not for me.”

“No?”

“No.”

“Consider it, at least.”

“No.” She was firm. And darn proud of herself, too. “You’ll be fine with this nanny person.”

He hesitated, then said skeptically, “I hope you’re right.”

There was another long pause.

“Everything is all right, then?” she prodded. “I mean, everything else?”

“Oh, yes. Going great. I had the baby checked out by a pediatrician first thing, and we’ve put in a request for a DNA test. I’ve arranged for the delivery of the relevant charts from Italy. It will all take time, but everything is moving along.”

“Good.”

Why was he still hanging on? She was torn, wanting him gone, yet enjoying this more than she ought to. “Well, have you gotten in touch with your date from last night yet?” she asked, suddenly remembering there was still that issue to be dealt with.

There was yet another hesitation, then he answered, “Not yet. How about you?”

She sighed. Apologizing to Randy wasn’t something she was looking forward to. “No, not yet. But it’s early. I wouldn’t want to wake him up.”

Something in the pause this time was electric, and finally he said softly, “Did I wake you?”

Warmth flooded her body. How did he manage to make one simple question imply a wealth of intimate contact? Something in his tone, the low, husky quality of his voice, conjured up a picture of the way he might awaken her, his hand sliding down beneath the sheets, his lips leaving a trail of hot kisses. She suppressed a gasp.

This was ridiculous. She wasn’t a schoolgirl. She was a grown woman. She’d been married, for heaven’s sake! She knew what it was like to have a man in her bed.

But not this man. Oh, my!

She wasn’t going to answer his provocative question. She had to think of something else, quick. Something to break the mood and put an end to this.

“I’ve been up for hours,” she lied shamelessly. “I’ve got a life, you know. Things to do. Places to go.”

“And you’d like to get back to it,” he said softly, taking the hint. He sighed. “All right, Cari. I’ll let you go.”

Her fingers were so tight on the receiver, they were beginning to ache. “Thanks.”

“So that’s it, then.”

She blinked, suddenly feeling almost weepy. “It seems to be.”

“It was nice knowing you, Cari.”

“Yes. Same here.” Now her eyes were definitely stinging. Ridiculous! “Goodbye.”

“Ciao.”

She hung up, said a word she hardly ever said, and threw a stuffed animal against the wall.

Cari was just finishing up a bowl of morning cereal when Mara called.

“So,” said Mara brightly. “How was it?”

“How was what?” Cari answered, her mind still stuck on mulling over her conversation with Max.

“The date with Randy.”

“Oh. Uh …” She grimaced, putting her spoon into the bowl and pushing it away across the counter. “Well, actually, we didn’t have it.”

“What do you mean you didn’t have it? Don’t tell me you chickened out?”

Mara’s voice was sharp with what was fast working into a sense of outrage. Cari tried to nip that in the bud.

“No, Mara, I did not chicken out. I was there with bells on. And I waited for quite some time. But then …” She sighed. This really wasn’t all that easy to explain. “Well, I kind of went off with the wrong man.”

“What?” There was still an edge to Mara’s voice. “How did you do that, exactly?”

“Believe me, it was not that hard. Not when he came up carrying a red rose, just like you told me to do for Randy, and he seemed to call me by my name and … and …” She sighed. “It’s kind of hard to explain. Listen, I’ve got the lunch shift. I’ll swing by on my way to work. We’ll talk.”

“I guess. Okay.”

Mara sounded grumpy. Cari knew she was disappointed. She thought she’d planned the perfect date for a good friend and it had all gone wrong. Who wouldn’t be disappointed? And Mara had been so excited. She groaned internally. But she would take care of things when she stopped by her friend’s house. Face-to-face it might actually be possible to give her a better picture of exactly what had happened.

“In the meantime, uh, do you have Randy’s number?”

She was tempted to put it off for a while, but she steeled herself and called the man. Once she had him on the phone and explained who she was, he reacted well. Instead of demanding an explanation, he was apologetic that he’d been a little late.

Which only made her feel more guilty. It was hard to explain why she’d dumped him for some suave Italian guy. There was no good excuse for it, actually. One look into Max’s deep dark eyes had mesmerized her and she’d been ready to follow him anywhere. But how could she tell Randy that?

“Well, it was certainly an interesting evening,” he said. “I haven’t had many like that.”

He sounded just as likable as Mara had said. She was impressed that he didn’t seem at all disgruntled. She had a quick flashback to how her husband, Brian, would have reacted to what had happened, and the memory of his volatile temper made her cringe.

“Did you wait for long?”

“Only for an hour or so.” He chuckled. “Actually, I met the woman who was supposed to be dating the man you ran off with.”

“Ran off with” seemed a bit harsh, but she let it go. After all, the man deserved a little dig here and there, didn’t he? He’d paid his dues.

“Oh. C.J.?”

“Celinia Jade. Do you know her?”

“No, I don’t, but Max told me something about her.”

“Well, she’s somethin’ else.”

His voice conveyed a sense of awe. Cari tensed a bit.

“Is she?”

“Oh, yeah. She’s dynamite.”

For some reason, that didn’t make her smile. She chewed on her lip and wondered if Max was going to be as impressed with the woman once they got together. But what did that matter, anyway? Grimacing, she avoided the impulse to slap herself.

“We were both wandering around with red roses,” Randy went on. “So we started talking. It didn’t take us long to figure out what must have happened. So we hung out for a while, sort of commiserated, so to speak.” He chuckled again. “She had some funny stories to tell. That passed the time for a while. But when y’all didn’t come back, we called it a night and headed home.”

She nodded. It sounded like he’d enjoyed the evening with C.J. as much as he might have with her. Maybe more. She frowned at the trend in her own thoughts.

“So it wasn’t a total waste,” she said quickly.

“Oh, no, not at all.”

“Well, would you like to try it again tonight?” she said, knowing she pretty much had to suggest it. “I sort of promised Mara I would.”

“I guess we both promised Mara, didn’t we?”

“She can be persuasive.”

“Oh, yes.” He chuckled again. He seemed a happy sort. “Let’s do it,” he agreed. “Only this time, why don’t I pick you up at your place? I’m not sure that red rose thing works very well.”

She hesitated. The rationale for meeting at the club had been to avoid letting a strange man know where she lived. She was wary these days. She didn’t want to risk any man getting the upper hand in a relationship. But he seemed so genuinely nice, she decided it wouldn’t hurt to give him her address.

Maybe all would go great. Maybe she and Randy would get along so well, the crazy night with Max would be forgotten, a relic of history, a strange interlude in what she was hoping to turn into a sensible, placid life. Maybe.

Max was restless. He’d spent the afternoon hovering over the nanny, second-guessing everything she did. She’d snapped at him once, and he’d almost fired her. But he’d quickly realized that he had no replacement lined up. If she left, he would be on his own. And what he knew about taking care of babies could be blurted out in one quick epithet.

Tito was no help. Every time the baby cried, he stuffed cotton in his ears and went out on the hotel room balcony, plunked himself down into a plastic chair and tried to sleep. But Max couldn’t sleep. His existence was caught up in this baby for now, and that was all he could think about.

That, and Cari Christensen. She was the one person he knew who could help solve a lot of his problems. But he had to forget about her.

He’d come to Dallas with two clear goals in mind. First, he’d wanted to find Sheila and discover if the baby she claimed she had was really Gino’s. That was pretty much in the works. He had no idea where Sheila was, but when you came right down to it, that didn’t matter. He had the baby. And he would soon know the truth about the baby’s parentage.

He’d never been a baby person, never been around the little things. And he hadn’t expected to feel much of anything for this one. Babies were nothing but potential people—little blobs of flesh and noise. Puppies had more personality.

But the funny thing was, he’d felt something of an instant connection when he’d seen baby Jamie. One look at that little face had torn a hole in his heart. He was as sure of this as anything—this baby was his brother’s.

When word had come that Gino had died in the crash of the plane he was testing out, Max had felt his world tilt on its axis. His big brother had been his guiding star all his life. For a long time, he’d thought he might never feel joy again.

But he’d had to suppress any overt mourning, because his mother’s despair had been so deep and so complete it had taken all his effort to pull her out of what he was afraid could have developed into a suicidal impulse at any moment. And now, to think he might be able to bring her Gino’s baby—the thought took his breath away. He couldn’t allow himself to get too invested in this until the tests proved the connection. But he was pretty sure what the results would be.

His other goal had been to find a way to wrest the Triple M Ranch from the daughter of his mother’s old rival. That wasn’t going so well. But he hadn’t really concentrated on it as yet, so there was plenty of time to figure out ways to succeed there, too. He’d contacted Celinia Jade, or C.J. as he preferred to call her—and she didn’t seem to mind—who came across as something of an airhead at first. But in no time at all, he’d noticed a sharp turn of mind that sent up warning flags. The woman might talk like she had nothing in her mind but fluff, but underneath there was a steely sense of purpose. She knew what she wanted, and she wasn’t going to be easy to snow. He might have more trouble there than he’d anticipated.

They had made plans to try to meet again tonight, same time, same place. This time he was going to make damn sure he had the right woman. No more screwups. He was going to be pure Mediterranean charm and solicitude. The woman wouldn’t know what hit her.

He knew what he was doing. His life for the past ten years had been immersed in real estate—big real estate, big deals. This was nothing. It should be a piece of cake. C.J. was in financial trouble and he planned to make a very nice offer for the ranch. He was prepared to be fair, generous, even. He wasn’t out to cheat anyone. His mother seemed to think emotional ties would make it hard for her to sell, but he had his doubts. When faced with the facts, he was pretty sure he would be able to make her see the light.

If he could return to Italy with the deed to the ranch in one hand and Gino’s baby in the other, some of the heartbreak that shadowed his mother’s eyes might fade a bit. That was his hope.

The baby was crying again. He paced the floor for a few minutes, then gave in to the urge to go into the nursery they had rigged up in the smallest bedroom of this lavish hotel suite and see what was going on. Mrs. Turner, the nanny, was sitting in the rocking chair, reading a mystery novel. Meanwhile, Jamie was turning bright red as he cried his little heart out.

“The baby’s crying,” he pointed out sharply.

Mrs. Turner looked up and nodded, glaring at him. “It’s good for him to cry. It develops his lungs.”

He was nothing if not skeptical, but he hesitated. “Really?”

“Absolutely.” She gave him the supercilious smirk he was growing to hate. “Why else would they have that ability?”

He gritted his teeth. “I thought it was so they could let people know they needed help.”

She smiled as though he were a poor fool who knew nothing about children. “That’s only part of it. You can’t baby them, you know. You mustn’t spoil them, even at the infant stage. It’s best to encourage them to grow and stretch themselves. You wouldn’t want the poor dear to fall behind in development, now would you?”

He wanted to argue, but he had no ammunition. What did he know about this, anyway?

“I suppose you know best,” he grumbled, turning away. But the picture of Jamie’s little tragic face, all twisted with grief, staying in his mind.

Back out in the living room, he went to the folder where he was keeping his papers and pulled out the certificate that was meant to guarantee the expertise of the nanny. Maybe he should give the school that issued it a call. He frowned. Or maybe he should just call Cari and see what she thought.

His hand was already on the telephone receiver when he stopped himself. No, he couldn’t do that. He had to break all ties with the woman. That was the only way he would ever get her out of his head. He couldn’t let himself think about Cari and her sweet, pretty face. He’d set his sights on charming C.J. and that was where they had to stay. Swearing, he reached for the cotton to put in his ear and started out to join Tito on the balcony.

The Copper Penny where Cari worked was just off the interstate. A mix of locals and tourists patronized the trim little café. She liked the early afternoon when the hectic lunch crowd had dwindled down to a few housewives lingering over coffee and the assorted cowboys who came in from riding fences at some of the nearby ranches. The easy camaraderie was what she liked best about her job. It was pretty much the same group of cowhands that came in every day. One by one, most had tried to hit on her, but in a relaxed, friendly way that never got serious. She could swat their propositions aside like a mama dog controlling her puppies. Few took offense, and those that did were easily joked out of it.

Today Cari wasn’t doing any joking. Her mind was on other things and she poured coffee and took orders with a distracted air. The men she served were a blur to her. Her thoughts were full of Max.

“I’ve just got to think about him as much as I can now, so I can be done with him and get him out of my head,” she told herself impatiently. It was a plan, but she wasn’t at all sure it was a plan that was going to work.

She’d known from the moment he’d walked into the club that he was absolutely the wrong man for her. Too tall, too handsome, too arrogant, too sure of his right to command the attention of everyone there.

Her husband had been like that in a way. Well, not so tall, not so handsome, and not so full of self-confidence. But he’d had the arrogance down pat. Brian had mostly been frustrated in his attempts to take charge of the rest of the world. He’d had a bit more success in boxing her in with his small life and visions. And he’d managed to make her life miserable because of it.

The autocratic husband was the worst kind, as far as she was concerned. She wasn’t sure she ever wanted another man in her life at all, but if she did decide to try another relationship, it sure wouldn’t be with a man like Brian. Or Max, for that matter.

“That’s why Randy is so perfect for you,” Mara had pointed out when she’d stopped by to see her and try to explain how she’d ended up on a date with the wrong man. “You’ve really got to get to know him. You’ll have to date him more than once to really give him a chance.”

“Oh, Mara, I don’t know. After what happened last night …”

“Listen, you owe it to him. The poor guy spent hours waiting for you at the club.”

“No he didn’t. Not from what he told me. And anyway, he should have left after half an hour or so. I would have.”

“In fact, you did.” Mara gave her an exasperated sigh. “He was so excited about meeting you, of course. And now he’s got to be wondering what all that meant. You’ve got to be nice to him and really give him a chance.”

Cari had to hold back a smile. Mara was pushing a little too hard for this. That meant she’d begun to doubt it was going to work out. Oh, well. Cari would give it a shot. That was all she could do.

A new customer had come in and was about to seat himself at the counter. When she turned and saw it was Max, she gasped and almost dropped the coffee urn she was carrying. He gave her a halfhearted grin and shrugged. She put down the coffee and caught her breath. She’d never imagined he might show up here.

He was wearing slacks that fit his muscular body like a glove, bulging in all the right places, and a silky white shirt open low at the neck. He hadn’t shaved and his face looked stunningly sexy with a day’s worth of dark beard.

“What are you doing here?” she demanded in a voice just above a whisper. She didn’t bother to ask how he’d found out which of the city’s hundreds of coffee shops she worked in. She knew his answer to that one. His people knew how to find these things out. Something told her he would always find her if he wanted to, and she wasn’t sure if that was a promise or a threat.

Max looked at her in wonder. She had her thick blond hair tied back, but little curls were breaking free all around her face. She wore a stiff, starched uniform, baby-blue with white lacy trim and a white lacy apron, sensible white shoes and a perky little hat. She looked for all the world like an exceptionally adorable matron in a fantasy children’s ward. He half expected to see friendly cartoon characters bouncing along behind her.

“I came because I need to talk to you,” he said. “You’re the only person I know who knows anything about babies.”

“What’s wrong?” she asked quickly, a tiny flare of alarm shivering through her. “Has something happened?”

“No, nothing. Jamie’s fine. Just fine.” Max hesitated. He knew he sounded defensive and that made him frown more fiercely.

“Then what’s wrong?” She shook her head in bewilderment.

“Nothing. Well, something.”

He shook his own head, trying to figure out how to express the discomfort he felt with the childcare he’d arranged without sounding like a candidate for a mental clinic. Maybe what he’d seen was normal. Maybe he was being a crank. But maybe, just maybe, Mrs. Turner was a lousy nanny. He just didn’t know the answer.

He sank down into the stool at the counter and turned up the cup. She moved automatically, filling it with coffee.

“Explain,” she demanded impatiently. “What are the symptoms?”

His beautiful hands with their long, tapered fingers curled around the cup. She watched him do it, fascinated. Everything about him seemed better, even the way he held a cup. But she didn’t have time for any swooning this afternoon. This was all about the baby.

“Well?” she said.

“It’s just … oh, hell.” He looked up, appealing to her supposed expertise. “He’s crying a lot.”

Cari froze and looked at him quickly. Brian had hated it when their baby had cried. In fact, it seemed to drive him a bit crazy when it happened. Her heart beat a little faster, but she took a deep breath and forced herself to calm down. Max wasn’t Brian. He hadn’t said he couldn’t stand it, just that it worried him.

Okay, start over again.

She nodded a little stiffly. A baby crying wasn’t really unusual. But if it was happening to the point where Max was worried, she was going to delve into it a bit.

“No fever?”

“No, I don’t think so.”

“Gas?”

He made a face. “I don’t know.”

“Does the nanny hold him against her shoulder and pat or rub his back?”

He thought for a minute, then nodded. “I’ve seen her do that a time or two. But not for long.” He frowned. “I don’t trust the nanny. She’s obsessed with making sure she doesn’t spoil him. It’s like she thinks we’re raising a Spartan kid or something. She doesn’t want to make him too comfortable, as if he’ll get too soft if he’s happy.” He grimaced. “So she lets him cry.”

Cari was sure he was exaggerating, so she didn’t take him too seriously. She closed her eyes, thinking, then opened them again and shook her head.

“You know what it probably is? He misses his mom.”

Max searched her eyes. To his relief, Cari was taking his worries seriously. She was frowning, thinking over her instant diagnosis. She looked down at him.

“Did you get in a good supply of formula?”

“Of course.”

She nodded again, then her eyes widened. “Oh, maybe he was being breast fed. The formula might not agree with him. Maybe that’s why he’s crying.”

He groaned, looking miserable. “But Cari, there’s nothing I can do about that.”

“Of course not. He’ll just have to get used to the formula.”

“How long will that take?”

She had a hard time holding back a smile. His face was a picture of tragic helplessness. He was a man of action. He wanted to do something to make everything better. But he was being told there was nothing he could do, and that was maddening to him.

“Of course, the best thing would be if the baby’s mother came back. You haven’t found her yet?” she asked, knowing it wouldn’t be a welcome question at all.

He gave her a baleful look. “Why would I want to do that?”

She stared at him, hoping he was just being flip. “You know darn well you have to do that.”

His sigh was impatient. “Yes, I know. I’ve got people looking into it. We’ll find her.”

She frowned. His “people” had been pretty good at finding out where she lived and worked, but she was pretty easy. A woman who went off without telling anyone where she was going was probably going to be a tougher case.

“I hope you really mean that. It’s important. What if she comes back and her baby’s not in the apartment? Can you imagine how frightened she’ll be?”

He looked at her as though she’d lost her bearings. “Cari, this is a mother who walked out and never looked back. What makes you think she’ll care that much?”

“She’s a mother. I know what that’s like.”

To think a woman could walk out on her baby was incomprehensible to her. She’d lost a baby once herself. It had almost destroyed her life. “You don’t know why she disappeared. Maybe something happened.” She shrugged, getting into her speculative mode.

“Maybe she was kidnapped. Maybe she’s unconscious in some hospital somewhere. Maybe she bumped her head and has amnesia.”

He grimaced, not buying a bit of it. “Or maybe she went on a hot date and forgot she had a baby waiting at home.”

She swallowed hard, shocked he would say such a thing. The cynicism reminded her of some of the terrible things Brian would say, and she didn’t want to think he might be anything like her husband.

“You don’t have a very high opinion of women, do you?” she challenged.

He looked up as though surprised she was taking his offhanded remark seriously. “That’s not the point. And yes, I have a very high opinion of women. Some women.”

His mother. Whoopee. She was appalled.

“No matter what kept her away, when she comes back to her senses, she’ll want to know where her baby is.”

“That’s probably true. For what it’s worth.” His wide mouth tilted at the corners, but there was no humor in his dark eyes as he looked up at her. “You forget. I know Sheila. I never understood what Gino saw in her, and I was glad when they broke up. And I was the one who took her phone call when she tried to shake us down for money. I’m afraid that experience has made me a little cynical where Sheila is concerned.”

There was certainly no point in arguing about this. He knew the woman. She didn’t. But the baby needed to be protected. At the same moment she had that thought, so did he.

“Listen,” he said, rising from the stool and moving toward her. “I can pay you double whatever you’re making here. I could really use the help.”

She shook her head with vigor. She couldn’t even allow herself to imagine such a thing.

“No,” she said firmly. “Never.”

“Cari …” He took her hand in his and she stared down at those wonderful fingers. The nails were so even, so beautiful. He had hands like an artist. She could hardly breathe.

“Cari, listen. It wouldn’t be for long. Just until the DNA testing is completed. Then I’ll be taking him to Venice with me and I won’t need you anymore.”

Her gaze jerked up and met his. Did he have any idea what he’d just said? But she supposed he didn’t look at it quite the way she did. She yanked her hand out of his and turned away.

I won’t need you anymore.

Wasn’t that just like a man? Oh!

“Max, you’d better leave. I’ve got work to do.”

“Cari …”

“I’m serious. Go. I’m not going to work for you. Not ever.”

“Not ever.” He repeated it as though he couldn’t believe she’d said that and turned to go, then looked back. “By the way, the police found my car. It was only a few blocks from where it was stolen and they didn’t damage anything. So that’s okay.”

“I’m glad.”

He nodded, then shrugged and turned to leave again.

“But Max.”

He turned back, one eyebrow raised.

“Max, please take care of the baby. And find his mother. It’s really important.”

He was on the verge of pointing out that she could help make all that happen, but he bit his tongue, knowing it would be too much like begging.

“Okay, I’ll take that under advisement.”

“Good.”

Their gazes caught and held. For a moment she was afraid he was going to come back and grab her and carry her out, just like he’d carried her the night before. But the moment passed and he gave a half shrug.

“I’d better go back and see what the nanny’s up to,” he said at last. “If she’s trying to get Jamie to make his own bed, I’m throwing her out on her ear.”

And then he turned and was gone.