Taylor’s gasp was nothing compared to the half-strangled gurgle Craig emitted and one look was enough to tell her Daddy wasn’t okay. His face was drained of all colour and he looked as if he’d been poleaxed!
‘I...I’m fine. I think,’ he muttered, reefing at his already-loose tie.
‘No, I mean do you want me to call you Daddy or Craig or mister or sir or...?’
The kid was counting off the various titles on her fingers, but Craig had no idea how to answer her. ‘Er...well—’ he paused and tried to gather his thoughts
‘—maybe you should ask Taylor...I mean your mother...Mummy...’
“This is something you two should decide between yourselves,’ Taylor responded quickly.
In that instant, Craig was swamped by a dozen emotions, all generated by the woman sitting opposite him. Passion was easily the most dominant one, but he wasn’t sure whether it would be best purged by reaching across and kissing her or reaching across and choking her. In view of her amused grin, he fancied the latter.
‘Well?’ Melanie pressed. ‘What do you want me to call you?’
Slowly he turned to the child. For a little girl, she certainly had a big attitude, he decided, amused by her arched eyebrow. He stiffened, knowing the same had been said of him as a kid. He felt his heart swell—his daughter. His own flesh and blood. He was both humbled and proud to think she resembled him so closely.
‘Daddy sounds pretty good to me,’ he said, clearing his throat when his words sounded a bit scratchy. ‘It’ll probably take us both a bit of time to get used to it, though,’ he told her.
‘It’ll be easy for me!’ Melanie proclaimed, her wide smile reflecting in her eyes. ‘I’m used to talking to your picture and calling you Daddy.’
‘My picture?’
‘Yeah, the one Mummy keeps on her dressing table.’
Craig raised an eyebrow and studied his estranged wife. ‘Now, that’s interesting.’
Taylor could have cheerfully throttled her beloved daughter on the spot but she managed a careless shrug. ‘It’s important for children to identify with a father figure,’ she said. ‘I don’t believe in telling horror stories about absent parents. So I just omit the gory bits!’
‘So why not keep it on Melanie’s dressing-table?’
‘Because there’s no room on it! It’s already chock-a-block with her favourite stuffed animals.’
Melanie stood up. ‘I’m going to the toilet.’
‘Again? You went at the office.’ Taylor almost groaned on hearing her inane response. Melanie was old enough to decide when she needed to relieve herself! The truth was she was uncomfortable with the thought of being left alone with Craig. ‘Do you want me to come with you?’ she asked hopefully.
The five-year-old rolled her eyes. ‘Mummy, I’m not a baby!’
‘Frightened to be alone with me, Taylor?’ Craig’s sexy drawl, coated in amusement, came on the heels of Melanie’s departure.
Taylor ignored the remark. At twenty-nine, she hoped she was sophisticated enough to deal with her feelings for Craig Adams. Now she wondered if she wasn’t every bit as naive as she’d been when she left him five years earlier. Around this man her emotions always seemed to bamboozle her common sense. Nothing, it seemed, had changed. But there was no reason he had to know that. From here on she’d treat him like any other male acquaintance—with polite pleasantness, nothing more.
‘So...’ She hoped he didn’t notice the breathy sound of her voice. ‘How’s the business doing?’
‘You can’t tell from the size of the dividend cheques?’
‘I didn’t mean financially. I was curious about what sort of expansions we’ve made.’
‘We’ve made?’ He scowled. ‘Listen, Taylor, you’ve been a silent partner in this firm for the best part of six years. Don’t think you can waltz back here and start quizzing me on how I run the company!’
‘I...I never meant to imply...’ She paused and tried again. ‘I was only making conversation—’
‘Ah! Sorry I didn’t realize your interest was only superficial!’
‘It’s not!’ she protested, angry at his accusation. Once Adams Relief had been as much the focus of her life as his. When they’d started the temporary-staffing business, a year after their marriage, they’d only listed replacement office staff on their books, but within eight months they had several highly qualified people capable of stepping into managerial positions. Three years from the inception of the business, Craig had seen an opportunity for expansion. Himself a qualified mechanic who’d completed his business-management degree at night, he saw the need for qualified tradesmen to be provided on a relief basis and so Adams Relief stretched its services to cater for this demand, also.
Taylor had to admit that for a long time, like Craig, she had regarded Adams Relief as their ‘child’ and had delighted in watching it grow and develop under their guidance. But unexpectedly her maternal instincts started to surface and she became less and less satisfied with the idea of being solely career orientated. Craig, however, had been so completely opposed to amending their original decision to never have children, Taylor hadn’t raised the issue a second time and pushed the idea from her mind. At least she tried.
Perhaps it was some sort of trick of her subconscious that allowed her to fall pregnant. Perhaps it was a case of wishing too hard and too often, but regardless of what quirk of nature saw her get pregnant while using contraceptives, the fact was she did.
Thinking of her precious daughter, she was eternally grateful the decision had been taken from her hands.
‘Rest assured, Craig,’ she said, ‘I have no desire to try to interfere with the way you’ve been running the firm.’
‘Too busy overseeing the Radcliffe family fortunes, are we?’
‘I won’t even dignify that remark with an answer!’
‘You’re right. That was uncalled for.’ He presented her with an apologetic look. ‘I really was sorry to hear about your parents. A hotel fire is a tragic way to die. It can’t have been easy for you to deal with.’
‘I coped. And at least they went together.’ She gave a small ironic smile. ‘I doubt either of them could have survived without the other. Or wanted to.’
Craig recognized the flash of pain in her face. He knew that as a child, Taylor had spent her life on the outside, looking in at parents too wrapped up in themselves to notice their little girl. She’d always claimed if she ever loved anyone as completely as her parents loved each other, she’d never have children. Six years into their marriage, she’d changed her mind.
‘They were quite different once my father retired and Mel and I moved to Adelaide,’ she said softly as if reading his thoughts. ‘Father especially was quite taken with Melanie, and Mother showed me dozens of albums full of photographs of me as a baby.’ She gave a brittle laugh. ‘Of course, there aren’t many of me from the age of five onwards. Boarding-schools aren’t big on taking snaps of pupils.’
‘So how come you’re so keen to send Melanie to St Catherine’s?’
‘Because it’s an excellent school.’
‘Well, I think she’s far too young for boarding-school—’
‘You think!’ Taylor practically spat the words. ‘For your information, she’ll be a day pupil not a boarder! And besides,’ she said tersely, ‘you’ve been a silent partner where Mel’s concerned for the past five years! I’ve managed to make all the right decisions thus far—’
‘Have