He laughed. They had just been seated at a comfortable booth in the main dining room at the Longhorn Lounge. The atmosphere was pleasant, the servers attentive, and drinks were on the way. The scene was set for a lovely evening, and a lovely evening they would have. But that was all.
She’d gone on this date to make a friend happy, and that was as far as her commitment went. Shortly after the dinner was consumed, she would thank the man, shake his hand and go off into the sunset—alone. In the meantime, she was determined to be nice to Randy, if only to make up for the night before.
But she had to mentally kick herself to stop looking toward the door, hoping Max would make a sudden appearance. She’d already seen him once today, and that was one time too many.
“Well, it was all my fault,” Randy was saying graciously. “When I got there I knew I was half an hour late. I was afraid you’d have gotten disgusted and left me flat. So when I saw a gal coming in with a red rose, I was thrilled. Only, I took one look and I just really couldn’t believe it could be you.”
Déjà vu all over again.
“Really? What was she like?”
“Gorgeous.”
He said it like a man smitten, and she had to recoil, just a little. So he’d thought the woman he saw was too good to be true, had he? Funny. That was exactly what she’d thought when she saw Max for the first time. What a coincidence.
“Well, thank you very much,” she said a bit tartly, pretending to take offense. He hurried, a bit clumsily, to reassure her.
“No, I mean, you’re beautiful. Of course you’re beautiful.”
She knew she was actually looking pretty good tonight. She’d worn an electric-blue number with spaghetti straps and more cleavage showing than usual, and she’d topped it off with a cute little fake fur shrug that didn’t cover much of anything. Then she’d let her hair tumble free around her shoulders. But from the look shining in Randy’s eyes, she had a feeling her “pretty good” was nothing compared to C.J.’s “gorgeous.”
“You’re a lovely woman,” he was saying. “But in a totally different way. This gal looked like one of those heiresses with the big hair and the fancy clothes and diamonds and all that. Like the Dallas of the old TV show rather than the Dallas I usually live in.”
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