A corner of his mouth hitched up.
She sure is a sweetheart.
His stomach muscles tensed and he pushed to his feet. Hunger pains. With no dinner last night, he really ought to eat.
He was standing in the kitchen, hands on hips, wondering how quietly he could set coffee on the stove when his cell buzzed. The realization sank in—reception was back—and he dived at the counter. Striding down the back hall, he waited until he was in the study to answer.
“Snowstorm, anyone?”
At the voice, Zack relaxed. Not Child Services but Thomas, his younger brother, a regular smart aleck and the sibling he felt closest to. Zack clicked the door shut.
“I’m about to get out the snowplow,” Zack joked.
“Mmm. Sounds like fun.”
Remembering his guests asleep in the living room, Zack crossed to a window view of winter wonderland in April and pressed a palm against the jamb. “It’s not as bad as all that.”
“Surrounded by wilderness. Cut off from society. Give me downtown traffic and Starbucks any day.”
“Don’t mention coffee. Haven’t had this morning’s hit yet.”
“Then I’ll keep it brief. Dad wants to know how it went on that deal yesterday with James Dirkins. When can we expect to close?”
Zack’s arm fell from the jamb. “I need more time.” The line crackled. When Thomas’s words cut in and out, Zack clamped the phone harder to his ear. “What was that?”
“I said I’m sure Dad’s happy to leave the negotiations to you. Where business is concerned, you can make a porcupine quill go down as smooth as Jell-O.”
Admittedly, he was a good negotiator. Success was about keeping emotion out of the mix. A cool head was key. Still…
He remembered Dirkins’s expression yesterday—drawn, reflective…reluctant to hand over his deceased son’s inheritance—and for some reason, an image of Trinity holding the baby flashed into his mind’s eye.
His stomach rolling again, Zack shrugged.
“James Dirkins has a strong personal attachment to the place. I get that.”
“Uh, sorry? Since when did personal matters ever factor into your corporate dealings?”
Zack’s eyebrows snapped together. “Since never. I was just saying.”
Silence echoed down the line.
“Are you all right, Zack? You sound…different.”
“I’m good. Better than good.” He crossed the room and opened the door a crack. He thought he’d heard the baby. “Tell Dad I’ll have the papers signed this week,” he said, cocking an ear and peering out down the hall.
Out in the living room, the baby squeaked.
“Zack, do you have someone with you?”
“Uh-huh.”
“A female?”
“Two.” He thought he heard Thomas drop the phone. Before the questions could fly, he cut his brother off. “It’s a long story.”
“For this, I have a few minutes.”
Grinning, he headed out. “Sorry, buddy. Gotta go.”
Zack found Trinity still sound asleep and the baby lying quietly, looking as if she were waiting for someone to notice she was finally awake. When he bent closer, she caught the movement and focused. The vibrant blue of her eyes took him a little off guard, but when she continued to stare, he tried a small smile. Waited.
She didn’t smile back.
However, neither did she burst into tears, although her brow seemed somehow to pinch as if she were uncomfortable. Zack scrubbed his chin. Must be tough not being able to roll. Maybe he could shift her a little, prop her up. Gingerly he scooped a hand beneath her back and instantly recoiled. Oh, God, she was wet. Make that sopping, right through her outfit. Shuddering, he glanced across. Trinity was still out of it.
Studying the baby again, he whispered, “So what am I supposed to do with you?”
She only stared, her little fingers wiggling on top of the blanket.
He scratched his temple, paced away then back again. He couldn’t bear to think of her lying in those sodden clothes, and yet he couldn’t imagine handling them to change her, either. Every man had his limit and this was his.
Placing thatched fingers on his head, he thought for a long moment. Then he cleared his throat. Not on purpose. Not really.
While the baby only looked harder as though he were some kind of puzzle, Trinity sucked in a breath and, gradually waking, stretched tall one arm. Two seconds later, she sat bolt upright, her violet eyes round and startled. Her gaze found his at the same time she shoved a fall of hair back and held it from her face.
“It wasn’t a dream.”
He rocked on his heels. “Nope. We’re real. And she’s wet.”
Trinity slapped the quilt away and crawled over. As if the baby knew “the one with the bottle” was near, she screwed up her nose and mewed out something that might have been a small cry.
Hands going to her cheeks, Trinity visibly melted. “Oh, poor darling. She must be hungry.”
“There’s a more pressing matter.”
“She needs changing.”
“Oh, yeah.”
“You don’t want to have a go?”
“I could answer that question a number of ways but the conclusions would all be the same.”
She pretended to be surprised. “No?”
“I’m a man who can admit to his shortcomings.”
“A shortcoming implies that you’d like to better yourself and learn.”
“Then I used the wrong word.”
Grinning and shaking her head, Trinity stood to collect the baby.
He’d seen her in the same pajamas last night but now, in the bright morning light rather than flickering shadows, he received the full impact. The shirt and bottoms literally hung off her slender frame. Not a suggestion of a curve or line anywhere. The trousers were so long, they puddled around her feet, the sleeves hung past her fingertips, the front was buttoned as high as it would go…and, hands down, it was the sexiest set of ladies’ nightwear Zack had ever seen.
Stepping back to give her room, his attention was drawn to her face, pillow creased on one side but well rested and already, within a moment of waking, fully animated. As she smiled at the baby, her eyes captured the morning light, which sent them sparkling like a pair of cut amethyst. If he weren’t careful, a man could get hypnotized by eyes like that.
When she lifted the baby up from the recliner, however, reality struck a blow. He heard—almost felt—the squelch and he backed up more, all the way to the kitchen.
“I’ll handle the formula.”
Trinity was rubbing her nose with the baby’s. “I might give her a bath. Freshen her up. Want to help?”
“After I finish bottle duty—sure thing.”
No censuring look this time. She merely drifted off with her bundle toward the laundry room. The way she was grinning and babbling to the baby, she’d forgotten all about her fatigue the previous night and was