His muscles burned and the chill, salt-laden air felt good against his sweaty brow.
Marriage wasn’t for him. In his experience love was always followed by pain. Better to keep his relationships light and put his energies into the business.
As for Savannah, he wished her gone, not hanging out with Rett.
Turning the kayak, Rick firmly put thoughts of Savannah’s body, dating and marriage aside and headed back to shore. He had a business to tend to.
CHAPTER TWO
RICK HAD STEPPED OUT FOR LUNCH the next afternoon when a pretty redhead toting a baby carrier stopped by Savannah’s desk.
“Hi, I’m Rick’s sister-in-law, Jesse,” the woman introduced herself. “His brother Brock’s wife. Is he in?”
“I’m sorry, no. I’m his new assistant, Savannah. Can I help you with something?” she offered.
“Right, Savannah.” The woman offered her hand with a genuine smile. “Gram speaks very highly of you. She mentioned something about you working with Rick.”
“Mrs. Sullivan is a doll,” Savannah enthused. “I really appreciate her putting in a good word for me with Rick. I’m very excited to have this opportunity.”
A fussy cry came from the carrier, and Jesse grimaced at Savannah before cooing at her baby. Once the fussing quieted, she looked up again.
“I have an appointment with Rett to discuss a gift for Gram for her eighty-fifth birthday. The guys are throwing a big surprise party, so they want it to be something spectacular.”
“She’ll love that. When is her birthday? I’d love to get her a little something to show my appreciation.”
“Oh it’s not for another few months.” Jesse rolled her eyes at herself. “I know, I’m way anal, but I like to start early. And we want a really spectacular gift so it’s only fair to give Rett plenty of time to work. But Troy is awake and alert now and wants attention. I was hoping Rick would take him for a few minutes while I consult with Rett.”
“Oh, well …” Watching a baby, even his own nephew, didn’t sound like a Rick activity, but Jesse must know her brother-in-law better than Savannah did. “How long do you expect to be?”
“Only about twenty minutes. That’s all Rett could squeeze in today, but we wanted to get started and at least discuss what we want to do.” She bounced the carrier when another cry sounded. “Never mind. I know Rett won’t mind—he loves the kids. We just won’t get as much done as we’d hoped.”
Savannah glanced at the hourglass; most of the sand had already fallen to the bottom half. Rick rarely took a full hour for lunch. “He should be back soon. If you like, you can leave Troy here with me and I’ll watch him until Rick gets back.”
“Really? That’s so nice of you.” Relief brightened Jesse’s features. “He’s fed and newly changed, so he shouldn’t be any trouble.” She set the carrier on Savannah’s desk. “Thank you so much.”
“No problem. How old is he?” Savannah asked.
“Five months.” Jesse handed over Troy’s diaper bag. “I’ll be as quick as I can.” With a wave, she rushed off.
“We’ll be here, won’t we, baby?” Savannah talked to Troy, smiling gently. Babies liked her. She figured they had her number. She was mush in their tiny hands and they knew it.
She spent a few minutes getting acquainted before lifting the little boy from the carrier. She cuddled him and then settled him in her lap, bouncing him lightly while she went back to the numbers.
That worked for ten full seconds. Troy’s tiny fingers wrinkled the paper. She just got that away from him and he knocked her pen to the floor. Rescuing that as well, she turned him around and sat him on the desk facing her.
“You’re a busy boy. Are you trying to be like your uncle Rick and work, work, work?”
Troy grinned at her and then promptly burped up.
“Oh, baby.” She reached into his bag and pulled out a cloth to clean him up. “That’s better, but let’s see if we can get you rinsed off.”
She lifted Troy to her shoulder before setting the diaper bag in the carrier and carrying both into Rick’s office. He had a private bathroom. She set the carrier in his empty in-basket and took Troy into the bathroom to clean him up.
Rick strolled into his office after lunch and froze in shock just inside the door. A baby carrier sat in his in-basket. With a frown he glanced back at Savannah’s desk. It was empty.
What was going on? He moved to his desk, but the carrier was empty, too.
What was Savannah up to now? Babysitting no doubt. People here already had her pegged as an easy mark. Well, he’d put a stop to this. There was a limit to his patience. And babies topped the list. His brothers popped them out on a regular basis; well, their wives did, and more power to them.
Rick preferred to keep his distance. Not that he was nervous or anything, it was just that babies were complicated. You had to hold them just so, bounce them a certain way, make sure they didn’t touch things. Feed them, change them, burp them. Yes, definitely complicated.
A baby’s cry shot tension straight up his spine. There was no ignoring that wail of displeasure. A moment later Savannah walked out of his bathroom with a baby boy in her arms.
“So there is a baby here,” he said, looking from her to the boy in her arms, ready to take her to task for wasting time. Wait, the kid looked familiar. “Does it belong to one of my brothers?”
“Yes, he is your nephew, Troy.” She bounced the boy gently. “Do you think five months is too young for an apprenticeship?”
“Oh, yeah, we’ll just put a nanny on staff.” He opened his top drawer and tossed his wallet inside. “Where are Brock and Jesse?”
“Jesse is downstairs going over preliminary designs for your grandmother’s birthday gift with Rett.” She shifted the baby. “Do you want to hold him?”
“No.” He took an involuntary step back.
Savannah lifted both brows at his reaction. “No? With your large family I’d think you’d be used to kids.”
“Yeah, well, kids aren’t really my thing.”
“Really?” His answer shocked Savannah. “How can you resist such a charmer?” She turned Troy to face him. “He’s adorable. And babies are so easy to reach, all you have to do is smile and coo.”
To show him, she smiled at the five-month-old.
Troy shyly smiled back.
“See?” She glanced up at Rick and got caught in his watchful gaze.
“Pull yourself together Ms. Jones. I never coo,” he said firmly.
“Well, that’s a shame.” The baby squealed and bobbed in her arms. She felt bad for Rick, that his icy reserve prevented him from finding joy in his infant nephew. “Maybe you should try it sometime. Babies love unconditionally, you know. It’s kind of a win-win situation.”
He cocked a dark brow, reminding her silently that she was speaking to the boss.
“Right. What was I thinking?” She backpedaled a bit. She needed to leave the room before she said something she’d regret. She knew she talked too much. Her sister, Claudia, said it was Savannah’s biggest weakness and her biggest strength; she tended to say too much, but she also had the power to put people at ease.
Rick tolerated her chatter fairly well, though he rarely spoke himself. Rather he observed and directed, often without saying a word.