She nodded yes, then immediately changed it to a no. She felt her lips quiver and pressed her mouth with her fingertips.
“We are talking about a baby?” he queried. He glanced at the paper again. “Little thing about—” he held out his hands to the appropriate size “—so big?”
She nodded and gave him a tremulous smile.
“Then we’re on the right track. I do know what they are,” he assured her with a wink. His charming sense of humor made her feel almost sane.
The sanity went right out the window with the baby’s cry from Lori’s bedroom. She jumped up and ran from the room without another thought to her visitor.
On her knees in the middle of the bed, Lori checked the baby’s diaper. She’d just changed it before she’d fed and managed to put the infant to sleep by sitting on the edge of the bed, swaying back and forth. That had been less than twenty minutes ago. Surely—
“What exactly are you expecting to happen to your baby that a lawyer can fix?” the man asked in a deep voice.
She glanced at the handsome figure who’d followed her and propped himself against the door frame.
“Have you been threatened? Is the baby’s father trying to take him away from you?”
“It’s a she,” Lori corrected. She’d found she couldn’t continue calling the baby a “him” when she’d changed her first diaper. She carefully lifted the babe and turned to sit down on the edge of the bed. Rocking automatically, she murmured softly and cradled the child against her. The baby immediately stopped crying.
If the past couple of hours had proved anything, they proved she had to trust someone. She’d thought she’d have an hour or two before the helpless being, who depended on her completely, woke again. Time to think. Time to figure out how to get more diapers. The baby was wearing the last one included in the surprise package this morning.
“It isn’t my baby,” she managed to whisper.
His back went ramrod straight. Those wonderful brown eyes sharpened. The light behind them said his mind worked quickly. They narrowed and directed suspicion at her. He was drawing the wrong conclusions!
“I didn’t steal her,” she protested.
His eyes widened. “You’re keeping her for a friend?”
“Sort of,” she prevaricated, unable to meet his gaze. “I found her. Outside my door. In that big box in the living room,” she added.
“With the note.” Understanding was beginning to dawn.
She rose, coming across the room carefully to protect the child from jolts. The tiny eyelids had fluttered closed again. The delicate mouth puckered and moved in the same motion the baby girl used to drink from her bottle. Maybe the infant would sleep for a while if Lori just continued to hold her.
The visitor seemed stunned. Speechless.
Lori jerked her head toward the light streaming down the hall from the living room. “Come on. Let’s go back out there. Will you give me some advice?”
He stepped aside, waiting for her to lead.
Lori eased down onto the edge of the couch. This time, he didn’t sit down beside her. Mr. McAllister stood before her, hands stuffed in the pockets of his black trousers, ruining the elegant line of his impressive tuxedo.
He was the first one to speak. “When did you find her?”
“’Bout seven-thirty this morning.”
“You haven’t called the authorities?”
“I haven’t told anyone. Except you now,” she added. She wanted to be honest with him. Surely the what-you-get-out-is-only-as-good-as-what-you-put-in- rule applied to lawyers as well as computers. Truth was the only way she could expect to get good advice, wasn’t it?
“Why?”
“At first, I didn’t have time. I was occupied trying to figure out how to take care of her.” She realized she was still whispering. She cleared her throat. “Then I wasn’t sure who to call, what authority. And, by the time I could, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to call anyone. That’s when I left the note for you.”
His lips compressed in a solid, uncompromising line over those perfect white teeth. She glanced quickly away from him.
“Ms. Warren, you need to give me a retainer.”
That brought her attention back.
“Are you hiring me?” he asked. His face looked carved out of stone. “If you are, you need to give me some money.”
There was an urgency in his voice, something she couldn’t ignore but didn’t understand. Greed? Irritation set in so fast she had to consciously hold on to her temper and remind herself she didn’t want to wake the baby. He didn’t look nearly as good as he had a minute ago. She focused on keeping her voice calm. “Can you bill me? I just want a little bit of advice. I wanted—”
“Lady, if you’re hiring me,” he interrupted, “do it. Now.”
So much for the rave reviews she’d heard from various elderly neighbors about the nice lawyer who’d moved into the complex. No advice without money, huh? She resented his obvious conclusion that she wanted free advice. Couldn’t he bill her after the fact if there was a charge? One of the things she’d pondered at the back of her mind all day was whether she could afford a baby. She was living—barely—to the hilt of her income now. She would have to cut expenses somewhere, probably first by finding a less expensive apartment. She hadn’t considered legal expenses.
She lifted her chin. “I don’t know where I put my purse,” she said, looking around. It wasn’t on the kitchen counter where she usually set it. She’d been on her way out the door when she found the baby. She didn’t think she’d touched it since then.
“This it?” He spotted it on the floor beside the arch leading to the foyer just as her gaze landed there. He lifted it and handed it across to her.
“Thanks.” She juggled to open the wallet with one hand, then finally placed the open purse on the coffee table in front of her.
“Here, let me take the kid,” he offered. In a second, before Lori could think about it, the child was in his arms. He plopped the infant against his shoulder, bracing her nonchalantly with one arm. Lori resented his casual confidence with the baby as much as she resented his greed. Life really wasn’t fair.
“How much?” she asked stiffly, withdrawing two twenties from her wallet.
“Write me a check,” he replied absently. “That would be better.”
“Very well.” She got out her checkbook and pen. “How much? Will a hundred do? You can always bill me if it’s more,” she felt compelled to add.
“Fifty should do it,” he said. He patted the child as though he was an old hand at knowing what a baby needed. She looked smaller than ever compared to his hand. He glanced at his watch and grimaced as she handed him the check. He stuffed it in his pants pocket without looking at it. “Thanks.”
She would swear the sigh he emitted was one of relief. She held out her arms for the child.
“Let me take care of her for a few minutes,” he offered again, adding gently, “You look exhausted. Sit down. Take your time. I’ll hold the young‘un while you concentrate on telling me what you want me to do.”
“Isn’t that what I just hired you for? To tell me what I should do?” She couldn’t keep the indignation out of her voice.
“No, ma’am.” His soft chuckle surprised, then warmed