She sucked in a quiet breath, glad to be getting away from him. In two minutes, he’d be gone and she wouldn’t have to worry she’d say or do something stupid because her hormones insisted she and Matt Patterson should…should…Well, she knew what her hormones wanted.
And that was wrong. Good grief, she’d barely dated since her big mistake her senior year at university when she’d fallen for one of her professors. They’d had a secret affair that started off wonderful and ended when he introduced her to his wife at graduation, humiliating her. Looking back, she realized she should have seen the signs that he was married. He’d pulled her away from her friends, insisted they meet at her place even though he made fun of her condo and never took her out in public. But loneliness after her dad’s death had made her vulnerable, needy, and she’d missed the signs.
Which was why, for the past five years, she’d been a woman in control of her emotions. She’d never be so foolish as to fall so fast or be so smitten that she let a man walk all over her. Being overwhelmingly attracted to a guy she didn’t know was so out of character it scared her.
The elevator bell dinged. They strode across the building lobby. He pushed on the revolving door, motioning Claire through, into the crisp late-September afternoon. He followed her out into the busy Boston street and paused in front of the black limo parked there. A uniformed man raced to the back door and opened it.
Claire peeked inside. A bar and a television sat across from a curving white leather seat that looked like a plush sofa. But on the sofa sat a car seat.
She quickly passed Bella to Matt Patterson—so quickly he didn’t have time to protest and their fingers didn’t even accidentally brush. “I’ll slide inside, then you hand Bella to me. I will strap her in the car seat, and you can be on your way.”
She climbed in. He passed Bella to her. She put the baby into the car seat and secured the straps. As she pulled away, she looked at the baby’s pretty face. Blue eyes. Pug nose. Cupid’s bow mouth.
Her heart twisted. She’d had this baby with her twenty-four hours a day for four days. Caring for her. Teasing her and playing with her to help her accept her new circumstances. Walking the floor with her as she sobbed all night because she missed her mom and dad. Bella had cried so hard the first night that Claire had cried with her. A baby couldn’t understand or deal with death. All she knew was she missed her mom and desperately wanted the comfort of her arms.
Claire swallowed. This poor sweet baby would never see her mom again. Just as Claire hadn’t seen her mom after she died.
She pressed her fingers to her mouth. How could she leave this sweet baby with a man who didn’t know how to care for her?
She couldn’t.
She scooted across the seat and out of the limo. Though fear trembled through her, she faced Matt Patterson and held out her hand. “Do you have a business card?”
He frowned. “Yes.”
“Does it have your home address?”
His eyes narrowed. “Are you planning to do some kind of surprise inspection?”
“I’m going to lock the office, then meet you at your house.”
He smiled. Those beautiful green eyes of his lit with so much pleasure, a corresponding pleasure tugged at her stomach. “You’re going to help me?”
God help her. “This evening, yes, to get you settled in. Then you’re on your own.”
CHAPTER TWO
THE rhythm of the car lulled Bella to sleep and she napped through the entire drive home. But when Jimmy, Matt’s driver, stopped the limo to punch in the code to open the big black wrought-iron gate for his estate, the baby awoke. She glanced around sleepily. Her little mouth turned down. Her nose wrinkled and she let out with a yowl that went through Matt like an icy wind blows through barren trees.
Pretending not to notice, Jimmy drove up the brown brick driveway. Little Bella’s wails filled the back of the limo. She didn’t see that the grounds were manicured to perfection. Or that the leaves on the trees had begun to change colors and swatches of red, yellow and orange guided them along the circular driveway to the front of the stately stone mansion.
She didn’t care when Matt said, “Shh. Shh. Please stop crying.”
She simply continued to wail.
Jimmy appeared at the back door, opened it with a wince. “Quite a set of lungs.”
“Indeed.” Matt smiled ruefully. “You wouldn’t know how to…” He paused, searching for a proper phrase and finally settled on, “Make her stop.”
Jimmy backed off. “No, sir. Confirmed bachelor.” He tugged both ends of his bow tie jauntily. “Happily single. Not daddy material.”
Remembering what Claire had asked him, he said, “No nieces or nephews?”
“Several but I don’t take to them until they’re old enough to go the bathroom on their own and get into the casinos in Atlantic City.”
He sighed. “An excellent plan.” His plan. Until circumstance changed things.
Bella’s screams grew louder. He raised his voice to be heard above the sobbing. “So how do we get her into the house?”
Jimmy stepped back again. “Sorry. Not in my job description. In fact, I think I’ll go make sure the limo’s place in the garage is cleared.”
He raced away and Matt scowled. See if the place in the garage is cleared? What a line.
He turned back to the baby. “So…what? You want food? A bottle? Some Scotch?” He knew she didn’t want the third, but the terror riding his blood right now had him giddy. He’d like a Scotch. But he knew he wasn’t getting one. Might not ever get one again until this child turned eighteen.
With Bella wailing beside him, he knew he had a choice. Sit in this limo for God knew how long until the adoption agency woman arrived. Or get Bella out of her car seat and into the house.
A cold wind blew alongside the car. The open door caught it and sent frigid air swirling into the limo. A few drops of rain pelted the limo roof, then the rain started full force.
“Crap.”
He reached for the door and slammed it closed. Bella’s wails echoed around him.
Jimmy suddenly appeared at the driver door. “Let’s get this in the garage!”
“Good idea.”
The sound of Bella screaming competed with the drumming of rain on the roof, making a horrendous racket. Matt squeezed his eyes shut, popped them open and turned to Bella. “Come on, kid. You knew me at the adoption agency office.” He pointed at his chest. “I’m Mommy’s friend.”
Her crying only increased when they pulled into the garage. Being indoors seemed to cause the sound to ricochet off the walls and reverberate through him.
He peeked at her face. Little blue eyes watery and sad. Her nose red. Her lips trembling.
He scrubbed his hand across his mouth. He couldn’t stand to see her like this. He had to do something!
Noting that Jimmy had disappeared as soon as the limo lurched to a stop, he reached for the buckles of her car seat. Once he had her out of the car seat, he’d carry her into the house and maybe the movement of walking would calm her down?
He found a clasp at her belly that, when opened, allowed him to raise two straps over her head. A buckle by her hip released the bottom strap. When he jiggled the padded half circle around her, he discovered it rose, too.
But with all of her trappings gone, Bella fell forward. He just barely caught her. And when she plopped against him, she wiped her wet face in the lapel of his silk suit.
He