“With the key he gave me. And you?”
Libby settled her hands on Morgan’s shoulders. The two of them lived here and shouldn’t have to justify their presence. Red, on the other hand, had a lot of explaining to do. “I’m the nanny.”
Elena’s gaze dropped to Morgan. “I didn’t know he had a child.”
“A recent development,” she explained, giving the small shoulders a reassuring squeeze. “What are you doing here?”
“I’m a flight attendant. Jess gave me a key. We’re—” Her gaze dropped to Morgan. “We’re friends. When my flight schedule brings me to Las Vegas I stop by to say hello.”
“Without calling?”
Elena shrugged. “He likes surprises.”
“Why are you wearing that robe?” Morgan asked.
“You’re a cutie,” the woman said with genuine warmth.
“I’m Morgan.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Morgan. I like your name. And to answer your question, I was just going to take a bath.”
“To get ready for bed?” the little girl innocently persisted.
“Something like that.” Elena looked at Libby. “But I see that Jess has made some changes around here.”
“This all happened recently.” Libby glanced down at the child in front of her. “For Morgan. Jess isn’t actually her uncle. He’s her guardian because…”
Elena nodded slightly, letting her know she didn’t have to go into detail in front of the little girl. It was a sensitive thing to do and took the starch out of Libby’s indignant outrage over this “arrangement.” Though she had no right to it, there was probably a little jealousy stuck between indignance and outrage.
“I think I’ll just go and get dressed,” Elena said.
Morgan stepped away from Libby. “Are you leaving already?”
“It would be best,” the woman answered in the same words Libby was thinking.
“You’re not going to sleep over?” Morgan persisted.
“That wouldn’t be a good idea.” Again her response was exactly what Libby would have said. Elena turned and walked back down the hall.
When they were alone Morgan looked up at her. “I wish she would stay. She’s nice, Aunt Libby.”
“I can see why you feel that way.” The kid meant stunning, Libby thought. What in the world was Jess thinking, giving out keys to his place? Didn’t he ever see the movie Fatal Attraction? She felt like the queen of snark because Elena seemed nice enough under incredibly awkward circumstances.
The front door opened and closed, and speaking of the devil, he walked into the family room looking like he’d just arrived for a magazine fashion shoot. Charcoal suit, white shirt, red tie. Awesomely appealing. How could he look so good at the end of a long, difficult day? Libby felt as if she’d been run over by heavy equipment and it was his fault.
“Hi,” he said, smiling at both of them. “I see you did some shopping.”
“My new bed is coming on Saturday,” Morgan said. “I got a princess comforter and sheets to match. Want to see?”
He looked from her to Libby. “I think that’s the most words she’s ever strung together in my presence.”
“Mall magic,” Libby answered, wondering how to diplomatically bring up Elena in front of a child.
“So you guys had fun?” he asked.
“You could say that.”
He must have heard something in her tone because he frowned. “Is something wrong?”
“You could say that, too.”
“What’s going on?”
“Hi, Jess.” The flight attendant stopped just inside the doorway and he whirled around to look at her.
After a couple of beats he said, “Elena.” Shock mixed with recognition equaled awkward.
“You look great,” she said. The crisp white shirt and navy pants of her flight uniform made her shapely figure look even more curvy.
“Right back at you.” He glanced at Morgan. “I’m sorry I wasn’t here when you got in.”
“No problem.”
“The thing is, this isn’t a very good time—”
“Yeah. I kind of figured that out on my own.” She smiled with genuine regret as she handed him his key. Then she stood on tiptoe and placed a soft kiss on his lips that clearly said goodbye. Looking first at Libby, then Morgan, she said, “It was nice to meet you both. For what it’s worth, I think Jess will be a really good dad.”
On what planet? Libby wanted to ask. But Elena was gone before she could say the words even if she dared.
Libby blew out a breath. “I can truthfully say that nothing like that has ever happened to me before.”
“I bet she drinks lots of milk,” Morgan commented.
“Why?” Jess and Libby asked together.
“Because her hair is shiny. She has nice teeth and is big and strong.” Morgan looked wistfully toward the front door. “She’s pretty. I want that color hair. And when I grow up, I hope my boobs are like hers.”
Jess looked as horrified as Libby felt but she was pretty sure it was for a different reason. Libby was already a woman and there was no chance of her growing into the “assets” necessary to get Jess’s attention.
Jess wondered which of the gods he’d pissed off and, more important, what sacrifice it would take to get them off his back. While Libby supervised Morgan’s bath and bedtime rituals, he was in the morning room downing his second beer.
When this child fell into his lap, he’d known life would change, but he hadn’t counted on parts of the old one creeping in. Elena looked good, no question about that. She was fun, flirty and fantastic in bed. Part of the fun was her showing up without warning. That was exciting, or at least it used to be. Her goodbye said they were over and he would have understood even if she hadn’t returned the key.
The thing was, it didn’t bother him, which bothered him more than anything. That was just wrong and he blamed a petite, blue-eyed blonde who didn’t seem at all intimidated or impressed by his wealth and power.
He blamed her because she had the damnedest way of creeping into his thoughts at inconvenient times. Board meetings. Business lunches. Phone calls. It was difficult to concentrate when a memory of her tart comments made him smile. Or the way she caught her top lip between her teeth sent his thoughts to kissing first that lip and then the bottom one to see for himself how she tasted.
And suddenly he sensed her behind him. Although she didn’t make a sound, he knew she was there. The hair at his nape prickled and his skin felt too tight. That happened when normal blood flow was involuntarily diverted to points south. This was the last thing he wanted or needed.
“Jess? Can I talk to you?”
The last time they’d talked in here was chicken-nugget night. Libby had given him a crash course in child-speak. She’d encouraged him to engage Morgan in conversation and complimented him on what was right with his style. Then he’d seen the light in her eyes dim and extinguish because he’d disappointed her. Libby was a grown-up, but Morgan wasn’t. What if he let her down? He was pretty sure conversing with the kid didn’t include her sharing that she wanted a big bosom and red hair when she grew up. So he’d already failed her.
Libby didn’t understand why family was a hot