by Linda Cajio
“I see,” Miss Canfield said. “When’s the wedding?”
“At the end of the month,” Angelica said, terrified that everything would collapse if she didn’t name a date. Fortunately, the lies were coming more easily. “I—I’m living here now. You see, I’m from San Francisco. In fact, I’ll be keeping a residence there, since I have a number of California clients. But I will be moving my main office here, after Dan and I … after the wedding. I certainly hope this won’t cause any problems.”
“Well, it’s a little unusual …”
“This is a temporary care situation,” Dan reminded the woman.
“If it will help,” Jan added, “I’ve known Dan for several years, and I can write a statement for you. Also, as the examining doctor, I would recommend that for the baby’s well-being, he should stay here until more permanent arrangements can be made.”
“That will certainly carry a good deal of weight with my supervisor,” Miss Canfield said.
Bless Jan, Angelica thought in relief. And bless Miss Canfield. She wasn’t nearly as bad as she looked. Aloud, she said, “Well, now that’s settled.”
“Not quite.” The woman smiled bleakly. “First of all, this is a hotel, not a residence.”
“We’re buying a place.” Hell, Angelica thought, if she’d gone as far as getting Dan engaged, she might as well go all the way.
She nearly choked on her words, though, when she heard a low angry sound coming from his tight lips.
“It’s the immediate residence that counts,” the social worker said.
“I have a lease with the management for this suite,” Dan said, the relief in his voice clearly audible. “They call this an apartment. Does that help?”
“The hotel rents several of these as permanent residences,” Libby added. “I know they qualify as that for the city’s purposes, so wouldn’t they do the same for this? They have cooking facilities.”
“I also have a home on one of the islands,” Dan added.
“Out of our jurisdiction, I’m afraid. But if this is one of your permanent residences …”
“It is. I’m here more than I am at my house.”
“I think I can slide that one by,” Miss Canfield said. “Now, have either of you had any experience with babies?”
“Would on-the-job training count?” Dan asked, with a straight face.
“Baptism of fire?” Angelica added.
“We’ll learn as we go?”
“Jan is a phone call away?”
“We promise not to drop him?”
The baby gurgled and swung his arms.
Jan and Libby laughed … and so did Miss Canfield. Angelica stared in amazement as it seemed to boom out of the large woman.
“I like you two,” she said, when her amusement subsided.
“Thank goodness,” Angelica murmured.
“Thank someone else that you didn’t blow it,” Dan muttered.
“Be nice,” Angelica whispered sweetly. “We’re engaged.”
Dan didn’t have to open his mouth. The expression in his eyes said all too clearly what he was thinking. It was an exercise in bravery to keep the smile on her face.
“In spite of all the rules this job requires,” Miss Canfield went on, “it also requires a good deal of flexibility. With kids outrunning family home situations, this little guy doesn’t stand much chance without you. You don’t have any experience with babies, but the truth is, if nature had brought you the baby in the normal fashion you wouldn’t be any more knowledgeable than you are now. In your favor, you have a doctor to vouch for you, the hotel meets city regs for residence apartments—”
“And provides room service,” Dan said.
“I should be so lucky. Also, you’re well established, engaged, and can provide the child with what we like to think is the ideal environment for children. And I have the strong feeling that this little one couldn’t be more safe or well-cared-for if Dr. Spock were volunteering for the job.”
“We’ll put Dr. Spock in the shade, Miss Canfield,” Angelica vowed.
“Call me Martha.” She wagged a finger. “No promises, mind you. And it will only be temporary. Now you’ll need a crib.…”
Angelica held out her arms. “Give him to me, Dan, and go get a crib. And sheets. And blankets. And diapers, and clothes, and toys. A stuffed bear. Every baby should have a Teddy. And a baby care book! We’ll need it.”
Dan grinned at her. “Your credit card or mine?”
Three
“You bought all this?”
Dan laughed at Angelica’s stunned expression, as she gazed at the piles of packages and boxes that had just been carried into the suite.
“I. Magnin loves me,” he said, dismissing the two bellhops with a large tip.
“I would say so.”
He was proud of himself. No sooner had they received approval as temporary guardians from State Social and Health Services than he was out the door to the nearest department store. In fact, his shopping had turned into a race against the store-closing, and he still wasn’t sure he had won.
“How did you get a fully assembled crib out of them?” Angelica asked, setting the baby inside it.
“A lot of fast talking. Fortunately, the department store manager I asked to help me believes in complete customer satisfaction.”
She began opening packages. “Omigod! Dan!”
Laughing, she held up a tiny pair of blue satin sneakers and a Mariner baseball outfit. He grinned, and her hands seemed to fly over the bags to discover more baby paraphernalia.
It was amazing, he thought, how united they had been today. If someone had asked him just this morning when he and Angelica would get along, he would have made reference to hell freezing over. He hoped the devil had electric socks.
“I got some formula,” he said. “And those disposable bottles. Do you think they’ll be okay?”
Her hands stilled and she looked up in bewilderment. “I don’t know.”
He gazed blankly at her for a moment, then realized they had truly been left alone with a baby. Nobody was there to advise them or help them figure out what the child wanted. Suddenly, he felt as lost as she looked.
He gazed at the baby, who was cooing and gurgling while trying to catch his tiny toes. What if the bottles were all wrong? What if there was something important he had forgotten? What if the baby became sick from the oversight? Now, after all the tension and excitement, the implications of his actions were setting in. He had the care and responsibility of a baby. Jan had left a list of instructions, added to by Libby and Martha Canfield. Still, he and Angelica were such raw recruits.
“I’m scared.”
For an instant, he thought he’d spoken aloud, then he realized it was Angelica.
“I really thought I was doing the best for this baby today,” she continued in a whisper. “But now I’m scared to death that I’ve made a big mistake and he’s going to pay for it.”
“That certainly makes me feel a whole lot better,” he said dryly.
“You don’t understand, Dan. You reacted from the heart today. I don’t know if I did.”
“What?” He frowned. “What are you talking about?”
Absently clutching a miniature. Playboy T-shirt, she said, “Once I made a terrible mistake that involved children, and I don’t know if I was trying to make up for that today. I hope not.”
He could sense the deep pain within her, and it shocked him. Angelica was beautiful and sophisticated, strong-willed and stubborn. He’d never considered that anything could hurt her. And yet it had, and he was seeing it.
He wanted to touch her, hold her, but he could easily sense the rigidity in her, and knew that if he did she would shatter against him. Instead, he asked gently, “What happened?”
She let out a long breath. “I hadn’t been in practice very long when a good friend asked me to represent her in a custody suit for her children. Well, it was bitter, and I was textbook experienced, and I lost the case.”
“Lost?”
“Yes. My friend neglected to tell me about several things, and when they came out in court, I was unprepared to defend against them.” Her voice caught, and she ran her fingers through her dark hair to calm herself. “It was horrible to watch those children taken away from her, doubly horrible to know I was responsible—”
“You weren’t responsible,” Dan broke in.
“Yes, I was.” She glared at him for arguing. “I knew better, but I let her talk me into defending her out of ego. I went into business law after that, and specialized in contracts. Money and fine points were at stake, not people. I thought I’d buried it.…”
“Until today,” he said, suddenly understanding why she had been so fierce about keeping the baby.
She had opened a door enough to give him a glimpse of the real Angelica Windsor. He wondered how much more of her was unknown and decided there was probably a great deal. And he wanted to learn all of it.
“I think your heart’s in the right place,” he said, smiling at her.
“I hope so,” she muttered, “because I feel like my brain was out to lunch.”
She was already closing the door on him, and regretfully, he let it shut—for the moment.
Suddenly she groaned. “I forgot about my practice!”
He started laughing. He never would have thought she would forget business for a baby. “Can you work out of here temporarily?”
“I suppose I could for a while.” She shook her head and grinned. “As long as I have a telephone, a computer, and some of my files sent up, I can probably manage. I’ll have to.”
“You can use anything at my office,” he offered. “In fact, anything you need, I’ll arrange courtesy of Starlight Software.”
“Thanks. Well, I suppose we should move this stuff into my room, so I can get him into bed.”
“Your room?” he repeated in astonishment.
“Yes.” She frowned at him. “Where else would he sleep?”
“How about my room? After all, I’m his guardian, too.”
“Dan, don’t be silly.”
“I’m not being silly.”
“Well, I’m the woman.”
“Angelica, being a woman doesn’t mean you can provide better care.”
“It doesn’t mean I can’t.”
“I feel responsible,” he said, shrugging helplessly. He didn’t know if he could explain to her how he felt about the baby. Something inside him insisted that he take an active part in the child’s care. Their united front clearly had some shaky foundations. Running his hand through his hair, he said, “Look, why don’t we put the crib in the sitting room between my bedroom and yours? It’s a fair compromise.”
She hesitated for a moment, then asked, “Do you think we’ll hear him?”
“I don’t know,” he said, wondering if the baby’s cries would penetrate his sleep. “But people do have separate nursery rooms for their babies, so I suppose it’s okay.”
Hours later, Dan lay wide awake, his ears attuned to the least sound coming from the sitting room. For the thousandth time, he heard a slight rustle of sheets, and his stomach instantly tensed as he waited for the inevitable cry from the baby. It hadn’t happened yet, he reminded himself, and tried to relax. His body refused to obey him, despite the exhaustion from his lack of sleep. Stifling a groan, he rolled over onto his stomach. Every little noise the baby made in his sleep was like a gunshot, startling and deafening. He wondered if Angelica was having the same problem.
He tilted his head so he could just see the open door in the darkness. Beyond the sitting room was Angelica’s bedroom. He knew her door was open, too. The baby was only part of his restlessness, he admitted. He’d wanted Angelica from the beginning, and to have her lying in bed just a few yards away … She had the ability to infuriate him one moment, and make him laugh the next. She had called him Danny, and nobody, not even his mother, had the audacity to do that. And yet he liked hearing it from her lips.
She had said they were engaged.
He had realized she’d said it to make a stronger case for their temporary custody of the baby, yet it had unnerved him. The idea of being engaged to Angelica, and then married to her, sharing his bed with her every night, taking care of their child …
A snuffle followed by a thin cry caught his attention, and he bolted upright. No false alarm this time, he decided, and grabbed his glasses off the nightstand. Getting out of bed, he struggled into his robe, then rushed into the sitting room. As he flipped on the brass floor lamp next to the door, he could see Angelica already at the crib, lifting the baby into her arms. He stopped and stared at the breathtaking sight of her cheek touching the baby’s as she soothed him with low murmurs. Her robe was open, and the white cotton nightgown she wore was expensive and incredibly sexy, hinting at her curves, rather than revealing them.
“Angelica,” he whispered.
Angelica looked up at the sound of her name. Dan stood just inside the threshold of the sitting room. His robe exposed a deep V of furred, muscled chest before being belted closed at his waist. The robe’s hem ended at his knees, revealing strong bare calves and feet. She wondered if he wore anything underneath the bathrobe.
A heavy mist curled through her at the thought. Unable to stop staring, she watched him walk toward her. He stopped by the side of the crib, so close to her that she could feel the heat of his body. He didn’t say a word, and she couldn’t seem to find her voice to protest his closeness. She sensed that he was going to kiss her. He lifted a hand as if to touch her, and she was helpless to stop him. Her gaze was riveted to his mouth as he slowly bent down.…
The baby squirmed, bringing her back to reality.
“I’ve got him, Dan,” she said, finding the strength to turn away. She wasn’t sure if she should be grateful or frustrated at the baby’s presence. “Go back to … sleep.”
He shook his head, as if clearing it. “It’s okay. I’ve been awake. Who could sleep with all the noise he’s been making?”
She smiled. “And I thought it was just me. The instructions say both ends should be taken care of. I’ll change him, and you get his bottle.”
“Let me change him,” Dan said, holding out his arms. “I haven’t done it yet.”
“That’s okay. Just get his bottle.”
“Angelica, are you going to fight me on everything?” he asked in exasperation, lowering his arms.
She bit back a retort and said calmly, “I wasn’t fighting with you. I only meant that each of us could take care of one of the jobs. Why do you always turn my words into a fight?”
“I wasn’t. Look, why don’t we change him together?”
She frowned, glancing down at the baby. He wasn’t screaming, just fussing a little. “Okay. Get a diaper.”
“Right.”
She laid the baby down on the floor and knelt next to him as he kicked his feet. The room seemed to dip, and she swallowed to dispel her sudden lightheadedness. She’d done all-nighters at law school and felt more wide awake than this.
Dan returned with the diaper and knelt beside her. “Now what?”
“Unpeel the tape and pull off the diaper.”
She unsnapped the baby’s brand-new one-piece Izod sleeper and pushed it up past his waist. Lord, she thought. Izods for the Yuppie baby. She loved it. Nodding at Dan, she peeled back the tape on her side at the same moment he did his. The baby waved his arms and smiled, clearly enjoying the attention. An odor, distinctive and strong, rose up from the diaper. Angelica immediately reclosed it.
“You know, you’re right, Dan,” she said in a rush. “You really should change this diaper—”
“Oh, no, you don’t,” he said. “I saw what was in there.”
“But I’ve done it once already.” She didn’t add that it had only been wet that time.
“Well, you’re on a roll, and I wouldn’t want to spoil that,” he said magnanimously.
The baby began to fuss again, the novelty of lying on the floor hav
ing worn off.
Angelica sighed. “Do it together?”
“With a lot of baby wipes.”
They managed together to get a new diaper on the baby. They also used an entire box of wet cloths to do it.
Angelica shuddered as she gingerly picked up the offending garment. Arm outstretched, she got up and desposited it in the farthest wastebasket. She couldn’t quite believe it was three o’clock in the morning and she was changing diapers … and actually liking it.
“If Mom could see me now,” she muttered.
She helped Dan get a bottle ready and bit back a plea to be allowed to feed the child. She knew he wanted to do it. Once he and the baby were settled in a plush armchair, she sat down opposite them and watched him feed the infant. She liked watching him, she admitted. His movements seemed so sure and confident, while she felt clumsy and awkward handling the baby. Oh, well, she thought, she made up for it with enthusiasm.
As she continued to gaze at Dan, she began to wonder what it would be like to feel those hands, so gentle with the tiny being they held, coursing down her body. Those long, tapered fingers finding her breasts, her waist … lifting her, turning her …
He looked up at her, and she froze in horror that her thoughts had been read. He smiled, not a smirk of knowledge, just a genuine smile of respect and gratitude. She realized an unspoken truce existed between them—if only a momentary one. It had started with the baby, and it hurt to admit that when the baby was gone, the truce would be gone too.
“How do we manage to do the bottle together?” he asked. “Shall I pass him over halfway?”
“I don’t think hell be happy about that,” she said. “You keep him for this one.”
He nodded.
She was silent for a moment, listening to the quiet of the night. “Doesn’t it feel like we’re the only people awake in the world?”
He chuckled. “Tiger here probably delights in that.”
She suddenly realized that Dan might be seeing someone, or even be truly engaged to a woman who would not be too happy with a second fiancée. Dammit, she thought. Her cousin had never mentioned anyone was with Dan, but then her cousin might have felt it wasn’t her business. “Ah … I hope this won’t cause too much disruption in your private life, Dan.”
