The Twin Birthright

by Catherine Mann

  “Because for the next six weeks, I’m moving in to be your nanny.”

  Four

  This place was a sight for sore eyes. Or rather more accurately, a sore heart.

  In her family’s six-bay garage, Naomi cast a glance at Royce, the silent giant who’d taken over her life.

  For a man who wanted solitude, he’d sure thrown himself into the fire, signing on to be here with her girls and her family. She had help. Sure, they all worked and she didn’t want to impose. But she had a wide support system.

  Yet she hadn’t been able to tell him no. She needed to know what was really behind this crazy offer of his to be the girls’ temporary nanny.

  She fumbled with the diaper bag, trying to remain as quiet as possible. Waking up the sleeping babies fell low on her list of things to do. The massive garage ran the entire length of the back of the house, and sounds tended to reverberate off the top-of-the-line SUVs and snowmobiles in the space.

  Exhaustion gnawed on her as she made her way around the SUV Royce had rented. Royce. A nanny. Her nanny. For better or worse.

  “Royce,” Naomi whispered, shrugging her damp braid over her shoulder. “Just so we’re clear, this is temporary. Tonight only, because it took us so much longer to sign out of the hospital than I expected—and longer again to get here with the sleet outside. I don’t want to wake up my family. If they all roll out of bed, it will be forever before we can get to sleep.”

  And she knew she was making excuses, but as far as excuses went, it was a solid one.

  He simply nodded, hefting both baby car seats and then shouldering the vehicle doors closed. Anna snoozed on, but Mary flinched in her seat. Royce froze.

  Naomi didn’t dare breathe.

  With a tiny sigh, Mary settled back to sleep again.

  Naomi picked her way down the hall, making sure they didn’t disturb the sleeping household. She could practically do the walk to her room in her sleep. The familiar path was as natural to her as breathing. She led him up the stairs, past a great gallery wall of childhood photographs. A repository for all that was familiar.

  But as she approached the elevator to her suite, she noticed more photographs. New ones, of Jeannie and her family. Naomi’s world was expanding and fracturing all at once.

  She heard a voice drifting softly from the study. Her sister’s voice. Someone was awake, after all. Naomi could send Royce on his way.

  The disappointment hit her hard, right in her riotous hormones.

  Then Birch Montoya’s voice joined Delaney’s. The man was a new investor in their family’s oil company, a shark who had butted heads with Delaney on her environmental concerns. “You don’t have to disagree with everything I propose.”

  “Well, Birch...” Delaney’s voice rose. “If any of it showed a care about the environment, then I wouldn’t argue.”

  Royce’s eyebrows shot up. He tipped his head toward the home elevator leading to her suite. Naomi eyed the door to the library where her sister was working...

  Or rather arguing. Loudly. She looked over at the babies, then up at Royce. And she couldn’t deny she was using the argument behind that library door as an excuse to do exactly what she wanted.

  To spend this first night playing house with Royce.

  * * *

  Royce adjusted his grip on the car seats, evaluating the weight of the babies. How strange it felt to hold them as he moved into Naomi’s suite. How silent the elevator ride had been, his head filled with memories of a time he’d expected to bring his own child home. Plans and dreams made. Nightmares that followed. And lingered.

  He rubbed his bleary eyes to clear his thoughts. He needed to keep a level head and be present for Naomi. He’d half expected her to call her family to drive to the hospital to transport her and the twins, but the lengthy checkout time, lateness of the hour and desire to go home had apparently won out.

  A nursery had been added to the suite since he’d been here last. Gray and pink accent colors surprised him, though the logical part of his mind knew there’d have to be an addition made to her living quarters. Still, the newness caught him off guard. The babies’ room hadn’t been here when they’d broken up. When he’d left here for the last time.

  Back when he’d stayed here, the nursery had been an enclosed balcony where he and Naomi had spent a lot of hours together talking. And more.

  Now, two pewter-colored cribs flanked a plush glider. Bookshelves were decorated with overstuffed toys and tons of books. There was no trace of their former life.

  Did she think of those times anymore?

  Better not to think of the past at all. Best to focus on the future.

  He turned away from the nursery and thought of how this coming home could have been so very different. Peering into the car seats, he saw that the twins still slept. Good. He made his way to the double bassinet in Naomi’s room, where the girls would sleep for the time being. “I’m going to run down and get the rest of your luggage.”

  And a bag he’d packed for himself.

  “Are you sure you don’t mind? I feel like I’m imposing.”

  “I wouldn’t have offered if I minded. I’ll be right back.”

  He jogged down the steps, finding all quiet in the waterside mansion. Unusual, to say the least. Even the study had gone silent. Birch and Delaney must have settled their argument. The two were at constant loggerheads. Birch kept his focus on the company’s financial bottom line. Delaney had her eye solidly on protecting the environment.

  Royce entered the garage and pulled the two cases from the rented SUV, then turned to head back to Naomi’s suite, where he’d once stayed overnight often. But now they’d grown so far apart she hadn’t even shown him the nursery.

  Shuffling one of the bags under his arm, he reentered, elbowing the door closed again behind him.

  Returning to Naomi’s quarters, he found her bent over the bassinet. Her dark hair fell in waves, an aftershock of her earlier braids. The glossy silk framed her radiant face as she watched Mary sleeping. Cradling Anna in her arms, she rocked back and forth, hips seeming to glide against the fresh sea green nightgown.

  A pull of familiarity. Of normalcy.

  Being together this way was almost like they’d once imagined the aftermath of the girls’ birth. Well, except they’d planned to have their own house and be married. So really, not much that mattered was the same.

  Naomi eased into her glider chair and toed it into slow motion, patting Anna’s back. “The house is so quiet. I guess Delaney and Birch must have finished up their work.”

  “Do you want me to get your sister?”

  “No, don’t bother her. Everyone else will wake up and... Honestly, I prefer this to a big to-do. There will be plenty of attention in the morning. I’ll be more rested then.” She looked at the babies. “Well, I know they’ll have me up through the night, but at least I won’t have the nurses coming in all the time, too.”

  “I’m here to help you as much as you need. You know that.” He wondered what her family would say when they saw him in the morning.

  What did he want them to say? To think? Damned if he knew, beyond figuring out some way to settle the raw, torn-apart feeling between them. Neither of them could continue working together this way.

  “For tonight. Just tonight. That nanny business was a cute line, but really?”

  “Really. We shared an intense time, and you know as well as I do there hasn’t been...closure. We still have to work together.”

  “Closure, huh? That’s what this is about?”

  “What else would it be about?”

  She stared at him through narrowed eyes before finally shaking her head, then yawning, her hand over her mouth.

  “I’m too tired to discuss this any longer. Thank you for the help tonight so I didn’t have to impose on my family more than I’m already going to
be imposing these next few months.” Her face changed from exhaustion to something lighter, happier as she put Anna down in her bassinet. She lingered over her child for a moment before turning to face Royce.

  The weariness flooded her eyes again as she looked above him to the ceiling, wooden beams stretching the width of the room. “You and I can talk in the morning right before you go back to your place.”

  “Uh-huh.” He checked Mary in the other bassinet, watching the even rise and fall of her chest, avoiding Naomi’s reference to the morning.

  Naomi cleared her throat softly. “I’m not going to be distracted.”

  He wished he knew a way to dissolve all the tension between them. Royce pulled back the comforter on her bed before cupping her shoulders, fighting the urge to linger, to stroke his thumbs along the silky skin of her neck. “Rest.”

  “Why is it I win in the courtroom—” she sighed, sinking to rest on the edge of the mattress “—but you always manage to outtalk me with just a handful of words?”

  “Not always.”

  Her eyes filled with sorrow and she clasped his wrist. “I’m sorry.”

  “Me, too.” And he was. He just didn’t know how to fix things. And he sure as hell didn’t want to move her hand from him. He’d missed her touch. More than he’d realized.

  She eased her hand away, clenching her fist in her lap. “I still feel I’m being selfish in keeping you here.”

  “I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t want to be.” He patted the pillow. “Are you going to use this bed? Because if not, I will be more than happy to sack out—”

  Chuckling, she swung her feet up. “Fine. And thank you again for everything.”

  “You’re welcome. I’ll be right out there on the sofa if you need me.”

  She sat up straighter, winced, then said, “On the sofa? So you really mean to stay the nights here, too?”

  “I’m a very dedicated nanny.” He grasped the door handle. “Now sleep.”

  * * *

  No one had warned Naomi how exhausted she’d be after giving birth. Okay, maybe people had, but she clearly hadn’t grasped the full depth of the bone-weary feeling that would overwhelm her. A part of her wondered if the fatigue came from her exposure to Royce. To that future she’d missed out on when their relationship fell apart.

  Despite all that, she managed to sit at the breakfast table with her family, take in all the chatter like it was just another average day.

  Delaney held Mary, while Glenna and Broderick introduced their daughter, Fleur, to her new cousin Anna. The rest of her family made diplomatic small talk at the other end of the table—and avoided mentioning the fact that Royce had filled a plate of food and gone back upstairs with the excuse he needed to catch up on work. She saw well enough how the crowded dining room made the corner of one of his eyes tic.

  The night had been a blur of waking up to feed the babies, then falling asleep again, only to wake up what felt like seconds later. Royce had been such a help throughout, making things go faster by changing and burping each girl while she fed the other.

  “Did you and Birch settle the work issues last night?”

  Delaney looked up fast, then set her fork down slowly, Mary cradled in her other arm. “What do you mean?”

  “I wasn’t eavesdropping, but when I got home last night I couldn’t help but hear the two of you arguing, something to do with business.”

  “You shouldn’t have to worry about the office right now. Just focus on recovering and enjoying those adorable babies.”

  Naomi waved her hand dismissively, then tapped her temple. “I still have a brain—albeit an exhausted one. I care about the family business. And I feel guilty that so much is falling on your shoulders.”

  “Glenna and Broderick are helping. And Trystan Mikkelson has been a surprise thanks to Isabeau’s good influence. I bet fatherhood smooths those rough edges on him even more.” Delaney picked her fork up again to chase food around her plate.

  “I just want to make sure our interests are protected.”

  “You’ll be back at the office soon enough.” Delaney shot her sister a sidelong glance.

  “And are you sure things are okay? He can be quite...a shark.”

  “I have a handle on him.” Delaney refilled her china coffee cup and set down the silver carafe, leaning forward to whisper, “What about you and Royce?”

  Loaded question. With all the calmness she could muster, Naomi said in a flat voice, “He says he plans to be the nanny for the next six weeks.”

  Delaney’s eyes went wide, and she placed Mary carefully in the portable bassinet, her attention now 100 percent on Naomi. “Nanny?”

  “I know, right?” Shoveling some scrambled egg into her mouth, she bought herself some time before talking. “The breakup was difficult for both of us. I think he sees this as closure. Or obligation to the babies. That’s been a worry all along, actually. I figure he will give up in a week. Two weeks tops. The lure of a full night’s sleep with no diaper changes will win.”

  Even thinking of him walking away hurt.

  “Maybe,” Delaney said skeptically.

  “Definitely.”

  “It’s romantic that he offered.”

  Naomi’s heart thudded in her chest, painfully so. “There’s no romance. I just had twins. And I did deliver them right in front of him.” Now that the rush of the moment had passed, she couldn’t help but feel...embarrassed? Unveiled? “It’s different somehow than if he’d just been there holding my hand in the delivery room.”

  Although he had been mighty amazing, considering the situation. A rock.

  “Romance is about more than sex.” Her sister sounded very definite about it.

  “I know that.” And in some ways, that’s what made Naomi the saddest about the breakup with Royce. Wondering if all they’d had was physical. That her heart had been so...confused by attraction. She considered herself a woman of logic and she’d been led by her libido.

  “Just checking.”

  In spite of everything, something spurred her to blurt, “The sex was really good, though.”

  “Then I guess it’s a lucky thing you can’t be tempted by Royce, since you’re looking at six weeks of postpartum recovery.” Delaney raised the coffee cup to her lips, appearing utterly unconvinced.

  “Thanks for the reminder I have a flabby body and lactating breasts. Definitely not a temptation for him.” More of that embarrassment stung her.

  “That’s not what I said. I meant that this is a time the two of you can get to know each other better—without sex clouding the issue like it did before, when you two jumped into a relationship too fast.”

  “That sounds judgy.”

  “Trust me, I’m the last one to pass judgment on that subject.” Delaney attacked the food on her plate.

  Naomi tried to read her sister’s expression, but that was tough to do when she kept her eyes averted. Interesting. “Delaney? Do you have something to share to distract me from the fact that I’m exhausted and my former fiancé has moved in to be my temporary nanny?”

  She glanced up, a blush spreading across her cheeks. “Nothing.”

  Apparently there was more than one person keeping secrets in this family. “The least you could do is help distract me from my exhaustion and wrecked love life with some juicy tidbits from your world.”

  Delaney crinkled her nose. “Nothing to share,” she insisted, clearly lying. “How about we cuddle these adorable babies of yours some more? By far the most interesting event going on right now.”

  Naomi relented, unable to argue with people pouring love out for her children. She reached into the bassinet by the table and passed Anna to Delaney.

  Seemed that everyone had secrets and a love life.

  And Naomi had a sexy male nanny she couldn’t sleep with who only wanted her for her babies. />
  Five

  When Royce signed on for the nanny gig two weeks ago, he hadn’t expected that would take them to the Steele corporate headquarters with the twins in tow.

  Naomi had gotten an emergency call from the office asking for information to deal with a handful of crises. He could see how torn she was between work and her children, so he’d suggested taking the babies to the workplace, where he would help with them while she handled business.

  The relief on her face had been so intense he managed to stifle frustration over having to trudge with her to the company headquarters. With luck, he could use the opportunity to throw in some hints about the benefits of a home office. Absolutely his preferred work environment.

  Naomi was using Glenna’s desk, since her sister-in-law was working from home today. The space was also larger than Naomi’s—and already stocked with baby gear for Glenna’s daughter. The setup surprised Royce, but then he’d made a point to spend as little time as possible here, doing his research off site and coming in only for boardroom reports.

  How was it that he’d spent so little time in Naomi’s workplace?

  Royce held Anna against his shoulder, patting her back, while Naomi nursed Mary and handled her business call simultaneously. She’d already addressed legal issues with firing an employee. Then she’d scanned documents from some drama-causing Florida investor.

  None of which could have been easy, since Glenna’s assistant had retired and the replacement had only just started. Naomi’s assistant was out for major surgery, so she and Glenna were sharing.

  So much upheaval, yet Naomi made it all look effortless.

  She was such a dynamo. A mesmerizing dynamo.

  “Dwight,” she said into the phone, patient but firm, “the contracts were emailed a month ago, with hard copies sent, as well. You were out of the office for quite a while before I went on maternity leave.” She paused, nodding her head, her lips getting tighter. “I only received your questions today. So let’s work on addressing them—”

  She went silent again as the voice on the other end of the phone rose, talking faster. Ranting. Naomi tucked the phone between her ear and shoulder and passed the baby over to Royce, mouthing thank you.