A Bride for Jackson Powers (Desire, 1273)

by Dixie Browning

  “It probably wouldn’t have cost any more to get me a ticket back to Oklahoma City. I’d have paid you back.”

  “Not a chance, honey. You wouldn’t have made it out anytime soon, and I don’t want you hanging around this place any longer. The clincher is that I already had two tickets to Norfolk. I bought Sunny and her carrier a separate seat, but legally she’s still young enough to fly on my ticket.”

  “Then why did you buy two?”

  “Because it’s a damned long way from California to Virginia,” he snapped. “Hetty, are you doing this deliberately?”

  “No, I only want to be sure I know all the details before I commit to anything.”

  Her father would have whopped her across the face long before now. Jeannie would’ve locked herself in her room with a pack of cigarettes, a jar of peanut butter and a telephone. Patience wasn’t a word that could be used to describe either of them.

  Jax took a deep breath and went over it all again. “I’m going to have to find a baby-sitter, a house and a housekeeper, in that order. Meanwhile, I’ll be transferring as much of my caseload as possible to Jason.” He’d mentioned the junior partner of his small maritime law firm before. “I’m not sure I can do all that needs doing while I’m holding a baby in one arm.”

  “Well…I don’t know,” she stalled.

  He took one of his daughter’s tiny feet in his hand. “See, Sunshine? What’d I tell you? Stubborn as a mule. You sure this is the one you want?”

  Hetty didn’t want to smile, because she was still terribly uncertain if this was the right thing to do. If he had an ulterior motive, she couldn’t imagine what it could be.

  And if he didn’t…well, she might be disappointed, but it wouldn’t be the first time.

  As if taking her acquiescence for granted, Jax began gathering up Sunny’s paraphernalia, his coat and briefcase. “Face it, Henrietta, we both got lucky. If the weather hadn’t fouled up, I’d be in Norfolk now, trying to figure out how to juggle work and single parenthood. You’d be cruising the Caribbean in all your fine feathers, breaking hearts and fielding proposals.”

  She muttered “horse manure,” which was tantamount to surrender.

  Jax knew it, too, judging by his tired grin. Hetty said, “Well, all right, but it’s strictly temporary. And I’m only doing it for Sunny’s sake, because she deserves someone who knows something about babies.”

  “Great! What do you have to lose?”

  What did she have to lose? Only everything. She might act foolishly on rare occasions, but she was no fool. She was wildly attracted to a man who would use her until he no longer needed her, then walk away without a backward glance. Because in spite of her fancy clothes and new hairstyle, Hetty knew she wasn’t the kind of woman men looked back at.

  The fact that she’d literally slept with him a few times didn’t help matters. He’d been aroused, but that was a normal, male-morning thing. She’d been aroused because…well, just because. Naturally they hadn’t made love, but she couldn’t help wondering what might have happened if the circumstances had been different.

  Neither could she help wondering about Sunny’s mother. Had they been married? Was he divorced? Separated? Had she died? Was he still in love with her?

  “Well,” she said decisively, having made up her mind to look on the practical side. It was a job, and she needed employment, even temporary employment, if she was ever going to get back to Oklahoma. “I guess it won’t hurt to delay my own plans for a few more days.”

  They boarded some forty-five minutes later. The plane was filled to capacity, carry-on baggage limited to Jax’s briefcase and Sunny’s bulky diaper bag. They’d checked the carrier at the gate. The flight attendant promised milk and snacks the minute they reached cruising altitude and slipped Jax a package of pretzels for Sunny to chew on.

  Lost in their own separate thoughts, neither spoke as the plane picked up speed down the runway. They lifted off, and Hetty closed her eyes, clinging to the armrests in a white-knuckled grip. Not until they were in the air did she release the breath she’d been holding.

  Moments later she felt two distinct thuds somewhere in the belly of the monstrous plane and fought panic all over again.

  Jax covered her hand with one of his own. “Relax, it’s only the wheel flaps.”

  “I knew that,” she said, trying hard to turn abject fear into a joking matter.

  “Sure you did. It’s when it doesn’t happen that you start to worry.”

  “Yes, well…I didn’t notice it when we left Oklahoma City, but that was back in the old days, when flying was still an adventure.”

  He chuckled and settled Sunny more comfortably on his lap. He’d taken the window seat at Hetty’s insistence when she’d told him she’d rather not see how far off the ground she was. “As soon as the seat-belt light goes off, you might want to check out the john. I’ve heard there’s real soap there.”

  “No shower?”

  “Don’t be greedy.”

  “Okay, I’ll go first and wash up, but if they start serving before I get back, grab me two of everything.”

  “You got it.” His smile was tired, but warm. “Don’t know much about airline food, do you?”

  “Enough to know it’s better than no food at all.”

  She would like to believe there was more than amusement in his smile, but then, she’d read somewhere that extreme hunger could make a person delusional.

  The flight was surprisingly uneventful. “Those people across the aisle are sleeping,” Hetty murmured. “I don’t think I could ever be that blasé about sleeping in public.”

  “I dunno, you did pretty well on the floor back at O’Hare.

  “Only because I was exhausted and there was nowhere else.”

  “Actually, there was a hotel, but by the time I could get a bid in, it was filled to capacity. We were probably better off where we were.”

  “I couldn’t have done it alone. I mean, sleeping and all.” Her color had improved while she was devouring chicken à la airline. Now it flared up again. “You know what I mean,” she mumbled, embarrassed, and Jax assured her that he did.

  He was still trying to convince himself that he wasn’t making a mistake. He’d used Sunny as an excuse, but his secretary could’ve arranged some interim solution. There were bonded temps for almost everything these days.

  The practical side of his brain said it was a logical solution to both their problems.

  Another side—the same one that had prompted him to buy the Lizzie-Linda, was whipping out warnings he was trying hard to ignore.

  The plain truth was, he wanted her. Not the glamorous creature he’d mistaken her for at first, but the unpretentious woman he’d discovered as he got to know her better.

  Or maybe it was the combination that intrigued him. He had never before met a woman who was both naive and experienced. Who looked like a high-fashion model, but whose hands had obviously done their share of manual labor.

  Hell, she’d even done Sunny’s laundry in the rest room. Washed her blankets and a couple of sleepers, scrubbing her knuckles raw to make up for the lack of soap.

  He could almost see her as one of those pioneer women who plowed and planted alongside their husbands, who bore children and raised them and grew old well before their time. She might look frail, but hers was the strength of endurance.

  God, he hoped he wasn’t making a mistake. He didn’t know where this thing was leading. He knew where he wanted it to lead, but the more he was tempted, the warier be became. Walking away from an affair with Hetty, if that’s where this ended up, would not be a simple matter.

  Sunny was sleeping when they touched down and taxied up to the gate, her little belly filled with warm milk, scrambled eggs and biscotti. She continued to sleep while they waited until after the worst of the crush was past, then followed the last few straggling passengers. She was turning out to be a surprisingly hardy little sprout.

  Jax left them at one of the ground transportatio
n exits while he went to collect his car. Now that her ordeal was nearing an end, Hetty was almost too exhausted to move, but Jax was counting on her to take care of Sunny, so she braced her shoulders and tried not to think about a long, hot soak and a soft, clean bed.

  The Sunny-filled carrier was heavy, but Hetty didn’t dare set it down, not with so many people hurrying past. Poor mite was beginning to fuss again. Wet, probably. There’d been no room to change her on the plane, and no clean diapers. She suspected Jax was used to flying first class, where there was more room, but on this particular airline there was no first class.

  “Here he comes, sweety pie,” she said, spotting the familiar dark head dodging buses, taxis and shuttles. “It won’t be long now.”

  Jax took the carrier from her, tickled his daughter under the chin and said, “It won’t be long now, we’re in the home stretch.” He took Hetty’s arm, cautioned her to watch the curb, then his hand slid down, and he laced his fingers through hers, leading her to an elegant dark sedan.

  Catching sight of an attractive woman staring at him with hungry, speculative eyes, Hetty felt a surge of possessive pride.

  Talk about courting disaster.

  The first few evening stars were visible when he pulled up in front of the hotel and handed his keys over to the valet. Calling ahead from his car, he had booked a suite of rooms: two bedrooms, two baths, with a living room between. “I ordered a crib set up in your room, is that okay?”

  “Certainly. That’s what I’m here for,” Hetty said quietly.

  Jax was no longer quite so certain why she was here, but this was no time to delve into ulterior motives. Hers or his own.

  The bellman let them into the suite, set down their luggage, which consisted only of a briefcase and diaper bag, then adjusted the heat, palmed a tip and left.

  Jax loosened his necktie, which by now was beyond redemption. “I’ll keep watch here while you freshen up. Why not look over the menu first and tell me what you want. I’ll order us some supper.”

  Hetty had already checked out the bathroom. “It’s going to take a long, hot soak to freshen me up. Half an hour, at least, but first I’d better see what I can do about Sunny. What do you think, a hand towel? It’ll be bulky, but at least it’s dry.” She lifted the drowsy baby from the carrier. “Come on, sugar-bun, let’s make you all comfy and then Poppa will go find you some milk, cereal and lots of nice, dry diapers.”

  Jax opened the small refrigerator. He produced a bottle of orange juice and set it on the bar. “Poppa?” he repeated softly.

  “She can’t quite manage father yet. Oh, good, she’ll love orange juice. Robert did.”

  Jax had heard about all he cared to hear about her stepgrandson. To hear her tell it, Robert was practically scholarship material before he was three months old.

  But he didn’t say so, because he wasn’t churlish by nature, and because he didn’t like what it implied about his present state of mind.

  Once she’d finished settling Sunny, he handed her a menu and watched while she read over the offerings, scanned them again, then mentioned the cheapest thing listed.

  He called in the order, adding two appetizers, two desserts, a pot of coffee and a bottle of wine.

  “Is half an hour too long?” she asked anxiously. “I could just shower.”

  “Take all the time you need, this time of night, room service will be pretty slow.”

  “I’ll make it quick, just in case.”

  He’d ordered wine. Hetty didn’t drink beer, wine or anything stronger, not with her early introduction to alcoholism, but she didn’t make an issue of it. At the moment she lacked the energy to make an issue of anything.

  Not until she lowered herself into the steaming tub of water did it strike her that sleeping with a stranger on the floor of a public building was one thing, but sharing a meal and a hotel suite with the same man was something altogether different. Especially now that she’d got to know the man behind those Hollywood handsome looks. She liked him. Not only was she wildly attracted to him, she genuinely liked him.

  She’d liked Gus, too, of course, and learned to love him for the sweet, decent man he was. And while Jax was sweet and decent, what she was beginning to feel for him bore no resemblance to the mild, pleasant relationship she’d had with her husband.

  Hetty told herself she’d do well to mind her p’s and q’s. And then she spent the next five minutes soaking in heavenly bliss, trying drowsily to remember what p’s and q’s were. She vaguely remembered reading about it somewhere in the distant past. Something to do with typesetting….

  “Hetty? You all right in there?”

  “Wha—?”

  “If you’re going to fall asleep in a tubful of water, I’d better see if I can find you a pair of water wings. Supper’s here, in case you’re interested.”

  Jax heard splashing and muttering, then heard water gurgling down the drain. “There should be a bathrobe behind the door,” he called through the door.

  “I didn’t even think—yes, there is. Thanks, I’ll be out in two minutes.”

  She was as good as her word. Jax knew damned well he had dined under more difficult circumstances, but at the moment he couldn’t recall when or where. Sitting across the small table from a woman who was wearing only a thick white terry cloth robe, her wet hair wrapped in a towel, her bare feet propped on a third chair, was enough to get a rise from a dead man. And Jax wasn’t quite dead yet.

  Worried, yes. Bone tired, too, which was only to be expected. But damned if she didn’t turn him on doing no more than gnawing a chicken bone and licking her fingers.

  “Did you find diapers and formula?” Earlier, leaving Sunny asleep in her crib, he’d called through her door that he was going to check out the drugstore just off the lobby.

  “Laid in a supply.”

  “She’s been amazingly patient. Pass me the ketchup, will you?” A grand cru chablis and ketchup on her fries. The lady was an enigma. “Robert was always colicky,” she remarked.

  “Is that a fact?” He tried to look sympathetic, but he couldn’t help feeling smug. He was going to have to watch this baby-pride stuff, or he’d turn into one of those parents who hauled out snapshots at the drop of a hat.

  “Babies react to tension just like anyone else. My mother-in-law was sick the whole time I had Robert—well, actually more incapacitated than sick, but she demanded a lot of attention. And I was worried about Jeannie, so it was probably no wonder Robert cried a lot. Poor little thing, he was such a fussy eater.”

  He couldn’t help himself. He grinned. New fathers were allowed a little latitude, weren’t they? “Sunny’s pretty unflappable. That’s a sign of a well-adjusted personality, wouldn’t you say?”

  She glanced up at him through a sweep of long, golden-tipped lashes. The look was innocent, mildly speculative, not at all flirtatious. “Not necessarily. Jax, if I’m supposed to be looking after her these next few days, is there anything I should know? About her background, I mean?”

  A few days? Jax didn’t remember setting any limits. He considered satisfying her curiosity, told himself it was none of her business, then said, “Carolyn’s perfectly normal, healthy, no allergies or health problems, mental or physical, that I know of. And in answer to the questions you’re too polite to ask, she and I had a brief affair about eighteen months ago. I didn’t know her well at the time and haven’t spoken to her since, until she called to tell me we had a daughter.”

  Looking thoughtful, Hetty reached for one of the triple-chocolate sundaes topped with raspberry sauce. “So why did she give away her baby?”

  “She didn’t ‘give her away,’ as you put it. She’s leaving the country for an extended stay and decided Sunny would be better off in a more stable situation.” He didn’t mention the fact that if he hadn’t taken her, Carolyn had planned to put her up for adoption.

  “That’s so sad. For Carolyn, I mean. I can’t imagine anything more painful than having to give up a child. I only had Ro
bert five months, but leaving him was the most painful thing I’ve ever had to do. Did you tell her that people travel all the time with babies? They’re remarkably adaptable.”

  “I didn’t tell her anything. I don’t know whether they’re adaptable or not. I took Sunny because I want her, and now, if the interrogation is finished, shall we polish off the wine?” He’d had three glasses. She had barely tasted hers.

  Sunny’s adaptability evidently had its limits. Jax woke in the middle of the night to hear Hetty softly crooning the song about looking glasses and mockingbirds. Pulling on his slacks, he moved silently to the door and opened it, wishing he’d taken the time to go across town to his own place to pack a bag. He hadn’t, only because it would have been unfair to Hetty, as she hadn’t had time yet to shop.

  He made a mental note to call Lina, his secretary, first thing in the morning and have her take Hetty shopping. The thought of outfitting her from the skin out triggered images he could do without. Even so, for a long time he stood and watched from the shadows of the doorway.

  She was still wearing the bulky terry cloth robe. She couldn’t have slept in the thing, it would hog-tie her the first time she rolled over.

  Unbidden, his imagination took over once more, screening pictures of a nude Hetty sliding between silken sheets. He happened to know she slept on her side. She didn’t snore, but when she was deeply asleep she made soft, puffy little noises with her lips.

  He swore softly and backed away. If just seeing her like this got to him until he was so hard he hurt, he’d damned well better start looking for a house and a staff before he did anything else.

  If he was going to get involved—big if—he would have to be sure it was for his own sake, not his daughter’s. Not that he was even considering marriage, but if he did—another big if—it damn well wouldn’t be any marriage of convenience.

  “‘Hush, little baby, don’t you cry, Mama’s gonna rock you bye and bye.”’

  Rocking chair. Yeah, he’d see about getting one of those, too, he told himself as the whispery sound of Hetty’s voice followed him into the bedroom.