The Bad Girl and the Baby (Cutting Loose)

by Nina Croft

  He’d been in too much of a rush that morning to really process the huge coincidence that his new nanny, and the girl who’d got his dick hot and hard last night, were one and the same.

  He didn’t believe in coincidence. It made him twitchy.

  In a break between meetings, he’d even phoned the agency to check that the excellent nanny they had told him they were sending was actually the one that had showed up. They had assured him that Ms. Prescott had phoned in soon after she had arrived and confirmed she was on site with Lulu. Which relaxed him a little.

  And as he drove home, he finally admitted to himself the small flicker of excitement. He was very aware of how much time had passed since he’d been with a woman. But she was the first who had got through to him since his brother’s death, when his life had taken a turn for… It would be unfair to Lulu to say “for the worse.” Even thinking it made him feel guilty. But he’d never intended to have a family. He liked order, and Lulu was chaos personified. But sometimes you had no choice. He’d made a promise to his brother. Steven had been concerned with securing Lulu’s future. Had he had some portent of what was to happen? With their parents and sister across the world in Australia, Lulu’s only other relative was an aunt who was apparently totally unsuitable.

  But it was fair to say, while he’d not exactly put his life on hold—his career was moving forward in the direction he wanted, his dream job close at hand—his personal life had shuddered to a standstill.

  Last night was the first time he’d even thought about sex. And he’d woken up that morning with a raging hard-on. He’d jerked off in the shower, closing his eyes and remembering the feel of her against him. When he’d opened the door that morning and seen her standing there, he’d been gobsmacked. Almost speechless, he’d retreated to cursory instructions and gotten out of there fast.

  He sent up a silent prayer that Lulu had been good—or at least not a total monster—and hadn’t scared off his new nanny already. He couldn’t believe how much he was looking forward to seeing her again.

  Hell, was he going to be one of those clichés who fell for the nanny?

  Though there was no law against it.

  He was deep in some fantasy where Ms. Prescott thought Lulu was an angel, had somehow brought order to chaos, and she also fancied him like mad. She’d stay late, and after Lulu was tucked up in bed, she’d suggest a nightcap, and they’d sit on the sofa and her hand would…

  Jesus, he was pathetic.

  He pulled up in front of the house and switched off the engine.

  Just be cool.

  The place was quiet as he entered. No screaming, which was unusual. Everything looked to be in place. The kitchen was spotless and empty of people.

  He finally found his niece playing some sort of game on the floor in the living room. She glanced up, said, “woof,”—he guessed that was doggy language for hello—and went back to her game.

  Matt turned his attention to the woman and the smile froze on his face.

  A stranger was seated on his sofa. A pretty woman, probably around his age, slender with full breasts beneath a pink T-shirt.

  She got to her feet as she saw him, her eyes widening. “Captain Peterson?”

  “Matt,” he said automatically. Who was she? What had happened to his Ms. Prescott?

  She took a step closer and held out her hand. “Hi. I’m Diana Prescott. I’m sorry I missed you this morning, but Lulu’s aunt said you’d had to leave.”

  Okay, this was making no sense.

  He took her hand and shook it. “Lulu’s aunt?”

  A small frown formed between the woman’s eyes. “Darcy. She said you’d had to leave for a meeting. I’m sorry about that. My car had a flat. It won’t happen again. The agency did phone, didn’t they?”

  “Yes, they phoned. And no problem. What time did you get here?”

  “Nine o’clock.”

  Half an hour after he’d left. Aside from his little sister, Lulu only had one aunt. Darcy Butler, a woman with a tendency to violence, who had recently spent time in prison for attacking his brother—Lulu’s father. He was quite aware she’d been trying to get in touch with him, and he’d told his lawyer that there was no way that would happen. He’d presumed, from what Steven had told him about her, that she was just going through the motions. That she wasn’t the type to want to have anything to do with children.

  So what did she want?

  Maybe money? Or perhaps she just wanted to make trouble. Steven had hated the woman, saying she’d tried to break up him and Emma.

  She’d been at the club last night. How the hell had she even known he was going to be there? Because he no longer believed this had anything to do with coincidence. He’d have realized that this morning if he hadn’t been in such a rush. Then again, she hadn’t looked like the woman his brother had described. Last night, she’d been more conservatively dressed than most of the other women at the club. The same this morning—she’d looked more like a nanny than the vicious MMA fighter his brother had described.

  “Captain Peterson?”

  He realized he’d been silent for a long time. “How long did she stay?”

  “For about an hour. She played with Lulu while I tidied the place up.” She frowned. “Is everything okay? I normally wouldn’t let anyone into the house without your express permission, but she was here when I arrived, so I presumed…”

  He shook himself. “No, everything is fine. Look, there’s something I need to do. Can you stick around for a while? I’ll pay you overtime, of course.”

  “No problem. I can stay a couple of hours if that’s enough.”

  “Wonderful.” He crossed the room, bent down and kissed Lulu on the forehead. “I’ll be back in a little while, angel.”

  She stared up at him then her face crumpled. He hurried away and was closing the door as the first wail erupted.

  Once alone, he allowed his anger to rise.

  How the hell dare she creep around here, pretend to be someone she wasn’t? That was why she’d been watching him last night. It had nothing to do with being attracted to him.

  He pulled his phone out of his pocket and found his lawyer’s number. When he was put through, he asked, “Can you give me an address for Darcy Butler?”

  Goddamn fucking stalker.

  Chapter Three

  Matt glanced at the paper gripped in his hand. This was definitely the address his lawyer had given him. He’d been expecting a residential area, probably a rundown one. Steven had said that Darcy Butler was into all sorts of bad things—drugs, and God knows what else.

  His fury had risen on the drive over here. Then he hadn’t been able to find a parking space, and his temperature had shot up even further. He’d ended up having to park ten minutes away and it was eating into his two hours. Though what he had to say to Darcy Butler would not take long. Stay the hell away from me and Lulu.

  He’d come to a halt at what he thought was the right place. He glanced around—not a residential area at all, but a wide, prosperous-looking street lined with businesses. The one in front of him was a gym, but a smart one, with a big glass window—the sort of glass you couldn’t see through—with Butler’s Gym in black letters above the glass door. So he was in the right place. It just wasn’t what he’d been expecting, and that knocked him off balance.

  After pushing open the door, he stepped into a light, airy reception area. There was a counter across the wall across from him and a blonde sat behind it. She wore a black polo shirt with Butler’s Gym on the breast pocket, and she had a polite smile on her face.

  “Can I help you?”

  He took a step closer. “I’d like to see Darcy Butler.”

  “Is she expecting you?”

  “No.”

  “Take a seat. I’ll call through and let her know you’re here.”

  “I’d rather just go through.” He didn’t want to give her any warning. He’d rather catch her by surprise, the way she had him. “I’m her brother-in-law,”
he added when the woman looked doubtful.

  “Oh. Well, go on in, then. She’s in the main room, sparring. Through there”—she waved a hand at a door off to the side—“and first on the right.”

  Matt strode across and pushed open the door, finding himself in a corridor with several doors leading off. He took the first and entered a large room. There were probably about fifteen people, some working on punching bags around the edges, but most just standing, watching the couple in the central ring. They were doing some sort of freestyle mixed martial arts. Matt had been trained in hand-to-hand combat himself, but this was a whole different level. Almost like an art form.

  For a second, he didn’t recognize her; she looked totally different from the woman he’d met that morning. She was dressed in black leggings and a black tank top that left her flat midriff bare and showed off the red and black ink of tattoos snaking down her left arm. Her blond hair was no longer smooth but spiked up, and she wore a stud in her nose and a fierce expression on her face.

  And she was fucking hot. If he’d been attracted to her the night before, it was nothing compared to the heat that zipped through him now. And that just pissed him off even more.

  Deep down, he’d always had a hankering for bad girls. Maybe that’s what he’d sensed in her last night, a hint of what she was really like. It was the one aberration in his orderly existence. And he’d always ignored that hankering, because that’s not what he wanted his life to be about.

  She was barefoot, and she moved with grace and strength, whirling, kicking out, moving fast, so a fine sheen of sweat glowed on her pale skin. Her opponent was a man half a foot taller than her and twice as wide at the shoulders, with dark skin and dreadlocks. But despite his extra size, she was more than holding her own. In fact, she was winning, and the man was falling back from the continuous assault.

  Matt came to a halt below the ring. He wanted to stop the fight, because watching her was doing weird things to his insides. At the same time, he couldn’t make himself move. He swallowed, then shifted. There wasn’t an ounce of fat on her—she was all lean, graceful limbs. She’d gotten her opponent against the ropes now and wasn’t letting up. Then she glanced down, and her gaze locked with his. Her eyes widened, and she stopped for a moment. Her opponent took advantage of her distraction, pushed off from the ropes, and swiped her legs out from under her so that she crashed to the floor.

  Matt stepped closer, but then stopped himself. And waited. He could see the rise and fall of her small breasts.

  Her eyes blinked open. “Shit,” she muttered.

  Her opponent had come to a halt above her, staring down, a frown on his face. “What the hell happened? You never let me get the drop on you. Are you okay?”

  She pushed herself onto her elbows. “I’m fine. I just got a little distracted.” Her gaze shifted sideways to settle on him, but she didn’t meet his gaze. The man looked at him, eyes narrowed, then held out a hand to her. She ignored it and pushed herself to her feet. She crossed to the corner of the ring and picked up a towel from the ropes, wiping her face, no doubt giving herself time to decide what to say, how to defend what she’d done.

  Finally, she climbed out of the ring and came toward him. Her opponent followed, like some sort of bodyguard. As she came to a halt in front of Matt, she turned to him. “I’ve got this, Sam.”

  “You sure?” His dark gaze flicked suspiciously between the two of them.

  She gave a shrug. “This is Emma’s brother-in-law.”

  “The asshole’s brother?”

  What the hell did he know about Steven?

  “Yeah,” she answered.

  “Then maybe I should stay.”

  “I said I could handle it.” Now, she sounded pissed.

  The guy pursed his lips but gave a nod. “I’ll just be over here. Call me if you need me.” He turned his attention to Matt. “Lay a finger on her and you’ll feel the consequences. Got me?”

  Why the hell would he lay a finger on her? Did he look like the sort of man to hurt a woman? Hell, no. But before he could defend himself, Sam had already turned away. The guy was very protective. Was there something between him and Darcy? He didn’t like that. And he hated that he didn’t like it. She was nothing to him. And once this meeting was over, they would never lay eyes on each other again. It didn’t matter who she was seeing.

  Her eyes were blank, dark like bitter chocolate and tilted at the corners. Lulu’s eyes, he realized with a start of shock. Her skin held an ivory tint, her cheekbones sharp, her chin pointed—again an echo of Lulu. A stud pierced the side of her nose. This was the woman Steven had described; edgy and tough. Though beneath the toughness, he detected an air of vulnerability. Then it was gone, her eyes hardened, and she folded her arms across her chest, an image of sheer belligerence.

  “What sort of asshole lets a complete fucking stranger look after his kid?”

  For a moment, the words didn’t make sense. He’d been all ready to blast into her, and her attack knocked the words he’d prepared out of his head. “I thought you were the nanny.” Then he couldn’t believe he’d actually tried to defend himself.

  “And you hadn’t even met her? You hadn’t interviewed her? Found out if she was suitable? If Lulu liked her?”

  “I—” He broke off his words. He’d been about to defend himself again. “You had no right to come around my house and pretend to be someone you’re not.”

  “I didn’t pretend. You were in such a goddamned rush to get out of there, you almost dragged me in. You had no clue who I was. You didn’t ask for ID. I could have been a serial killer.”

  “Instead, you’re a very violent woman with a history of mental instability.”

  “What?” She shouted the word, and around them, the room went quiet and still. All eyes turned their way. Sam hurried across, but she made a cutting motion with her hand, and he stopped and went back to whatever it was he’d been doing—albeit slowly. And his gaze remained fixed on the two of them.

  Matt returned his attention to Darcy. Her lips were a tight line, but as he watched, she seemed to visibly take control of herself and her locked muscles relaxed.

  “I do not have a history of mental instability. If your brother told you that, he was a goddamn liar as well as a goddamn asshole.”

  “Oh, yeah. Then what was last night about? You must have been watching me. Following me. You know how messed up that is?”

  She shifted on her bare feet, a flicker of unease in her eyes. “I didn’t follow you.” She gave a little shrug. “I just had someone find out where you would be.” Then the unease was gone. “I wouldn’t have had to if you’d just talked to me. I’ve been trying for two months. But I keep getting fobbed off by your stupid lawyer.”

  He took a step closer and she held her ground. “That’s because I don’t want to talk to you. I don’t want to see you, and I don’t want you anywhere near Lulu.”

  “Why?”

  Was she crazy? “Because you’re not a fit person to be around her.”

  This time he knew he’d gotten through to her, and a stab of something—guilt maybe—jabbed him in the gut. But what the hell did he have to feel guilty about? He was only telling her the truth. She looked away for a moment, as if she didn’t want him to see what was in her eyes. Then she looked back. “You know nothing about me.”

  “I know enough. I just came here tonight to give you a warning. Stay away from me. Stay away from Lulu. Otherwise I’ll go to the police. I understand you’re on parole. I could make things very messy for you, and you’ll be right back inside, where you no doubt belong.”

  Without another look, he spun on his heels and headed for the door. For some reason he didn’t want to define, he felt like a complete shit. He wasn’t in the wrong here. He was pushing the door open when a hand came to rest on his arm, and he went still. Her fingers were long and slender, her nails short and unpainted. He turned slowly to face her. For a second, her expression was unguarded, and he saw pure hatred in her
eyes, far beyond what their encounter warranted. Maybe she was unstable.

  “You think you know me?” she asked. “Because of something your brother told you? Well, let me ask you something—how well did you really know your brother, Captain Peterson?”

  The question caught him by surprise. The truth was he hadn’t known Steven that well. They’d not been particularly close as children and then five years with a few thousand miles between them had caused a deep divide they’d never really tried to overcome. Maybe he should have made more effort.

  When he remained silent, she shook her head. “I have information about Steven you need to see.”

  “What information?”

  She gave a shrug. “I’m not going into that now, because I think we both need some time to cool down. But believe me—you’ll want to see it. And if you don’t, then I think it’s time to get a lawyer of my own involved.”

  “Are you threatening me?”

  She blew out her breath then swallowed. “Just meet me tomorrow morning, and I’ll show you. There’s a café across the street. Nine o’clock.” She bit her lip. “Please.” It sounded like the word was strangling her. “It’s important.”

  He shook off her hand, turned away from her, and was through the door before she could say another word.

  Chapter Four

  Darcy stirred her coffee. He wasn’t going to come.

  She felt like shit, but then, she hadn’t slept. Because she’d messed up. Again. She shouldn’t have lost her temper. She should have tried to be nice. Though she had said please—that word had nearly killed her—however contrary it was to her nature. But she’d been churning all day since she’d met Lulu. And then there he was and…

  The truth was, she’d convinced herself that all she needed to do was check that Lulu was safe and happy. Then she would have done her duty to her sister, and she could relax. She hadn’t intended to be part of Lulu’s life—though actually, that wasn’t quite the truth. She didn’t feel she deserved to be part of Lulu’s life. If she hadn’t screwed up that day with Steven, if she’d behaved in a more rational manner, then she would have been there for her sister. And Lulu would have had a mother to care for her, not some messed up ex-fighter, who hadn’t a clue how to tell one end of a baby from the other.