by Tessa Radley
Maybe it was time to let a little of his tightly leashed control slip.
The idea of letting his control slip became even more attractive as Nick followed Candace through the rose-covered archway and down the pathway to the landscaped parklands by the lake. He couldn’t help but notice the pert curve of her bottom under the fitted, narrow black jeans. Her long legs picked up speed when the path dipped as they approached the water’s edge, causing the stroller to roll faster and faster. In the breeze her blond hair streamed like a banner over her shoulders.
When he caught up to her at the edge of the lake, she wasn’t even breathing hard.
“This is a wonderful spot.” She knelt down and pointed at the water. “See the ducks, Jennie?”
At last he’d done something she approved of. Nick couldn’t stop the surge of pleasure.
Jennie was sitting bolt upright, starfish fingers pushing on the arms of the stroller, her eyes wide with excitement.
For the first time since leaving his office, Nick started to relax. This might work. There was still a chance for them…for him and Jennie.
More than a chance.
Resolve set in and Nick’s jaw firmed. He had a responsibility to Jennie. He’d agreed to donate his seed for the baby Jilly wanted, even though he knew, almost to the day, that Jilly had changed her mind. She’d stopped talking about their baby…started talking about her baby. Initially, it hadn’t sunk in that she’d found another donor…a lover. Hindsight was twenty-twenty.
Yet after Jilly’s return from the fertility clinic on the Southeast Asian island of Namkhet, he’d been sure of it. It wasn’t his sperm that had impregnated Jilly….
But Nick no longer cared. All that mattered was the baby leaning forward in the stroller, her eyes gleaming with delight. So vital and full of life. The child everyone believed to be his daughter. He spared a glance at the woman kneeling beside the stroller. Candace had made her opinion clear—he didn’t deserve Jennie. But what did her opinion matter? Jennie could be his daughter…all he needed to do was accept her. He’d already made a start. It was proving to be much easier than he’d ever imagined—and the rewards were pure pleasure.
And little Jennie didn’t know it was a lie. To Jennie he was the only father she’d known.
Nick vowed that he would make it work. He would prove Candace wrong. He was the only family Jennie had.
A pair of black swans glided toward them, long necks gracefully arched. Candace started to smile as Jennie beat her arms up and down and let out a squeak. Even Nick grinned at the baby’s antics.
“Sorry, no food.” Candace spread her hands out as the swans slowed in front of them.
“Look, there are even eels,” Nick said as an inquisitive nose poked out the water. “See?” Jennie was all eyes. “Want to take a closer look?”
Not liking the sound of that, Candace said quickly, “She’s fine in the stroller.”
But Nick ignored her warning and unclipped the restraint. “Come on,” he told Jennie. “I’ll show you.”
Jennie hung out of his arms as he hoisted her up, her arms flapping frantically. Little breathless puffs of baby excitement filled the air, and Candace clambered to her feet. “Nick, this isn’t a good idea—”
“Don’t be such a killjoy!”
Ducks crowded around, craning their necks, beady eyes fixed on him. In the water, the swans paddled in one spot. Nick laughed, shrugging aside the cautioning hand Candace placed on his arm as Jennie gurgled with unrestrained glee.
“Just look at her.” With Nick reveling in the baby’s amazement, Candace didn’t have the heart to spoil the moment. “Next time we’ll bring bread,” he promised the baby.
More ducks were scrambling out of the water.
“Nick, that’s probably close enough.” Candace cast an anxious glance at the water’s edge. “Those are geese coming—and they can be quite aggressive.”
“Jennie’s having the time of her life. And so am I.”
There was no suitable response to that. Candace let out the breath she was holding and tried to stop hyperventilating about the way Jennie was hanging over his arm. He wouldn’t drop the baby, she told herself. He really wouldn’t…
So why couldn’t she relax? She ought to be thrilled Nick was having such fun with Jennie, yet Candace couldn’t stop fretting as she cast a wary glance along the grassy bank to the trio of advancing, honking geese.
In Nick’s arms Jennie gave a squawk. The geese slowed. He chuckled. “That’s my girl. Give ’em hell!”
Candace frowned, but forced herself to bite her lip and say nothing.
“Look—” Nick took a step forward and pointed “—more ducks.”
Unable to stop herself, Candace hurried up beside him. “Careful, don’t drop the baby!”
Nick returned his hand to Jennie’s waist, anchoring her securely against him. To Candace’s increasing annoyance, he ignored her and murmured to Jennie, “Those are woodland ducks. I used to feed ones just like that in the creek near my grandmother’s cottage when I was a boy.”
After a second, Candace’s curiosity got the better of her. She knew so little about Nick, and what she’d read in the business newspapers and gossip pages mentioned nothing about a grandmother. It made him seem more human. “You lived with your grandmother?”
“Yes, she was a tough lady with a heart of gold. She never complained when I’d sneak a loaf out of the pantry to feed the ducks, even when times were tight.” Hitching Jennie higher up against his shoulder, he said, “What about seeing if there’s anything on the café’s menu that’s suitable for Jennie?”
Candace waved to the stroller where it stood surrounded by ducks. “I’ve got a tumbler with diluted juice she can have, and some apple slices…if the ducks haven’t gotten to them. We don’t need to go to the café.”
“I still owe you a coffee by way of an apology.”
Candace gave him a measuring look “Oh, all right then.” Then realizing he might well be affronted by her lack of enthusiasm, she added, “That would be nice.” And it would have the added bonus of getting them away from the water’s edge where Jennie’s flock of new feathered friends hovered.
She held out her arms for the baby. Nick hesitated for a fraction of a second, then surrendered Jennie. Candace stepped backward.
“Careful!”
Nick leaped forward as she stumbled. Candace teetered, grabbing at him with one hand, clinging to the baby with the other, her eyes fixing on Nick in fright.
“Jennie!” she pleaded.
For a split second Candace was aware of the solid warmth of his body, the heavy thud of his heart, before the sobs of her own panicky breath drowned it all out, and Nick’s arms locked around Jennie. Jennie was safe.
To Candace’s horror, Nick started to slide along the grassy bank down to the water, Jennie still clasped in his arms. He landed with a dull splash, feetfirst in knee-deep water.
The baby didn’t even squeak. Instead, Jennie was hanging over his arm, reaching for the surface of the lake.
Nick was laughing. “None of that,” he said as Jennie flapped her arms furiously, frantically trying to free herself from his grasp. “No swimming today.”
Candace didn’t think it was the least bit funny.
Yet looking down at Nick, water rippling around his suit pants, his Italian shoes totally submerged beneath the lake’s reflective surface, she felt a stab of totally inappropriate desire. Jennie had almost landed in the lake, and she was lusting after Nick Valentine?
What was wrong with her?
“That was close!” she said, as her breathing slowed.
Nick chucked the little imp under her chin and Jennie gave him a toothless smile.
“She’s fine.”
She forgot that he’d swept the baby to safety. Anxiety and lust coalesced into anger. “It’s not funny—she could’ve fallen in.”
His smile faded. In a blink he was back to the distant, narrow-eyed businessman. “I wouldn’t have you
drop her.”
She suppressed the flare of resentment at his suggestion that she’d almost dropped Jennie, when he’d been the one to take the baby out of the stroller in the first place. “You might not have been able to stop it.”
“I would’ve done everything in my power.”
Nick placed one foot on the bank, Jennie still squirming in his hold. “Hey, stop it, miss. You will end up going swimming if you carry on like that!”
“Nick!”
At her warning shriek, Nick glanced up.
“Look out!” Candace was almost incoherent with apprehension. “The geese.”
He jerked his head around as Jennie’s fingers jabbed in the direction of a goose who’d silently paddled up behind them. He swung the baby away, but it was too late. Jennie’s wail rent the air.
Rushing to the water’s edge, Candace blocked his way as Nick clambered back onto the bank.
Jennie was screaming, her face cherry-red with protest, her hand limp.
Candace reached for the pecked fingers. “Let me see!” Her head bent over Jennie’s reddened finger. “Ouch.”
“The skin’s not broken.”
His words set a torch to her already frayed emotions. “Don’t be so callous!” Nick started to object, but she overrode him. “It’s going to need cleaning. Heaven knows what might’ve been in that bird’s beak.”
“The café has a bathroom where you can clean it up, and I’ve got a first-aid kit with some antiseptic in the trunk of my car.”
Candace glared at him. “I’ve got a rudimentary first-aid kit in the stroller—enough to deal with this.” She drew a shuddering breath, stunned at how quickly everything had happened—and at the extent of her fear. “Jennie should not have been taken out of the stroller.”
Nick stared at Candace in disbelief. “Now it’s my fault? She wanted to get out.”
“She could see perfectly well from where she was.”
“You’re overreacting,” he said tersely.
A fresh wave of anger flooded her. “She got hurt because of you.”
“Oh, please. That kind of thing is a normal part of growing up. It happens.” He was studying her in a way that made her grow tense. “You’re shaken up. I’ll take Jennie and clean her up.”
What was he getting at? Was he implying she was too emotional to do her job, to look after Jennie? “I’ll do it! You can bring the stroller and the first-aid kit.”
To Candace’s distress, Jennie’s wails grew louder as they stormed along the winding pathway up the rise to the café. The little body huddled against her was rigid with outrage.
As he waited for Candace to return from tending to Jennie’s pecked finger, Nick couldn’t stop thinking about Jennie’s puckered-up little face glaring at him accusingly over Candace’s shoulder as she’d been borne away.
Candace was right.
Jennie had been hurt.
And he could’ve—should’ve—avoided it.
Sometime in the past twenty-four hours he’d connected with Jennie. Nick silently promised himself that in the future he was going to make sure he spent more time with the baby so innocent of the treachery surrounding her conception. And, as little as he wanted to admit it right now, he had Candace to thank for opening his eyes to the fact that his life—what was important in it—was getting away from him.
By the time Candace and Jennie joined him at the table in the sunny sheltered spot outside the café, Jennie had stopped crying. After Candace secured her in the stroller, the baby lay back and focused intently on the Micky Mouse Band-Aid wrapped around her finger.
Nick winced. “Is it very bruised?”
“A little red. But no bruising—and no blood.”
“That’s a relief.”
A black-skirted waitress who’d been hovering while Nick waited took their coffee order. As an afterthought, Candace added a request for biscotti.
“Jennie will enjoy chewing it—the teeth coming through have been niggling her.”
Nick glanced at the baby. The stroller had been angled so the hot February sun didn’t fall on Jennie’s face, but her eyelids were drooping. “The biscotti might have to wait. She looks sleepy.”
Candace leaned forward across him and a hint of that sexy, spicy perfume wafted over Nick. It was becoming all too familiar—and so was the intoxicating effect her closeness had on his senses. He inhaled slowly and resisted the urge to stroke back the curl that had fallen over her face.
“She’s already asleep.” Candace couldn’t hide her astonishment. “The shock and tears must’ve tired her out.”
Nick sensed implied accusation. “It’s been a long morning for her—an outing to the doctor, the ride in the car, the fresh air and the excitement of seeing the ducks. It all added up.” He fixed his gaze on Candace, challenging her to mention the mishap with the goose.
Her lips pursed and she sat up straight. “There’s something you need to know.”
Folding his arms behind his head, Nick rocked back on his chair and gave her a lazy smile. “What is that?”
“I haven’t been completely honest with you.”
His smile disappeared. “What do you mean?”
Nick thought about Candace’s alarm when the goose pecked Jennie. It had hardly been the cool composure he would’ve expected from a nurse. Alison had sworn her references had been top rate. Was she a fraud? Not a nurse at all? Had she taken his sister in? “Don’t tell me. Not only are you not a nanny, you’re not a nurse, either.”
“I am a nurse—I’m fully qualified to take care of Jennie,” she said quickly.
The way his stomach dropped forced Nick to take a steadying breath. How bad could it be? “Spit it out.”
“I’m Jennie’s biological mother.”
Nick blinked. Whatever he’d expected, it wasn’t this. It took a moment for him to absorb her statement, and once he’d digested it, the tension in his belly unwound like a compressed spring uncurling and he let out a shout of laughter. “Don’t be absurd!”
“I’m not being absurd. I am Jennie’s mother.”
Nick took in the set of her pink mouth, the sparkle in her eyes—and lust, wholly unwelcome, surged in his groin. Giving her a slow smile, he lowered his voice and murmured, “Do you honestly believe I would’ve forgotten making love to you?”
“No!” A flush stained her cheeks. “I don’t mean you…” Her voice trailed away.
“Yet you claim to be Jennie’s mother.”
Disappointment flooded Nick. The woman might look like an angel, but she was the worst kind of fraud. A fallen angel. He didn’t know what she was after yet, but Nick was sure he would find out. All it would take was patience—and he’d always possessed plenty of that. He settled down to play her for all he was worth.
“Yes, but—”
“But? You’re suddenly no longer so certain?” Nick raised an eyebrow to express his disbelief. As she rushed into speech, he raised a hand to cut her off. “Before you sink yourself any further, you should know that even though I was away on a string of business trips while Jilly was pregnant,” he emphasized, “I certainly never messed around during my marriage.”
“I’m not implying—”
“Then what are you suggesting?” he asked silkily.
“Jilly is not the baby’s mother. I am.”
She spoke Jilly’s name with easy familiarity. As if she’d known her…
Nick’s eyes narrowed.
Was it possible that the connection between the women was his late wife’s lover—Jennie’s father? Was that what this whole charade of pretending to be Jennie’s mother was all about? This must be what she’d been hinting at when she’d told him earlier that she wanted to talk to him about Jennie.
“So let me get this straight. Are you trying to say that Jennie was switched at birth?” Nick drawled.
“No.”
“What do you mean, ‘no’?”
“I agreed to be a surrogate mom.”
It wasn’t possible. Canda
ce had to be lying!
Nick’s initial amusement had been replaced by impatience. He knew she was going to lose this battle. The sooner he got this crazy woman out of Jennie’s life the better. “Look, I don’t have time for this—”
“You don’t have time for your daughter’s mother?”
He’d had enough. Nick rolled his eyes and rose to his feet. Taking his wallet, he drew out a fifty-dollar bill and a business card. He held them out to her. “For a cab—when you leave. But first go to my office, it’s in the block at the entrance. My assistant will have a check ready by the time you get there, together with severance pay. I’ll call her now to arrange it.”
Candace made no move to take the card or the money. He shrugged and dropped them on the table. A downward glance revealed that Jennie was still asleep in the stroller. If luck was on his side she’d remain that way until he’d gotten her home and called an employment agency to hire a new nanny—one he’d vet himself this time. If worse came to worst, he’d call his sister.
He wheeled the stroller to the cashier inside the café, greeted her by name and asked her to call a cab. Without question she reached for the phone. Nick smiled and waved to the manager on the opposite side of the coffee shop, and pushed Jennie back out into the sunshine.
“Wait.”
A hand came down on his arm. Nick brushed her off and kept walking, stroller trundling in front of him. About twenty yards down the path, Candace rushed in front of him, blocking his way, and this time she grabbed his arm with enough force to ensure he wouldn’t easily shake her off.
Her eyes were intense and angry, spitting smoke. “You’re firing me? For being Jennie’s mother?”
Nick glared back at her. “I might not have been there at Jennie’s birth, but I sure as hell saw that Jilly was pregnant! I’m firing you for being a charlatan…a liar…a fraud. Take your pick. Just count yourself lucky you hadn’t raised the issue of money yet or we could’ve added blackmailer to the list.”
He glanced pointedly down at feminine fingers spread on his arm, but what she said brought his eyes back to her face in shock.
