Three
Alexa had been extraordinarily fussy all day.
Jack paced around the condo with her in his arms as her screams got louder and angrier. What was he doing wrong? He’d checked the usual cause of unhappiness—wet diaper—and tried a bottle, but she’d refused it. She hadn’t slept in hours.
Neither had he, for that matter. It was almost midnight on Saturday night.
His anxiety mounted. He thought she seemed hot, so he took off her little sleeper. Maybe that would make her happier.
But she shrieked louder than ever. He paced around the table in his dining area so many times he was sure he’d worn a path. God, what could be wrong? He knew next to nothing about babies before Alexa. Now he knew almost next to nothing.
He wished he had Frannie’s expertise and years of experience. He’d bet Frannie would have Lex happy and gurgling in her usual good-natured way if she were here.
The thought barely registered in his brain before he knew what he was going to do.
He fumbled the phone book out of the drawer, found her number and punched buttons with his thumb.
One ring. Two rings. Oh, no, he’d forgotten it was the middle of the night. She was probably sleeping.
Or out on a date.
“Hello?”
He’d never felt a rush of relief so sweet. He didn’t know whether it was because he needed help or because he knew she wasn’t out with some other guy, and he didn’t much care. “Frannie? Hi, it’s me. Jack. I’m really sorry about the time. I forgot it was so late, but the thing is—”
“What on earth is wrong with that baby?” Her voice sounded alarmed.
“I don’t know,” he said, speaking loudly to be heard over the screaming. “I’ve tried everything I can think of. I thought maybe you could suggest something.”
“Do you want me to come over?”
“Please. That would be great. If it’s not too much of an imposi—”
“I’ll be there in ten minutes.”
On her end, the phone clicked off abruptly.
His knees felt weak and he sat down before he fell down. Lex was still screaming bloody murder, but now he could handle it. Frannie was coming.
Her van whipped into his driveway exactly eight minutes later. He knew because he was counting. How many traffic laws had she broken? Didn’t matter. He’d gladly pay every ticket she incurred.
“Let me look at her.” That was all the greeting she offered. He surrendered his screaming niece to another pair of arms and waited expectantly.
Frannie had barely touched Lex’s little body when she raised her head, and the look on her face scared him to death.
“What is it?”
“She’s burning up with fever. Jack, call your doctor right now. I’m going to put her in a cool bath and sponge her down until you talk to him.”
He scrambled for the phone again, listening as Frannie carried the screaming baby up to the bathroom. It occurred to him that she would need towels, but as the doctor’s answering service came on the line, he decided Frannie would find anything she needed.
Twenty minutes later they were on their way to the hospital.
The nurses in the emergency room steered Frannie to an exam room the minute they walked in. Frannie didn’t even hesitate as she carried the infant down the hall. A doctor walked toward him, explaining that he had spoken with Jack’s doctor and that he’d be examining Alexa.
He nodded. He was dying to be back there with them, but first he had to stop at the desk and give them his insurance information.
As soon as possible, he joined Frannie in the exam room. She stood against a wall, arms folded tightly over her chest, as a doctor and nurse bent over Alexa, who was shrieking and screaming on the table. Without speaking, he slipped an arm around her shoulders. Just that simple action was comforting. He didn’t feel so alone, or so terrified.
They had a diagnosis in under ten minutes. Alexa had whopping infections in both ears.
He felt like the lowest of the low as the doctor handed him a prescription. “We’ve given her a little medication to bring that fever down and knock out the pain. Once that takes effect and I’m satisfied the fever’s on its way out, you can take her home. Right now, you could go and have this filled. There’s an all-night pharmacy right across the street. Your wife can stay with the little one.”
He caught Frannie’s startled glance out of the corner of his eye, but he didn’t even bother to correct the guy. If she really was his wife, they probably wouldn’t be here right now. She would have known Lex’s personality change wasn’t sheer contrariness, but a sign of illness. She would know about diaper rash and when to start solids, about shot schedules and growth curves and developmental delays... all the stuff he’d been reading about in the few spare moments he’d had since he became Alexa’s father by default.
If he were to marry again, not that he was considering the idea, Frannie would be the type of woman he’d choose, he thought as he waited for the pharmacist to fill the prescription. She loved Alexa, and she knew stuff about raising kids that he’d never even heard of. Their sex life would be fantastic. At the mere thought, his body went on full alert—and he did mean full alert, he thought ruefully, so that he had to turn hastily and examine the display of literature on the wall near the pharmacy. If he wasn’t careful, the lady pharmacist was liable to have him arrested as some kind of pervert who got off reading medical pamphlets.
So enough about what it would be like to sleep with Frannie every night. Even the idea of falling asleep with her snuggled close against him was appealing.
Forget it. Wanting to be close was what got you in trouble the last time, dope. Why would you want to set yourself up to get shot down again?
The answer was simple: he wouldn’t.
With prescription in hand, he jogged back across the street and into the emergency department. Seeing him, the girl at the desk smiled warmly and stood. “I think they’re ready to go.” She disappeared, and in a few minutes Frannie came out through the swinging doors from the E.R.’s interior, carrying Alexa.
He held up the bag to show Frannie he’d gotten the medicine, suddenly feeling incredibly weary. Alexa wasn’t screaming anymore, but the sound of her pained cry would haunt him for a long time. Why in the world hadn’t he realized she was hurting? It didn’t take a rocket scientist to be a parent, even a half-decent one. Which, no doubt, was what Frannie would say.
The little receptionist who’d greeted him a moment ago held the door open for Frannie. She beamed again, dimples flashing in her rosy cheeks when she saw Jack. “I hear this little one isn’t your daughter. She’s so precious. And you’re so lucky to have a wonderful friend to call on.” The girl advanced on him as Frannie started for the door. “Here’s a card with the number of the hospital to keep by your phone in case you need help again. And my number is on the back. If there’s anything I can do, just give me a call. I’d be happy to help anytime.”
Jack took the card she extended without even glancing at it. “Thanks very much. I’ll keep that in mind.” The girl gave him one more toothy, cheerleader smile as he held the door for Frannie.
He eyed Frannie’s back as he strode after her. When he reached her side, he slowed to match her pace. “I know what you’re thinking. That wasn’t my fault. Did you see me making eyes at that girl?” Frustration colored his voice, and he forced himself to take a deep breath. He had the feeling that she would sprint in the opposite direction if he tried to make her understand he didn’t even want to look at another woman these days. Finding he still held the white card in his hand, he methodically ripped it into tiny shreds and dumped it into a trash can they passed.
Frannie turned and looked at him, and to his amazement, she was laughing. “You do not know what I was thinking.”
“Ha.”
“Really,” she insisted. “I was thinking that I can’t imagine being as forward as that woman. She homed right in on you, buddy.”
“Too bad,” he muttered. He didn’t see one thing amusing in the incident.
“You need sleep,” she told him. “I’ve never seen you grumpy before.” As they reached the car, she waited until he opened the door for her to strap Lex into her seat, then opened the front door for Frannie. As she stepped into the car, she looked up into his face and he saw she was still laughing. “It’s kind of cute.”
Cute? She thought he was cute? He chewed that one over as they drove back to his condo. It wasn’t a very manly word; he probably should be offended. But it was the first sign she’d given him that she didn’t find him completely objectionable, and instead of growling some more, he felt a bubble of satisfaction growing inside him.
Frannie watched Jack warily as he unlocked the condo door and ushered her inside. He was looking awfully smug about something. He made her nervous when he got that look on his face. She’d already learned it meant he was hatching some idea.
To cover it, she said, “I think you’ll be able to get her to sleep after she has a bottle. She must be exhausted. You’re supposed to start her on the antibiotic immediately but keep giving her pain reliever for about twenty-four more hours.”
Alarm flared in his eyes. “What if she starts to cry again? Couldn’t you stay until she’s asleep?”
She glanced at her watch. “Jack, it’s one-thirty in the morning. I have a busy day tomorrow. I have to get some sleep.”
“You’re working on Saturday?”
“Until the end of June and the mad rush to the altar subsides, I work every day.”
He grimaced. “I’m really sorry for calling you. I didn’t stop to think.”
She stifled a yawn. “It’s okay.”
“Why don’t you stay here?”
It surprised her, and she knew it showed. “Stay here?”
“It makes sense. You can get some sleep, but if Lex and I need help, you’ll be here.” He took her hand in his free one, and his eyes were earnest when he gazed down at her. “Please, Frannie. You can have my bed and I’ll take the couch.” Then he grinned, and the Jack she knew was back again. “Unless, of course, you’d like to share the bed. That makes even better sense.”
“Only to you.” She forced the flippant words out. How was she supposed to refuse when he was looking at her like that? Even though she knew the man could talk a Frenchman into buying California wine, he got to her. And when he was this close, touching her, seducing her with his mere presence, she didn’t have a chance.
“All right.” If she agreed, then she could put a tiny bit of distance between them, at least. “But you’re sleeping on the couch. You can pretend to be a gentleman.”
“It’s a deal.” His broad chest expanded and fell again. The mere fact that he didn’t parry her verbal jab told her a lot about his mental state. “Thank you. I’ll never be able to thank you enough for all you did tonight.” He didn’t release her hand, but lifted it to his lips, and she felt the moist, sweet caress of his mouth against the back of her fingers. “Come on. I’ll get you some fresh towels.”
It was a good thing, she decided, that he hadn’t noticed the involuntary shiver that seized her at the contact. As she followed him up the steps to the second floor, she told herself it was just a physical thing. She hadn’t had a date, hadn’t been kissed by a man in so long that all it took was one little innocent gesture to get her heart pounding and put a funny, aching sensation deep in her abdomen.
He guided her toward the master bedroom at the far end of the hall. On the way, he pointed out a spare bedroom, which he used as a home office, and a third bedroom which had been turned into Alexa’s room.
It didn’t look like a room for a baby girl. Unadorned and bare, a crib, a changing table and a zillion boxes were its only decor. “I want to wallpaper it after I unpack all her things,” he said with a sheepish grin, “but there don’t seem to be enough hours in my days anymore.”
“It won’t get any easier.” She looked at the child, dozing now in his arms. “The older she gets, the busier you’ll be.”
“Thanks for the encouragement.” His tone was wry as he laid the baby gently in the crib, covering her with a pink blanket before moving toward the big bedroom that she knew was his. “Here’s where you’ll sleep.” He switched on a light. “There are T-shirts in the top drawer of the dresser and an extra blanket in the closet.”
She nodded, trying to act casual as the silence stretched. The enormous water bed that dominated the room seemed to magnify the fact that she was alone in a bedroom with Jack.
His eyes were on her, but suddenly she saw that they weren’t actually seeing her. His eyes were glazed and he practically sweated dejection. He looked...really, really bad. Exhausted, certainly, but something more.
“Are you all right?” she asked.
He shrugged and shook his head like a dog coming out of water, then sat down on the edge of the bed. “I guess.” He didn’t sound convinced. Then he looked straight at her and his gaze was focused, intent. “Do you think I’m doing the right thing?”
“The right thing...?” Inviting her to sleep in his bed?
“Yeah. Do you think I should keep Alexa?”
The question staggered her. The direction of his thoughts began to coalesce in her head. “Of course you should keep Alexa. Didn’t you tell me you are the only family she has left?”
He nodded.
“She needs you, Jack.” Frannie perched beside him on the bed. “Family is important.”
“I know. That’s what I told myself when I applied for custody. But tonight...tonight showed me just how bad I am at this parenting stuff.” He looked at her, and she read anguish and despair in his gray eyes, sorrow that made her want to pull his head to her breast and comfort him as she would a child. “She had a mother and father who loved her. They never thought they wouldn’t live to see her grow up.”
The sorrow in his voice reminded her that Alexa wasn’t the only one who’d lost someone dear to them. Jack’s brother had died. She didn’t know what to say, so she followed her instincts. Turning to him, she put her hands as far around his wide shoulders as they would go and pulled him to her. It was an awkward embrace; he was so much bigger than she. But he was still in need of comfort and she certainly knew how to offer that.
“Do you know what I’d give to bring them back? For her sake?” His voice was muffled against her hair. “I’d give my own life for that baby girl in there to have her parents again.”
“Sh-h-h.” She stroked the back of his neck, feeling the warmth of skin give way to the soft stubble of his short hair under her hand. “It doesn’t work like that. You can’t trade one life for another, as much as you might wish you could. You just have to move on from here, think of how lucky Alexa is to have you.”
“Lucky? I damn near killed the kid tonight. I don’t know anything about raising children.”
“That’s an exaggeration.” She made her voice firm and authoritative, sensing that was what he needed right now. “So you didn’t realize she had an infection. Yes, she was sick and uncomfortable, but she wasn’t dying. And you’ve learned something from the experience. Now you know how to check for fever and what to do if she is hot. You know how to administer medication and you have some sense of when to call the doctor. You’re not going to kill her, Jack. You’re learning something every day. I was sur prised at how easily you handled her the day you came to see me. If you’d seen yourself that first day...” She chuckled a little at the memory. “Let’s just say you made me a little nervous.”
He drew back far enough to gauge the expression on her face. “I guess I’ve gotten a little better with her.”
“A little? Could you have changed a diaper a month ago? Mixed formula? Would you know which end to hold upright to burp?”
“Okay, I get the point.” She was relieved to see his eyes clearing. “I couldn’t have done any of those things without you, though.”
“Sure you could have. You might have learned them a little more slowly, but you’d have figured it out.”
“I’m glad I didn’t have to.” His deep voice was fervent. Then his tone changed. “Tell me about your family. Are your brothers older or younger than you?”
“All younger.” She slipped her hands down from where they still rested on his shoulders, aware of every warm inch of him only millimeters away. The position was far too intimate for friends who didn’t even know each other that well. “My mother died when I was twelve, and I helped my dad take care of the boys after that.”
“A surrogate mother.” He captured her hands when she would have drawn away.
“I suppose.” His thigh was warm and solid where it pressed against hers, his fingers big yet gentle. She was afraid her voice would show him how breathless she felt.
“How old were your brothers when your mother died?”
She thought for a moment, forcing her awareness away from the sensual promise in his proximity. “Eight, five and the baby had just turned two.”
She felt his interest quicken, honing in on her with an unsettling laser accuracy. “Holy smokes. That’s a big burden for a young girl.”
“I guess it is. You don’t think about that when something happens to your world.”
“I know.” His voice was dry. “So what did your father do when you graduated from high school? Did you go away to school?”
This wasn’t a period of her life she particularly enjoyed rehashing. She felt the weight of those years settle on her as if it were yesterday. “I was supposed to go to a clothing design school in Philadelphia. My dad had a heart attack in July the year I graduated from high school. He survived, but there was no way I could leave him alone to care for all three boys. I thought I’d wait until they were all a little older. But then he died the following spring and I became my brothers’ legal guardian.”
“So you delayed going to school again?”
She nodded, her throat suddenly too knotted with regret for words to come out.
Jack’s eyes were steady on hers, and suddenly the room was too small, too intimate. The air around them seemed to shrink inward, sealing them in a bubble in which nothing existed except intense, wordless communication. She didn’t know how it had happened, but her world had been cut apart recently, and when it was patched, Jack was stitched into the fabric of her days.
She thought of him too often. Too many times his face floated between her and the work she should be focused on. Too many times she’d caught herself sitting idle, scissors or needle arrested in midair as she wondered how Jack and Alexa were doing.
His thumbs caressed her knuckles as his eyes dropped to her lips, lips that felt parched and dry. Without thinking, she licked them, and a flame leaped high in his eyes as his head came down, blotting out the light.
Alexa’s fretful cry from the next room made her jump. Frannie asked herself what in the world she was doing? Frantically she turned her head.
Jack’s lips landed on her cheek, and she was shaken to her toes by the sweet scrape of his stubbled jaw against her neck. She froze, and so did he. In the quiet room, she could hear her own breathing mingled with the heavier rasp of his. More than anything, she wanted to turn her face to his, to let him take her and do anything he wanted with her willing flesh.
But she knew better. Jack came with all kinds of complications. He might not be the playboy she’d taken him for initially, but he definitely was not what she needed in her life.
She bounced up with all the false enthusiasm of a cheerleader celebrating a tie-breaking touchdown and turned toward the door. “There’s Alexa. It’s time for more pain medication, and she’ll probably be hungry. I’ll—”
“I’ll get her. You need to get to sleep.” Jack’s hands caught her at the waist as he stood, as well. He pulled her against him, and she gasped as his bold masculinity, solidly pressing into her belly, proclaimed his interest in her. His hard, lean frame was seared into her consciousness, and his hot breath feathered over her temple.
“Frannie.”
“What?” Her voice was a strained whisper; she dared not look at him.
“We haven’t finished this.”
She surfaced slowly from a deep, dreamless sleep. No, it hadn’t been dreamless. She’d been dreaming that she heard a baby crying.
But it wasn’t a dream. It was real. As she remembered where she was, she realized the sound she heard was Alexa.
She threw back the light cover and left the bed. As she turned toward the door, the glowing digital display of the clock announced that it was four-thirty in the morning. Alexa wasn’t screaming yet, just beginning to fuss. As soon as Frannie picked her up, she stopped, making little mewling sounds of relief.
“That’s my baby. That’s my girl.” She rocked back and forth, rubbing the baby’s back as she grew quiet, feeling the frantic squirming lessen. “It’s no fun waking up all alone, is it?”
With deft hands, she laid the infant down and changed her diaper, picking her back up before Alexa could get wound up again. When she put the child against her shoul der, Alexa began butting her head against Frannie’s collar bone. She recognized the signal—Alexa was programme to search for sustenance. “Are you hungry? I know you didn’t eat enough last night. Your poor ears were hurting too bad. Let’s go find your uncle Jack.”
The words gave her pause as she remembered the early morning intimacy they’d shared, but she brushed the memory aside. It would be tomorrow in just a few hours and she’d be gone with the first light. Jack hadn’t really mean those whispered words; he might have been aroused and determined at the time, but he’d think better of it in the morning.
Padding down the stairs with the child sucking furiously on her pacifier, she walked through the living room. Jack lay on the sofa, oblivious to their presence. He was on his stomach, with his face buried in one arm. The other trailed over the side of the couch and lay, relaxed and limp, on the carpet. The couch must have been purchased with his comfort in mind, she decided, because it was long enough to accommodate his whole length.
She couldn’t bring herself to wake him, so she tiptoed into the kitchen. He had to be exhausted after his frantic worry over Alexa and their midnight hospital tour. Why wake him when she was already awake?
Quietly she mixed a bottle of formula and heated it, then carried both the baby and the bottle up the steps. There was no rocking chair, no place even to sit in Alexa’s room, so she settled herself against a mound of pillows in Jack’s bed and fed her there. By the time the bottle was empty and Alexa was asleep again, Frannie was fighting to keep her own eyelids from drifting shut. The baby’s room seemed a long way down the hall, and they were both warm and comfortable... Scooting down, she laid the baby beside her and arranged pillows on the far side so Alexa couldn’t accidentally fall off the bed. She’d just keep her right here so she could hear her before she woke Jack the next time....
She was awakened by a fly landing just below her eat tickling. Still caught in the warm, drowsy state of hal sleep, she waved her hand to brush it away.
When a big, warm hand engulfed hers, she jerked and her eyes flew open. Jack’s face filled almost her entire field of vision as he lay propped on one elbow looking down a her.
She searched his dancing eyes for a moment. “What any you doing?”
He was sprawled across the other side of the bed, judging from the way the covers were pulled taut over her hips and blind panic surged as she remembered the baby “Where’s Alexa? She was sleeping right here with me.”
“She’s fine. I moved her over between those two pillows. When I woke up a few minutes ago, I thought I’d check on her. She was sleeping like a little soldier right here with you cuddled around her.”
Her body sagged as relief flowed through her. “I though for a moment you might have laid on her, or she rolled of the bed—”
“You worry too much.” He shifted closer. There wa something she needed to say to him...but his free hand rested warm across her soft belly and his face hovered above hers... She was shocked at how desperately she wanted to know his mouth, wanted his kiss, needed it to soothe the aching tingle that made her hands tremble as she put her palms up to his naked chest and stroked over the furred planes, over his collarbones and out, to the smooth muscles of his shoulders and upper arms. It was a taci gesture of acceptance; she was tired of fending him of when she really didn’t want to, and he read it in her eyes Slowly he lowered his head.
When his mouth covered hers, she nearly cried out in relief. For weeks now she’d wanted this, even if she hadn’t been able to admit it to herself. As his arms gathered he closer against him, she knew only that this had been between them, waiting impatiently to be acknowledged, since their very first meeting. She moaned, and he responded by smoothing his hand over her belly, sliding his palm surely up over the T-shirt to cover her breast in an intimate claim that, despite the thin layer of fabric that prevented true sensation, had her murmuring in delight and pressing closer against him. He shifted his weight to lie half over her, easing one leg between hers, and her body sang.
“I could get used to this.” His voice was husky and deep as he broke away from the kiss with a deep intake of breath. He nuzzled his way along her neck.
The words were an unwelcome intrusion into her easy, lazy, sensual haze. She stiffened as she came more awake, came more alert and realized that she was in Jack’s bed, with his weight sprawled across her and her arms around his neck. She pulled her hands away from the heavy muscles she’d been gently tracing. “Stop.”
Did he even hear her? “Jack, stop.”
Slowly he drew back a fraction to inspect her face, which probably looked as thoroughly kissed as she felt. He was silent for a long moment, and she couldn’t begin to guess at his thoughts but the look on his face froze her in place, temporarily shutting off her breath on a rush of caution. His normally open, friendly expression had vanished. His eyes were narrowed and intent; they glittered with silver fire. A brush stroke of red color rode high across each cheekbone, and he was breathing heavily.
She knew an instant of purely primal female vulnerability. He was all male at this moment, a taker, dominant and commanding. If he chose to disregard her words, she knew he could, without uttering a single word, finish the heated lovemaking these caresses promised. A taut moment passed. Then she felt his body relax where it was pressed against hers, though he still didn’t move.
His face relaxed, melted into the easygoing mask he wore for most of the world. A facade she now recognized bid an implacable will and a deep, fierce streak of determination.
“Sorry.” There was a smile in his voice, though his eyes were still watchful. “I woke up and came looking for Alexa. The sight of you in my bed overwhelmed my common sense.”
She snorted and pushed against his chest insistently, more sure of her ground now that he was teasing her again. The only way to get past this awkward moment was to joke. “Men are overwhelmed by my beauty all the time.”
“I didn’t say you were beautiful.” He rolled off her to lie beside her again, propped on one elbow.
The words were a slap in the face, the hurt unexpected and deep slicing. The good humor that had accompanied her mixed emotions at release vanished abruptly. She shoved at him, struggling to get away, to leave the bed, but he caught her wrists and held them easily in one big hand. Then he moved over her again, using his superior strength, forcing her to stay where she was.
She turned her face away, using the only avenue of escape he left her, and her body stilled against his. He was the worst kind of cad she’d ever met, seducing women he wasn’t even interested in. She’d die before she’d let him know how his kisses had aroused a huge, throbbing need in her, how even now her body was urging her to move beneath the hard demand of his.
“You didn’t let me finish that thought,” he said, and his words were hot puffs of molten air against her cheek.
She wouldn’t listen, wouldn’t even give him the satisfaction of indicating that she knew he’d spoken.
When he bent and set his lips against the pulse that beat in the side of her neck, her body jolted. She squirmed and shrugged to deny him access to the sensitive spot, but he only transferred his heated kisses to her jaw. He made an appreciative hum low in his throat and she realized he was enjoying her movements. “I didn’t say you were beautiful,” he said against her skin, “because that’s the wrong word to describe you.”
“Spare me your astute observations.” Turning her head, she glared at him.
“Don’t be obtuse.” For the first time she heard a hard edge in his tone, and when he raised his head, his eyes were pewter, dark and stormy, as he glared right back.
Ha! She knew it. Underneath that velvet glove was an iron fist. But what did he mean, telling her not to be—
“You’re a very desirable woman. You waltzed into my office in that prim little business suit, and all I could think about was how fast I could get your clothes off. A man senses softness beneath your surface and he wants it for himself. Beauty is a shallow word.” He paused, and his face relaxed into less rigid lines. “There’s nothing shallow about you.”
She swallowed, searching his eyes for truth. If this was a line, he was even slicker than she had given him credit for. If it wasn’t...
Why did he have to be so darned sweet? He was much easier to fend off when he was doing his macho male impression. She could feel herself yielding, losing the anger that had strengthened her resolve to resist him. “I have to get going,” she mumbled, looking away and avoiding his eyes as she pressed against his shoulders with her palms. “I have a lot of orders I want to work on today.”
“Okay.” In one lithe move, he was off the bed. He lifted her in his arms and then let her slowly slide down over his body until she was on her feet. Then, while she was still too shocked and aroused to even think of protesting, he took her by the shoulders, pulling her to him and sealing his mouth on hers in a deep kiss that immediately blazed into a hot, uncontrollable exchange of passion.
Her head fell back and her arms came up; she was moldable, malleable clay in his grip for one long second until suddenly he tore himself away. His chest was heaving, but his eyes were dancing with pleased complacency as he said, “Think about that while you work.”
He walked around the end of the bed and lifted Alexa from the nest of pillows, then strode from the room without looking back.
She dressed in the clothes she’d thrown on when he called last night, washed her face and decided not to bother with what little makeup she had in her purse, and did the best she could with her hair. Then she slowly went down the steps.
Jack was sitting in the living room feeding Alexa a bottle. The sight of the big man with the tiny infant in his arms did something funny to her middle, as it did every time. He looked up, smiling, as she hovered by the stairs. “You’re welcome to have breakfast before you go. I don’t have much, but there’s cereal and fruit.”
“No, thank you.” She hesitated. “Jack, I’m sorry for—that I didn’t—”
“I’m sorry that you didn’t, too.” His grin was rueful, but then it vanished and he regarded her with sober eyes. “Frannie...I like being with you. Not just because you’ve helped with Alexa. Not just because if you crooked your finger, we’d be in bed faster than you could say please. It’s a combination of a lot of things. But I have to be honest with you. I’m not looking for a relationship. At least, not for anything beyond friendship and a great time in bed.” He shrugged, and looked out the window. “It sounds bad, I know. But that’s all I have to give. And if you aren’t interested in more than the friendship part, that’s okay. I’d like to be your friend.”
“I’d like to be your friend, too.” Her voice was low. “But right now I don’t need the complications that anything else would create.”
“I can live with that.” His easygoing smile was back in place.
She was beginning to hate that expression. He slipped that mask on as if he’d had years of practice. Even his display of temper last night had been more honest, more real, than this. Where was the real Jack Ferris?
Crossing to his side, she regarded the baby slurping down her breakfast. “I’d like to stay in touch. I’m starting to feel like I have a vested interest in this little one’s future.”
“She’s going to need people who love her,” he said.
“How about if I call you in a few days. We can go out for a meal or I could cook, depending on how Little Miss is scheduled at the time. Just friends.” But there was a glint in his eye that made her swallow and be glad he had his arms full of baby.
She took a deep breath and the words poured out, even as she told herself she was doing something incredibly stupid. “That would be nice. But as a friend, how about if you come to my place and I cook? You have your hands full already. Is Thursday night good for you?”
He nodded. “Thursday night would be great.”