fourteen business days to receive the all-clear from the police.”
There it was again. That glimmer in her gaze. She seemed to enjoy delivering news that put a damper on his plans. Obviously, she realized there was no way he could wait two weeks before hiring someone to care for Hailey.
He rejoiced when an idea popped into his head. “I can send her to a day care temporarily until I’m able to find someone and get the background check completed.”
Sophia shook her head. “I doubt you’ll find a day care that’s willing to take a baby under six months old, and even if you do, infant spots are always on reserve. You’ll have to wait six, eight—” she shrugged “—ten weeks, maybe.”
He frowned. “You have an awful lot of doubts.”
“I’m only trying to help,” she told him.
“For some reason,” he murmured, “I have grave doubts about that.”
She chuckled, and the clear buoyancy he heard in it sent a strange tremor through his gut.
Confusion forced him to ask, “What’s funny?”
Her expression straightened. “Your joke. You just complained that I had lots of doubts. Then you said you have doubts.” She lifted her shoulders. “It was a cute joke.”
“It wasn’t a joke.”
She blinked. “Oh.”
She stood there, smiling. Then her smile slowly grew to a wide grin.
Michael had never thought of himself as dense. Quite the contrary. To achieve success in the cutthroat investment business, a person had to have intelligence, a quick wit and nerves of steel. However, he was left feeling quite lacking, indeed, when realization slowly dawned.
“Okay, I’ve figured it out.” His jaw tensed as he released a frustrated sigh.
Now he knew why her tone had reflected such self-confidence, even when he’d been in the midst of firing her. Now he knew why humor had sparkled in her eyes, and why she stood there grinning.
“No other nanny placement services in the city.” He began ticking off the list on his fingers. “No proper temp agency employees available. No newspaper ads to help. No background checks for two weeks. No day care that will agree to take my newborn daughter.”
He’d wanted to get rid of her. Not because he didn’t think she could care for Hailey. Oh, no. Not at all. His reasons for wanting her out of his home were far more personal in nature.
He leaned his hip against the cabinet. “You’ve known all along that I’m stuck with you? At least for the time being.”
Mischief skittered across her gaze and tugged at the corners of her luscious mouth. “Well, I’ll admit that I haven’t known all along.” She grinned openly. “But I feel I do have the right to feel pretty smug simply because I figured it out before you.”
Chapter Three
Just as Sophia slipped on her jacket, Michael entered the living room.
“You’re leaving?” He actually looked startled.
“Well, yes,” she told him. “It’s Saturday. I’m off today and tomorrow. I was going to come find you before I left. Tell you that Hailey was only up a couple of times through the night. She should awaken early this morning.” She picked up her purse. “I’m off to check on my cat. Pick up my mail. Check with my assistant that everything’s okay at the office. I have laundry to do, a few errands to run and—”
“Of course. Of course. Everyone deserves time off.”
The trepidation edging his words was unmistakable.
“Michael, you’re not afraid to be alone with Hailey, are you?” Instantly, she realized she’d made a poor choice of words. A dynamic man like Michael didn’t appreciate the inference that he might be fearful—of anything. Some quick rephrasing was certainly in order. “What I meant to say was that you have no reason to be uncomfortable with your daughter.” A tiny furrow bit into her forehead as she pointed out, “The other nannies you’ve employed had weekends off. I’m sure they did.”
He nodded. “And every weekend has been two days of hell.”
Sophia smiled. “Surely you’re exaggerating.”
But he didn’t return her smile. “I honestly believe Hailey and I make each other nervous. She gets cranky. I get edgy.”
“Oh, come on. Hailey’s a good baby. She’s been calm and easygoing for me since I moved in on Thursday. And she’s been great for you in the evenings, too.” Meaning only to inject a little humor, she added, “I could tell you some stories about children who were suspected of being true devil-spawn.” She chuckled, and he did have the grace to smile, albeit fleetingly.
“Besides the fact that your daughter’s so laid-back,” she continued, “you’ve done great with her over the past couple of days. You’ve made great strides. You’ve learned to feed her properly. You’ve bathed her.” She grinned. “And I haven’t had a single diaper fall off her little butt since I showed you how to fit them more snugly.”
Again he nodded. “I know. And you’re right. I’ll be fine. I’m sure.”
He didn’t sound sure.
Just then Hailey’s cry came from down the hall.
“Sounds like Her Majesty is awake,” Sophia quipped.
“I’d better get in there.” He glanced behind him, distracted by the baby. “You have a great weekend.”
“Thanks. I’ll see you bright and early Monday morning.”
Hailey’s cries swiftly elevated to wails, and Michael’s gaze collided with Sophia’s. In an instant, he seemed to be standing on the threshold of panic.
Calmly, she remarked, “Sounds to me like a ‘my-diaper’s-wet-and-I-don’t-like-it’ cry and a ‘feed-me-now’ cry all rolled into one.” She set her purse down. “You change her diaper and I’ll get her bottle ready.”
At first, she thought he might reject her offer of help. But obviously he was too smart for that.
“Okay,” he agreed. “But as soon as she’s settled, you can go. We’ll be all right. I know you have things to do.”
She answered him with an easy nod and they went off in different directions.
As the bottle was warming, Sophia thought back over the time she’d spent in Michael’s home. She’d arrived feeling angry and resentful over his treatment of the women she’d placed in his home to care for Hailey. The nannies had described him as harsh and bossy and superior, and Sophia had bore the brunt of that behavior from him, too. But what those young women hadn’t seemed to grasp was that there was a logical reason behind The Beast’s growling exterior. Sophia suspected his controlling, inflexible conduct regarding his daughter was due more to his feelings of paternal inadequacy
