answered stiffly, giving him the same slow once-over that he had given her. “Jeff Ryan?”
He nodded abruptly, stepped past her into the hall and grabbed up her suitcases. Dropping them next to the wall, he closed the front door, then faced her.
“Where the heck have you been?” he demanded. “I expected you a half an hour ago.”
She winced against the blare of the TV combining with the baby’s cries. Pitching her voice a bit louder than normal, she snapped, “The plane was delayed.”
Before he could comment on that, Laura sailed past Jeff Ryan into the unbelievably messy apartment. She paused long enough to turn off the TV, then followed the baby’s screams to a basket set on the floor. Inside that straw-colored wicker bed, the infant lay on a handmade quilt, its chubby arms and legs pumping madly against the air.
Laura’s heart melted.
Forgetting all about the man coming up behind her, she bent down, scooped up the baby and cradled it close to her chest. “It’s all right, sweetie,” she murmured as she rocked slowly back and forth, her right hand smoothing up and down the baby’s back. “You’re all right now. Laura’s got you.”
The screaming stopped.
The baby relaxed against her, its tiny body trembling as it sniffed and hiccuped.
“That’s amazing,” Jeff said softly, clearly afraid to break whatever spell Laura had woven around the child.
“Not really,” she said, sparing him a quick sidelong look. “A little comfort goes a long way.”
He pushed one hand through the little bit of hair allowed by military regulations and shook his head as he looked over the wreckage of his living room.
“I could use a little comfort myself,” he admitted. “She hasn’t been that quiet all day.”
A girl.
“What’s her name?”
“According to the papers, it’s Miranda. Miranda Powell.”
“Well, hello, Miranda Powell,” Laura whispered. She kissed the little head that was nestled just beneath her chin.
The baby’s fingers tugged at the material of her sweatshirt, but Laura felt the small pulls all the way to her heart.
Jeff collapsed onto the cluttered sofa, then winced, lifted one hip and reached beneath him to pull a halfempty baby bottle out of his way. Tossing it onto the floor with a fatalistic shrug, he turned his gaze back to Laura. “You’re not what I expected,” he said.
She was rarely what anyone expected and had long ago ceased to care. But she was already in love with this baby. Laura wanted the job enough to remain pleasant as she asked, “Really, why?”
He shrugged, his gaze running over her carelessly. “Peg said you’re a teacher, but you look like a kid yourself.”
Translation, she thought, short. It was hardly her fault that there were no tall genes in her family. “I’m thirty years old and a kindergarten teacher,” she told him. “I have references if you’d like proof.”
He held up one hand and shook his head. “Peggy’s word is good enough for me. Besides—” he waved one hand to encompass the destruction around him “—as you can see, I’m in no position to quibble. I need help with her until I can figure out what to do about her.”
One light brown eyebrow lifted. Laura felt it go up and tried to stop it, but she couldn’t. What was there to figure out? she wanted to ask. There was only one thing to do with a baby.
Love it.
He must have read her expression because one corner of his mouth lifted slightly. She didn’t want to notice what exceptional things even a hint of a smile did to his already handsome features. But she did.
“So,” he asked, “you still want the job?”
She shouldn’t. That sizzle of awareness she had experienced the second she laid eyes on him was not a good sign. But Laura couldn’t have said no even if she wanted to. Not with Miranda’s warm little body cuddled so closely.
“Yes.”
“You understand that it may be for the entire summer?” he asked. “I mean, if I can handle everything right, the baby shouldn’t be here more than a month or so. But you never know.”
Any interest Laura might have had in him dissolved at his obvious haste to rid himself of the baby. Which was just as well anyway. She had already had her shot at love—and she’d lost. Besides, she could never be attracted to a man who so obviously didn’t like children. Still, she wondered, what kind of man could turn his back on something so tiny? So defenseless?
“I understand perfectly,” she said, and watched him give a satisfied nod.
“Good.” He pushed himself up from the couch. “We can talk about salary tonight, if that’s all right with you. My rules are simple. You take care of the baby. Agreed?”
“Agreed,” she said.
He gave her a quick nod and started past her toward one of the closed doors on the other side of the room. He stopped dead in his tracks, though, when she said, “Hold on a minute, Captain. Now it’s time for you to hear my rules.”
Two
Jeff turned around slowly to face her.
All he really wanted was a shower, a nap and a change of clothes. Marine Corps boot camp hadn’t been as rough on him as that one small baby girl had been. And yet, he thought as he looked into a pair of suddenly remote brown eyes, he had a feeling that his troubles were just beginning.
“Your rules?” he asked, determined to keep the upper hand in whatever argument was beginning to erupt. “Since when do employees make the rules?”
“Since now,” she declared firmly.
Jeff rubbed the back of his neck. He should have known it wouldn’t be easy. Any friend of his sister’s was bound to be stubborn and independent as hell. He stared into those soft brown eyes of hers again and felt a stirring deep within him. Despite the fact that she was dressed like a refugee from the Goodwill, Jeff found himself wondering what her legs looked like when they weren’t being hidden by seemingly miles of denim fabric.
Why would she dress like such a frump? What was she hiding from?
And why did he care?
He didn’t, Jeff told himself. He couldn’t afford to feel the sense of awareness already creeping through him. Laura Morgan was going to be living in his house, taking care of that baby. He wasn’t about to mess that up by allowing his hormones to do his thinking for him.
Still, he told himself, he must be lonelier than he had thought, to be intrigued by a tiny woman dressed in clothes two sizes too big for her.
The look in her eyes as he continued to stare at her only grew frostier. So much for her sweatshirt, he smirked inwardly. He’d
