him.
“Not a problem. I’ll call the office and tell them I’ll be out the entire day and move in this afternoon.”
CHAPTER THREE
THE trip to Marsha’s mom’s went smoothly. Audra did most of the talking, seeking information about Joshua’s routine as they collected the rest of the baby’s things and stuffed them into her little car. When everything was packed, she and Dominic went their separate ways.
As Dominic expected, the participants for his first meeting were already milling around his secretary’s workstation when he arrived. He ushered them into his office, grabbing the pertinent files from his desk as they settled at the round conference table in the corner of the glass-walled room. That meeting bled into the next and the next and the next until his office suddenly emptied at six o’clock and he was alone.
Exhausted, he leaned back in his chair and pinched the bridge of his nose. This wasn’t the end of his day. It should be. But at the point in time when he wanted nothing more than a glass of Scotch and some peace and quiet, he had a baby waiting for him.
Of course, Joshua now had a nanny of sorts. So the baby wasn’t really waiting for him. He had company and was probably being entertained. Audra clearly knew what to do with the little guy. Which was more than Dominic could say for himself. He didn’t know the first thing about changing a diaper. Forget about the more sophisticated end of the deal, like communication. He wasn’t one to engage in baby talk. And the baby couldn’t yet speak at all.
Plus he was tired. But edgy. Too restless to relax. The very last thing he wanted to do was inflict himself and his mood on a baby.
The blare of music from his cell phone into his silent office caused him to jump. He snatched it from his desk, peeked at the caller ID and groaned. As if it wasn’t bad enough he’d had to give up his old life, certain friends from that life hadn’t yet gotten the message that he could no longer come out to play. He nearly ignored the call, but in the end couldn’t do that. He knew why Owen Bradley was calling. The man had scheduled the premiere of his movie in Boston specifically so Dominic could attend. If nothing else, Dominic had to apologize.
By eight o’clock that evening, Audra had finally stowed her belongings, including her laptop and a few client income tax files she needed to work on, in the suite Dominic had shown her. Settling into the rooms at the end of a long hall that led only to her suite, she realized most of her worries from the morning before had been unfounded. She and Dominic wouldn’t be running into each other. She had no reason to be concerned an accidental meeting with gorgeous, brooding, Heathclifflike Dominic would turn into something neither one of them wanted. There would be no accidental meeting. She’d swear their quarters were so far apart they were in different zip codes.
Wearing a pair of jeans and a pink top from the extra clothing she’d brought, she tiptoed into the nursery just as Joshua awakened.
“Hello, sweetie,” she said, pulling the baby from the crib, which had been delivered that afternoon and assembled by the estate handyman. Dressed in one-piece blue pajamas, Joshua blinked and yawned, stretching his little legs to their limits. But when his eyes focused and he looked at her, he began to wail.
“I know this is really hard on you.” She kissed both of his cheeks. “You’re not accustomed to me yet, so you’re scared. But that’s okay. You’ll get to know me and you’ll see there’s nothing to be afraid of.”
She continued cuddling and soothing him as she strode through the sitting room, down the winding staircase and the hall. Heading for the huge kitchen of the mansion, she said, “Let’s go see my mom.” She rubbed noses with the baby. “Remember her? She rocked you this morning.”
The baby’s crying slowed to sniffles, and he blinked at her. Using her hip she bumped open the swinging door and was surprised to find the kitchen dark. She fumbled for the light switch and flicked it on. The stainless-steel appliances and empty beige-and-gold-flecked countertops of the three islands greeted her.
Having watched her mother supervise the food preparations for many a party and too many formal dinners to keep count from this kitchen, Audra was accustomed to seeing the room full of life, energy and busy hands on Friday nights.
“Wow. Wonder where she is?” Her voice echoed hollowly around her in the huge, empty space. “She should be supervising service of some course or another of dinner right now.”
“I’m not eating here tonight.”
Audra swung around to find Dominic standing in the open doorway. Backlit by the lamps of the corridor behind him, he looked like a vision in his black tux, with his hair casually, sexily spiked and his hands tucked into his trouser pockets. Her breath stuttered just at the sight of him.
“I made arrangements to go out with friends.”
“Oh.” That was the only sound that would come out of her mouth. He was—quite literally—breathtakingly handsome.
“I thought I’d let you know I was going so you didn’t come looking for me.”
Her fogged brain finally picked up that he was leaving. As in going out. As in not going to be paying any attention to Joshua on his first night in the house.
So much for brooding Heathcliff.
“You’re going?”
“Yes.”
“But it’s Joshua’s first night here!”
“And if I hadn’t hired you I couldn’t have accepted the invitation.”
Relief and understanding merged, and Audra’s tense muscles relaxed. “Oh, it’s business.”
He flashed her a smile. “Monkey business.”
His cocky attitude reminded her so much of her ex that any attraction she might have had to him flew out of the nearest window. She turned and walked back to the smallest of three stainless-steel refrigerators. The one she’d commandeered for all things Joshua.
“Dominic,” she said his name using the scolding tone her mother had used with her when she wanted to go out on a school night. “You have a son now. You can’t be going out just because the spirit moves you.”
“First, Joshua is not my son. He’s my nephew.” He stepped into the kitchen, took an apple from a bowl on the first island and tossed it into the air, then caught it. “Second, having someone to stay home with the baby is why I hired you.”
“No, you hired me to be a caretaker, not the love giver. Playing with Joshua, nurturing him, is your job.”
He tossed the apple into the air again, ignoring her.
“I’m serious.”
He didn’t reply, and a horrible realization hit Audra. He didn’t intend to nurture this little boy. Her heart caught with disbelief. Why would he refuse to be a dad to this adorable baby?
She glanced at blue-eyed, curly haired Joshua and decided Dominic simply hadn’t spent enough time with him. Once he had, he wouldn’t be able to help falling in love with him, and being a real dad would come naturally. And there was no time like the present to begin the process.
“Here.” She handed
