nodded and headed for the door. “First, though, we’ll order the changing table.” She paused and smiled at him. His heart did the weird thing again, part squeeze, part roll. He loved it when she smiled. But he also knew they were bad for each other and she hadn’t meant anything by the smile, except her intention to get along with him while she taught him.
“And a few toys. Things that require a little more of her attention than the bear and the rattles. Things that can actually keep her busy or give you something to do while you play with her.”
“Okay.”
In only a few minutes on the internet they’d found and ordered the changing table and some interesting toys.
“I like the cone,” he said, referring to the toy with the multicolored rings that fit on a cone. “It’s simple, but I can see how it will keep her busy.”
“And showing her how to play with the rings will give you something to do with her.”
Holding Bella, who chewed on her rattle, Matt rose from his seat behind the desk. He didn’t get two steps away before his phone rang.
He stopped and Claire stepped forward to get Bella. “I’ll take her.”
He reached for the phone. “Thanks. I don’t get a lot of calls here so this has to be important.”
Claire took Bella to the rug in front of the sofa, sat her on the floor and lowered herself beside her. After a few seconds of peekaboo, she crawled to the left of the sofa, hiding from the baby, only to pop out every few seconds and say, “Boo.”
There was a voice on the other end of the line, “Mr. Patterson? Are you there?”
Realizing he’d been so preoccupied with Claire that he hadn’t even said hello, Matt responded, “Um, sorry. I’m here.”
“It’s Rafe from Hansen’s Department Store. The baby carrier you ordered doesn’t come in that shade of pink. We can order one, but we already have it in blue or green.”
“I want the pink,” he said absently, watching Claire play with Bella. She was a natural with kids and her game reminded him of hot summer days spent at Cedric’s beach house, when he and his siblings played hide-and-seek. Though his mother had never joined in, he could see Claire joining her children. He could see her climbing sand mounds at the beach or peeking out from behind trees in the lush yard behind his house. His house. This estate.
“Also some of the toys will have to be ordered.”
He shook his head, bringing himself back to the present. “That’s fine.”
“Great. We’ll deliver what we have in stock this afternoon. And the rest we should have by Thursday.”
“Thanks.”
But when he hung up the phone, he didn’t go over to Bella. Instead, he walked to the front of the desk and sat on the edge. He knew he was supposed to be watching Claire to get the gist of how to play with Bella, but he couldn’t stop picturing her with lots of kids. Playing, but always with a mother’s eye on them.
And he suddenly realized why he couldn’t stop watching her. The picture appealed to him. Her, with kids, and a house that would be a real home. He wouldn’t be an interloper being passed off as someone’s son. He’d be Daddy.
A squeak erupted from his throat. Now, what was he doing? Trying to make up for his past with a woman he hardly knew…and wanting kids?
That was just wrong.
Bella’s giggling brought him back to the present. Claire crawled over to her and tickled her tummy. Then she scooped her up with her as she rose.
“You’re such a funny little girl.”
Bella squealed with delight.
“You love to play.”
She cuddled Bella to her and the baby nestled in. Just about to turn away before he started spinning odd fantasies again, Matt stopped himself.
Maybe he wasn’t so much envisioning himself with a family, but Claire. After their discussions today, he’d be an idiot not to realize this was a woman who longed for a family.
He frowned, watching her.
Maybe that’s what drew him? They hadn’t known each other long enough to really like each other. Yet he couldn’t deny being drawn to her. So did he want a family…or did he simply want help with Bella? Real help. Not just a nanny to care for his baby, but someone to love her in ways Matt wasn’t sure he could?
WITH his new questions about Claire confusing him, Matt spent Wednesday trying to avoid her. But how could he when caring for Bella together put them in the same room all the time? When she finally went to bed, he got a few minutes of peace and quiet, but when he entered his bedroom, he could smell her. Her scent wasn’t just in the bathroom anymore. No. It was everywhere.
Thursday morning, Bella seemed to have learned that spitting out her food could be entertaining, so Matt found himself stationed by the high chair, wiping spit food off the tray, putting himself directly in line with Claire’s scent.
After breakfast, they rolled a ball back and forth for an hour, keeping Claire’s scent around him and emphasizing the fact that they didn’t talk.
They couldn’t. Every time they talked, they got to know each other. And when he got to know her, he liked her. But when they didn’t talk, he thought about her. Wondered how a little girl got along without a mom when she had a distant dad. Wondered why she wasn’t bitter, as he was about his family. Wondered how she’d stayed so sweet.
Though he needed to learn everything he could while he had Claire with him, by Thursday afternoon he knew there had to be a better way to handle this. They had to find something to do while they cared for the baby. Something that would occupy their minds enough that he could stop thinking.
He wanted twenty minutes of not thinking. Not about his family, not about Bella and especially not his unwanted attraction to Claire.
He pushed himself away from the desk. “You know what? I think we should spend the rest of the afternoon cooking dinner.”
Claire glanced over. “Cooking dinner?”
“Yeah. I’m getting a little tired of takeout. But we also have to spend time with the baby. So I thought we could put her in the high chair and chitchat with her as we put a roast in the oven.”
She walked the baby over to him. “That’s a great idea. We’ll get dinner, but you’ll also learn how to multitask with a baby.”
“How is that different from regular multitasking?”
“No matter what you’re doing, if Bella needs tending to, she becomes the priority. This is a great way to start seeing that.”
Matt shook his head, unable to stop the laugh that escaped. “Seriously? You think I’m that stupid?”
