LITMIR.BIZ

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of it all reared up in him. Ginny dead. Bella his. It didn’t make any sense. Mostly because he wasn’t qualified to do this—any of it. He couldn’t hold her, let alone change a diaper. And he was the last person who should be assigned to love her.

      Bella began to fuss and Claire Kinkaid rubbed her cheek against the baby’s, comforting and quieting her.

      Inspiration struck like a band of angels singing the Hallelujah Chorus. “You’re pretty good with kids. What are you doing tonight, Miss Kincaid?”

      “It’s Claire.” She moved her gaze away from his, straightening the collar of Bella’s little pink blouse. “And I’m busy.”

      His eyes narrowed. Busy? She was pretty enough to have a date on a Monday night. If she’d been able to hold his gaze, he might have bought that. “So what you’re really saying is that you don’t want to help us?”

      “We’re an adoption agency, not a nanny service.” She walked to her desk, pulled out some business cards. “But these are the names and addresses of some well-respected agencies. You could get a stellar nanny from any one of them.”

      As Claire held out the cards to Matt, Bella blinked slowly. Her long black lashes fell to her cheeks and lifted again. Tears filled her pretty blue eyes, as if she understood she was being shuffled off again.

      Sympathy for her swelled in Matt’s already tight chest. He had been young, maybe three, when he’d felt odd about his dad—as if he and Cedric Patterson didn’t fit together—as if somewhere deep in his subconscious he had always known that he wasn’t really Cedric’s son. And he didn’t belong in the Patterson family. Though Bella was a lot younger, he’d bet that somewhere in her subconscious all of this was being recorded. He could see in her eyes that she might not fully comprehend what was happening, but she was afraid. If nothing else, she hadn’t seen her parents in almost a week. She was alone. Frightened.

      And though it didn’t make sense from a practical standpoint, her emotional well-being suddenly meant more to him than worry over dirty diapers.

      He slid his hands into his pants pockets again. “I don’t want a nanny. At least not yet. I don’t want to leave her with another stranger.”

      And right now Claire Kincaid was the one person in the world who wasn’t a stranger to her.

      He caught Claire’s gaze and offered the only workable solution. “I’ll pay you anything you want to spend the next week with me.”

      Claire knew the offer was for her nanny services, but her face warmed and her stomach tightened. Matt Patterson might not know how to care for a baby, but he was one good-looking guy. Six foot one if he was an inch, he didn’t tower over her, but he was tall enough that even in her heels she had to look up to him. His hair was a shiny light brown, cut short, professional, businesslike. His wicked green eyes smiled when he smiled, and grew stormy cold when he didn’t get his way. But happy or stormy they always had a quality of…assessment. As if everything she said or did was of vital importance. And every time he caught her gaze, a lightning bolt of attraction shot through her.

      She hadn’t had a response to a man in years and her body picked now? And this guy? A man who’d left his baby with an adoption agency for four days? A man who didn’t seem to want to take Bella now? Was she crazy?

      “I’m sorry, Mr. Patterson, but as I said before we’re an adoption agency. Not a nanny service.”

      He took a lazy step toward her, sending her pulse into overdrive. The way he looked, everything he did, was just so male. “You’re pretty good with her, though.”

      She took a step back. “Yes. Well, I love children.”

      “You’re better than just somebody who loves children.” Studying her face, he frowned. “I’m guessing you got into this business because you were a nanny at some point.” His frown deepened and he looked at her even more intently. “Probably when you were in school. Which wasn’t too long ago.”

      Her heart shivered in her chest. He was so close she would only have to lift her hand to touch him, and for some strange reason she itched to raise her hand. Feel his skin. With all his attention focused on her, her body began to thrum.

      Stupid hormones! Why pick now to wake up?

      She swallowed and took another step back. “I put myself through my first three years at university as a nanny, Mr. Patterson. There is no deep, dark secret about my past.”

      He smiled. His full lips bowed upward and his green eyes lit with pleasure. “Too bad. Pretty woman like you should have a secret. It makes you mysterious and…” His smile grew. “Interesting.”

      Her face reddened. Tingles of attraction raced down her spine. Damn, he was gorgeous. And charming. But she knew what happened the last time she got involved with a charming man. She ended up in a bad relationship. A relationship that broke her heart and caused her to stay away from men for five long years.

      She forced the business cards for nanny services into his hand. “Dysart Adoption Agency was hired by the attorney for Bella’s parents to keep her until you arrived. You have arrived. Our responsibility had ended.”

      He squeezed his eyes shut. “Fine.”

      Refusing to fall victim to the helplessness she heard in his voice, she became all business. “Do you have a car seat?”

      “My driver picked one up and installed it.”

      Still holding Bella, she bent and grabbed the diaper bag beside her desk. “Great.” She handed it to him. “Those are all the things she’s needed for the four days I kept her at my apartment. I imagine there are more things at her parents’ house.”

      “Things?”

      “Like a crib. High chair. Baby swing. The things she needs for daily life.” Brisk and with purpose, she headed out of the office and up the hall, expecting him to follow her. “I will go with you to your car and help you strap Bella in.”

      When she reached the office door, he opened it for her and followed her out, but he didn’t say a word. He didn’t say a word in the elevator. Standing in the box packed with people, their shoulders brushed. A current of electricity crackled through her.

      As inconspicuously as possible, she peeked over at him. With his sloping cheekbones and sexy green eyes, he was gorgeous. But she’d met other good-looking men and never felt this. He had power, but power had never been particularly attractive to her. Yet something about him called to her and he wasn’t even reacting. Though he’d flirted a bit, it was because he wanted her help. The attraction was clearly one-sided.

      She sucked in a quiet breath, glad to be getting away from him. In two minutes, he’d be gone and she wouldn’t have to worry she’d say or do something stupid because her hormones insisted she and Matt Patterson should…should…Well, she knew what her hormones wanted.

      And that was wrong. Good grief, she’d barely dated since her big mistake her senior year at university when she’d fallen for one of her professors. They’d had a secret affair that started off wonderful and ended when he introduced her to his wife at graduation, humiliating her. Looking back, she realized she should have seen the signs that he was married. He’d pulled her away from her friends, insisted they meet at her place even though he made fun of her condo and never took her out in public. But loneliness after her dad’s death had made her vulnerable, needy, and she’d missed the signs.

      Which was why, for the past five years, she’d been a woman in control of her emotions. She’d never be so foolish as to fall so fast or be so smitten that she let a man walk all over her. Being overwhelmingly attracted to a guy she didn’t know was so out of character it scared her.

      The elevator bell dinged. They strode across the building lobby. He pushed on the revolving door, motioning Claire through, into the crisp late-September afternoon. He followed her out into the busy Boston street and paused in front of the black limo parked there. A uniformed man raced to the back door

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