Baby for the Greek Billionaire: The Baby Project / Second Chance Baby / Baby on the Ranch

“Sure. I’ll share.”

Apparently missing the sarcasm in her voice, he smiled, and, spotting the onion and green pepper she’d laid out beside the chopping block, he ambled over to them. While she stirred her cocoa, he cut both the onion and the pepper.

She sighed. “Stop helping me.”

“I have to.” Chopping the onion and pepper and not looking at her, he added, “Not only will the cocoa get cold while we wait for you to make the omelet if I don’t get it started for you, but I have to make up for upsetting you when I suggested you live here permanently.”

“Huh!” Damn. She’d said that out loud. Sucking in a breath she turned on him. Since he’d started the conversation, they might as well have at it. “Do you really think you can make up for using what I told you against me? I trusted you. I told you something I don’t talk about with anyone else and you used it.”

“I didn’t ‘use’ it. I simply pointed out the truth. You’re having trouble and the three of us living together helps you. But there’s more to me wanting Gino here than just that. Did you miss the part of the conversation where I told you Gino loves us both? He could have us both. Every day. If you’d live here.”

“Did you miss the part where I have a life?”

“And you can keep it. You’d just live it from Montauk instead of the city.”

“I like my home.”

He stopped, caught her gaze. “Now who’s being spoiled and pampered and even a little bit prissy?”

Icy pain froze her limbs. “Prissy? “ After almost two years of caring for a baby and three years of mourning the loss of that precious child, the word prissy rumbled through her like thunder announcing an impending storm.

He winced. “Sorry. That was sort of over the top.”

Oh, he wanted her to think he was sorry, but he wasn’t. She had his number. He’d apologized only so she’d focus on what he’d called her and not on their real issue. There was no way she’d let him get away with that.

“You apologize for your words, but you skate over the actual problem.” Pain rippled through her again. Not because of her anger over being called prissy when she was anything but, but because for some reason or another she believed he should know she wasn’t prissy. And the only way to avoid dissecting that would be to force them back to their actual problem.

He dropped the knife and strode over to her. She snapped off the burner under the cocoa. If he wanted a fight, she was ready to give it to him.

“I know you love Gino. I see it in your eyes. You might have agreed to take custody only wanting to fulfill your friend’s last wishes. But you like him now.”

Once again, he was skirting the issue and she refused to let him. “Of course I do, but that doesn’t change the fact that you used something I told you against me.”

“I only pointed out the truth.” He sighed. Stepped closer. “I thought that since you trusted me enough to tell me, that I could speak honestly about it, too.”

That brought her up short and she didn’t know how to answer. Had he really only been speaking honestly? Had it been so long since she’d spoken honestly about Layla and Burn that she didn’t know what an honest conversation felt like anymore?

The truth of what he’d said rippled through her.

She did need help with Gino.

And he was Gino’s other guardian. He had a right to be concerned.

Her skin burned with shame. Especially since she didn’t want to admit any of it. He’d only been speaking the truth, but she was so out of the loop, she hadn’t realized it and had accused him of using what she’d told him. And the truth was that she still did need help.

She wanted to turn away, to run, but she couldn’t. Behind her was a sixteen-burner stove that ran almost the length of the room. In front of her was six feet of angry man.

“Maybe I’m just not ready to talk about it yet.”

He gurgled a sound of disgust. “You won’t ever be ready if you keep avoiding it in every discussion.”

His angry voice echoed through the room and she realized how upset he was. She could understand his annoyance if he were defending himself against her accusations, but he wasn’t. Not really. He was talking about her. Angry about her.

“Why are you mad?”

He forked his fingers through his hair. “Because you’re a nice woman.” He snagged her gaze, his brown eyes sharp, filled with banked fury. “You’re a smart woman. I know you didn’t deserve what happened to you. But it did and you have to get through it to the other side. Yet you won’t.”

“Hey! You try losing everything! Your hopes. Your dreams. Your baby. Your sweet little blue-eyed baby girl who hadn’t done anything to anybody.” Her breath hitched. “You try losing that much, being responsible for that loss, and then putting your life back together.”

“What do you think I’m doing here … with Gino … with my brothers … after my dad’s death?”

She gaped at him. “You think losing your dad compares? ”

“No. But when you add the fact that I lost my mom only a few months before, I think I’m in the ballpark. She was fifty-three. Smart. Funny. Everybody’s best friend. My dad’s biggest defender. And one day she gets to work, has a heart attack and dies.” He grabbed Whitney’s shoulders as if forcing her to focus in on what he was saying. “I’m alone except for that little boy upstairs and two brothers who hate me, shouldering the burden of a company that’s floundering. Do you think I don’t look around some days and want to pack a bag for Tahiti, buy a hut and a bottle of tequila and just say, ‘screw it all’?”

“It’s not the same.”

“No. It’s not. But just like my troubles don’t give me license to stop living, neither do yours. And they sure as hell aren’t going to turn into the reason you expect me always to give you your own way.” His eyes sharpened. The anger in them flared.

Instead of being frightened, Whitney felt something sharp and sexual click inside her. They were both strong, passionate, vital people. Though she didn’t think his trauma was worse than hers, she did believe he at least had a partial understanding of what she was going through. She was sort of sorry that she’d pushed him, but not completely. The score now felt even. Everything was out in the open.

But they were also toe to toe. Stimulated. Attracted. He’d promised he wouldn’t kiss her again, but suddenly that promise seemed to belong to another universe, another time, another two people.

He held her gaze. Their physical attraction vibrated between them. Their anger withered and her breath shivered in her chest.

He was going to kiss her.

She told herself to turn and run. She knew the outcome of the last kiss. She hadn’t been able to control herself. She’d wanted everything from him. Not because she loved him but because her body was desperate for release, satisfaction, closeness.

But making love with a man who was virtually a stranger wouldn’t give her the satisfaction or closeness she sought. Sex would be a cold, hollow, empty substitute for affection.

She couldn’t let him kiss her.

Yet she had no path of escape.

Even as she thought that, his hands slid off her shoulders. He took a step back, away from her, then turned and walked out of the kitchen.

CHAPTER EIGHT

HE’D WANTED TO KISS HER SENSELESS.

Darius stood in front of the mirror over the double sink in the master bathroom. He’d splashed cold water on his face twice, but he couldn’t get rid of the weird, compulsive instinct that he should have kissed her. Not because of their silly sexual attraction, but to shock her. To knock her out of the prison she’d built for herself and into the real world. Not for Gino, but for himself. So he could taste her, touch her.

That was wrong. Or it would be if that were his only reasoning. But it wasn’t. He’d also wanted to yank her back into the real world because he liked her. And he just knew that beyond her fear was a wonderful, passionate woman. Someone he could really relate to. Somebody he could love.

That had scared him silly. The impulse to connect with her was so foreign, yet so strong, he knew the only way to control it had been to leave the room.

He pressed a towel to his face to dry it and headed into the bedroom. Yanking off his sweatshirt, he tried to ignore the emotions swirling through him. Wanting her for anything more than a partner to raise Gino was foolish. Dangerous. Selfish. He was the CEO and Chairman of the Board of a huge conglomerate full of people who depended on him. He’d barely have time to be a father for Gino. How could he expect to have time for a wife—especially a wife who would need a more sensitive husband?

He was not a sensitive man.

He would hurt her.

He had to stop wanting her.

The next morning Darius was already feeding Gino when Whitney walked into the nursery. She said, “Good morning,” then stooped down in front of the rocker. “And good morning to you.”

Their fight the night before had had a greater effect on her than she’d wanted it to. Not only had she come face to face with how attracted she was to Darius, but some of the things he’d said to her had rattled around in her brain.

He’d called her a nice woman.

Just the thought of it made her smile. In the past three years she’d been called cold, distant, frigid. No one had seen past her pain to the real Whitney hiding beneath the surface. And the mere knowledge that someone had actually seen the real her gave her enough strength to try to be that person again.

She sucked in a breath and caught Darius’s gaze. “Let me feed him.”

Darius didn’t say anything, but his dark eyes asked a million questions.

“Hey, I’ve got to do this.”

He sighed. Breaking his silence with her, he said, “Yes, you do.”

“Okay. So I’m ready.”

He rose from the rocker and took a few steps away so she could sit down. When she was comfortable, he handed her the baby first, then the bottle.

Fear made her hand tremble as she slid the bottle into Gino’s mouth. Nearly every time she’d touched him, memories had assaulted her. And, after the memories came hours of recriminations. Guilt. Beating herself up for not seeing the obvious.

But Gino took the nipple greedily and this time she didn’t see her baby’s face as he suckled. She saw dark-haired, dark-eyed, very hungry Gino.

She laughed.

Darius turned away.

Her heart tumbled in her chest. Darius’s silence made her feel ashamed. Selfish. He’d mentioned his mother’s death the night before. He’d said he was alone. He hadn’t exactly reached out to her, but had only told her because it fit into their argument. Still, this morning she knew she had to say something.

Seeing Gino was happily suckling, she drew in a quiet breath, swallowed, then said, “I’m sorry about your mother.”

“It’s okay.”

“No. It’s not.” She shook her head angrily. “This is what always happens with people when I try to talk to them. Nobody’s tragedy is as terrible as mine so nobody really talks with me.”

He turned around again. His face scrunched in confusion. “That’s ridiculous.”

“No, it isn’t. Look at you. You won’t tell me about your mom.”

He busied himself with arranging the items on the changing table.

“See!”

Still occupied with powders and lotions, he casually said, “There’s not really a lot to tell.”

“But you said you were alone.”

“That was a slip. A way to show you that you’re not the only one who’s suffered a loss.” He shook his head, but didn’t face her. “I shouldn’t have compared my situation and yours. Our losses were totally different. Plus, I’m lucky. I might have two half-brothers who intend to ignore me, but I still have a baby brother, and if I raise him he’ll be in my life for at least eighteen years. I have a family.”

She glanced down at Gino. “You know, if you really wanted to have a family you should bring your brothers together. You shouldn’t hang back, waiting for the right time for them to come up and meet Gino. You should take the bull by the horns and invite them now. Get them involved with him now.”

He faced her.

“The longer you wait, the more distance you put between yourself and them, and between them and Gino, and the less chance they’ll accept your invitation.”

He crossed his arms over his chest. “And you’re the expert?”

She shrugged. “Lawyers counsel people. We sometimes can’t see what’s in front of us in our own lives, but we have this uncanny ability to think really clearly about the lives of our clients.” She glanced down at Gino, then back up at Darius and smiled slightly as she caught his gaze. “You’re not really a client, but I’m sort of new to your life, so it’s easier for me to see the obvious.”

“And you think I should invite my brothers here?”

“Yes. I think you need a chance to bond.”

He snorted out a breath. “Bond. Like a bunch of girls at cheerleading camp?” He shook his head. “That’s ridiculous.”

“No. Bonding is finding a common denominator. Something all three of you care about. So that you can relate to each other.”

The baby spat out his bottle and Whitney burped him. But when she tried to sit him on her lap again he squirmed and squealed.

Without hesitation Darius walked over and hoisted him up, into his arms. “You look like a guy who wants to play.”

Gino giggled. Darius hugged him and headed for the toy box. Whitney’s chest tightened and her heart squeezed. He loved Gino so much. And his reasons for wanting Gino in his life were good. He wanted a family. This time, the guilt she felt had nothing to do with her past and everything to do with right now. This minute. She’d mistrusted him, accused him without knowing anything about him.

Maybe the same was true of his brothers?

Maybe they didn’t so much hate the eldest Andreas son as much as they simply didn’t know him well enough to like him?

Darius opened the toy box and pulled out four big plastic blocks. He sat Gino on a brightly colored striped rug and lowered himself beside him.

The way Darius so easily, so naturally played with Gino tugged on her heartstrings, and once again she thought of his brothers, of how wrong it was for them to dislike their oldest brother.

“I’m not going to drop the idea that you should invite your brothers here.”

Preoccupied with trying to get Gino to take a block, Darius said, “I’ve already told you I don’t want to ‘bond.’”

“So don’t look at it as bonding. Look at it as getting a chance to talk about the company, about your dad, about the things you have in common.”

“And you think talking will fix everything?”

“No. I don’t know for sure that there’s a way to fix your family. But I think it’s a start. And I think you owe it to yourself and Gino to try.”

He shuffled the blocks in front of Gino, who batted at them before he picked up the yellow one and inspected it.

When he didn’t answer, guilt from their argument in the kitchen rose up in her again. At a point when he would have spoken about his mom, she’d been so wrapped up in her own troubles that she hadn’t reached out to him. Every day they’d been here, he’d reached out to her. She owed him.

“If you can get your brothers to come up for a weekend, I’ll stay here with Gino until the Monday after that weekend.”

He glanced up sharply. “Their schedules aren’t going to be any easier than mine. It might take eight or ten weeks before they can come.”

“I’m fine with that.”

He studied her for a few seconds. Finally he said, “I guess I do have enough room here that we could easily invite my brothers for a weekend.”

Darius spent the first few hours at work on the phone with his brothers. He didn’t actually speak with each of them all that time. He used most of it calling various numbers he had for them before reaching secretaries who could have given him Cade and Nick’s private numbers, but didn’t. Each opted to have her boss return Darius’s call. Luckily, and somewhat unexpectedly, both did. Immediately.

Though Nick and Cade were reluctant to accept his invitation, he reminded them of their childhoods without their father. He asked them if they really wanted the fourth brother to be raised that way—never really knowing the rest of his family. And suddenly the tones of the conversations were different. Both brothers agreed that Gino needed to know his half-brothers and both agreed to spend a weekend.

He hung up the phone satisfied, happy that his brothers would be at the house in three weeks, until he realized that not only did he have to spend three days with two brothers who hated him, but also that Whitney would be spending three days with them.

Cade the rich, rebellious cowboy and Nick the brooding Southern gentleman.

Jealousy speared him.

He actually stopped walking.

He’d never been possessive of a woman before, never been jealous. Plus, he’d already figured out he was all wrong for Whitney. He had to get over this.

Before he could take his thoughts any further, his phone rang. His first impulse was to ignore it, then he remembered Whitney would be interviewing nanny candidates that morning and he’d promised to spend five minutes with each of them to determine which of the four would get interviews at the house, with Gino.

He picked up the receiver. “Yes.”

“I’m sitting here with Mary Alice Conrad,” Whitney said happily. “If you have a few minutes, I’d like you to meet her.”

* * *

After Darius’s five minutes with Mary Alice Conrad, Whitney had a very good idea of the kind of nanny Darius envisioned for Gino. She didn’t invite him in on any more of the interviews and simply chose Liz Pizzaro and Jaimie Roberts for interviews at the house.

On the drive home that evening, Whitney informed Darius that the following night they’d be conducting the home interviews with Liz and Jaimie. So, Thursday night, they set themselves up in the den. When Mrs. Tucker escorted Jaimie in, Darius sat behind the big desk in the corner. Gino chewed on a block in the playpen and Whitney stood by the double-doored entrance.

“Come in,” Whitney said, shaking Jaimie’s hand as Mrs. Tucker discreetly exited and closed the door. She pointed at Darius, who rose. “This is Mr. Andreas, Gino’s half-brother and other guardian.” She turned and motioned to the crib. “And that’s Gino.”

Jaimie, a tall redhead wearing tight jeans and a red leather jacket, gasped. “Oh, he’s darling!”

Darius dryly said, “We think so, too.”

He walked from behind the desk over to the playpen. “Would you like to hold him?”

Jaimie turned and smiled at Darius. “Yes!”

He directed her to take him out of the playpen and she eagerly did so. But he also watched her like a hawk. Through the one-hour question-and-answer session, Jaimie didn’t miss a beat, but Darius still didn’t seem to like her.

When tall, blond, gorgeous Liz Pizzaro arrived, Darius brightened.

“Come in!” he said, rising from the leather sofa where he’d been sitting to chat with Jaimie.

Whitney’s chest tightened oddly. It was such a cliché for the woman of the house to be jealous of the nanny that she refused even to let her thoughts wander to the possibility.

“That’s Gino,” Darius said, pointing to the baby who was now growing restless in the playpen.

Liz didn’t wait for an invitation. She reached in and lifted Gino out and into her arms. “What’s the matter, little guy,” she crooned.

Gino screeched. But Liz only shook her head and smiled. “He’s tired. Yet he’s not very fussy. I’m guessing he’s a really good baby.”

Darius laughed. “Well, we think so, but we’re prejudiced.”

Liz jostled Gino and made him giggle. “Daddies are supposed to be prejudiced, aren’t they?”

Darius winced. “I’m Gino’s half-brother. Not really his dad.”

Liz blinked innocently. “Of course, you’re his dad. I can tell by how protective you are that you take the job as his guardian seriously.” She smiled. “And that’s what dads do.”

Whitney suppressed her own smile. She didn’t even have to wait for Liz to leave to know what Darius’s choice would be.

“Gino just seemed more comfortable with her.”

She nudged his foot with the toe of her high heel. “It didn’t hurt that she called you Gino’s daddy.”

Darius raised his eyes until he snagged her gaze. “Is that so bad?”

Whitney’s heart expanded to painful proportions. “No.” Guilt assailed her. It suddenly seemed abundantly wrong to take Gino away from Darius, even for visits. Yet it seemed equally wrong for her to simply drop her life and move in with a man she barely knew.

There didn’t seem to be a middle of the road to this problem unless Darius could mend the rift with his brothers and get close enough to them to ensure that Gino wasn’t his only family.

CHAPTER NINE

SUNDAY NIGHT, when dinner was over, Whitney rose from her seat and motioned for Darius to follow her.

“I took the liberty of having my secretary gather some information about your bothers, just to get some background details.”

Darius also rose from the table. “You investigated my brothers?”

“No. I just had my secretary run a quick search. I told her to get only background information. Nothing serious. Just enough that we would know some basic things.”

His eyes narrowed. “I have no desire to poke into my brothers’ lives.”

“We’re not poking. We’re just looking. Lawyers never go into a courtroom or a meeting unprepared.”

“CEOs don’t go into meetings unprepared either.”

She turned and smiled. “Exactly. So my secretary got enough background information that we won’t feel at a disadvantage when they’re here.”

They stepped into the office. She directed him to sit on the sofa in front of a low coffee table. Carrying the thin file she retrieved from the desk, she followed him and sat beside him.

The second she sank into the smooth leather, his nearness overwhelmed her. He’d taken a walk outside after spending time with Gino when they got home from work and he smelled like fresh air and baby powder. A week ago that would have sent her into a tailspin of despair. Today, it only reminded her that she was attracted to this man. It didn’t scare her. It didn’t make her crazy. It was simply a fact.

She licked her suddenly dry lips and forced her mind back on the info her secretary had found.

“Okay. We’ll do Cade first.” She glanced down and read aloud, “Cade Andreas, age thirty-one, net worth—” She paused, forcibly told herself not to gape, and read the number on the page.

Darius snorted. “I see that little oil thing worked out for him.”

She cleared her throat. “Yes. I guess it did.” She returned to her reading. “He’s a loner who doesn’t really socialize too much, except with the employees of his ranch.”

“All of which I already knew.”

“Okay.” She rifled through the sheets until she came to the first page for the information on Nick. “How about this? I’ll read Nick’s sheet. You read Cade’s. If either of us finds anything noteworthy we’ll tell the other.”

Darius leaned back, got comfortable and began reading.

Whitney almost mimicked him, until she realized that leaning back into the soft sofa they’d be side by side, almost touching. Sort of close and cuddly.

Arousal sparked, sharp and sweet, at just the thought. It leaped through her, awakening the more dangerous longings. To be held. To be loved. But, luckily, her common sense rose up. It might not frighten her anymore to be attracted to Darius, but a relationship between them wasn’t practical. No matter how much they now understood each other, they still had a baby to raise together. If they tried a relationship and it didn’t work, Gino would suffer.

So she leaned forward, away from him.

“Here’s something interesting. Cade is married.”

That perked up her senses. “Really?”