Suddenly a Daddy

“I want to watch you put her to bed at night and get her up in the morning.”

“You could do that at the carriage house.”

“So you’re telling me that you want me to move in with you and Mandy?” he asked, giving her that same charming smile.

“N-no. That wasn’t what I said at all and you know it.” She should have known he’d twist her objections around to suit his purpose. After all, he was an attorney. “You knew what I meant. You could stop by around those times, then leave.”

He took the last step separating them, then lightly touched her cheek. She suddenly had to remember why she was angry with him.

“If Mandy wakes up in the middle of the night, I want to be able to get up with her.” He shook his head. “If I’m here and the two of you are in the carriage house, I can’t do that.”

“Take my word for it, being awakened from a sound sleep is highly overrated,” she said before she could stop herself.

“I’m sure that taking care of her by yourself and trying to work has been very tiring at times. Wouldn’t it be nice for a change to have someone sharing that responsibility?”

When he looked at her the way he was doing now, Heather was lucky to remember her own name, let alone what he’d asked. “No. I’m fine with the way things are.”

“I could get up with her while you sleep,” he pressed.

The heat from his touch branded her and the scent of his aftershave made her want him to hold her, kiss her and… She swallowed hard. She needed to escape his presence before her traitorous body had her agreeing to go along with what he wanted.

“I—I don’t mind at all being solely responsible for Mandy,” she insisted.

“But you don’t have to be, honey. Not anymore.” He moved his hands down to her waist, then pulled her into his arms. “I’m here now and you don’t have to do everything alone.”

“Please, Jake,” she interrupted. “Don’t.” Pulling from his arms, she somehow found the strength to back away from him. “I won’t try to stop you from being part of Mandy’s life. But I want you to keep a couple of things in mind before you take that step. First and foremost, it’s all or nothing. You’re either her father for life or not at all. I don’t want her becoming attached to you, then you walk away when you get tired of playing daddy. And second, count me out. I’m not part of the package.”

He stared at her for several long moments before he slowly shook his head. “You have my word that I will never do anything that isn’t in her best interest or yours.”

“Good. Because hurt my daughter and you’ll have me to deal with.” She could tell from his expression that he meant what he said—now. The only problem was, whether they intended to or not, people sometimes broke their promises and others ended up getting hurt.

“Now that we have your main concern out in the open and settled, are you and the baby going to stay here in the mansion?” he asked, seating himself back behind the desk.

“Jake, I don’t think—”

“I’ve missed out on a lot with her already, Heather.” His chest rose and fell as he took a deep breath. “All I’m asking is that you give me a chance to get to know my daughter and build a relationship with her.”

She knew if she and the baby did stay in the mansion with him, she would be taking a huge risk for both Mandy and herself. If she hadn’t known that before he kissed her last night, she did now. No matter how much he’d hurt her or how hard she tried to resist his charm, she still found Jake to be six feet two inches of pure temptation. And that could very well prove to be disastrous for her if she didn’t keep her wits about her.

But she’d told him she wouldn’t stop him from trying to bond with Mandy and she couldn’t, in good conscience, deny either of them the right to get acquainted. And while he was getting to know their daughter, she intended to learn more about him, his family and where he grew up. After all, she had the right to know about her daughter’s father.

Heather sighed heavily. Unfortunately, now wasn’t the time to put him through the third degree. Aside from the fact that she’d already put in a grueling day, she was still too angry. She wanted to be calm, rational and in complete control when she talked to him.

“We’ll stay in the mansion as long as you’re here at Hickory Hills. But only on one condition.”

His eyes narrowed ever so slightly before he asked, “And what would that be?”

Walking to the door, she turned back. “I meant what I said about not being part of the equation, Jake. Don’t count on me to be one of your…diversions when you get bored.”

Chapter 3

Jake frowned as he watched Heather place their sleeping daughter into the small baby bed that he and Daily had set up earlier in the day. “Is that thing full size? It looks awfully small.”

When she placed her finger to her lips, it was all he could do not to groan. He couldn’t forget the kiss they’d shared the night before and wanted to once again taste her sweetness and feel the softness of her perfect mouth beneath his own. But he knew better than to push. She’d outlined her conditions and he had to admit it was probably for the best. It wouldn’t be long before they had to address some very sensitive issues concerning shared custody and how they were going to raise Mandy. If they became involved, it could make doing that a lot more difficult. He just wished that the attraction between them wasn’t as powerful now as it had been when they first met. That would certainly make things a lot easier.

“It’s a mini crib,” she whispered, drawing his attention back to his question.

He waited until she turned on the baby monitor, clipped one of the receivers to her belt and they’d both stepped out into the hall before he asked, “Why didn’t you get a regular size bed for her?”

“The room I turned into the nursery at the carriage house is small and I wanted to save space,” she answered as they started downstairs.

“What about when she gets a little older?” he asked, following her. He didn’t like the idea of his child being in a room that was too small when she had every right to live in the mansion and enjoy the spaciousness of any one of the spare bedrooms. “How will you fit a regular size bed into that room and still have enough space for her to play?”

“When the time comes, I’ll convert the room I use for a study into another bedroom.” At the bottom of the steps, she turned to face him. “Why are you asking about this now? It won’t be an issue for another year or two.”

He smiled as the germ of an idea took root. “I was thinking that the two of you could live here in the mansion even after I go back to L.A.”

“No. That’s not an option,” she said, shaking her head until her ponytail swayed back and forth.

“Why not?”

She started toward the hall leading to the kitchen. “Because it’s not my home.”

Reaching out, he took hold of her arm and the feel of her soft skin beneath his palm sent heat straight to the pit of his belly. He did his best to ignore it. “This is my house now and Mandy is my daughter. She has every right to live here.”

Heather gave him a look that stated in no uncertain terms that she didn’t like his idea one damned bit. “But it’s not mine, Jake.”

He knew as surely as he knew his own name that there was a good deal of pride holding her back from accepting his offer. “I’m telling you it can be, Heather.”

“I work for you and living in the carriage house is part of my contract.”

“I’m offering you an amendment to that agreement.” Barely resisting the urge to pull her into his arms, he hastened to add, “You don’t have to make a decision about the move being permanent now. But I would like for you to give it some serious thought.” Unable to stop himself, he reached up to brush a wayward strand of hair from her soft cheek. “It would make life for you and Mandy a lot more comfortable than being cooped up in a space where there’s barely room for one.”

Before she could come up with any more excuses why she and Mandy shouldn’t live in the mansion permanently, he reluctantly dropped his hand to his side and crossed the foyer to enter the study. If he hadn’t put some distance between them, there had been a very real possibility that he would have acted on his first impulse to grab her and kiss her until she agreed to his proposal. And that would have been a huge mistake.

It would take a fool not to see that just like a magnetic force, the attraction between them was too strong to fight and impossible to resist. But at this point, she didn’t trust him anymore than she would a snake coiled to make a strike. And until he proved himself to her and they worked out an agreement to raise their daughter, he had no other choice but to bide his time and no doubt end up taking more than his share of cold showers.

He sighed heavily as he lowered himself into the chair behind the desk and reached for the phone. As he punched in his brother’s number, he thought about the irony of it all. The only woman he hadn’t been able to forget was back in his life, was the mother of his only child and thought him lower than the stuff she scraped off her boots after a trip through the stables.

“My life is just about as freaking wonderful as it can get right now,” he muttered sourly.

“As a matter of fact, mine is going pretty good, as well,” Luke said, laughing.

Wallowing in his own misery, Jake had missed hearing his brother answer the phone. “Good to hear, bro. How are things in Nashville?”

“We couldn’t be better. Haley has passed the point where morning sickness is an issue and we’re just waiting for the sonogram to see if we’re having a boy or a girl.” His twin sounded happier than Jake could ever remember.

“Glad to hear my favorite sister-in-law is feeling better,” he said, wondering if Heather had experienced a lot of problems with morning sickness when she’d been pregnant with Mandy.

They were both silent a moment before Luke asked, “So what’s wrong, Jake?”

“What makes you think there’s a problem?”

He wasn’t surprised by his brother’s intuitiveness. As with many twins, he and Luke shared a sixth sense where the other was concerned and instinctively knew when things weren’t going right. But Jake wasn’t entirely certain how to deliver the news that upon his arrival at Hickory Hills he’d discovered he had a daughter and avoid having to listen to the I-told-you-so speech that was sure to follow. Luke had been warning him for years that his “love ’em and leave ’em” ways were going to catch up to him one day.

“You’re talking to the only person who knows you better than you probably know yourself.” Luke paused. “So you want to tell me what’s going on?”

“I have a daughter.” Jake hadn’t meant to deliver the news quite so bluntly, but once the words were out, he realized there wasn’t any easier way to say it.

“Whoa! You want to back up and say that again?”

“You heard me,” Jake said, wanting to reach through the phone and throttle his twin. “I have a six-and-a-half-month-old daughter named Mandy.”

His brother was silent for so long, Jake wasn’t sure they hadn’t lost the connection. “And you found this out when you moved to the horse farm Emerald gave you?” Luke finally asked.

“Yeah.” He took a deep breath. “Heather’s the manager here at Hickory Hills. I’m betting when the old girl’s investigators found us, they discovered that a woman I met at a thoroughbred auction last year had become pregnant from our one night together.”

“That explains why you ended up in a place about as far removed from your life in Los Angeles as it’s possible to get,” Luke agreed. “Arielle and I wondered why you were given an enterprise that was totally out of your element when we were given businesses in our respective career fields.”

“I don’t know why Emerald didn’t just tell me about Heather and Mandy instead of blindsiding me like this,” Jake complained. “Didn’t she think I would step up and do the right thing?”

His brother made a strangled sound. “You’re getting married?”

It was Jake’s turn to choke. “Hell, no. You know how I feel about marriage. It’s not for me.”

“Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it,” Luke advised. “I didn’t think I was husband material, either, and look at me now.”

“Whatever.”

They were silent a moment before Luke asked, “Why didn’t the baby’s mother tell you about the pregnancy?”

“She tried, but my secretary didn’t see fit to give me the messages.” Jake made a mental note to call the woman the first thing in the morning and discuss her not bothering to give him a list of callers.

“Ah, if you’ll remember, I told you—”

“Don’t say it, bro.”

Luke’s laughter grated on Jake’s nerves. “So when do we get to meet our niece and her mother?”

“That’s the reason I called. How would you and Haley like to come up to Louisville for the Southern Oaks Cup Classic in a couple of weeks? The favorite to win the race came along with the farm.”

“Sounds good,” Luke said. “I assume you’re inviting Arielle and Zach?”

“Of course, along with the rest of the clan.”

A few months ago, when he and his siblings learned that the most successful woman in the corporate jungle was their paternal grandmother, they’d also been informed that they had three half brothers. After meeting them at one of Emerald’s receptions and finding themselves in the unique position of being the unexpected heirs of one of the world’s richest women, they’d become friends.

“And before you ask, I fully intend to invite our illustrious grandmother and her stiff-as-a-board assistant, too. She and I are going to have a little talk about her withholding information about my daughter,” he added.

Luke snorted. “Good luck with that.”

Making plans to talk again before the impromptu family reunion, Jake hung up, then called his other siblings to invite them to the gathering. With promises from all to attend, he walked into the foyer and ran right into Heather.

“Are you all right?” he asked, placing both hands on her waist to keep her from falling. A jolt of electric current as strong as a lightning strike shot through him and when she looked up, the awareness he detected in her aqua eyes let him know that she’d felt it, too.

“I—I’m fine.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t see you,” he said, filling his senses with her. The scent of her herbal shampoo and the feel of her softness beneath his hands sent heat coursing straight to the region south of his belt and his body’s reaction was not only predictable, it was inevitable.

“I…was just…on my way upstairs.” She sounded delightfully breathless and sent his blood pressure up a good ten points or so.

As if an invisible force held them captive they remained silent for so long, Jake finally forced himself to speak. “I…uh, was on my way to take a shower and call it an evening myself.”

Still operating on West Coast time, he hadn’t even entertained the idea of calling it a night. But he did need a shower. A cold one.

She nodded. “Well… I guess I’ll see you in the morning.”

“What time does Mandy wake up?” he asked, still holding her at the waist.

“Early.”

Finally forcing himself to step back, he motioned toward the staircase. “Then it would probably be a good idea if we call it a night.”

As if awakening from a trance, she blushed suddenly and ducking her head, started walking toward the steps. “Good night, Jake.”

“Night.”

He stood in the foyer long after Heather reached the second floor and disappeared down the hall. The sound of her voice and the realization that she would be sleeping just down the hall from him had him fully aroused in less than a heartbeat.

Taking the stairs two at a time, he made a beeline for the master bathroom. By the time he reached his bedroom, he’d already stripped off his shirt and left a trail of clothing on his way to the shower.

As he stood there punishing his body beneath the frigid spray, he couldn’t help but wonder how long Heather was going to deny the chemistry that flowed between them. They could fight it, try to run from it and argue that it even existed, but it was just a matter of time before they made love again. He had no doubt about that. The only question was when.

With a record-breaking crop of goose bumps and his teeth chattering like the wind-up ones found in a novelty store, he turned off the water. He grabbed a thick towel and began to vigorously dry off. They were going to have to work out the agreement for Mandy, and Heather had to come to her senses and accept the inevitable. He didn’t particularly like shivering his ass off in a shower so cold he could spit ice cubes.

* * *

“Heather, I’m sorry, but I’m not going to be able to watch Mandy for you this afternoon. I forgot that I have an appointment with the high school counselor to get Daily enrolled and set up his freshman schedule.”

“I suppose I could take her with me,” Heather said slowly, wondering how she was going to attend a meeting at Churchill Downs with a baby in tow.

“We can change that to another day, Grandma,” Daily offered, sounding hopeful. “I don’t care. I’m not all that into school anyway.”

“Young man, you’d better get ‘into it’ real fast,” Clara said sternly. “You’re in enough hot water as it is after that stunt you pulled the other night.”

“Listen to your grandmother, Daily. If you want a car like mine when you get ‘old,’ you’re going to need a good job. And that takes education.”

“Yes, sir,” Daily answered, shoveling a fork full of scrambled eggs into his mouth.

Looking up, Heather’s heart skipped a beat as she watched Jake stroll into the kitchen and seat himself at the head of the table. Dressed in a light blue polo shirt that emphasized the width of his broad shoulders and a pair of jeans that hugged his muscular thighs like a glove, he wasn’t just his usual good-looking self. This morning, he was white-hot. Busying herself with Mandy’s breakfast, she tried her best not to stare.

“What time is the meeting?” Clara asked. “Maybe we’ll be back before you have to leave.”

Heather shook her head. “It’s a luncheon meeting and probably won’t be over until late afternoon.” She spooned a bit of baby cereal into Mandy’s eager mouth. “I’ll just take her with me and hope she has a good long nap during the speeches.”

“I can watch her,” Jake spoke up as he took a couple of strips of bacon from the platter in the center of the table.

“That’s okay. I’m sure you have better things to do.” She wasn’t at all comfortable leaving her daughter with a man who she was almost positive had zero experience babysitting an infant.

Smiling, he shook his head as he took a sip of his coffee. “I don’t have anything going on this afternoon. Besides, it will give Mandy and me a chance to get acquainted.”

“Really, it’s not a problem,” she said firmly. “I’ll take her with me.”

An ominous silence suddenly reigned throughout the kitchen as Jake put down his coffee cup and their gazes locked. “Don’t be ridiculous, Heather. She’s my daughter, too. I have every right to watch her while you’re busy.”

“No way!” Daily said, his eyes wide. “You’re Mandy’s dad? I didn’t know that.”

“Come on, young man,” Clara said, removing the boy’s plate from the table. “You can finish your breakfast in our apartment before you go down to the stables to muck out the stalls.”

“But, Grandma—”

“You heard me,” the housekeeper said, cutting him off. “These two need to talk and they don’t need you hanging on their every word. Now move.”

Heather waited until Clara and a reluctant Daily left the kitchen before she turned her full attention back to Jake. “How many babies have you taken care of?”

“None.”

“That’s what I thought.” When Mandy protested loudly, Heather spooned another bite of cereal into her mouth. “You don’t have the slightest idea what to do with a baby.”

His frown deepened. “I’ve got to start somewhere.”

“My daughter isn’t an experiment.”

“She’s our daughter.” He placed his hand on top of hers. “I know you’re worried I won’t know what to do. But I promise, I’d never let anything hurt her.”

She could tell from the sincerity in his voice and the look in his eyes that he meant every word he said. But he admittedly had zero experience with babies.

“I won’t let her out of my sight the entire time you’re away,” he promised.

“Jake, I’m not at all comfortable with—”

“I’ll even stay in the same room with her while she takes her nap,” he interrupted.

“Have you ever changed a diaper?”

“No, but it can’t be that hard to figure out. Besides, I’m a quick study,” he said confidently. “You can show me how to put a new one on her before you leave.”

She barely managed to hide a smile at his misguided self-assurance. He had no way of knowing that their daughter thought diaper changes were great fun and the perfect time to exercise her legs by kicking like a little karate champion.

“What about lunch?” she asked, beginning to realize she didn’t have any other option. She couldn’t get out of the meeting and it was no place for a baby. “Do you think you’ll be able to feed her?”

“I watched you feed her breakfast and it didn’t look all that difficult.” He grinned. “Piece of cake.”

Spooning the last bit of cereal into her daughter’s mouth, Heather wiped the baby’s face. “You’ll call me if you have even the slightest problem?”

“Of course.”

She lifted Mandy from the high chair and handed her to him. “Would you mind holding her while I wipe off the high chair and put it away?”

Jake had been too busy yesterday with the unauthorized moving of her things from the guesthouse to do more than watch her or Clara with the baby. It was time that father and daughter met officially. Besides, she needed to see how Jake was with Mandy before she agreed to him watching the baby.

He gently lifted Mandy to sit on his arm. “Hey there, Honey Bunny. I’m your daddy.”

As Heather watched, the baby gazed at him intently for several seconds, then giggling, happily slapped her tiny hand against his cheek. But it was the look of awe and complete wonder that instantly came over Jake’s handsome face that had her blinking back a wave of tears.

She wouldn’t have believed it was possible to actually see it happen. But right before her eyes, Jake fell hopelessly in love with their daughter.

Chapter 4

When Heather returned from her meeting, she practically burst through the back door of the mansion. She’d tried several times on her drive from the Downs to call Jake on her cell phone, but he hadn’t answered and with each passing second her concern increased. Searching the rooms downstairs, her heart began to pound hard against her ribs when she couldn’t find either of them. Why had she let him talk her into allowing him to watch her baby?

But her anxiety turned to mind-numbing fear when she hurried up the staircase and entered the bedroom where Jake had set up the crib. The two were nowhere in sight.

In a near panic, she raced down the hall to the master suite. “If he’s let something happen, I’ll never forgive…”

Her voice trailed off as she came to a skidding halt just inside the suite door and a knee-weakening relief washed over her. There in the middle of the king-size bed her daughter lay curled up on top of Jake. Both were out like a couple of lights.

Leaning against the door facing, her panic began to recede and as she stood there catching her breath, she couldn’t help but be touched by the moment. Heather knew for certain she’d never forget the poignant sight of her tiny baby girl sleeping so trustingly on her daddy’s wide bare chest. For the second time in a matter of a few hours, she found herself blinking back tears.

Quietly, so as not to disturb either of them, she gently lifted Mandy into her arms and, walking back to the bedroom where the crib was, placed the baby in the small bed. Turning on the monitor, she clipped the receiving unit to the waistband of her khakis and turning to leave, came face-to-face with a wild-eyed Jake.