Your Baby or Mine?

Alec stopped dead and realized his mistake as soon as the woman turned around and addressed the people in the room.

“Sorry I’m late, everybody. Why don’t we all get started?”

There was a reason why she looked as if she knew the routine. She made up the routine.

“Score one for Daddy, Andrea,” Alec muttered under his breath.

Coming to terms with the fact that he hadn’t exactly put his best foot forward, Alec moved over to one side of the room. With luck, maybe he could blend into the crowd.

Once she’d gotten the session started and had broken up parents and children into small play groups, Marissa walked around the room, observing and giving advice or helpful hints wherever needed. She knew the value of a well-placed suggestion, an encouraging word. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched the newcomer. She knew she’d never seen him before. There was no way a man like that could blend into the crowd and be forgotten. He had a take-charge manner about him, even when being intimidated by a roomful of one-year-olds.

He really did seem to love his little girl, she thought. He’d have to, to be going through something like this with her. The man looked as if he felt like a fish out of water.

“That’s very good, Mrs. Berg.” She patted the woman’s shoulder. “Just remember to guide Shelly’s hand through the exercise.”

Widening her smile and adding to her directions the touch of warmth that she prided herself on, Marissa made her way over to Alec’s side of the room.

He was on the floor, his legs spread out wide in front of him, with Andrea propped up against him. There was no one else around them.

Marissa squatted to his level. “You’re not doing anything.”

She’d surprised him. Alec cleared his throat, wishing he didn’t feel like such a damn fool.

“Yes, I am. We’re sitting here, watching everyone else.” He shrugged, feeling himself get defensive. “She seems content.” He caught hold of the edge of Andrea’s shirt just as she was beginning to crawl off and prove him a liar.

“Oh, but it’s no fun to just watch, is it, sweetheart?” Marissa scooped up the little girl. Chris was safely ensconced and busy interacting with a gaggle of other children and their parents. It was an unspoken rule that everyone in class helped look out for the little boy while Marissa worked. No one really seemed to mind. If anything, it was combat training under fire.

Holding Andrea, she looked down at Alec. “She’s supposed to burn up some of that pent-up baby energy when she’s here.” Marissa couldn’t help smiling as she looked the man over. “Looks to me as if she’s worn you out.”

Alec gained his feet, dusting off the back of his pants. “She does her best.” He was here to take advantage of what the program had to offer, there was no reason to feel awkward with the instructor. He took the plunge. “All right, what do you suggest?”

Still holding Andrea, she turned toward the bright yellow, blue and red interwove mesh that stood off to the side of the room. People were lined up to take their turn with their babies.

“How about the jungle gym? Lots of opportunity for her to stretch that little body.”

Alec looked at the netting dubiously. “And to break it.”

Oh, a worrier. She would have never pegged him for one of those. Marissa found it rather sweet.

“You’d be surprised at how resilient these little creatures are. C’mon,” she offered, “I’ll show you.” Then, not waiting for him, she began to walk toward the jungle gym.

“All right, I suppose we’re both game. And seeing as how you’ve got my daughter, I guess I have no choice.”

She glanced at him over her shoulder. “Oh, no, Mr.—Beckett is it?” Alec nodded. “You always have a choice, no matter what.”

She sounded as if she meant that, he thought. Fiercely.

Standing back and letting her work, Alec watched with interest as Marissa put his limber little baby through a series of paces that had the little girl laughing with glee. The laugh was infectious, striking down both babies and parents alike. Alec felt himself grinning.

She had such a natural aptitude with children, he thought. And she certainly seemed to like being around them.

Slowly an idea, more like a prayer really, began to take form in his mind.

Maybe it was crazy, but he’d never know until he asked. Alec began silently rehearsing his offer and waiting for an opportunity to open up.

Chapter Two

For a moment Alec considered leaving Andrea at the jungle gym. No less than three mothers had volunteered to look after her along with their own offspring. But in the end, he opted to tuck his daughter onto his hip as he went to corner the agile instructor. He wasn’t all that keen on leaving his daughter with strangers, even nice ones.

Marissa was all the way at the other end of the large room. By the time he had made it over to her, he’d had to change direction three times and felt as if he was trying to catch a butterfly. The toddlers in the class weren’t the only ones with an endless supply of energy.

“Excuse me. Excuse me.” Weaving his way around the last obstacle—a woman with an exuberant twin firmly tethered to each hand—Alec finally managed to get close enough to Marissa to call out to her. “Mrs. Rogers, could I speak to you?”

Her arms full of wiggling child, Marissa turned around. He looked harried, she thought, an amused smile tugging at her mouth. It warmed her heart every time she saw a man taking the trouble to play his role as a father to the fullest. It proved to her that there were good fathers out there, even if neither her father nor Antonio had managed to take on the role with any grace or flare.

“Sure, if you call me Marissa. When you call me Mrs. Rogers, I have this urge to look over my shoulder to see if my mother is standing there.”

With an approving nod, she handed the little boy she was holding to the child’s mother. No sooner were her arms free than Andrea made a grab for her. Without missing a beat, Marissa took the little girl into her arms.

He was amazed at how easily Andrea seemed to take to the woman. It just reinforced his feelings about his decision.

“Then you’re not married?” The question came out of nowhere, nudging aside the one he thought he was going to ask.

She laughed softly, shaking her head. Though she considered herself to be a warm, friendly person, there were certain personal things she was reluctant to share. And what had happened between her and Antonio came under that heading.

Brushing Andrea’s wispy blond hair back from her face, Marissa evaded the question. “Not to my father, no.” Whenever she mentioned or thought of the Sergeant, it always evoked the same image for her. An open suitcase. It seemed as if she’d spent her entire childhood either packing or unpacking one, traipsing around the country because her father had signed his life away to the army.

Andrea seemed bent on restructuring Marissa’s face. Taking the little hand in hers to keep Andrea from widening her mouth, Marissa pressed a kiss to the busy fingers. Andrea cooed. Raising her eyes to Alec’s gaze, Marissa waited for him to continue. “Is that what you wanted to ask me?”

She knew it wasn’t. This wasn’t the kind of place a man came to meet women. Even if it was, he didn’t look like the type. Alec Beckett gave every impression that he was very Ivy League, very businesslike. Even in supposedly casual clothes, he looked ready to leap into a board meeting at a moment’s notice. She wondered what he did for a living and if he ever loosened up.

Alec noticed that Marissa didn’t seem to be distracted by the fact that Andrea was trying to climb up her body. If anything, she appeared to be at ease, as if it was all natural. An admiration for a talent he knew was way beyond him took hold.

“No, um…” Alec surveyed the crowded room. “Could we talk?”

Deftly, Marissa pried childish fingers away from her gold chain, a gift from her brothers and sisters when she graduated high school. It was her one cherished possession.

“Isn’t that what we’re doing now, Mr. Beckett?”

Marissa glanced toward the play area to see how Christopher was doing. Cyndee, a three-month veteran of the class and her self-appointed assistant, was watching over him as well as her own daughter and another child. The hopelessly perky woman was braver than most people here, Marissa mused. Everything seemed to be under control.

“I mean privately.” Alec wasn’t prepared to discuss business with an audience around.

He sounded serious. Marissa wondered if something was bothering him. He wouldn’t be the first parent who had sought her out for a sympathetic ear.

The room was full of parents and babies. It seemed as if each class was larger than the last. Not that she minded; she took it as a compliment. Marissa nodded over to the side.

“I’m afraid that a comer is the best I can do under the circumstances. Unless you want to wait until after class.”

“A corner will do fine.” He wanted her to have some time to think about what he had to propose. If he waited until after class, she might be too tired and automatically turn him down. He didn’t want to be turned down.

Alec followed Marissa. He noticed that several of the mothers were looking at him knowingly, as if the word “novice” were still stamped on his forehead. Sometimes, he had to admit, he felt that way. One year and he was still feeling his way around this maze called fatherhood.

Marissa leaned against the beige wall and looked up at him, waiting.

She had to have the bluest eyes he’d ever seen. So blue that they could have easily made him lose his train of thought. Because he suddenly felt awkward, Alec took his daughter from her. Holding Andrea gave him something to do, somewhere else to look besides her eyes.

Whenever he made presentations, he always strove for a good opening line. He knew the value of capturing his audience’s attention right from the start. But none occurred to him now. Making the best of it, Alec plunged in, stumbling.

“I noticed how good you are with the children.”

Marissa smiled. Where was he going with this? “The job kind of calls for it.” She saw at least three mothers who required her attention. She hoped that whatever Beckett had to say, he’d get to it quickly.

“I was wondering if you’re that good on a one-to-one basis.” This wasn’t going well, he thought.

Marissa turned her head back toward him with a jerk. He had her full attention now. She stared at him, voicing her thoughts aloud.

“Are you hitting on me?” Maybe she hadn’t gotten to be a good judge of character after all.

Completely wrapped up in the dilemma he found himself in, Alec took a moment to fully process her question.

“What?” Talk about wrong impressions. She thought he was trying to pick her up, he realized. Belatedly, he remembered he’d asked her if she was married. What else was she supposed to think? “Oh, no, really.” He’d denied it so adamantly, he knew that he inadvertently was sending out the wrong message. “I mean, not that you’re not pretty, you are. Very. Maybe even beautiful, but—” He stopped abruptly before he managed to make a complete fool of himself. He was hanging by a thread now. Alec’s laugh was rueful. “I’m not saying this very well, am I?”

He had a nice smile, she thought. Not merely a pleasant one, a really nice one. A smile that spoke of sincerity and went straight to the soul. Taking pity on him, she gently eased him off the hook.

“Well, the words pretty and beautiful can’t be held against you, but, no, you’re not.” She saw a woman waving at her to catch her attention. “I’m afraid I have to hurry you along, Mr. Beckett. What is your point?”

Alec felt disgusted with himself. How the hell could a man who could conduct meetings involving several hundred people be so tongue-tied when it came to talking to just one petite woman?

Because he wasn’t in his element, he reminded himself. His element contained software programs, computers. Sterile things, not things that required a sterilized environment. He glanced down at Andrea who was once again attempting to see just how much of his sweater she could stuff into her mouth. With an inward sigh, Alec eased the expensive wool out past tiny pink lips.

Marissa was beginning to edge away. If he didn’t talk quickly, he knew he was going to lose her. “My nanny quit.”

She couldn’t help herself. The declaration begged for a comeback. “Aren’t you a little old for a nanny, Mr. Beckett?”

For a second he thought she was serious. The amusement in her eyes set him straight. Humor. He realized that in the past year he’d almost forgotten how to laugh.

“No, I mean, Andrea’s. Andrea’s nanny quit.”

She stood on her toes, as if that would make her voice carry better. “I’ll be right there, Mrs. Stewart,” she promised the woman who was waving at her. Marissa turned back to Beckett, laying a hand on his arm. The moment instantly turned private.

“I know.” Marissa laughed. “Forgive me, but you looked as if you needed to be teased a little. I’m sorry, it was a poor joke. You were saying?”

Her eyes were so brilliant, so animated, they reminded him of the lake outside his window when the sun reflected on the calm water. It took him a second to retrieve his thoughts from their grasp.

Andrea, frustrated that she couldn’t teeth on her father’s sweater, squealed. “Andrea’s nanny quit last night and I was wondering if—”

Marissa nodded, finishing his thought. “I know of anyone for the job?”

She was only half right. “Actually, I was thinking more along the lines of you for the job.”

Marissa blinked. Had she missed something? Why would Beckett think that she needed a job? In light of what was presently going on in her life, the suggestion was particularly stunning.

“Me?”

She looked dumbstruck. Oh, God, he hoped he hadn’t insulted her somehow. But he was desperate and desperate men did desperate things. Alec began talking quickly. “Yes, you’d be perfect. The kids all seem to respond to you.”

He’d already said that, she thought. Marissa began moving toward Mrs. Stewart again. She did have a job to do and she wasn’t seeing to it by standing here, talking to him.

“Well, I thank you for the compliment, but as you can see, I already have a job. One that I really should be doing."

He wasn’t giving up that easily. Not after seeing the way Andrea took to her. Andrea had always cried whenever a new nanny came into her life.

“Is this full-time? Your job?” God, just listen to him. He was talking as if English were his second language.

Teaching the classes was only a part-time job. Luckily, she did have Antonio’s child support checks. Though he had loudly proclaimed himself not to be father material, that much he had been willing to give of himself. The checks, the scholarship money the university had awarded her and an incredible ability to live on a shoestring was all she really needed.

Marissa saw no reason to go into any of that with Beckett “No, but my time is pretty well taken up.”

“With Christopher?” It didn’t take a genius to guess that.

Her smile was so wide it dominated her face and slipped up into her eyes. “Yes.”

Alec pounced. He’d been prepared for that objection when he’d made his offer. “You could bring him with you. What I really need is a live-in nanny.” It would make things a lot easier, but he could be flexible. Desperate men were. “But since you’re married, I could—”

Maybe she should clear that up, she decided. There was no reason to have Beckett laboring under a misconception.

“I’m not married. Anymore,” she added. “But that’s not the problem, Mr. Beckett. I go to school three nights and one day a week.”

He only heard what he needed to hear. “You’re not married?”

He wasn’t getting the message. “No,” Marissa said firmly. “But—”

Alec’s mind moved faster than her protest. “Then you could be a live-in.”

“If I needed to be, but—”

Relief was a heady thing and he let it wash over him. He hadn’t expected to get this lucky. Thank God he’d opted to register for this class.

“This is great. I work at home two to three days a week.” It was part of Bytes and Pieces’ policy to help solve Southern California’s escalating gridlock problem rather than add to it. All that had been needed was a terminal connected to the main computer at the office and he was on his way. “Something could be worked out.”

Temporarily forgetting about Mrs. Stewart, Marissa addressed the more pressing problem: getting through Beckett’s thick head. She raised her voice. “Yes, if I wanted it to, but, Mr. Beckett, you’re missing a crucial point here.”

He ceased mentally patting himself on the back. “I am?”

“Yes.” She looked up at him, carefully enunciating each word. “I said no.”

The foundation of the Arch of Triumph he was constructing suffered a terminal crack. He tried to smooth it over.

“Not in so many words,” Alec observed quickly.

The man had to be a salesman. “Actually, in a lot of words, some of which you wouldn’t allow me to get out. I have a very full schedule and I really don’t need to take on any more right now.”

He had a feeling about Marissa and Andrea. She would be good for his daughter. He wasn’t about to give up without a fight. “How much are they paying you here?”

His question caught her off guard. “That’s a little personal, don’t you think?”

Alec shook his head. He wasn’t trying to pry, he was trying to win. “Money is never personal. It’s a very public thing. Whatever it is, I can double it.”

The man didn’t know how to take no for an answer. Given his looks and the expensive cut of his clothing, she suspected that he probably didn’t hear it very often. “I take it that you’re used to getting what you want?”

He realized that honesty carried weight with her. It was gut feeling, but he went with it.

“No, just not used to being this desperate. I’ve had four nannies for Andrea in a year. Four women I hand-picked after long, exhausting sessions of talking to enough women to easily fill up a convention hall. They all came from reputable agencies and had long, glowing references in their possession, but things just didn’t work out.”

She wondered if the women left because of some problem that had to do with him. She couldn’t see how it could have been because of Andrea. “Why is that?”

He thought for a moment, trying to remember. “Ellen left because she fell in love with someone who was leaving town. Celeste decided that she wasn’t cut out to be a nanny. I fired Sue. Ingrid, the first nanny, retired. I think Andrea might have had something to do with that. There’s no getting away from the fact that she’s a handful.” He thought of Christopher. Andrea was positively docile in comparison. “But I think you’re used to that.”

Marissa couldn’t help smiling. Christopher was a live wire by anyone’s definition. “You might say that.”

Good, he had her attention. Alec didn’t let the opportunity slip away. “Anyway, I really don’t have the time to go through the process again. I’m in the middle of marketing this new software I developed and the thought of sitting and listening to the peccadilloes of a squadron of women while I try to separate fact from fiction to find a woman who has enough love, patience and enthusiasm to handle my daughter is particularly daunting right now.” He gave it his best shot. “Especially when I’ve found a woman who would be perfect for the job.”

Marissa sighed. He was giving her an awful lot of credit. Either that, or he really was serious about dreading the thought of conducting interviews. Either way, she couldn’t help him.

“Well, I thank you for that, but speaking of jobs…” She glanced over her shoulder at the group. Mrs. Stewart had been inordinately patient. She had to answer the woman’s question and start the new game portion of the class. “I should be getting back to mine.”

He had thought that he was winning her over. “What about my offer?”

“It’s a very flattering one, but I’m afraid I’m going to have to pass.” She was walking backward, away from him, and managed, somehow, to avoid colliding with anyone or stepping on any of the toddlers that were almost everywhere he looked. The woman was uncanny. “But I’ll let you know if I find someone who can live up to your specifications.”

“Outside of Mother Teresa, Mary Poppins and you,” he murmured to himself, “I don’t know of anyone.” Temporarily deflated, Alec looked at his daughter. He had to be in the office tomorrow. This wasn’t going to go over well with his mother. “Do you think your grandmother is up to taking you for another day?”

Andrea screwed up her face and made a familiar sound. Alec looked around for someplace where he could change his daughter. There was a change table against the far wall and he headed toward it just as Marissa called for attention.

“Don’t tell Roberta I called her that,” he whispered to Andrea. “Or she’ll really walk out on us.”

Andrea grunted again. Alec walked faster.

Roberta Beckett smoothed back her carefully styled auburn hair with a perfectly manicured hand. Two-inch-long fingernails flickered in the air like mauve butterflies searching for a place to alight. Through a meticulous regime that she adhered to religiously, Roberta managed to look years younger than the age written on the birth certificate tucked away in her safe-deposit box. Alec knew it was one of her greatest sources of pride that most people, upon seeing her with him, mistook them for brother and sister.

“It’s not that I don’t love her, Alec. I do. I truly do.” Roberta spared a smile for the child, who was holding on to the webbed siding of the portable crib and bouncing up and down in place. “But this rocking, feeding, diapering…” Her deep, husky voice dropped an octave lower as she said the last distasteful word. “It just isn’t me.”

Who knew that better than he? Still, his back was against the wall; he wouldn’t have asked her any other way. Besides, he knew for a fact that the housekeeper performed the actual dirty work. All Roberta did was add her stamp of approval.

“I know, Roberta, and I appreciate you putting yourself out like this, but—”

She didn’t want his gratitude, she wanted results. “Haven’t you found anyone yet?”

He hadn’t even had time to call the agency. He supposed he should have begun interviews yesterday instead of going to class with Andrea, but when he’d signed up, he hadn’t planned on the nanny quitting.

Mentally, he took inventory to make sure he’d brought everything that Dorothy, his mother’s housekeeper, would need to take care of Andrea. “Ellen only quit a little more than twenty-four hours ago.”

The argument obviously carried no weight with Roberta. “God created the world in six days.”

His mother had her own brand of logic. He had ceased to try to make sense of it a long time ago. “He left Adam and Eve for last. That was the hardest part.”

Roberta sniffed. Andrea squealed with glee, then landed on a well-padded bottom and a stuffed rabbit. “You don’t have to create a nanny, just hire one.”

He had to get going. Rex, one of the two owners of the company, was his best friend and incredibly understanding, but there were limits. “Almost as difficult.”

Roberta gave him a reproving look. “I never had difficulties finding one for you.”

Alec thought of the women who had paraded through his life, the ones who had been there to substitute for the genuine article. The very memory was enough to make him not want to hire anyone. He’d had a disjointed, unstable childhood at best. He hadn’t wanted that for Andrea. But he obviously had no choice. Alec sincerely hoped she wouldn’t remember any of this.

Because he needed help, he threw the ball into Roberta’s court. “All right, then you do it. You find a nanny.”

“Me? I should think that would be something you would want to handle on your own.” Roberta pursed her lips in a disapproving pout. “Really, Alec, I thought I raised you more independently than that.”