The Billionaire's Baby Arrangement (13 page)

“Then I had my accident during the game. I know in my head my father didn't physically injure me so I couldn't play again, but he sure as hell put pressure on me and had me rattled enough to make a fool move on the field. I was recovering from the surgery too, but before I knew what happened, the team released me. I know my father had something to do with that.”

Brooke had heard rumors about Santo Carlino when she'd lived in Napa as a young girl. He'd been a powerful and ruthless businessman. “I'm sorry.”

“Don't be. I'm only telling you this to ease your mind about being with me.”

“Is that the only reason, Nick?” She shouldn't have asked. She never knew when to keep her trap shut.

He turned to face her, his gaze piercing hers. “It's been a long time since I've spoken about this. And only to my brothers. I guess I figured you'd understand.”

“I do.” She smiled and stroked his cheek gently, his day old stubble rough under her palm. “But I'm sorry for more than what you've gone through. I'm sorry for thinking having money and good looks meant you had everything you wanted.”

“You like my looks?” he said, in an attempt to lighten the mood.

“Yes, I like your looks,” she said, not taking the bait to banter. This was serious and she wouldn't let Nick make light of it. “I've misjudged you and I apologize.”

He brought her hand to his mouth and gently kissed the inner skin of her palm. “Thanks.”

They sat in the dark, holding hands, the intimacy of the moment more profound than the sex they'd experienced these past few days. Brooke's heart ached for him in a way she'd never be able to justify or explain to another person.

Because this was Nick.

And she was falling in love with him.

 

“Stupid, stupid, stupid,” Brooke muttered, as she gave the dining room table a second polish, the cloth in her hand circling faster and faster, to match the crazy beating of her heart. “How could Mommy do that? How could she fall in
love with Nick again?” she asked Leah, who played with a Baby Elmo music box on the floor. Leah looked up with a questioning pout on her little lips. To add insult to injury, her daughter's eyes rounded and searched the room at the mere mention of Nick's name. Even her child was smitten with him.

Her life was in shambles and she didn't have a solution to either of her dilemmas.

Dan wanted to know his daughter and start over, and Nick, the man she loved, wanted to be rid of Napa in the worst way. One man was coming back into her life, another leaving for good. And it was all wrong.

When her cell phone rang, Brooke didn't jump and she didn't panic. It was time for her to come to terms with her life and fix what she could. She noted Dan's number on the screen and took a deep breath before answering. “Hello.”

“It's Dan, honey.”

Honey?

“I'm only in Napa for a few more days. I'd like to come see you. We have things to talk about. Things to work out. I know I made a mistake leaving you.”

“Yes, you did, Dan. But that's over now.”

“It doesn't have to be. I want to talk to you, Brooke.”

There was a calm and amenable tone to his voice today, but she still didn't trust it, or him. “I suppose we do have things to talk about.”

“Can I come over?”

“Today's not good, Dan. Come tomorrow afternoon. We'll talk.”

After Brooke hung up the phone, she slumped down in a chair and put her head in her hands. She couldn't afford a court battle with Dan, but she'd do anything within her power to keep Leah. There was no way she'd give him joint custody. At the very most, she'd allow him the right to come
for a visit every now and then. She'd stick to her guns and not budge an inch.

She glanced at Leah who had rolled onto her back on the pink flowered quilt, her chubby legs kicking in the air, as she nibbled on her teething ring. “He doesn't deserve you,” she whispered, holding back tears.

The only good news she had all week was that her mom was coming for a visit in a month. She's promised to help Brooke with her first paying guests and with any luck she'd be open for business by then. With Joe's expertise, her website would be operating soon and she'd managed to meet local merchants, hand out flyers and spread the word about her establishment.

“It's good news,” she said to Leah. “I've gotta keep reminding myself that all this hard work will pay off one day.”

Brooke got down on the floor and sat cross-legged on the quilt. She put Leah in a sitting position facing her. “Wanna play a game with Mommy?”

She took Leah's hands in hers and spread them wide. “Open,” she said, drawing the word out. Then she closed their hands together, relaying in a sing-song voice, “Close them.”

Leah giggled with joy. She loved this game. “Open,” she repeated. “Close them.” Brooke's mood lightened instantly just seeing her daughter's fascinated expression.

There was a sharp knock at the door, a knock she recognized. She braced herself, glancing outside at the parked car, before opening the door. Nick stood on the threshold, looking like a zillion bucks as usual and her heart thumped hard in her chest. He was eye-catching no matter what he wore, but today, he had on a tailored, and from the look of it, very expensive dark suit. “Hi,” he said with a sparkling gleam in his blue eyes.

The sight of him blew her away. “Who died?”

He smiled. “You don't like my going-to-San-Francisco-on-business look?”

“You look nice, Nick,” she relented, a gross understatement. “You didn't mention your trip this morning, though.”

“It just came up. I'll be staying overnight. I came to give you the key to the house, just in case you miss Carlotta when you come in.”

She let him in and they walked into the dining room. “Hey, kid,” Nick said when he spotted Leah on the quilt. She gazed up at him and immediately lifted her arms for him to take her.

“She cut her first tooth. She's in a better mood today.”

“Really,” Nick said, taking off his jacket and getting down on the floor. “Let Nick see your tooth.” He picked Leah up in his arms. Leah smiled at him, opening her mouth just slightly but not enough for him to catch a glimpse of it. He tickled her chin to make her laugh, then bent his head, searching until he came up with a grin. “Hey, there it is.” He kissed Leah's forehead and Brooke's stomach twisted. How this man thought he wasn't good father material, she couldn't fathom. Granted, she'd thought so too, until she'd seen him interact with Leah and gotten to know him again.

Her heart broke thinking he'd never have a child of his own.

He looked up at Brooke, the smile still on his face. “Let's move furniture.”

“What?”

“You have three more rooms to paint, don't you?”

“Yes, I was going to start on the next one when Leah took her nap this afternoon.”

Nick rose, taking Leah in his arms. He tilted his chin and gestured upstairs. “It'll take me a few minutes.”

“You're all dressed up.”

“Are you going to stop arguing with me?” He glanced at Leah. “I hope you won't be this stubborn when you grow up.”

Her daughter responded with a soft touch to his cheek.

“Okay, fine,” she said. It was killing her seeing Nick holding Leah and how easy they were with each other. “Let's move furniture.”

Half an hour later, after they'd arranged the furniture in the center of each of the three remaining rooms, Nick glanced at his watch. “I'd better get on the road. My meeting is in a couple of hours.”

Brooke walked him downstairs and handed him his jacket. He slung it over his shoulder and strode to the door. “See you tomorrow night.”

She nodded and glanced at his mouth.

He inhaled a sharp breath. “Keep looking at me that way and I'll never get out of here.”

Heat rushed up her neck to warm her face. He was smooth, a charmer to the umpteenth degree, but he'd shown her a different side of himself last night and she feared she'd never get enough of him.

He took her into his arms and brushed a light kiss to her lips. Then he groaned and pulled her up tight against him, deepening the kiss. It lasted a gloriously long time and when they finally broke apart, both of them were breathing heavily.

“You make a man want to stay home nights,” he whispered with a rasp, before turning and exiting the house.

She stood on the porch and watched him get into his car and pull out of the driveway. Then she entered the house and leaned back against the closed doorway. “Damn you, Nick. Don't say those things to me.”

“S
o how long have you been teaching English at the high school?” Brooke asked Molly as they sat at the bed-and-breakfast's newly spruced up dining room table. It was tea for two with her aunt's Royal Albert English Chintz china teacups looking wonderful on the lacy rose tablecloth she'd laid out.

Molly juggled having Leah on her lap and sipping chamomile tea without the slightest pause. It was clear her friend knew a thing or two about children. She was glad she was finally able to have Molly over for an early brunch.

“This is my fifth year at the high school. I started teaching English and History a year after Adam was born and it's working out very well. We have our summers together and during the school season I'm home early. My husband works out of the house a few days a week, so he's Mr. Part-time Mom.”

Brooke chuckled. “Is that what you call him?”

“Yeah, I do. John's got a great sense of humor. We laugh about it all the time.”

“It's important to have someone to laugh with. Dan never laughed much. It's a wonder the two of us ever got together.”

Molly reached for her hand. “You're doing the right thing by moving on. He wasn't right for you.”

“Don't I know it! He'll be here in a couple of hours and I have no idea what I'm going to say to him.”

“Just listen to what he says,” Molly offered, touching her hand. “Let him speak his mind, but don't give him an answer. Tell him you have to think things over and then do that. There's no rush. You don't have to make any decisions quickly.”

Having Molly here soothed her fragile nerves. She'd given her good advice and made her wish they hadn't lost touch with each other in the past. “Thanks, Molly. I will do that. It's the sane, rational thing to do.” Then Brooke thought about it some more, shaking her head. “It's hard to be objective. He's such a snake.”

A quick smile brought light to Molly's amber eyes. “Take the high road. Only call him a snake behind his back.”

“I'll try,” Brooke said, arching her brow as she pondered. “It won't be easy.”

Brooke rose from her seat to arrange little round lemon pastries she'd made earlier this morning on a plate. She set out a bowl with fresh strawberries and raspberries topped with a special cream she'd prepared and a platter of sliced cranberry bread. “I'm practicing on you. Tell me what you think.”

Molly tasted each one of the dishes and nodded. “Excellent. You get an A. The lemon tarts are amazing. When did you have time to do all this?”

“Last night and early this morning. Nick was gone, so I had free time.”

Molly grinned. “Nick?”

“I mean, I usually cook him breakfast and dinner and the house was empty so I took advantage of the time to whip these up.”

“Okay, I get it. He wasn't home to
occupy
your time, right?” Molly shot her a wicked smile. “What's up with the two of you?”

“He's a fr—” she began, then quickly stopped herself from calling him a friend. The “F” word wasn't a label she wanted between the two of them. “He and I have an arrangement. And no, it's not what you're thinking.”

“Oh, so you're not sleeping with him? Too bad. Remember when he won Desert Island Dream in high school? The girls got to pick the one guy they'd like to be stranded on a desert island with.”

“I remember,” Brooke said with a groan. The girls wouldn't have been disappointed.

When Leah began to fidget too much, Molly set her down in her playpen and gave her a toy. “There you go.”

Molly lifted up to stare into Brooke's eyes. “You had a thing for him and now you're living under his roof.”

“Just temporarily. We'll be moving out soon. And he'll be off to Monte Carlo. He's got a house there and can't wait to leave the country.”

Molly continued to stare at her, narrowing her eyes. “You're in love with him.”

“I've got enough problems at the moment, thank you very much.”

Molly spoke with gentle regard. “Doesn't change the fact.”

“No, it doesn't,” Brooke admitted, lowering her tea cup slowly to confess her innermost feelings. Maybe it would
help to discuss this with someone. “It just happened. I had my eyes wide open, knowing it was impossible.”

“To coin a cliché, love is blind. You can't help who you love.”

“But you can be smart about it, can't you?”

Amusement sparked in Molly's eyes when she shook her head. “I don't think so. Intellect has very little to do with matters of the heart. Nick must be more than a hot hunk loaded with money for you to fall for him. The girl I knew needed more than eye candy.” Molly was forever astute and that's why they'd gotten along in high school.

“Nick always let me see a side of him he rarely showed anyone else,” Brooke said soberly. “I told myself over and over it was ridiculous and impossible, but there he was, opening up to me and being so good with Leah.” Tears welled up in her eyes as she glanced at her baby sucking on her fist. Brooke had dressed her for company and she looked so pretty in her frilly flowered dress and bloomers. “Leah adores him.”

She sniffed and halted her feelings of melancholy. “It's not going to work with him, Molly. My life is so complicated right now. I just want to have it all simple again.”

Brooke and Molly talked for half an hour more and before her friend left she gave her a big comforting hug. “Call me anytime, Brooke.”

“Don't worry, I will.”

Brooke braced herself for Dan's visit. She didn't want this, any of it. She scooped Leah up in her arms and thought about running away, but it was just a wishful dream. She had to face him today and there wasn't much she could do about it. She sat down on the sofa and rocked Leah, giving her a bottle of formula and hoping she'd be sound asleep when Dan came by.

Less than an hour later, she heard a knock and rushed
to the door to keep Leah from waking up. “Come in,” she said the second she saw Dan.

He entered the house. His hair was groomed, his face shaven, and he had on the same type of business casual clothes he always wore; khaki pants and a brown Polo shirt. She looked at him and felt nothing but disdain. At one time she had thought he was handsome, with his angular lines and sharp facial features. “Let's have a seat in the parlor.”

She moved ahead of him and sat down in a wing chair that faced the sofa. Dan took the sofa and stared at her. He leaned forward. “You look good, Brooke. Pretty as always.”

She refrained from rolling her eyes. “How did you know where we were?”

Dan glanced around the parlor taking it all in with assessing eyes as if doing mental calculations. “There's a lot of antiques in here. Are all the rooms furnished like this? How old is this place? “

“Old,” she replied, refusing more information. “Please answer my question.”

“Okay, fine, Brooke. I've been searching for you for months. I realized I'd made a drastic mistake. I hired a private detective to find you only to get a report last week that you'd had a baby and moved back to Napa.”

“How touching,” Brooke said. Was she supposed to cave just because he paid someone to find her?

Dan's face reddened and he looked ready to wrestle a bear.

She hoisted her chin.

“Look,” he began. “Let's try to be civil to each other. We have a daughter.”

Brooke hated hearing it. She hated that Leah had a drop of his blood and that he did have a legal right to see her. “Her name is Leah Marie and she's a Hamilton.”

Dan's lips twisted. “She's a Hartley, Brooke, whether you want to accept it or not. Now, can I see her?”

Brooke's stomach quaked. “Fine, but please don't wake her.” Brooke rose and took him into the downstairs bedroom where she'd set up a little crib she'd recently purchased on sale. Slowly, this place was becoming a home to them.

She led him into the bedroom and Dan gazed down at his daughter sleeping in the crib. He stood there a few minutes, just watching her as Brooke studied him. Something odd happened. Dan's expression didn't soften. It didn't change at all. His gaze didn't flow over Leah with loving adoration. Maybe it was because she was a stranger to him, or because he'd already lost one child, but Brooke had expected something more from Dan than the stony face staring down at the crib. Granted, he'd seen her several days ago, but that was for only a few seconds.

After half a minute, Brooke cleared her throat and Dan got the message. He exited the room with Brooke steps behind him.

“I remember you talking about this place,” he said as they reentered the parlor and took their seats again. “Now it's all yours. What will you do with it?”

Brooke was taken aback by his question. Didn't he want to know about Leah? When was she born? How was the delivery? What is she like?

“I'm converting the house into a bed-and-breakfast. I have to support myself somehow.”

“How many rooms does it have?”

“Eight, but six upstairs that I'll use for patrons.”

“You were always good at homemaking, Brooke.”

“Funny, but I never heard that from you before.”

Dan gritted his teeth, making the words flowing from his mouth seem implausible. “I'm sorry I hurt you.”

She wasn't sure that he really was. “That's not enough. Being sorry won't make up for anything. You abandoned me.”

“I didn't know you were having a child. You should have told me.”

“You shouldn't have gotten another woman pregnant and left me the way you did. You just packed up and moved out the same day I'd learned about it. I was in shock for months and picking up the pieces. I don't owe you anything, Dan.”

“We can be a family again.”

“That's not possible.”

“Anything's possible, Brooke. Give us a second chance.”

Leah cried out and Brooke prayed she'd fall back asleep, but the cries continued and she excused herself. “I have to get her. She's probably hungry and wet.”

“I'll come with you.”

“No. Stay here. I'll be back in a few minutes. I'll bring her in.”

And Brooke walked out of the parlor on shaking legs.

 

Nick stepped onto Brooke's porch, a gift for Leah in one hand, another for Brooke in his pocket. He'd made it back to Napa after his late morning meeting with customers for Carlino Wines in good time and decided to stop by Brooke's house first before heading home this afternoon.

He told himself that Brooke might need a hand putting the furniture back in place after painting for the past two days, but in truth he was anxious to give the girls the gifts he'd picked up in San Francisco.

He heard a man speaking to Brooke from inside the house. The somber tone of his voice had an edge to it that
Nick didn't like. He pushed through the front door, without bothering to knock, and turned toward the parlor.

“Don't be unreasonable, Brooke,” the man said. As he held Leah in his arms, the baby's lips turned down in a pout, tears ready to spill from her eyes. “Things could go so much easier if you agree to give us a second chance. I have rights and if you don't think so, I might have to take you to court.”

Distressed, Brooke reached for her baby. “Give her to me, Dan. She's upset.”

The man backed away from Brooke, refusing her the baby. “She needs to know her father.”

“She
doesn't
know you and she's scared.” Brooke said, panicked.

Nick stepped farther into the room, his emotions roiling. Seeing Leah in that man's arms and Brooke clearly agitated infuriated him. “Leah's not a pawn in this. Give her back the baby.”

Both Brooke and Dan seemed startled to see him standing in the room.

“Who the hell are you?” Dan asked, raising his voice even more. He turned to Brooke, “Who is he and why is he issuing orders about my daughter?”

“Nick Carlino. He's been like a father to Leah, the only one she's ever known. She should be so lucky.”

Nick's gaze darted straight to Brooke and from the firm resolve on her face he knew she meant what she said.

“But he's not her father.
I am.”

The roughness of his voice carried across the room and Leah's face turned red as she burst into tears. The jerk was too selfish to realize he'd upset the baby.

“Give her to me,” Brooke said quietly between gritted teeth.

“I will in a minute.” Dan tried to calm Leah but it wasn't working, her cries grew louder.

Nick set Leah's gift down and strode up to Dan, his anger barely contained. Immediately, Leah turned toward him and reached out her wobbly arms, her sobs quieting down. Nick put his hands on Leah's waist, her body twisting toward him. He stared at Dan, his jaw tensing. “Let go of her.”

The man glanced at Brooke then sighed. He released his hold on Leah. She flowed into Nick's arms. Her baby scent wafted up as she hung on tight, attaching herself to him. He held her for a few long moments and stroked her hair, before handing her back to Brooke. He eyed Leah's father with contempt and spoke with deadly calm. “Don't come in here and threaten them ever again.”

“Nick, I can handle this,” Brooke said, intervening. He didn't think so, but he backed off for her sake. “Dan was just leaving. We've said all we have to say for now.”

“I'm not giving up, Brooke,” Dan said. “We can make this work. I want you both back.”

Brooke squeezed her eyes shut. “And I told you, that's not going to happen. Just go, Dan.”

Dan shot a quick glance at Leah, then his gaze went to Brooke. “This isn't over.” He sent Nick a hard look and strode out of the house with Nick at his heels. He waited until the guy was off the property before returning to Brooke, who had collapsed on the sofa with tears streaming down her face.