The Billionaire's Baby Arrangement (4 page)

Nurse Jacobs was beside her quickly and braced her around the waist. “You stood up too fast,” she said softly. “Move slow and make each step deliberate. How's your head now?”

Brooke glanced at her. Everything began to clear. “Better.”

“Let me get Leah for you. Have a seat and I'll diaper her and bring her to you so you can nurse her.”

Brooke did as she was told. The sooner she recovered, the better. She didn't want to be beholden to Nick for anything more. She already owed him for the damages to his car and for room and board, not to mention for the private nurse he'd hired to care for her. Brooke vowed to pay him back once her establishment started making money.

An hour later, Brooke had showered, changed her clothes, put a little blush on her pale cheeks and felt human again. She dressed Leah in a sundress and sandals that matched her own—a gift from Grandma “for her two girls,” her
mother had written on the gift card. Thankfully, her mom was provided for now and could spend money without pinching pennies and she'd lavished so many wonderful things on Leah.

Brooke smiled.

“That smile looks good on you. Feeling better?”

“Much. I'm ready to go down for dinner.”

“I'll take Leah, if you can manage the stairs.”

“I'll help Brooke down,” Nick said, standing in the opened doorway and nodding at the nurse. He wore a black Polo shirt that displayed lean muscles and tanned olive skin. His pants were beige, expensive and fit his frame perfectly.

“I can manage.”

Nurse Jacobs touched her arm. “Let him help you, Brooke. Just in case.”

Brooke hesitated, but now wasn't the time to be obstinate. “Well, okay.”

Nick waited until they reached the top of the staircase before putting his arm around her waist. She felt the gentle pressure of his touch all the way down to her toes. If nurse Jacobs only knew what a dizzying effect Nick had on her, she wouldn't have encouraged this.

“I'm glad you decided to come down for dinner. I thought you were still annoyed at me from before.”

“I'm not in a position to be annoyed. You're being very…gracious.”

“So out of character for me, right?”

“No comment,” Brooke said, but she smiled and Nick didn't seem to take offense.

Once they made it down the stairs, Nick led them to the terrace where a table was set under a slatted patio roof held up by stone columns. “We're between cooks right now, so I
ordered in. You'd end up back in the hospital if I tried my hand at cooking.”

“That's fine, thank you,” she said, then reached for Leah. “Come here, pretty baby.” She kissed Leah's cheek the minute Nurse Jacobs handed her over. She settled Leah onto her lap. The baby was still groggy from her long nap.

The housekeeper, Carlotta, made a big fuss over Leah, offering to hold her while Brooke ate her meal, but she kindly refused. She still hadn't gotten over the accident and what could have happened. She wanted Leah near and she'd eaten this way, with Leah on her lap, dozens of times. It was a ritual that she'd soon have to break. Leah was growing in leaps and bounds and would need a high chair soon.

Carlotta made sure they were served and wanted for nothing. Brooke was amazed at how hungry she was, satisfying her growling pangs with shrimp salad, pasta primavera and creamy pesto chicken. She ate with gusto as Nick and her nurse conversed about growing up in Napa. Nick was a charmer and by the end of the meal, her middle-aged nurse was surely smitten. Every so often, Nick would catch Brooke's eye and they'd exchange a glance. Heat traveled through her body even as she pretended not to notice his effect on her.

Carlotta served a decadent Italian dessert catered from a restaurant Nick's family owned. The oozing lava cake exploded with melted chocolate the minute Brooke touched her fork to the center. Leah grabbed at her fork with her chubby grasp and a spray of liquid chocolate splattered onto Brooke's chest. The baby giggled and swiped at the confection again, tipping it over.

“Leah!” Brooke shook her head as she glanced at her freshly stained white blouse and the puddle of chocolate her child made on the table.

Carlotta and her nurse rushed into the kitchen to repair the damage, leaving Brooke alone at the table with Nick.

“Look what you've done to Mommy.” Leah giggled again and Brooke had to smile, unable to feel any anger at the situation. Though she imagined she looked a total mess now. “You're getting me all chocolately and—”

“Delicious,” Nick said softly, gazing into her eyes. He slipped a forkful of dessert into his mouth, but his eyes remained on her.

She didn't know how to react. Was he coming on to her? Any embarrassment she might have felt dissolved just seeing the spark of intensity in Nick's eyes. Did she want his flirting, even just for her own deflated ego?

“Here, Carlotta gave me this.” Nurse Jacobs returned and handed her a wet dishcloth. “It might not stain if you get to it quickly.”

“Oh, I'll probably just take it off upstairs and work on it,” she said, holding Leah on her lap with one hand while dabbing at the splashes of chocolate with the other hand.

Carlotta walked onto the patio with a pained expression. “Nick, you have a visitor.”

Nick glanced up as a sultry dark-haired woman breezed onto the patio.

“Hi, Nicky.”

“Rachel.” Nick got out of his seat.

The woman was stunning, even if she was a bit older than Nick. Looking proprietary, she placed her hand on his shoulder and lifted up on her toes to kiss him.

Brooke looked away rather than intrude on an intimate moment. She wondered what Rachel would say if she knew Nick had kissed her just hours ago, on this very same terrace.

“Who are your friends?” the woman inquired, staring at Nick.

He made the introductions without qualms. Rachel followed the direction of Nick's gaze and swept a quick glance at Brooke and the baby, noting her stained blouse without missing a beat.

Brooke had learned not to give in to humiliation anymore. She lifted her chin and greeted Nick's girlfriend with a poise that could win her an Oscar. “It's nice to meet you, Rachel.”

“Rachel owns A Rock and A Hard Place,” Nick offered.

Brooke furrowed her brow. “I don't remember it.”

“It's a bar and nightclub,” Rachel explained. “I opened it about three years ago and I guess you could say it's my baby.” Rachel looked at Leah. “Until the real thing comes along, that is.” She glanced at Nick, who held an unreadable expression, then turned her attention to Leah. “She's adorable.”

“Thank you. She's quite a mess at the moment. Both of us are. I should probably clean us both up.”

When Brooke rose from the table, Nurse Jacobs stepped up and reached for Leah. “I'll take her for you.”

“Thank you,” Brooke said, her glance darting from Rachel to Nick. “I'll leave you two alone. Have a nice evening.”

Nick met her eyes. “Think you can make it upstairs okay?”

Brooke nodded. “I'm feeling better. Thanks for dinner.” She waved her hand over her blemished blouse. “For as much as I managed to get into my mouth, it was
delicious.
”

Nick's eyes went wide, then he chuckled and Brooke walked off feeling his gaze on her.

She heard Rachel question him with one word.
“Upstairs?”

And she scurried a bit faster into the house.

 

Nick leaned against the railing that overlooked the valley below, his beer held between two fingers as he took a swig. He'd sipped champagne with the monks in France and enjoyed the best wines in all of Europe, not to mention imbibing from the best-ranked vintages in the family wine cellar, but tonight he needed good all-American beer.

His father would cringe seeing the cases of beer Nick had stocked in the house. Carlinos didn't drink beer. Carlinos were winemakers. His father never came to grips with the fact that none of his sons wanted to be winemakers. They had separate interests, which were, of course, of no concern to the man who'd fathered them. Once Nick's mother died, the boys were treated to Santo Carlino's constant demands on how they should live their lives.

Tony and Joe had escaped relatively unscathed, but Nick hadn't been so lucky. His father had managed to ruin Nick's career, before it had even started.

“I'm pregnant, Nick,” Candy Rae cried into the phone right before his debut minor league baseball game. “I'm scared and I need you. Come home.”

Nick couldn't come home. He'd been drafted by the Chicago White Sox. He was making his first start on the triple AAA squad on the Charlotte Knights and he needed to perform. He needed to make his mark and prove himself.

While he assured Candy Rae he'd come home and deal with the situation as soon as he could, she wouldn't let up. She'd called him every day for weeks and the calls sapped his concentration on the ball field, so much so that he stopped taking her calls. Next thing he knew, Candy Rae showed up at the ballpark and pleaded with him in person to come home. She was six months pregnant and the evidence of his child growing inside her couldn't be missed. He didn't love Candy Rae, but he'd make sure his
child wanted for nothing. He'd have a part in raising the baby but that wasn't good enough for her. She wanted Nick home. She wanted marriage and the white picket fence fairy tale. Candy Rae was spoiled and stubborn and she put up a huge fuss, crying, screaming and stomping her feet. They argued, Nick not giving in to her tantrum and an hour later Nick walked onto the baseball field.

Distracted and pissed off, he'd collided with his teammate trying to make a catch in the outfield. He'd dislocated his shoulder, requiring surgery and a long recovery time.

“Should've been a piece of cake,” Nick muttered, sipping his ice-cold beer in the warm Napa night, thinking about that catch
and
the recovery.

The house on the hill was quiet. Only a few stars lit the sky and it was the remote silence surrounding him that brought back his desolation and disappointment. His life could have been so different.

He'd found out late that summer that Candy Rae's baby wasn't his but he'd also found out that his father had put her up to the deception. They'd schemed together to get what they wanted and both wanted the same thing, Nick to come home to Napa. Candy Rae claimed she loved him and Santo wanted a son he could groom to take over the family business.

Nick was released from his minor league contract after that injury and to this day, he'd bet his life his father had his hands in that. Santo was an unscrupulous manipulator. He'd had a reputation for being a ruthless businessman and his business always came first with him.

Nick never forgave him for that…for messing with his dream.

After that fiasco, he'd moved out of the country for many years, becoming the foreign liaison for Carlino Wines in European markets. This was all he could stomach to do,
working for the family business—needing time and distance away from Santo. Nick managed other interests overseas, making sound real estate investments. He'd become wealthy in his own right before long.

Nick heard footsteps on the grounds and turned to find Brooke coming out of the house, barefoot, wearing a silky robe. Her long blond hair spilled onto her shoulders. He watched her take a few steps onto the terrace.

She hadn't seen him yet—he was in the shadows—and that was fine with him. He could look at her without her defenses going up. Cascading terrace lamps lit her in a halo of light. Her movements graceful, she stepped farther out onto the terrace, taking in deep breaths of air. She looked troubled, as if searching for peace.

When she spotted him, she jumped back. “Oh, sorry,” she whispered. “I didn't think anyone would be out here this late.”

“Neither did I. Couldn't sleep?”

“Not tired. I think I got too much rest this afternoon. Looks like you're enjoying the peace. I'll just go back upstairs.” She turned and took a step.

“Don't go.” Nick cursed under his breath. He was in a dangerous mood and it would be better for her to go inside.

She stopped but didn't turn to face him. “I should go up.”

Nick pushed off from the railing and strode over until he was behind her and near enough to whisper in her ear. “You should. But I don't want you to.”

Nick put his arms around her waist and brought her close. He'd always liked Brooke. She was unique and fresh with a clever sense of humor. She could make him laugh and he admired her gutsy attitude, while being beautiful and sexy at the same time. She was the girl that got away and
she'd remain so, but right now, he wanted her company. And maybe a little bit more.

He felt her trembling in his arms. “What happened to Rachel?”

“She wanted something I can't give her.”

Brooke hesitated, then finally whispered quietly, “What's that?”

“All of me.”

Nick reached up and took Brooke's hair in his hand. He moved soft strands off her neck and kissed her there. Goose bumps erupted on her nape and Nick drew her closer to whisper, “And you want none of me. Are you holding a grudge?”

“Not a grudge. I told you before.”

“Then what, Brooke?”

She turned around to face him. He was hit with an immediate jolt when she stared at him with those beyond-beautiful eyes. “Why does it matter?”

“You were important to me. We were friends once.”

Brooke's mouth gaped open then she hauled off and shoved at his chest. Startled by her sudden move, he struggled to keep his balance.

“You are so dense!” Brooke seemed to shout, though it came out in a loud whisper.

Nick looked at her and the absurdity of the conversation struck his funny bone. He laughed. “What the hell are you talking about?”

“You see, you don't even know!”

“So why don't you tell me?” Judging by the look on her face, maybe he didn't want to know.