Maureen Child - At Her Service

“I wish you could have been there,” she murmured.

A cold, tight fist squeezed his heart until it felt as though it were being wrung from his chest. “So do I, baby,” he said softly, and kissed the top of her head. In fact, he knew that for the rest of his days, he would be sorry he’d missed out on so much. It was a time that could never be recaptured. The magic couldn’t be revisited.

No. There was nothing he could do about the past.

But the present and the future were up for grabs.

His mind raced, going first in one direction, then another, trying to find places, spots where he could infiltrate Kelly’s and his daughter’s lives. He wanted—no, needed —to be involved in what was happening now.

God knew, he didn’t know anything about family life. And even less about children. But that little girl was his baby. A part of him. And he wouldn’t be denied the chance to be in her life. To have her know him. To be something more than he ever had been before.

And then it hit him.

Keeping his voice even, he asked, “Who watches Emily when you’re at work?”

She stiffened slightly in his arms, and Jeff knew she was all set to get defensive. Well, he’d just have to disarm her. Shouldn’t be any more hazardous than dealing with a land mine.

“Don’t you start, too,” she warned, her voice as stiff as her posture.

“Start what?”

“Kevin is forever giving me grief about Emily being in day care for half a day. I don’t need the two of you double-teaming me.”

“Hey, hey. Don’t shoot!”

“What?”

“Take your finger off the trigger, baby,” he said quietly, turning her in his arms again until he could look down into her eyes. No way was he going to be set alongside Kevin Rogan in her eyes as though they were a team or something. “I’m not in a position to give you grief over any decision you’ve made for Emily.”

She relaxed just a bit, but not by much. “Okay,” she said, and ducked her head briefly before looking up at him again. “But you do have more right to an opinion than Kevin.”

Damn straight, he wanted to say, but wisely, didn’t.

“I was just asking,” he said.

She nodded. “You know I teach at St. Matthew’s.”

“Yeah …” He remembered her telling him all about her class at the local Catholic school.

“Well,” she continued, “the teachers there also run a day care for the parents of students, and Emily spends her mornings there while I’m at class.” Then, as if he was going to attack, she hurried on. “It’s a wonderful setup. I can visit her at recess and naptime. The nun in charge is a lovely woman and she really loves the kids. Gives them plenty of attention.”

While she described the school and day-care center, Jeff’s mind wandered. Hell, he’d been raised mostly in a Catholic orphanage in St. Louis, so he figured he had more firsthand knowledge of how well nuns looked after children than she did. But then, Kelly wasn’t aware of most of his childhood circumstances and now wasn’t the time to give her more details.

“I’m convinced,” he said, only to slow down the rush of words. “Besides, I only wanted to know because—” Did he really want to do this? Yes, he thought. He did. “I was thinking. Maybe while I’m home on leave, I could take care of Emily while you’re at work. Give me a chance to get to know her and for her to know me.”

Kelly looked at him for a long, thoughtful minute, and he would have given plenty to know what exactly she was thinking. Then she spoke and the mystery was solved.

“You want to take care of her? Alone? By yourself?”

“Yeah,” he said, unconsciously straightening up under her steady regard. What?

“But, Jeff, you’ve told me yourself that you’ve never had much to do with kids.”

“I was one once—doesn’t that count?” She smiled. “Do you even know anything about babies?”

“I know they can’t breathe underwater,” he said, keeping a straight face. “Very funny.”

“I know they need to eat. They need to be changed. And they sleep a lot.”

“Uh-huh.”

She didn’t look convinced. “Look, Kel,” he said, “how hard can it be? I’m a Marine, for God’s sake. The U.S. government trusts me with million-dollar machinery. Surely I can be trusted to spoon mashed-up bananas into my daughter’s mouth.”

“I don’t know,” she said. “I mean, of course I want you to spend time with Emily. I want her to know you. I want you to be able to see just how special she is.” Kelly laid both open palms on his chest, and he wondered if she could feel the thundering beat of his heart. “It’s just—” “You’re worried.” “A little.”

“I can do this, Kelly,” he said, needing to prove to both her and himself that he was right. “Trust me.”

“I do trust you—”

“Then it’s settled?”

She chewed nervously at her bottom lip, and his gaze followed the motion. His body stirred into life as he planned on biting that lip himself. Once he had her answer.

“I guess so,” she said, forcing a smile she clearly didn’t feel.

“Excellent,” Jeff said. It didn’t matter that “I guess so” wasn’t exactly a glowing approval. He’d take what he could get. Gripping her tightly about the waist, he lifted her off her feet long enough to plant a long, satisfying kiss on the mouth that drove him to distraction. When he set her back down, she blinked up at him.

“Tomorrow morning, you’ll come over to my place, then?”

That was one way of handling the situation, he thought, but he had another way in mind. They had a long, lazy Sunday ahead of them. And if he worked this just right, he’d spend the night lying in Kelly’s bed at her house. Then he’d be there, ready to step in and care for their daughter first thing in the morning.

Still, probably a good idea if he didn’t throw his plan at her all at once.

“You bet, baby,” he said, pulling her close enough that she couldn’t help but feel the rock-solid proof of how much he needed her again.

Her eyes widened, then went smoky dark, and he knew she was feeling everything he was. Good. He wanted to make himself indispensable to her over the next thirty days. He wanted to prove to her that he could be everything she and his daughter needed.

“But for now,” he pointed out, bending his head and stopping just a breath away from kissing her, “we’ve got a long Sunday with lots of hours to kill.” He leaned closer, his lips tasting, tugging at hers. “Got any ideas?”

“Oh,” she whispered, lifting her arms to encircle his neck. “A few.”

“Emily’s crying,” Kelly said, and gave Jeff a nudge.

“Hmm? What?” He came awake instantly and sat up. His gaze swept Kelly’s bedroom, and it only took a moment to remember where he was and why he was there. Oh, yeah. His plan. Well, it had worked. He’d spent the night with her at her house so that he could be on hand when Emily woke up.

Which, apparently, was now.

A cry sounded out again from the next room, and he smiled to himself.

“Go,” Kelly mumbled. “Bond.”

Swinging his legs off the bed, he jumped up, grabbed up his jeans from the crumpled heap on the floor and tugged them on. He looked at Kelly, still lying, face into her pillow, auburn curls spread across the spring-green linen, looking like a fire in a meadow.

Jeff just enjoyed the view for a long minute, relishing the simple pleasure of waking up alongside her. Damn, but it felt good. Right. His plan had worked beautifully. He, Kelly and Emily had spent most of yesterday afternoon together, with he and his daughter becoming acquainted. Thankfully, she was a happy baby, with an outgoing personality that was more her mother than her father. She simply looked at Jeff as yet another conquest, completely expecting him to adore her as everyone else did.