Michelle Douglas - A Baby In His In-Tray

It’s a situation of your own making.

Yes, thank you—she knew that well enough. She pulled in a breath. She only had to survive for another few days. ‘I mistake you?’

‘I don’t doubt your ability to look after Jemima, and I don’t doubt your integrity.’

Darn it all! Why did he have to make her sound mean-spirited for doubting him? ‘Then why aren’t you comfortable continuing our arrangement?’

‘Because you’re getting no sleep. It’s not fair to ask you to continue in this vein. You live in a one-bedroom flat. You haven’t a spare room to put the baby in, let alone any additional help I might be able to provide for you.’

She wished she hadn’t been so utterly shattered when she’d opened the door to him earlier. She’d sounded—and acted—like a mad woman. It was all she could do not to wince. She’d hoped he’d been too jet-lagged to remember, but...apparently not. The impression she’d made on him had evidently been indelible.

‘I have a solution if you’re willing to hear it.’

He had the most perfectly shaped mouth. She’d love to paint it and—

Stop it! She didn’t want to think about painting or Sebastian Tyrell’s mouth or anything. She didn’t want to like him!

She rose and went to check on the baby. She returned to her seat only when she had her wayward thoughts back under lock and key. ‘OK, hit me with it.’

He raised an eyebrow.

Oops, that was probably a bit informal for Liz. ‘I mean, please outline your solution, Mr Tyrell. I’m all ears.’

He stared at her with pursed lips. ‘I never imagined you’d be like this...outside of the office, I mean.’

His words had a texture and they brushed across her skin with a faint promise she didn’t dare examine. It took all her strength to stop from chafing her arms. What did he mean? Like what? Human? She didn’t ask. She didn’t want to know. ‘I wouldn’t have expected you to think about what I was like outside of the office.’

He frowned and opened his mouth.

‘Which is exactly as it should be,’ she added.

He snapped his mouth shut, but his frown deepened. ‘I want you to know that I’m more than happy for you to order in milk for your tea and coffee at the office.’

Oh! Liz took hers black! And he’d noticed that she’d added milk to hers earlier. She was an idiot! She tried to shrug. ‘I chop and change all the time.’ She shrugged again, overdoing it but unable to stop herself. ‘Sometimes I prefer milk, sometimes I don’t.’

His gaze narrowed in on her face. ‘Well, on the weeks you do prefer milk you’re to order it in. Are we clear on that?’

‘Crystal,’ she assured him.

Dear lord, that was sweet of him, and she felt an utter cow. She and Liz were the ones deceiving him. He had nothing to feel guilty about.

You’re not doing it to hurt him. Besides, you’re helping him.

She was helping him. And, given the events of the last few weeks, it was just as well that she was here rather than Liz. She was much better able to cope with a baby. Liz may, in fact, have gone to pieces. But that knowledge didn’t make her feel any the less guilty.

‘Well...ahem...tell me about this solution of yours.’

He set both hands on the table and leaned towards her. The scent of something rather lovely like spiced apples drifted across to her. ‘We all leave together and go to my house on Regent’s Park.’

Move in with him? Ooh, she really didn’t want to do that. Instinct told her that the more distance she kept between herself and Sebastian the better.

‘There’s ample room in the house and you can still be Jemima’s primary carer, but with the added benefit of having help near at hand.’

She bet he had an entire army of household staff. And a huge house. It was quite possible they’d hardly ever see each other.

‘And...you’ll do your best to find Jemima’s mother?’

He nodded. ‘That’s the plan. I don’t care what it takes, I will find her.’

Liv thought hard. She wasn’t sure she could deal with too many more sleepless nights. If Jemima’s mother had had to put up with that for months... With no help, no family... Liv repressed a shudder, understanding in a way she never had before how that kind of pressure could make a person snap.

But surely, after a little rest, Jemima’s mother would come forward to claim her? And she’d find them quicker and easier if they were at Sebastian’s house.

‘If you think I’m being irresponsible in any way you can still carry out your original intent and go to the police.’

‘Oh!’ She shot to her feet. ‘That wasn’t a threat. It—’

‘I know, and I understand. We have a duty to Jemima, a responsibility. You’ve been thrust into a role you didn’t ask for, but you and the baby have bonded. And now you’re understandably reluctant to abandon her to an uncertain fate. It’s admirable.’

She paced back into the living room to stare down at the sleeping baby. She was an innocent in all of this. She knelt down beside her, brushed her fingers over a tiny hand.

The hand opened and gripped one of Liv’s fingers convulsively before loosening again as she drifted back into a deep sleep. It was as if that little hand had squeezed Liv’s heart. She’d known Jemima for all of three days, and yet she’d do anything now to protect her.

She rose and spun around to find Sebastian right behind her. She took an instinctive step backwards, the scent of cinnamon and something darker like aniseed wrapping about her. With a smothered oath he seized her shoulders before she could fall over the baby carrier.

‘Careful.’ He moved her three steps away from it.

‘Sorry, I, um...didn’t realise you were standing right there.’ So close! ‘You startled me.’

The warmth of his hands burned through the thin material of her jumper, sending a drugging surge of heat coursing through her blood. He stared down at her and his pupils dilated. This close to him she could see the lighter flecks—almost silver—in the grey of his eyes.

His hands dropped abruptly back to his sides and this time it was he who took a hasty step back. ‘Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you.’

She swiped suddenly damp palms across the seat of her jeans. ‘No problem,’ she said, before gesturing that they should return to the kitchen.

She preceded him. When she turned back, she found him staring down at the baby with such gentleness her heart turned in her chest. He reached down to pull the cover up around the baby more fully. ‘Don’t you worry about a thing, little one. I’ll find your mamma for you. I promise.’

‘Yes,’ she said before she even realised she was going to say anything.

He turned to stare at her, straightened. ‘Yes?’

‘To your solution. I think it’s a good one. Just let me pack a bag.’

* * *

It took nearly half an hour in a black cab to drive from Liz’s southside suburb to Sebastian’s home—just off the outer circle of Regent’s Park. The cab stopped in front of a neoclassical terrace—all white brick and imposing columns. ‘You...you live here?’ she breathed.

Sebastian didn’t answer. He was already out of the cab, busy paying the driver and collecting up the various bags. She went to help him, but he shook his head. ‘You just take care of Jemima.’ He handed her a key and then hitched his head in the direction of the...mansion. ‘Let yourself in.’

She stared at the black front door. Just...wow! Did he own the entire building or had it been converted into apartments? She glanced down at the key. She guessed there was only one way to find out.

She unlocked the door to find a large entrance hall complete with a fancy chandelier. A grand staircase curved gracefully to the upper floors. Reception rooms ranged off on either side. So...not a converted flat, then.