Bedroom Diplomacy(21)

Since her father was the only “guest” she ever had, she assumed it was him. With a sigh, she said, “Send him in.”

She quit the solitaire game she had been playing on her computer, since trying to concentrate on anything with an infant screaming in her ear was impossible, and when she heard the door open again, looked up, expecting the senator. “Colin?”

“Hello,” he said, with a smile that made her go instantly gooey, like the smooth caramel center of her favorite candy bar. “Have you got a minute?”

She’d spent the past four days doing her best not to think about him. And not very successfully.

“Um…sure,” she said. “Just shut the door behind you.”

He shot her a questioning look.

“So Matt here doesn’t disrupt quiet time.”

“Ahhh,” he said. He stepped inside and closed the door.

“What are you doing here?” she asked.

“I wanted to check in and see how Dylan was healing,” he said, loud enough to be heard over Matt’s screams.

“Great! He’s been telling everyone who will listen how you saved him from the evil hospital.”

“How have you been?” he asked.

“Good,” she said, wondering if she was the only one who noticed how stilted and awkward this conversation sounded. She really wished that he would stay on his own side of the fence. But she didn’t want to be rude. “And yourself?”

“Busy. We’ve made quite a bit of progress. Though we still have a long way to go.”

“I’m glad to hear that it’s going well.” The sooner he went back to England, the better off she would be. In a God-my-life-is-pathetically-boring way. But for now that was about all she could handle.

Matt let out a particularly high-pitched shriek, and Colin cringed. “Is he all right?”

“He’s new to the day care and missing his mommy. With any luck he’ll calm down after a day or two. Although sometimes it takes weeks. We all take turns holding him.”

“It’s your turn?”

“Just while the others are resting.” Her arm was getting tired, so she moved Matt to the opposite shoulder. She heard a loud, juicy belch, then felt something warm and wet down her back. Then Matt went right back to crying.

“Sounds like someone left you a present,” Colin said.

Felt like it, too. She rose from the chair and turned. “How bad is it?”

“Well, have you got another shirt to change into?”

She did. She kept a few spares, for occasions such as this. She looked around for a good place to temporarily lay Matt down, but there didn’t seem to be one.

“Shall I have a go at it while you change?” he said, holding out his arms.

He seriously did not look like the type to handle a crying infant. “Are you sure? It’s ear piercing.”

“Have you ever heard a mortar detonate at close range?” he asked.

Good point. She handed Matt over, her fingers brushing Colin’s in the process. Amazing how the simplest touch could get her pulse jumping.

Colin turned Matt a bit awkwardly until the baby was propped comfortably on his shoulder. Matt hiccupped out one more pathetic cry, exhaled a shuddering breath, then went silent.

What the hell?

“What did you do?” Rowena asked.

Colin stood stock still, as if the slightest movement might jinx it. “I don’t know. Is he still breathing?”

She took a look. “He’s fine, just sleeping.”

Honestly, it probably had more to do with that burp than anything Colin was doing, but hey, whatever worked.

“I’ll be back in a minute.” She grabbed one of the spare shirts from her bottom desk drawer and darted off to the bathroom. When she got back to her office a few minutes later, Matt was still sleeping.

“Thanks,” she said, taking him, but the second the baby was back in her arms he started to cry. It was probably just a coincidence, but she asked Colin, “Let’s try that again.”

Colin took Matt and the crying stopped. She took him back, and he fussed.

Okay, no way was that a coincidence.

“I think he likes me,” Colin said.

“So do I.”

One brow tipped up. “You like me, too?”

“I meant—” She shook her head and laughed. “Never mind. Most infants prefer a woman’s touch, but there are some who seem to respond better to men.”

“Would you like me to hold him for a while? Give your employees a break?”

She had not expected that. “You wouldn’t mind?”

“I’ve nothing to do between now and dinner.”

“And if my father should make a surprise visit?”

“Covered. He thanked me the other day for helping, and I mentioned stopping by to see Dylan.”