The Doctor's Fake Nanny(58)

How had she ever doubted this man? He seemed to know what was in her  head, even before the thought was fully formed in her own mind. She felt  that warmth in her heart. She wondered how Dee was doing. It'd been  weeks since she last saw her baby. Tristan's reaction when she told him  about her was one of absolute shock and incredulity, followed by joy and  excitement.

Cassidy called her mom at 30,000 feet up in the air to tell them they  were coming. Mom wanted to hear the whole story, and Cassidy promised  she would tell both her and dad when they reached Tuscaloosa.

Tristan walked up to the gate leading to her parents' house with huge  strides. His face was alight with so much anticipation. Cassidy was half  running, trying to keep pace with him. Her father opened the door with  an inviting smile. Cassidy hugged him and gave him a kiss on the cheek.  He shook hands with Tristan as she made the formal introductions.

"Mom just gave the baby a bath and will bring her down shortly," her dad  announced. "Can you take a seat while I go get them, Tristan?"

Her dad was always the cool one. He didn't let the idea of entertaining a  billionaire inside his house faze him at all. Here, in his home, he was  the king. Cassidy led Tristan to the living room and stayed beside him,  afraid her dad might give Tristan the third degree.

Cassidy heard Mom's footsteps as she came down the stairs. Suddenly she  was overwhelmed with fear. What if Dee didn't recognize her after all  these weeks? The baby was wide-eyed and bouncy in Mom's arms. She looked  at the newcomers with her curious grey-green eyes. Recognition set in  when she saw Cassidy. She reached out her plump little arms towards her,  demanding to be carried.

"Oh, Dee, I missed you so much!" Cassidy crooned as she embraced her  baby tightly. She sank her face into Dee's chest, breathing in that  sweet baby smell.

Dee held on to her neck as Cassidy rained kisses on her head. Then, as  if remembering there was someone else in the room with them, she  struggled and twisted her small little body in the direction where  Tristan stood, wide-eyed and awed.

Their eyes met for the very first time. Tristan felt a strange intense  emotion he'd never felt before. He approached them slowly, not wanting  to scare the little girl. He reached out his trembling hand, his eyes  welling with tears, and touched her dark hair that was just beginning to  curl.

"Dee," he said. "My daughter."

He glanced at Cassidy, his wet eyes full of wonder. "She's almost as beautiful as you."

It wasn't difficult to see the resemblance between them. No one would ever deny that those eyes were his, too.

"Tristan, meet your daughter," Cassidy said as tears streamed down his cheeks.

Nothing ever felt as perfect as when he drew nearer and enfolded both  girls in the sanctuary of his loving arms. They were a family now and  forever.

THE END





Excerpt from: Love Games



The words sounded so sweet, but raised a bittersweet ache in her chest.  She had learned long ago not to hope for what might be, and to live with  what was. It could be a real home, he was right, but it would take a  miracle to get it habitable again.

A throat being cleared behind her had her lowering the phone, a hand  over the speaker, and looking back. A crisply dressed waiter in a black  jacket leaned over, placing a glass of red wine in front of her.

"Oh no, I didn't order anything … "

"It's from the gentleman at the bar, miss," the server said with a  secret smile as he nodded toward the almost empty bar. Her brown eyes  searched for her admirer, widening slightly as her gaze collided with  blue.

She felt the force of that look crash through her like an electric  shock, setting all her nerve endings on fire. Her brain stopped working  and she sat there open mouthed for a long moment, lost in the blue of  his eyes.                       
       
           



       

Finally, she snapped her mouth shut with a click of teeth, smiling her  thanks at the waiver and staring into the glass of wine as if she would  find salvation somewhere in its red depths. She felt a hot blush tinge  her light brown skin a darker shade of scarlet. What was wrong with her?  She had practically ogled the man.

She felt his presence behind her before she saw him, as if the very air  around him was electrified. It had all the hair on her arms standing on  end and goose bumps erupting as he spoke.

"Hello, I hope you don't mind." He raised a dark brow in the direction  of the wine glass she was nervously toying with. "I just … Oh, do you need  to take that?"

With a jolt she realized she still had the phone in her hand, Terry's  voice yelling from the other end. Quickly, she held it to her ear.

"Hi, Terry, I have to go." With that, she punched the button to end the call.

"I hope that wasn't on my account."

Jade glanced up at him through a thick fringe of dark lashes, aware of  the way his deep voice ran over her like warm honey. "Really?"

He shrugged sheepishly, grinning at her all the while. "Well, no. Not  really. I'm flattered, actually. But, I hope it wasn't … important?" There  was something about the pause before the word that had her thinking he  was going to say something different, but changed his mind.

"It was a friend." Jade said, tilting her head to one side as he  smoothly took the seat across from her. She didn't miss the way his blue  eyes lit up at her words. He held a hand out to her.

"I'm Carl, by the way. Carl Roberts."

She hesitantly reached her own out, savoring the slide of palm against palm despite the alarm bells going off inside her.

Carl Roberts. The real estate mogul who owned practically half of  downtown and had made billions turning around old houses and buildings  and selling them for a massive profit. And he was casually sitting  across from her as if he sent glasses of wine to pretty strangers on a  daily basis. For all she knew, he did.

"My name is Jade Benoit."

"Benoit?" he said, tasting her name in a way that had shivers tripping down her spine. "Is that French?"

"Cajun, actually." Jade sighed, hating the fact that she was suddenly breathless. "My family is from New Orleans."

She realized he was still holding her hand, and with a pang of  disappointment she tried to deny, drew her own away, tucking it into her  lap.

"I'm from South Carolina, born and bred. I tried New York for a few  years, but it didn't work out. You can take the boy out of the south,  but I guess you can't take the south out of the boy."

He laughed a little at his own joke and it transformed his face from handsome to something so much more dangerous-likable.

Jade found herself smiling along with him as he continued to chat about  himself, asking her questions about her family, her job, and before she  knew it she was on her second glass of wine, telling him all about the  situation at the middle school.

What struck her most was not the questions he was asking, but the way he  listened. Leaning forward, soaking in everything she said, like he  cared. Like what she said mattered to him.

It was that that finally had her agreeing to go on a date with him  around the third time he'd asked. Something simple, he promised. But she  had a feeling that nothing would be simple when it came to Carl  Roberts.

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