He leaned up against the counter and watched her. “Don’t put her to bed on my account.”
“I won’t.” She appreciated the comment as she lifted Nicole out of the high chair. “If you don’t mind, I’ll stay with her until she settles.”
He stared at her a heartbeat longer than necessary, and she didn’t understand why. Then she realized he was looking at both her and Nicole, as if coming to terms with having a family now. She felt sorry for him right then. It was a big adjustment to make.
“I don’t mind,” he finally said, not giving anything away. “We’ll have dinner when you come back.”
She nodded, then grabbed a bottle of formula from the refrigerator and carried Nicole from the room. If Nicole wanted her bottle, Cassandra would heat it upstairs rather than hang around down here any longer.
As for herself, she wasn’t sure she could eat tonight, despite the appetizing plates of seafood she’d seen in the refrigerator. Dominic was being generous in allowing her time to get used to him, but the specter of eventually having to share his bed was still in the background.
When Cassandra didn’t come back within thirty minutes, Dominic went looking for her. Her bedroom door was shut and all was quiet, so he carefully opened it.
And found them both asleep.
The sight drew him across the room to stand looking down at them. The double bed had been pushed up against one wall, and Cassandra had placed Nicole next to her, half curling around the infant to stop her from wiggling onto the floor. It was clear the two had been facing each other and probably playing before dropping off to sleep, and even in sleep a mother’s protective hand rested on her daughter’s diapered bottom.
Something clutched inside his chest and tightened. Trying to ignore it, he pulled up the spare blanket at the end of the bed. He doubted they’d wake before morning.
After covering them up, he left the room and went to pour himself a measure of rum, the picture of Cassandra’s long legs and the curve of her hip encased in slacks accompanying him out to the deck.
What on earth was he thinking by not taking her to his bed? He certainly hadn’t planned it that way, not after the years of wanting this woman. Her cool poise was a turn-on, and he’d fully intended to have her in his bed at the first opportunity, heating her up and melting her down until she could hide behind nothing…until she could hide nothing from him.
And then he’d gone and changed his mind. Of course, he knew why. Watching her taking care of Nicole on the drive down here had gotten to him and had made her seem more loving and less the gold digger, more sensitive.
And now there she was, unaware in her sleep that she had shown him it wasn’t an act. That shielding his—their—daughter from falling off the bed was as natural as breathing.
He ran a hand through his hair. Damn Liam for asking him to take on such a huge responsibility. And damn himself for giving in to a dying man. God in heaven, agreeing to substitute his sperm for the artificial insemination process had all sounded so…bearable at the time, yet that hadn’t been the case. From the moment he’d agreed to Liam’s request, nothing had been the same.
“Do this one last thing for me,” Liam had hurriedly pleaded when Dominic had walked into the hospital room and found his brother alone. Liam was crying, distraught because he’d convinced Cassandra to have his baby, but he no longer wanted to chance that baby inheriting his disease, and nothing Dominic said would ease his mind. The disease wasn’t genetic, but Liam had recently been given a new and more powerful drug to help hold the disease at bay, and he was concerned it might have harmed his sperm. It had broken Dominic’s heart to see his beloved brother reduced to this. Without further thought, he had taken the sterilized jar and stridden into the bathroom, where he’d done what he had to do.
How could he not?
Afterward he’d been full of self-recrimination as he’d wondered where it all would lead. His brother was dying, and the mother of his child was a woman he didn’t respect.
Later he’d had to watch Cassandra grow beautifully big with his child, and he’d stayed away as much as possible, unable to bear it. But the satisfaction in Liam’s eyes had told him he’d done the right thing, no matter what. Liam had been so happy for his wife, who had bloomed throughout her pregnancy.
Then after the birth, Liam had called him to the hospital to see the new baby. And it had taken only one look at his daughter for Dominic to fall in love. She was a part of him. He would die for this child.
Three
Cassandra woke six hours later!
Nicole slept on, and that meant it was a good opportunity to take a shower. But first, Cassandra checked the cell phone she kept on vibration in her purse, making sure there had been no calls from the nursing home about her father. She didn’t dare call them, either, or they might ask about the money. She would sort it out next week, when she returned to Melbourne.
The noise of the shower must have woken her daughter, because Nicole was awake and babbling to herself when Cassandra came out of the bathroom. Too precious, she mused as she went about changing her daughter’s diaper before getting dressed herself in another pair of casual slacks and a knit top to hold off a slight morning chill. Then they headed to the kitchen for breakfast.
Dominic was sitting at the table, reading the newspaper and drinking coffee. He looked up, and at the speed of light his eyes swept over her, his gleam of approval warming her for an instant. She wasn’t used to his open admiration, and for a split second she had to catch her breath, not the least because he looked so handsome in a steel-blue polo shirt that stretched across his broad chest.
Then she forced her legs to move. “I’m sorry about missing dinner last night,” she said, carrying Nicole over to the high chair beside the table. “I fell asleep.”
He folded the paper and put it to the side. “That’s okay. I had an early night myself.”
She could feel herself blushing. Would they ever be having early nights together? She kept her eyes averted while she secured Nicole, then went to prepare her daughter’s breakfast, not allowing herself to think beyond the moment. It was best this way.
All was quiet as she mixed the baby cereal. Curious, she stole a glance over her shoulder and saw Dominic sitting there, looking at Nicole with a tender expression on his face. Her heart did a flip. Clearly he wasn’t as unemotional about his brother’s child as she’d suspected.
By the time she came back to the table, the tender look had disappeared and he was leaning back in his chair, drinking coffee.
“I thought we might go into Lorne after breakfast,” he said as she sat down opposite him. “We can take a look around the town. There’s plenty of stores if you need anything. Or we could walk along the beach.”
“That would be nice.” She placed a spoonful of cereal in Nicole’s mouth. The little girl swallowed it quickly. Heavens, the poor kid was hungry, and was it any wonder? It had been over six hours since she’d had that bottle in the middle of the night, and before that she’d barely eaten anything at dinner.
All at once, Cassandra’s own stomach cramped with hunger. She’d hardly eaten a thing yesterday.
“She likes her food,” Dominic noted.
Cassandra smiled as she fed Nicole another spoonful of the mush, narrowly missing. “Yes, she does.”
“It can be pretty messy feeding an infant, can’t it?” Dominic said, and she looked up to see him watching her.
“She’s just getting her coordination skills.”
“You don’t mind being splashed with her breakfast?”
She laughed. “Not when my daughter is the one doing it.”
It was meant as a lighthearted comment, but all at once the moment went beyond Nicole.
Suddenly it was about her and Dominic and his reaction to her smile.
She watched as his gaze dropped to her mouth…watched as deep down she knew that he wanted to kiss her…. Then slowly…slowly…his eyes inched upward again.
And locked on hers.
She could feel herself being drawn into them.
“Um…speaking of food, I think I’ll make myself some toast.” Jumping to her feet, she took the cereal bowl over to the sink and rinsed it.
A lengthy pause went on behind her, but she ignored it until Dominic’s chair scraped the floor as he stood up. “I’ve got some calls to make.” He strode to the doorway. “Let me know when you’re ready to go. No hurry.”
It was crazy that her hands were shaking as she dropped the bread in the toaster. It was equally as crazy that this “thing” between her and Dominic was gathering strength. It was like all bets were off now that they were married.
Or perhaps she just needed food in her stomach, she joked, trying to keep things inside herself on an even keel.
An hour later, after she had given Nicole a quick bath, had dressed her in some cute little overalls, and had changed her own top from the cereal-stained one, she went looking for Dominic. She found him on the deck, talking on his cell phone, but he wrapped up the conversation and they were soon on their way.
The ride into Lorne was quite pleasant, and soon they were strolling along the main street, past stylish shops and cosmopolitan restaurants in a beachside atmosphere. Dominic had offered to push Nicole’s stroller, and Cassandra secretly watched him and couldn’t help but think he actually looked a tad proud to be pushing her daughter around like this.
What wasn’t to be proud of? Cassandra mused to herself, being the proud mama herself.
“What are you smiling at?” he asked, catching her unawares. She hadn’t realized she’d been so obvious.
She went to tell him, then thought better of it. She didn’t want him becoming self-conscious in the way he treated her daughter. Then she smiled to herself. Dominic self-conscious? That’ll be the day!
“Who wouldn’t feel like smiling in such a beautiful town?” she replied.
He shot her a dry look.
After that they spent another hour walking around. Then Dominic insisted they have lunch in one of the more upmarket restaurants, but it was such a warm day that Cassandra suggested an outdoor café overlooking the sheltered bay. He looked at her oddly, but soon she was feeding Nicole her lunch from a jar of baby food, and then they ate fish and chips that tasted divine because she hadn’t eaten or done something like this in years. Cassandra could feel herself unwinding, and even Dominic looked more relaxed again.
They decided to go back to the house after that, where she put Nicole down for her afternoon nap, then grabbed a book from the living room while Dominic went off to work in the study.
Glad to have some time alone, Cassandra donned sunglasses and took her book outside, kicked off her sandals and stretched out on the lounger by the pool. The sun had grown hotter, and as she focused on the sound of cicadas in the surrounding bushland, the tension sapped from her.
She was deep in the story when Dominic sat down on the lounger near her, having swapped his trousers for casual cargo pants, his blue polo shirt hugging his chest, a thick paperback in one hand, dark glasses hiding his eyes.