Wait a minute... Eva!
Shooting up in bed, Claire looked over to the crib. If the alarm didn’t wake Claire up, the baby usually did, so if she was still sleeping, something was wrong with Eva. Her eyes scanned the unfamiliar crib, but there was no baby to be found.
“Eva?” she called out with an edge of panic in her voice.
Claire whipped the blankets back and leaped from the bed. A quick search of the crib and the surrounding area confirmed what she already knew. Eva was missing. “Eva!” she shouted again, throwing open the door of the master bedroom and skidding into the living room. She came to a sudden stop, not quite sure she could believe what her eyes were seeing.
“Good morning. Are you hungry?”
Luca was standing in the kitchen with Eva perched on his hip. Together, they were cooking breakfast. The billionaire CEO was mixing pancake batter while playfully gumming at her infant’s fingers and making yummy sounds. Luca looking so casual holding her daughter was a surreal sight after their tense conference room showdown. Was this the same man who had threatened her with prison time? “We’ve been enjoying our morning, haven’t we, bella? We had a bottle and coffee out on the deck and watched the seabirds, and then we decided to make pancakes for breakfast.”
She was happy to find Eva safe, but she didn’t appreciate the fright he’d given her. Luca’s brows drew together. “Claire, are you okay?”
She didn’t answer him. Marching across the living room, she took Eva from his arms and cradled her to her chest. Then, and only then, could she respond to Luca. “Please don’t do that,” she said.
“Do what?”
“Take her without telling me.”
“You mean take her like she’s my child and care for her as a father would do?”
Claire frowned at him. He might technically be her father, but he hadn’t earned the right to just wander off with Eva without her permission. Her daughter barely knew him. “The point of this trip was so that I could get comfortable with you handling Eva. It’s been less than twenty-four hours and I can assure you that I’m not comfortable yet.”
“I’m sorry,” Luca said, coming around the kitchen island with a mug of coffee in his hand. “I get up early, so I came and got her so you could sleep. It defeated the purpose to wake you up and ask if you minded. Would you like some coffee? I made this cup for you, but again, I didn’t ask permission first, so you may not want it.”
Claire ignored his sharp tone. He was annoyed, but she didn’t care. It was far too early for him to start ignoring boundaries. Being temporarily under the same roof didn’t turn their situation into some family sitcom. Of course, neither did her snapping at him.
“Sure,” she replied quietly, still a little off-kilter from her scare and not entirely pleased with how she’d handled all this in that state. “Thank you.”
Luca set the mug on the counter within her reach and turned to the kitchen. With his back turned, Claire did a quick assessment of Eva and found her to be fed, changed and clean. She seemed happy and not at all concerned to be away from her mother with a strange man. Claire had obviously underestimated Luca when it came to caring for children. He knew more about it than he let on in their previous discussions.
“Do you want bacon?”
Claire turned back to Luca. He seemed to have cast aside their little skirmish and refocused on breakfast. “That sounds great.” She slipped onto one of the stools at the kitchen counter to watch him work at the range. The in-control businessman appeared to have stayed back in Manhattan and in his place was a man enjoying his vacation. He was wearing a blue T-shirt and flannel plaid pajama pants with bare feet. His hair was slightly messy, and morning stubble lined his sharp jaw.
She imagined that this was a sight few people outside his immediate family got to see. She liked it. More than she wanted to admit. She wondered what his rough stubble would feel like against her cheek. Against her thighs...
Claire squeezed her eyes shut for a moment to send that sensation out of her mind. She wasn’t allowed to snap at him, then fantasize about him a moment later. That was craziness.
When she reopened them, she focused on Luca’s cooking. Even in his pajamas, he moved around the kitchen with purpose and fluidity. Luca certainly knew what he was doing. For some reason that surprised Claire. There was a lot about this man that wasn’t what it appeared. “I knew you ran restaurants, but I never thought about whether you could actually cook,” she admitted.