The Baby Claim

Before she lost her nerve, she shrugged into a luxurious spa robe and yanked fluffy boots onto her feet. She wasn’t exactly a showstopper right now, but she couldn’t deny she looked forward to knocking Broderick’s socks off once her robe hit the deck.

Kota followed at her heels as she made her way to Fleur’s room for a final check on her way out. The young pup wagged his fluffy tail in anticipation.

Kota bounded to the crib, his icy blue eyes curious and interested. While the dog meant well, he was too young to be left alone with Fleur. Glenna could too easily envision Kota jumping into the crib to curl around the baby. A well-intended action, but not one she could risk. Satisfied that Fleur was peacefully sleeping, she checked the monitor’s setting once again before picking up her receiver, then guided Kota into the laundry room.

“Come along, boy. With me. With me,” she commanded. She’d set up his crate, with a doggy bed so it felt like and smelled of home. Beside it, his bowl of water and a bowl of kibble waited. She’d even left some treats.

He pranced right to his bed and curled up with a sleepy sigh.

She smoothed the black-and-white fur along his side. “I love you, sweet boy. I do.” She’d made sure to take him on extra long walks so he wouldn’t get jealous of the attention she had to give Fleur. “You’re a good pup. I’ll see you soon. Night-night.”

Standing, she turned on an iPod she’d rigged in the room to play soft, soothing music, the same she played for him at home. Then she dimmed the light and secured the gate in front of the door.

Turning on her heel, Glenna strode through the rustic cabin, her fluffy boots making muffled sounds on the stone floor in the kitchen. She made her way to the glass door that led to the picturesque deck extending out around the isolated cabin.

A watercolor sunset of reds and oranges melted over the snowcapped mountaintop, while to the east the evening’s first stars appeared in the sky. She glanced about, taking in the serenity of the water, the slow bobbing of the parked seaplane. She followed the sound of churning water, walking past a latticework partition to the hot tub, which provided an uninterrupted view of the mountains.

And an equally chiseled Broderick.

The cold air urged her to move, but so did his whiskey-eyed stare. After stepping onto the heated stairs, she kicked off her fluffy boots, deciding somehow she could resist him better if she quickly slid into the warm, welcoming depths.

Although right now she was having trouble remembering why she needed to resist him at all.

Swallowing hard, she discarded her robe and draped it over the railing. Her breasts tightened at the chill.

Or perhaps at the sight of the Broderick’s bare, broad shoulders and his muscular arms stretched out along the edge of the hot tub as he leaned back. His smoldering gaze met hers. Then stroked over her from her nose to her toes.

He lifted one dark eyebrow. “If that’s the most boring swimsuit in the collection, then heaven help me if you’d picked something else.”

His words eased the stress knotting inside her and she stepped into the welcoming waters.

She sat next to him, careful not to get too close, not yet, not trusting herself. Leaning back, she rested her head on the edge, eyes fluttering shut at the caress of the jets easing her tensed muscles. “I’m sure there must be something in the code of ethics about a business meeting like this.”

“Who says it has to be about business? We’ve crunched numbers, taken care of the baby…” His voice rumbled gently in the night air, soothing and intoxicating. “And we’ve helped our families. I say it’s fine for us to decompress. I would have brought wine, but I want us both to be completely aware and in control of our senses.”

She opened her eyes to find him staring at her, a hungry smile on his face. Her throat dried up as an answering hunger churned inside her.

One she tamped down with both fists clenched in the water. “Would you care to clarify that?”

“I want us sober for the baby, and in case I need to fly the plane, of course. What did you think I meant?” he asked, with such overplayed innocence, she splashed him.

He splashed her right back, and then they both eased deeper into the swirling water, their legs brushing ever so briefly.

Emotional distance. She needed to keep finding some.

“Do you really think my mother and your father are going to get married?”

“What do you think?”

She shrugged, playing her fingers along the top of the water, popping bubbles. “My mother has dated a couple of times since my father died, but no one serious. For her to say she’s marrying Jack is huge. I don’t know your father well, only from business meetings and what I’ve heard.”