He fought the anger that automatically surged up in him when the thought about his marriage, about Lydia. In the past year, his sense of fair play had compelled him to examine his marriage honestly and he had to admit that Lydia hadn"t been a horrible shrew. He hadn"t been a terrible husband. Their marriage hadn"t ended because he and his ex-wife were bad people, but because they"d hit a crossroad that neither had antic.i.p.ated. A crossroad where there had been no choice but to separate. They had once been the love of each other"s life, yet when their marriage had begun to crumble, they"d both forgotten the eight good years, only remembered their horrible final year, and fought bitterly. They"d hurt each other. Used Cory as a weapon. And both of them had walked away damaged.
Remembering that only made his upcoming showdown with Grace more formidable. He and Grace didn"t have two years of courtship and six years of marriage to look back on to potentially keep them from hurting each other. So how did he expect their confrontation to turn out any better than his fight with Lydia had?
He didn"t.
He wouldn"t shirk his responsibility to Grace"s baby. But he had learned enough from the past that the key to survival was not being so in love with his daughter that she could turn into Grace"s secret weapon.
Finally feeling that he knew what he had to do, Danny rose from the step, went to the kitchen and told his housekeeper he and Grace weren"t to be disturbed, then he walked to the den.
Unfortunately he couldn"t keep the displeasure out of his voice when he said, "Let me see her."
Grace faced him. "Save your anger, Danny. I was the one left to have this baby alone. I was so sick I had to quit my job and depend on my parents to basically nurse me for nine months. The bonus you gave me went to support me until I had Sarah and could go back to work. I was sick, exhausted and worried that if anything went wrong when she was born I wouldn"t be able to pay for proper care. You could have helped me through all of that, but you never even followed up on me. So the way I see this, you don"t have anything to complain about."
She was right, of course. It didn"t matter that he was still hurting from the end of his marriage when she told him she was pregnant. He hadn"t for two seconds considered Grace or her feelings. Still, he had no proof that she was the innocent victim she wanted him to believe she was. The weekend they"d spent together, he"d made himself an easy mark for a woman he really didn"t know. He"d never wanted another relationship, let alone a child. And now he had one with a stranger. A woman he genuinely believed had tricked him.
"What made it all worse was wondering about your reaction when I did bring Sarah to you." She sat on the leather sofa in the conversation area, laid the gurgling baby on the cushion and pulled the bonnet ribbon beneath the little girl"s chin, untying the bow.
Danny"s breathing stuttered as he stared at the baby. His daughter. A perfect little pink bundle of joy. She punched and pedaled her legs as Grace removed her bonnet.
Grace"s voice softly intruded into his thoughts. "I understood when you told me you didn"t want to see me anymore. I had every intention of respecting that, if only because of pride. But this baby was both of our doing."
Sarah spit out her pacifier and began to cry.
Grace lifted the little girl from the sofa cushion and smoothed her lips across her forehead. "I know. I know," she singsonged. "You"re hungry."
She rose and handed the baby to Danny. "Can you take her while I get her bottle?"
Panic skittered through him and he backed away. He hadn"t held a baby since Cory.
To his surprise Grace laughed. "Come on. She won"t bite. She doesn"t have teeth yet."
"I"ve...I"m...I just-"
Realizing he was behaving like an idiot, Danny stopped stuttering. He wasn"t an idiot. And he would always think of Cory every time he looked at Sarah, but there was no way he"d admit that to Grace. She already knew enough about him and he didn"t know half as much about her. Seeing Cory every time he looked at Sarah would be his cross to bear in private.
He reached out to take the baby, but this time Grace pulled her back.
"Sit," she said as if she"d thought his hesitancy was uncertainty about how to hold the baby. "I"ll hand her to you."
Deciding not to argue her a.s.sumption, Danny lowered himself to the sofa and Grace placed the baby in his arms. "Just set her bottom on your lap, and support her back with your left hand."
He did that and the baby blinked up at him, her crying becoming sniffles as she lost herself to confusion about the stranger holding her.
Staring at her mutely, Danny identified. The first time he"d seen Cory was immediately after he"d slid into the doctor"s hands. He"d been purple and wrinkled and when the doctor slapped his tiny behind he"d shrieked like a banshee. The little girl on Danny"s lap was clean and now quiet. The total opposite of her half brother.
Grace pulled a bottle from her diaper bag. Dripping formula onto her wrist, she checked the bottle"s temperature and said, "Can I take this to your kitchen and warm it?"
"Go back to the foyer, then turn right. The door at the end of the hall leads to the kitchen. My housekeeper is there. She"ll help you."
Grace nodded and left.
Danny glanced down at the blue-eyed, rather bald baby. He took a breath. She blinked at him again, as if still confused.
"I"m your father."
She c.o.c.ked her head to the right. The same way Cory used to. Especially when Danny would tell him anything about Carson Services, about responsibility, about carrying on the family name, as if the idea of doing anything other than paint was absurd.
Remembering Cory"s reaction tightened Danny"s chest again, but this time it wasn"t from the memory of how, even as a small child, Cory had seemed to reject the idea of taking over the family business. Danny suddenly realized this little girl was now the one in line to run Carson Services. Grace might not know it, but Danny did.
Grace ran to the kitchen and didn"t find a housekeeper, but she did locate a microwave into which she quickly shoved the bottle. She"d never seen a person more uncomfortable with a baby than Danny appeared to be, which was surprising considering he had a son, but she wasn"t so insensitive that she didn"t realize that meeting Sarah hadn"t been easy for him.
She"d been preoccupied with Sarah"s needs and hadn"t factored Danny"s shock into the equation. But having watched his facial expression shift and change, she realized that though he might not have believed Grace when she told him she was pregnant he seemed to be accepting that Sarah was his.
When the timer bell rang, she grabbed the bottle and headed back to his den. Walking down the hall she heard Danny"s soft voice.
"And that"s why mutual funds are better for some people."
Grace stopped just outside the door.
"Of course, there are times when it"s more logical to put the money of a conservative investor in bonds. Especially a nervous investor. Somebody who can"t afford to take much risk. So you always have to question your investor enough that you can determine the level of risk his portfolio and personality can handle."
Standing by the wall beside the door, Grace twisted so she could remain hidden as she peered inside. Sarah gripped Danny"s finger and stared up at him. Her blue eyes sharp and alert. Danny appeared comfortable, too, holding the baby loosely on his lap, and Grace realized that talking about something familiar was how Danny had overcome his apprehensions. Still, stocks? Poor Sarah!
"It"s all about the individual. Some people are afraid of the stock market. Which is another reason mutual funds are so great. They spread the risk over a bunch of stocks. If one fails, another stock in the fund could skyrocket and balance everything out."
If it had been under any other circ.u.mstances, Grace would have burst out laughing. Danny looked up and saw her standing there. He grimaced. "Sorry. I didn"t know what else to talk about."
She shrugged. "I guess it doesn"t really matter. All a baby really cares about is hearing your voice." She walked into the room and lifted Sarah from Danny"s lap. Nestling the baby into the crook of her arm, she added, "When in doubt, make up something. Maybe a story about a bunny or a bear. Just a short little anything."
Danny didn"t reply, but rose and walked to the window. "You should be the one to sit."
Not about to remind him that there was plenty of s.p.a.ce for both of them on the leather sofa, Grace took the place he had vacated. With two silent parents, the sound of Sarah greedily sucking filled the room.
"I almost wish you hadn"t brought her to me."
Grace hadn"t forgotten that he"d broken up with her before she told him she was pregnant. Still, that was his tough luck. He"d created a child and she wasn"t letting him pretend he hadn"t.
"She"s your child."
"Yes. And I know you think there are all kinds of reasons that"s great, but you"re not going to like the way this has to play out."
"The way this has to play out?"
"I have to raise my daughter."
Not expecting that, Grace stared at his stiff back. But rather than be offended by his defiant stance, she remembered the feeling of his corded muscles beneath her fingertips. The firmness of his skin. Her own shivers of delight from having his hands on her.
Reaction flared inside her but she quickly shook it off. She wouldn"t let herself fall victim to his charm again. Too much was at stake. She didn"t know the official definition of "raise his daughter," but it sounded as if he intended to get more than a Sat.u.r.day afternoon with Sarah every other weekend. There was no way Grace would let him take Sarah and ignore her. He hadn"t ever wanted her. If he took her now, it would probably be out of a sense of duty to his family.
Still, if Grace argued, if she didn"t handle this situation with kid gloves, her reply could sound like an accusation and accusations only caused arguments. She did not want to argue. She wanted all this settled as quickly and amicably as possible.
"It"s good that you want to be involved-"
Danny suddenly turned from the window and caught her gaze, but Grace couldn"t read the expression in his eyes and fell silent. She didn"t know what he was thinking because she didn"t know him. Not at all. She hadn"t worked with him long enough to even know him as a boss. With Orlando he had been fun and funny. But when she"d told him about being pregnant he"d been hard, cold, unyielding. As far as she knew he had two personalities. A good guy and a bad guy and she had a sneaking suspicion few people saw the good guy.
"I want my daughter to live with me."
"Live with you?" Grace would be the one getting a visit every other Sat.u.r.day afternoon? He had to be joking. Or insane.
"I"ve got money enough and clout enough that if I take you to court I"ll end up with custody."
Grace gaped at him. It had been difficult to bring her child to meet him. As far as she was concerned, he could have stayed out of their lives forever. She was only here for Sarah"s sake. Trying to grasp that he wanted to take Sarah away from her was staggering. Could his money really put Grace in a position where she"d be forced to hand over her innocent, defenseless baby daughter to a complete stranger? A man who didn"t even want her?
She pulled in a breath and said, "That"s ridiculous."
"Not really. When I retire, the option to take over Carson Services will be Sarah"s. She"ll need to be prepared. Only I can prepare her."
"But your son-"
"Never wanted the job. It falls to Sarah."
Overwhelmed, Grace shook her head. "This is too much in one day. I never even considered the possibility that you wanted to know I"d had a baby. Yet the day you find out, you"re suddenly demanding custody."
"I don"t have any other choice."
Grace sat in stunned silence. The whole h.e.l.l of it was he didn"t want Sarah. He wasn"t asking for any reason except to fulfill a duty. Which was just wonderful. Grace would lose the baby she adored to a man who didn"t want her, a man who intended to train her for a job. Not to love and nurture her, but to a.s.sure there was someone to take over the family business.
The injustice of it suffocated Grace at the same time that she understood it. Danny might not want Sarah, but he had a responsibility to her and to his family.
She wondered if he really needed to live with Sarah to teach her, then unexpectedly understood his side again. Preparing to take over a family fortune required more than a formal education. It required knowledge of family history and traditions. It required social graces. It required building social relationships.
All of which Grace didn"t have. Sarah had to live with him at least part of the time.
Part of the time.
Suddenly inspired, Grace said, "You know what? I think I have a compromise."
"I don"t compromise."
No kidding.
"Okay, then maybe what I have is a deal to propose."
His eyes narrowed ominously. "I don"t need a deal, either."
"Well, listen anyway. The problem I see is that you don"t know Sarah-"
"Living together will take care of that."
"Just listen. You don"t know Sarah. I don"t think you really want her. You"re asking for custody out of a sense of duty and responsibility not to her but to your family, and, as bad as it is for my cause, I understand it. But as Sarah"s mother I can"t let you take my baby when you don"t want her. So what I"m going to propose is that you come to live with Sarah and me for the next two weeks."
His face scrunched in confusion. "How exactly would that help?"
"If nothing else, in two weeks, I"ll get to know you and you"ll get to know her. Especially since I don"t have a housekeeper or nanny. You and I will be the ones to care for her."
His shrewd brown eyes studied her, as if he were trying to think of the catch. Since there was no catch, Grace continued.
"The deal is if you can spend two weeks with us, learning to care for her, and if at the end of that two weeks I feel comfortable with you having her, I won"t contest shared custody. Week about. I get her one week. You have her the next. That way, as she gets older, you can schedule the functions you think she needs to be involved in, and I won"t have to give her over to you permanently."
Danny shook his head. "Grace-"
"I won"t give her over to you permanently. Not for any reason. Not any way. The best you"ll get from me is week about and only if I believe you can handle her."
"You"re not in a position to name terms," Danny said, shaking his head. "I can beat you in court."
"And then what?" Grace asked barely holding onto her temper. This time yesterday he didn"t know he had a daughter. This time last year he didn"t want to even hear Grace was pregnant. He couldn"t expect her to hand over their child. She"d spend every cent of money she had before she"d recklessly hand over her baby to a man who didn"t want Sarah, a man who probably would keep his distance and never love her.
"Say you do beat me in court. What are you going to do? Pa.s.s off your daughter"s care to nannies, and let her be raised by a stranger when she could be spending that time with her mother? Is that your idea of grooming her? Showing her how to walk all over people?"
He ran his hand along the back of his neck.
She had him. They might not have spent much time together, but she"d noticed that when he rubbed the back of his neck, he was thinking.
"It sure as h.e.l.l isn"t my idea of how to teach her," Grace said quietly, calming down so he would, too. "If nothing else, admit you need some time to adjust to being her dad."
He sighed. "You want two weeks?"
"If you can"t handle her for two weeks, how do you expect to have her permanently?"
Danny said nothing and Grace retraced her argument, trying to figure out why two weeks made him hesitate. A person who wanted full custody couldn"t object to a mere two-week stay with the same baby he was trying to get custody of- Unless he wasn"t worried about two weeks with Sarah as much as he was worried about two weeks with Grace. The last time they"d spent three days together they"d ended up in bed.
The air suddenly filled with electricity, so much that Grace could almost see the crackles and sparks. Memories-not of his accusations when she told him she was pregnant, but his soft caresses that Sunday night and Monday morning-flooded her mind and the attraction she"d felt the weekend they"d spent together returned full force.
But she didn"t want it. She did not want to be attracted to this man. He"d come right out and said he didn"t want a relationship with her. Plus, he had clout that she didn"t have. Grace needed all her facilities to fight for Sarah"s interests. She couldn"t risk that he"d push her around in court the way he"d steamrolled her when she told him she was pregnant.
The reminder of how he"d kicked her out of his office without hearing her out was all she needed. Her chin came up. Her spine stiffened. She would never, ever trust him again. She would never give in to the attraction again.
"You"re perfectly safe with me. Our time together was a mistake. I wouldn"t even speak to you were it not for Sarah."
He remained silent so long that Grace sighed with disgust. He hadn"t had a clue how painful his words had been to her. He hadn"t cared that she could have misinterpreted everything he"d said and drawn the conclusion that he"d had his fun with her but she wasn"t good enough to really love. He"d been so wrapped up in his own wants and needs that he never considered hers.
Or anyone"s as far as Grace knew.
Another reason to stay the h.e.l.l away from him.
"I mean it, Danny. I want nothing to do with you and will fight tooth and nail before I let you take Sarah even for weekends if only because you"re a virtual stranger."