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I put Leia on her playmat with the frame over her, and lie beside her as I watch her play with a toy lion that dangles above her. I know I have no say in what happens to her, and I’m just her nanny temporarily. But the fact that her mother died has left me feeling responsible for her. Alex’s words struck a bell that won’t stop ringing in my head. It’s archaic to have a group of men deciding a woman’s fate. And Leia doesn’t have any other woman around to speak up for her. Of course she has Juliette and Gaby and Missie, but I’m the one looking after her.
Leia has lost interest in the lion, and she’s reaching out for a mirror to her right. She grasps it in her right hand and brings her left hand over to join it—and then, all of a sudden, she rolls over! I inhale with delight and move closer to say, “Oh, you clever girl!”
She looks at me with astonishment to find herself on her tummy. She’s holding her head up well now, and I know it won’t be long before she’s rolling over on a regular basis.
The front door opens, and I sit up as James comes in. He’s wearing his suit again, and he tosses his keys on the kitchen counter, takes off his jacket, shoes, and socks, then walks through to the living room.
Mmm, barefoot James in a suit. Is there anything sexier?
“You just missed it—she rolled over all on her own,” I say, conscious of my pulse picking up speed.
His eyebrows rise, and he lowers down onto the sofa and smiles at the baby as she looks up at him. “Did you really? You clever girl.”
“She’ll start doing it more now,” I tell him. “And it’ll probably only be a few months before she’ll begin crawling.”
“Wow.” He studies her for a moment. Then his gaze slides to me.
I get up and sit in the armchair opposite him. “You were gone a long time.”
“I went for a walk after the appointment. I had a lot to think about.”
“So… how did it go?”
He leans back, resting an ankle on the opposite knee, and strokes the bristles on his face. “Okay.”
“Come on, tell me what he said.”
He takes off his tie and undoes his top button as he runs through his meeting. He explains the contents of the will, and then he summarizes what the lawyer said about Leia.
“So…” He swallows hard. “I’ve decided. I’m going to keep her.”
My lips slowly curve up, and I give a delighted smile. “Really?”
He nods. “You think that’s the right decision?”
“I do, I really do.”
He blows out a breath. “The thing is, it’s not going to be easy.” He tells me what the lawyer said about him being a ladies’ man. He looks most put out.
“You’re shocked by that?” I scoff. “Come on. You look like a model, and I know you’ve had plenty of girlfriends. Another lawyer would easily be able to twist that into something more scandalous.” He scowls, and I chuckle. “So what can you do to make yourself more respectable?”
“He joked that I could get married.”
I laugh, although I feel a slither of cold slide through my veins as I say, “So are you going to pop the question to Cassie?” Oh God. The thought of him marrying her feels like he’s stabbed my heart with an icicle.
He doesn’t react, but he does say, somewhat flatly, “No.”
Relief floods me. “Oh, good.” Then I blush. “I mean…”
He’s looking away, though, across the garden, lost in thought, and he misses my comment. He doesn’t smile when he eventually looks back at me and says, “The important thing you need to understand is that Leia has got to come first now.”
I nod. “Of course.”
“I need to get the Family Court to grant me a Parenting Order, and then I can apply to adopt her.”
“Right.”
He hesitates. Then he says, “I have a business proposition for you.”
