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“Sit in the chair.”
He gave her an oddly panic-stricken look. “The rocking chair?”
From his expression she might as well have said electric chair. Not as comfortable with his daughter as he’d like her to believe.
“Yes.” She nodded to underscore her answer. Grim humor sparked through her as the millionaire businessman dropped into the purple-painted rocker that was plumped up with lime cushions. If his board of directors could see him now…
She suppressed her mirth and passed him the bottle. “Normally, you’d test the heat against the inside of your wrist but we won’t bother this time. I’ve already done it and Jennie has reached the end of her patience.”
The baby was flapping her hands furiously.
As Nick gave her the bottle, she latched desperately on to it, her hands clutched around his. The sight of her little plump fingers against Nick’s large, tanned hands caused a strange sensation to flutter in Candace’s chest.
His head was bent, his focus on Jennie absolute. In that moment Candace felt unaccountably excluded. For weeks the baby had been her responsibility—these secret moments had been hers alone to treasure.
Now he’d usurped them. She fought the riot of emotions that his presence here in the nursery aroused.
Then Nick raised his head.
The look on his face caused Candace’s breath to catch. It held an intensity—pain mingled with something more elusive. For weeks she’d been furious at Nick Valentine’s desertion of his daughter. She’d never expected to feel empathy for him—to see the darkness of hell in his eyes.
For the first time, she became aware of Nick Valentine as someone other than a busy, enterprising millionaire—someone other than Jennie’s father. He was a man. A man tormented by the loss of his wife…a man who had been saddled with the lonely responsibility of raising their daughter.
A pang pierced her. It couldn’t be easy.
The least she could do was grant him a few moments of privacy to deal with whatever demons plagued him. Candace edged to the door. “I’ll go and fetch some ice for your head.”
The baby had fallen asleep.
Nick studied the bundle in his arms. She radiated heat against his heart and the warmth of her body had spread through him, almost sending him to sleep, too. No doubt the long flight hadn’t helped.
Shaking off the drowsiness that threatened to overtake him, Nick rose slowly to his feet. He carried the baby across to the crib and carefully settled her down before covering her with a fleecy blanket. To his relief, she didn’t stir. Yawning, Nick turned out the light and let himself out the nursery.
The nanny—Candace, he amended—was coming toward him, her tread soundless on the thick pile of the pale carpet.
“Sorry I took so long. I couldn’t find the ice trays.” She held up a plastic bag filled with ice.
“It doesn’t matter.” Nick was so drugged with tiredness he’d forgotten that she’d gone to fetch ice. “Jennie’s sleeping,” he said to fill the sudden, awkward silence that stretched between them. “She went out like a light.”
Candace smiled, and it transformed her face. The serious eyes sparkled with silver glints. “Yes, it’s amazing how quickly that happens.”
“I’m about to do the same.” Resisting the urge to gawk like a teenager, Nick started to walk past her, but her hand came out and rested lightly on his shirtsleeve. “Let me ice your head.”
A jolt of electricity buzzed under where her fingers rested. She was barely touching him. Gazing down at her, he found himself falling into wide, gray eyes as clear as a mountain lake. Nick shook his head roughly to rid himself of the illusion.
Jet lag was definitely setting in with a vengeance, he decided.
“I’ll be fine,” he said brusquely.
Her smile vanished and she blinked, shattering the unwelcome spell that bound him.
“Even ten minutes will make a difference to any possible bruise marks,” she wheedled.
“Okay.” To make amends for his terseness, Nick gave her a wry smile. “Then I won’t have to explain how I came to have a bruise.”
Her eyes clouded over. She was about to start apologizing again. Nick hadn’t intended that. She’d relaxed a little since leaving him with Jennie. He didn’t want to see her looking wretched—he wanted to see her smile. The generous, spontaneous smile that lit up her whole face…and made him feel like a ray of sunlight had stolen into the night.
“Don’t worry—it will take more than a bump in the night to keep me down.” Reluctantly he moved away from her toward the sitting area off the upstairs lobby and slumped down into the closest sofa, his head falling back against the pile of cushions as he closed his eyes. Man, he was tired.
