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His cheeks and jaw were softened by a day’s growth of beard, enhancing his sexy, just-got-out-of-bed look. Despite the distraction of a squirming, protesting child in her arms, Hadley registered a significant spike in her hormone levels. She wanted to run her palms over his broad shoulders and feel for herself the ripple of ab muscles that flexed as he scrubbed his fingers through his hair before settling his hands on his hips.
Light-headed, she sat down in the newly purchased rocking chair. Liam’s effect on her didn’t come as a surprise. She’d had plenty of giddy moments around him as a teenager. Once, after she’d had a particularly fantastic run, he’d even looked straight at her and smiled.
Hadley tightened her attention on Maggie and wrestled her foolishness into submission. Even if Liam was still that cocky boy every girl wanted to be with, she was no longer a susceptible innocent prone to bouts of hero worship. More important, he’d hired her to care for this baby, a child who was probably his daughter.
“Do you think she’s okay?” Liam squatted down by the rocker. He gripped the arm of the chair to steady himself, his fingers brushing Hadley’s elbow and sending ripples of sensation up her arm.
“You mean because she’s been crying so much?” Hadley shot a glance at him and felt her resolve melting beneath the concern he showered on the baby. “I think she’s just fussy. We haven’t figured out exactly what she likes yet. It might take swaddling her tight or a certain sound that calms her. I used to take care of a baby boy who liked to fall asleep listening to the dishwasher.”
“I know we talked about this yesterday,” Liam began, his gaze capturing hers. “But can you make an exception for a few weeks and move in here?”
“I can’t.” The thought filled her with a mixture of excitement and panic. “I have a cat—”
“There’s always plenty of mice in the barn.”
Hadley’s lips twitched as she imagined Waldo’s horror at being cut off from the comforts of her bed and his favorite sunny spot where he watched the birds. “He’s not that sort of cat.”
“Oh.” Liam gazed down at Maggie, who’d calmed enough to accept a pacifier. “Then he can move in here with you.”
Hadley sensed this was quite a compromise for Liam, but she still wasn’t comfortable agreeing to stay in the house. “I think Maggie is going to be fine once she settles in a bit. She’s been through a lot in the last few days.”
“Look at her. She’s been crying for three hours and you calm her down within five minutes. I can’t go through another night like this one. You have to help me out. Ten days.”
“A week.” Hadley couldn’t believe it when she heard herself bargaining.
Triumph blazed in Liam’s eyes, igniting a broad smile. “Done.” He got to his feet, showing more energy now th
at he’d gotten his way.
* * *
After a quick shower and a cup of coffee, Liam felt a little more coherent as he entered his bookkeeper/office manager’s office. Ivy had been with Wade Ranch for nine years. She was a first cousin twice removed, and Grandfather had hired her as his assistant, and in a few short years her organizational skills had made her invaluable to the smooth running of the ranch.
“Tough night?” Ivy smirked at him over the rim of her coffee cup. She looked disgustingly chipper for seven in the morning. “Used to be a time when you could charm a female into doing your bidding.”
Liam poured himself a cup of her wickedly strong brew and slumped onto her couch. “I’m rusty.” Although he’d persuaded Hadley to move in for a week. Maybe it was just babies that were immune.
“Have you considered what you’re going to do if the baby isn’t Kyle’s?”
As Ivy voiced what had filtered through Liam’s mind several times during the last twenty-four hours, he knew he’d better contact a lawyer today. Technically, unless he claimed the child as his, he had no legal rights to her.
“I really believe Kyle is her father,” Liam said. “I’m heading to a clinic Hadley recommended to have a DNA test run. I figured since Kyle and I are identical twins, the results should come back looking like Maggie is my daughter.”
And then what? Margaret was dead. With Kyle estranged from his family, it wasn’t likely he or Maggie would spend much time at Wade Ranch. And if Liam was wrong about his brother being Maggie’s father, Diane Garner might give her up to strangers.
Liam was surprised how fast he’d grown attached to the precious infant; the idea of not being in her life bothered him. But was he ready to take on the challenge of fatherhood? Sure, he and Kyle had done okay raised by their grandfather, but could a little girl be raised by a man alone? Wouldn’t she miss a mother snuggling her, brushing her hair and teaching her all the intricacies of being a woman? And yet it wasn’t as if Liam would stay single forever.
An image of Hadley flashed through his thoughts. Beautiful, nurturing and just stubborn enough to be interesting. A year ago he might not have given her a second thought. Hadley was built for steady, long-term relationships, not the sort of fun and games that defined Liam’s private life. She’d probably be good for him, but would he be good for her? After a year of celibacy, his libido was like an overwound spring, ready to explode at the least provocation.
“Liam, are you listening to me?” Ivy’s sharp tone shattered his thoughts.
“No. Sorry. I was thinking about Maggie and the future.”
Her expression shifted to understanding. “Why don’t we talk later this afternoon. You have a fund-raising meeting at the club today, don’t you?”
He’d forgotten all about it. Liam had been involved with the Texas Cattleman’s Club fund-raising efforts for Royal Memorial’s west wing ever since it had been damaged by a tornado more than a year ago. The grand reopening was three weeks away, but there remained several unfinished projects to discuss.
“I’ll be back around three.”
