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‘That would be lovely,’ Chloe said, feeling a little confused that he didn’t know what the item was, but infusing her voice with warmth. If Lorenzo had made a kind gesture, she wanted him to know it was appreciated.
He set off through the palazzo at his usual great pace, as if he’d forgotten he was walking with Chloe, whose stride was considerably shorter. She wasn’t prepared to run with the baby in her arms, so almost immediately she fell behind.
Lorenzo stopped and looked round, then glanced at his wristwatch.
‘I have a conference call in a few minutes,’ he said. ‘Let me carry the baby, or we’ll be out of time.’
Chloe handed Emma to him with a funny feeling inside. It rankled that Lorenzo only wanted to hold Emma to speed things up. But then, Chloe told herself, he had to start somewhere. If making a connection with Emma didn’t come naturally for Lorenzo, then maybe it could grow from small, insignificant incidents.
He led the way to his study with Chloe half running to keep up. But when they got there he turned and abruptly passed Emma back to her.
‘This is it.’ He picked up a package from the floor behind his desk. ‘Francesco Grazzini sent it. He’s a business associate of mine,’ he added, as if Chloe didn’t already know that. But she held her tongue—that was not something worth starting an argument over.
‘Thank you.’ She smiled tightly, knowing she hadn’t really managed to hide her deflated mood.
‘What’s wrong?’ Lorenzo said, looking at her sharply.
‘Nothing.’ She looked back at him, biting her lip in indecision. Perhaps she should say something. But then she remembered the conference call he had mentioned—now was not the right time to get into a potentially tricky conversation with him. ‘I’ll leave you to your work.’
Lorenzo watched her hurry away out of his study carrying the baby in her arms. She’d forgotten to take Grazzini’s package. Or maybe she’d left it deliberately—he’d seen the look on her face when he told her who it was from. Until that moment it hadn’t occurred to him that she might have thought that he’d bought it.
It had seemed as if there’d been something on the tip of her tongue, something she was holding back from saying. He knew what it was about. It was clear that Chloe wanted him to show more paternal interest in Emma.
Well, he could do that—he could spend time with them and satisfy Chloe that he was making an effort with the baby. He had made a commitment that he fully intended to honour—to be a good parent and to treat the child as if she were his own. But he could not make himself have feelings that didn’t come naturally. Feelings that simply weren’t there.
CHAPTER TEN
‘I’M SO glad you’re starting to get to know Emma,’ Chloe said impulsively as she watched Lorenzo playing with the baby—although playing wasn’t really the right word to describe it. And Lorenzo didn’t exactly look as if he was having fun.
Nevertheless, he was patiently handing Emma a succession of soft, colourful blocks, which she took, chewed a bit, then threw back at him. She was sitting on a rug surrounded by a circle of cushions because she wasn’t very stable, and Lorenzo and Chloe were sitting facing her.
Next to the baby Lorenzo seemed huge and awkward, and Chloe found herself frowning slightly as she looked at them. It was true that he was a large, powerful man, but despite his sheer size she had never seen him move or hold himself with anything but cat-like poise. Except for when he was with Emma.
‘Yes.’ Lorenzo’s one-word response revealed just how ill-at-ease he was feeling and Chloe found herself experiencing a hint of frustration.
She didn’t know what was behind Lorenzo’s lack of ease. Was he just finding the whole thing tedious? Or was he totally out of his comfort zone?
Emma was only six months old, and obviously not scintillating intellectual company. But she was fascinating and rewarding to spend time with, if you took a moment to adjust to the change of pace.
Yet Lorenzo’s face was set in stone and he was not attempting to talk to her at all. Chloe wished she knew if that was just because he wasn’t really interested in communicating with her, or if he felt self-conscious and unsure of what to say.
‘She likes those stacking cups—the ones that are behind her,’ Chloe said, wishing she could think of some way to lighten the atmosphere, but Lorenzo’s oppressive silence was making her feel unsettled too.
Lorenzo didn’t reply but he leant over to pick up the cups, with Emma following his movements with her bright little eyes. As he reached past her she turned her head too far and suddenly lost her balance. She rolled over sideways and knocked her head on the stack of plastic cups, and sent up a wail that echoed sharply around the room.
‘Whoa!’ Lorenzo said, picking her up and trying to sit her back on her bottom, but she was wailing and arching her back, and it was clear that she would just fall over again if he let go of her.
Chloe’s fingers twitched with the urge to sweep the baby up, putting both her and Lorenzo out of their misery. But at the same time she didn’t want to barge in. If she always did everything it would only make things harder for Lorenzo.
He really did seem to be making an effort finally. And she’d heard the concern in his voice when Emma went over. She was unbelievably glad that he did seem to be connecting with the baby on some level—even if it was only at the most basic, simple concern over her safety.
‘Here, you take her,’ he said suddenly, dumping the crying baby into Chloe’s arms.
‘Don’t worry,’ Chloe said, jiggling Emma to comfort her. She couldn’t help feeling disappointed that he had given up so easily. But at least he had tried, she told herself. That had to be something.
‘Worry?’ Lorenzo said curtly. ‘Worry about what?’
‘That you’re not finding it easy,’ Chloe said. ‘That you don’t know what to do right away. It will come—the important thing is that you are starting to connect with her. To feel like her father.’
