Baby Chase

CHAPTER TWO

COFFEE.

Erin’s nose twitched as she trudged barefoot and yawning out of her room. She smelled coffee. Yes, this was the smell of coffee, a drug she could absolutely use right now. She rubbed her eyes with the backs of her hands. The night had been filled with fragmented dreams as she’d hovered in the twilight zone between sleep and insomnia.

Coffee. The seductive aroma was irresistible. Her nose leading the way, she padded down the stairs.

It wasn’t until she was almost at the bottom of the stairs that she realized the smell of coffee indicated the presence of another person in the house. That other person could only be Nathan. She glanced at her wrist, then slapped the banister in annoyance. Her watch must still be in the bathroom where she had left it before taking that shower last night. A late sleeper, she considered it sacrilege to rise earlier than nine on a Sunday morning, and, considering how late she’d gone to bed last night, it must be close to noon now.

Nathan should be long gone, not sitting in the kitchen drinking the Colombian nectar of the gods.

For a moment she considered going back upstairs to get dressed, but rejected the idea. After all, she was the one house-sitting; he was the overnight guest. And it was not as if her practical cotton nightgowns came close to being seductive.

Coffee.

First coffee, then think.

The morning sun streamed in through the large kitchen window, reflecting off the spotless countertops. She stopped short and stared in disbelief. Spotless they had not been the previous evening. Who had done the dishes? Three days’ worth of dishes? She squinted against the light and looked around. Nathan was sitting in the corner seat, her seat, she thought in annoyance—reading the morning paper, her paper, over a cup of coffee. His coffee, she acknowledged reluctantly.

“Morning,” she mumbled in response to his cheerful greeting and quickly fetched orange juice from the fridge and popped bread in the toaster. She helped herself to a cup of the coffee and gulped half of it down while she made her breakfast and sat down at the table opposite Nathan.

The caffeine didn’t take long to kick in, and as the fog in her mind began to lift she noticed from the corner of her eye that he had put his paper away and was scrutinizing her.

She still hadn’t looked directly at his face. Last night the room had been lit only by moonlight, his face cast in shadows. She knew the shape of his features, the glint of eyes and teeth, the waves of hair, and the silhouette of his body, but she found herself reluctant to look at him in the light of day, to complete the picture.

“I wondered this morning if you had been a dream,” Nathan murmured, laughter edging his voice. “It was you last night, wasn’t it? On the roof? Wearing a skimpy blue towel?”

“The towel was yellow!” she corrected, stung for some reason. So much for an unforgettable experience.

He laughed. “You’re right. The other towel was blue. The one you so graciously gave to me.” He looked her up and down. “Anyway, my shirt becomes you even better than the towel did.”

Erin blinked and looked down at herself. She wasn’t wearing one of her nightgowns after all; she was still wearing Nathan’s shirt, the one he had dressed her in last night.

Heat flushed her cheeks. Her hands went to the buttons of the shirt, as if to return it right away, but her brain managed to stop them in time.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t realize I still had that on,” she muttered. “You’ll get it back today.”

“No hurry. We really got off on the wrong foot last night. Maybe we should start over.”

She made a noncommittal sound. “You haven’t looked at me once. Did I frighten you last night? I’m sorry if I did.”

The man looked even better than his pictures.

Lifting her head, she forced herself to look at his face. Clinically, she ticked his features off one by one. Black hair with the faintest red highlights where the morning sun grazed it. Too long, for her conservative taste, curling towards his collar at the back. Strong chin and cheekbones, firm mouth, curved in what seemed to be a permanent half-smile. Laughter lines around his mouth and eyes. Gritting her teeth, she allowed their gazes to meet. Green eyes. Deep, vibrant green.

Better than the teasing shadow that had haunted her dreams last night.

No wonder that her dreams had revolved around him, she thought, glancing at the soft fabric of his shirt over her breasts. There was something intensely intimate about wearing a man’s shirt to bed.

Mentally she shook herself. Nathan had asked her a question several minutes ago. He might expect an answer.

“You didn’t frighten me,” she told him. “Of course I was scared at first, when I thought someone had broken into the house, but the rest was just embarrassing. I’d just like to forget all about it.”

What was embarrassing was her knowledge of that instant response to him, that pull of attraction towards a man she didn’t know but already disliked.

Nathan chuckled. “It was funny. As I recall, you found it funny too at the time. You almost fell off the roof laughing.” He extended a hand towards her. “Let’s start over. Hello, Erin. I’m Nathan. Nice to meet you.”

Charm on, full impulse, she thought sourly, looking into smiling green eyes filled with confidence and self-assurance. Well, it’s not going to work with me, buddy. I’m not one of your babes. I won’t succumb to that charm of yours again.

Reluctantly she shook his hand, feeling its warmth shoot up her arm with the speed of light. Irritated, she concentrated on her breakfast, answering his few attempts at conversation with one-syllable words. There was no reason to engage in small talk with him. Perhaps she was being rude, but better that than to embarrass herself again.

She put her cup down after finishing the last dregs of coffee and glanced up at the kitchen clock. It was almost eleven. Nathan had stayed almost double the allotted six hours. He would probably leave right after breakfast.

Perhaps she could manage to be civil just for another hour. For Sally’s sake.

Determined to do her best, she straightened up from her slouch and offered him more coffee. With a slight look of surprise, he accepted.

“Sally said you wouldn’t be staying long.”

Nathan took a sip of his coffee, then ran a hand through his hair. “Actually, I will be staying a while.”

“Oh,” she muttered. There must have been a change of plan. She might have to put up with him a bit longer. Without thinking, she sighed.

Nathan raised an eyebrow, the half-smile turning sardonic. “No need to sound as if your world is collapsing. There is room enough in this house for the two of us.”

“Are there no hot opportunities or babes awaiting you?”

He stared at her until she began squirming in her seat.

“You really dislike me, don’t you?” he asked at last. Erin thought his voice reflected boredom more than anything else. She bit her tongue to hold back the angry words, but they fought their way out anyway.

“I love Sally. She is my friend and my brother’s wife. I dislike it when people hurt her.”

Something flickered in his eyes. It could have been guilt or remorse, but she was more inclined to interpret it as irritation or even amusement.

“Has my sister said that I hurt her?”

“She doesn’t need to,” she snapped back. “It is obvious in her face every time she hopes that you will deign to come home and you don’t.”

“I see.”

“What kind of a man misses his own father’s funeral, for God’s sake?”

The outrage in her voice didn’t seem to affect him in the least. He sipped his coffee calmly and did not flinch from her incensed gaze. “I don’t know, Erin. What kind of a man does that and then comes home sporting perverted rabbits on his socks?”

Erin shook her head in disbelief. “Life is just one big joke to you, isn’t it?”

“Absolutely. An attitude I can heartily recommend. It’s the only way to keep your sanity in this world.” He gave her a small smile. “You’ve made your point. I’m an unfeeling bastard. Fine. Can we now agree to a truce while we’re sharing this house?”

“Just how long will you be staying, then?”

“A while.”

“How long is a ‘while’?”

“I’m not sure. I’ll be here at least until after Christmas.” Erin’s refilled cup almost didn’t survive the trip to the table, spilling precious drops on the white surface.

“After Christmas?”

“Yep.” He seemed unfazed by her obvious consternation, calmly mopping up the spilled coffee with a paper towel.

She groaned and hid her face in her hands. This was a disaster. She had been counting on having this time alone, to think things through and to make plans for the baby. She had taken time off this week, just for that purpose.

“I take it that’s a problem for you?”

“Sally said you would only stay the night,” she moaned. “If I’d known you were staying, I could have made other arrangements. I wouldn’t have sublet my apartment.”

The telephone on the wall rang and Erin answered it morosely, thinking that if he were a gentleman he would offer to move out and check into a hotel. After all, it was only a month until Thomas and Sally returned.

Right on cue, it was her sister-in-law, shouting through a tunnel of static, asking if her brother had arrived yet.

“I’m so glad you got to meet Nathan, Erin!” Enthusiasm all but bubbled out of the phone. “Isn’t he terrific?”

“I’m sure he is,” Erin replied diplomatically, and was rewarded by a prolonged long-distance monologue about Nathan’s virtues.

“Is he there? Can I talk to him for a minute?”

“Of course, I’ll get him. Give Thomas and Natalie a hug from me.”

Nathan hardly got a word in edgeways during the short conversation with his sister. His attempts consisted of a few words that were interrupted every time.

She smiled into her coffee. So even Nathan Chase succumbed to the charm of Sally’s bulldozer personality.

With a wry grin, Nathan handed her back the phone and her sister-in-law’s excited voice was again echoing in her ear.

“Hi again, Erin. I told Nathan you would look after him for me, show him around and stuff.”

Erin’s mouth fell open as her accusing gaze flew to Nathan. He shrugged and shook his head, then picked up the paper again and started reading.

“What? I can’t…”

“He’s never stopped in town for longer than a few hours; he hasn’t seen anything. Maybe you could also go to the theater or something. Anything you can think of.”

“I’m not…”

“I really appreciate it, Erin. I’m just devastated not to be home for my brother, but I know you’ll do everything you can for him…”

After a few moments of chatter, Sally hung up and Erin was left standing with her mouth open, holding the phone in one hand.

Nathan pretended to concentrate on his paper, while trying to control the grin fighting its way to his face. The other pawn in his sister’s game obviously had no clue about the stakes. He felt Erin’s stabbing gaze on the back of his head and it wasn’t hard to picture the fury clouding her delicate features. Apart from her giggles last night, she seemed to have a permanent scowl etched on her brow. Did the woman ever smile?

“Don’t worry, Erin,” he said without looking up. “Sally never needs to know that you didn’t play tour guide for me and I certainly don’t expect you to.”

“She’ll know,” Erin muttered, throwing herself back into her chair. “Sally always finds out things like that.”

He shrugged. “Fine. I’ll tell her I preferred to be on my own. She may even take the hint and not throw us together again.”

Erin’s head snapped up, brows drawn together. “Throw us together? What do you mean?”

He looked up, allowing the grin to surface. “What else?”

Her mouth hung open. “You mean she knew you would be staying longer and she deliberately didn’t tell me?”

He shrugged. “I’m afraid my sister fancies herself as something of a matchmaker.”

“Matchmaker?” With amusement he watched the emotions play across her face. “You mean she thought you and I…?” She sputtered. “What a ridiculous idea!” Nathan nodded. “Couldn’t agree more.” Knowing his reply had been less than flattering, he watched with amusement as relief flirted with bruised dignity in her expressive features.

“And you didn’t object to being sent here to play house with a total stranger?”

He shrugged again. “Why should I? I’ve shared a bed with fleas and dogs, I can share a house with a librarian.” He smiled faintly. “To tell you the truth, I thought you might make a nice change.”

Her hands clenched into fists, Erin jumped to her feet, anger flashing from her eyes, the soft fabric of his shirt rising and falling with her deep, indignant breaths. “Oh, did you? A nice change from fleas and dogs? Or did you mean a nice change from your babes? Is this the let’s seduce-the-librarian week? I am not a toy, I’m not a babe and I’m absolutely not a ‘nice change’!”

Nathan raised his hands in supplication. “I didn’t mean it like that, Erin! I certainly had no seduction plans. And would you please stop mentioning the word babes in every other sentence?”

She waited, hands on hips. “In what way did you mean it, then?”

He shrugged. “I simply meant I’d enjoy having some female company without having to flirt or play games. I thought we might enjoy some civil, polite conversation over cereal or TV dinners. Perhaps even play Scrabble or Trivial Pursuit.” He grinned at her. “You know, librarian stuff.”

“You don’t know anything about librarians.”

“I’m beginning to realize that. No glasses perched on that nose.” His gaze lifted to her hair. “And no bun this morning either.”

“Sorry to disappoint you,” she muttered.

Nathan’s grin faded, leaving a lopsided smile. “Whatever else you are, Miss Librarian, you are certainly not a disappointment.”

The doorbell, combined with insistent knocking, interrupted any explanation of that cryptic remark. As Erin opened the front door after a brief glance through the peephole, two miniature redheads fought for a place in her arms. “Mom says you might take us swimming!” a piping voice yelled as Erin looked out to see a waving arm as her mother’s gray car sped away.

Inwardly she groaned, although she was careful not to let on to the twins that they were less than welcome. Her mother kept doing that. She loved her little brothers, and they stayed with her often, but Mom took blatant advantage of her protectiveness.

“Hey, guys!” She knelt down and hugged the five-year-olds. “How long do I get to keep you today?”

“Until tomorrow!” Samuel jumped up and down, trying to reach the coat-hanger. “Mom says that there’s plenty of room because Tom and Sally are away.”

Grinding her teeth, Erin forced a smile as she helped the boys hang up their jackets. She wouldn’t have minded having them staying this weekend, especially with Nathan in the house, but she would have appreciated being asked.

“Hello!” Nathan appeared in the kitchen door and smiled at the boys, then looked at Erin. “I can see the resemblance. Are they yours?”

“Noooo,” the twins said in unison. They were used to this question but it never failed to disgust them. “She’s not our mother, she’s our sister!” Daniel added.

The boys stared curiously at him.

“Are you Erin’s boyfriend?” Daniel asked. Nathan shook his head with a smile. “I’m afraid not.”

“Oh.” The child looked dejected. “Mom says we can’t have little brothers, but if Erin finds a boyfriend and gets married then we can have little nephews instead.”

“You already have a little niece,” Erin reminded her brothers. “Soon she’ll be old enough to play with you.”

“She’s a girl!” Samuel pointed out indignantly. “Do you have any boys?” he asked Nathan.

He shook his head. “No little boys and no little girls.”

“How come?”

“Well…I don’t have a wife, for one.”

“You should get one,” Samuel advised, looking very serious. “When girls become wives, then they are OK. You get to cuddle up to them in bed and everything.”

A corner of Nathan’s mouth twitched. “That is a bonus,” he agreed solemnly. “It can get lonely in bed.”

“Yes,” Daniel chimed in. “But if you don’t have a wife, you can snuggle up to a teddy instead. Do you have a teddy bear?”

“Well…no.”

Daniel nodded, his little face serious. “You should get a wife. They’re better. Sometimes they also make brownies.”

“You little chauvinist…” Erin muttered under her breath, grinning as Nathan fought to hold back his laughter. Losing interest in marriage counseling, the boys scampered off, heading for the small office, to Thomas’s computer.

“I didn’t know Tom had little brothers.”

“There is a lot you don’t know about this family,” Erin said, then bit her tongue. She would have to live with this man for a whole month. It wouldn’t do to keep attacking him the whole time. Softening her voice, she continued, “We also have a little sister on our father’s side. Her name is Alexandra and she is only three.”

“I see. And you have a twin sister, don’t you?”

She nodded. “Erika. She’s a lawyer.”

“Your parents must have been very young when they had the three of you.”

She nodded, then followed the boys into the office. Nathan followed her in, and the two little chauvinists pounced directly on him as a fellow computer patriot.

“Would you sit with them just five minutes while I get dressed?” she asked Nathan, reluctant to ask him for a favour, but not wanting to leave the boys alone with all the expensive equipment. Thomas had spent a great deal of time teaching his brothers how to play with his computer without damaging anything, and they were fast learners, but she didn’t quite trust them yet.

“Of course.” He smiled at the boys. “I bet there is a game or two you can show me, isn’t there?”

“Yeah!” the boys chorused with enthusiasm. “There is this one with demons and dragons where you have a sledgehammer…” One twin shushed the other and both glanced at Erin.

She couldn’t help but laugh. “Nathan, just use your best judgment. Nothing too bloody.”

Smiling, Nathan lifted one boy up and sat down at the computer, holding him in his lap. “We’ll be fine. Don’t hurry on our account.”

Erin ran upstairs to her room. She replaced Nathan’s shirt with jeans and a white sweater, and brushed her hair. Her brothers had interrupted just in time, or she would probably have attacked Nathan again. And she shouldn’t: after all, what he did or did not do was none of her business. Somehow that man managed to push all her buttons. She wasn’t a confrontational type; in fact she had the opposite problem of avoiding conflict rather than facing it. Her temper had never matched the color of her hair, and she had always done her best to get along with people.

Nathan Chase was not going to change that. She was going to be polite and nice to him. He was family after all. He was right—it was none of her business how he spent his time. And it was not his fault that Sally had decided to make them live together. She could even forgive him for that conceited teasing last night. After all, the circumstances were bizarre and the man half-asleep.

She grabbed the shirt and headed for the washing machine, stuffing it inside before she succumbed to the temptation of holding it to her face and inhaling his scent. That shirt had already got her in enough trouble in dreamland. She paused, a bottle of detergent in her hand, reflecting on her feelings and not liking them one bit. She responded strongly to his presence, there was no denying that. Perhaps her anger worked to mask her attraction to him.

No.

She shook her head firmly and finished her chore. She did not want a man in her life at all, especially now. Even if she did, she reminded herself, he had made it clear he considered Sally’s matchmaking idea ridiculous. She ignored the small sting this thought cost. It was for the best. She would be friendly to Nathan, because he meant so much to Sally, she would stay out of his way, and soon all this would be over.

Soon she would have her baby.

The three males were engrossed in a flying simulator when she came back downstairs. Nathan looked briefly up and acknowledged her with a small smile, but did not seem to be in a hurry to get away. Quietly she sat down in the easy chair in the corner, watching them. The picture of Nathan playing with her two little brothers clashed with her mental image of the cold and aloof man who didn’t care enough to see his own niece.

“Tom is our big brother. He is a programmer,” Samuel boasted to Nathan while his brother had control of the joystick. “He tells the computers what to do. Can you do that?”

“Not as well as Tom, no. I’m a photographer. I take pictures.”

“You take pictures?” Daniel flew his plane over enemy territory, bombarding a fleet of ships below. He did not sound too impressed. “Just ordinary pictures?”

Nathan chuckled. “Yes. Just ordinary pictures.” Erin thought back to Sally’s scrapbooks, holding hundreds of clippings, all Nathan’s pictures from every corner of the globe. None of them could be called ordinary. Even in her own biased judgment, the quality of his work was indisputable. His photos were stark and unflinching, pulling the viewer in and not letting go until a point had been made.

“Can you do magic?”

She watched Nathan frown as he tried to follow the child’s train of thought. “Magic?”

“Mom took us to a photographer once. He did magic tricks. Mom said he did that to make us laugh.”

“I’m not that kind of a photographer.”

“What kind, then?”

“I take pictures for the newspapers,” Nathan explained. “Do you guys have a camera?”

The twins shook their heads.

He stood up and deposited one little boy back on the chair. “I’ll show you mine,” he said, returning a few minutes later with his camera bag. The boys abandoned the computer game and crowded around him as he opened it and showed them the different lenses and tools, even allowing them to handle the delicate equipment.

“Be careful!” she reminded the boys. “Nathan, they’re only kids. Don’t let them damage anything.”

To her amazement, the two hyperactive youngsters sat quietly and listened as Nathan explained in simple terms how the camera worked and how to take good pictures. Then he got two disposable cameras from his pack and gave one to each boy. “They’re even waterproof,” he told them with a smile. “If you’re going swimming with your sister, you can take pictures underwater.”

“Wow!” the boys echoed in unison. Erin grinned. Both boys loved the swimming pool, and she often took them there, but both balked at putting their heads underwater. She had a feeling that was about to change.

“I’m going to take one of Your Boyfriend,” Daniel yelled, running out of the room, followed by his brother. Their noisy footsteps echoed around the house as they trampled up the stairs.

“Your boyfriend? Your boyfriend is upstairs?” Nathan looked confused.