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Luca took the opportunity to study her home, admiring the architectural details she’d worked so hard to preserve. Claire much preferred her view of him at the moment. He was looking very handsome tonight in an expensive navy suit that was tailored to highlight his broad shoulders and narrow hips. He’d paired it with a blue-and-brown geometric tie that seemed to capture the same shade of milk chocolate as the waves of his hair.
Chocolate waves of his hair? Claire squeezed her eyes shut for a moment to rid the image from her mind. Why was she cataloging his good looks, anyway? That was not what tonight was about. Or any night from now on. Luca might be Eva’s father, but it didn’t happen the old-fashioned way. Thinking of him like that was dangerous while their custody arrangement was still up in the air. She couldn’t afford to make a mistake when it came to Eva and her welfare.
“I wanted to thank you for inviting me over tonight,” he said as she took his coat and hung it in the entryway closet. “I realize this is difficult for you.”
Claire forced a smile. “It was the least I could do,” she said. “After all, you’re treating us to a month at the beach.” Or trapping us with you for a month at the beach. Same difference, she supposed.
“You can thank the CEO of Brooks Express Shipping for that, actually. We went to college together. It’s his beach house we’re going to be staying at as a favor to me.”
“Of course it is.” She chuckled dryly. Apparently rich guys just hung out together. Claire hadn’t been around many superwealthy people, but she wasn’t surprised to think they all knew one another. They certainly weren’t spending their time with people like her. At least until now, when he had to.
With a shake of her head, she turned away from him and led Luca out of the entryway and into the open expanse of her living room. “Well, this is Eva,” she said, holding her arm out in front of them to where she was playing.
Luca turned in that direction and froze in place the moment his eyes fell on their daughter. For a powerful CEO who was always in control of everything, he seemed to be at a total loss in the moment. He didn’t take a step toward Eva; he just kept watching her from a distance.
Claire decided to help by easing him into his new role as father. She walked across the room and scooped Eva up off the floor. Cuddling the baby in her arms, she turned back to Luca. “Look who’s come to visit, Eva. You have a new friend here to see you.”
Eva turned her head to look at Luca, her big gray eyes taking in the new person and processing it however her little baby brain operated.
Luca finally loosened up, leaning in to the baby with a wide, friendly smile. “Hello, bella.”
Eva rewarded him with a slobbery grin, showcasing her two new bottom teeth. She was usually a little shy with strangers, but she seemed to warm up to Luca immediately. When he reached out to stroke her chubby little arm, she grabbed his finger and held on tight.
“You’ve got a good hold of me, don’t you? How about I trade you my finger for a fuzzy bear?” Luca held up the pink bear and Eva’s eyes immediately shifted to the new pretty.
She let go of his finger and reached out for the soft toy with a cry of delight. Luca handed it over to her, laughing as she immediately put the bear’s ear in her mouth.
“Everything is a teething toy these days,” Claire said. “Thank you for the gift.”
“It’s long overdue,” he said with a touch of sadness in his voice.
Claire noted it, feeling guilty for her role in that delay. Her lawyer had been right; none of this was Luca’s fault. He just wanted to be a part of his child’s life, and he deserved to be. As much as she didn’t want to admit it, the time together at the beach would make this situation workable for both of them. They needed it. “Would you like to hold her?” she asked.
“Yes,” he said with a touch of excitement in his gold and brown eyes.
“Here we go,” Claire said in the soft baby voice she used for Eva. Lifting her off her chest, she moved Eva over into Luca’s waiting arms. He scooped her up like a professional. Perhaps it was beginner’s luck.
“You are a sweet little thing,” he said, cooing at his daughter. “I’m going to be wrapped around your little finger before too long, I can tell.”
Claire took a step back to let Luca have his moment with Eva. After a few minutes, he moved over to her couch and settled Eva on his knee. It didn’t take long for her to see that he was right. Luca was completely enamored with his daughter and they’d only just met. She understood. The minute she’d laid eyes on Eva, she was totally and completely in love. Luca looked just as she imagined she did then.
The reality of the moment was like a fist to her gut. She stumbled back a little, bracing herself against the doorway to the kitchen. Luca didn’t notice. He only had eyes for Eva. As a new father should. It was the inescapable realization that she should’ve had this moment months ago, in the hospital with Jeff at her side, that threw her off balance. She should’ve gotten to watch her husband hold their daughter for the first time with that same look of wonder and adoration on his face.
Instead, her moments in the hospital had been bittersweet. She’d cradled her baby, alone in her room, and cried. They were tears of joy, tears of sadness, tears of loss. She wouldn’t have that moment with Jeff because he’d gotten himself killed while he was out with his mistress. She wouldn’t have that moment with Jeff because in the end, Eva wasn’t even his daughter.
How had her life gone so far off the rails? Claire had done everything right her whole life. She’d graduated at the top of her class, going to college on an academic scholarship that left no time for boys. After school, she’d married the safe guy who would love her and care for her and their family. Jeff hadn’t been the exciting choice, or the man who made her heart race and her insides melt, but she thought he was a stable, responsible man who would make a good father. She’d made all the right choices and did everything her family had expected her to do. And yet, everything had gone wrong.
Watching Luca on the couch with Eva, she saw nothing but sharp contrast between him and Jeff. It wasn’t just the difference between Luca’s darkness and Jeff’s All-American good looks. It was a difference on the inside at a biological, maybe even cellular, level.
She’d spent almost no time with Luca at all, but she reacted to him like no other man before. There was an intensity in the way he watched her that got under her skin and made her cheeks turn flame hot. Everything from his commanding presence to his sharp sense of style caught her attention. Even the smell of him was enough to send an unwanted spike of need through her.
Luca was everything she shouldn’t want. He was dangerous. Not in the traditional sense, but she knew she had to watch herself around him. He was a man who was used to people doing whatever he wanted and was willing to take whatever measures were necessary to make it happen. He also seemed like the kind of man who left a trail of broken hearts in his wake. Claire was determined that she wouldn’t be one of those women no matter how he made her feel.
They would come to a co-parenting arrangement that suited them both, but that was it. That’s all there could be. Claire would shelve any attraction she had for Luca, and maybe in time she would find a more suitable man to be in her life. Suitable hadn’t done her much good the last time, but she wasn’t about to throw caution to the wind because Jeff decided to stray. He was just one man with his own issues to cope with.
Claire took a deep breath to center herself and looked up to notice Luca was watching her as he held Eva. His gaze flicked over her casually, and yet she could feel the knot inside her belly tighten. She wasn’t misinterpreting this. Luca made it plainly clear that he was attracted to her, as well. It might just be a negotiation strategy to soften her up, but when he looked at her that way, it almost made her feel like resistance was futile.
Luca was a man who got what he wanted. What would she do if he decided he wanted her?
* * *
Two days later, Luca rang the doorbell of Claire’s brownstone and waited for her to answer.
“One second!” he heard her shout from the depths of the house. A pounding of footsteps got louder as it came across the hardwood floors to the door.
“You can take these bags and the playpen,” she started as she whipped open the door, then stopped cold. “Luca?” She flushed that becoming rose color and covered her mouth with her hand. “I’m sorry. I thought you were sending a driver.”
Luca shook his head. He occasionally used one around town to simplify the issues of parking and traffic in Manhattan, but he wanted some privacy and control over how today went. They’d need a car at the beach, and he certainly didn’t want a chauffeur loitering around and interfering on their time together. He was fully capable of driving them and actually looked forward to it. He didn’t get out of the city as much as he’d like these days.
“I changed my mind.” Luca reached down and picked up the bags she had closest to the door. “I’ll go put these in the car.”
She nodded at him, still not quite recovered from his unexpected appearance. “I’ve got Eva’s car seat here. It will take a few minutes to install it.”
“That’s not necessary. I have one in the car, ready to go.”
Claire frowned at him, but Luca simply turned away and headed down the steps with her bags. He knew he shouldn’t enjoy surprising Claire, but he did. She made far too many presumptions about him, and he liked shattering them one by one. As he loaded the bags into the back of his Range Rover, he noticed Claire approaching the car with Eva in her arms. Without saying a word, she opened the back door to investigate the car seat.
She wouldn’t find any flaws with it. It was a top of the line model for Eva’s age and weight. She was facing the proper direction with all the correct support. It was installed per the manufacturer’s specifications. He even added a little mobile that hung overhead from the handle to occupy her while they drove.
Luca didn’t say any of that, though. He simply loaded the bags, returning to the house to pick up a few more before waiting on the sidewalk for her judgment. “Will it suit?” he asked at last.
Claire turned to look at him with a sort of befuddled expression on her face. “Yes, it’s perfect.”
“Don’t look so surprised, Claire. I manage a billion-dollar corporation. I can buy and install a car seat.”
Her mouth dropped open in protest. “I didn’t— I mean, I don’t think that—”
“Are there any more bags that need to go?” he asked, saving her from herself.
“No, that’s all of them. I’ll put Eva in the car seat, and then I’ll lock up.”
From there, it wasn’t long for them to get on the road. Once they got out of the city congestion and onto I-95, it was a smooth, albeit longer, drive. He’d been tempted to book a charter flight out of the heliport, but he knew better than to spring something like that on Claire. She said she didn’t want to fly with Eva, and that meant she certainly wouldn’t want to take a helicopter.
Claire spent the first part of the trip in the back with Eva. When they stopped for a break and some food, Eva had just fallen asleep, so Claire moved to the front. They passed the time chatting about his restaurants and her exhibits at the museum. By the time they drove off the ferry onto Martha’s Vineyard, Luca was anxious to be there already.
“Finally,” he said as he turned into the driveway and stopped to let both of them get a good view of the house. It was a two-story gambrel-style home with strong Dutch influences on the design. It had gray shake siding with white columns and a deck that extended off the second floor. It was charming for a beach cottage. He pulled up beside the front walkway and they got out of the car to investigate further. “Well, what do you think?”
Claire’s mouth was agape as she took in the house, then turned to admire its views of Katama Bay and the Atlantic Ocean beyond. “It’s beautiful. And huge. I can’t believe this is just for us. Your friend doesn’t need it for a whole month?”
Luca shook his head and opened the back of the Range Rover to start unloading. “Gavin works as much as I do. He bought the place so they could spend some time here in the summer. This is early season for the Vineyard, so he wouldn’t be up here for at least a month anyway.”
Claire returned to the car to unlatch Eva’s carrier and take her toward the front of the house. Luca followed with a piece of luggage and the keys to the front door. He unlocked it, swinging the door open for her to go inside ahead of him. They stepped into a small den area with a fireplace and an office. To their left was a staircase. “Gavin says the main living area and master bedroom are upstairs to take full advantage of the views.”
They climbed the stairs ahead of them until they revealed an open concept living area. It really was a stunning place. It had arched white ceilings with wooden beams and windows that gave floor-to-ceiling views of the bay. The furniture was soft and comfortable with the rustic sort of country charm that city people gravitated to while on vacation. While someone in Manhattan wouldn’t think of having a pillow with a rooster on it in their trendy Greenwich Village loft, it was somehow more acceptable out here.
Claire wandered through the large, bright living room to the kitchen that was big enough for a large family to pile in and cook a feast. Six barstools lined the kitchen island, with copper pots hanging overhead. Beyond it was a dining area with French doors that opened out onto the deck and showcased the view of the water.
“I’ll be right back.” Luca headed downstairs and made several trips to bring all the bags inside before parking the car in the garage. By the time he came back upstairs, Claire had Eva out of her carrier and perched on her hip. They were standing on the deck, enjoying the sunshine and letting the cool spring breeze blow over them.
Luca wanted to join them, but he was hesitant to interrupt this moment between a mother and her child. There was an expression of absolute joy on Claire’s face as she looked down at her baby. Her dark gold hair whipped around in the wind, the sunlight making her porcelain skin almost glow. She looked like an angel standing there in her sundress. He felt a tightness in his chest as he watched her cradle his daughter and point out birds flying overhead.
Learning of Eva’s existence had been a shock, but until a few days ago, she’d been more of an idea than a reality. Seeing Eva for the first time had changed everything. When he held her in his arms, he felt something flip inside of him. A protectiveness was roused in him, almost instinctual in its ferocity. After only a few moments together, he would’ve done anything for his little girl.
It surprised him after suppressing the idea of a family for so long. There was a part deep inside Luca that had still wanted children, but he had avoided finding out if it was a possibility for him. Somehow it was easier to avoid the doctor and not know whether it was off the table than to get tested and know for certain that he had only two frozen chances at biological fatherhood.
Make that one chance, now that one of the samples had been used to create Eva. It was a mistake, malpractice at best, but at the same time it was hard to be angry about it. He’d been sleepwalking through his days, working hard to fill the void in his life, then boom—he had a daughter. Nothing else seemed quite as important as doing whatever he could to keep Eva happy, safe and in his life.
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