Daddy Next Door (8 page)

“I think she’ll like the challenge.”

Jennifer frowned at him. “I think I know my girls better than you.”

“I’ve known them almost as long. Annie is very analytical and loves a challenge.”

“Can you show me how to do it?” Annie asked softly, interrupting their argument.

“Sure, honey,” Nick said, and sat down in one of the little chairs. Opening the box, he turned it over and let the puzzle pieces rain down on the table. “Don’t let any of them hit the floor.”

Annie’s eyes were wide as she looked at the pile of pieces. “How do I do it?”

He showed her to turn the puzzle pieces over and then look for things that go together. He propped the box lid against the wall so she could look at it.

He looked up at Jennifer to find her glaring at him, her arms crossed over her chest.

“What?” he asked.

“Nothing. Girls, you’ll get to play with everything tomorrow. Now it’s bedtime. Go wash up and brush your teeth. Annie, you, too.”

The child reluctantly left the puzzle table and followed her sisters to the bathroom.

“Oh, Annie, tell Nick thank you for your presents,” she called.

Annie ran back in the bedroom and threw her arms around his neck. “Thank you, Nick. I love my puzzle table.”

He hugged her back. “I’m glad, honey.”

He stood after Annie ran back to the bathroom. “Here’s your hat, what’s the hurry?”

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“Look, Jennifer, I should’ve checked with you first, but I’d been in their room, and I thought the table would fit. I didn’t have enough time to ask you.”

“So you just assumed you could buy them whatever you wanted? That was too expensive!”

“I bet it cost less than that doll you bought her,” he said, not liking her rules.

Her cheeks turned red and she looked away from him. “I don’t think that’s the point. I’m their mother!”

He shook his head. “Sorry. But I don’t see how getting Annie a puzzle table is such a great sin!”

“These are my children, not yours. I make the decisions about them!”

“I bet you never learned to share when you were a kid! And things haven’t changed now!” He turned around and walked out of the apartment.

Annie and the other girls crept into the bedroom. “Is Nick mad at me?” Annie asked.

“No, sweetheart,” Jennifer hurriedly said. Sitting down on the bed, she took Annie in her lap. “We got in
a silly adult argument, but he loves you. He loves all of you. We couldn’t ask for a better neighbor, could we?”

The girls all agreed. She helped them dress for bed and tucked them in. Adding good-night kisses, she was almost out the door when Annie asked for her dolly to sleep with her. The other girls made the same request.

Jennifer brought their dolls to them, gave them another round of good-night kisses and softly closed the door behind them.

She leaned against their door, feeling very foolish. Could her anger at Nick have been caused by jealousy? Was the price of his gift okay as long as Annie and the others liked her gift better?

She walked into the living room and paced back and forth. What should she do? She owed him an apology, if that were true, but he should’ve checked with her before he bought a piece of furniture for her place.

Even if it was perfect.

She started to go to the hall to knock on his door and apologize, but her temper hadn’t quite cooled. Maybe it would be better to wait until the morning. She could give a more gracious apology, she assured herself.

Ignoring the little voice that jeered her decision, she picked up a book she’d been reading and headed for her bedroom. She’d talk to Nick tomorrow.

Nick drank his first cup of coffee the next morning, going over his argument with Jennifer. She was right; he should’ve asked her first about buying a piece of furniture for Annie. He knew that. Maybe he should apologize.

On his second cup of coffee, he got stubborn. She was the one who picked the fight.
She
should apologize!

To avoid making a decision, he turned to his computer. He hadn’t really gotten down to serious work since his move. He checked his e-mail first. Finding an e-mail from his agent, he realized he hadn’t called and given him his new number, despite his promises. Immediately he picked up the phone.

“Hey, Jim, it’s Nick.”

“I’ve been waiting for your call. The publisher wanted to know how your book is coming. And the producers who bought your first book are interested in seeing it as soon as you’ve finished it. They might be interested in picking up the film option.”

“That’s great, Jim, but I’ve been settling in. I haven’t had time to get much done.”

“You have to strike while the iron is hot, Nick. You know that.”

“I’m sure I’ll have a draft done by the end of September. Will that be soon enough?”

“I’ll call them and get back to you.”

“Thanks.”

After hanging up the phone, Nick reread his proposal and found himself getting lost in the story he was creating. He began drafting the next chapter, and had no idea of the passage of time, getting lost in the action thriller.

When he heard a knock on his door, he was brought back to reality. Jennifer! Jumping up, he hurried to the front door and swung it open.

The woman at his threshold was attractive, but she wasn’t Jennifer.

“Yes?” he said.

“Hi, my name is April. I’m one of your neighbors from upstairs. Jennifer said you’d moved in while we were out of town, and I just wanted to introduce myself.”

“I’m Nick.” He shook her hand. “It’s nice of you to stop by, April.”

“May I come in? So we can get to know each other a little better?”

“Uh, sure, come in. Would you like a cup of coffee?”

“Oh, that’s so sweet of you. Yes, I would.”

He went to the kitchen and poured two cups of coffee and brought them back into the living room.

April looked around. “Did you buy Grace’s furniture? I’m sure this is the sofa she had.”

“No, not really. She sublet the apartment to me because I’m her nephew.”

“I see. Where’d she move to?”

“She’s had some problems and gone to an assisted-living apartment.”

“I’m so sorry to hear that.”

He smiled and nodded. Hoping to keep the visit short so he could get back to work, he didn’t ask any questions. After a couple of minutes, without having touched her coffee, April stood up to go.

He followed her to the door.

“Remember, I’m just upstairs. If you get…lonely, let me know.”

“Thanks, April, I will.”

After he closed the door on the flight attendant, he returned to his computer.

Not half an hour later, there was another knock. This was sure to be Jennifer.

He hurried to the door.

An attractive brunette stood there, a smile on her face and a plate in her hand.

“Hi, I’m Rachel. I’m one of your neighbors upstairs. I wanted to welcome you to our building.” She offered him the plate of homemade cookies.

“That’s very thoughtful of you, Rachel. Won’t you come in?”

He poured more coffee for Rachel and shared some
cookies with her as he explained about being Grace’s nephew. Rachel asked what he did for a living and he told her he was a teacher.

Would he ever get over hearing Jim Barnes’s voice inside his head, telling him not to tell anyone he was a writer? “As soon as they hear your book is being made into a major motion picture, people will assume you’re rich. Women will be throwing themselves at you. Believe me, it’s more trouble than it’s worth. Guard your secret as long as you can.” Hence, Nick was still a teacher.

“Oh, that’s great,” Rachel effused. “I read once that teachers shape the future. That’s a big responsibility.”

He smiled at her, but he realized she didn’t know much about teaching.

After fifteen minutes, she stood and he followed her to the door. At least he got some cookies out of this visit.

He returned to his computer…till another knock sounded at his door.

If this wasn’t Jennifer—

He swung open the door to a third stranger, another blonde, this time, but definitely not Jennifer.

The young woman seemed out of breath. “Hi, I’m Amy.”

“Let me guess. You live upstairs?”

“Yes,” she said with a giggle. “I would’ve come with Rachel or April, but I had some things I had to do first. Sorry, are we driving you crazy?”

He liked her sense of humor. “Not yet. I appreciate your friendliness.”

After her brief visit and yet another knock on his door five minutes later, Nick was ready to call a halt to all the friendliness. He went to the door with a frown on his face.

“Look, I’m—” He pulled his statement to an abrupt halt because this time it was Jennifer.

“I’m sorry to interrupt whatever you’re doing, but I wanted to apologize for last night,” she said, her cheeks red.

“Come on in. I need to apologize, too. I made some rude remarks to you.”

“I—I can’t. The girls— I mean, they’re working on their puzzles, but I don’t like to leave them alone.”

“Of course. Look, I was angry and I said things I shouldn’t have said. I hope you’ll forgive me.”

“I believe I was rude first. I’m sorry. All this parenting stuff is new to me. I appreciate all you’ve done for the girls. You’ve made them feel more settled.”

Nick relaxed against the doorjamb. “That’s very generous of you, Jen. How about we kiss and make up?”

She stared at him, her eyes wide. “I don’t think—”

He didn’t wait for her agreement. He leaned forward and kissed those delectable lips again—finally.

For a few seconds, she participated in the kiss. Then she jerked away. “No! No, we need to stop doing that.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m a mother now and—”

He couldn’t resist. He kissed her again. This time he wrapped his arms around her so she couldn’t run away.

J
ENNIFER ENJOYED THE FEEL
of Nick’s arms around her, his lips on hers. It had been a while since she’d been kissed, a while since she’d dated. She’d been concentrating on her career.

Besides, she hadn’t found anyone who seemed to understand her as well as Nick did. He believed in her career and he agreed with her decision to adopt the girls. No one else, especially her mother, backed her on both those endeavors. It meant a lot to her.

But as he took the kiss deeper, she forced herself to pull away. “Nick, I can’t do this. As I was trying to say, I’m a mother now, and I have to be responsible.”

“Does ‘responsible’ mean no kissing? Because if that’s true, then I vote against responsible.” He smiled to encourage her.

She took a step away. “I just— I need to get back to the girls.”

“Can you get a baby-sitter for this evening?”

“Yes, but I don’t want to. I have to have her tomorrow night for the parenting class.”

“Get her for tonight and I’ll take you out for a steak dinner. Then I’ll baby-sit tomorrow night.”

“I don’t know… No, I don’t think so.” By now she’d backed all the way to her door. “I’ll talk to you later.” She opened the door and disappeared behind it. Then she leaned against the door till she caught her breath. Her heart still beat erratically and her lips still burned from his kisses.

Nick Barry was one potent male.

Shaking her head, she pushed away from the door and walked to the girls’ room. They were all sitting at the big table Nick had gotten them. Missy was coloring, under Steffi’s eye, while she was putting together a puzzle, one of the easier ones Nick had gotten them.

Annie, on the other hand, was working on the complex puzzle Nick had given her. She wasn’t even aware of Jennifer entering the room. Jennifer noted that she had almost finished the outer rim of the puzzle, needing only a couple of pieces to connect the circle.

“You’re doing a great job on your puzzle, Annie,” Jennifer said.

The other girls insisted she look at their work, too.

“Yes, you are all doing well. We need to remember to thank Nick again for the table. It certainly makes a wonderful area for all three of you.”

“Can we go thank him now?” Missy asked, jumping up.

“No, not now. He’s busy this morning. We’ll thank him later.”

Though Missy appeared disappointed, she returned to the table.

“I’m going to go put in some laundry. Do you have all your dirty clothes in the laundry basket in the bathroom?”

Steffi and Annie both assured her they did, but Missy jumped up again and ran to put some of her clothes in the basket.

While she was doing that, Jennifer stripped the girls’ beds of their sheets.

Once she got the laundry going, she headed for the kitchen to start lunch. While she prepared sandwiches for the four of them, she debated whether to hire someone to come in and help her keep the house tidy. It seemed she had no time to work on her photography now.

The phone rang and it was the photo lab where she’d taken the film of Nick. The pictures were ready, and she couldn’t wait any longer to see how they turned out. She immediately put the sandwiches into the refrigerator and gathered up the girls.

“Can Nick go with us?” Missy asked.

“No, sweetie, I want to see the pictures before I show them to Nick. They may not have turned out well.”

The woman at the lab allayed her fears. “I think these are the best pictures you’ve taken, Jennifer.”

“Really, Edith? Oh, I hope so. I had a good subject.”

“Yeah, I did notice that. He’s a handsome devil.” She grinned at Jennifer as she handed over the envelope.

“An understatement, for sure.” Jennifer wanted to tear into the envelope immediately, but she waited until they were once again in her vehicle.

“Oh, my,” she muttered to herself as she went through the photos. Too bad these pictures were going to be used for his résumé and not for a wider distribution. They were some of her best work. She’d use them for her portfolio.

She put them back in the envelope and drove home.

Once there, she put the photos out on the coffee table. “Don’t touch the photos, girls. Just look at them. Then you can tell me which one is your favorite.”

All four females studied the photos. Finally, Missy said, “I like all of them, Mommy.”

“Me, too,” Annie said softly.

Steffi pointed out five that she liked best.

With a sigh, Jennifer said, “I agree with you, Steffi. Those are my favorites, too. Let me go knock on Nick’s door and have him come look at them.”

Nick was frowning when he opened the door.

“I’m sorry to bother you again,” Jennifer began.

“Not a problem,” he assured her with a smile.

“We’ve got the proofs back of the pictures I took of you. Do you want to come look at them?”

“Yeah, I do. I didn’t know you’d get them back so soon.” He followed her across the hall.

He looked at all the photos she’d taken of him. Finally, he selected one of the pictures in which he was wearing the sweater and posing in front of the bookshelves. The one when he was thinking of Jennifer. She’d asked him to replicate his smile, and it hadn’t been a problem. All he had to do was think of kissing her.

“You did a great job, Jen. They’re all good. But this is the one I like best.”

“All right. How many copies do you need?”

“Uh, five should do it.”

“Okay. It’ll take a few days to get them ready.”

“Great.” He turned to the girls. “Are you all okay with this picture?” he asked.

They agreed enthusiastically.

“How about I take you all to lunch to celebrate?”

Jennifer knew the girls’ answer before they exploded with excitement. She thought about the half-made sandwiches in the fridge, but in the end she agreed to go out to lunch with Nick.

“T
HIS IS FUN
,” Missy said with a big grin when they’d sat down with their meals. “I like eating out.”

“But your Mommy is a really good cook,” Nick pointed out.

“Yeah, especially when she makes us cookies.”

Nick shared a smile with Jennifer. “Yeah, but you can’t live on just cookies.”

“Why not?” Missy asked.

“Because you need a balanced diet. You know, green things, red things, yellow things. See, you’re eating them now.”

Missy frowned. “Where?”

“On your burger, the tomatoes are red, lettuce is green, and the cheese is yellow.”

“Oh, that’s okay, then. I like those things.” Missy obviously approved.

“Um, Nick, all of us wanted to thank you again for the puzzle table,” Jennifer said. “We’re really enjoying it. Right, girls?”

They all nodded.

“I’m glad. How’s the puzzle coming, Annie?”

“I’ve finished the circle. Now I have to fit the rest of it together.”

“Good for you.”

Softly, Jennifer said, “I was wrong about that, too, Nick. You understood Annie better than I do.”

“That’s because we share a lot of the same things, Annie and I. I like to put things together, too. It fills me with a sense of accomplishment.”

“Yes, and I’m going to remember that about Annie. I think she’s really blossomed since I took her in.”

“That’s because she’s gone from abuse to the love you’ve shown them. You’re a great mom, Jen, even though you don’t have much experience. I just think you shouldn’t forget that you need some attention, too.”

“What are you talking about?”

Nick smiled at her. “A mom can’t do everything for the kids and forget that she needs fun and time, too.”

She stiffened. “I know that. I’ve decided to hire a housekeeper to come at least once a week.”

“Good. But two days might be better. Then you’ll be able to get out on your own without the girls.”

“I don’t need to do that.”

“Well, think about it. And if you find someone good, I could use a housekeeper once a week, too.”

She looked at him, surprised. “Can you— I mean, a good housekeeper will cost a hundred dollars for a full day.”