Inheriting His Secret Christmas Baby (7 page)

Haylie nodded and lifted the baby into Erica’s waiting arms. “His name is Bradley.”

“Hello, Bradley,” Erica said in a high, baby-talk voice by way of introduction. “I’m your aunt Erica. Maybe.”

Pushing to his feet, Trevor crossed to the two women, a frown still marring his brow.

“This is why I wanted you to know what’s going on,” he told his sister. Crossing his arms in front of his chest, he tapped the toe of one foot in irritation. “You can’t let anyone hear you referring to him as your nephew. You can’t link him to me or the rest of the Jarrod family at all, in any way, until we’re sure.”

Erica’s head bobbed up and down in what could have been interpreted as a nod, but since she was busy cooing and laughing at Bradley, Trevor wasn’t sure she was listening to a single word he had to say.

“This is important, Erica,” he stressed in a firm voice, turning on his heel and beginning to pace. “We’ve already gone for blood tests, but the results won’t be in for at least two weeks.”

A dilemma his instincts were still screaming for him to throw money at. Cutting a generous check or paying for a new wing to be built at the local hospital had a way of speeding up test results, but that would only draw even more attention to a situation he was determined to keep strictly confidential.

“I’ve invited Haylie to stay with me until we find out for sure,” he continued, uncrossing his arms from his chest and stuffing his hands into the pockets of his tailored slacks instead. “But she’s concerned about being away from work for that long. She’s a party planner, as you know, and has her own event firm in Denver. That’s where you come in.”

Stopping in front of his sister, he waited until she met his gaze and he was sure he had her full attention. “I thought perhaps if we could hire her to plan an event for us, she wouldn’t feel quite as uncomfortable about sticking around.”

It was Haylie’s turn to cross her arms. “I am in the room, you know,” she chastised him. “And stop pressuring her. I won’t have your sister or anyone else ‘hiring me’ for a job they don’t need done just so you can keep me on a short leash until the tests come back.”

Trevor opened his mouth, not sure whether he intended to apologize or strengthen his position and stand his ground, when Erica piped up.

“Actually, I’m glad you’re here, Haylie. I really do have a wedding to plan, and just thinking about it is turning me into a nervous wreck. So let’s go to lunch and have a nice, long chat, and if I end up hiring you, you can rest assured it will be because I want and need your help, not just because Trevor asked me to. Sound good?”

A beat passed while Haylie considered that. Then the tautness in her shoulders and spine seemed to wash away and she let her arms drop to her sides. Her gaze flicked to Trevor for a moment before settling back on Erica and Bradley.

“All right,” she said softly.

As nervous as she’d been about going to lunch with Trevor’s sister, Haylie couldn’t believe how quickly the hours flew by. They’d talked about the weather, childhood memories and almost everything in between.

With a dreamy look in her eyes that told Haylie the woman was well and truly in love, while they’d picked at their salads Erica had shared the story of her whirlwind romance with her husband-to-be, Christian Hanford. She’d pulled a picture from her wallet of a very handsome, clean-cut, dark-haired man, showing it off in a manner that reminded Haylie of herself with pictures of baby Bradley.

As the Jarrod family attorney, the duty of telling Erica the truth about her parentage had fallen on Christian’s shoulders after Donald Jarrod’s death. Haylie couldn’t imagine how shocking it must have been to have that sort of information dropped in her lap out of the blue. To spend her entire life thinking one man was her father, only to be blindsided by the news that he wasn’t, and that another man, now deceased, was.

Unless it felt a bit like having someone walk into your office and announce that you had a child you knew nothing about, she’d thought with a small sting of guilt.

And though she hadn’t intended to spend any time at all talking about herself, before she’d even realized it, she was confiding in Erica about her rocky relationship with her sister. Their years growing up, when Heather had been the “pretty one,” Haylie had been the “smart one” and it had seemed they were in constant competition—for their parents’ affections, for attention, for friends and boyfriends.

She told Erica about her sister’s apparent one-night stand with Trevor, and all the months that had followed leading up to Bradley’s birth and Heather’s tragic, unexpected death. And about Haylie’s own almost pathological need to clean up after her sister, to try to do what was right one final time instead of what was easy and most often selfish.

By the time she’d finished, more than an hour had passed, and she was mortified at how much talking she’d done. How open and unguarded she’d been. She blamed it on the fact that she felt extremely comfortable in Erica’s presence, as though they’d known each other all their lives.

Or rather, were becoming fast friends.

But while Haylie truly did like Erica, Haylie knew she couldn’t get too close to the woman. For one thing, she was Trevor’s sister, and Haylie wasn’t even sure she would end up being friends with him, regardless of his biological ties to Bradley.

For another, Erica was about to become a client, and it was never smart to get too close or grow too comfortable with a client. Especially brides, since they had a tendency to be Pollyanna one minute and Bridezilla the next.

By the time they’d actually started to discuss potential wedding plans, their entrées were gone and they were sipping cups of strong, French roast coffee while waiting for dessert to arrive.

Even though she hadn’t been at Jarrod Ridge long enough to try any of its other restaurants, Haylie had to admit that the Sky Lounge had been an excellent choice. And if this was merely a lounge, more of a bar with a limited menu, then the rest of the eateries the resort had to offer must be truly extraordinary. Of course, the fact that she was dining with one of the Jarrods probably had something to do with the level of service and amount of privacy they received.

After sharing more about their personal lives than either of them were probably used to revealing, and then finally getting down to the more vital topic of wedding plans, she returned to Trevor’s office.

Erica was beside Haylie, having offered to walk with her so they could continue to chat. First, though, they’d had to retrieve Bradley from the colorful, bustling day-care center on the premises.

Haylie had balked at leaving the baby with anyone, especially out of her sight while she was technically in enemy territory. But Erica had assured her that they employed some of the best child-care providers in the state. Once Haylie had seen the facility and met some of the ladies watching over children of all ages, she’d decided turning Bradley over to someone else for a few short hours while she had a professional, adult conversation with Trevor’s sister wasn’t the worst idea in the world.

From there, the two women had strolled back to the main hotel and to Trevor’s office. Haylie still couldn’t believe how amazing Jarrod Ridge was. The more she saw of it, the more impressed she was by the many narrow streets and buildings of all shapes and sizes.

The main hotel—also known as the Manor—was the largest and the most important focal point of the resort. Apparently because—according to Erica’s thirty-second recap of the Ridge’s history—it was the first structure built by Trevor’s great-great-great grandfather, and the rest of the resort had grown up around it. There were now private bungalows and shops and myriad activities available to keep visitors entertained.

Skiing was of course the main draw, at least during the winter months. But not everyone who vacationed at a ski resort was interested in actually hitting the slopes, so the Ridge also boasted a world-renowned spa, an ice skating rink, a bowling alley and an arcade for both the young and young at heart. The four restaurants spread throughout the resort served everything from quick deli sandwiches to fine dining and specialty cuisines.

It was like a tiny, self-contained village with everything guests could possibly want or need to make their stays more enjoyable. Even Haylie, who was here for reasons other than taking a holiday, was beginning to feel quite pampered and catered to.

As they entered the reception area of Trevor’s office, Diana lifted her head and said, “You can go right in. He’s expecting you.”

Pausing in front of the double oak doors, Erica gave her a quick hug, Bradley and all. “Thank you so much for all your wonderful advice. I can’t wait to tell Christian that I’m not going to be such a raving lunatic about the wedding from now on. He’ll be extremely grateful, believe me. He may even send you flowers,” she added with a chuckle.

“I’m happy I can help,” Haylie told her.

“You have all my numbers, right? And my email? And Christian’s email, just in case?”

“Absolutely.” Haylie tapped the side of her handbag. “My cell is loaded and ready to go. I’ll be in touch soon.”

“Excellent.” With a wide smile, Erica leaned in and gave her another appreciative squeeze before spinning away and sauntering off.

As soon as she left, Haylie tapped on Trevor’s door in warning, then let herself in. Turning from his computer, he leaned forward, resting his joined hands in the center of his desk.

“How did it go?” he asked.

She couldn’t decide if he looked concerned or simply curious. Stepping forward, she lowered herself onto one of the guest chairs with Bradley on her lap.

“Fine. Well, even.”

“Where did you eat?” he wanted to know.

“Sky Lounge. It was lovely.”

The rooftop bar and sometimes grill had leather chairs and floor-to-ceiling windows that looked out over the sprawling resort, snow-covered mountains and miles of clear blue sky. She could only imagine how beautiful the view must be at night, all sparkling lights and black, star-filled sky.

Trevor inclined his head. “Good choice. It’s a little less crowded up there during the day, especially at this time of year.”

She nodded. “Except for a couple of people at the bar, we were the only ones there.”

For several long minutes, the room was quiet, neither of them speaking. Then with a sigh, Trevor pushed back from his desk and stood.

“Why don’t we head back to the house.”

Haylie’s eyes widened in surprise. “Can you do that? I mean, it’s only three o’clock. Don’t you need to stay until the end of the day?”

She wasn’t sure exactly how she’d anticipated spending the rest of the afternoon now that her lunch with Erica was over, but she certainly hadn’t expected Trevor to drop everything just to keep her company.

He flashed her a cocky grin that had her stomach doing somersaults.

“I can do whatever I want, I’m the boss. Well, one of the bosses, anyway. And while you were visiting with my sister, I made arrangements to be away from the office more than I’m here for a while.”

Turning away from her, he began tossing files and papers into what looked like an expensive leather briefcase, standing open on a credenza beside the fireplace. “I can do a lot of work from home, and this way my schedule will be more open to spend time with you and Bradley.”

For a second, she didn’t say anything. She licked her lips, trying to get her racing pulse under control.

His offer made her uncomfortable, but she wasn’t entirely sure why. Was it because she was coming to realize that she found Trevor attractive on more than simply the level of “gee, that guy’s kind of hot”? Or because she was going to be spending a lot more time with him in the very near future than she’d originally intended?

“You didn’t need to do that,” she told him quietly.

With a shrug of one broad shoulder, he rounded the corner of his desk, coming to stand beside her. Or loom over, to be more accurate.

“It’s done. Now let’s go. You can fill me in on the details of your luncheon with Erica while I cook dinner.”

She leaned back, her eyes once again going wide. “You cook?”

“I’m just full of surprises today, aren’t I?” He flashed her that same cocky, amused grin before leaning over to pick up her purse and the diaper bag, adding them to the hand that held his briefcase. With a quick flick of his opposite wrist, he gestured for her to follow him to the door.

“Actually, I don’t cook very often,” he admitted as they crossed the office, “but I can hold my own with a pot of boiling water and a spatula.”

At the door, he stopped and turned back to her.

“Tell me one thing before we leave,” he murmured in a low voice.

Her chest tightened at the intensity in his dark-chocolate eyes and she swallowed in an attempt to dislodge the sudden lump growing at the base of her throat. When the lump didn’t budge, she forced her chin down in a jerky nod.

“Are you sticking around for a while to help Erica with her wedding, or do I need to pack a bag and follow you back to Denver?”

She could tell by his expression that he found the latter option about as appealing as a full body wax—but that he would do it if that’s what it took to keep her and Bradley close until the DNA results came in.

She still wasn’t sure it was the smartest thing to do, but at some point during her lunch with his sister, she’d made up her mind. Or perhaps had simply given up on trying to fight the innate stubbornness and determination that apparently ran in the Jarrod family.

“Erica wants a small, intimate Christmas Eve wedding right here at Jarrod Ridge, which only gives us a few weeks to pull everything together.”

“So you’ll stay?”

Please, God, don’t make me regret this, she thought, even as a tiny voice in the back of her head ran through a laundry list of doubts.

“I’ll stay.”

A few hours later, Trevor carried two plates of pasta from the kitchen to the dining room. Rather than putting them at opposite ends of the long table, he’d created two place settings much closer together, at one corner. He told himself it was because Haylie hadn’t yet filled him in on the details of her lunch meeting with Erica, and he didn’t want to miss a word. But that wasn’t entirely true, was it?

No, the truth was that Haylie smelled really good. Like citrus with a hint of wildflower. He’d noticed it when she’d first come downstairs that morning and he’d leaned in close to take her purse and the baby’s diaper bag on their way out to the garage. It had stuck with him during the whole ride to the Ridge and seemed to fill his office long after she and Erica had left for their luncheon. It was as though the scent, her own unique fragrance, had crawled under his skin and taken root.

So, yes, he wanted to hear what she and his sister had talked about, reassure himself that she really would be sticking around until those test results came in. But he also found himself simply wanting to be closer to her. To that citrus-floral scent…to the silky blond hair that ran down her back and brushed the swells of her breasts…to the sparkle in her blue eyes and the lift of her rosy pink lips when she smiled.

Returning to the kitchen, he grabbed a bottle of wine and two glasses, letting his gaze trail to the stairs. She was up there now, giving Bradley a bath.

As soon as they’d gotten home, he’d changed from his suit into more comfortable jeans and a lightweight sweater, with the intention of impressing her with his culinary skills. Granted, they were limited, but he’d found that even the simple acts of boiling pasta and opening a jar of marinara sauce could be impressive to women as long as he did them with flair.

Unfortunately, instead of perching on a stool at the island to watch him work, the way his female guests had in the past, Haylie had decided to spend the last couple of hours upstairs with Bradley, feeding him, changing him and now getting him ready for bed.

Trevor suspected she was trying to avoid being alone with him, but that wouldn’t last much longer. If she didn’t come down on her own in the next thirty seconds, he fully intended to go up after her—and drag her to dinner, if he had to.

He was pouring the wine, hoping she would arrive before the pasta got cold, when he heard her padded footsteps on the stairwell. Tipping his head in that direction, he watched her take the last few steps and felt something strange tickle behind his rib cage.