Tempted by the single da.., p.18
Tempted by the Single Dad, page 18
He’d bet his life it was Imogen Hartley. She’d probably rung it for a lark. She was exactly the kind of person who’d do that—just for the fun of it, to see if it worked. He waited for her to pop her head into the room and apologise. She’d probably feed him some story about polishing it or some such nonsense. He’d even be gracious about it.
Imogen came rushing through from the direction of the kitchen. ‘Was that the—?’
The doorbell rang again.
‘—the doorbell?’ she finished.
He gestured towards the front entrance, his gut clenching. ‘I’d appreciate it if you’d answer it, Ms Hartley.’
Those vivacious eyes danced as she started for the door. ‘Butler is definitely a promotion.’
Even if he hadn’t put his ‘no smiling’ rule into place, he couldn’t have smiled now if he’d wanted to. Somebody ringing the front doorbell here on his island miles from civilisation could only mean one thing—trouble. ‘If it’s the press...’ he managed before she disappeared into the front hall.
She swung around. ‘Short shrift?’
‘Please.’
She gave him a thumbs-up in reply before disappearing, and despite himself a smile tugged at his lips. The woman was irrepressible.
He stayed out of sight but moved closer so he could listen.
‘I understand this is the residence of Jasper Coleman,’ a pleasantly cultured male voice said.
‘May I ask who’s calling, please?’
He couldn’t fault Imogen’s tone—courteous, professional...unflappable.
‘I have a delivery for him.’ There was a series of dull thuds, as if things were being dropped to the ground, and then a softer click and scrape. ‘Don’t worry, he doesn’t have to sign for it.’
Unflappable disappeared when Imogen yelped, ‘That’s a baby!’
What?
‘Hey, wait! You can’t just leave a baby here.’
‘Those were my instructions, miss.’ The voice started to recede. ‘Just following orders.’
Jasper shot out from his hiding place in time to see his butler accost a man almost twice her size and pull him to a halt. ‘What is wrong with you? You can’t just go around dumping unknown babies on people’s doorsteps.’
‘The baby is neither unknown nor am I dumping him. I was hired to escort the baby to Mr Coleman. And I’m rather pleased to have managed it before his next feed is due. As far as I’m concerned, my job here is done.’
Ice trickled down Jasper’s spine. Ignoring it—and the baby capsule sitting on his doorstep—he forced himself forward. ‘There has to be some mistake.’
‘No mistake,’ the man said, turning towards Jasper. ‘Not if you’re Jasper Coleman.’
Imogen released the man’s arm and stepped back to let Jasper deal with the situation, but she didn’t disappear back inside the house and he didn’t know whether to be glad of her silent support or not.
‘You are Jasper Coleman, right?’
He wanted to lie, but there was a baby involved. ‘Yes.’
‘Then there’s no mistake.’
His gut clenched. There was only one person who would send him a baby, but... It was impossible! She’d said she hated him. She’d said he’d ruined her life.
The man gestured to the baby capsule. ‘Mr Coleman, meet your nephew.’
On cue, the baby opened his eyes and gave a loud wail.
Jasper couldn’t move. ‘What’s he doing here?’
‘Your sister hired me to escort the baby here from Australia.’ He pulled a card from his pocket and handed it across. ‘Belforte’s Executive Nanny Service, sir.’
‘You’re a nanny?’
‘One of the best. If you check with the office, you’ll see that everything is in order. I believe you’ll find a letter from your sister in one of the bags. I expect it’ll explain everything.’ And then he frowned as if suddenly recalling something. ‘Mrs Graham did say that if I saw you to say the word Jupiter. She said you’d know what that meant.’
His gut twisted. Jupiter had been their password as kids.
The baby’s cries grew louder and more persistent.
He was aware of Imogen glancing from him to the nanny and back again, but he couldn’t meet her eye. He couldn’t move.
‘You’ll have to excuse me. I’m expected in Rio for my next assignment by nightfall. Have a nice day.’ And then he turned and strode away, evidently washing his hands of them all. And who could blame him? It wasn’t his baby.
It didn’t stop Jasper from wanting to tackle him to the ground and force him to take the baby back. Damn! What game was Emily playing now? He swallowed down his panic and channelled the coldness he’d spent the last two years perfecting. He would find a way to deal with this and—
Imogen pushed past him to sweep the crying baby up into her arms and cuddle him. ‘Hey there, little dude, what’s all this fuss about? You feeling a bit discombobulated? I don’t blame you.’
The baby batted his face into her shoulder a couple of times, rubbed a fist across his eyes, while Imogen cooed nonsense, and then he finally looked up at her. She sent him a big smile before blowing a raspberry into his hand. To Jasper’s utter astonishment the baby not only stopped crying but smiled back, as if Imogen was the best thing he’d seen all day.
And Imogen Hartley visibly melted.
Right, she’d said she’d wanted a promotion. He wondered how she’d feel about the position of nanny?
Copyright © 2019 by Michelle Douglas
ISBN-13: 9781488064937
Tempted by the Single Dad
First North American publication 2019
Copyright © 2019 by Cara Colter
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Cara Colter, Tempted by the Single Dad
