Steven Read online

  She didn’t know where the kitchen was, so she wandered around the downstairs looking for it. The house was so big, she was sure she’d get lost more times than she wanted to think about.

  She followed the sounds of the men’s voices and walked in on them sitting down to the table. The baby was nowhere in sight. “Where’s Faith?” She felt a moment of panic when the baby wasn’t where she’d left her.

  Steven gestured to the kitchen and she saw Connie standing looking down at the baby with joy on her face. “They’re so beautiful when they’re asleep.” She looked at Bailey standing beside the table. “You need to sit down and eat. I’ll take care of the baby for now. Where are you going to put her tonight?”

  “I turned a drawer in my room into a makeshift crib. It’ll work for one night.”

  Connie nodded. “I’ll just take her up there now and sit with her until you’re done. You won’t be able to hear her cry from here.”

  “Thank you!” Bailey couldn’t protest, because she hadn’t been able to eat all day. She was starving and the steak on her plate looked too good to pass up.

  She slipped into the chair, feeling tiny surrounded by the three huge men. She looked from Justin to Cody. “Hi, I’m Bailey.” All three of the men had dark hair and eyes. “Are y’all brothers?”

  One of them laughed. “Not quite. Although, we’re closer than a lot of brothers.” He winked at Bailey. “I’m Cody.”

  The other one grinned. “I’m Justin.”

  “Have y’all been friends long?” She cut up her steak as she asked. She was so hungry she wanted to just gobble her food too quickly. She knew by starting a conversation with them, she’d be forced to eat at a slower pace.

  Steven nodded. “We met our freshman year in college. They’re my business partners.”

  “Oh. What do y’all do?” She thought it would be nice to work with people you were closer to than most brothers. They seemed to have it all.

  Steven’s eyes widened. “Your sister didn’t tell you much about me, did she?” What was he thinking inviting a woman who looked that much like Angela to live with him? Was he insane? It had been easy to get rid of Angela, because she had the personality of a violated parking meter. Bailey seemed to be nothing like her sister. How many people would throw their lives away to raise a niece?

  Bailey shook her head. “Nothing nice, anyway.” Her impish look made Steven grin.

  Cody laughed at that. “Yeah, we never said much nice about Angela either.” After a moment, he realized that may not have been the best thing to say. Cody had always been one to talk before thinking. Saying something mean about her recently deceased sister was probably not the best thing to do.

  Bailey sighed. “I wish there had been more nice things to say about my sister.” She cut off a piece of her steak. “I miss her, though.” And she did. Angela had been the only family she had left, and thinking of her being gone made Bailey want to start crying again then and there.

  “Our company provides software for sports teams. It basically predicts who will win sporting events and helps put the best teams together.” Cody’s voice was full of enthusiasm as he said it. It was obvious he thought he had the most amazing product in the world. “We also have a line for the fantasy league players.”

  “Oh. Um…that sounds interesting.” Bailey took a sip of her water.

  Cody laughed. “She thinks our company is dull.” He poked Justin. “We’re billionaires, and she thinks we’re dull.” Cody sounded positively thrilled to know she wasn’t afraid to show her real emotions.

  Bailey flushed. “I didn’t say that!” She’d thought it though. Bailey rated sports right up there with a trip to the dentist.

  Justin grinned at her. “No, you just thought it. Poor Steven. He has to live with a girl who thinks his software is dull.” He looked over at Steven and waited for a reaction.

  Bailey’s eyes widened at that. “No, we’re not living together. I’m just his nanny!” They didn’t think she’d be sleeping with him, did they? How could they think that?

  Even Steven had to laugh at that. “They’re just harassing you. Don’t worry about them.” He enjoyed the blushes they were getting out of Bailey. She was obviously as different from her sister as night and day.

  Cody winked at her again. “If you ever get sick of living with this freak, the pillow beside mine will be waiting for you.”

  She blushed. “Umm. I think I should go check on the baby.” She jumped up from the table amidst a chorus of laughter and ran up the stairs, rushing into her room. “I’m done eating. I’ll take over here.”

  Connie had been sitting on the bed. “That sounds good. I’ll be back in the morning.” She stood and stretched. “Don’t even think about cleaning up the mess those boys made. I’ll get to it in the morning. You look like you need a good night’s sleep.”

  “You don’t live here?” Why hadn’t she asked before? She should have asked. Oh, what was wrong with her today?

  Connie shook her head. “Oh no. I have an apartment in Grapevine. I’m usually only here Monday through Friday.” She patted Bailey’s arm on her way out of the room.

  Bailey bit her lip. She didn’t like the idea of living alone with a man. She looked down at Faith and nodded to herself. For Faith, she’d do anything. The baby meant everything to her.

  *****

  He saw her carrying the baby down the steps in her car seat the following morning. “Is that your car in front of the house?” he asked Bailey. She nodded. “You’re not taking Faith anywhere in that thing ever again. In fact, with the shape it’s in, you’re never getting into it again either.” The tone of his voice brooked no argument, but she had to try.

  Why did he think he had the right to dictate what she did? She wasn’t his child! “I need to go to the store to buy diapers and formula. Are you going to babysit her while I do that? Or are you going to go buy formula and diapers?” She knew he wasn’t willing to watch Faith. Why was he so unwilling to be close to his daughter?

  He backed up a step. “I’m getting you a new car. I’ll have it delivered tomorrow.” He wasn’t going to watch the baby or buy diapers. He’d call and have a personal shopper do it for him if he had to. The easiest answer was Connie, though. She wouldn’t mind.

  “You can have cars delivered?” Her voice echoed the amazed look on her face.

  He laughed. “With enough money you can have just about anything done.” He loved how innocent she was about money. Her sister had known exactly how to use it, and had expected him to buy her an expensive gift every time they went out. She was a refreshing change.

  “Well how will I feed her and diaper her today?” She only had two diapers left and enough formula for one more bottle. They wouldn’t make it through the next three hours, let alone the next twenty-four.

  He shrugged. “Connie can go. Make her a list.” His tone of voice made it clear he was used to ordering others to do whatever he didn’t want to do.

  “Faith has been riding in that car since the day she was born. It’s never hurt her.” She had to make one more protest. She couldn’t just let a man she’d met the day before buy her a car. People didn’t really do that, did they?

  “There’s always a first time. I didn’t know about her before. Now that I do, she’s not riding in that rattle-trap.” He didn’t say another word as he turned to go back into his office.

  Bailey turned and stalked to the kitchen to make a list for Connie. “Your daddy is a pain in the butt, Faithy.”

  “I heard that!”

  “You were meant to!”

  *****

  Bailey rubbed her eyes as she quietly closed the baby’s door. Faith had woken up hungry at two in the morning, and she’d been in feeding her. She wasn’t sure where Steven’s room was in this monstrosity of a house, but she didn’t want to disturb him.

  She stumbled toward her room yawning widely. She didn’t see Steven until she bumped into him. “I’m sorry!” How could she be so tired she didn’t
even sense him there? He was the most attractive man she’d ever met, and she didn’t notice him in the hall?

  He grabbed her shoulders to steady her. His eyes traveled up and down her scantily clad body. She was wearing a thin tank top and a pair of short sleep shorts. One breast was wet and the nipple was hard as if begging for his attention.

  He didn’t think about what he was doing, he just pulled her against him, molding her body to his. His lips crushed hers, his hands roaming along her back and down to her buttocks.

  Half asleep, she didn’t even think about resisting. She wrapped her arms around his neck and held on for dear life, opening her mouth under his to welcome his tongue. She felt her blood pounding in her veins.

  One hand went unerringly to her nipple, stroking its hard peak through her tank where the baby had drooled on her. The baby. She pressed against his chest to push him away, her breath coming in short quick pants. What was she thinking?

  He backed up a step, trying to force his mind to wrap around the situation. What was he doing? It was the middle of the night, and he was molesting his nanny in the hallway. “What are you doing out here dressed like that?” His voice was gruff with sleep and passion.

  She sucked in another breath, staring at him with wide-eyes. Why did she feel so much with him, when she’d felt nothing with her former fiancé, whom she’d loved? Or had she?

  “I’m sorry. The baby woke up and I went to her. I should have grabbed a robe.” She felt like an idiot. Did he think she’d deliberately tried to entice him? Of course, she couldn’t have expected him to be in the hall at this hour of the morning.

  “Yes, you should have. If you’re going to wander around in the middle of the night dressed like that, I’ll take you up on what you’re offering.” He stormed off down the stairs to get the snack he’d gotten up for in the first place. It was bad enough he’d spent half the night lying awake thinking about the sexy nanny down the hall. He couldn’t believe she’d been running around half naked in the middle of the night. He’d never be able to sleep again. What had made him think this was a good idea?

  Chapter Three

  The following evening, he walked into the kitchen to find her holding the baby talking to her in a low voice. “So tell me why you’re raising your sister’s baby instead of having your own?” She looked like a natural mother standing there with that baby in her arms. He’d never given a thought to having children, but suddenly the idea appealed to him.

  She shrugged. “The right guy hasn’t come along I guess.” And it was none of his business anyway. She was still annoyed with him for acting like a jerk in the middle of the night. It wasn’t her fault he was up wandering around instead of sleeping like a normal human being.

  He raised an eyebrow. “So there’s no one serious in your life?” He knew it really wasn’t his place to ask, but he found himself very interested in this sweet girl. Her story, and whether she’d just up and take off leaving him with a kid who wasn’t his, interested him. He’d had her investigated, of course, and knew most of it, but he wanted to hear it from her lips.

  She sighed. “There was, but now there’s not.” That should be enough to satisfy his nosiness.

  “When?”

  “When what?” What was he talking about now?

  “When was there someone in your life?”

  “I was supposed to get married over the summer, but he ran off with my best friend instead.” She sighed. Why had she just admitted that to him? Now he’d give her the pitying looks she’d gotten every time she’d left her home in Hamlin. She hated those looks.

  “Sounds like a winner.” His nose wrinkled a little as he made his opinion of her former fiancé obvious.

  She smiled. “Yeah. He was a real winner all right. I knew I wasn’t very broken up about it, when I realized I was more upset about not getting to go to the beach for my honeymoon than I was about not getting married.” She shoved the baby toward him. “Here hold her for a second while I wash my hands. I need to fix her a bottle.”

  He took Faith automatically looking down at her. He’d only held her the night she came to live with him. Never since. She looked up at him with her big blue eyes and made a happy sound in her throat. He couldn’t help but smile. “She looks fatter.”

  Bailey glanced at him over her shoulder. “Her face is just filling out a little. Babies need to have chubby cheeks anyway. They’re so much fun to pinch!” She quickly mixed the formula and turned back to them. He looked so adorable standing there staring down at Faith. What was it about a man holding a baby that made her heart beat faster?

  She set the bottle on the counter and took the baby from him, unable to avoid the way her body brushed up against his as she did. She swallowed hard and looked at him through her eyelashes to see if it had affected him like it had her. His expression was unreadable.

  She efficiently popped the nipple into the baby’s mouth, leaning back against the counter to feed her. If he hadn’t been there, she’d have taken Faith up to her room to sit in the glider rocker he’d bought for them. Faith’s room was now beautifully furnished with everything she could possibly need for the baby. She had been awed by his generosity. He hadn’t even had the paternity test done yet.

  “Where were you going for your honeymoon?” The words cut into her thoughts.

  She looked up at him startled. Was he still thinking about that? “Galveston. I’ve never seen the ocean before.” She sighed thinking about it. She’d never been on a plane or left Texas. She’d rarely been away from Hamlin for more than a few hours at a time. For her honeymoon, Bradley was going to drive her to Galveston, and they were going to spend a couple of days on the beach. It had sounded like heaven.

  He lifted an eyebrow. “He knew you’d never see the ocean, and he was going to take you to Galveston? Their beaches are awful. He couldn’t be a man and spring for something exotic like South Padre?” His expression showed plainly what he thought of both of the Texas beaches.

  She shrugged. “We didn’t have money to throw away.” She wasn’t trying to defend Bradley, because he didn’t deserve it. She simply didn’t think he understood there were people who couldn’t go through money like it was water.

  “He sounds like a jerk.”

  “You know, I’m realizing more and more how lucky I am that he backed out before it was too late.” She kept watching the baby, rather than letting him see her face as she said those words. She didn’t want him to realize he was the one who’d brought her to that realization. His kiss had already taught her she wouldn’t have been happy with Bradley. There had been no real spark between them. If she got engaged again, it would be to a man who could make her blood boil.

  He smiled. “You are lucky.” He finished fixing his sandwich and with a casual, “Goodnight,” thrown over his shoulder, he went back to his office.

  As soon as he’d shut the door, he picked up the phone. When he, Justin and Cody had made their first billion, they’d taken a vacation to the island of Motu Tane. It was a private island they’d rented for the week. Everything they’d wanted had been within their reach. They’d lived in a virtual palace, and had staff to see to every one of their needs.

  Valentine’s Day was just a week away, and he was taking his little nanny to see the beach. She was going to see the ocean in style. Not from some little two star hotel in Galveston. She deserved better. He grinned. For some reason, he wanted to make her happy. Life had thrown her some curves, including the baby she was raising, and she deserved better.

  Justin had been making noise about needing to have a business meeting anyway. He’d just have the meeting on Motu Tane. The others wouldn’t argue. They could bring dates if they wanted. He grinned. He’d just make sure to invite them a day late, so he and Bailey could have some time alone together.

  *****

  Bailey needed to do some shopping for Faith and wasn’t comfortable asking Steven for money, so she asked Connie how to handle it. Steven had furnished her room, but there were little
things she still needed, a lot of little things, and Faith had almost outgrown her zero to three month clothes. Connie pulled out a credit card and handed it to her. “Just use this. Steven pays it.”

  Bailey looked down at the card. “Will he mind you loaning it to me?” She’d never had use of someone else’s money before, and it made her more than a little nervous.

  Connie shook her head. “You really need to wait until the car is delivered, though. He said it should be here this morning.”

  Bailey sighed. “I wish he’d just let me use mine. I feel weird driving other people’s cars.” She’d never driven a brand new car in her life. All her cars had been used when she’d gotten them, and she drove them until they couldn’t be driven any longer.

  Connie laughed. “The car will be for your use and your use only. Think of it as your car. He probably won’t let you drive yours again anyway. It’s too old.” Connie shook her head. “I’d be willing to bet money, he’s already arranged for it to be towed.”

  Bailey shrugged. “I’ve been driving it for years.” She wasn’t particularly attached to her car, but it probably had another good few months in it before it died on her.

  “It shows. Trust me on this. Drive what he tells you to drive.”

  Bailey nodded and headed back upstairs. Hopefully the car would be there soon, so she could go get the errands taken care of.

  Connie came and found her in Faith’s room less than an hour later. “Your new car’s here.” She held a set of car keys out to her.

  She looked up nervously not reaching out for the keys. “What did he get?” She was almost afraid to know. Hopefully something she wouldn’t be afraid to get behind the wheel of.

  “Cadillac Escalade. He wanted you to drive something big with more protection for the baby is what he told me.”

  Her eyes widened. “An Escalade? I’d be afraid I’d wreck it. Those things cost a fortune!” She couldn’t drive something like that. She’d worry about every scratch.