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“I notice you seem to see just fine without those glasses. A miracle cure, perhaps?”
The door banged closed behind him and Grace let out a small groan of despair. How could she have been so foolish? And what must he be thinking? Perhaps she could tell him her eyes were sensitive to light. Perhaps she could say that the doctor prescribed tinted glasses to prevent eyestrain.
She sighed. Perhaps she should dispense with all the lies and hope something could be salvaged from this mess. She glanced over at Toni. The baby slept soundly, her rounded bottom thrust high in the air, a chubby fist pressed against her puckered mouth. Tucking the blanket securely around her tiny form, Grace crossed to her own bed, slipped beneath the covers, and turned off the bedside lamp.
Moonlight brightened the room and she folded her arms behind her head, studying the ceiling. Here she was, bedding down for the night in Luc’s apartment. If Dom ever found out, he’d have a coronary. She yawned. She’d just have to make sure he never did.
More importantly, she’d have to make certain Luc never uncovered the deception about her engagement. Somehow, she suspected if he did, she’d find herself in deep, deep trouble. And not just for having lied to him. That kiss had been a mistake. A big mistake. A mistake she had no intention of ever repeating.
Four more weeks to get through.
All of a sudden, it seemed a lifetime.
A thumpsounded somewhere deep in the apartment and Grace rolled over, glaring at the clock on the nightstand. It couldn’t be three in the morning. It couldn’t be. She hadn’t slept a wink. This was all Luc’s fault. He had to have the noisiest apartment in the entire complex. Every little sound made her jump. Worse, it made Toni jump. Whenever the baby had been on the verge of drifting off, some tiny noise would wake her and she’d start to fuss.
Right on cue, a pitiful wail rose from the far side of the room and Grace groaned. Struggling out of bed, she shoved a tumble of curls from her eyes and approached the crib.
“I’m coming, munchkin,” she muttered. “Keep your diapers on.” Toni lay on her back, her covers kicked off, her feet pumping like a crazed locomotive. Two chubby fists pinwheeled the air. Grace eyed the activity with deep suspicion. “You do that to help suck in more air, don’t you?” she asked the red-faced infant. “And once you’re finished inhaling, out it all comes in one huge bellow. Right?”
Not giving Toni time to vent her agreement, Grace picked up the baby and slipped from the room. Where had Luc left the diapers and bottles? To her relief, the diapers were in plain sight in the living room. She found bottles of formula already mixed in the refrigerator. Since the directions warned not to heat in a microwave, she followed the suggestion on the canister and ran the milk under the hot water tap until it reached the perfect temperature. She also made a mental note to pick up a bottle warmer at the earliest opportunity.
Returning to the living room, Grace drew a chair over to the picture window and settled into it, Toni nestled in the crook of her arm. San Francisco glittered before her. Even at three in the morning, the city seemed alive with light and movement.
A nearly full moon hung in the sky, the light spilling through the window, bathing the room in its silver glow. Grace stared down at Toni. With her flushed olive skin and huge dark eyes, she was the most adorable creature Grace had ever seen. How could Carina bear to be separated from this precious bundle for even one tiny moment? It must have been pure agony for her to make such a decision.
And what about being twenty, a foreign exchange student and an unwed mother? In all likelihood, poor Carina didn’t dare go home to face her parents with the result of her indiscretion. She’d apparently been just as reluctant to turn to Brand for help, though the reason for that wasn’t quite as clear. Of course, if Brand matched Luc in the womanizing department, Grace could understand Carina’s reluctance. And yet...
Grace frowned. Somehow, she couldn’t see Luc abandoning his lover in her time of need, let alone his child. Nor could she imagine him leaving any woman in the lurch. He cared too deeply. Unfortunately, he cared too deeply about all women to ever settle on any one.
Still, she knew Luc. He would have done everything in his power to prevent an accident like Brand and Carina’s from occurring in the first place. But if it had, he would have taken on the responsibility of both mother and child. She didn’t doubt that for one minute. And wasn’t that just what Brand was attempting to do? Perhaps it was a Salvatore trait.
Grace gazed down at the baby in her arms, filled with an overwhelming desire to protect this child. She could fully understand Luc’s determination to keep Toni safe. In less than twenty-four hours, she’d grown impossibly attached. She could even imagine having a baby like this one. She could imagine the father, too. There was just one catch.
She wanted a man who would love her exclusively, who’d choose her above all other women and never once look back. She caught her lip between her teeth, tears stinging her eyes. That man wouldn’t be Luc. Not a chance. She stared out the window, and suddenly her reflection was joined by another.
Luc crossed to her side. “Everything all right?” he asked in a soft voice, crouching beside the chair.
“Everything’s fine.” She bowed her head, embarrassed to be caught with tears in her eyes. She hadn’t realized how much she depended on her tinted glasses to conceal her thoughts and emotions from him. Come morning, those glasses would once again be perched on the end of her nose. “Toni woke up hungry and wet.”
Luc’s mouth curved into a wry smile. “Even with only a single day’s experience of baby care, I’ve discovered they have a nasty tendency to do that.” He examined Grace closely. “You look tired. Want me to take over for a while?”
Her throat tightened and she shook her head. “I’m fine,” she managed to say. He reached out and tucked a curl behind her ear, his touch unexpectedly gentle and soothing.
“You don’t sound fine. You sound exhausted.” His hand moved from her hair to her shoulder, massaging the tense muscles along the back of her neck. “It’s going to work out, Grace. I know everything looks a bit bleak now, but give it time.”
“What if she doesn’t come back?” The question practically burst from Grace. “What if she abandons Toni?”
He didn’t hesitate for an instant. “Then Brand will take care of his daughter. We’ll figure it out somehow.” He seemed so strong, so resolute. “This baby’s a Salvatore. And I’ll do everything within my power to protect her.”
She didn’t doubt him. “Your family’s lucky to have you to watch out for them.”
“And your fiancé’s lucky to have you. Not many women would’ve done what you did today.”
A reluctant smile touched her mouth and she glanced at him. “Was there a choice?”
He didn’t return her smile. Instead his gaze filled with an intensity that unnerved her. “Yes. You had a choice. You could have walked. You could have told me to go to hell. But you didn’t. You stuck by me, Grace. That means a lot.”
His thick, dark hair tumbled across his brow and a shadow of stubble clung to his jaw. He’d thrown on a robe similar to the one he’d loaned her, and she suspected he wore little or nothing beneath it. The robe veed deeply and she could see the crisp, dark hair covering his chest. For a crazy instant she almost reached out and touched him.
