Their Baby Bargain

But, at the end of a half-hour explanation-plus another half an hour of question time-Shanni rose reluctantly to leave and she wasn’t convinced at all.

‘How do you know he’ll return?’

‘Are you kidding?’ Wendy motioned outside. ‘Do you know how much that thing’s worth? He’ll be back.’

‘You don’t think he’d return anyway-because he loves his little sister?’

‘Maybe he will in time,’ Wendy said dubiously. ‘But if he does love her, he doesn’t know it yet.’

‘So you think he’ll come back, give you legal status as her nanny and then he’ll go?’

‘That’s the plan.’

‘But…he’ll visit?’

‘I hope he does.’ Wendy didn’t sound all that sure. ‘It’s important for Grace that he does.’

‘You know…’ Shanni surveyed her friend thoughtfully ‘…if this Luke is anything like Erin described, it’d be pretty easy to fall in love with such a man.’

‘You have to be joking!’

‘Stranger things have happened. Look at me and Nick.’

‘I’ve done the love thing,’ Wendy told her friend, and her voice was flat and final. ‘Sure, he’s cute, but there’s no possibility I’m going down that road again.’

‘Adam’s been dead for six years.’

‘And so has the baby he killed. It doesn’t get one inch easier.’

‘And yet you love Gabbie,’ Shanni said softly, and there was a sudden catch in her voice that she couldn’t hide. Her own pregnancy had made her feel even more just how dreadful Wendy’s sorrow had been, but somehow she found the courage to make herself say what had to be said.

‘Wendy, you blame yourself for what happened but it hasn’t stopped you loving again. You love Gabbie. I can see it every time I look at you. The way Gabbie’s been treated is tearing you in two. And Grace… How much must it hurt you to lift a babe who’s the same age as the baby who was killed by Adam’s foolhardiness? Wendy, if you’ve learned to love again…’

But Wendy’s face had closed. ‘Loving children is different.’

‘Than loving a man? Maybe. Because it was Adam who caused you such pain.’ Shanni probed gently. She knew this must hurt, but it still needed to be faced. ‘Not every man’s like Adam, Wendy. Luke can’t be blamed for Adam’s mistakes.’

‘Because I loved Adam too much, a child died,’ Wendy said harshly. ‘I should never have let him drive like that. But he was showing off-like a kid with a new toy with his damned fast car-and he was so happy! I was stupid, stupid, stupid-because I was in love-and a baby in the other car paid the price. And her parents.’

‘Adam paid his price, too,’ Shanni reminded her. ‘He’s dead. It’s over, Wendy.’

‘Yes, it’s over.’ Wendy turned and sat down at the table, and her shoulders slumped. ‘I know. It’s finished. But I loved Adam too much, and I lost control. I will never, ever feel like that again. I’ll love my children, I’ll protect them, and that’s all.’

‘Wendy…’

‘For heaven’s sake, Luke’s way out of my league anyway,’ Wendy told her, trying to smile. ‘He’s rich, he spends his life abroad, and he’s gorgeous. What would a man like that want with the likes of me?’

Which was just what Luke Grey was asking of himself at that very minute.

Ten thousand miles away, Luke was face to face with Grace’s mother, and suddenly, inexplicably, he wanted Wendy with him. Right now!

Lindy was gorgeous. How had his father-a man who’d been in his late sixties-ever attracted a woman like this? Luke checked out the woman who he’d finally tracked down in one of London’s best hotels, and he could find no answer. Sure, his father had charm, but one glance told him this was a lady accustomed to the best that money could buy, and then some.

He’d discovered by now that she was a model, and it showed. Lindy was almost six feet tall; she was willow- slim, with fabulous chestnut curls draped ever so carefully down to her breasts. Each curl looked individually arranged. Her eyes were sky-blue, huge and wondrous. Her rosebud lips were pouting prettily at her unexpected visitor, and her gorgeous, gold kimono looked as if it was straight from a designer’s collection.

She must have cost his father a mint, Luke thought cynically. No wonder the old man had died in so much debt. But why did one look at her make him feel like running a mile?

‘You didn’t need to come all this way to find me,’ Lindy told him, and her voice was carefully modulated to a sexy whisper. Luke’s mistrust deepened. He knew that this was the way she’d speak to any attractive man in her orbit.

‘I had quite a time finding you,’ Luke admitted, hauling himself into business mode. It was the only way to cope here. ‘Someone in your modelling agency gave me a break and told me where you were.’

Her eyes flared with anger. ‘They shouldn’t have. I told them…’

‘You really didn’t want me to find you?’ Luke asked curiously. ‘You honestly don’t want anything more to do with your daughter?’

‘I didn’t want her to start with,’ she said petulantly. ‘Your father did, and he caught me at a low moment. My modelling career was going through a dive, and all my friends were having babies, so I thought, well, why not? Babies look so cute, and your father told me there’d always be enough money for the best nannies.’

Not the best, Luke thought involuntarily. He had the best nanny in the world-right back in Bay Beach. Where he wanted to be right now…

‘But then-your father died and there was nothing.’ The girl’s voice had lost its sexy whisper as her distress showed through. Distress and anger. This wasn’t grief for his father, Luke decided. This was distress because she’d been cheated out of cash.

‘He’d promised there’d be money for ever, and there was nothing,’ she continued. ‘Nothing! They kicked me out of my apartment-which I thought we owned! My nanny left because I couldn’t pay her. So there I was, alone, and I’d never even changed the kid’s nappy. Suddenly I had to do everything. I hated it. Then, just as I hit rock bottom I got a call from the agency saying they had this job for me. Touring with the whole Europe collection. I’ll be in Europe for three months now-or even longer if my plans go right. You must see, I can’t have the kid.’

‘You can’t have Grace while you’re touring,’ Luke agreed quietly-so quietly that those who knew him well would recognise the danger signs. There was deep distaste in his voice. ‘Will you want her back afterwards?’

Lindy’s huge eyes widened in surprise, as if such a question was self-evident. ‘Why on earth would I?’

‘She’s your daughter.’

‘No.’ The woman shook her gorgeous mane of hair in quick decision. ‘That’s not how I feel about her. I was used. I was lied to. I was conned into having her and I want no responsibility for her future.’

‘She’s still very cute,’ Luke said, watchful.

‘Yeah? You try getting up at two in the morning night after night and see how cute she is. And the cost of nannies…’ Lindy’s face suddenly stilled, intelligence sharpening and focusing right on Luke. ‘But you must be rich. The guy I hired to find you said you were some sort of stockbroker, and if you can afford to come all the way to London to find me… If you pay for a nanny and something toward our keep then I might consider it.’

Her eyes narrowed, dollar signs lighting up in their depths. ‘I mean, it was your father who cheated me. You owe it to me.’

‘I owe you nothing.’ He’d had enough. Luke’s face was tight and hard. The thought of his half-sister with this woman was making his blood boil. ‘I’m not legally obliged to care for any other children my father might have had besides me.’

‘I know that,’ she snapped. ‘My lawyer said I couldn’t touch you. But she is your half-sister.’

‘And if I don’t look after her?’

‘Then I’ll get her adopted,’ Lindy said brutally. ‘I tell you, I can’t have her. What man’s going to look at me when I have a kid in tow?’

And that was the crux of the matter, Luke thought bleakly. Grace had no chance at all.

‘If I agree to take her…’ he said slowly-cautiously.

‘Will you?’ Her eyes widened again, clearly surprised, and Luke took a mental step back. It’d be dangerous for this woman to think he cared.

‘I have…I care for another child,’ he told her, and her face relaxed again, turning into a sneer.