Feel the Heat: A Contemporary Romance Anthology (2 page)

That hadn’t changed. Becoming his wife and the mother of his child only made him want her more. He just had to figure out a way to take some of the pressure off her so they could find some time for each other. He tried to help out as much as he could, but with Claire nursing, she’d insisted on doing almost everything herself. He missed their time alone together, but there was no way he’d add even more pressure to his already over-scheduled wife.

Claire passed them both on her way to the kitchen and Bella followed her with her eyes, never slacking up on his finger. These two females owned him as surely as if they’d bought and paid for him. And he wouldn’t have it any other way.

“Here, give her this.” Claire handed him what looked like a mesh-covered Popsicle.

“What is it?” he asked, gently extricating his soggy finger from his daughter’s mouth.

“Cantaloupe. The mesh keeps her from getting pieces that are too big and the cold is supposed to help soothe her gums.”

Eyeing the lumpy thing warily, he handed it to his daughter, who immediately stuck it in her mouth and started to go to town on it, drooling happily as she chomped away.

“Is that better, sweet baby?” Claire leaned over him to wipe their daughter’s face with a soft cloth.

This close, it was impossible to miss the dark shadows under his wife’s beautiful eyes. Despite the baby nurse’s rigid schedule, Bella rarely slept through the night. He woke up when she did, but it was Claire who got up to feed their daughter. She carried much more of the load. He refused to think of his daughter as a burden, but he couldn’t deny the toll the lack of sleep took on her mother.

“Is it time to start thinking about weaning her?” he asked, realizing too late the landmine he’d stepped on.

Claire went still. “Why would you ask that?”

“She’s started on solid food.” He hoped if he stuck to the facts, he could avoid the bigger confrontation he felt just below the surface. “And if she’s getting her teeth, it might make sense.”

“She doesn’t have them yet,” snapped Claire. “And it’s not like she’s going to be ready for take-out from Comme Ci.”

It was his friend Eric’s flagship restaurant and the first place he’d taken Claire the day they met. The tone of her voice and the fact that she was so willing to throw the name out made it clear how close he was to starting a fight.

“I know that, sweetheart,” he said patiently. “I thought it might be time to start thinking about it, for you as well as her.”

Claire slumped in her seat beside him, and his heart ached for her. She put so much pressure on herself. She always had. It’s what made English Electric the best contracting firm on the East Coast and her such a powerhouse. But unlike when she handled work-related matters, the challenges of being a mother seemed to beat her down instead of encourage her to reach for more.

“I said I was going to nurse for a year,” she said, and he could see her steeling herself.

“I said I was never going to get married.” He reached up to cup her face, letting all the love he felt shine through his eyes. “Thankfully, plans change. What used to make sense sometimes doesn’t any more. Listen.” He shifted the drowsy baby in his arms. “I’m not trying to tell you what to do. I just want you to be happy, and I don’t want you to feel like you have to hold on to an idea because of some ideal you think you need to meet. Promise me you’ll think about it.”

After a long moment, she nodded. “I’ll think about it.”

C
LAIRE SHUT OFF HER LAPTOP
and made her way down the hall from the home office she shared with Luke to the living room. Bella was scooting around on her blanket on the floor while Hailey, the twenty-something-year-old babysitter, watched her. It wasn’t a perfect situation, but Hailey was a thousand times better than the baby nurse had been and Claire had actually been able to get through most of the estimate without losing her mind.

It was actually Mike, the guy she’d promoted to her new foreman, who’d recommended Hailey. The guys still acted as if she was breakable when she showed up on the job site, but while Mike was cooing over Bella, he’d mentioned his niece was looking for a job as a nanny.

He’d come through for her in more ways than one. He’d worked his way up through the company from journeyman to master electrician and finally to foreman. Before Luke and the baby, she’d worked alongside him, and she knew he understood how she wanted her jobs handled. Having him on a site was almost as good as being there herself. Something she was itching to get back to.

Although every time she had the thought, Bella would do something amazing, like scoot across the floor, giggling because she’d learned something new, and Claire would realize how much she’d miss if she wasn’t home every day. She wanted both worlds and felt ripped in two. At the same time, she realized how many women didn’t have the choice—either they couldn’t go back to work or they didn’t have the option to stay home. Even in her conflict, she knew how lucky she was.

“How’s she doing?” Claire leaned against the arm of the sofa and gazed down at her smiling daughter with her tiny new tooth.

“She’s going to be a race car driver, I think,” said Hailey. “She’s wearing a path in the floor racing back and forth.”

“You’re pretty proud of yourself, aren’t you, baby girl?” Claire reached down to scoop her baby up into her arms. “Momma’s proud of you, too.” She pressed a kiss to the top of her daughter’s head before she set the squirming child back down on the blanket to resume her scoot racing. “Has she eaten?”

“Not yet,” said the younger woman. “I was going to fix her some cereal and give her a bottle when she started to run out of steam. Unless you want to feed her?”

Claire hadn’t made a conscious decision to wean Bella, but after Luke brought it up she’d begun to think about it. Once Hailey started to help with the baby, it had been easy to let her give Bella a bottle when she needed it. Claire still nursed her in the morning and before bed, but she’d cut down on nursing her in the middle of the day. It made her sad, but it also freed up time for her to do some of the things she’d been neglecting. Which in turn made her feel even more guilt. It was a circle she couldn’t work herself out of.

“No, that’s okay,” she said trying not to sound too pathetic. “You can feed her when she winds down.” Claire watched her daughter for another couple of minutes before heading back down the hallway to her office and another stack of paperwork.

When she opened her email, there was a message from Luke’s private account and she smiled the way she did every time she thought of her husband. She clicked to open it and found a blacked-out video clip box with a play arrow. Checking over her shoulder to make sure she’d closed the door, she clicked Play. Her screen filled with waves crashing against jagged black rocks. The raw power of the waves breaking themselves open mesmerized her and she watch the clip twice before she closed out the video.

She had no idea what Luke was playing at, but the idea of sitting on that beach, feeling the spray on her face, called to her like a siren’s song. Her challenges couldn’t help but seem small in the face of all that power. Maybe she’d keep the tab open on her browser so she could watch the waves whenever she needed a break. She hit Reply.
Trying to tell me something, Masters?
she typed and then hit Send. His response was almost immediate.

Don’t say no
.

She stared at the screen for a moment, anticipation and apprehension warring for a spot in her sleep-deprived brain. He’d pushed her since the moment they’d met, but he’d also taken her on so many sexy adventures and shown her things she’d only dreamt about. Until him. Having Bella changed everything, but she still wanted time with her husband like they had before. Time to reconnect and discover new things together. Time to make love the way they used to, for him to push her physically. When they started, they hadn’t been able to keep their hands off each other, and she’d done things with him she’d never experienced with another man. Remembering sent ribbons of heat winding deep inside her.

You didn’t ask me anything, did you?
she typed.

His response took longer this time, and she’d started to wonder whether he’d gotten called away when her email dinged with a new message.

I’m not asking. I’m taking you away.

She didn’t bother to reply. She picked up her phone and dialed his direct line, bypassing his assistant.

“Don’t say no,” he repeated when he answered the phone. “I mean it, Claire. I’m not negotiating on this one.”

“What do you mean you’re not negotiating?” she asked, apprehension getting a jump on anticipation. “You don’t get to decide that. I can’t just run away because you decide it. I’ve got a business and a baby.”

“You don’t say.”

“You know what I mean.” She loved him more than life but no one had ever gotten under her skin the way Luke could.

“Of course I know what you mean. I also know what you need, Claire. What we need. You haven’t had a real break since before Bella was born. You need to rest, sweetheart, and we need time together.” He paused and she waited him out. Her husband was tenacious as hell when he wanted something but that didn’t mean she’d let him roll over her. “I have to go to Hawaii to look at some property. It’s just for a couple of days,” he said when she didn’t speak. “We fly out, spend two days and fly back home.”

“And do what with Bella?” Surely he wasn’t considering taking a baby on a twelve-hour flight. And he couldn’t expect Claire to leave their daughter at home. There weren’t any loving grandparents to leave her with. Hailey was great but too inexperienced, and there was no way in hell she’d leave her with the old baby nurse.

“I’ll figure it out.”

“I’m not leaving her with someone I don’t trust. I mean it, Masters,” she said, confident he’d never be able to find someone she could trust with their baby girl.

“Like I would,” he said and she could hear the edge of anger sliding into his voice. “Stop underestimating me. It’s getting old. She’s my daughter too. I’d never let anything happen to her.”

She knew that. Luke was protective almost to a fault, with her and their child. That didn’t mean she’d ever be comfortable leaving her baby. Even if it was just for a couple of days. In Hawaii, feeling the waves break around her.

“Fuck, Luke.”

“I’m counting on it, sweetheart.”

L
UKE WATCHED CLAIRE
pull the seat belt tight across her lap. She’d been pissed at him since he told her he was taking her to Hawaii for a long weekend. Without the baby. That was the sticky bit, but his wife was exhausted and being pulled in too many directions. She couldn’t figure out what came next if she was busy taking care of the baby. He’d thought about bringing Bella along with a sitter to care for her, but he knew Claire well enough to know she’d never leave their little girl alone. Not that he was trying to get his wife to neglect their daughter; he just wanted to help her find her footing again. He hated seeing the purple smudges under her beautiful green eyes.

When the opportunity came up to sneak off for a few days to look at some land he was thinking of developing, he figured he could kill two birds with one stone. Claire could get some rest and perspective and he could get her opinion of the site. He trusted her eye and felt better when she felt good about a project. Of course, none of that would matter if she wouldn’t talk to him and by the looks of her, that was a very real possibility.

The private jet taxied down the runway and he felt the thunk underneath them as the landing gear folded up into the body of the plane. Before they met, Claire hadn’t been out of the state. She loved to travel and had taken to it right away. Taking her to new places and rediscovering them through her eyes had rapidly become one of his favorite things to do, but they hadn’t been anywhere since Bella was born. He’d hoped the lure of a tropical island would appeal to her sense of adventure enough to soften the blow of leaving their daughter behind.

“She’s going to be fine,” he said, but she just looked at him, her eyes shining with unshed tears. “You know she is, Claire. Becky will take great care of her. We wouldn’t have left her if I wasn’t so sure.”

Becky had been the private duty nurse who’d taken care of Claire’s father until he had to be hospitalized. When he found out about the Hawaii trip, she’d been the first one he’d thought of to keep the baby. Without grandparents or friends with children, there was no one else to ask. He trusted Becky as much as Claire did, and he knew it was the only way she’d even consider going with him. As it was, it had taken some of his best talking to get his wife to agree to four days away from their daughter, and he didn’t need to look at her to know she wasn’t happy about it. He could try to reason it out with her, but he felt pretty sure that her mood had more to do with her emotions than logic. Reasoning wasn’t likely to get him anywhere he wanted to be.

After a few moments, the captain came on the intercom to tell them it was safe to move around the cabin. He unfastened his seat belt and glanced at Claire to see whether she’d done the same. In the time it had taken for them to reach altitude and level out, his wife had fallen asleep, her head tipped uncomfortably to the side. Smiling to himself, he unfastened her seat belt and, careful to get his feet under him, bent to scoop her into his arms.

“Wha…wait,” said Claire, blinking awake. “Put me down.”

“Shh, sweetheart. You’ve been carrying everyone else. Let me carry you for a little while.”

She let her hand snake under his suit coat to rest against his chest and something inside him relaxed. She’d been mad at him for dragging her away from their daughter, but if she could settle in his arms, they’d figure it out. Moving slowly in case the plane jolted, he carried her the few steps to the door of the small bedroom, nudging the latch with the back of his hand. The bed had been made up with a soft white down comforter and when she saw it, Claire let out a groan of pleasure that had him considering much more than sleep.

He set her gently on her feet before pulling back the covers and urging her to sit on the bed. Dropping to his knees in front of her, he reached for her foot and slipped off the nude heels. He’d seen her in work boots and heels and padding barefoot around in the home they shared and he loved every single facet of her. The mother and wife, business woman and sex kitten. He wanted her to be whatever she wanted to be. He hated that she seemed to be struggling at the moment with balancing it all, and he was determined to help her find her way to a new normal.

When they’d met, Claire had been so independent and so used to dealing with things on her own. It took forever for her to trust him and let him help. She still occasionally slipped back into old habits, muscling through or trying to muscle through by herself. She didn’t need to do that anymore. They were a team in all things, including raising their daughter. He pushed aside for a moment any remorse he had for railroading her into taking this trip. Or rather, remorse he didn’t feel but probably should. Compromise was new to him too. He didn’t always do it well.

“I’m sorry,” she said, tangling her fingers in his hair.

“For what?” he said, momentarily caught off guard.

“For trying to freeze you out earlier. I know we need time alone. I want that time.” She slid her hand to cup his cheek and his body tightened at the heat he saw reflected in her hazel eyes gone green. “I just don’t know how to leave Bella, and I feel guilt for every moment I’m away from her. I know Becky will take good care of her—better care of her than her distracted mother.” She pressed a fingertip to his lips before he could protest. “But I still hate being away from her.”

“First of all.” He slid onto the bed beside her and pulled her into his arms. “No one takes better care of our daughter than you do. It’s true, Claire.” He held his hand up when he saw her start to get ready to protest. “You can’t let the guilt blind you from the reality of the situation. I know what a bad mother looks like. You’re not one.” She sagged against him in what felt more like defeat than acceptance, but he’d take his victories in small bites if he had to. “And I miss her too, but I also miss you. Bella grew out of our love for each other. I want to keep that part of us alive and thriving. We owe it to ourselves and to our daughter.”

“You’re right,” she said, and he felt her head nod against his chest.

“Damn straight.” He heard her giggle and reached down to tip her chin up to face him. Her eyes shone with unshed tears but she was smiling, which counted as another small victory. “What are the chances of me getting you to say that again while I record it? I could use it as my ringtone.”

“It’s not going to happen, Masters, and if you push me, I’m going to deny I said it.”

“It’s okay.” He brushed a kiss over her lips, loving the way her breath caught when he touched her. “We both know the truth. Now I’m the emotionally mature one in this relationship.” He leaned away from her, narrowly avoiding her playful swat. Considering where their relationship started and how emotionally constipated he had been in the beginning, calling himself mature at anything to do with his feelings and hers was a stretch.

“That’s a bold claim.” Her eyes showed some of the familiar fire he’d missed so much.

“I’m a bold man. And right. You said so.” He caught her hand with his, bringing her knuckles to his lips. “Come on, let’s get you into bed before I decide there’s something you need more than sleep.”

C
LAIRE WOKE
UP in complete darkness in an unfamiliar bed. It took a moment for her groggy mind to catch up with the fact that she was in Luke’s private jet on her way to Hawaii. It was another moment before she realized no one needed her and there was no reason for her to wake up. She stretched, waiting for the guilt she was sure would follow, and was surprised when it didn’t. Maybe part of her had started to believe what Luke said: that in order to be a good mother, she had to take care of herself and her relationship with her husband too. She snuggled deeper under the soft down comforter and felt his arm tighten around her waist as the hard length of his body curled around hers.