Sealing the Deal (7 page)

The world had gone from orderly to confusing so quickly, she couldn’t quite make sense of it yet. Her adult life had been consumed with being a teacher. In the back of her mind, there had been vague plans of a husband, a family. But Bethany Rogers was a teacher, one with a plan to buy a nice little house. Someday.

For now, she was a single mother with no reliable child care, an efficiency apartment, and a tiny car.

“Oh, Em. For such a small girl, you sure knocked me for a loop.”

After she laid the peaceful Emma in the playpen that served as her crib, Beth fired up her laptop for the first time in days. Sixty-three e-mails, most of which were easy to delete before she even read them. The only one that interested her was from Robert.

Since when did Robert e-mail her? Why hadn’t he texted? Or called?

Beth opened the message.

Sorry, B. Left you on a bad note. Want to come to the new house tomorrow? Some of the fixtures arrived. Thought you’d like to see them. Will bring dinner. See you at six?

Which meant he’d be there with a bucket of KFC and a couple of sodas. At that moment, it sounded like heaven.

Robert.
She had so much to think about where he was concerned.

Or did she? Sure, they’d shared a couple of kisses. Hot, soul-stealing kisses from her point of view, but he’d literally run away. Was he running from her or from the idea of commitment? He knew her well enough to know she’d never be one of his arm-candy girls. If he got involved with her, it would be for something more solid.

But it looked like Robert was ready to have things return to status quo. Otherwise he would never have left so darn fast after they’d kissed. It was probably for the best.

She typed her reply.

The munchkin and I will see you then.

* * *

Robert looked out the window again, thinking for the third time he’d heard Beth’s car in the driveway.

Wrong again
.

She wasn’t late. Not yet. He worried anyway.

Ever since he’d left two days ago, he’d been at loose ends, worrying about whether she hated him for taking advantage of her. His own thoughts about what had happened between them were in tangles.

He’d practically tried to seduce her while she was asleep. It was a damn good thing she hadn’t hauled off and punched him in the nose. When he’d awakened to her scent, feeling her curves molded to his body, instinct had taken control. He’d needed to touch her, to possess her. Thank goodness he’d gotten a hold of himself before things had gone too far. Yet that interlude haunted his every minute.

It had been a long, long time since he’d felt that kind of connection with a woman. Hell, he’d never wanted a woman that badly before.

Was it because she was forbidden fruit? A colleague rather than a conquest?

Did he like the idea of winning the “good girl” for once?

Or did this have nothing at all to do with
her
? Was this what every man went through when he turned forty? Flirting with younger women?

There was a third possibility. The way he’d been acting might not be due to either Beth or himself. Did holding Emma trigger some fatherhood gene that had thus far been dormant? Had he spontaneously developed some evolutionary need to be a dad?

His brain couldn’t seem to do anything except offer up question after question. The answers were far out of his grasp.

A sound drew him back to the window. At least this time his ears hadn’t tricked him. Beth was here. He hurried out the front door to help her with the baby. “Hello there, ladies.”

“Hi, Robert.” Beth spoke over her shoulder as she worked on wrestling the complicated car seat out of its base.

“Need some help?”

With a grunt, she tugged the carrier loose. Maneuvering it around the front seat and seat belt wasn’t easy, but soon Beth had Emma out of the Beetle. “We’re good. Want to take Em or grab her diaper bag?”

“I’ll take the baby.” His hand shot out to grasp the handle Beth had pulled up so the seat now became a baby carrier. “Hiya, squirt.”

Emma stopped sucking on her thumb and grinned at him as spittle ran down her chin.

“You’re a mess,” Robert joked.

After slinging the bag over her shoulder, Beth slammed the car door. “I think she’s teething. Started drooling like crazy after her nap. She keeps putting her thumb or her fingers in her mouth.”

“Have you tried an ice ring?” Funny how much he remembered from when his nieces and nephews had been Emma’s age.

“A what?” Beth followed him to the front door.

“My sister had this toy that had water in a plastic ring. She’d toss it in the freezer, then give it to her kids when they were teething. It’s supposed to soothe their gums or something.”

“I’ll have to stop by Toy Junction on the way home and get her one. It’s a better suggestion than my mom made.”

“What did she say?”

“Told me to rub whisky on Emma’s gums. It’s a wonder Tiffany and I survived childhood,” she teased. As she walked through the door he held open, she murmured her appreciation. Then she stopped only a few steps inside. “Wow. You’ve been busy.”

He shrugged. Getting the flooring, bathroom tiling, kitchen cabinets, and granite in quickly hadn’t been easy, but he needed her to see the house taking shape. By the beginning of next week, everything would be in place, and the furnishings would arrive in ten days.

As Jules always told him, it was easier to sell a staged home. But this time, the deliveries weren’t going to be rentals and they sure as hell weren’t to stage the place. They were going to be his own furniture in his own house.

They both kicked off their shoes by the door.

“The hardwoods look great.” Beth gave him a little laugh that made his throat clog with emotion. “Even if that does sound egotistical.”

He might not be sure exactly what it was that he felt for Beth, but one thing was damn sure. It was something strong, and he was getting too old to be patient. After dinner, he’d spring his surprise.

“You have a right to crow,” Robert replied. “You did a great job on this. As usual.” He cuffed her on the shoulder as he led the way to the kitchen. “Ready to eat?”

She set the diaper bag on the kitchen island. He loved that her fingers roamed over the granite surface for a few moments.

“Depends,” she replied.

He quirked a brow. “On what?”

“On if you only got the downstairs floors and fixtures.”

“N-no. Ups-stairs is done, too.” His nerves were showing.

“I’m heading there first. Then I’ll eat.” She strode to the staircase before glancing over her shoulder. “You coming?”

Robert finished disengaging all the straps holding Emma in her seat. “Nah. You go on. The munchkin and I will get the drinks ready.”

As soon as Beth disappeared up the staircase, he kissed Emma’s cheek. “Counting on you to help me pull this off, squirt.”

She babbled something before sticking her thumb back in her mouth.

“I’ll take that as a yes.” He chuckled at her. “You keep that up, and I’m gonna have to pay for braces one day.” At least that’s what his sister always said about thumb-sucking.

But would he still be in Emma’s life by then?

* * *

Beth climbed the stairs, loving the feel of the frieze carpet beneath her feet and wondering why Robert had hustled to get the house floors in. He’d talked about a buyer as though it wasn’t anywhere near a done deal, and yet he’d put aside two of his other projects that were contracted earlier to focus on this house. What was the rush?

While everything she’d told him to buy wasn’t there, he’d made a good start. The rest would come in time.

She loved the play of colors in the master bedroom. The pleasant gray paint blended with the blue and white tiles she’d selected for the en suite bath. The carpet was a darker shade of gray, and she could feel the bounce of the new padding as she paced across the room. A peek inside the guest rooms, laundry room—something she’d insisted on when Robert showed her the plans—and spare bathrooms revealed a house nearly ready for a growing family.

Still, she wondered if a family would ever live in this beautiful house. The more she thought about it, the more she suspected that this house would be Robert’s. He’d hinted as much by coyly answering her questions about the buyer. Deep down, she had to admit she’d chosen the tile, carpet, and hardwoods with him in mind.

Intuition?

Or wishful thinking?

Get off it, Beth. He kissed you. So what?

Padding back down the stairs, she smiled when she found Robert dancing around the kitchen with Emma, humming some silly tune she didn’t recognize. The poor guy wasn’t only color blind, but he was also tone-deaf. But the picture they presented of happy father and daughter made her heart sing.

So why were tears blurring her vision?

“Look, squirt! There’s Mommy!” Robert grinned at her before his lips dropped. “What’s wrong?”

Beth shook her head and forced another smile. “Nothing. Nothing at all.”

He didn’t pass her the baby, seeming content to hold her. Emma was clearly enraptured with Robert. Her gaze never left his face as she contentedly sucked her thumb. “Don’t you like the place?”

“Are you kidding? I
love
it.”

“So do I, which is why I’m keeping it.”

Her heart skipped a beat before slamming against her rib cage. Her intuition had been spot-on—except for one very important thing. Why did Robert suddenly want a house? Had he finally found a woman he was serious about?

Beth had come to terms with his dating, but if he’d finally decided to settle down with a woman to make her a permanent part of his life, she’d be devastated. He hadn’t mentioned anyone. Not once.

With trembling fingers, she started unpacking the groceries Robert had brought. Paper plates. Plastic cups. Anything to keep her hands busy so she could pretend her world wasn’t falling apart. “I had a feeling…” She shrugged to feign indifference when her emotions were caught in a hurricane. “I mean, it’s an awfully big house for just one person.”
Oh yeah, Beth. That was nonchalant
.

“I’m not planning to be alone. There’s a w-woman I’d like to share it with me.”

There was no way she’d cry in front of him. She’d been the one to take a few kisses too seriously. But she ached to punch him in the nose for leading her on when he was in a relationship with another woman.

He kissed me! How could he kiss me when he’s in love with someone else?

“Does your girlfriend like the stuff I chose? I mean, are the colors all right with you?”

“Like colors would m-matter for me. And about that girlfriend… We need to talk.”

All Beth did was shrug again. There was no way she’d be able to choke down food, so she planned to do everything she could to make a quick escape. Even looking at Robert made her heart hurt.

Balancing Emma on his hip, he put his free hand over one of Beth’s. “Stop for a minute. I… I need to ask you something.”

Beth set down the napkins, picked up the plastic forks, and stared up at him. She’d never considered how tall he was, and it dawned on her she always had to tilt her head back pretty far to look into his eyes. She loved tall men, especially tall men with a face so handsome it took her breath away.

But now he belonged to someone else.

She put on a mask of indifference, figuring he was going to ask for some décor changes to please his new woman. “Ask away.”

“D-do you like this house?”

She let out an inelegant snort and answered with uncharacteristic sarcasm. “Duh. Of course I like it. I decorated it, remember? Besides, my opinion doesn’t matter.” Her voice was strained as she fought the desire to weep.

“D-do you like it enough to live in it?”

Rendered momentarily speechless, Beth dropped the plastic forks, wincing as most of them bounced on the granite and fell to the floor. “But… but… I thought you were moving in with a girlfriend.”

“Girlfriend? What on earth made you think I had a girlfriend?”

“You said you were going to live with a woman.”

“W-what if you were my r-roommate?”

His stutter betrayed his nervousness, but all she could do was blink in confusion. With one question, Robert had thrown her mind into bedlam.

A question spilled out. “You don’t have a girlfriend?”

“N-no.” He gave her a shy smile. “At least not yet.”

Gathering her brows, Beth tried to read his eyes. All she found was worry. “What are you saying, Robert?”

He took a deep breath and then blew it out through his mouth, as though gathering his courage. Or perhaps he was just concentrating so he could stop stuttering. Then he spit out whatever he’d been struggling to tell her. “I want you to move in with me. Here. Just as soon as the house is done.”

Chapter Six

“I beg your pardon?”

Robert had expected Beth to resist, but the incredulous frown that spread over her face was almost his undoing. Sure, things were moving pretty fast. With a few kisses, they’d gone from friends to something more. But what?

He wasn’t sure, and Beth’s reaction told him she was every bit as confused.

That confusion had helped him form a plan. They needed time together to figure out exactly where they were going. With all the changes in her life, she had to feel as though she were standing on quicksand. He’d offered her a home, a place that would work much better for her and Emma to help her find some solid ground.

He wasn’t asking her to his bed. Not yet, at least. Just asking if she’d be his roommate had taken every ounce of his courage. He wasn’t about to lose the chance to have both Beth and Emma in his life.

He’d never been able to commit to one woman for too long. Deep down, he was afraid his infatuation with Beth would abruptly end. That was the normal course for his affections. If it did, it would be damned awkward having her and Emma living in his home. But that was a chance he was willing to take.

All Robert knew was that Emma represented something he’d always wanted desperately. Fatherhood. A family. Emma was such a unique child, and his bond with her was irrevocable.