The Billionaire's Christmas Baby(17)

…

Hannah laughed as she placed Emily into the bathroom sink. The baby loved her baths and gave a delighted gasp as her body made contact with the warm water. Hannah cradled her head with one hand and rubbed the soapy washcloth over Emily’s soft skin. Emily kicked her legs and gurgled loudly. She yelped as Emily splashed her.

“Everything okay in here?”

Hannah turned her head as Jackson walked in wearing an expression she couldn’t quite figure out. He looked down at Emily and for a second she thought he was going to smile, but instead she saw his jaw clench. She tried not to let her disappointment show. She didn’t expect him to be reduced to a pile of mush by looking at the baby, but maybe a hint of a smile…

“We’re doing fine,” she said as she rinsed the soap off Emily’s slippery skin. “Every time I give Emily a bath I seem to get soaked.”

She busied herself with getting Emily out of the water and into the waiting towel, and pretended not to be aware of Jackson’s intense gaze. His silence was disconcerting. She almost preferred the sarcastic comments to the silence. She spotted the sleeper that she’d already laid out peeking out from under the towel. Almost positive Jackson hadn’t noticed, she slipped it into the sink.

“Oh shoot!”

“What is it?”

She avoided eye contact and focused on the now drenched sleeper while keeping Emily bundled in the towel.

“Her sleeper is soaked! Here,” she said and shoved Emily into his arms. “I’ll be right back. I’m going to grab a new one.” She didn’t bother waiting for a response and ran out of the washroom, her heart beating as though she’d just committed a felony. She was such a bad liar, she thought as she rummaged around for the only other sleeper she had. She waited a few moments before walking back into the washroom. Would Jackson’s heart melt by holding his little niece?

He awkwardly cradled Emily in his arms. Was he smiling at her? Was he choked up with emotion?

Jackson looked up as soon as she approached his side and for a second she could have sworn she saw something warm in his expression. But then he handed Emily off to her and strode out of the room without saying anything.

Hannah stared into Emily’s wide blue eyes. So much for her plan.

…

Jackson told himself that all babies were cute. Emily was not a special baby. Human adults were biologically programmed to respond to babies. It was how the human race propagated. His wanting to keep holding the baby was only natural. And the connection he felt when he stared into those wide, curious eyes was completely ridiculous. That was that. A figment of his imagination. He needed to get down to work and count the hours until Hannah and his… the baby left.

He settled himself at the table in the great room and opened his laptop and briefcase. He came out here every year not to escape work, because he loved work and he loved the company he’d built with his best friend. No, he came out here to escape a season filled with year after year of bad memories. Here, there was no pressure to act like Christmas meant something more to him than any other day on the calendar. Until, of course, Hannah came crashing into his world.

He pretended to be deep in concentration at his computer an hour later when he heard Hannah enter the room. She had that giant bag that looked ready to burst with books sitting on her shoulder along with a fresh mug of coffee. He ignored the smell of lavender as she passed him to sit at the opposite end of the table.

“I hope you don’t mind if I sit here. I put Emily down for a nap so I’d like to try and catch up on some work,” she said, placing her bag on the table.

“Not at all,” he said and looked back at his computer screen.

“She downed that bottle super fast,” she said with a laugh. “She’s always ravenous after a bath.” He gave her a polite nod. He was not going to engage her in a discussion about babies. He concentrated on the spreadsheet on his computer screen, pleased that she finally took the hint that he didn’t want to talk anymore.

Ten minutes later he tried to ignore the humming coming from across the table. Sounded something like jingle bells, slightly more than off-tune. He looked up with an exaggerated sigh. She didn’t get the hint as she started tapping her foot in time with her humming. She highlighted something from a book.

“What are you working on?”

She looked up from her book, obviously startled. “Oh, I’m studying.”

He frowned. “For what?”

She bent her head again. “My PhD.”

“PhD?”

She nodded.

“In social work?”

“No. Psychology.” She took a sip of coffee then bent her head back in her book. He stared at the top of her head as she resumed her Christmas humming. He tried not to be impressed by her, but dammit, the more he learned about this woman the more he was intrigued by her and attracted to her. It was damn inconvenient.

“Why are you getting a degree in psychology?”

“Well, next year when I save enough money, I’d like to finish my degree and then ultimately I’d like to be a child psychologist.”


He didn’t say a thing as he stared at the gorgeous woman across the table. Run, Jackson, run far away. She was beautiful, sweet, and smart. It was a hell of a combination. The women he dated were not nearly as dangerous as Hannah.

“Do you have any Christmas CDs?” Hannah stared at him from across the table, seemingly oblivious to his thoughts.