The Mistresses Collection. Оливия Гейтс

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СКАЧАТЬ Zack pulled up his sleeves and inched inside. The baby was awake, watching her fingers wriggle in the shadows. Her gaze roamed, quickly found his and she kicked her legs in their wrap as if saying hello the only way she knew how.

      Zack remembered how soaked she’d been that morning. But he was a man who commanded many and normally never backed off from a challenge. This couldn’t be too hard. Just get your mind around the problem, Harrison, and do it!

      In a fluid movement, he scooped her up and, holding her firmly, tested her padded behind with a palm.

      Not wet. No leakages around the legs. He rolled back his shoulders. That was good enough for him.

      He cradled her in one arm, waited for the inevitable—for her chin to dimple and bottom lip to drop. But she only gazed up at him, blowing bubbles and wriggling her toes in her leggings. Zack’s throat clogged. Sweetheart was definitely the word.

      Cruiser gave his leg a bump and Zack growled down. “Stop pushing already. I’m here, aren’t I?”

      He moved out to the main room, thinking about his next step. Bonnie had had a bottle before going to sleep. She shouldn’t be hungry, but she did look wide-awake. He had experience with older kids. They were easy to entertain. But a three-month-old? No success. In fact, plenty of failures.

      What was he supposed to do now?

      Waking slowly, Trinity sucked in a breath then noticed that the light in Zack’s living room where she’d fallen asleep had changed. From the shadows stretching over the timber floor, it was long past midday. More like midafternoon. However long she’d slept, she certainly felt refreshed. Bonnie must still be sleeping soundly, Trinity thought as she shifted to sit straighter in the recliner, or she’d have heard from Cruiser.

      Enjoying a stretch and a yawn, she rubbed her eyes but stilled when she heard a sound rumbling nearby. Zack’s voice. But there was another noise. A gurgling. Giggling.

      On a burst of energy, Trinity scrambled up on her knees so that she could peer over the back of the recliner.

      She couldn’t believe her eyes.

      This had to be a dream.

      Propped up on forearms, Zack was lying on his front on a blanket on the floor. The baby was propped up on a bank of pillows opposite. Zack was shaking something that rattled and wobbled. Trinity had no idea what it was or how he’d come by it. She only knew the baby thought the sight and sound hilarious.

      Zack was smiling, too, in a way that both surprised and warmed Trinity to her core. In that instant, in her mind, he was transformed. No longer simply the handsome, ruthless hotelier, but so much more a regular guy in sexy blue jeans who obviously enjoyed making a little girl laugh. Trinity wanted to laugh, too, even as moisture welled in her eyes. If she didn’t disapprove of him so much, she might even be convinced to like him.

      He glanced across and that glossy lock of hair fell over his brow as he beamed out a dazzling smile.

      “Hey, look who’s up.”

      “What’s going on?” Trinity moved off the recliner, thinking how goofy her expression must be. She couldn’t stop grinning and her voice was tellingly thick. “How long has she been awake?”

      A sound came from behind Bonnie’s bank of pillows. Cruiser’s snout popped up, smiling and panting as usual. Zack shook the rattle again.

      “We’ve been playing for around fifteen minutes.”

      “Is she wet?”

      “She wasn’t when she woke up. She’s made me work since.”

      Trinity’s palm caught her chest, and not totally to mock him. “You changed her?”

      “I did. Fed her, too, when she started to grizzle.”

      Trinity made her way over. “So I’ve lost my job. Changing, feeding, maybe some rocking…”

      “Whoa.” Zack tipped onto to his side and she caught a long, horizontal view of “totally carefree and masculine” that would fit superbly in the center of a ladies’ magazine. “Let’s not get carried away.”

      He said the words but didn’t look half as reticent as he had before and, across the way, the baby was throwing out her arms to him like she’d been doing it her whole life. Bonnie wanted the toy Zack held. Trinity was curious, too. Joining them, she sat cross-legged on the floor. That’s when she saw the stash…a pile of similar-looking toys—colorful homemade stuff—bunched up by Zack’s side.

      “My nephews and nieces pass on these treasures all the time. We have dolls with wobbly heads.” He shook the rattle then swapped it for a stuffed sock with pipe-cleaner whiskers. “As well as lots of animals. The teachers keep them busy in preschool.”

      From a distance, she eyed a duck, a giraffe and a horse with three legs and a trio of purple-button eyes to match. A brown plaster disc with odd markings left her stumped, though.

      “What’s that?”

      He collected the piece. “Tom-Tom the Turtle.”

      When the baby stretched out her arms and wiggled her fingers, Trinity held her tiny hand in hers. “Oh, you can’t have that, sweetie.”

      “There’s nothing sharp. Nothing that’ll fall off.”

      “She’ll put it straight in her mouth.”

      Zack jumped up, rinsed the turtle under a steamy faucet, shook it off and brought him back. “All clean.” He handed Tom-Tom over to a bedazzled Bonnie. “I’m sure Nicki won’t mind.”

      “Who’s Nicki?”

      “My second-oldest nephew. This was last year’s birthday gift.”

      “And that?” She nodded to a face with a fluffy yellow mane.

      “Loger Lion. No body, I’m afraid. He was from Ava my niece for Christmas. She’s four.”

      “Loger?”

      “Ava has trouble with r’s.”

      Her heart warming all the more, Trinity accepted Loger when Zack handed him over. She’d known he had lots of extended family, and it made sense kids liked to make gifts of their craft bits and pieces, but, “Why do you have all this here?”

      “They’re at my apartment, too. Some at the office. My brothers have eight kids between them. Believe me, that’s a lot of bead picture frames and finger paintings to go around.”

      His dark eyes were sparkling, with pride. With love. Here was a side Zack had never shown, particularly not to the press. He’d never let go and shared himself like this with her. Then again, she wasn’t normally one to share, either.

      He chose another animal from his stockpile. “I was about to have Necky Giraffe duel with Loger.”

      “Necky?”

      “I don’t choose the names, remember?”

      “Why СКАЧАТЬ