The Mistresses Collection. Оливия Гейтс

today.

      Taking care of Bonnie was so rewarding. Felt so worthwhile. Of course she didn’t plan to run off and get pregnant or anything as crazy as that. But for the first time, she truly understood why, in times so full of uncertainty, people took the risk and brought innocent defenseless lives into this world.

      Why people took a chance on falling in love.

      Trinity had been asleep for an hour when Cruiser padded over to where Zack stood, hands slotted into the back pockets of his jeans, studying the vast panorama of snow. The dog knocked his nose against Zack’s leg and gave a barely audible gruff. It took one-point-five seconds to interpret. Bonnie was stirring.

      He wondered why Cruiser hadn’t gone to Trinity instead. Most likely because the mistress was sound asleep while the master was whiling away the time, daydreaming about how different, peaceful—lonely?—the place would be tomorrow after the snow had started to melt and everyone had gone their respective ways.

      Be that as it may, he was the “fetch it” guy. Trinity took care of the baby.

      He could always steer Cruiser over to where she lay curled up on that recliner. But he’d used up that card this morning when the baby was wet and he’d cleared his throat hoping Trinity would wake and take the pressure off. Of course, that had been before he’d heard the rest of her story.

      Good Lord. What an eye-opener. He’d known his life was blessed a hundred different ways. A great family. A terrific childhood, even if his father hadn’t been around half as much as he should. When Trinity had admitted her mother had been a victim of rape then had suffered such injustice at the hands of her own parents…

      Zack grimaced.

      Who in the name of God could scheme to get rid of their own blood? To his mind, a child conceived through such a violent act deserved consideration, protection, all the more. It was surreal to know that same child was the woman asleep on his lounge now.

      He couldn’t hope to grasp how she must feel. How she dealt with that past brewing in the back of her brain every day. Or perhaps she’d succeeded in blocking it out most of the time. Isn’t that what survivors sometimes did?

      Probably good those grandparents were deceased. Since Trinity’s confession, he’d needed to tamp down the urge to form a plan to seek them out, and not to host a family reunion. His own Gran and Pap were the backbone of the Harrison clan. Where family was concerned, no sacrifice was too big for either one. Never having known that kind of bond, would Trinity feel alien in his family’s company?

      Although no family—including his—was without its hiccups. And shadows, past and present. They simply kept them better hidden than most.

      Cruiser’s snout nudged again and Zack came back to the situation at hand. Baby awake. Captain needed on deck. He blew out a breath and shook out his hands. He could do this. Hell, it was the least he could do.

      Zack padded past Trinity’s recliner. She was breathing evenly, brow smooth, eyes closed. His fingers itched to touch the silky sweep of her hair but he wouldn’t risk waking her. This shift was his.

      With another nose nudge, Cruiser knocked open the bedroom door. 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