The Instant Family Man. Shirley Jump

want to tell him she was rattled by the idea that Susannah could have lied. That her years of righteous indignation might have been wrong. That she wanted to get out of here, so she could breathe, digest it, get her mind back on track. “I’m not running off. I’m just going back to my hotel. I’m in town for a couple of weeks, should you want to discuss this further.” Two weeks, that’s all she had, to help Maddy feel grounded again, and then Peyton could go back to work and start building a solid foundation for the next phase of their lives.

      “Should I want to discuss this further? Hell, yes, I want to discuss this further! Is the kid with you?”

      “The kid is named Madelyne. And yes, she’s at the hotel, with Cassie. But don’t worry about it. I have it all under control.” She nodded toward the house, the bachelor pad with a fridge and a pool. “I’m sorry for interrupting whatever...fun you have going on. I only came here to tell you about her, because she needs...”

      She couldn’t finish the sentence. Right now, Peyton wasn’t sure what Maddy needed. The child psychologist Peyton had taken Maddy to had said the little girl needed time, space, love. Three things Peyton thought she’d been giving Maddy in heaps, but it hadn’t worked. Nothing had brought Maddy out of her quiet little shell.

      “She needs her family, and right now, that’s just me,” Peyton said, her voice catching again, damn it. “You’re her family, too, whether you accept it or not, and I’m asking you to either be a part of her life and get to know her, or...”

      “Or what?” Luke said.

      Peyton drew herself up, all business again, pushing that moment of vulnerability away. She tugged the papers out of her purse and flashed them at him. Peyton Reynolds, nothing if not prepared. “Sign over custody once and for all. The one thing Maddy doesn’t need any more of is uncertainty. I need to make some decisions for her future, and I need to know if those decisions include you or not.”

      “Whoa, whoa, whoa. Peyton, you are springing a lot on me in a very short period of time.” Luke ran a hand through his hair. It gave him that mussed, straight-from-bed look, and something in Peyton’s gut flipped. “I...I’m still processing the fact that I have a kid.”

      “Like I said, you don’t need to accept this responsibility if you don’t want to. So here, just sign.” She drew out a pen from her bag and turned it in his direction. All she wanted was to be done here, done talking to Luke Barlow and all the questions he had dropped into her world.

      He shook his head. “Hang on a second. I’m not signing anything yet. You show up on my doorstep, tell me I have a kid. And now you’re giving me a hard time for not being ready for this news? Susannah kept this from me for four years, and here you are, accusing me of being a terrible father without knowing the whole story. Maybe things would have been different if she’d told me, but she didn’t, and now this is hitting me. Give me five minutes at least to digest it all before you stomp out of here in a self-righteous fit.”

      “I am not—” An angry retort sprang to her lips, but she cut it off. He was right. She had just dumped a lot on his plate. Whether he’d been a jerk four years ago or not wasn’t the issue anymore. If Luke wanted to be part of Maddy’s life now, she had to give him a chance. Maddy deserved that.

      Peyton took in a deep breath, let it out. “I’m sorry. You’re right. I’m just at my breaking point here trying to be a parent to Maddy, and I need...help.”

      Damn, it grated on Peyton’s nerves to say that. She was the kind of woman who could do any task, by herself.

      Any task but heal a wounded child who had lost her center.

      “Whatever you need. Just say the word.”

      She hadn’t expected his easy, quick response. She shouldn’t be surprised. The Luke she’d known—the Luke she had once fallen for—had been as fast to forgive as he was to lend a hand to a friend. He might not be big on commitment or permanence or anything approaching a long-term relationship, but he was one of those guys you could call in a pinch. The guy who would jump-start your car at two in the morning or help you move a couch in the middle of summer. She was hoping that guy was still there, beneath the chest her gaze kept drifting toward, and that he would be there for her for the next few weeks. “Maddy hasn’t handled the loss of her mother very well. I guess you’d say not at all.”

      “What do you mean?”

      “She won’t talk about it. Won’t cry about it. Just acts as if it never happened, except for being really clingy to me, as if she’s afraid I’m going to disappear any second. I’ve been trying to juggle my job in Baltimore and be her surrogate mom and help her through this and...” Failure wasn’t a word in Peyton’s vocabulary. She had never failed at anything in her life and refused to fail now. “And I think she and I need a recharge. A vacation. So I came here, where I can have two weeks to just be with her and take her places and see her smile again. And I thought it would be good for her if she got to know her father.”

      “If you wanted me to be a parent, then someone should have told me about her four years ago.” He got to his feet. Charlie snapped to attention, pressing his body against Luke’s, the dog’s tail moving in a slow wag, as if he was worried about his master. “I take it she doesn’t know who I am? Or that I even exist?”

      “No. Over the years, Susannah chose not to talk about you to Maddy. I haven’t, either, because...well, I assumed you didn’t want to be an active part of her life.”

      “You assumed wrong. So if I see her, what am I supposed to be?” He scowled. “Temporary Uncle Luke or something?”

      Peyton could see the Mustang in his driveway, imagine the parties he probably had in his pool. Her niece had suffered enough heartbreak for one lifetime, and the last thing Peyton wanted was for Maddy’s father to disappoint her. If he hadn’t grown up, if he wasn’t ready to be a responsible part of her life, then it was better not to set Maddy up for disappointment. “I think it might be best if I tell her that you’re an old friend of mine.”

      He snorted. “Hedging your bets in case I’m not a good influence?”

      “Giving you an out, if you want it. My offer still stands. If at the end of two weeks you don’t have any wish to be a part of Maddy’s life, you can sign over custody and I’ll raise her myself. I just wanted to give you an opportunity to step up.” Peyton met his gaze head-on, not on the ridges of his chest, or the way his bathing suit hugged his hips. “Maddy needs someone she can count on, now more than ever. And that means if you’re still dating everything with breasts and a smile, still driving a car meant for a sixteen-year-old and still working a job no more permanent than snow in North Carolina, then maybe you aren’t the best choice to be in her life.”

      He took a step closer to her, so close she could feel the heat from his body. She could reach out and touch him, feel those hard muscles beneath her palm, trail a finger along that dark V that led to the parts of him the bathing suit kept hidden. Why hadn’t that crush died long ago? Why did she still find the man attractive?

      “If I’m so terrible, why do you want me around her?”

      Her breath hitched a little and she cursed inwardly. “I never said you were terrible.”

      His smile tipped up on one side, and his eyes held that charm she remembered. “You’re not the only one who’s changed a lot since high school, Peyton.”

      “I’m counting on that, Luke. Your daughter is, too.” She paused and squared her shoulders. Calm, cool, collected again, though with every second the heat simmering in his blue eyes made it exceptionally hard to maintain anything approaching cool and calm. “So, will you be there for Maddy? At least, for the next two weeks? Will you try?”

      His gaze lifted over her head, to the swing a few dozen yards away. He didn’t say anything for so long, she wondered if he was going to answer.

      “Just little bits of time,” Peyton said. “An hour here or there, maybe more if you’re up to it. Nothing big. I don’t...”