His Very Own Baby. Rebecca Winters

close to her hotel room on the second floor.

      It hadn’t been easy to leave him with a complete stranger, but the manager of the Inn had assured her the baby-sitter was a retired registered nurse with impeccable credentials. There’d never been one complaint about her in the three years she’d worked for them.

      Though it had frightened her, Blaire had been forced to trust the older woman with her most priceless possession. The visit to the site had only required that Blaire be gone two hours at the most, but it had still been a hard thing to do when she’d never been separated from Nicky before.

      For several reasons, she realized it wouldn’t have been fair to spring the baby on Alik from out of the blue.

      Certainly she hadn’t wanted to arouse any suspicion in the students and staff at the site. But more importantly, Alik needed time to absorb the earth-shaking news that he had fathered a son. Only time would tell if his hatred of her overshadowed the desire to see the child of his own flesh.

      Alik was a man of strong passions and convictions. He was also one of the most honorable men she’d ever known. No matter how bitter his feelings toward her, he wouldn’t have received the news she’d just given him lightly.

      But they hadn’t been together in almost a year. Since she’d broken their engagement, there would have been many changes in the interim. For one thing, he wasn’t on the university guest lecture circuit.

      At this point in time she knew nothing about the nature of his present project, let alone his state of mind.

      Unbearable as she found the idea, he might be in a serious relationship with another woman. Even married, a tiny voice whispered.

      If he had a wife, Blaire couldn’t begin to imagine how news of a baby from a former relationship would affect him or his marriage.

      The more she went over the imponderables in her heart, the more she knew she’d done the right thing by preparing him first.

      And if he didn’t come to see his son?

      Her hand went to her throat.

      If he didn’t come, then it meant that after weighing everything very carefully, he’d decided that never setting eyes on his tiny offspring was for the best. If that were the case, she’d already made up her mind never to question that decision.

      The most important thing was, she’d given him the opportunity to know of Nicky’s existence, and could leave with a clear conscience. Tomorrow she would board the plane with her baby, having said a final farewell to the past.

      Nicky was the love of her life now, her future. He would be the constant reminder of Alik and the great love they’d once shared. She would devote every waking moment to being the best mother a child could ever have.

      She tapped on the hotel room door before unlocking it so as not to alarm the sitter. To her relief, she found the woman sitting in a chair holding the baby against her shoulder.

      “Mrs. Wood? How’s Nicky? Has he cried for his bottle?”

      The older woman smiled. “He barely woke up and has been a perfect little gentleman. Such a sweet nature for a big boy. I was hoping you would be gone longer. There’s nothing like a newborn, especially this one. With his dark curly hair and beautiful olive skin, his father must be as handsome as blazes.”

      Blaire cleared her throat. “He is.”

      “Makes me baby hungry for more grandchildren.”

      “I can’t thank you enough.”

      “Say no more. I know exactly how you feel. When it’s your first child, you’re almost afraid to breathe, let alone be out of its sight.”

      “Am I that transparent?”

      She chuckled as she handed the baby to Blaire. “A new mother with her baby is a wonderful thing to behold. I’m glad I could be of help.”

      “So am I.”

      Blaire took fifty dollars from her purse and pressed it in the woman’s hand.

      “Oh, no, my dear. That’s twenty too much.”

      “If it hadn’t been absolutely necessary, I would never have left my baby at all. To know you were watching after him settled my mind a great deal. Please keep it with my heartfelt thanks.”

      “Thank you.” She patted Blaire’s arm, then gave the baby a kiss on the top of his head before leaving the room.

      After locking the door, Blaire rocked Nicky in her arms. “Oh, you feel good. Have you missed me as much as I missed you?” She covered his face with kisses.

      “I bet by the time I order an early lunch and it’s delivered to the room, you’ll be hungry for your bottle. Come with mommy.”

      She walked over to the phone at the bedside table and called for a meal to be sent up. Since boarding the plane yesterday she’d had no appetite. But now that the miracle had happened and she’d found Alik, talked to him, she was hungry.

      While she waited for the food to arrive, she gave Nicky a sponge bath and dressed him in his blue stretchy suit with feet. By now he was making sounds that he was hungry for his next feeding.

      Thank heaven for prepared formula she could empty right from a can into his bottle. He was such a good baby, he didn’t even mind it at room temperature.

      She lay down on the bed and fed him in the crook of her arm. He’d been blessed with a healthy appetite. While he devoured the contents, she studied every detail of his precious face and body, which had measured twenty-two inches long when he was born.

      He not only had Alik’s skin and coloring, but one day he would grow to be tall like his father. Having just come from seeing Alik, Blaire could pick out the many characteristics that already made Nicky recognizable as one of the beautiful, fabulously wealthy Jarmans of Long Island, a well-established, well-connected banking family on both sides of the ocean.

      The whole clan had exceptional good looks, especially Alik’s mother, a physically beautiful woman with luxuriant black hair reminiscent of her Greek ancestry. Alik resembled her the most in appearance. But not in anything else, thank heaven. His height he’d inherited from his dark-blond, green-eyed father who’d come from English parentage.

      Nicky’s Regan genes seemed to have contributed more to his even temperament. He’d inherited a sunny disposition for which Blaire’s mother was famous. So far his eyes were a cloudy color. Perhaps Blaire had given him her gray eyes. Only time would tell.

      There’d been several knocks on the door of the trailer since Blaire’s hasty exit, but Alik had ignored them. The drone of the rain on the roof was driving him mad. He tossed down his second scotch, but the hoped-for state of oblivion hadn’t occurred yet. Maybe if he finished off the whole bottle a miracle would happen and he would pass out.

      Until Blaire had ripped his heart from his body almost a year ago, he’d rarely drunk anything more than an occasional beer or glass of wine. Since their excruciating breakup for which she offered some mumbo jumbo explanation about him being too old for her after all, he’d kept something stronger on hand for emergencies—like those times in the middle of the night when the emotional wound oozed more blood and the pain got so bad he needed relief.

      This was one of those moments, only it wasn’t even noon. Damn her to hell for showing up with such an improbable, ludicrous tale just when the new project had given him a reason to get up in the mornings.

      Alik threw the empty tumbler across the expanse. It hit the wall, then ricocheted to the petrographic microscope, shattering both the glass and the lens. The fact that he’d caused damage to an expensive tool of his trade didn’t faze him.

      He could still see her mouth forming the words. That luscious red mouth he helplessly devoured over and over in dreams he hadn’t been able to control.

      We have a son who was born August 19th. He’s six weeks old and was christened Nicholas