Valentine's Day. Nicola Marsh

sigh was impatient. “Yes, I know. I’ve got people looking into it. We’ll find her.”

      She frowned. His “people” had been pretty good at finding out where she lived and worked, but she was pretty easy. A woman who went off without telling anyone where she was going was probably going to be a tougher case.

      “I hope you really mean that. It’s important. What if she comes back and her baby’s not in the apartment? Can you imagine how frightened she’ll be?”

      He looked at her as though she’d lost her bearings. “Cari, this is a mother who walked out and never looked back. What makes you think she’ll care that much?”

      “She’s a mother. I know what that’s like.”

      To think a woman could walk out on her baby was incomprehensible to her. She’d lost a baby once herself. It had almost destroyed her life. “You don’t know why she disappeared. Maybe something happened.” She shrugged, getting into her speculative mode.

      “Maybe she was kidnapped. Maybe she’s unconscious in some hospital somewhere. Maybe she bumped her head and has amnesia.”

      He grimaced, not buying a bit of it. “Or maybe she went on a hot date and forgot she had a baby waiting at home.”

      She swallowed hard, shocked he would say such a thing. The cynicism reminded her of some of the terrible things Brian would say, and she didn’t want to think he might be anything like her husband.

      “You don’t have a very high opinion of women, do you?” she challenged.

      He looked up as though surprised she was taking his offhanded remark seriously. “That’s not the point. And yes, I have a very high opinion of women. Some women.”

      His mother. Whoopee. She was appalled.

      “No matter what kept her away, when she comes back to her senses, she’ll want to know where her baby is.”

      “That’s probably true. For what it’s worth.” His wide mouth tilted at the corners, but there was no humor in his dark eyes as he looked up at her. “You forget. I know Sheila. I never understood what Gino saw in her, and I was glad when they broke up. And I was the one who took her phone call when she tried to shake us down for money. I’m afraid that experience has made me a little cynical where Sheila is concerned.”

      There was certainly no point in arguing about this. He knew the woman. She didn’t. But the baby needed to be protected. At the same moment she had that thought, so did he.

      “Listen,” he said, rising from the stool and moving toward her. “I can pay you double whatever you’re making here. I could really use the help.”

      She shook her head with vigor. She couldn’t even allow herself to imagine such a thing.

      “No,” she said firmly. “Never.”

      “Cari…” He took her hand in his and she stared down at those wonderful fingers. The nails were so even, so beautiful. He had hands like an artist. She could hardly breathe.

      “Cari, listen. It wouldn’t be for long. Just until the DNA testing is completed. Then I’ll be taking him to Venice with me and I won’t need you anymore.”

      Her gaze jerked up and met his. Did he have any idea what he’d just said? But she supposed he didn’t look at it quite the way she did. She yanked her hand out of his and turned away.

      I won’t need you anymore.

      Wasn’t that just like a man? Oh!

      “Max, you’d better leave. I’ve got work to do.”

      “Cari…”

      “I’m serious. Go. I’m not going to work for you. Not ever.”

      “Not ever.” He repeated it as though he couldn’t believe she’d said that and turned to go, then looked back. “By the way, the police found my car. It was only a few blocks from where it was stolen and they didn’t damage anything. So that’s okay.”

      “I’m glad.”

      He nodded, then shrugged and turned to leave again.

      “But Max.”

      He turned back, one eyebrow raised.

      “Max, please take care of the baby. And find his mother. It’s really important.”

      He was on the verge of pointing out that she could help make all that happen, but he bit his tongue, knowing it would be too much like begging.

      “Okay, I’ll take that under advisement.”

      “Good.”

      Their gazes caught and held. For a moment she was afraid he was going to come back and grab her and carry her out, just like he’d carried her the night before. But the moment passed and he gave a half shrug.

      “I’d better go back and see what the nanny’s up to,” he said at last. “If she’s trying to get Jamie to make his own bed, I’m throwing her out on her ear.”

      And then he turned and was gone.

       CHAPTER FIVE

      RANDY was the perfect match for Cari, just as Mara had insisted all along. He was good-looking in a salt-of-the-earth kind of way, tall with a slender build, friendly, with sandy hair neatly cut and combed, steady gray eyes, a nice smile and a warm attitude. Cari liked him and immediately found herself thinking of women she knew she could set him up with. Seemingly, he was perfect for a lot of people.

      “Why didn’t you say something when Max called you C.J.?” he asked, after she’d gone over exactly what had happened the night before.

      “I had no idea what he was talking about. For all I knew, he was calling me Calamity Jane. That’s pretty much what I felt like once I realized what we’d done.”

      He laughed. They had just been seated at a comfortable booth in the main dining room at the Longhorn Lounge. The atmosphere was pleasant, the servers attentive, and drinks were on the way. The scene was set for a lovely evening, and a lovely evening they would have. But that was all.

      She’d gone on this date to make a friend happy, and that was as far as her commitment went. Shortly after the dinner was consumed, she would thank the man, shake his hand and go off into the sunset—alone. In the meantime, she was determined to be nice to Randy, if only to make up for the night before.

      But she had to mentally kick herself to stop looking toward the door, hoping Max would make a sudden appearance. She’d already seen him once today, and that was one time too many.

      “Well, it was all my fault,” Randy was saying graciously. “When I got there I knew I was half an hour late. I was afraid you’d have gotten disgusted and left me flat. So when I saw a gal coming in with a red rose, I was thrilled. Only, I took one look and I just really couldn’t believe it could be you.”

      Déjà vu all over again.

      “Really? What was she like?”

      “Gorgeous.”

      He said it like a man smitten, and she had to recoil, just a little. So he’d thought the woman he saw was too good to be true, had he? Funny. That was exactly what she’d thought when she saw Max for the first time. What a coincidence.

      “Well, thank you very much,” she said a bit tartly, pretending to take offense. He hurried, a bit clumsily, to reassure her.

      “No, I mean, you’re beautiful. Of course you’re beautiful.”

      She knew she was actually looking pretty good tonight. She’d worn an electric-blue number with spaghetti straps and more cleavage showing than usual, and she’d topped it off with a cute little fake fur shrug that didn’t cover much of anything. Then