Baby for the Billionaire - By Maxine Sullivan Page 0,73
most of the furniture and antiques put into storage for the time being.”
Annalise gave him an odd look. “Generations of Mason antiques? You’d put them in storage so Isabella can have a dog?”
“Hell, yes. Trust me, it’ll make a vast improvement. That place isn’t kid friendly, let alone dog friendly. I should have made the change when Isabella first came to live with me.” He took the trash can from her and carried it into the kitchen. “I can remember tiptoeing around that mausoleum when my grandmother lived there, afraid if I breathed wrong I might break some Louis the Umpteenth or Early American Irreplaceable. That’s no way for a little girl to live.”
“No,” Annalise agreed softly. A wobbly smile broke across her face. “It’s not. Thank you for putting her best interests first.”
“Of course I’m putting her best interests first,” he retorted, insulted. “Did you think I wouldn’t?”
“At first, perhaps.” She offered a self-conscious shrug. “You do have a reputation, Jack. And it’s not the sort that suggests you’d be indulgent toward the vagaries of a child. I have to admit I was concerned when I read you’d taken custody of your niece.”
He stiffened. “Were you?”
She must have realized it wasn’t the most tactful remark she could have made because she winced. “You felt duty bound to take her in, didn’t you?”
He couldn’t deny it. “Yes.”
He watched her choose her words with care. “Some in your position might believe that giving Isabella a home fulfilled that duty. A more unfeeling man would turn her over to a nanny with a clear conscience and go back to business as usual.”
An arctic wind blew across his soul. “Most who know me would describe me as just that sort of man. It’s who my father raised me to be.” Why couldn’t she see that? Couldn’t she sense the coldness in him, the absence of any ability to love? He was driven to ask, needed to see himself through her eyes. “What makes you think I’m not like that?”
She grinned, her eyes full of warm, golden sunshine. “I’ve had an opportunity to get to know you. Just in the short time we’ve been together, I can tell you’re not that sort of man.”
“You’re wrong. I’m exactly that sort of man.” He couldn’t explain why he was driven to argue the point, other than he needed her to face reality, to see him for who and what he was. “That’s why I hired you. I wanted someone who could take care of my niece, leaving me free to get back to living my life on my terms.”
She waved his confession aside as thought it were of no concern. “Maybe at first. But as soon as you set eyes on your niece, you changed your mind. You’re happy to take an active role in Isabella’s life.”
“I am?”
Her grin widened. “You’re here, aren’t you? And you’ve told me you’ll do whatever it takes to retain custody of her. Why do you think you’re doing that? It’s because you’re a softy at heart.”
“That’s a damn lie. You take it back right now.”
She swept him a mocking bow. “Of course, Mr. Mason. I absolutely take it back. After all, you’re only a man who’s taken in his niece when she had no one else, taken a leave of absence from a multi-billion-dollar company in order to spend time with her, adopted a stray dog, stripped his possessions from his house to accommodate said dog and niece. Why, I’ve never met anyone more deserving of the name Scrooge.”
“That’s me. Just call me Ebenezer.”
Annalise shot him a sparkling look. “So, tell me, Eb. Is there anything you wouldn’t do for Isabella?”
“No, there isn’t.” Time to turn the tables. “But I suspect the eventual question will be … Is there anything you wouldn’t do?”
Annalise’s amusement faded. “What do you mean?”
“One of these days I’m going to ask you for a favor that will help my niece,” he warned. “I just wonder how you’ll answer when that time comes.”
She didn’t hesitate. “That’s easy.” To his surprise, she returned his gaze with one weighted with grim determination. “I’ll do whatever it takes, too.”
He nodded in satisfaction. “Good answer. And just so you know …” He leaned in. Unable to help himself, he brushed her mouth with his, reveling in the brief flash of heat. “I intend to hold you to that promise.”
Their remaining days at the bungalow took on a surreal quality. As Jack had warned, the dog threatened to eat them out