Your Baby or Mine?

“Oh?” She arched a sharp brow in response to his observation. “What makes you say that?”

He shrugged, looking toward the door. “Well, she’s obviously later than we are.”

The smile on her lips was vaguely amused. “Not quite.”

Before he could ask her what she meant by that, she’d hurried away from him.

Alec watched her work her way up to the front of the room, shedding her diaper bag and her purse as she went. Judging by the way everyone greeted her, she was no stranger to the group. Holding Andrea against him, he moved in the woman’s wake, deciding that he might do better staying near someone who was aware of the routine.

Alec stopped dead and realized his mistake as soon as the woman turned around and addressed the people in the room.

“Sorry I’m late, everybody. Why don’t we all get started?”

There was a reason why she looked as if she knew the routine. She made up the routine.

“Score one for Daddy, Andrea,” Alec muttered under his breath.

Coming to terms with the fact that he hadn’t exactly put his best foot forward, Alec moved over to one side of the room. With luck, maybe he could blend into the crowd.

Once she’d gotten the session started and had broken up parents and children into small play groups, Marissa walked around the room, observing and giving advice or helpful hints wherever needed. She knew the value of a well-placed suggestion, an encouraging word. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched the newcomer. She knew she’d never seen him before. There was no way a man like that could blend into the crowd and be forgotten. He had a take-charge manner about him, even when being intimidated by a roomful of one-year-olds.

He really did seem to love his little girl, she thought. He’d have to, to be going through something like this with her. The man looked as if he felt like a fish out of water.

“That’s very good, Mrs. Berg.” She patted the woman’s shoulder. “Just remember to guide Shelly’s hand through the exercise.”

Widening her smile and adding to her directions the touch of warmth that she prided herself on, Marissa made her way over to Alec’s side of the room.

He was on the floor, his legs spread out wide in front of him, with Andrea propped up against him. There was no one else around them.

Marissa squatted to his level. “You’re not doing anything.”

She’d surprised him. Alec cleared his throat, wishing he didn’t feel like such a damn fool.

“Yes, I am. We’re sitting here, watching everyone else.” He shrugged, feeling himself get defensive. “She seems content.” He caught hold of the edge of Andrea’s shirt just as she was beginning to crawl off and prove him a liar.

“Oh, but it’s no fun to just watch, is it, sweetheart?” Marissa scooped up the little girl. Chris was safely ensconced and busy interacting with a gaggle of other children and their parents. It was an unspoken rule that everyone in class helped look out for the little boy while Marissa worked. No one really seemed to mind. If anything, it was combat training under fire.

Holding Andrea, she looked down at Alec. “She’s supposed to burn up some of that pent-up baby energy when she’s here.” Marissa couldn’t help smiling as she looked the man over. “Looks to me as if she’s worn you out.”

Alec gained his feet, dusting off the back of his pants. “She does her best.” He was here to take advantage of what the program had to offer, there was no reason to feel awkward with the instructor. He took the plunge. “All right, what do you suggest?”

Still holding Andrea, she turned toward the bright yellow, blue and red interwove mesh that stood off to the side of the room. People were lined up to take their turn with their babies.

“How about the jungle gym? Lots of opportunity for her to stretch that little body.”

Alec looked at the netting dubiously. “And to break it.”

Oh, a worrier. She would have never pegged him for one of those. Marissa found it rather sweet.

“You’d be surprised at how resilient these little creatures are. C’mon,” she offered, “I’ll show you.” Then, not waiting for him, she began to walk toward the jungle gym.

“All right, I suppose we’re both game. And seeing as how you’ve got my daughter, I guess I have no choice.”

She glanced at him over her shoulder. “Oh, no, Mr.—Beckett is it?” Alec nodded. “You always have a choice, no matter what.”

She sounded as if she meant that, he thought. Fiercely.

Standing back and letting her work, Alec watched with interest as Marissa put his limber little baby through a series of paces that had the little girl laughing with glee. The laugh was infectious, striking down both babies and parents alike. Alec felt himself grinning.

She had such a natural aptitude with children, he thought. And she certainly seemed to like being around them.

Slowly an idea, more like a prayer really, began to take form in his mind.

Maybe it was crazy, but he’d never know until he asked. Alec began silently rehearsing his offer and waiting for an opportunity to open up.

Chapter Two (#ulink_3fb806df-a7b1-520d-a845-01a83f5fb9ed)

For a moment Alec considered leaving Andrea at the jungle gym. No less than three mothers had volunteered to look after her along with their own offspring. But in the end, he opted to tuck his daughter onto his hip as he went to corner the agile instructor. He wasn’t all that keen on leaving his daughter with strangers, even nice ones.

Marissa was all the way at the other end of the large room. By the time he had made it over to her, he’d had to change direction three times and felt as if he was trying to catch a butterfly. The toddlers in the class weren’t the only ones with an endless supply of energy.

“Excuse me. Excuse me.” Weaving his way around the last obstacle—a woman with an exuberant twin firmly tethered to each hand—Alec finally managed to get close enough to Marissa to call out to her. “Mrs. Rogers, could I speak to you?”

Her arms full of wiggling child, Marissa turned around. He looked harried, she thought, an amused smile tugging at her mouth. It warmed her heart every time she saw a man taking the trouble to play his role as a father to the fullest. It proved to her that there were good fathers out there, even if neither her father nor Antonio had managed to take on the role with any grace or flare.

“Sure, if you call me Marissa. When you call me Mrs. Rogers, I have this urge to look over my shoulder to see if my mother is standing there.”

With an approving nod, she handed the little boy she was holding to the child’s mother. No sooner were her arms free than Andrea made a grab for her. Without missing a beat, Marissa took the little girl into her arms.

He was amazed at how easily Andrea seemed to take to the woman. It just reinforced his feelings about his decision.

“Then you’re not married?” The question came out of nowhere, nudging aside the one he thought he was going to ask.

She laughed softly, shaking her head. Though she considered herself to be a warm, friendly person, there were certain personal things she was reluctant to share. And what had happened between her and Antonio came under that heading.

Brushing Andrea’s wispy blond hair back from her face, Marissa evaded the question. “Not to my father, no.” Whenever she mentioned or thought of the Sergeant, it always evoked the same image for her. An open suitcase. It seemed as if she’d spent her entire childhood either packing or unpacking one, traipsing around the country because her father had signed his life away to the army.

Andrea seemed bent on restructuring Marissa’s face. Taking the little hand in hers to keep Andrea from widening her mouth, Marissa pressed a kiss to the busy fingers. Andrea cooed. Raising her eyes to Alec’s gaze, Marissa waited for him to continue. “Is that what you wanted to ask me?”

She knew it wasn’t. This wasn’t the kind of place a man came to meet women. Even if it was, he didn’t look like the type. Alec Beckett gave every impression that he was very Ivy League, very businesslike. Even in supposedly casual clothes, he looked ready to leap into a board meeting at a moment’s notice. She wondered what he did for a living and if he ever loosened up.

Alec noticed that Marissa didn’t seem to be distracted by the fact that Andrea was trying to climb up her body. If anything, she appeared to be at ease, as if it was all natural. An admiration for a talent he knew was way beyond him took hold.

“No, um…” Alec surveyed the crowded room. “Could we talk?”

Deftly, Marissa pried childish fingers away from her gold chain, a gift from her brothers and sisters when she graduated high school. It was her one cherished possession.

“Isn’t that what we’re doing now, Mr. Beckett?”