Falling for King's Fortune / Seduction, Westmoreland Style: Falling for King's Fortune

“I bought you a car,” he said, in the same tone he might have used when saying, I made you a sandwich. “Had the dealer install a top-of-the-line car seat for Mia, so you’re all set there, too. Much safer for you and the baby.”

Casey wasn’t an idiot. She could see that he was most likely right about that monstrous car/bus being safer to ride in. After all, it looked the size of a small tank. But she couldn’t keep allowing him to ride roughshod on her life anymore. A line had to be drawn. Might as well be done now.

“Jackson, you can’t go around doing things like that,” she said, staring at the car now and trying to imagine herself behind the wheel. It was so huge it would be like driving an eighteen-wheeler. And the thought of how much it would cost simply to fill the gas tank gave her a sinking sensation in the pit of her stomach.

“Why not? You needed a safer car, I got it for you.”

He really didn’t get it. Didn’t seem to understand that she wasn’t the kind of woman to be taken over by some big strong male who thought he knew what was best for her. For heaven’s sake, she was an adult. She’d been making her own way and her own decisions for most of her life.

Now, all because she’d felt it was his right to know about Mia’s existence, her life was wildly spinning out of control. That old saying about good deeds never going unpunished, was certainly true enough.

But that ship had sailed and there was no going back. Dani was right, she’d have been furious if Mia’s father hadn’t wanted to know her, too. So there really had been no win to this situation and the fact that Jackson was clearly determined to be a part of his daughter’s life said something about his character.

And even if she didn’t like it, having a father would be good for Mia. That’s what she had to keep in mind, here. What was best for Mia.

Still, she had to make him see that while he might be related to Mia, he had no control over Casey. So she tried again, speaking slowly and plainly. “I don’t need a new—”

“It’s in your name. Temporary registration and insurance information are in the glove compartment. Why don’t you drive it on our trip back to my place, get used to the feel of it?” He smiled and started for the house. “I’ll just check with the movers, make sure they know where to take your stuff.”

“I already told them—” Her voice trailed off as Jackson walked away, clearly not trusting her to have been able to instruct movers. “Did you see that?”

“Deep breath,” Dani said, putting one hand on Casey’s forearm. “Okay, I see what you mean. He is a little—”

“Overbearing? Bossy?”

“Yeah.” Dani gave her a pat of reassurance. “He is. But it seems like he means well.”

“He’s impossible.”

“Honey, it’s only six months.”

“Six months,” she repeated and thought that very shortly, she would be using those two words as a mantra.

Casey turned to look at the little house that had been hers. Where she and Mia had built so many memories. She knew she was looking at her past, because no matter what happened over the next six months, she and her daughter wouldn’t return to this place. And nothing would be the same, ever again.

Jackson stepped out of the house, walked to the edge of the porch and looked at her. Across the yard, despite the presence of the movers, Dani, and the kids, Casey felt the power of his steady gaze reach out to her. Even from this distance, even surrounded by people, she felt heat building inside her. Just a look from him gave her shivers. Her body didn’t seem to care that he was the human embodiment of a bulldozer. Didn’t care that he was taking over her life.

All her body wanted, was his body.

Six

Through the baby monitor, Casey heard Mia whimpering in her sleep. Slipping out of her wide, sumptuous bed, Casey grabbed up her terry-cloth robe and headed for the door of her room.

It wasn’t surprising that Mia was awake and fretful. Their day had been filled with strange people, strange places. Even Casey was finding it hard to sleep in a new place. No wonder then that the baby was feeling just as unsettled.

Skylights dotted the roof over the long hallway, letting in moonlight that guided her way along the corridor to the room beside hers. While she hurried to Mia, Casey’s mind raced.

Jackson had naturally stepped in and taken over moving day. When they arrived at his sprawling hilltop home, Casey had been amazed to see just how much the man had accomplished in one week. Not only was her bedroom the most elegant, luxurious room she’d ever set foot in, but Mia’s nursery was the sort she was used to seeing in celebrity magazine articles.

There was a mural of forest animals on the walls, a closet stuffed with clothing, shelves filled with toys and a crib fit for a princess. The lower half of the windows in the second story nursery were barred for safety’s sake and looked out over the sweeping landscape that rushed downhill toward the ocean.

Casey, on her own, never could have provided her daughter with anything like the well-appointed room. And though she appreciated all Jackson had done to make their daughter a space in his life, she couldn’t help feeling the sharp sting of envy.

He was using his money to point out the differences in their lives and he was doing a good job of it.

She reached Mia’s room and the door was partially open, as she’d insisted it remain earlier. The baby’s cries had stopped on Casey’s short walk down the hall, but she had kept going, wanting to reassure herself that Mia was safely back to sleep. Now, Casey heard whispers just carrying over the baby’s sniffling breaths.

Curious, Casey pushed the door open silently, and paused on the threshold. Moonlight flooded this room as well, and the night-light that had been left burning was a magical thing that threw patches of stars onto the ceiling.

But she hardly noticed any of it. Instead, her gaze focused on the man standing beside the crib, holding Mia against his chest.

“No more tears, Mia,” he murmured and his already deep voice was a rumble of hushed sound. “You’re safe here. This is your new home….”

Casey’s heart twisted as she watched him soothing their daughter. Clearly, he’d left his own bed to come to this room. He wore silk pajama bottoms that hung low on his narrow hips and the chest he held his daughter against was bare and gleamed like carved bronze in the moonlight. His dark head was bent toward Mia’s and Casey heard his soft whispers as he soothed the tiny girl he held so carefully.

“Go back to sleep, baby girl,” he said on a soft sigh. “Dream of rainbows and puppies and long summer days. Your daddy’s here now and nothing will ever hurt you….”

She couldn’t tear her gaze from them. There was something so sweet, so…right about the picture they made. Calling himself Mia’s daddy, promising that sweet little girl that she’d never be hurt, all of it made Casey want to both smile and cry.

Jackson swayed gently, continuing the quiet rush of whispers and Mia’s tiny sigh sounded gently in the room. And Casey’s tears won the battle, stinging her eyes, blurring her vision until she had to fight to hold them back.

As if sensing her presence, he turned, still cradling Mia, and smiled at her. “I’ve got a monitor in my room, too.”

Casey walked close to them and reached out one hand to smooth her sleeping baby’s hair. “Of course you do.”

His eyes narrowed a bit. “I am her father.”

“You’re right,” she said, meeting his dark gaze. “I’m just used to being the only one getting up in the middle of the night.”

The look in his eyes gentled some at that admission. His hand moved up and down Mia’s back, soothing, stroking. “I can understand that,” he whispered. “But you’re not alone anymore, Casey. I’m here. And I’m going to be a part of Mia’s life. I’ve already missed too much.”

She took a deep breath and nodded. This was only their first night together. She was going to have to find a way to deal with Jackson’s rights as a father.

Forcing a smile, she said, “You seem handier with babies than I expected.”

Apparently realizing that she was willing to if not end their little war, then to at least declare a temporary cease-fire, Jackson smiled. “I’ve got two nieces, remember? Emma and Katie. Emma’s a little more than a year old and Katie’s about three months. I’ve put in my babysitting time.”

Her surprise must have been stamped on her features because his smile widened into a grin that made her catch her breath.

“Didn’t know that, did you?” he asked.

“No. I mean,” she said, “I knew about your brothers’ children, I just never thought you would—”

“What?” he challenged. “Love my family?”

Well, that made her feel small and petty. She should have known better. Should have guessed. In the research she’d done on Jackson before meeting him in person, she’d learned just how tight the King family really was. She just hadn’t even thought that a man more interested in jetting off to exotic places would be so attentive to his infant nieces.

“Of course not,” she said softly as Jackson turned and expertly laid a sleeping Mia back in her crib, “I just didn’t think a man like you would want anything to do with babies.”