Claiming The Captain's Baby

A crestfallen expression crossed Amanda’s face. “That’s more than two months from now.”

“I know, Mom. I’m hoping to convince Mya to bring her before then.”

“Who else knows about this?”

“Just you and Jordan,” he admitted.

Amanda rested her head on her son’s shoulder. “I’d rather not say anything to Pat right now, because he’s probably going to go ballistic and go after this poor girl who had no idea what her sister was planning.”

Giles pressed a kiss to his mother’s hair. “You’re right.” There was nothing his father liked better than a legal brouhaha. “Then this will remain between you, me and Jordan for now.” The chiming of the building’s intercom reverberated through the apartment. “That’s probably our dinner.”

He answered the intercom. The doorman announced a delivery from Felidia. “Please send them up.”

Two hours later, Giles escorted his mother to the street, waited for her to get into a taxi and stood on the curb watching as it disappeared from his line of vision.

It was as if he could exhale for the first time in more than twenty-four hours. Talking to his mother, and her decision not to tell her husband temporarily assuaged his angst over attempting to explain the circumstances of him becoming a father.

Giles shook his head to rid his thoughts of the possible scenarios Patrick could employ to make Lily a Wainwright, because he intended to use his own methods to get what he wanted. If he was able to get a judge to rule in his favor to grant him joint custody, then he would happily comply with the law to share his daughter with Mya.

The sidewalks were teeming with locals and tourists in sweaters and lightweight jackets to ward off the early autumn chill. Giles, not wanting to return to his apartment, walked along Second Avenue to Forty-Second Street, stopping at intervals to do some window-shopping before reversing direction and heading back uptown. The walk had been the antidote to release some of his anxiety about reuniting with Mya and hopefully agreeing to what was best for Lily.

The night doorman stood under the building’s canopy. “Have a good evening, Mr. Wainwright.”

Giles nodded and smiled. “You do the same, Raoul.”

During the elevator ride to his floor, Giles mentally mapped out what he had to accomplish before returning to Wickham Falls. He knew it was time for him to give Jocelyn more responsibility if he was going to be away for any appreciable length of time. And that meant she would have to accompany him during his next trip to the Bahamas.

* * *

Mya sat on the porch, bouncing Lily on her lap. Giles had called to inform her he was in Wickham Falls and for her to expect him to arrive at her house before one that afternoon.

It had been three weeks since their initial meeting, and she had resigned herself to accept him as Lily’s father. If Sammie hadn’t wanted her daughter to have a relationship with her father, then she never would’ve added the codicil.

She had gotten up earlier that morning to put up several loads of laundry, give Lily breakfast and followed with a bath. After dressing her, she spent fifteen minutes reciting nursery rhymes. Mya knew Lily was more than familiar with many of the words and would be able to repeat them once she began talking.

Her daughter had become quite a chatterbox when she babbled about things Mya pretended to understand, while their favorite games were patty-cake and ring around the rosy. Now that Lily was standing up while holding on, Mya would gently pull her down to the floor when she sang the line “they all fall down” in “Ring Around the Rosie.”

Mya went completely still when she registered the sound of an approaching car. The vehicle maneuvering up the driveway wasn’t a town car but an SUV with New York plates. And as it came closer, she noticed a car seat.

Mya held her breath when Giles got out and waved to her. He looked nothing like the well-dressed man who had questioned her late sister’s decision not to grant him custody of their daughter. Relaxed jeans, a sweatshirt with a fading USMC logo and running shoes had replaced the business attire.

She rose stiffly, as if pulled up by a taut overhead wire, and waited for his approach. He hadn’t shaved and the stubble afforded him an even more masculine quality.

At first, she had asked herself why her sister had put up with him, but seeing him like this, Mya realized Giles Wainwright was not a man most women could ignore at first glance. Piercing blue eyes and balanced features made for an arresting face. He was tall, several inches above six feet, broad-shouldered and appeared in peak physical condition.

Giles slowly made his way up the porch steps, stopping only a few feet from her.

“Hello again.”

An unconscious smile parted Mya’s lips. “Welcome back. How long do you plan to stay?”

Giles met her eyes. “I don’t know. It’s open-ended, so I checked into an extended stay hotel.”

Her smile faded. “What do you mean by open-ended?”

“I may have to go to New York for a few days for meetings, but once they’re concluded I’ll be back.

Her jaw dropped. “Oh I see.”

“Hopefully you do, because it’s going to take a while for Lily to get used to seeing me, so I’m prepared to take as much time as necessary to bond with my daughter.”

His reference to Lily being his daughter was not lost on Mya. Biologically the baby was his daughter, but legally Lily was hers. “I’m not opposed to you bonding with my daughter,” she countered, smiling. “And if there is anything I can do to speed up the process, then please let me know.”

She knew she had shocked him with the offer when he gave her a long, penetrating stare. It was apparent he hadn’t expected her to be that cooperative. His gaze shifted to Lily.

“May I hold her?”

“Hold out your arms and see if she’ll come to you.”

* * *

Giles extended his arms, and much to his surprise Lily leaned forward and held out her arms for him to take her. He smiled at the little girl looking up at him. “She looks different from when I last saw her.” Her hair was longer and there was a hint of more teeth coming through her upper gums.

Mya leaned against the porch column and crossed her arms under her breasts. “I’m able to see her change even though I’m with her all the time. Right now she’s teething, so she’s drooling on everything.” As if on cue, Lily picked up her bib and gnawed on it.

Giles shifted his attention from Lily to Mya. He marveled that a woman without a hint of makeup and wearing faded jeans and a white T-shirt and socks could appear so incredibly sensual.

“How old is she now?”

“She turned eight months two days ago.”

He quickly did the math. “Her birthday is February 5?”

“Yes.”

“Our birthdays are four days apart. Mine is February first.”

“That’s quite a coincidence.” Mya turned and opened the storm door at the same time Lily let out a piercing scream. “That’s her way of telling me she wants to be changed. In fact, it’s time for her afternoon nap.”

Giles followed Mya inside the house and sniffed the air. “Something smells good.”

Mya glanced at him over her shoulder. “I’m making pot roast. You’re more than welcome to stay for dinner.”

He stared at the denim fabric hugging her hips and smothered a groan. Giles knew it wasn’t going to be easy to completely ignore the woman with whom he would spend time whenever he came to see Lily. Everything about her turned him on: her face, body, hair, softly modulated voice with a hint of a drawl and then there was the way she stared at him. It was as if she knew what he was thinking or going to say before he spoke.

Jordan had come up with nothing—not even a parking ticket—in Samantha and Mya’s background for him to use as leverage to bolster his case if and when he decided to sue her. The only alternative was to watch for signs of neglect, and watching Mya closely was definitely going to become a delightful distraction.

“I’d like that very much. Do you cook every day?”