Page 25 of The Complication
“No. I will rely on your judgment as to what you believe Parker and Joy will need to be comfortable. I imagine they will stay with me for at least a week, if not longer, as they get their personal affairs in order.”
“Not a problem. We’ll make sure that princess and her father are taken care of by tonight.” Patricia ended the call, and I heaved a deep breath of relief.
I turned my attention to Joy and lifted one eyebrow. “What do you think?”
The baby thrust her fist in the air and shook it as she made a series of noises.
“Yes, Parker is going to be very upset with me. That’s why you need to help me convince him this is a good idea.”
Joy squealed and flashed me a big toothless grin. She liked this plan. If only I could count on her to give her father the same heart-melting smile, I’d be in the clear.
9
PARKER CAIN
Something was up.
And the worst part was that it felt like Joy was in on the conspiracy against me.
I’d finished my semi-productive calls and returned to find Declan walking around the room talking about proper investing for retirement while listing the pros and cons of traditional IRAs over Roth IRAs. Joy’s head had been resting on his shoulder, her eyes half closed and her little hand on his chin as his steady words lulled her into a late-morning nap.
However, as soon as I’d appeared in the doorway, Declan had stopped talking and Joy’d perked up, but she hadn’t released Declan. She’d clung to his chin as though she’d wanted to hear the rest of his recitation on retirement planning.
My suspicions had only grown after I’d announced I needed to run to the store to pick up a variety of supplies, and Declan had instantly offered to accompany me.
“I’m sure you’ve got better things to do with your day,” I’d countered, carefully taking my daughter from him.
“No. I have no plans. Wouldn’t it be easier if you hadsomeone along to help you? To watch Joy? Plus, my SUV is bigger than your car.”
All good points. I hadn’t planned to get that much, but it would be nice if I had someone to watch Joy while I was loading the trunk.
So, an hour later, I was strolling through a grocery store, pushing a cart while Declan carried Joy. A high-end grocery store.
How did these things even exist? I mean, it was the regular local grocery store that had locations all around the city, but this one just looked and felt different. I half expected security to come along and kick me out because they recognized on sight that there weren’t the right kind of zeros in my bank account.
But Declan strode into the store with all the confidence of being a major stockholder.
“What’s on your list?”
“Lots of baby stuff—diapers, formula, baby food, bottles, shampoo, a soft bristle brush for her hair, and a bunch of other stuff.”
Lines snaked across Declan’s smooth brow for a moment before he nodded and declared, “Yes, that should be fine.”
“What’s that supposed to mean? It’s not like you’re buying it. I’ve got it covered. You’re here as the nanny.”
Declan’s thick brows jumped up to his hairline. “The nanny?”
My gaze darted to Joy, who was sitting on his arm, chewing on the ear of her plush bunny. Which reminded me, I needed to get her one of those teething rings that could be put in the freezer. She was showing all the signs that her first tooth was coming in.
“That’s not what I meant,” Declan resumed after a second. “I mean that I might have asked my personal shopper to pick up a few things for Joy today.”
I released the cart and stepped closer to him, tilting my head down as I glared at him. “A few things?Are we talking about a few things like thefew thingsyou acquired for her when she needed to stay in the office for one day?”
Declan cleared his throat, and his eyes darted away as if he couldn’t stand to meet my gaze any longer. “I couldn’t say. I told my personal shopper about the situation and that Joy needed to be made comfortable since my home isn’t baby friendly.”
That was true.
But that wasn’t the point.
