Page 31 of The Bad Girl and the Baby

Instead, she took a sip of wine and cast him a quick glance. He was in jeans today—more casual than she’d ever seen him—and a white T-shirt that hugged his broad chest, with a flannel shirt over the top, open at the front. She could see the shape of his nipples beneath the thin cotton of the T-shirt. She was ogling him like a pervert, and she looked away quickly, drinking some more wine.

He leaned across and refilled her glass. “Do you want something to eat? I could order a takeaway. I thought we might talk.”

She glanced at him suspiciously. Was he going to say this wasn’t working? That she needed to back out of Lulu’s life? But would he offer her food and then do that? “I’d love something to eat.”

“Chinese?”

She nodded, and then waited while he phoned in an order without asking what she wanted. She tried not to let that wind her up. He clearly liked making decisions. And she ate just about everything, so why make waves merely to make a point? Hey, say hello to the new reasonable Darcy.

“What do you want to talk about?” she asked when he ended the call.

“Nothing bad.”

That didn’t mean it was something good. What could they have to talk about? She went over the possibilities. But really, apart from Lulu, they had nothing else in common. “Go ahead…” she said cautiously.

He pushed his chair out, put his hands behind his head, and did this sort of stretch thing. The movement raised the hem of his T-shirt, revealing a strip of tanned skin. Her gaze fixed on it, quite unable to tear away. He cleared his throat, and she jumped. Was he doing it on purpose, sexually tempting a desperate woman? Did he know she was desperate?

She finally managed to drag her gaze away, focused inward, concentrated on her breathing, and plastered a pleasant smile on her face. It didn’t feel in any way natural.

“I think it’s going well,” Matt said, and she nearly fell off her seat.

“Really?” Her glass was empty again, and she reached across and filled it herself, topping his off at the same time.

“For the first time since Steven died, I feel like I have some sort of control over my life.”

“You do?”

“Diana is working out extremely well.”

Ugh. The nanny. Lulu adored her. Matt clearly liked her. Darcy didn’t know her. She’d only met the woman once, on her first day, when Matt had mistaken her for the nanny. Other than that, all she knew was what she’d heard from the other two. All praise. She sounded like a female version of Matt. Little Ms. Perfect.

That was no reason the dislike the woman.

“I’m pleased.” She got the words out somehow.

“She’s agreed to move in.”

“She has?” And why didn’t she like the idea of that? Not one little bit.

“Just Monday to Friday—she’ll go home weekends—for now at least. We’ll see how it works out.”

“That’s nice.”

He dropped his arms and shifted his chair closer to the table, then picked up his glass and swirled the wine. Took a sip. “You don’t sound happy,” he said, scrutinizing her. Looking for signs of…what?

“I’m supremely indifferent,” she said with a sniff.

His lips twitched. Didn’t he believe her? Had he caught her ogling him earlier?

“It was always in the cards,” he said. “The agency just felt there needed to be a probationary period to make sure it was going to work.”

Something occurred to her. “Can you afford it?”

“I’ll manage.”

“I can help. I have savings.”

“I don’t need your money.”

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