of comfort, Hannah eased Isabella Zhu Ming into the warm water. Isabella stiffened, a look of terror on her face, and began to struggle hysterically to get out. Joe produced the yellow rubber ducky. Isabella batted it away, still kicking.
He began speaking in Mandarin Chinese.
Isabella grew very still.
He did a little puppet show. “Huaji rubber ducky. Rubber ducky xihuan, Isabella Zhu Ming…”
He made quacking sounds that had Hannah smiling, Isabella solemn but intent. He had the duck “swim” circles around Isabella and washed the rubber ducky’s beak with the same baby wash Hannah was using on Isabella. By the time Hannah had put the shampoo in Isabella’s hair and tenderly massaged it in, Isabella was less concerned with the newness of her bath, reaching tentatively for the duck. She had it clutched in her hand by the time Hannah rinsed the soap out with a cup of water. Joe and Hannah locked eyes. They shared the triumph of her first bath, which, thanks to his help, had been relatively stress-free.
Isabella was still holding on to the toy when Hannah drew her out and wrapped her in a hooded towel. Soundlessly, Isabella examined every aspect of the duck while Hannah dressed her in a soft pink cotton sleeper. Hannah picked her up and breathed in the soft, clean baby scent of her. Tenderness, unlike anything she had ever felt, filled her heart. And she could have sworn, Joe felt it, too…
JOE HAD HEARD IT COULD TAKE days, weeks…even months for an adoptive mother to bond with an older infant.
Obviously, he noted as Hannah cuddled Isabella Zhu Ming Callahan close to her heart, this was not the case here. There was an unspoken connection between the two that transcended the barrier of so much that was unfamiliar. They communicated with touch and look. The message both were sending out was that they belonged together.
“You look so…wistful,” Hannah remarked, reluctantly handing Isabella back to Joe so she could make another bottle of formula.
“Do I?” He cradled Isabella in his arms and found the experience of holding the sweet and solemn little girl every bit as fulfilling as Hannah evidently had. Was this how it felt to be a parent? Was he giving up something incredible in refusing even to consider the possibility of fathering a child? Or was he being smart, given the kind of life he led, in abandoning the idea of a family of his own?
Finished making the bottle, Hannah retrieved Isabella and sat down in one of the upholstered chairs in front of the windows.
“You do.” She offered the bottle to Isabella. Once again, the baby turned her head away from Hannah to drink it. She stared at Joe instead.
Restless, Joe got up and took one of the chocolates the hotel staff had left on his pillow at turndown. “I was just thinking about how much of the world I have left to see and write about,” he fibbed, sure the unexpected sentiment he felt would disappear the moment they got back to the States and parted company once again.
Hannah shifted so the baby would be situated more comfortably in her arms. “How many books have you done so far?”
Joe picked up the camera she had brought with her and took a couple of photos he knew she would appreciate later. “Ten.”
Hannah smiled as the baby snuggled closer and shut her eyes. “How many do you intend to do?”
He shrugged, intent on capturing that moment of sweet mother-daughter bonding. He knelt and used the zoom function on the lens. “Fifty, if I’m lucky, plus updated versions of all the books I have in print.”
Hannah considered him thoughtfully. “Which means you go back to the countries you’ve already detailed?”
Wishing the two of them were like-minded enough to date, Joe nodded. “Right. I add new places, take out others that have either declined or closed their doors.” Desire welled inside him. He shunted it aside deliberately.
Compassion lit Hannah’s dark-brown eyes. “It must be exciting.”
And lonely, he thought. Especially on nights like this, when he was in an incredible city and had no one special to share it with. He turned the attention back to her once again. “You traveled a lot in your previous job, didn’t you?”
Hannah shifted the baby to her shoulder. “Every week I went somewhere to meet with a customer and help them revise or completely retool the marketing plan for their business.”
“Did you like it?”
Hannah patted Isabella gently on the back. “I liked the challenge of figuring out how to make something better.” She scowled, admitting, “I hated living out of a suitcase in so-so hotel rooms, always getting in late—or having to leave very early—driving rental cars in unfamiliar cities….”
Joe grinned. “I’m getting the sense you didn’t enjoy the traveling part,” he teased.
“You sense right. Although,” she added pensively, “maybe it would have been different if five-star accommodations and chauffeured limos had been part of my expense account.” She sneaked a peek at the infant curled up on her shoulder. “I think she’s finally asleep.”
“Want to try and put her down?”
Hannah nodded.
Joe took the empty baby bottle from her hand, being careful not to touch her in the process. She rose slowly, Isabella still in her arms, glided ever so carefully over to the port-a-crib in the corner, and gingerly eased Isabella down on her back.
To their mutual relief, Isabella slept on.
The picture of maternal tenderness, Hannah took the pink cotton baby quilt with the satin trim and tucked it around her new daughter. Next to her child, she secured the rubber ducky and an infant-size teddy bear, so both would be within reach when Isabella did wake up.
Hannah stepped back, still looking down at her daughter. Joe was so busy admiring her skill as a mother, he didn’t get out of her way fast enough. Their bodies brushed. She tilted her face up to his. Their glances met, and it was all Joe could do to keep from taking her into his arms, lowering his mouth to hers. The rational side of him knew, however, that kissing her now would be out of line. The last thing he wanted to do was take advantage of her, or the situation.
Pushing his own desire aside once again, Joe cleared his throat, stepped back. He wished the situation were different, he were different. Because if he were a stay-in-one-place kind of guy he wouldn’t hesitate to make a move on Hannah, to see if this simmering attraction he’d been feeling led anywhere. But he wasn’t in the market for a wife and kid. And she wasn’t the kind of woman looking to have a fleeting affair. It was best, then, that they stayed friends. And only friends. “Guess we better hit the sack while we can,” he stated affably.
Hannah’s dreamy expression faded. In complete control of her emotions once again, she nodded. “No telling how long she’ll sleep.”
Joe walked over to the bureau where he had stowed his things. On top was his BlackBerry. Before he attached it to the charger, he checked the screen, saw the text message. He exhaled, resigned, and turned back to her. “I have to make a call. I’ll go downstairs.”
“You can do that here,” she offered.
Joe dreaded the upcoming conversation. This was not a part of his life he wished to share, even inadvertently. “I don’t want to chance waking Isabella up.” He pocketed his hotel room key card and warned without inflection, “I may be a while. So don’t feel you have to wait up.”
Chapter Three
Hannah got ready for bed and climbed beneath the covers. She should have been exhausted since it had been such an eventful day. What kept her awake was the look on Joe’s face when he checked his BlackBerry…the way he’d had to leave the room to make a phone call.
She understood he might want his privacy.
Furthermore, she knew she had no right to be curious about what was going on in his life tonight.
And