gotten home, she’d barely held still. She’d already cleaned downstairs, fed and bathed Eva and put her in her footie jammies so she’d be ready for bed when the time came. Eva was currently lying on her jungle gym mat, babbling at the brightly colored lion and monkey toys dangling overhead. She could lie there for hours, contently slobbering on a plastic ring striped like a zebra.
The sound of the doorbell nearly sent Claire leaping out of her skin. She didn’t know why she was so anxious about having him over. It wasn’t just the idea of a billionaire in her home, although that was intimidating enough. It was a billionaire with an influence on how she raised her child. Would he think their home wasn’t good enough? Would he argue her neighborhood was unsafe? That she wasn’t providing well enough for Eva? Any of those things could tip the scales in court to Luca’s favor.
Truthfully, she didn’t know how he could complain. She and Jeff had bought and restored this beautiful brownstone a few years earlier. It was in a safe, trendy part of Brooklyn with great schools. Even then, it wasn’t the Upper East Side. She didn’t have a doorman or co-op board to keep the riffraff from moving in nearby.
Claire forced her feet across the parquet floors to the front door. She glanced through the peephole, seeing Luca waiting impatiently on her front stoop. Just a glance at him, knowing he was about to step into her home, sent a shiver through her whole body. She wasn’t quite sure if she was excited or terrified by the prospect. She unlocked the door and opened it as she took a deep breath to push all those feelings aside. “Good evening, Mr. Moretti,” she said.
He smiled and stepped through the doorway. He had a pink chenille teddy bear in his arms and a more relaxed expression on his face than at the lawyer’s office. “Please, I told you to call me Luca,” he insisted.
She knew that was what he wanted, but she didn’t like the idea of it. It was too casual, too intimate. She preferred to keep some formality between them, at least for now. It felt as if it would make things easier over the next four weeks if she had that emotional buffer, even as the scent of his cologne was making her pulse spike in her throat. Ignoring his request, she shut the door behind him and returned to where he was waiting for her in the foyer.
Luca took the opportunity to study her home, admiring the architectural details she’d worked so hard to preserve. Claire much preferred her view of him at the moment. He was looking very handsome tonight in an expensive navy suit that was tailored to highlight his broad shoulders and narrow hips. He’d paired it with a blue-and-brown geometric tie that seemed to capture the same shade of milk chocolate as the waves of his hair.
Chocolate waves of his hair? Claire squeezed her eyes shut for a moment to rid the image from her mind. Why was she cataloging his good looks, anyway? That was not what tonight was about. Or any night from now on. Luca might be Eva’s father, but it didn’t happen the old-fashioned way. Thinking of him like that was dangerous while their custody arrangement was still up in the air. She couldn’t afford to make a mistake when it came to Eva and her welfare.
“I wanted to thank you for inviting me over tonight,” he said as she took his coat and hung it in the entryway closet. “I realize this is difficult for you.”
Claire forced a smile. “It was the least I could do,” she said. “After all, you’re treating us to a month at the beach.” Or trapping us with you for a month at the beach. Same difference, she supposed.
“You can thank the CEO of Brooks Express Shipping for that, actually. We went to college together. It’s his beach house we’re going to be staying at as a favor to me.”
“Of course it is.” She chuckled dryly. Apparently rich guys just hung out together. Claire hadn’t been around many superwealthy people, but she wasn’t surprised to think they all knew one another. They certainly weren’t spending their time with people like her. At least until now, when he had to.
With a shake of her head, she turned away from him and led Luca out of the entryway and into the open expanse of her living room. “Well, this is Eva,” she said, holding her arm out in front of them to where she was playing.
Luca turned in that direction and froze in place the moment his eyes fell on their daughter. For a powerful CEO who was always in control of everything, he seemed to be at a total loss in the moment. He didn’t take a step toward Eva; he just kept watching her from a distance.
Claire decided to help by easing him into his new role as father. She walked across the room and scooped Eva up off the floor. Cuddling the baby in her arms, she turned back to Luca. “Look who’s come to visit, Eva. You have a new friend here to see you.”
Eva turned her head to look at Luca, her big gray eyes taking in the new person and processing it however her little baby brain operated.
Luca finally loosened up, leaning in to the baby with a wide, friendly smile. “Hello, bella.”
Eva rewarded him with a slobbery grin, showcasing her two new bottom teeth. She was usually a little shy with strangers, but she seemed to warm up to Luca immediately. When he reached out to stroke her chubby little arm, she grabbed his finger and held on tight.
“You’ve got a good hold of me, don’t you? How about I trade you my finger for a fuzzy bear?” Luca held up the pink bear and Eva’s eyes immediately shifted to the new pretty.
She let go of his finger and reached out for the soft toy with a cry of delight. Luca handed it over to her, laughing as she immediately put the bear’s ear in her mouth.
“Everything is a teething toy these days,” Claire said. “Thank you for the gift.”
“It’s long overdue,” he said with a touch of sadness in his voice.
Claire noted it, feeling guilty for her role in that delay. Her lawyer had been right; none of this was Luca’s fault. He just wanted to be a part of his child’s life, and he deserved to be. As much as she didn’t want to admit it, the time together at the beach would make this situation workable for both of them. They needed it. “Would you like to hold her?” she asked.
“Yes,” he said with a touch of excitement in his gold and brown eyes.
“Here we go,” Claire said in the soft baby voice she used for Eva. Lifting her off her chest, she moved Eva over into Luca’s waiting arms. He scooped her up like a professional. Perhaps it was beginner’s luck.
“You are a sweet little thing,” he said, cooing at his daughter. “I’m going to be wrapped around your little finger before too long, I can tell.”
Claire took a step back to let Luca have his moment with Eva. After a few minutes, he moved over to her couch and settled Eva on his knee. It didn’t take long for her to see that he was right. Luca was completely enamored with his daughter and they’d only just met. She understood. The minute she’d laid eyes on Eva, she was totally and completely in love. Luca looked just as she imagined she did then.
The reality of the moment was like a fist to her gut. She stumbled back a little, bracing herself against the doorway to the kitchen. Luca didn’t notice. He only had eyes for Eva. As a new father should. It was the inescapable realization that she should’ve had this moment months ago, in the hospital with Jeff at her side, that threw her off balance. She should’ve gotten to watch her husband hold their daughter for the first time with that same look of wonder and adoration on his face.
Instead, her moments in the hospital had been bittersweet. She’d cradled her baby, alone in her room, and cried. They were tears of joy, tears of sadness, tears of loss. She wouldn’t have that moment with Jeff because he’d gotten himself killed while he was out with his mistress. She wouldn’t have that moment with Jeff because in the end, Eva wasn’t even his daughter.
How had her life gone so far off the rails? Claire had done everything right her whole life. She’d graduated at the top of her class, going to college on an academic scholarship that left no time for boys. After school, she’d married the safe guy who would love her and care for her and their family. Jeff hadn’t been the exciting choice, or the man who made her heart race and her insides melt, but she