Baby In The Boardroom by Rosemary Gibson

Author:Rosemary Gibson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2011-06-10T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SIX

‘OH, TIMMY, darling, what’s the matter?’ Beth asked beseechingly, gazing down with concern at the flushed, screwed-up little face in her arms as she paced up and down the room. Muffling a yawn, she flicked a quick glance at her wristwatch. One-thirty in the morning. It felt a lot later. Contrary to her expectation, she must have fallen asleep the moment her head hit the pillow; Timmy’s cries of distress had roused her from a dreamless slumber.

‘Surely you can’t be hungry again already?’ she queried uncertainly. It was possible, she supposed, that James, distracted by Julia, might have forgotten to give Timmy his late feed. But somehow she doubted it.

As soon as Timmy had calmed down a bit she would go and make up a bottle anyway, Beth decided, turning round as she reached the window and walking back across the carpet. To her relief Timmy’s heart-wrenching sobs gradually subsided, his eyelashes beginning to flicker downwards as he sucked feverishly on his thumb. Laying him gently down in his cot, she started for the door, but before she’d reached it he began to cry again.

Defeatedly she scooped him up into her arms once more, and looked up, instantly aware of James’s presence.

Clad in a white towelling robe, his hair ruffled, he towered in the doorway.

‘What’s up, then, Tim?’ he murmured softly, the robe gaping over his broad chest as he crossed the carpet.

Didn’t he possess any pyjamas? Beth wondered irritably, her stomach lurching as she unsuccessfully tried to ignore the expanse of firm, male skin.

‘There was no need for you to get up. I can manage perfectly well.’ She was aware of how cold and ungracious she sounded, but just wanted him gone from the room. Weakened by tiredness, she felt too vulnerable and defenceless to arm herself safely against that all-pervading maleness.

‘Have you given him some syrup?’ he enquired shortly, a muscle flickering along the line of his shadowy jaw. His eyes narrowed as she frowned uncomprehendingly. ‘Paracetamol syrup,’ he elaborated curtly. ‘He’s probably teething.’

She groaned inwardly. Of course. How could she have been so dense as to not have worked that out for herself? She suddenly felt totally inadequate, useless. James should have employed a professional nanny, she thought miserably. It would have been much fairer on Timmy.

‘There’s a bottle of it and a spoon in the kitchen cupboard where his food is,’ James added brusquely. In the dim lighting, his eyes were dark blue, fathomless pools.

‘I’ll fetch it,’ Beth said tightly as he made no move to do so. He didn’t have to sound accusatory. She’d warned him she knew next to nothing about babies, and she hadn’t had the advantage of a crash-course from his sister. She could see the strong pulse beating at the base of his neck, her sense of smell overwhelmed by the minty freshness of his breath and the clean, soapy scent of his skin as he reached to take hold of Timmy. Her stomach muscles knotting, she turned swiftly towards the door.

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