Maid in Montana Page 8

  Pulling out of the refrigerator, she glanced at the pink weight. Maybe it wasn’t a coincidence that after spending time with Brady the night before Jeb had been thinking of his ex-wife, maybe even deliberately going through her old workout gear? Thanks to Mick, she knew that people sometimes said terrible things to each other when a relationship was breaking down. Maybe, disillusioned over their failed marriage, Jeb’s wife had told him he wouldn’t make a good dad?

  Telling herself that was none of her business, Sophie set the milk on the counter and reached into the cupboard for a bowl. After placing it on the countertop, she shifted to the drawer to retrieve a spoon, and again caught Jeb gazing at her son.

  That absolutely was not the look of a guy who wasn’t daddy material. If the expression on his face was anything to go by, he longed to hold her son.

  Taking the cereal ingredients to the table, she told herself to let it go, but it was no use. The man was curious about her baby. Wanted to hold him. Maybe even get to know him. But he wouldn’t ask, and after his declaration that he wasn’t cut out to be a dad, she couldn’t make the offer.

  She frowned. Maybe offering to let him hold her son wasn’t the way to go about this. If she made it seem as if he was doing her a favor by holding Brady, he probably wouldn’t think twice about it.

  Before she lost her courage, she turned to Jeb and asked, “Would you hold him while I mix his cereal?”

  Without giving him a chance to question if he could handle it, she shoved Brady at him. He grasped the baby around his tummy. “Wait. Stop. I can’t—”

  Sophie turned away, busying herself with the cereal and jar of strained fruit. “Sure you can. Just put his butt on your forearm and he’ll settle in himself. Remember what you told me about finding my center on the horse. It’s sort of the same principle.”

  She glanced over out of the corner of her eye, ready to spring into action if Jeb bobbled her baby. Looking simultaneously horrified and terrified, Jeb quickly did as she instructed. Within seconds Brady was comfortably nestled on his arm and against his chest. Jeb put his big hand across the baby’s back, securing him.

  Sophie relaxed, but she prepared Brady’s cereal quickly, not wanting to test Jeb’s abilities or his patience. When everything was ready, she pulled the baby from Jeb’s arms and carried him to the high chair.

  Jeb picked up his coffee. Several seconds ticked off the clock in total silence. But he didn’t leave the kitchen. He wasn’t scowling. If he was really angry, he would have stormed out of the room. Wouldn’t he?

  “So he likes that mush?”

  Sophie smiled. He wasn’t angry. And he was curious. “Yes. He loves this mush.”

  “What is it?”

  “Rice cereal and strained fruit.” She lifted the jar and examined it. “Bananas today.”

  “I’m guessing it tastes better than it looks.”

  She laughed. “It does.”

  “I hope so.” He turned to the counter again, found the lid for his travel mug and snapped it on before heading for the door, where he paused. “You wouldn’t mind making supper again?”

  “No. I love to cook.”

  “Okay, then I’ll see you later.”

  When he was gone, Sophie let out the breath she had been holding. They might not ever get together romantically. Her leaving precluded that, but she had the sudden, intense feeling that that didn’t matter. Jeb Worthington was a nice guy, who supported an orphanage, who believed, for some reason, that he’d make a lousy father. She understood accusations being hurled by an angry lover. She understood believing them, if only because of being vulnerable in the moment. But Jeb had been divorced a while. It was time for him to get beyond the accusations. And happy Brady was maybe just the baby to help him along.

  After breakfast, Sophie found Monty and Bob waiting in the downstairs family room for her. Mug of coffee in one hand, Brady on her arm, she greeted them. “Good morning.”

  Monty took off his hat. Bob blushed endearingly. “Morning.”

  Maneuvering through stacks of boxes, she said, “Okay, nearly everything has arrived for this room and today we’re going to pull it together.”

  Monty’s eyes widened. “Please tell me we don’t have to get that sofa up that thin stairwell.”

  Sophie glanced at the “S” shaped monstrosity that had been in the room when she arrived. “Nope, I decided to keep it.” She walked to the play yard, which she’d taken from the office and set up in the corner of the big room the day before. Sliding Brady inside, she said, “But we do have to move it to the middle of the room.”

  Monty frowned. “The middle of the room?”

  “We have to surround it with color. Otherwise, no matter where we try to hide it, it will stick out like a sore thumb.”

  She pointed across the room. “See that big long tube over there?”

  Bob nodded.

  “That’s the rug that goes under it.”

  “Under it?” Bob and Monty said in unison. But Bob added, “We’re going to need another pair of hands.”

  Sophie looked around. “Actually another pair of hands isn’t a bad idea.” Jeb had told her that if she needed help, she shouldn’t pussyfoot around. So, she wouldn’t. “Bob, why don’t you go ask Mr. Worthington to join us?”

  His eyes grew large and his mouth fell open. “Jeb?”

  “Yes.”

  He pulled in a breath. “Okay, but he isn’t going to like this.”

  “What he’ll like is the beautiful home he’ll have to show his potential clients,” she reminded Bob with another smile. “Seriously. This is important.”

  “Okay.”

  Bob left and Sophie and Monty worked at unpacking lamps, artwork and other accessories for the room. Within ten minutes, Jeb was clomping down the stairway with Bob.

  Before he could say anything, Sophie said, “Thank goodness you could help us. This room is huge, but the couch is a dinosaur. We definitely need you if we’re going to have this space ready for your clients.”

  Knowing he wouldn’t argue that, Sophie smiled. Jeb scowled. “With Slim out of town, I’m swamped.”

  She knew that but she also knew that the only private time she’d have to show Jeb he could be okay with kids would be when Slim was gone.

  “Well, we could spend the next ten minutes arguing over why you should help us. Or we could just get everything moved so you can leave.”

  “Fine. Whatever. Let’s get started already.”

  She directed Bob and Monty to the left side of the sectional sofa. “You guys move that over there,” she said, pointing to the far corner. “Jeb and I will position this section in the center of the room.”

  Bob and Monty nodded. As she and Jeb shifted the center curve of the sofa to the right, the two cowboys walked the bottom of the “S” shape out of the way.

  She brushed off her hands and stood back to examine the center placement. “That’s it. That’s exactly where the sofa belongs.”

  “Great,” Jeb said, heading for the stairway.

  “Oh, no,” Sophie scolded. “Not yet! We have to get the rug in place, and then put the sofa on top of it, then you can go.”

  Jeb sighed.

  Sophie assigned him to help Bob remove the bold print rug from its shipping container. Blocks of burgundy, brown, beige and gold brightened the hardwood floor when they rolled it out. Sophie and Monty placed the center curve of the white “S” on the left end of the rug. Then Jeb and Monty returned the bottom of the “S” to its place beside the center of the sectional sofa.

  With the big “S” in place, Sophie instructed Jeb and Bob to maneuver other furniture around it but suddenly Brady began to fuss.

  Sophie turned to Monty. “See if he’ll take a rattle.”

  Monty scurried to the play yard. He picked up a rattle and shoved it at Brady who only fussed all the more.

  Jeb sighed again. “Let me.” He grabbed the rattle from Monty’s hands, shook it to make the pleasant sound and smiled down at Brady. �
��Here, little guy.”

  Sophie held back a smile. He was a natural with kids! She couldn’t believe his ex-wife had somehow convinced him he wasn’t cut out to be a father. From here on out, she would expose him to Brady every chance she got, until he realized how wrong he was to believe that.

  Brady sniffed and stopped crying, but he didn’t take the rattle from Jeb. Seeing another opportunity, Sophie called, “Can you pick him up?” from the other side of the room, where she was holding a picture for Monty to hang. “As soon as I’m done here, I’ll take him upstairs.”

  Jeb reached down and lifted Sophie’s son. As inconspicuously as possible, she watched him settle Brady on his arm just as she’d shown him only a few hours before in the kitchen.

  It was everything Sophie could do not to laugh out loud. Getting Jeb accustomed to her baby, and beyond the belief that he wasn’t cut out to be a dad, would be a piece of cake.

  When Jeb arrived in the kitchen for supper, Sophie and Brady were already there. That didn’t surprise him. Neither did her request that he hold Brady while she tossed a salad. He glanced over at the empty high chair, knowing that’s where Brady should have been and pulled in a resigned breath.

  He could come right out and confront her about challenging his statement, except he didn’t think she was forcing him to interact with Brady out of a challenge. At least not a romantic one. He didn’t have the sense that she was trying to prove to him that he could get along with Brady to obliterate his excuse for not wanting to get involved with her. She’d hardly looked at him all day—except to boss him around. Now that he was okay with her baby, it almost seemed she wasn’t interested.

  Realizing just how “okay” he was with the little boy, Jeb felt a rush of happiness. He had to admit that now that he’d held the little guy without disastrous consequences, he didn’t have to run anymore if the baby was around. Actually he could probably enjoy this baby.

  The idea brought him up short. He’d never even considered “enjoying” Brady. But he knew he would. And when he recognized that, he realized something that stunned him.

  Technically he no longer had an excuse for wanting Sophie off his ranch.

  He frowned, wondering if she’d gotten him accustomed to her baby just to keep her job. But curiosity about her motives took a back seat to the sudden vision he had of what life would be like if Sophie stayed on with her little boy. Jeb would probably be the one to take the kid out to see the ranch. He’d be the one to teach Brady to ride. Actually, if Sophie stayed long enough he could take this little boy under his wing. Teach him the ropes of being a man.

  The joy that rose in him at just the thought of “playing” dad caused him to swallow hard and squeeze his eyes shut with pain. How foolish, how needy, to so desperately long to use someone else’s child as if he were his own.

  He set Brady in his high chair. “I need to wash up.”

  He refused to be so pathetic that he’d settle for a few months or a few years being the pretend dad to his housekeeper’s son.

  At this point in his life he had little more than his pride. He wasn’t giving up that, too.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  AFTER dinner, Sophie cleaned the kitchen then returned to the basement room, Brady on her arm.

  Lowering him into the play yard, she said, “I know you’re getting tired, but you need to stay up another hour in order to sleep through the night. So I might as well try to get a little more work done.”

  He gooed up at her. She smiled. “You are adorable.”

  He giggled.

  She ran her fingers through the downy hair on his head, ruffling it even more. “You better hope that mane of yours tames before you’re a teenager.”

  He giggled again.

  “I’m serious. That could be a definite handicap with the girls.”

  “What could be a handicap with the girls?”

  Hearing Jeb’s comment, she glanced up and saw him coming down the stairs. She straightened away from the play yard and their eyes met across the huge room.

  Subdued yellow linen curtains now matched the yellow in the multicolored throw pillows piled on the sofa and chairs. A sun-shaped clock smiled from above the fireplace mantel. Books and wood sculptures filled the wall unit.

  Fearing his reaction to the nearly finished room, Sophie swallowed before answering his question. “His hair. If it doesn’t settle down a bit before he hits his teen years he could be in real trouble.”

  Jeb laughed and said, “No doubt about it.” Then he glanced around.

  Sophie didn’t know if he’d come down to inspect the job she was doing or if he was on his way to his workout room, but whatever his reason, he was here. Seeing a nearly finished room. About to pronounce judgment.

  “I like it.”

  “Really?” Her heart began beating again. “The yellow doesn’t put you off?”

  “It’s not my favorite color, but I’m guessing the other colors—” He pointed to the burgundy, brown, yellow and burnt orange throw pillows “—like the ones in those pillows are so dark you felt you needed something to offset them.”

  She sagged with relief. “Exactly.”

  Silence descended on the room. Jeb didn’t rush off as she expected him to. Instead he stood in the center of the room, looking uncharacteristically nervous.

  He rubbed his hand along the back of his neck. “There’s something else we need to discuss.”

  His ominous tone caused her to step back. “Okay.”

  “All along I’ve been saying you couldn’t stay because of your baby, but with Slim gone and everything confused, I sort of got over that.”

  Her heart tripped over itself in her chest. That was not at all what she’d been expecting. “You did?”

  “Yes. The kid’s not really as much of a problem as I thought he was going to be.”

  “Are you saying I can stay?”

  He met her gaze. “You’ve proven yourself. You fit here. And now I’m okay with the kid. So, yeah. I’d like you to stay. But there is a condition.”

  Stunned, Sophie could only nod.

  “This is a business and I am your boss. And we’ve got to start acting more like that.”

  Though he didn’t come right out and say it, she got his point. No more kisses on horse rides. Just the reminder of being in his arms that afternoon sent sensation careening through her, but she ignored it. The man did not want to be attracted to her and she needed this job. Agreeing to that was a no brainer.

  “Okay.”

  “Another thing. Just because I’m in my house it doesn’t mean my work is done for the day. I’m on the clock 24/7. Even when I’m not working, I’m thinking about work. That’s how I get so much done in a day. You can’t be handing your son to me. It’s a distraction. He can be in the kitchen. When he gets older, he can roam around the house. But I don’t want him underfoot. Understood?”

  “Yes.” For a home, a decent salary and benefits she’d be a fool to argue. “Understood.”

  “Good.” He looked around. “Now, could you use some help?”

  The change in his tone confused her as much as his question. “You just reminded me of how busy you are. Now, you’re volunteering to help me?”

  He laughed and Sophie gaped at him. But it suddenly sunk in that she was staying. Staying. She and this man would live together until she left his employ. It could be years. Hell, it could be decades. Now that the ground rules for her permanent employment had been laid. He was setting the tone.

  “I might be busy, but this is my company. I have the most to gain from everything being done right. With you staying, I’ll be around a little more often, checking into things.”

  Okay. She got it. And she could handle it. She could behave like an employee. No problem. “You’re welcome to watch, but I’m only going to be putting on some finishing touches.”

  His gaze circled the room. “I’m not sure what kinds of touches you think the place still needs. It looks finished to me.”

  “Well,
technically it is, but a few magazines on the table will help a woman to see herself relaxing down here.” She pointed at the bar. “Cocktail glasses and some open liquor bottles will help a man to see himself standing behind the bar, mixing drinks. Unless you have a few half-empty liquor bottles upstairs somewhere, I’m going to have to open those new bottles and toss a shot or two.”

  The look he gave her was half mortified, half shocked. “You’re going to have a drink?”

  She laughed. “No! I’m going to drain a bit off each bottle to make the liquor appear more inviting. Nobody wants to open the bottle, but if the bottle’s already open, people will help themselves.” She gazed around proudly. “I want this to be a help-yourself room. I want it to be ultracomfortable.”

  He looked around with her. “Okay. I buy it.”

  Brady began to fuss and Sophie sighed and walked over to him. She might be an employee, but she was also a mom. And it appeared this was the first test of that part of their arrangement.

  “Well, that settles that. He’s too tired to finish.” She clapped her hands as a signal to Brady she would pick him up. “He has to go to bed.”

  She said the words casually, but out of the corner of her eye she watched Jeb to see how he would react to her leaving a project because of her baby.

  His expression never changed. He didn’t flinch. He didn’t react at all. “Okay. See you in the morning.”

  Happiness exploded inside her. It was going to work! She could stop sassing. He could handle her baby. They could work together!

  She lifted Brady out of the playpen, but as she turned toward the stairs, he dropped the little blue teddy bear he’d been chewing on.

  Jeb was beside them in seconds, scooping it up. “Don’t forget this.”

  Smiling, he handed the soft bear to her, but their fingers brushed and electricity danced up her arm. Their gazes caught and her heart skipped a beat.

  But Jeb quickly turned away, adhering to their new condition that they behave more like a boss and housekeeper. And she agreed. She didn’t know why he didn’t want to be attracted to her, but she needed this job. She couldn’t afford to be attracted to him any more than he wanted to be attracted to her.