Kaya tensed at the deep voice rising above the piercing cries. She spun around. Bryce’s imposing figure hugged the doorway. He’d shaved, and changed into jeans and a pullover shirt that lay snugly against the hard muscles of his flat stomach, wide powerful chest, and broad shoulders.
She’d told herself that nothing he did or said would shake her confidence. But as she gazed into his censuring eyes, Kaya’s heart began to pound with fear of the trouble he could cause her.
He pushed away from the door, picked up a pink blanket from the changing table and draped it over his shoulder. “You told me she’s been fussy, not that she’s been trying to start an avalanche around us. Give her to me.” He towered over Kaya, arms outstretched.
“I can handle it.” Kaya tightened her hold and backed up a step. His demand to give Anastasia to him was tantamount to the one he’d made in Steven’s office to hand over custody of all the children to him. “I don’t need your help,” she said tersely.
“Oh, really?” he drawled, his eyes laced with skepticism. A humorous smile played at the corner of his mouth as he took in her petite framed swallowed up in one of Lauren’s huge sweaters.
Kaya took another backward step, only to discover he’d cornered her between the crib and a chest of drawers. Realizing he was not going to move, she pressed her bare feet into the lambskin throw rug and held her ground. As unbearable as the screams were, it would be worse if Bryce proved he was more adept than her at handling a fussy baby. It would be one more weapon he could use against her in court.
Kaya’s mind fast-forwarded. “Your Honor, when I walked into the nursery, Miss Brehna was holding the screaming infant, little Anastasia. It was clear that she had no idea what she was doing, and that the child had been crying for quite some time. If I hadn’t shown up when I did, I— I—” His voice would crack deliberately. “I tremble to think what could have happened to that baby. We’ve heard of young inexperienced mothers who have shaken their babies…” A tear would slip from his eye. “I thank God that I got there in time to prevent another tragedy.”
Bastard!
“Kaya, just give her to me. Come on.”
Kaya shook her head and rewound to the present. She glared at Bryce and tightened her hold on Anastasia
“This screaming isn’t good for her lungs, and quite frankly it’s hard on my ears.” Bryce reached out again, his dark eyes daring her to disagree with him.
Kaya glanced down at the red-faced, squirming child in her arms, wanting so much to be the one to give her comfort, to get her used to the idea that her auntie Kaya, and no one else, was now her sole provider. Pride tempted her to ignore Bryce, but sensibility pushed her to hand over the baby since all of her novice attempts at calming her had failed. “Okay. Okay. You can have her.”
As she placed Anastasia in his arms, Bryce’s scent, his nearness, and the brush of his fingertips against her arms sent a host of dizzying sensations rushing through Kaya. Their eyes locked, and somewhere in the blackness of his, Kaya detected a flash of lust. Elemental need. Unadulterated want. She knew that look. She’d encountered it many times from a multitude of men. But she’d never been this terrified of her reaction to it.
It was exciting, suffocating, and weakening, all in one. Yet, she found herself powerless or unwilling to avert her gaze. Another reason she’d agreed to marry Jack was that he never looked at her that way. Perhaps Jack never really looked at her, just through her and around her. He’d never seen her. She felt comfortable with him. Too comfortable.