Steven (8 page)

She stood and walked around the table to sit on his lap, pressing kiss
es
all over his face.  “That’s the nicest thing anyone’s ever done for me.”
  Her voice conveyed her pleasure and excitement.

His face was serious as he looked her in the eye and said, “You deserve it.  You deserve so much more.”  It was true.  He’d never met a more selfless person in his life.  She was teaching him to look at the world in a whole new way.  He’d been rich for too long and had started taking everything for granted. 

“Thank you.”
  The sincerity of h
er
voice warmed him.  He’d done nice things for other women, but they all seemed to think it was their due.  Sure, they’d thank him prettily, but it was nothing on the genuine gratitude he sensed from Bailey.

He smiled.  “You’re very welcome.  Now, do you wanna finish eating, or just go back to bed?”

She grinned and pointed toward the bedroom.  He didn’t have to be told twice.

*****

Reality intruded the following afternoon in the form of
the other
two couples.  Bailey was thrilled to see both Justin and Cody had brought dates with them.  When she said that, the woman with Cody shook her head emphatically.  “Oh, no!  I’m not
Justin’s
date.  I’m his administrative assistant.”  She held her hand out to shake Bailey’s.  “I’m Sarah Roberts.”

Sarah was a brunette with striking green eyes.  She looked like she was around Bailey’s age of twenty-four.
  Her skin was almost white
and
flawless making her look ethereal.

“It’s nice to meet you.  I’m really not a date either.  I’m the nanny.”  She smiled as she shook the other woman’s hand.  “I’m Bailey
Borders.”  She didn’t add that last night she’d slept with her boss, although at this moment, it was all she could think about as she watched him chatting with his friends. 

Bailey turned to the other girl, who had come with Cody.  “Are you a date?”
she asked with a grin.

She shook her head.  “I’m
Cody’s
riding instructor.”  She looked bewildered by that fact. 
She shook her head.  “I’m Amber Cassidy.”
  Amber had blue eyes and dark blond hair. 
She kept sneaking glances at Cody, and she’d find him looking at her.  She wasn’t the type to back down, though, and met his gaze fearlessly.

Bailey nodded.  “I’m sure he’ll need you for the horse riding portion of the business meeting,” she said with a straight face.

All three women burst into laughter, and the men turned to look at them. 
All three men
had besotted look
s
on their face
s
, they’d have been ribbing each other about if they hadn’t been too busy starting at the women to see each other.

Bailey took it upon herself to play hostess. 
She
took the other girls around the beach, showing them the different bungalows available.
She held Faith in one arm as they all talked.
“I’m sure we can take meals together, or not.  Whatever.  Steven said they were having their big meeting tomorrow.  Do you guys want to hang out on the beach during it?  Or we could use the boat for whale watching?”  She paused.  “Steven said he’d have someone watch the baby if we wanted to go.  It seems strange to let him pay for a babysitter so his nanny can go for a ride in a boat, but who am I to argue?”

Bailey had missed having her girlfriends around.  Ever since her breakup with Bradley, she’d kept to herself, so she was thrilled to have the other women there.
  Of course, that
was
around the time Angela had returned home, and she’d had to devote all her spare time to taking care of her pregnant sister, and then the new baby.  Angela had never really been interested in Faith.

Sarah shook her head.  “That sounds like fun, but I’m sure Justin will need me during the meeting.  I mean, he wouldn’t have brought me along otherwise, right?”
  Her eyes met Bailey’s as if she needed confirmation of her thoughts.

“I have a feeling the only reason any of us are here is because those men over there thought we should be.”  Amber shook her head bemusedly.  “I still can’t figure out why I agreed to come here.”

Bailey nodded emphatically.  “They’re certainly….forceful.” 
She glanced over to where Steven was talking with his friends and found herself blushing as she met his gaze.  “They’re all standing there talking to each other, but looking at us.”

Sarah sighed.  “I think maybe we need to go do something just us women.  You’re right
,
Bailey!  Let them have their meeting alone.  They don’t need me there.”  She looked at
Bailey
.  “What do you think we should do?  Go out on the boat?  Hang on the beach?”

“I’m open for anything.  Steven also said something about how he could have spa treatments arranged.  It didn’t sound fun when I was the only girl, but having a spa day could be cool.”  Bailey threw the idea out to see what the others would say.

Amber grinned.  “That sounds like fun.  Let’s do this.  We’ll spend the morning whale watching in the boat, and then come back here for an afternoon of spa treatments.  I spend so much time smelling like horses it would be nice to actually have my nails done and look like a girl for a change.”

Sarah shrugged.  “I could do go for that!  I’ve never done anything like that. Have you?”

“I did once, when I was a teenager, but not since.  I’ve been too busy trying to save my family’s ranch so my kid brother would have the life he’s always thought he’d have.”  Amber shrugged.  “It’s all been worth it, too.”

Bailey simply shook her head.  “I’ve been too busy simply struggling to survive.  Who can afford a nice spa day?”

The men moved over toward them, Steven dropping his arm around Bailey’s shoulders to show
his
possession. 
“What did you girls decide to do tomorrow while we’re in our meeting?”

Sarah looked at Justin.  “You don’t need me for the meeting?” 

Justin shook his head.  “Have fun with the other ladies.”

Bailey rolled her eyes at Sarah.  “They’re all three just alike, you know.”  She turned to Steven.  “We want to go whale watching in the morning and then in the afternoon we want a spa.”  She’d never asked for anything from him but money for his daughter, so she waited to see how he’d respond. 

“Sounds good.  I’ll make the arrangements.  Why don’t you girls
tell me
what you want included in your spa package, and I’ll make the call
?
”  He didn’t even blink at her request.  Bailey wanted to fling her arms around his neck and kiss him, but she was
very aware
of their audience.

Amber grinned, not having believed it was all that readily accessible.  “So what are we doing for dinner tonight?”

“Let’s do the Polynesian dancer thing again!”  Cody’s eyes lit up as he put his hand on Amber’s arm.  “They’ll do a private show for us right here on the island, and we can have them do a luau-type traditional menu or anything we want, really.”  He looked at Amber, his eyes letting her know her opinion was the most important to him.  “What would you like to have for dinner?”

“Umm….”  Amber had seemed so confident when it was just the three of them, but now that Cody was there, she seemed confused.  “I think the traditional thing could be cool.  I’ve never been to a luau before.”

Cody’s eyes met Steven’s.  “My lady wants a luau.  You wanna handle it, or should I?”

Steven shrugged.  “I’ll just add it to everything else I’m calling about.”
  He wasn’t sure if Bailey even realized it was Valentine’s Day, but he did, and he was going to make the evening as special for her as he could manage.  She seemed to like being with the other women, so they’d do a group dinner.

Justin turned Sarah to face him, talking to her in low tones the others could barely make out.  “Is that all okay with you?  I don’t want you to be roped into anything you don’t want to do.”

Sarah smiled, her green eyes sparkling.  “It all sounds wonderful to me.  Thanks for asking.”
  Her face showed her gratitude that he actually cared about her opinions since she wasn’t really his date.

“I’m getting a sitter for tonight and tomorrow,” Steven announced.  “Bailey should be able to participate in the luau, but I have a feeling Faith is a little too young to appreciate the experience.”

“You don’t have to do that.  You can stay with the others while I sit with the baby
especially
since we’re going to be doing a girl’s day tomorrow.”  Bailey felt like she was lacking as a nanny.  She wasn’t here to be entertained.  It was her job to take care of her niece.

“I wasn’t asking, Bailey.”
He paused for a moment.  “You’re not going to spend Valentine’s Day in the resort with the baby, when you can be with us.”
He squeezed her shoulders and walked off toward the main resort to make his calls. 

As he walked off, the other two women looked at Bailey and laughed.  She was right.  The three men were all the same.  “How do you three get along when you all think you have the right to control everyone around you?” she asked Cody and Justin.

Justin shrugged.  “I guess we all accept the fact that we’re equal partners, and we can only control everyone else.”

All three women laughed at that.  It really seemed like the most plausible solution.  “Well, I’m going to get the baby into the house.  It’s time for her to eat.”

The other four stood on the beach deciding where they’d all sleep, and Bailey left them to their own devices.

Bailey fed Faith her bottle and gave her a bath.  Since she had a sitter coming to care for her that evening, she thought it would be best if Faith needed nothing other than another bottle and diaper change before bed.  Steven came up behind her as Bailey was zipping up her pajamas.

When Faith saw him, she gurgled and kicked her feet excitedly.  “I think you’re her new favorite person.”  Bailey looked over her shoulder as she said the words, wondering how Steven would react to his place in Faith’s life.

He shrugged, but smiled at the little girl.  “A babysitter will be here in about an hour.  I have the driver of the boat, and the same sitter arriving at nine in the morning.  That way you’ll have about three hours before lunch.  The spa is scheduled for tomorrow afternoon.  They’re going to do massages, facials
, body scrubs
,
manicures and pedicures.  They said if you wanted more, you could let them know in the morning.”  His arms came around her waist as she picked the baby up.  “Isn’t it really early for her to be in her jammies?”
  He wasn’t sure of her schedule, but it was only six in the evening, and he
hadn’t
noticed her ready for bed so early at home.

She looked down at the little girl in her arms.  “Yeah, but I thought it would make it easier for the sitter.  I gave her a bath, too.  She’s ready for bed other than another couple of diaper changes and her bottle.”  She turned and handed Faith to him.  “I’ll be right back.”

She went into the rest room, not because she needed to, but because she thought it would be good for him to have a private moment with Faith.  They were getting closer every day, and she loved that.

When she came out of the bathroom, he was sitting on her bed playing with the baby who was lying on her back
kicking her feet as she cooed up at him.  She sat down beside him, her hand automatically reaching out to touch him and stroke his shoulder.  For some reason, she couldn’t seem to keep her hands off of him.  She’d tried, but her hands seemed to move of their own volition. 
 

He turned to kiss her hand and smiled at her.  They sat together, playing with the baby for a few minutes.  Finally, she asked, “Are shorts okay for the luau tonight, or should I be dressing up?”  She’d brought a skirt and top, but she would definitely rather dress comfortably.

“Oh, shorts are fine.  Maybe we’ll go spend some time in the hot tub
afterward
.”
  He watched her when he suggested the hot tub, trying to gauge her reaction.

Her eyes flew to his.  “You didn’t tell me there was a hot tub.”  She loved the idea of sinking into a hot tub with him, spending time just relaxing and getting to know him better.  Of course, if they followed the pattern they’d followed for the past twenty four hours, as soon as they were alone, their clothes would fly off.  She shrugged.  That was one way of getting to know him better.

“Don’t worry about wearing a suit under your shorts.  You won’t need one,” he whispered against her lips.

She blushed, but knew she’d probably take him up on that.  There was no point in wearing a suit when he was just going to take it off her anyway. 
She opened her mouth under his, returning his kiss with all the fervor that had built up during the long afternoon.  She was going to miss it just being the three of them on the island.

By the time the babysitter arrived, Bailey had dressed for the evening.  She wore white dress shorts and a light pink tank top.  She felt like a nervous mother leaving her baby for the first time as she gave instructions to the sitter on Faith’s schedule.  Finally, wearing a pair of jeans and a polo shirt, Steven smiled at the sitter and waved, pulling Bailey from the room.  “They’ll be fine.”