The Forever Manny (Gay Romance) E-Book

Trina Solet

• Herausgeber: Trina Solet
• Kategorie: Gesellschafts- und Liebesromane
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2022

Beschreibung

Marshall Bowen is more comfortable sitting in a boardroom, but now he has his baby niece, Tessa, to take care of. Until very recently, Marshall didn't even know he had a sister, and the baby is a complete shock to him. He's out of his comfort zone and doesn't know the first thing about taking care of a baby. But he'll have to learn fast.
He does have some help. Cody is his late sister's best friend, and he has become incredibly attached to the baby. After he and Cody meet, Marshall is determined to keep the young man around. It's only for Tessa's sake, of course. He would never indulge in his budding attraction to the baby's manny.
Cody is glad to help Marshall take care of Tessa, but it's only a temporary arrangement. Once Marshall gets the hang of parenting, Cody will go back to his old life. He can't stay Tessa's manny forever, can he?
But what will happen when Cody wants more? Will Marshall want a future with him?

Leseprobe

The Forever Manny (Gay Romance)

By Trina Solet

Copyright © 2017 by Trina Solet

All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the author except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, locales or actual events is entirely coincidental.

All sexual activity takes place between persons eighteen years of age or older.

This novel contains material intended for mature readers.

Cover image is only for illustrative purposes. Any person depicted is a model.

The Forever Manny

Gay Romance

Trina Solet

Chapter 1

It was a hectic day, and Marshall was rushing to read through the reports for the newest German holdings before his noon meeting. He was incredibly busy these days, but this morning Lucille Gardner asked him to set aside some time for her and he couldn't say no. She was an old friend of his late mother's, sort of an honorary aunt to Marshall.

Her husband Arthur had been the attorney for the Bowen family for decades and Lucille also worked for the law firm of Gardner, Riddell and Soames. One day Arthur said to her, "Dear, you are very good at getting your way. I should hire you." And then he did. She greased wheels. She sweet-talked and strong-armed, whatever was needed. Her official title was consultant.

Looking out through his open office door, Marshall spotted Lucille's platinum blond head and designer outfit as she made her way through the outer office of Bowen Enterprises. She waved to a few people then came through his door just as Hugh, his assistant, announced her.

Marshall got up to greet her with a kiss on the cheek. "Sorry I couldn't meet you for lunch somewhere. I'll owe you one."

"That's all right. I can see you're busy. It's buzzing like a beehive out there," she said and pointed outside his door.

Marshall led her to the sitting area so they wouldn't have to talk over his hulking monstrosity of a desk. "We're swamped right now, and I'm afraid it won't let up any time soon," he said as they sat down in the two club chairs that faced the view of the skyline out his windows. "You look serious." Marshall had noticed that she didn't seem as cheerful as usual, and she had refused a drink with a terse shake of her head. He wondered if she might be bringing him bad news, though he couldn't imagine what it could be.

"What I want to talk to you about is rather serious. Arthur was contacted about a certain matter, but I asked to be the one to break the news to you," she told him.

"Should I be worried?" he asked as he braced himself for whatever she was about to tell him.

She looked like she wasn't quite sure how to characterize what she needed to say. "It's a mixed bag. Good news and bad." She gave him a pained smile. "Marshall, were you aware that you had a sister?"

"I don't have a sister," he said automatically.

"Half sister would be more accurate."

"Dad," he said and sighed. His dad did get around. Marshall shouldn't have been surprised to find he had at least one unaccounted for sibling out there somewhere.

"Yes. His philandering produced a child, Kayla Murray," Lucille said and the lines around her mouth deepened.

Marshall recognized at least one part of her name. "Murray. As in Katherine Murray, Dad's assistant?"

"Yes. Your father and Ms Murray had a child together and then their daughter had a child of her own. Now it turns out that you are that child's only family," Lucille told him sadly.

"How? What happened to Kayla Murray?" Marshall said feeling like the wind got knocked out of him with this news. Did he just gain and lose a sister in a space of a few seconds?

"She died in a car accident. She was only twenty-two, poor thing. And the baby is only five months old," Lucille told him. Leaning closer, she placed her hand on top of his to give him a comforting pat.

"That's terrible," Marshall managed to say. He was having trouble taking it all in. "And Ms Murray? I know she quit and moved away a long time ago." Marshall recalled it only vaguely. He was in kindergarten then, and he saw her on his visits to his father's office, the same one Marshall occupied now. He had always liked Ms Murray, though he remembered that his mother didn't.

"Ms Murray moved away to have her baby, but she died a few years ago I'm afraid. And before you ask, no father was ever listed for Kayla's baby. You are her only family," Lucille told him.

"All right. So I need to provide for the child. Dad didn't..." Marshall started to say.

"Your father left a trust fund for Kayla and her mother, but it doesn't extend to any grandchildren. That was shortsighted of him," Lucille said. "I don't think he imagined that he, Katherine and their daughter would all be gone before the baby was even six months old."

"I'll pay for whatever this baby needs," Marshall assured her.

"The baby's name is Tessa, and she needs more that your money, my dear," Lucille informed him.

Marshall frowned at her. "What do you mean?"

"You need to give this child a home," she told him in no uncertain terms.

"Lucille..." Marshall tried to object, but she wasn't having it.

"The baby was placed with a friend of the family for now, but she needs a real home."

Marshall tried again. "How can I...?"

"You have that big house all to yourself, and you can't find room for one little baby?" she said pointedly.

"It's not a matter of finding room for her. I don't know anything about raising a child," Marshall told her.

She waved her hand dismissively flashing her impressive jewelry with the gesture. "Who does? Most children are raised by complete amateurs. You are in luck though. You can afford to hire a professional, a nanny with the best qualifications and references."

Marshall shook his head. "This is insane. I can't just..."

"Oh, don't worry. I'll make all the arrangements. The law firm has connections with a top-notch family attorney in San Francisco. He'll handle all the paperwork. If you could travel to San Francisco for a day or two..."

Here Marshall had to put his foot down. "I have a very tricky merger to oversee, I can't just..."

Lucille didn't push him on that issue. "You don't have to. I won't ask you to drop everything. I want to make this as painless as possible. Your life doesn't have to be turned upside down," she told him, pretending to be reasonable now that she was getting her way.

"Really? A baby won't turn my life upside down?" Marshall was a tiny bit skeptical.

"Yes. Really. That's what nannies are for. I have the names of the two top agencies in Hartridge. I'm sure they can find you someone who is perfect," she told him as she stood up and hoisted her purse over her shoulder.

Marshall didn't believe her. There was no way that it would be as easy as all that. But what choice did he have. He had a responsibility to this child.

Days later, Marshall was still coming to terms with the news Lucille had given him. He once had a sister and he never got to meet her. But he was most certainly going to be meeting his baby niece. He just couldn't wrap his head around it. Good thing he had work to keep him from dwelling on the crazy turn his life had just taken.

It was late morning when Marshall arrived at the office after a quick breakfast meeting. Everyone at Bowen Enterprises was already going at full speed. Preoccupied by the news about his niece, Marshall felt out of step. His assistant, Hugh, noticed his odd mood right away.

"Didn't the meeting go well?" he asked Marshall as he followed him into his office with the day's mail.

"It went fine," Marshall said as he took off his suit jacket and hung it over the back of his chair. "I just can't get used to the idea that I'm an uncle, that I had a sister but don't any more, and that her baby is coming to live with me."

Hugh was the first person Marshall told about his late sister and her baby. That's because Hugh was his friend as well as his assistant.

"I see. I hope you at least had a decent breakfast since you keep working through lunch," Hugh scolded him.

"Food is just a distraction," Marshall said as he shuffled through the mail. He just didn't have much of an appetite these days. Too many things were happening all at once.

Hugh didn't let it go though. "You keep skipping meals and that impressive physique of yours is going to go to hell. And then no one will want you and you will die alone." He sure wasn't subtle.

"You paint a bleak picture of my deathbed scene," Marshall told him as he handed back the mail and sat down behind his desk.

"If that's not enough to convince you, you also need to keep up your strength so you can handle juggling work and a baby," Hugh told him as he handed them a few things he needed to look over and sign.

Hugh had been Marshall's assistant since he first took over the family business. He was always impeccably and conservatively dressed. With black hair and light blue eyes behind wire-rimmed glasses, he was really stunning. No one could believe that Marshall managed to keep his hands off him all this time. But he loved him as a friend, valued him as an assistant and felt no spark at all when they were together.

When Hugh started working for him, Marshall was new at running a complex operation. He was out of his depth and wondering if he would sink all of Bowen Enterprises and every one of their holdings. Hugh was right by his side, pulling him through, helping him learn the ropes and bailing him out of tricky situations. And even now, when Marshall had the hang of things, he still didn't know what he would do without him. That was true even when Hugh nagged him without mercy.

"I still can't believe an actual, real live baby is coming to live with you," Hugh said and shook his head hard enough to mess up his perfectly combed hair then had to smooth it down again. He was such a neat freak about his appearance.

"Lucille said my life wouldn't change all that much," Marshall said, repeating her blatant lie to keep himself from panicking.

"Riiiiight. Your life won't change just because of a little thing like a baby falling into it out of the blue," Hugh said then had him approve some emails he was sending out on his behalf.

"Babies are very small," Marshall told him.

"And loud."

"I'll manage," Marshall said decisively.

"Aha. And that brings us to our next order of business. Lucille Gardner narrowed down the list of potential nannies to two. Those are the only ones you'll need to interview." Hugh showed him their applications which came with sterling letters of recommendation of course.

"When am I supposed to find time to interview them?" Marshall wondered.

"I'll fit them into your schedule. Lucille is a lifesaver. You would be in some deep you-know-what if it wasn't for her," Hugh pointed out.

"I don't know if she deserves any credit. It was her idea to bring the baby to live with me," Marshall said.

But Hugh now decided to take a positive view of the change in his life. "Maybe it will be good for you. Bring you out of yourself and keep you from working non stop."

Marshall eyed him sharply. "Are you saying I need to get a life?"

"No. I'm saying what I always tell you – you need to get out more and live your life like you mean it, not just scratch an occasional itch with a random hottie."

All of what he said still amounted to the same thing. "Translation. Get a life, Marshall."

"Well, your assistant is your best friend," Hugh pointed out.

"That would be you."

"I know. You need to branch out," Hugh said and packed up everything he was going to take from Marshall's desk to his own.

As he left, Marshall settled in to do some work. He couldn't shake what Hugh said that easily though. Marshall didn't think his life was so bad. If he got the urge to hook up, he went out to SkyBlue or one of the other clubs. He watched guys dance but never danced himself. After he got his fill of watching, he picked up a guy for the night with no trouble.

The no trouble aspect of it was essential to him. That was one reason he didn't date. Dating involved a lot of effort for the same reward as picking up a guy at the club. Plus watching the dancing was an aphrodisiac. What's not to like – male bodies swaying, gyrating, pressed together with no space between them. Having to make conversation across the table with his date had the opposite effect. Small talk with a stranger only proved to him that he wasn't cut out for relationships.

As far as Marshall was concerned, not going on dates solved the problem of empty small talk and eliminated the danger of accidentally ending up in a relationship. It didn't mean that anything was wrong with his life. He just knew what he wanted and he didn't waste time with the rest. Of course now that this baby was going to be living with him, his whole life philosophy might have to go out the window.

Chapter 2

Today Lucille was bringing the baby to the house, and Hugh decided to call it D-day. He said it in a voice of doom. Listening to him, Marshall would swear that man was determined to ramp up his anxiety about the baby's arrival. Lucille arranged for that friend of Kayla's who had been taking care of the baby to fly with her and Tessa. A familiar face should make the trip easier for the baby.

Marshall was going to do some work in his office at the house while he waited for their arrival, but he couldn't concentrate. He couldn't imagine what his life would be like from now on, and the uncertainty was killing him. Until now he was a man in full control of his own destiny. He already couldn't recognize himself as the same man he used to be. For one thing, he was now a man who couldn't focus on work no matter how hard he tried.

When his phone chimed with a text, he pounced on it. It was a text from Lucille. "Just landed. All is well," it read. "Will call when we're close."

Marshall sat back in his big, leather office chair and sighed. Here we go. But they were still a good forty-five minutes away at least. That gave him plenty of time to do some work. In theory.

Preoccupied, Marshall stared out the window every few minutes, so no work got done. There was no need for that. Lucille had told him she would call when they arrived, but Marshall still acted like he expected that the baby would somehow sneak up on him any minute.

That's why he had to give up and abandon any attempt at doing useful work. He left his office and went up to the baby's room to check on how the nanny was doing. Her name was Jeanine. She was in her mid twenties and very capable.

"Mr. Bowen, it's all pretty much ready. I'm just getting a few last minute things in order," she told him as soon as she spotted him in the doorway.

"Or are you maybe doing busy work because you're a little bit nervous?" Marshall asked her since she was adjusting the ducks and frogs mobile so all the ducks and frogs faced the same way.

"Of course not. I'm a professional," she said but she smiled in a way that was as good as a confession. "This mobile is set higher because at this age babies have more mobility. And it's still not advisable to place anything in the crib."

"Right. I remember," Marshall told her.

Jeanine had lectured him extensively about safety – small objects, cords, hot items. Marshall had a feeling she was repeating herself so they wouldn't have to deal with an uncomfortable silence while he lingered there. "Everything looks good here," Marshall told her then he went back downstairs so he wouldn't make her nervous with his own nervous hovering.

She had done a great job getting things ready. Jeanine took care of setting up the baby's room and buying everything a baby might possibly need. Good thing because Marshall didn't know the first thing about it. All he was useful for was pacing and anxious hovering. It was like he was a dad from a couple of decades back, and all he could do was wait outside the delivery room doors for his child to be born.

While he was aimlessly stalking the first floor of the house, Marshall got a text from Hugh asking if the baby was there yet. He replied with a terse no.

"How are you holding up?" Hugh asked in his next text.

Marshall sent another terse reply. "Fine."

"Nervous wreck," was how Hugh interpreted it. "Got it. Hang in there."

Marshall grumbled and put away his phone. As he walked through the downstairs rooms, Marshall was remembering how Jeanine told him that once the baby started crawling there would be a lot of childproofing to be done. The other option was to keep the baby confined. Marshall hated the sound of that, but looking around, he saw all sorts of dangers – large, breakable objects, sharp corners, climbable furniture that was likely to topple over.

Going back out into the foyer, his eyes traveled up the long staircase. He figured they would need a gate at the top of the stairs. Jeanine said there would have to be a gate at the bottom of the stairs too. "Babies love stairs. Anything dangerous is a baby magnet."

She made babies sound like adrenaline junkies. Nothing he was learning these days was putting his mind at ease. He found himself pacing the foyer, wondering how he would cope.

Even though he was waiting impatiently for the baby and her entourage to arrive, Marshall was startled when his phone rang. He fished it out of his pocket kind of clumsily. What was wrong with him?

It was Lucille calling. "We're practically on your doorstep. Tessa was a good baby on the flight, a little fussy on the takeoff and landing, but a sweetheart otherwise. We'll be there in minutes. Put on your friendliest face. Don't scare the baby," she instructed him.

"You are making me sound like an ogre."

"Hmm," she said instead of denying it. "Anyway we're at the gate now."

Once she hung up, Marshall took a deep breath and went out to wait on the front steps. As he willed himself not to start pacing again, he saw the executive car that Lucille had hired to bring them from the airport. The car made its way up the driveway and stopped right in front of the steps. While the driver got out and opened the back door, Marshall held his breath.

Realizing he should go down to meet them, he started to move. Marshall was going to go up to the car but stopped when he saw a very attractive young man get out of the car carrying the baby in his arms. She looked so tiny, dressed in pink and white stripes, her hair short and blond. The beautiful young man who was holding her didn't notice Marshall. His attention was on the baby as he smoothed down her hair and kissed the top of her head. Then he said something that Marshall couldn't hear.

The guy was young with brown eyes, long eyelashes, wavy, brown hair cut short. He had a beautiful face Marshall would like to kiss all over before he settled on his luscious mouth. Except this wasn't some guy on the dance floor. This guy was bringing his baby niece to him.

Lucille had mentioned a friend of Kayla's, but this young man wasn't what Marshall pictured. As he watched him with the baby, he wondered if there was any chance he might be the baby's father.

Seeing the two of them rooted him to the spot, and he forgot all about going over to greet them and offer his help. Not that he would be much good. The driver was taking care of what was in the trunk and Lucille was hanging back and talking on the phone.

That left Marshall to stand there and stare at the young guy as he bounced the baby. The sight of the two of them seemed to have short-circuited Marshall's brain. Oh well, his sanity was hanging on by a thread anyway.

Once he spotted Marshall at the top of the stairs, the young guy didn't hesitate. Without waiting for Lucille, he brought the baby right up the steps and straight to Marshall. "I'm Cody. This is Tessa. Are you her Uncle Marshall?" the young guy asked. He had a very direct way of speaking and looking at Marshall.

"I am. Nice to meet you, and you too young lady," Marshall said to him and the baby.

The baby didn't seem impressed. She looked around as if everything around them was just as interesting as Marshall, or maybe more so. But when Cody came closer, the baby's eyes went wide and she stared at Marshall intently.

"She's a scary little thing," Marshall said feeling the weight of that trusting, open gaze.

"The word you're looking for is cute," Cody chided him.

"Right," Marshall agreed. "That's what I meant." The baby was cute, but mainly he was terrified of her.

That's when Lucille came up the steps. "There you all are. I meant to be here to make introductions but something came up with a case. Anyway, this is Marshall Bowen, this is Tessa and this is Cody Alvarado. He was a good friend of your sister's. He and his mother have been taking wonderful care of Tessa all this time."

"Thank you for doing that," Marshall told him.

"Tessa is a sweetie. She was no trouble at all," Cody said but he seemed sad as he looked at her. "Kayla was a good mom to her."

"Were you close?" Marshall asked.

Cody only nodded. For a minute or two he was too choked up to say anything. Then he shook himself out of it, took a breath and turned to Marshall with a terrifying question. "You want to hold her?"

"Me?" Marshall said and took an involuntary step back from him and the baby.

"Oh, right. Let's have the nanny out here. She can hold her," Lucille said.

That was a good idea. Marshall had meant to text Jeanine and have her come down, but he got so flustered with meeting the baby and Cody, it slipped his mind. "Thanks for reminding me," he said to Lucille and texted Jeanine that they would be coming up with the baby any minute. Then he told Cody a little bit about her. "Her name is Jeanine. She has incredible references. She's waiting up in the baby's room. There were a few last minute things she wanted to take care of." Marshall pointed upstairs and wondered why Lucille was looking at him with a raised eyebrow. Cody was giving him a funny look too.

"I was being sarcastic, Marshall. Hold that baby right now," Lucille told him sternly.

"Yes, Ma'am," Marshall said and reached for the baby tentatively as Cody held her out to him.

Cody didn't let go until he made sure that Marshall was holding her securely. But Marshall thought there was more to it than that. He would swear that Cody handed her over reluctantly, like he didn't want to let her go at all. Marshall noticed that Cody blinked a few times and swallowed hard as he watched him holding Tessa.

"Do I need to support the head," Marshall asked. He had never felt as unsure of what he was doing in his life.

"She can hold up her own head. She's not a newborn," Cody told him with some attitude thrown in. Most people weren't so snippy when they talked to him. They were courteous and sometimes even diffident.

"She is really looking at me," Marshall said noticing her intense gaze once again. Her eyes were big and light brown with long eyelashes.

"She's fixated on faces right now," Cody told him.

"Hey, she smiled." Marshall smiled back.

But Cody mumbled, "Don't take it personally. She smiles at everyone."

"Or maybe she just has good taste," Lucille said to come to Marshall's aid.

The baby's big, beautiful eyes might be on Marshall, but Cody all but ignored him. At the same time, Cody couldn't seem to take his eyes off the baby. It was as if he wished he was the one holding her and was looking for any excuse to take her away from Marshall. He and his mother were taking care of Tessa all this time. Cody must have gotten really attached to her.

"How long can you stay?" Marshall asked him, but Lucille started to answer instead.

"I have to get back to the office, but..."

Marshall shook his head at her. "I meant Cody."

"Well, now I feel unwanted," Lucille huffed then turned to Cody. "What do you say, dear?"

"I have a return flight in a few hours. But I don't have to leave until..."

"I'd like it if you could stay longer. You don’t have to go back today, do you?" Marshall asked while the baby put her tiny hand on his face, which he took as encouragement.

Cody looked unsure as his gaze went from Marshall to Tessa. "My flight..."

"Oh, that's easily changed." Lucille gave him a dismissive wave of her hand and got on her phone. She then asked Marshall, "How long do you want him here?"

"Wait, I..." Cody started to object, but Lucille steamrolled right over him.

"It's to help the baby settle in, right?" she asked Marshall then turned to Cody without waiting for an answer. "You don't have any plans you can't break, do you, dear?"

"I have a few more days left at my job," Cody said but he didn't seem to have any major objections to the change of plans.

"Marshall will pay you for your time and you can quit your job early," Lucille decided.

"What do you do?" Marshall asked while Cody tried to get his head around what was happening.

"I wait tables at this burger bar by the campus. They cut back on staff for the summer. I'll need to find something else," Cody explained.

"That's good timing then," Marshall told him. "Let's go up. We can show Tessa her room and you can take one of the guestrooms upstairs. There is one right on the other side of the baby's room if you want to stay close," Marshall told him while he led the way in and carried the baby up the stairs.

Tessa was light, but he felt like he needed to watch his step like never before. A memory of falling on those very steps came back to him. He was ten and he wrenched his knee. It was crazy that his mind flashed back to a fall that happened fifteen years ago. Having Tessa in his arms was making him exceedingly cautious.

"Lucille said this house has been in your family for two generations," Cody said.

"And it looks it. I haven't changed much in here. I should, but it's too much of a disruption. It's going to be a challenge to childproof this place for Tessa. That might give me the push I need to renovate in here," Marshall told him.

"Just as long as Tessa is happy here," Cody said. Clearly she was his number one priority.

Marshall was glad he would be staying a while so he could see that she would be well taken care of. Marshall just hoped he wouldn't make a bad impression on him. Maybe Cody could cut him some slack for being brand new to being an uncle.

As they reached the landing, Marshall stopped and looked at Tessa. "You won't make me look bad, right?" he whispered in her ear.

Tessa made a sudden noise, startling him. Then she pursed her mouth and blew a raspberry.

"Should I take that personally?" he asked Cody as he came up to join him on the landing.

Cody gave him a wry look then he took Tessa's tiny hand and kissed it. Why did that have to be such a beautiful sight?

Chapter 3

If it was up to him, Cody would have held on to Tessa forever, not brought her to her rich uncle. Marshall Bowen wasn't just rich. He was insanely rich. Seeing the house confirmed it. The grounds were huge with fountains, topiaries, hedges trimmed into unnatural shapes. It was like the whole place was designed to make him ill at ease.

Going inside the mansion, Cody saw marble columns and ceilings that went on forever. The stairs were perfect for making grand entrances in ball gowns and tuxedos. Was this place built to intimidate?

And it wasn't just the house. Marshall was intimidating as hell too. Over six feet tall easy, with broad shoulders and a physique to die for, blue eyes, blond hair and chiseled features, he was stunning from head to toe. But Cody had a secret weapon. As soon as he pointed Tessa at him, Marshall went from being a scary gorgeous, rich dude to a gorgeous, rich dude who was scared of a baby. That had to be the reason Marshall shanghaied him for a few extra days.

He acted like paying him to stay on was less than pocket change to him. Cody already got an idea of how rich Tessa's uncle was when Lucille started talking about chartering a flight to bring them here. In the end, she decided they would settle for first class and just buy a few extra seats.

Though she talked about chartering planes as casually as if she was talking about buying formula, Lucille didn't seem stuck up at all. First off, she had called his mom "a darling, darling woman" and hit it off with her. Sure she was bossy, but she bossed around Marshall Bowen too, so Cody didn't hold it against her.

As they headed upstairs, Cody tried to push down his unease. He was here for Tessa. He looked up at her right in front of him, carried in her studly uncle's arms. Tiny Tessa looked even tinier when Marshall was the one holding her. He really was one hunk of a man. That didn't mean that Cody wanted to give up Tessa to him.

Once they were at the top of the stairs, Marshall stopped and huffed, "Made it."

"Those stairs are insane, but they're not the Himalayas," Cody told him. Biting his tongue would have been the smart thing to do in this situation, but he couldn't help himself. He kind of resented Marshall for taking Tessa away and also for being so unfairly hot. He was obscenely rich. The man didn't deserve any other perks on top of that.

Instead of taking offense, Marshall only smiled at him. Then he turned to Tessa. "He's not cutting me any slack for being a newbie."

"Nor should he," Lucille told him as she came up too.

Hearing them talking at the top of the stairs, a pretty brunette popped her head out of a room down the hall. Cody figured she must be the nanny and couldn't help wondering if Marshall might have hired her for her looks. While Cody eyed him suspiciously, Marshall pointed her out to Tessa. "Look, Tessa. That's Jeanine. She is going to be taking care of you."

As Jeanine got introduced to everyone, Marshall took Tessa into the nursery and showed her around. "I don't know what that is, but I'm sure you'll like it," he told her. He was a great tour guide.

Going in after them, Cody did a quick inspection as unobtrusively as he could. The room was decorated in cheerful yellow and green with touches of red. Everything was in order, top of the line and adorable. There was a cushy rocker by the window, a small fridge for formula, and all safety precautions had been observed. Noticing what he was doing, Jeanine smiled at him indulgently.

"I wasn't inspecting," Cody lied.

"Even if you were, I don’t mind," she said with confidence. OK, so maybe she wasn't hired only for her looks, and Cody was just being jealous.

He wasn't jealous of her because of any interest Marshall might have in her. The only reason he might be jealous was because she would get to take care of Tessa. Marshall might be tall, blond and gorgeous, but that didn't mean anything to Cody. He was in every way the opposite of Cody's type, and straight, as far as he knew. Not that he asked. He had no reason to. He didn't care if Marshall was straight or not. But he was probably straight.

Once she had a look around the baby's room and pronounced it "outstanding", Lucille kissed the baby on the forehead, marked her with lipstick and left to go take care of some business. Cody half expected Marshall might do the same thing, but he showed no signs of leaving. He stuck around and watched Jeanine in action as she unpacked Tessa's things which the driver brought up from the car.

After the flight and the trip from the airport, Tessa was ready for a change, a bottle and a nap. Jeanine took care of that with Cody's help and Marshall standing by. When the bottle was ready, Jeanine offered for Cody to feed the baby. He took the bottle from Jeanine and handed it to Marshall.

"Giving her a bottle isn't that hard. You try it," Cody said to him. At the moment he was the one holding Tessa though. "First sit down."

When Marshall was seated in the chair by the big window, Cody placed the baby in his arms.

She started fussing and Marshall got worried. "Am I doing something wrong?"

Actually he was holding her just right. "No. She's just hungry and tired," Cody said to reassure him.

"If you're calm, it helps her stay calm too, Mr. Bowen," Jeanine said.

Cody nodded then told Marshall. "Keep the bottle up. We don't want her swallowing bubbles." He kneeled down by the chair and helped Marshall hold the bottle tilted up while Tessa ate greedily.

"I feel like I need ten hands for this," Marshall said.

"You're doing fine," Cody told him. Then their hands brushed and Cody had to will himself not to flinch away. The touch of Marshall's hand was electric.

Cody told himself to breathe normally, not to look at Marshall or notice how good he smelled or how muscular his arms were under his button-down shirt. This wasn't about Marshall or how incredibly attractive he was. Cody was here for Tessa.

She finished most of her bottle and got drowsy soon after. Cody wanted Marshall to rock her to sleep, but Jeanine said she should go in the crib before she fell asleep. It was supposed to teach the baby how to put herself to sleep. All three of them stood over the crib watching Tessa as her eyes closed.

"She's a cute baby," Marshall whispered in Cody's ear, making him jump. He was standing so close, Cody was afraid to breathe.

"I think we should let her sleep now," Jeanine whispered and smiled at the two of them in the friendliest possible way. But what she was actually doing was kicking them out.

Finding himself outside the baby's room, Cody didn't know what he should do next.

"Do you want a tour of the house?" Marshall asked him.

"You have that much time?" Cody asked him. "A tour of this house could take hours."

"We'll make it quick," Marshall said and gave him the side-eye. "Let's start with that room. It's yours if you want it." He pointed at a door next to the baby's room.

The location was just right. "Thanks, and I think I will take it," Cody said as they went to the door of a luxuriously decorated bedroom. The furniture was stately and traditional, the bedding white with a duvet and toss pillows in a rich brown. Cody spotted his backpack on a straight-backed chair in the corner. He hardly had anything in there.

"I'm sure the driver brought up your backpack. Lucille must have told him where to put it," Marshall explained. He was probably used to other people taking care of little details like that without him having to lift a finger. To Cody, it was a little unsettling.

"I only have one change of clothes in there," Cody said. "And that was in case Tessa spit up on me." The new itinerary Lucille emailed him said he was staying for another week. He didn't pack for that.

"Don't worry about it. We'll get you whatever you need," Marshall said as they went back out into the hall. "Jeanine's room is on the other side of Tessa's. My room is down at the end of the hall."

"I don't need to know that," Cody blurted out.

"What?" Marshall said so hopefully he didn't hear what Cody said. He then showed him what else was upstairs – a few more bedrooms, a sitting room with a balcony, and a library, which Marshall called a reading room.

The whole time, Cody's mind stayed on that room at the end of the hall. Of course Cody should know where Marshall's bedroom was. What if there was an emergency? Cody could rush in there dressed only in his boxers, shake him awake, watch him get out of bed as the sheet that barely covered him fell away from his naked, muscular form.

As that fantasy took over his mind and all his senses, Cody didn't notice that Marshall stopped and he ran into his back.

"Sorry. Wasn't watching where I was going," he said.

Marshall smiled at him. "No problem. You'll learn your way around."

Cody hoped he wasn't blushing while his guilty thoughts were making him clumsy. He really needed to stop indulging in fantasies about Tessa's probably straight uncle. That was especially true now that Jeanine and the baby weren't there to act as a buffer. Cody wasn't prepared for this. He hadn't expected to be spending any time alone with Marshall.

"Just make yourself comfortable. I'll introduce you to one of the housekeepers if we run into her. There are two of them, Marta and Eva. They work in shifts. Ask them for anything you need," Marshall said as he led the way downstairs.

"What about the butler and the personal chef?" Cody asked sarcastically but Marshall answered seriously.

"No butler. But the personal chef is here only a few times a week. The housekeepers take care of the meals the rest of the time. It was only me until now. I didn't need a full staff," he said.

Cody gaped at him. "You just said that with a straight face."

Marshall looked at him with no sign of understanding how normal people lived. "You want to see the kitchen?"

As they made their way down the hall downstairs, Marshall checked his phone. That reminded Cody of what Lucille said about him being incredibly busy. "If you have to go, I'm sure I'll be able to find my way around."

For some reason Marshall didn't look happy to be let off the hook. "Sorry," he said and put away his phone.

"I wasn't complaining. Lucille told me how busy you are. I really don't want to hold you up," Cody told him.

"Oh. So you have a nice side," Marshall told him and Cody couldn't help but laugh.

"I'm not horrible. I'm just nervous," Cody admitted.

Marshall gave him a warm smile. "There's nothing to be nervous about. I really do want you to make yourself at home. Let's go have a look at the kitchen. We'll go see if Marta is in there getting lunch ready."

The kitchen was just as impressive as the rest of the house. Marta was setting up for lunch and they were introduced. She was a motherly lady in her forties or fifties, but she was very formal with Marshall, the same way Jeanine was. Marshall took it in stride. Most people probably treated him like that.

Jeanine joined them for lunch and then Marshall went off to his office in town. Once he was gone, Cody breathed a huge sigh of relief.

"He makes you nervous too," Jeanine said. Done with lunch, the two of them were getting up from the table.

"I guess he can't help it, so I shouldn't hold it against him, right?" Cody said to her. "Are we supposed to take the plates into the kitchen?"

"No. Everyone has their job. It's not a good idea to trespass on someone else's territory. It's something I learned. But you don't have to worry about that. You're a guest," Jeanine told him.

"Am I? I guess," Cody didn't know what he was. Seeing that Jeanine was heading back upstairs to the baby's room, he asked her, "Would it be OK if I hung out with you and the baby?"

"Sure. You're here for the baby's sake. I think it would be good for her to wake up to a familiar face."

"Thanks. I'll try not to bug you," Cody said as he went up with her.