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wanting to cooperate with him.”
    Megan sighed. “You are one of the most rational people I know, but you’re being completely irrational about this.”
    Paige knew it was true, but she wasn’t quite sure how to explain it.
    â€œSomething about him just sets off my radar,” she finally admitted.
    Her cousin’s eyebrows lifted. “Your I-don’t-trust-this-guy radar? Or your I-don’t-trust-myself-around-this-guy radar?”
    Paige frowned.
    â€œBecause I may be happily married and eleven months pregnant—” she glanced down at her enormous belly “—but even I couldn’t miss the fact that Zach Crawford is seriously hot.”
    â€œHe’s a lieutenant colonel in the United States Air Force.”
    â€œWhich, for a lot of women, would only further enhancehis appeal. Yummy good looks, perfectly sculpted body, strong moral character and dedication to his country.”
    â€œNone of which qualifies him to assume the care of a fourteen-month-old baby, even if she is his daughter.”
    Megan nodded slowly. “Now I get it.”
    â€œWhat do you get?” Paige asked warily.
    â€œThat this isn’t about Zach at all.”
    â€œIt’s about Emma.”
    â€œMaybe,” her cousin acknowledged. “And maybe it’s about the fact that Colonel Phillip Wilder was a respected military leader but a complete screwup as a father.”
    â€œIt’s about Emma,” Paige insisted.
    And although there was no disputing that Paige was genuinely concerned about the child’s well-being, it was obvious to both of them that there were more issues to be dealt with than the custody of one little girl.
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    Zach stayed through the morning, just hanging around while Emma played. Sometimes Emma approached Paige, wanting her help with some task or another, and although she cast frequent curious glances in Zach’s direction, the little girl kept a careful distance between herself and the stranger.
    To his credit, Zach didn’t push to engage her in play or conversation and he didn’t hover. He just stayed in the background, silently observing. Paige knew it was ridiculous, but she couldn’t help feeling that her every word and her every action were being monitored by the man who claimed to be the little girl’s father.
    When it was time for Emma’s lunch, she felt compelled to offer to feed him, too. And he responded with such genuine appreciation, she felt guilty for making the offer so begrudgingly.
    They munched on sandwiches while Emma tackled cooked noodles and vegetables with her six teeth.
    â€œShe’ll go down for a nap after lunch,” Paige told him, as she cleared their plates away. Hint, hint.
    â€œI guess that’s my cue to head out,” he said.
    â€œI try to use the time when she’s asleep to catch up on e-mail and other business matters.”
    â€œI thought you were on vacation.”
    She shook her head. “I’m actually on a leave of absence right now.”
    â€œWhy?”
    â€œBecause I didn’t realize the firm frowned upon an attorney giving closing arguments in a trial with a baby strapped to her chest in a Snugli.” Not so long ago, she would have been horrified by the thought of putting a baby carrier on over one of her favorite Armani jackets, but almost six months with Emma had changed her perspective—and her priorities.
    His lips curved. “Did you really?”
    â€œI didn’t have a choice,” she explained. “The day before, when I picked Emma up from Annabelle’s—that’s her sitter—she warned me that one of the other kids she looks after had been throwing up. So I kept an eye on Emma for any signs of lethargy or fever, but she was fine. Unfortunately, though, Annabelle caught the bug and she called at six o’clock the next morning to tell me that she wouldn’t be able to take Emma that day.”
    â€œThis is