This whole business was stressing him out and the sooner his lawyers identified Daisy’s real father, then the better for all of them.

* * *

Jenny was relieved when Monday came.

She was finding it harder and harder to relax around Alex.

Everything about him was aggressively masculine, from the way he always took command of every situation to the way he lay sprawled on one of his sofas, watching cricket on his wide-screen TV or listening to music through headphones.

She’d thought that she wanted Alex to spend more time with Daisy but what she hadn’t considered was that spending time with Daisy inevitably meant spending time with him. And being forced into close contact with Alex Westerling for the best part of two whole days had left her feeling decidedly unsettled. Even though she knew he couldn’t possibly be interested in her, she couldn’t forget his comment about her walking into the wolf’s lair.

But at least he’d started to show an interest in Daisy.

The day before, he’d insisted that they all go to the beach and he’d carried the little girl into the sea, dangling her feet in the water until she’d chortled with laughter. Jenny had watched quietly from her position on the sand, a lump in her throat as she’d seen Alex smile indulgently as the little girl had kicked her legs and splashed him.

When she’d nervously cooked dinner he’d reined in the sarcastic comments and merely complimented her on her cooking.

In fact, he’d proved to be such entertaining company over dinner that she’d had to forcibly remind herself that he was the same man who had seduced Chloe and then left her.

All in all the whole weekend had left her feeling increasingly confused and unsettled. Before she’d turned up on his doorstep she’d thought she’d known exactly the sort of man Alex Westerling was. Now she wasn’t so sure.

Fortunately she was prevented from dwelling on the situation by the arrival of an ambulance.

‘Little boy tried to run in front of a car,’ the paramedic told her as he pushed the trolley into the main area of the A and E department. ‘Mother managed to grab hold of him but he fell and hit his face on the pavement. He’s going to have a nasty black eye.’

Jenny glanced up as a young woman rushed into the department, dragging a toddler behind her and carrying a baby. She looked unbelievably upset and harassed.

‘I just can’t believe he did that.’ She pressed a hand to her chest, her breath coming in gasps. ‘One minute I was in the bank cashing a cheque, and the next minute he just grinned at me and dashed out of the door as if it was all a big game. I only just stopped him from going into the road and there was this lorry…’

She closed her eyes tightly and Jenny winced, experiencing the same mental images as the mother.

If she hadn’t caught up with the child—