The Boss's Baby Affair (4 page)

C
andace
was
furious with him.

It wasn't apparent from what she said, but rather from the overly cool, calm manner in which she had greeted his arrival. Nick decided he would've preferred it if she'd raged at him. Instead he was conscious of the chasm of chilly disapproval that divided them.

After leaving the doctor's rooms, Nick had given the keys to the Ferrari to Mr. Busby to take home and loaded Candace and Jennie into the more conservative Daimler, which at least provided space for Jennie's car seat. Rather ironically, Nick planned to buy Candace coffee from the café at the closest Valentine's—which had been the topic of his recent argument with Desmond.

Nick hoped the parklike surroundings and pretty gardens would pacify her—and he figured he owed her some sort of explanation.

“I'm sorry,” he said finally, stopping at a crossing to allow a group of boys to wheel their bikes across.

“Sorry?” She turned her head. The eyes that clashed with his radiated silver-white heat that her cool civility couldn't cloak.

Incongruously, the heat caused desire to leap in his gut.

“I mean it.” He'd never apologized to Jilly in the seven years they'd been married. Not for arriving home when dinner had congealed on the plates. Not when he'd left her standing on her own at one of the society events that were so important to her. Not even when he'd missed Jennie's birth—although that had been the one time that he'd come close.

He'd figured there was no point apologizing for anything to a woman who'd charmed her father into trapping the bridegroom she'd wanted at all costs. Saying
sorry
would've been a lie.

This was different.

“I suppose you had some life-threatening crisis at work?” she said.

Nick thought of Desmond's threat to sell Jilly's stock in Valentine's as he pulled away from the crossing. “Something like that.”

“That's what I expected.”

It was the weary, defeated note in Candace's voice that caused Nick to throw her a quick, sharp glance before focusing back on the road ahead. “I got there, didn't I?”

“Halfway through the deferred appointment, if that's what you mean.”

He'd cursed the city traffic all the way. Now she couldn't even thank him for almost killing himself to get there. “The baby is fine. The doctor couldn't find anything wrong.”

“But what if she hadn't been?”

Her tone was full of suppressed anger and disappointment and…some other emotion he couldn't name.

Why was this so important to her?

There was no point arguing. Yet a twinge of shame twisted deep within him. Nick nosed the car into a side lane and
turned into the parking lot beyond. After bringing the Daimler to a halt he switched it off and changed the subject. “This is one of my centers. There's a café that overlooks a lake. Let me buy you a coffee.”

She wrapped her arms around her middle and turned her head away so he couldn't read those all-too-expressive eyes. “Nick, I don't need you to buy me a coffee. I needed you to be there for Jennie.”

“Maybe Jennie would like to see the ducks.”

That evoked a response, though not one that he wanted to answer. “Is that the real reason we're here? Because you want to show Jennie the ducks?”

Nick searched her frozen features for sarcasm, but couldn't find any. “My first thought was that I owed you an apology.” He spread his hands. “But it
is
a good place to show Jennie some ducks. I can't wait to see her face. She's going to love it.”

It was the truth. To Nick's immense surprise, he was looking forward to watching Jennie's reaction.

The baby's birth had unleashed a startling realization of all that was wrong in his life. Beginning with his sham marriage to Jilly. A deal to which he should never have agreed. “Nick…”

The uncertain note in Candace's voice captured his attention. The stiffness had left her face, although her arms were still wrapped protectively around herself. “Yes?”

“You and I need to talk.”

Her expression told him that she wasn't looking forward to whatever she wanted to talk to him about. After a second's pause, Nick instinctively knew what it was about.

Damn, he should never have given in to that wild, insane urge to kiss her. God knew what she was making of his bringing her here for coffee.

Dismissively he said, “You're making too much out of the fact that I want to buy you coffee to apologize. This isn't a
date…or any attempt to change the footing of our relationship to anything more personal—you don't need to worry about that.”

Nick knew he was lying through his teeth. Despite his promise that there would be no more kisses, he hungered to kiss her again, and see if she tasted as good as he remembered.

But she was good for Jennie…and he needed her for Jennie's sake. He couldn't afford to screw it all up and have her leave.

He could sense her stiffening in the seat beside him, and Jennie didn't help matters by letting out a squawk from the rear seat. “I never thought this was a date,” Candace told him with an edge in her voice.

“Then what do you want to talk about?”

“You and Jennie—but now is probably not a good time. Jennie wants out of the car.”

Candace scrambled from the Daimler as if she couldn't wait to escape the cocoon of the car's interior, and the passenger door slammed behind her.

Nick gritted his teeth. Okay, so he'd sure got that wrong. Badly. Sex was the last thing on her mind. Whereas he couldn't think of much else. All he could think about was repeating the “mistake” they'd made the night before.

Except Nick couldn't view that kiss as a mistake. Unprofessional? Hell, yes. But a mistake? No way.

Nick had always gone after what he wanted. And right now he wanted Candace. But he didn't want to spook her and lose her. Nor could he rid himself of the wriggle of discomfort over his ruthless desire to seduce someone who worked for him. He'd never been tempted to do anything like that before.

But then again he'd never experienced anything like this.

He wanted Jennie's nanny.

And what was more, he was certain Candace desired him, too, despite her cool annoyance. The challenge lay in getting
her to admit her desire—especially after all the lengths he'd gone to in order to convince her that he wasn't interested.

Yet Candace wanted to talk about him and Jennie, the last thing Nick wanted. He
never
talked about Jennie—about his suspicions that she wasn't really his daughter.

 

By the time Nick had gotten himself firmly back in control, Candace had already taken Jennie out of the rear car seat. Nick pressed the key fob to open the trunk, hoisted the stroller out and unfolded it.

He took Jennie from Candace and lowered her into the stroller. She let out a howl of protest and went rigid.

“Hey,” he chided her, “stop that.”

The objection grew more vociferous.

Nick shot Candace a helpless glance. She was watching him through narrowed eyes—okay, so he was on his own. He transferred his attention back to Jennie; he wasn't about to let a baby defeat him.

“Come on, missy, be still. Let me buckle you in.”

Jennie let out a yell of objection. It was clear to Nick—and to anyone who cared to listen—that she had no intention of submitting to being strapped into the stroller. Time to change tactics.

“After we show you the ducks I'll take you up to the café. You can have a treat—an ice cream,” he said craftily.

Jennie greeted his bribe with the contempt it deserved and simply shrieked more loudly.

“You little hellion,” he told her softly, his admiration growing in leaps and bounds.

The noise stopped abruptly. Eyeing him assessingly, Jennie cooed and blew a raspberry.

Nick couldn't help himself—he laughed, then leaned down and planted a kiss on her plump cheek. It was soft, like a peach. A wave of emotion rushed through him.

What did it matter if she wasn't his child? No one except he would ever know that Jilly had played him for a fool.

There was no point in maintaining the distance he'd been keeping from Jennie. She didn't deserve to suffer; after all, she was the only innocent party in the entire mess.

And if he wanted, she could be his. All his.

“You
are
a hellion,” he said, impressed.

She gave him a gummy smile and capitulated, allowing him to put her into the stroller.

In that moment Nick felt his heart constrict and he fell irrevocably in love.

“You're also a wicked flirt,” he scolded Jennie as the clip for the restraining strap locked into place.

A movement out the corner of his eye had him lifting his head. Candace was watching them. The look in her eyes was full of yearning, but as she caught him studying her, shutters dropped into place.

It was possible that Candace was as ready as he to take their relationship to its inevitable conclusion. Yet Nick suspected that Candace would want more than simply sex. And while he could never tell her the true reason why he'd held Jennie at a distance, it might help to divulge the precarious position he was in with Valentine's. It wouldn't be easy to share that knowledge; he'd always handled his problems by himself, in his own way. He'd never been the kind of man who shared his concerns.

Maybe it was time to let a little of his tightly leashed control slip.

 

The idea of letting his control slip became even more attractive as Nick followed Candace through the rose-covered archway and down the pathway to the landscaped parklands by the lake. He couldn't help but notice the pert curve of her bottom under the fitted, narrow black jeans. Her long legs picked up speed when the path dipped as they approached
the water's edge, causing the stroller to roll faster and faster. In the breeze her blond hair streamed like a banner over her shoulders.

When he caught up to her at the edge of the lake, she wasn't even breathing hard.

“This is a wonderful spot.” She knelt down and pointed at the water. “See the ducks, Jennie?”

At last he'd done something she approved of. Nick couldn't stop the surge of pleasure.

Jennie was sitting bolt upright, starfish fingers pushing on the arms of the stroller, her eyes wide with excitement.

For the first time since leaving his office, Nick started to relax. This might work. There was still a chance for them…for him and Jennie.

More than a chance.

Resolve set in and Nick's jaw firmed. He had a responsibility to Jennie. He'd agreed to donate his seed for the baby Jilly wanted, even though he knew, almost to the day, that Jilly had changed her mind. She'd stopped talking about
their
baby…started talking about
her
baby. Initially, it hadn't sunk in that she'd found another donor…a lover. Hindsight was twenty-twenty.

Yet after Jilly's return from the fertility clinic on the Southeast Asian island of Namkhet, he'd been sure of it. It wasn't his sperm that had impregnated Jilly….

But Nick no longer cared. All that mattered was the baby leaning forward in the stroller, her eyes gleaming with delight. So vital and full of life. The child everyone believed to be his daughter. He spared a glance at the woman kneeling beside the stroller. Candace had made her opinion clear—he didn't deserve Jennie. But what did her opinion matter? Jennie could be his daughter…all he needed to do was accept her. He'd already made a start. It was proving to be much easier than he'd ever imagined—and the rewards were pure pleasure.

And little Jennie didn't know it was a lie. To Jennie he was the only father she'd known.

Nick vowed that he would
make
it work. He would prove Candace wrong. He was the only family Jennie had.

 

A pair of black swans glided toward them, long necks gracefully arched. Candace started to smile as Jennie beat her arms up and down and let out a squeak. Even Nick grinned at the baby's antics.

“Sorry, no food.” Candace spread her hands out as the swans slowed in front of them.

“Look, there are even eels,” Nick said as an inquisitive nose poked out the water. “See?” Jennie was all eyes. “Want to take a closer look?”

Not liking the sound of that, Candace said quickly, “She's fine in the stroller.”

But Nick ignored her warning and unclipped the restraint. “Come on,” he told Jennie. “I'll show you.”

Jennie hung out of his arms as he hoisted her up, her arms flapping frantically. Little breathless puffs of baby excitement filled the air, and Candace clambered to her feet. “Nick, this isn't a good idea—”

“Don't be such a killjoy!”

Ducks crowded around, craning their necks, beady eyes fixed on him. In the water, the swans paddled in one spot. Nick laughed, shrugging aside the cautioning hand Candace placed on his arm as Jennie gurgled with unrestrained glee.

“Just look at her.” With Nick reveling in the baby's amazement, Candace didn't have the heart to spoil the moment. “Next time we'll bring bread,” he promised the baby.

More ducks were scrambling out of the water.

“Nick, that's probably close enough.” Candace cast an anxious glance at the water's edge. “Those are geese coming—and they can be quite aggressive.”

“Jennie's having the time of her life. And so am I.”

There was no suitable response to that. Candace let out the breath she was holding and tried to stop hyperventilating about the way Jennie was hanging over his arm. He wouldn't drop the baby, she told herself. He really wouldn't…

So why couldn't she relax? She ought to be thrilled Nick was having such fun with Jennie, yet Candace couldn't stop fretting as she cast a wary glance along the grassy bank to the trio of advancing, honking geese.