Page 51 of Daddy's Unexpected Gift

This had to be one of the stupidest things I had ever done. I stared at the elevator door as I rode up to Sterling’s penthouse.

“Miss Cecelia,” Wayne said as the elevator doors slid open. “Welcome back. Mr. Sterling and Miss Georgie are in the kitchen. Will you be needing a coffee this morning?”

“No, thank you, and I’m not here.” It felt wrong saying that. I shouldn’t be here. This was a mistake.

“Precisely. Mr. Sterling has filled me in, and discretion is a substantial part of my job,” he said with a curt nod.

Now I was curious. What secrets did Wayne know? Probably every woman Sterling ever slept with—not that I wanted to know or was curious. I just couldn’t think of any other secrets Sterling could possibly have.

I followed Wayne into the kitchen. Sterling sat in front of Georgie’s highchair, spooning oatmeal into her wide-open mouth. She looked like a little bird waiting for mama bird to feed her. He wore a tight gray T-shirt and soft lounge pants. Did he know how sexy that look was? Or how incredibly attractive his being a loving, responsible father to Georgie was?

“I shouldn’t be here,” I blurted out. My gut twisted into knots.

“Stanholt isn’t scheduled to come over, so you wont run into her in the elevator or anything, if that’s your concern,” Sterling said. He gave me a dazzling smile before returning his attention to feeding Georgie. She was noticeably cleaner than the last time I watched him feed her. He didn’t have oatmeal smeared all over himself, either.

“But I do have an appointment, so let's get started. This isn’t a social call.” I put my work tote bag on the table and pulled out a chair.

“What happened to the bag I gave you?”

“I can’t carry that bag around on my salary. Too many questions. Are you ready to go over your lists? Do you have copies for me?”

“Didn’t you keep copies?” Sterling asked.

“I had to turn everything in. You’re not my client, remember?”

“I haven’t forgotten, but you are certainly acting like I am. Bossing me around, telling me what to do,” he said. I thought I heard a chuckle in his voice, but I couldn’t be sure.

I let out a long, weary sigh and slumped into the chair. “Sorry,” I said. “I’m nervous about this whole thing. I shouldn’t have come over before work.”

“I’m glad you did. Happy to see you. But if coming in before your other appointments is going to be too stressful, how about you come back after work? We can have dinner and I can show off my ability to get Georgie and me through a complete day.”

It was nice to see him. And I had missed Georgie, even though it had only been two days since our picnic. “Tonight?”

“Yes, tonight. Do you have your phone with you?”

I shook my head. It was safe and sound and tucked away with the tote bag.

“That doesn’t matter, just come.”

I nodded my head. “Okay. I will. I should get going. I need to pick up some groceries on my way.”

“You do grocery shopping now?” Sterling asked.

“I want to help out. A quick shopping trip is just a drop in the bucket for this family. It's the least I can do, especially since I’m already late.” I gathered my things and started to head out.

Sterling caught my arm. I twisted to look at him. He tugged, and I leaned over. His lips pressed to mine. “I’ll see you later.”

Starting off the day with a kiss from Sterling had me floating. Everything seemed so much easier. Even Lucille and Hector were having a good day. I wasn’t scheduled to go into the office at all, so as soon as I left their house, I went home to change.

I knew I didn’t have to get dressed up for dinner with Sterling and Georgie. I just didn’t want to be in my work clothes. I put on a cute dress and a pair of sandals and headed back out to his apartment.

I waved at the door man. It was the same one as this morning. “I’m headed up to Sterling Alexander’s,” I said as I continued to the elevator that would take me all the way to the top of the building.

“Just a moment, please,” he said.

I stopped and blinked at him a few times. He knew me. He always just waved me up. Holding up a finger indicating I should wait, he picked up the phone. He nodded a few times before putting the receiver down. “Mr. Alexander has requested you wait in the lobby. He will be right down.”

“Oh, okay.” Sterling never had me wait for him before. What was he up to?

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