Page 7 of The Boss's Triplet Surprise

When he returned, Leah had everything set up to continue working. Dan sat across from her, and they began bouncing ideas back and forth for what to say and how to engage the audience, which would be comprised mainly of doctors and pharmaceutical reps. Leah found that she enjoyed the conversation with him. He listened to her ideas and asked numerous follow-up questions, which showed that he really cared about her point of view. Leah was also impressed by the ideas Dan shared and the way he could pull together complicated thoughts into a concise phrase or two.

They worked long into the afternoon, practicing the presentation until they could both have given it in their sleep.

After a final practice, Leah said as much. “I think we’re ready now.”

Dan hesitated. “I think we might need one more practice session.”

“Really?” Leah tilted her head to the side. “I mean, I’m happy to practice, but is there something wrong with the presentation so far?”

“No.” Dan smiled warmly. “I just think that practice makes perfect. And it’s such an important presentation.”

“Okay, then. One more practice session it is.”

“How about Monday afternoon?” Dan suggested.

“That works for me. My calendar is fairly open now that the development stage is complete.”

“Perfect. I’ll set up a meeting.”

They agreed on a time, then Leah got to her feet and held out a hand to him. “It was a pleasure working with you on this.”

“You as well.” Dan stood and enveloped Leah’s hand in his. Once again, the contact made her heart flutter. His hand was so strong and warm and large. Leah quickly let go, not wanting to draw out the connection any further.

“See you on Monday.”

“See you then.”

Leah left the office feeling a little confused. The presentation practice seemed to have gone perfectly, yet Dan wanted another session. Perhaps he wasn’t satisfied with some part of her speech or his own. Or maybe, just maybe, he wanted to spend more time with her. The thought was thrilling — and a little concerning.

You’re getting ahead of yourself, Adams. It would just be a business meeting, like they’d had today.

Yet, as Leah headed home, walking instead of taking the bus, to enjoy the fresh spring air, she couldn’t stop thinking of Dan. He’d seemed different today, both a little sadder and a little more real than the confident, assertive CEO she’d grown familiar with over her years at RMA. It had been refreshing.

But Leah had her goal. She’d decided only that morning to focus on herself and her family. Even if, by some strange coincidence, Dan did return her feelings, Leah didn’t know that much about him. She couldn’t let herself get distracted from her future.

She would have to be careful.

The rest of the walk home, her thoughts drifted from the children she saw around her and her dreams of becoming a mother to the time she’d spent with Dan. Today had given her a lot to think about.

CHAPTER 4

DAN

Dan sat in his office a while longer, even after Leah had gone home. It was a beautiful, sunny Saturday and Dan knew that he should go home, take a walk, or at least spend some time in a park enjoying the weather. Yet he couldn’t quite move on.

The afternoon with Leah had been… well, it had been nice. It was clear that she’d made an effort to be both professional and friendly, which Dan admired. It was also clear, as he had noticed during previous meetings, that Leah was very intelligent and competent. He had enjoyed hearing her ideas.

In short, Leah was smart, funny, thoughtful, and beautiful — everything Richard had always wanted for Dan. If Leah were his girlfriend, his father would hand over the keys to the kingdom, as it were, in a heartbeat.

Asking Leah out would be a mistake, though. Dan knew that as clearly as he knew how thrilled his father would be. He and Leah were colleagues — she worked for him. Even if he wanted to date her properly, instead of just show her off to his father, it wouldn’t be appropriate for them to be romantically involved. And a relationship would distract from the career Dan had spent his life building.

It was worse than that, though, because Dan would be using Leah. As wonderful as he thought she was, he was more focused on how dating her would help his career and his relationship with his father than on what it would be like to be with Leah romantically. It wouldn’t be fair for him to date her if all he wanted was a career boost. That would be a betrayal of the highest order, and Leah deserved better.

So, Leah wouldn’t work as the girlfriend Dan needed.

As much as he knew that, though, he still couldn’t put the beautiful scientist out of his mind. He smiled to himself as he remembered her positive attitude and her little jokes as they’d worked on the presentation. Leah really was something special.

That was why Dan had asked to work with her again on Monday. They had the presentation down pat; Dan knew that. But he didn’t want to give up his time with Leah quite yet.

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