Page 84 of Boss's Baby Surprise

“She’s in the bathroom.”

Okay, I could do this. I didn’t have to worry about what to feed him. I could ask. “Do you drink milk or orange juice with breakfast?”

It seemed odd that my son was almost six, and I had no idea whether he even drank milk.

“Milk makes my tummy hurt,” he said.

I paused and looked at him. “Really? Mine too.” I was fine with processed dairy, but not milk. “Does cheese give you a tummy ache?” I asked.

“No. They get mad at me sometimes at school because everybody has to drink milk except for me.”

“What do you drink at school?”

“Water or juice boxes,” he said.

There was so much about him that I didn’t know, and it felt like I should, such as his lactose intolerance.

“Are there foods you can’t have, like peanuts?”

“My friend Declan is allergic to peanuts. His mommy won’t let him even have candy with them.”

“But your mommy lets you have peanuts?”

“I can’t have peanut butter and jelly sandwiches at school because it will make Declan very, very, very, very”—he kept saying very— “sick, and I don’t want to make Declan sick.”

“That sounds like you’re being a good friend, keeping him from getting sick. What does Mommy drink?”

“Mommy likes coffee,” he said and then proceeded to make a face. Clearly, he didn’t like coffee. The conversation felt a little surreal, but then again, most conversations with Leo were not anything I could have expected.

“Good morning,” Clarissa mumbled as she staggered into the kitchen, her hair a sexy mess, and she had put on a pair of comfortable looking pajamas that I found to be sexier than I think she intended them to be. Then again, it was Clarissa whowas exceptionally sexy this morning. “Oh, coffee, good.” She went straight to the coffee maker and poured herself a cup.

“Leo was telling me that milk gives him a tummy ache,” I said.

She padded across to where I stood in front of the stove and stared down at the food.

“That looks delicious,” she said. “I hope that it tastes as good as it smells. Yeah, he can’t have milk. He seems to be okay with ice cream, yogurt, and cheese, and anything that’s been processed.”

“I’m that way too,” I said.

She stopped and stared at me for a moment before shrugging. “I guess that makes sense because he certainly didn’t get that from me.”

Her phone rang. She picked it up from where she had left it charging the evening before.

“Oh, crap!”

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“Marci and Davey are headed back earlier than I expected,” she said, “and…” She read the front of her phone. “It looks like things did not go the way Marci wanted them to. They are headed back early.”

“That sounds like I’ll be heading out right after breakfast,” I said.

“Thank you for understanding.”

I spent the rest of the day thinking about how disappointed her friend must have been when she was expecting a proposal. I needed to make sure that I did not let Clarissa down that way ever again. However, on Monday morning, I received a messagethat had me worried that I might. Sullivan sent a lengthy email from the Hong Kong office explaining how the client for a new building wanted me on hand.

Sullivan was perfectly capable of handling the client’s every need. I needed to be here for Clarissa and Leo. She would never, ever forgive me if I left now. I knew this was my last chance at winning the woman I loved and keeping her in my life.

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