Page 17 of A Baby Surprise For My Billionaire Boss

The two of them changed into swimsuits. It was a treat to Maddie to wear a casual suit instead of her usual guard suit, and though she still opted for a one-piece — it seemed a little inappropriate to choose a bikini while she was working — she picked a blue-and-white halter that showed off her tan and felt a little more fun. She met Charlie outside and he cannonballed right into the water while Maddie laid her towel on one of the pool chairs and settled in to sunbathe and supervise.

It was a warm and relaxing day, and she kept one eye on Charlie as she started to relax, but she wasn’t paying attention to what was going on behind her, so she was surprised by the sound of a voice.

“That’s a nice swimsuit.”

Maddie sat bolt upright and turned. Eli was standing there.

It was strange — he’d seen her in a swimsuit before, of course, and this one was far from indecent, yet for some reason she was more conscious of the fact that she wasn’t wearing much than she had when they had met on the beach. Instinctively, she grabbed her towel. “I thought you were at work,” she managed.

“I came home to pick up some documents,” he said. “My office looks out on the pool, and I saw the twoof you out here and thought I would come say hello.”

“Dad!” Charlie came splashing over to the side of the pool and climbed out, getting water everywhere. “Are you home from work? Can you come swimming with me?”

The excitement on his face nearly broke Maddie’s heart, especially when Eli shook his head. “I have to go back to work,” he said. “But it looks like you and Maddie are having a good time, huh?”

Charlie looked disappointed, but not crestfallen, and Maddie could only assume it was because he was used to this from his father. “Yeah,” he said. “We’re going to make spaghetti for lunch.”

“Maybe you’ll save me some.”

“We will!”

“Okay. You two have a fun day swimming,” Eli said. “I’ll see you tonight.”

Maddie doubted it. Eli was never home at a reasonable hour. But she didn’t want to say anything about that in front of Charlie, so she kept quiet.

Eli looked over at her once more.

He seemed to really take her in, looking her up and down as if he was seeing her for the first time, and Maddie was aware once more of the fact that she was wearing nothing but a swimsuit. Eli seemed to be noticing that too. She wondered how it could feel like such a big deal, given the way they had met — but maybe it was because her guard suit was just a work uniform. This suit was one she had specifically bought with the intention of looking and feeling cute — though she hadn’t thought she would ever wear it in front of someone she was working for. She wondered if she would have chosen it if she had known that Eli would be stopping at home. Maybe she would have put on a cover-up.

That was silly. It was just a swimsuit. They were swimming. What else was she supposed to wear?

But even so, she found herself unable to fully relax until Eli had walked away and she and Charlie were on their own once more.

CHAPTER 7

ELI

Eli spent the rest of the day thinking about Maddie laying out by the pool and cursing the fact that he couldn’t seem to get her off his mind.

He’d found her attractive in her lifeguard suit, but there was a part of him that had long been conditioned not to stare at hot women who were just trying to work. He knew better than that. He had noticed her, but he hadn’t let it linger in his mind.

Of course, it was difficult to justify the fact that he was noticing her again now in light of that fact. She wasn’t just working — she was working forhim. He was her employer, and he had been checking her out as if she was a hottie on the beach.

It embarrassed him to think about the way he had stared at her earlier. He knew that she had noticed it, because he had seen her eyes widen as she had taken it in. He’d seen the way she had reached for her towel, as if she was embarrassed to be seen by him.

And there was no reason she should have been. He’d given a lot of thought to it, trying to decide whether her swimwear hadbeen inappropriate for a nanny, but it hadn’t been, of course. It was a pretty swimsuit, but she had been perfectly covered up — nothing he wouldn’t have expected to see on any young mother at a pool with her children.

No,hehad been the indecent one, looking at her like that. Thinking about her like that now. He was the one who was behaving inappropriately.

Even now, thinking about her made his head spin. All that smooth, tan skin, those perfect curves…

This had never been a problem with Katie. And it wasn’t as if she’d been particularly unattractive. He simply hadn’t noticed her the way he was noticing Maddie now. She’d been his son’s nanny, nothing more. Thinking back about Katie now, it was almost as if he couldn’t remember what she’d looked like. He could have described her, of course — skinny, brown hair, freckles — but he couldn’t call an image of her to mind.

Meanwhile, Maddie was burned into his thoughts, a filmstrip playing on repeat.

He needed Maddie to be nothing more than a nanny to him. He really couldn’t allow himself to think about her like this. It was entirely unprofessional.

He was glad to be coming home late that night, thinking that she might already be in bed. He’d even planned it. He could have gotten away a few hours ago, but — somewhat guilty — he had chosen to stay at the office. He had told himself that he was doing it to catch up on a backlog of emails that needed to be responded to, but that was the kind of thing he would ordinarily have done from home and he knew it. He had stayed away because he wasn’t ready to face her again.

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