Page 4 of A Baby Surprise For My Billionaire Boss

“Yeah, okay.” Charlie had always been good about observing bedtime — it was one struggle, at least, that they didn’t have.

But as he watched his son disappear up the stairs to the bedroom, Eli wondered what he was going to do. Without childcare, he was going to have to stay home from work tomorrow, and probably the next day as well.

Arrangements were going to have to be made for a new nanny as quickly as possible.

CHAPTER 2

MADDIE

“Ihave amazing news!” Tess said happily as Maddie came in the door of the small house the two of them shared.

“You look excited,” Maddie observed.

“I am!” Tess agreed, bouncing up and down on her toes.

“Can I take a shower first?” Maddie laughed. She’d just come from the beach and was still in her lifeguard suit. It was getting cold underneath the tracksuit she always wore over it when her shift was over, and she had been thinking of a nice hot shower ever since she’d left work.

“This won’t take long,” Tess promised. “I’ve been anxious to tell you all day.”

“Okay, okay,” Maddie agreed with a smile — Tess’s energy was infectious. “What’s the big news?”

“Damian wants us to live together!”

“Oh, wow.” Maddie’s eyes widened. “That’s big.”

“I know, right? I had no idea it was coming so soon!”

To tell the truth, Maddie hadn’t expected it either. Tess and Damian had only been dating for six months, and while they made a fairly cute couple, the move seemed rushed to Maddie. She didn’t want to rain on her friend’s parade, but she couldn’t help wondering whether Tess had really thought this through.

Between the two of them, Tess had always been the flighty, impulsive one. And sometimes that was great. It had been Tess’s idea for the two of them to move to San Diego after college. It had been Tess who had suggested renting this house — they hadn’t even looked at any other places. They had been out for a walk one day and had seen the place with a for-rent sign, and Tess had been immediately in love. She’d insisted on walking in for a look, and they had submitted their application later that day.

Maddie wasn’t like that. Her approach to life was much more cautious. Maybe that was why she hadn’t been on a date in over a year. She’d been asked, but it had always seemed like such a big step to take with someone she didn’t even know. It was an idea that Tess laughed at, reminding her that going out on one date was no commitment at all and that she might as well give it a try, but the longer Maddie went without dating, the more difficult a hurdle it began to feel like.

“So when are you going to move in with him?” she asked.

“As soon as possible,” Tess said. “Now that we’ve decided to do it, neither one of us wants to wait.”

Maddie had to smile. That was classic Tess. “I think this calls for some champagne,” she said. “Do we still have that bottle?”

“I think so.” Tess went to the fridge and pulled it out. “I knew there would be a good occasion to open this soon. I had a sixth sense about it.”

“You and your sixth senses,” Maddie laughed, getting down a couple of glasses. “I’m going to miss having you as a roommate, Tess! We’ve been living together since we were teenagers!” The two of them had been assigned to one another freshman year, and they had never looked back.

“I know,” Tess groaned. “You’re like one of my sisters at this point, we’ve lived together so long. Whose clothes am I going to borrow? Not Damian’s!”

“You may have to start doing laundry more regularly.”

“Gross. Maybe I can get Damian to do that for me.”

“You probably can. He adores you.”

“Well, it’s not as if it’s going to be right away,” Tess said, sipping her champagne. “Us being separated, I mean.”

“What are you talking about? You just said you and Damian wanted to move in together as soon as possible. I assumed you were talking about doing it this week or something. That sounds like you.”

“Oh, yeah, I mean he’s going to start moving his things in tomorrow,” Tess said. “But we already talked about it, and we don’t want to kick you out right away or anything. You can take as much time as you need to find a new place.”

Maddie set her glass down slowly. “Oh,” she said, realizing that she had misunderstood. “You’re talking about him moving in here.”

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