Page 63 of The Billionaire & the Nanny: Part 4

Liam flies out of the puppeteer’s hands and lands in my arms. The hug he gives me is everything I’ll ever need today. I kiss his little cheek ten times in rapid succession. I can’t do anything about the tears that start overflowing. But of course, there’s more, because there’s no Liam in my life without Kase.

Immediately, I see him. He stands and sighs from the effort of having carried Liam all this time. Inside my cubicle is his stroller, strewn flower petals, pens, pencils, highlighters, staplers, and erasers that have been chucked and thrown and played with in my absence, and a general mess. A mess I’ve missed.

“Kase! What are you doing here?” I’m so shocked and confused, I’m spilling my coffee in the hand that’s holding Liam, and Cassie takes it out of my grip for me.

“I had no idea you knew Kase Hardwin,” she whispers in my ear then gives me a knowing look. With a short stack of papers, she fans herself.

I don’t just know him, I want to tell her. I love him, hate him, and ache for him every day of my life. I lay in bed at night wondering why my life took such a crap turn, why I can’t have what I most want in this world, and how I’m supposed to move on without him. And now, he’s here, and I direct all that energy at him with my gaze.

“I got Liam back,” Kase says. Everyone around us hushes. “They took him from me, Alana. I couldn’t handle it, couldn’t cope. I’d lost it all.”

“I can’t imagine,” I tell him.

He continues to keep his distance. He’s wary, as if hoping that Liam will act as a probe on this new territory, scoping out where my anger might still be but thinking about where his new hope might be colonized.

“How did you manage to get him back?” I ask. Because we’re talking privately, my coworkers begin to shrink back, minding their own business but still eavesdropping. I know them—noseys.

“I offered Raymond the old man’s business.”

“Newfound?”

“Yes. It’s worth billions. I knew it was all he wanted. I asked him to sign adoption papers in return, and he did. I’m Liam’s father now, Alana. Officially.” A certain peace settles over his face, his smile reflecting inner harmony. It’s a look I’ve never seen on Kase before.

I can’t believe it—Liam’s back home.

Kase approaches, slowly assessing. I’m receptive, though still hurt. Curling an arm around me, he reels me in, and I lose it. I start crying against his shirt. His buttoned work shirt thinly covers that strong chest, a body I’ve missed, a body I had thought of as mine then felt stupid when I realized it never was. Maybe I was wrong. Why is he here? To show me he got Liam back?

“That’s amazing, Kase. I’m so happy for you.” But what does this mean for me?

Liam wiggles, wanting to be put down, and I’m reticent. “He wants to go.”

“Let him. Watch.”

The second I set him on the floor, he crawls the cubicle corner, pulls himself to his feet, and toddles into the workspace to begin picking up markers, pens, and pencils. I bite my lip to keep from crying again. “He’s walking?”

“Can you believe it? Right in time for this first birthday.” Kase hugs me then steps back. As Cassie comes in to swoop Liam out of view, clearly having been enlisted to help with the baby, Kase takes the roses and hands them to me. “For you, hon.”

Pink and white blooms fill my vision. They smell so beautiful, but what is this?

“Alana Frasier,” Kase says, “in honor of Liam’s first birthday…” It’s today—his first birthday is today! It’s been five months since I’ve known this lovely little family. “I want you to know that I was crazy for you from the first moment I met you. You walked into my office and right away, I knew you were special. At first, I hated you because of it.”

My coworkers all “awww.” They’re definitely eavesdropping, and now my ribcage is pulsing with anticipation. Is he doing what I think he’s doing?

“Kase…”

He holds out his hand so I can let him talk. “I hated you because you were the beginning of me changing, Alana. I had everything so perfectly in place—perfect fortress walls around, perfect forcefields up—then you come along and start shooting cannonballs at my defenses. I thought keeping you away from me would be the answer. But it only made me realize how much I missed you. And then, when they came and took Liam away, I really lost it all.”

Behind me, I hear sniffles from Cassie and other women coworkers.

I can’t believe this. I can’t believe Kase is here, in my office, pouring his heart out in front of everyone.

“But I’ve done a lot of thinking, Alana, and I know in my heart that I don’t have a choice in the matter. I have to love you. I have to let you in. You came into my life to save me. What kind of man would I be if I turned away my one and only angel?” He drops to his knees, and right at that moment, the meerkat heads pop up again.

I’m going to die. I’m going to die then wake up a completely new person with a new, bright future. The first time I tell my parents and friends that I have a boyfriend will be the same day I announce my engagement. Life doesn’t always happen the way you expect it to. But the surprise is always better.

“Kase…”

“Alana Frasier, I’ve thought long and hard…” He pulls out a small box from his pocket and opens it, offering it up to me. Inside is the biggest ROCK of pure awesome I have ever seen in my life. “There’s only one life for me,” he says. “A life with you. Would you please make me the happiest man on earth and be my wife?”

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