Page 21 of The Boss's Baby Affair

Nick followed, cradling the baby. Jennie’s mouth twitched in her sleep.

Mrs. Busby was standing inside the front door. “Mrs. Timmings is in the living room.”

Relief filled Candace. Alison Timmings was a sensible woman—even if her brother was crazy.

“I’ll take Jennie to the nursery.” Nick’s stare dared Candace to argue with him. To Mrs. Busby he added, “Tell my sister I won’t be long, please.”

“Nick?” In the archway that opened into the living room appeared the tall brunette that Candace had first met when Jennie was admitted to hospital while Nick was away. “I heard your voice. I tried your office, but Pauline said you’d left hours ago. Where have you been?”

Without waiting for an answer, Nick’s sister came toward them, her high heels tapping on the marble tiles. She smiled a greeting to Candace before making a beeline for the baby in Nick’s arms. “Hello, sweetheart.”

Jennie woke and smiled at Alison, holding her short arms out wide.

Her aunt swept her up in a swarm of cooing sounds. Jennie immediately clutched a handful of pearls and thrust them into her mouth.

“Looks like she’s teething, Nick.” Alison rescued her necklace from the baby.

“It would appear so.” He moved closer. “Here, give her to me.”

“I’ll take her.” Candace came up on the other side of his sister.

“Thank you, Candace.” Alison surrendered the baby gracefully. For a moment Candace thought Nick was going to object to her having possession of the child, but then his sister was saying, “It’s not like you to swan out of the office.”

“Hardly swanning—although we did see some black ones after I met Candace at the doctor’s office for Jennie to be checked out.”

“You took her back to the doctor? Is anything wrong?” Alison asked at once, glancing to Candace for a reply.

“No, Jennie’s fine,” said Candace soothingly. “She was restless last night, running a bit of a temperature, so I wanted to make sure there was no resurgence of the infection.”

“You’re so good to her.”

“Thank you.” She smiled at the other woman. “I’ll take Jennie upstairs so you two can talk.”

“Not so fast.” Nick moved to obstruct her. “I’m not letting you go anywhere until we’ve finished our discussion.”

What he meant was I’m not letting you out of my sight, Candace thought rebelliously.

His sister must’ve thought the same thing. “Nick, you’re being rude—and you’re frightening Candace.”

Ignoring his sister’s interjection, he gave her a mean stare. “She’s not frightened enough.”

“Nick!”

Even as Alison objected, Candace’s heart sped up. She hugged Jennie tightly. “I’m not going to back down on the truth. You don’t scare me.”

Alison glanced from Candace to her brother. “What truth? Anyone care to fill me in about what’s going on?”

“Candace claims she’s Jennie’s mother.”

Nick’s dismissive tone set Candace’s teeth on edge. She still couldn’t swallow that he hadn’t known. “Claims? You know I’m Jennie’s mother! You contracted me to donate the eggs and share my womb so you and Jilly could have the child she so desperately wanted.”

“Contracted?” Nick gave a snort. “Why would I want to do that?”

Candace gave him a cold stare over the baby’s head. “Because you and Jilly were unable to have your own child.”

He stared. His features tightened. “IVF worked successfully for Jilly and me.”

Jennie shifted restlessly in her arms and Candace unsuccessfully ducked her head sideways as Jennie grabbed a handful of her hair. When she’d extracted the strands from Jennie’s hands she said, “Be honest. Jilly told me all about the struggles you were having—that IVF wasn’t working. That’s why the two of you decided to look for an egg donor, someone who could carry the baby for her. Which, of course, is where I came in.”

Now both Nick and Alison were staring at her as if she’d grown two heads.

“What?” asked Candace. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“It’s true that the IVF didn’t work in the initial attempts.” Nick appeared to be picking his words with care. “But then Jilly tried a new procedure at an overseas clinic.”

“What my brother is trying to say,” cut in Alison, “is that Jilly was pregnant.” With her arms she mimed a swollen belly. “Very pregnant. She gave birth—to Jennie.”

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