Page 39 of The Boss's Baby Affair

The hesitation stretched into a pulsing pause, became overlong, and the moment passed.

Finally, he took the conversational olive branch she’d offered. “A bit of lint on my trousers hardly matters.”

Everything that mattered in his life sat right in front of him. Jennie, snuggled into Candace’s lap, holding on to his thumb like there was no tomorrow. Candace, her cheeks flushed with exertion, her eyes sparkling.

“Candace—”

Her eyes were bright, inquiring. “Mmm?”

“That was my doctor.”

The brightness faded a little.

“And?”

“The tests are back. You were right. Jennie is my daughter.”

Ominously, she didn’t say that she’d told him so. She tightened her arms around the baby until Jennie objected. Her stillness was starting to concern him.

He needed them…both of them.

Jennie perched on Candace’s lap looking comfortable and at ease. Both had been so utterly absorbed in each other until he’d come along and ruined it. They didn’t need him at all.

That realization made his heart miss a beat.

For the first time he had some inkling of how Jilly must’ve felt in those long years she was married to him.

He’d behaved like a bastard, resenting the fact that Jilly had trapped him into a marriage he hadn’t wanted…yet couldn’t refuse. It had been a choice between the devil and the deep blue sea, and he’d been determined not to drown. So Jilly, the agent of his downfall, had borne the brunt of his anger.

Nick was starting to like himself less and less…

As if she sensed his thoughts, Jennie dropped his thumb and turned her attention to tugging at strands of blond hair that had escaped Candace’s hair tie. Instead of pulling away, Candace simply laughed.

Nick cleared his throat. “Look, every year there’s a carnival at the Super Center on the Sunday closest to Valentine’s Day. That’s this weekend. It’s very festive.” God, he was starting to sound desperate. With studied casualness he asked, “Would you like to come with me this year?”

“You’re asking me on a date? To be your Valentine?”

Damn.

He couldn’t read her expression. What the hell was he supposed to say now?

Nick forced a laugh. “No, no. Nothing like that.”

“Oh…”

God, he was screwing this up badly.

“Candace—” He broke off and reached out the hand Jennie had held and covered Candace’s with it. She flinched.

He withdrew swiftly and brushed a nonexistent piece of fluff from his jacket, trying to face up to the fact that he wasn’t behaving with very much subtlety or grace.

“I just thought you might want to join us—spend the day with Jennie.”

The joy that lit up her eyes was blinding. “Thank you. I’d love that.”

So spending the day with him held no appeal, but spending it with Jennie was something else. He should’ve expected that. He might be driven by lust, but clearly Candace didn’t reciprocate.

Ah, well. “Valentine’s…growing happy families. A loving home begins at Valentine’s.”

“What?” Confusion clouded her eyes.

“Those slogans are part of our latest advertising campaign,” he explained.

“Oh, yes.” Her face had cleared. “I’ve seen the television ads.”

She didn’t think he’d lost it.

Yet.

Just as well she couldn’t read his mind—she’d have run screaming from the room.

“It’s a day for families,” he said awkwardly. “For Jennie’s sake, you should be there.”

This time Candace didn’t say a word.

Nick wondered if that had been overkill. Too late to wish he hadn’t been quite so heavy-handed on the whole family angle. There was nothing for him to do but rise to his feet and say, “Well, I’d better get moving or I’ll be late for work.”

“You’re the boss, what would it matter?”

“It matters,” he said. “I’ve always believed a boss should lead by example. And lately I’ve been sneaking out quite a bit.”

Though what worried him most was how much he’d enjoyed playing hooky.

The temperature rose swiftly, turning into one of those glorious summer days that lingered.

With Nick at work, Candace decided to take advantage of the weather and take Jennie swimming. The water in the pool was silken and cool—and Jennie was in her element, hanging over Candace’s arm, smacking the surface of the water with fat palms while Candace laughed.

All through the day she’d been kicking herself. Why hadn’t she told Nick that Jennie should live with her, not him? She’d had the perfect opportunity this morning…

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