Page 9 of Silver Fox's Secret Baby

My gut clenched at the thought of Samantha going to work for Oliver Cantor, Playboy Extraordinaire. His television show was less about building a business and more of a hobby of a son of an ultra-wealthy billionaire. "Maybe, but I'd worry about the stability of working with him. He could change his mind and the show and everybody working on it would be gone."

Victoria cocked her head to the side as if she was thinking about that. "I guess. I’d hire her, but I just put everything in place so that I can take time off when the baby comes. I'm down to one lean, mean business machine, and I can't afford to take her on. Plus, it wouldn't be right to get rid of somebody who has been loyal to me to give her a job." Victoria scrunched up her face. "Is that bad?"

"It's not bad, honey. Besides, she could go back to Seattle."

Victoria pouted. "I don't want her to go back to Seattle. Besides, the Seattle job laid her off. Why go back?"

“Maybe she has a life there.” I thought of her son’s father. What was the deal with them?

"Do you think you could call him and have him hire her back? I mean, you did get her that job in the first place,” Victoria asked.

I nodded, even though inside I was saying no, I wouldn't do that. The thought of Samantha leaving again wasn't sitting right with me, which didn't make any sense because the situation hadn't changed much. She wasn’t my intern, but she was still my daughter's best friend. And at forty-eight years old, I was still a pervert to be lusting after the twenty-six-year-old woman. If she stayed in town, she would continue to occupy space in my head, and wouldn't it be better to make that stop? Or at least dwindle down to almost nothing like it had been before? For that to happen, she needed to leave, and yet...

"If I called her boss, he might want her to go back to Seattle."

"But he allowed her to work from home for a while,” she said hopefully.

"Maybe he can’t allow it anymore. Maybe that’s why he let her go." It couldn’t have possibly been for poor work, unless caring for her mother had impacted her job.

Victoria sank back on the couch, staring ahead as she idly rubbed her belly. "There must be something we can do. She's a mom. She can't be left destitute. What father would do that?"

"Carl Layton would. He'd sell his own mother."

"I was over there today. Her little boy, Pax, is such a cutie patootie. I hope little Hank here is as cool as him."

I arched a brow. "Hank?"

She grinned at me. "Yes, that was the other reason I came to talk to you. Alex and I have decided that if the baby is a boy, which the sonogram clearly shows it is, we want to name him Henry."

I shook my head. "Does Alex think this is going to change my opinion about him?"

She made a face at me. "Naming him Henry was my idea, and Alex went along with it. And maybe there was an idea that you would soften to him a little bit more than you have, but he also knows that you’re a stubborn, hard-headed man, so he’s not holding his breath."

"You know, I don't like to be called Hank."

"We’re not calling you Hank. We’re calling the baby Hank. It's cute, Dad."

I shrugged. "Whatever you say, sweetheart."

We finished our conversation, and then I helped her up from the couch and walked her to the door. She was heading home to her husband, where her life was now. That irked me about Alex too. He got so much of her time.

I returned to my desk with the intention of going through reports, but of course, Samantha was first and foremost in my mind. But now it wasn't the memory of seeing her again six months ago at Victoria's wedding that haunted me. Now was the idea that she was jobless and homeless due to that fucker, Carl Layton. Carl was one of those assholes who was always trying to rub elbows with people of my social stature. I was sure he would’ve liked to have been viewed as being one of us. But he was too much of a dick.

Still, maybe I could act like I was including him as a buddy, and he'd learn to look out for his daughter like I had with mine. I quickly dismissed that idea. Carl was incapable of love. Oh, sure, he was able to fake it. He’d been able to convince Gwen, a woman from one of the oldest moneyed families in the city, that he was devoted to her. But he stopped trying to fake it a long time ago, and Gwen was too proud, or maybe she actually loved him, to get rid of him.

I began racking my brain for people I knew who might need Samantha’s skills. A couple who came up wouldn’t be a good fit as they weren’t family-friendly employers, and as a single mom, Samantha would need that.

The other problem that needed to be solved was that she needed a place to live. Even if she got a new job tomorrow, unless it had a signing bonus or she had some savings, she was going to have a difficult time finding an affordable place in Manhattan. Deposits and first-month rent were outrageous, even in tiny apartments.

"Mr. Banion."

I looked up to see Knightly, my butler and assistant, in the doorway.

"Yes, Knightly."

"Your dinner is ready. And also, Mrs. Tillis wanted to know if she should spruce up the nursery on the third floor. Her thinking is that Victoria might come and visit with the new baby more often if they had a place."

I furrowed my brow. "She and Alex have a home not too far from us. Why would she need to stay here?"

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