Page 13 of One More Baby for the Boss

Maybe that was why Elijah had hired her. Maybe he was hoping someone would finally bring his son under a bit more control. And Alex knew that was something she was capableof. She didn’t have much experience with children, but she felt comfortable enough with Jack already to see that she could influence his behavior.

But she couldn’t be everything he needed. She knew that too. Supervision was all well and good, but the real reason behind the way Jack was acting out was that he missed his father — she was almost sure of it.

She wondered whether she would be able to find some way to bring that up to Elijah. Would he be willing to hear what she had to say on the subject? Had he hired her hoping that she would be able to help him improve his relationship with his son, or was he just hoping that she would take the responsibility for Jack off of his plate so that he could continue to give all of his attention to work?

If that was what he wanted, Alex decided, he was going to be disappointed. She didn’t care about catering to Elijah in order to keep this job. She didn’t know how he was accustomed to treating his staff, but he was going to learn pretty quickly that she wasn’t afraid of standing up to authority. The worst thing he could do was fire her, and what was the harm in that? She was going to move on eventually anyway.

I’ll find some time to have a talk with him, she decided.Maybe he’ll listen or maybe he won’t, but at the very least, I’m going to plant the seed.

They finished their omelets. “Want to go outside and set up the soccer goal?” Alex asked her young charge. “I’m not very good at soccer, but maybe you could teach me a few things.”

“I’m good,” Jack boasted. “I can get it in the goal almost every time.”

“That’s great. Why don’t you show me?”

They left the kitchen and went outside. Jack led her to a small shed on the far side of the expansive yard. It opened with a four-digit code. “This is my shed,” he explained, pulling the door open to reveal a vast collection of sporting equipment and toys. “I’m allowed to go in here any time I want.”

“It’s great that you have so many fun things to play with,” Alex said.

“Most of them aren’t that fun,” he admitted.

“Why not? These toys look like lots of fun.” She picked up a baseball bat. “Are you a good batter?”

He shrugged. “There’s never anybody to pitch.”

“Oh,” she said, setting the bat down. “I see the problem.”

“Yeah.”

“Maybe I can pitch to you sometime.”

“Are you a pitcher?”

“Not really. But I do know how to throw a ball, so maybe you and I can figure it out together.”

Jack smiled hesitantly. “That might be fun.”

“I think so,” Alex said. “But today, soccer.” She grabbed the goal that stood beside the wall of the shed. “Get your ball and let’s go.”

The two of them spent the rest of the morning kicking the ball into the net. Jack didn’t seem to care about things like technique or keeping score — he was more interested in showing off histrick shots. Alex was glad. It was good to see him act like a little kid.

She wondered idly whether Elijah had ever seen any of these shots. Whether he had ever taken any time to play with his son.

If he hadn’t, he was missing out — and she would make sure he knew it.

CHAPTER 6

ELIJAH

The first week of Alex’s employment had gone well. Elijah had found himself more able to focus on work than he’d ever been in the past, and as a result, he had gotten so much done that he had a bit of leisure time on Saturday evening. It wasn’t typical for him to have free time at night. He usually went straight from work to bed. But now he thought, why not take advantage of the situation and get a glass of wine? It would be good to celebrate how well his new hiring decision was working out.

He was on his way down to the wine cellar when he ran into Alex, coming from the direction of the wing she and Jack shared.

“Everything all right?” he asked.

“Everything’s good,” she said. “I just got Jack into bed. He was pretty tired. We’ve been shooting hoops all day.”

“Shooting hoops? Like basketball?”

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