Page 19 of One More Baby for the Boss

Elijah nodded. “I know that feeling too well.”

“That’s why I went on the road,” she said. “I started taking whatever jobs I could find, and when none of them lasted very long, I never minded, because the idea of settling in any one place scared me. I don’t feel that way now. I feel like I could settle down if I wanted to. I’m just too used to this life. But I bring this up because I want to say that it’s possible to leave your crutch behind you. You’ve been leaning on your work to help you deal with the loss you experienced. That’s understandable. But you can move on from that.”

“And I should,” Elijah agreed. “I know I should. If I let myself be disappointing to Jack in any way because I couldn’t deal with my grief, I’ll have let both of us down. I’ll have let Stephanie down, too. That’s the last thing in the world she would have wanted for us.”

“Tell me if there’s anything I can do to be helpful,” Alex said. “I know how challenging all this is. I really just want the best for you both. I’ve grown so fond of Jack, you know.”

“I do see that,” Elijah said. “And I love that for him. It’s great to see him bond with someone after all this time on his own. I’ve worried about him. I’m glad he has you.”

She smiled lightly. “So you really aren’t going to fire me?”

“I wouldn’t dream of it.”

“And if there’s more I want to say about what I think Jack needs?”

He raised his eyebrows. “Is there more you want to say?”

“Not at the moment,” she grinned. “I just want to clarify whether you’d welcome hearing something like that from me.”

“Absolutely,” Elijah said. “I want to know everything about my son, believe me. And next time you come to me the way you did the other night, I’ll do my very best not to get defensive about it. You deserve to be listened to, and I want to hear what you can tell me about Jack.”

Alex nodded. “Thank you,” she said. “I really appreciate that. I was intimidated to talk to you, and the truth is that Ihavebeen thinking maybe I went too far. It’s a relief to hear you tell me I didn’t.”

“Don’t hesitate to tell me what you think,” he told her.

“I won’t,” she said with a smile.

“And unpack your things. You’re not going anywhere.”

She laughed. “I’ll unpack in the morning,” she said. “It’s getting late. I wasn’t looking forward to staying up all night doing this. I thought you might well let me go in the morning — I’ve been expecting it to happen any day now. If I’m staying, unpacking can wait until the sun is up.”

“Sounds good to me,” he said. “I’m going to get to bed too.”

“Elijah?”

He turned back toward her. “Did you need something?”

“I wanted to ask — do you think you could take the day off tomorrow?”

Alex looked so hopeful and eager that he didn’t think he could possibly have said no, even though he did have work to do. “What were you thinking?”

“I thought we could spend the day together,” she said, getting up off the bed and moving toward him.

His heart skipped a beat. What was she getting at? She wanted to spend the day with him?

Then, belatedly, he understood, and he felt foolish for his mistake. She’d meant himandJack. She meant the three of them could spend the day together. Of course that was what she was saying.

And yet, for a moment, when he had heard her words the other way, he had allowed himself to picture it. A day spent in the company of a beautiful, attractive woman. The first woman in four years to have captured his interest in this way.

He’d been staring at her for far too long, he realized. She was waiting for him to answer her question.

Except that she was staring up at him too, and standing a lot closer to him than the situation strictly called for, and suddenly he wasn’t sure anymore.

I could reach out and touch her right now. There’s nothing stopping me. And I think she just might let me.

For a heart stopping second, he very nearly did it.

Then a small voice said, “Daddy?”

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