Page 34 of One More Baby for the Boss

“Oh, I didn’t mean for you to go to all this trouble,” she said.

“It isn’t any trouble at all. I don’t often have anyone to share wine with, so really, you’re doing me a favor,” Elijah said.

“Are you sure?”

“Sure I’m sure.” He pointed to one of the stools at the kitchen counter. “Sit down. I’ll get the cheese and open the wine.”

“Let me open the wine for us.” She held out her hand for the bottle.

He grinned. “All right,” he agreed, passing it over. “Go ahead.”

Elijah got down a couple of small glasses, and when the bottle had been uncorked, he poured some wine into each. “Go aheadand taste,” he said as he began to cut up a few different cheeses. “Tell me what you think.”

Alex sipped the wine. It was sweeter than any she’d ever had before, and she could see that it wasn’t meant to be drunk very quickly or in very large amounts. “I like it,” she said. “It’s different.”

He nodded. “I bought that in Iceland.”

“When were you in Iceland?”

“Years ago. Before Jack was born.”

“You didn’t have to open something you’ve been saving all that time because of me,” Alex said, blushing. “I would have been all right with the cheap stuff.”

“There wouldn’t have been a better time to drink it,” he said. “You don’t know how rare it is for me to even have another adult around here, much less anything worth celebrating.”

“Are we celebrating?”

“I am,” he said.

“What’s the occasion?”

“How well Jack is doing.” He sipped his wine. “I don’t know if you can see it — you haven’t been with us that long — but he’s made so much progress since you’ve been here. He’s happier and more open, and I feel like he’s finally coming into his own. It’s so good to see him doing this well, and I know I have you to thank for it.”

“You don’t have to thank me,” Alex said. “And I don’t think it’s all my doing either, for the record. I’ve seen the way you’ve takenmore of an active role in Jack’s life, and I think he’s responding to you as much as anything else.”

Elijah set down the knife and took a sip of his own wine. “I have felt different lately,” he admitted. “I’ve been… more present. I can feel the difference.”

Alex hesitated — but he was opening up to her, and she wanted to meet him halfway. She stood and walked around to where he was, leaning against the counter as she joined him. “You are different,” she agreed. “I haven’t known you that long, but even I can see it. I see the way you’re engaging with Jack — you didn’t do that when I first met you. You’ve really brought him out of his shell. It’s been so good for him having a parent who’s deeply and actively involved in his life. You should be proud of that.”

“You do need to take some credit for it,” he said, looking her in the eyes. “I need you to understand that none of this would have happened if not for your involvement in our lives.”

Alex’s heart pounded. The way he was looking at her made her forget what they had been talking about. During the day, when Jack was around, it was easier to keep her head on straight — to remember that this gorgeous man was her boss, and that her presence here was only temporary. But now, her head lightly buzzing from the wine, standing in the quiet kitchen surrounded by the dark of night outside, it felt as if all the restraints that held them back during the day had fallen away.

And she was standing so close to him. Much too close. What had she been thinking? She should have kept her distance…

Elijah reached out to her. The time it took his hand to close the space between them seemed interminable — but then his thumbcame to rest on her upper lip, brushing away the residue of the wine that had been left there by her glass.

Alex would never remember what had compelled her to do what she did next.

She closed her eyes, leaned in, and pressed her lips to the pad of his thumb, her body nearly vibrating with sudden heat and desire.

For half a heartbeat, she was afraid to open her eyes. She was sure that his reaction would be one of shock over the fact that the two of them had gotten themselves in over their heads like this. He would recoil from her. He would tell her that they had made a terrible mistake. He would withdraw again, and Jack would be the one to pay the price for this moment of weakness—

And then Elijah’s mouth was on hers, hot and wanting, and Alex forgot all her worries and gave in to his kiss.

She knew she shouldn’t. She knew there was every chance in the world that she would regret tomorrow what they did tonight. It wasn’t a mistake she should allow herself to make when the stakes were this high.

But it was too late. She had fallen into him, and she couldn’t turn back now.

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