The Maverick's Baby Arrangement

by Kathy Douglass

  Brittany forced herself to snap out of it. They had an agreement with terms specifically spelled out. Just because she wasn’t as certain as she’d been a couple of weeks ago didn’t give her to right to renegotiate the contract to something that suited her current desires. As a businesswoman she knew a deal was a deal.

  So she swallowed her bitterness along with the pizza and adjusted her attitude. If Daniel wanted to convince the town they were in love, that’s what she would do.

  When they’d finished eating, they boxed up the leftovers and stood. Hailey reached for Brittany and she automatically picked her up. Daniel grabbed the doggie bag with one hand and put the other one on Brittany’s waist. His hand was warm and the heat permeated her skin and all but melted her bones. She leaned against her husband just as any new bride would, then concentrated on not going up in smoke.

  The ride home was uneventful and Brittany used the time to remind herself that she and Daniel had a plan that included the dinner he’d hired her to arrange. She’d spent so much time organizing the wedding that Daniel’s event had fallen by the wayside. It was time to remove it from the back burner and give it the attention it deserved.

  When they got home, they played with Hailey for a while. Daniel tossed the baby into the air several times and she laughed loudly. Clearly, she was having the time of her life.

  Though Brittany had never dated men with children for obvious reasons, she loved watching Daniel interact with the baby. He was so gentle, giving her one hundred percent of his attention. Her happiness and well-being were the most important things in the world to him. Suddenly the sexiest thing about Daniel wasn’t his washboard abs or massive chest. It was the way he adored Hailey.

  That thought puzzled her. If she didn’t want children, and in fact wasn’t sure she even wanted a husband, why did the fact that Daniel would make a great father appeal to her so much? Why did her stomach do loop-de-loops when she heard him sing silly songs or watched him play peek-a-boo with Hailey?

  Her changing priorities worried her. She was more at ease when her attraction was limited to his physical attributes. She was even okay with admiring his ambition and business acumen. That was safe. But being pulled to him because of the way he enjoyed being a father? Her heart was skating on thin ice with that one. Too bad it wasn’t something she could control.

  She’d been lost in thought awhile and it took her a minute to realize the laughter had stopped. Turning, she looked at the floor where Daniel and Hailey had been playing. Now they were sprawled across the blanket. Daniel was lying on his back, his eyes closed. Hailey was lying across his chest, her thumb in her mouth. Brittany’s heart squeezed at the sight.

  Daniel’s eyes opened and he caught her staring at him. She just hoped he couldn’t see her emotions in her eyes.

  “Let me help you,” she said, lifting Hailey from his chest then holding the baby against her own.

  “Thanks.”

  He stood in one graceful moment. “I guess she wore herself out.”

  “It looked to me like both of you were asleep.”

  “Nah. I have energy to spare. It takes more than playing with a little girl to wear me out.”

  Brittany pressed her lips together to keep any inappropriate words from escaping. Instead she rocked back and forth, hoping the motion would keep Hailey asleep until she was in her crib. When Brittany was certain she wasn’t going to suggest they burn off their excess energy together in the way most newlyweds did, she spoke. “I’ll be right back. I’m going to put her to bed.”

  Daniel’s smile was both mischievous and mysterious and her self-control wavered. Only a moment. Then she forced herself to remember the dinner that was supposed to launch his business as well as catapult her career.

  “When I come back, I want to discuss your event. We need to kick the planning into high gear.”

  Was that disappointment on his face? It couldn’t be. Their relationship had started because of the dinner and his dude ranch. She might be his temporary wife, but she was still his event planner.

  After she’d settled Hailey, Brittany went back downstairs. Daniel hadn’t picked up the blanket, but instead was sitting on it. He looked extremely relaxed reclining against the sofa, his legs stretched out in front of him. He looked even more tantalizing than the tray of fruit and cheese beside the bottle of wine on the table.

  He gave her a lazy grin. “I know it’s a meeting, but nothing says we have to do it at a desk.”

  “I don’t recall any of our other meetings being this casual.”

  “Really? Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten about our horse ride already. I’m devastated.”

  She laughed and sat beside him. Before coming downstairs, she’d stopped in her room to grab the file. Regardless of the setting and the sexual attraction arcing between them, she intended to conduct herself professionally.

  Reaching into her notebook, she flipped to a page of suggestions she’d jotted down. She began to explain them to Daniel along with the reasons she’d chosen the path she had. After ten minutes where she was the only one doing the talking, she looked at him. He’d never been so reticent in the past. “Don’t you have anything to say?”

  “Everything sounds good.”

  “That’s it? You don’t want to change anything? You weren’t this easygoing before.”

  He shrugged. “My situation is different now than it was when I first hired you.”

  She hoped that didn’t mean he’d lost interest in the project. She was planning to use it to showcase her skills and convince Cornelius Taylor to hire her. This dinner was a steppingstone to greater things. “How?”

  “I’m married now.”

  “I know. I was there.”

  “I’m new to being a husband, so I don’t know everything.” He paused as he rubbed his chin.

  She wished he would just get to it. “We have the same amount of time in the marriage game.”

  “Well, there is a well-known saying. Happy wife, happy life. So if you like it, I love it.”

  “That’s it?” She was flabbergasted. He’d given her such a hard time before. Now that they were married, he no longer had an opinion? She couldn’t name the emotions that coursed through her body, but she was fairly certain that none of them were positive. She didn’t want favoritism. She wanted her work taken seriously. She wanted to be respected as the professional that she was.

  “As flattering as that may be,” she said, not bothering to mask the displeasure in her voice, “I’d rather you look at what I’ve done in the same way you would if we weren’t married. I put a lot of effort into this project and I want you to give it proper consideration.”

  “But we are married and I can’t pretend that we aren’t.”

  “But it’s not a real marriage.”

  “It’s real enough.”

  “Regardless, I want your input. You made it clear that this dinner is very important to you and your business. I want it to be everything you envision it to be.”

  “Okay. But you told me that you could deliver what no one else could. That you are the best at what you do. I already had faith in you and your talent. I wouldn’t have hired you otherwise. You wanted me to trust you and now that I do, you aren’t happy.”

  “I still want you to trust my abilities. But I want you to be honest about my plans. I want you to be satisfied with the dinner. If there’s something that you don’t like, say so. My feelings won’t be hurt. I don’t want you agreeing just to make your little woman happy. I need you to separate the business from the personal. Can you do that?”

  “Certainly, Mrs. Dubois.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Who said I was going to change my name?”

  “No one. It’s your right to use whichever name you want.”

  She nodded. She really hadn’t given her name serious thought. And she wasn’t going to think about i
t now. Right now she was going to focus on work.

  Once they’d cleared the air, it was easy to get down to business. They discussed her plan in detail and Daniel suggested a few changes. If she thought his idea was better, she altered the plan. If she didn’t, she pushed back, which led to quite a few spirited discussions. But when she’d scribbled the last note and closed her file, she was satisfied that they’d come up with the perfect plan. “This is going to be one spectacular dinner.”

  Daniel smiled. “Yes. Thanks to you. How long will it take to pull it all together?”

  “Not long. I’ve been in contact with several vendors. I just needed your final approval. Now that I have it, I can give everyone the go-ahead.”

  She started to stand, but he put his hand on hers. “Thank you, Brittany. You’ve gone above and beyond everything I could have expected. If you weren’t my wife and I wasn’t afraid of being accused of favoritism, I’d give you a bonus.”

  “Ah, this marriage is costing me,” she joked and then laughed.

  He laughed with her, stood and then helped her to her feet. His fingers gripped hers a little longer than necessary before he slowly released her and stepped back. Though disappointed with his withdrawal, she knew it was necessary. They’d established boundaries for a reason. Just because she was attracted to him didn’t mean she should start behaving recklessly. In fact, given everything that was at stake, she should reinforce the barriers around her heart before she did something stupid. Like throw herself into his arms and beg him to kiss her the way she’d dreamed of. Dreams were good while you slept but could lead to disaster if acted upon in real life.

  “Ah, you’ve caught on to my devious plan.”

  “I never took you for a villain.”

  “Of course, you wouldn’t. You’re not the suspicious type. If you’d been expecting it, you would have foiled my dastardly plot.” He wiggled his eyebrows and twirled a pretend mustache. Then he reached for her and she squealed, barely escaping his grasp.

  She grabbed two accent pillows from the sofa, throwing one at him and using the other as a shield.

  He dodged the pillow and flashing a devilish grin, he held her gaze as he crossed the room. Her heart pounded as he walked with exaggerated slowness. Out of nowhere, he jumped and grabbed her, pulling her to the couch beside him.

  “Now I’ve got you,” he said. He ran his hands down her back, leaving goose bumps in their wake. When they reached her waist, he pulled her close.

  She laughed, struggling to keep from wrapping her arms around his neck. Though she was practically overheating, she forced herself to play it cool. “Well, since you caught me, I’ll have to wait for my hero to come rescue me.”

  “He’ll never get past my minions.”

  She longed to stay in his arms—but knew giving in to that desire would only lead to trouble. So she gently pushed him back, letting her hand linger on his shoulder. “Well, while you’re holding down the fort, I’m going to soak in a bubble bath. See you in the morning, my villain.”

  “Not so fast there, my captive bride. You need to convince me to let you walk away.” He cupped her jaw and lowered his head to kiss her, and she knew that nothing would stop her from giving in. As she lifted her face to his, the phone rang.

  Except that.

  “Hold that thought.” He looked at the phone’s display and his smile vanished. “It’s my lawyer.”

  Daniel spoke for a few tense moments. When the call ended, he looked at her. “The social worker will be coming to see us tomorrow.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  “How do I look?” Brittany asked Daniel as she burst into his office.

  He looked up from his desk where he’d been trying, unsuccessfully, to work. This was the third outfit she’d tried on. Each was as beautiful as the one before. The lilac silk blouse and deep purple cropped pants were elegant yet understated. She looked sexy as hell but, given her curves, that wasn’t unexpected. Some things couldn’t be disguised. “You look great.”

  She frowned down at herself. “I want to look motherly, but I’m not sure this works. Maybe I should put the dress back on. Nothing says ‘mother’ like a peach floral dress.”

  He grabbed her hand before she could race back upstairs. “You look fine. Not that the social worker will be paying attention to your clothes. What will convince her that we’re the right people to raise Hailey is the way we interact with each other. That and how we treat Hailey. We have to make sure this woman knows that we’re giving Hailey a happy home so there’s no reason to place her with her grandparents.”

  “This meeting is so important to you. I don’t want to blow it.”

  “You won’t. Just be your wonderful self. Act naturally and she won’t help but be charmed.”

  She smiled softly at him and his heart thudded. Though they were putting on this dog and pony show for the social worker, Daniel discovered that he meant every word. Brittany was wonderful and, the social worker would see that, too.

  “Thanks.”

  “Now, how do I look?” he joked.

  She laughed, as he’d hoped she would. She was much too tense. Not that he was relaxed by any stretch of the imagination.

  Though he ordinarily wore jeans while working on the ranch and a suit in business meetings, he’d put on pressed khakis and a navy button-down shirt. When her eyes traveled over his body, all humor fled him, leaving lust in its wake.

  “You’ll do,” she said, her voice husky. Her cheeks had grown pink and he knew his attraction wasn’t one-sided. He put a finger under her chin and tipped her face towards his as he bent down to kiss her. Before their lips could meet, the doorbell rang, and she shot him a panicked look.

  The words that might have encouraged her escaped him, so he slipped an arm around her waist, simultaneously giving and receiving comfort.

  Brittany grabbed his hand as they walked down the hall. “We can do this.”

  He smiled. “You bet we can.”

  They walked to the front door together and ushered the social worker, who’d introduced herself as Mrs. Kasey, into the front room. He’d imagined the social worker would be a humorless older woman who dressed in bland clothes, sensible shoes and wore her hair pulled in a tight bun in the back of her hair so the woman in her thirties was a surprise.

  Despite how friendly the woman seemed, Daniel was suddenly afraid that she’d already decided against them and was merely going through the motions. His little girl was going to be taken away from him by this woman and there was nothing he could do about it.

  As if she’d sensed his mind had traveled down a dark road, Brittany squeezed his hand. He glanced at her sweet face and his pounding heart slowed until it beat normally. He squared his shoulders and a sense of purpose and confidence filled him. He wasn’t going to give up Hailey without a fight. When the social worker left, she was going to be convinced that he was a loving father who was giving Hailey a good home.

  “Welcome to our home,” he said.

  “Thank you.” She looked around the room. Her eyes landed on a framed family photo they’d taken in lieu of engagement photos. “Thank you, Daniel. It’s nice to meet you.”

  “You, too.” He introduced Brittany then offered her some refreshment, which she declined. “Would you like to have a seat?”

  Mrs. Kasey nodded and sat in the chair he’d indicated. He and Brittany sat side by side on the sofa, still holding hands.

  Once they were all settled, Daniel took the lead. “I imagine you want to get right to it. Brittany and I will be happy to answer any questions you have. Hailey is napping now, but she should be awake in half an hour or so.”

  Mrs. Kasey nodded. “You have a lovely home.”

  “Thank you,” Brittany said. “We’re very happy here. I’d be glad to show you around, if you’d like to see more of it.”

  “That would be nice.” Mrs.
Kasey pulled a file from her satchel. “I know that the two of you have only recently gotten married. How did that come about?”

  Daniel glanced at Brittany, who gave him a warm smile. The look in her eyes was so loving that, for a moment, he could actually believe she was in love with him and not simply pretending. “I’m planning on opening a dude ranch and resort on part of property. I needed to hire an event planner to help with the announcement, so I hired Brittany.”

  “Actually, he hired a couple of other companies before me,” Brittany said, bumping his shoulder with her own and giving him a teasing look before turning back to Mrs. Kasey. “They weren’t from here and didn’t know the people. Most importantly, they couldn’t come up with a plan that Daniel liked.”

  “True,” Daniel said, playing along.

  “When he finally decided to hire a local company, I jumped at the chance. I was determined to show him just what I could do. Daniel started out as a challenging client, but it didn’t take long for me to discover that he’s really a pussycat on the inside.”

  “Don’t let that get out or my reputation as a hardnosed businessman will be ruined.”

  Brittany laughed and Mrs. Kasey chuckled.

  “Anyway,” Brittany continued, “we began to spend time together working on his project. As we got to know one another, I fell in love with him.”

  “And I fell in love with her,” Daniel added.

  “I see,” Mrs. Kasey said, and Daniel wondered just what it was she saw. “You got married rather quickly. Why is that?”

  He and Brittany exchanged looks. They’d expected this question and had decided to face it head-on, keeping their answers as close to the truth as possible. That way there was less chance of screwing up and being caught. Now the words he’d rehearsed escaped him. He was still trying to recall his speech when Brittany spoke.

  “A couple of reasons. First, neither of us is a kid. I’m thirty-three and Daniel is thirty-six. We’ve had enough experiences with relationships to know what we want and what we don’t. And we know the real thing from imitation. Since we both knew our love was real, there was no reason to wait.”