Billionaire Boss, Holiday Baby

by Janice Maynard

  They had been sitting on the floor with their backs against the sofa. He dropped down beside her and put a hand on her knee. “Peaches and I can always stay here. Your brother could pick you up and bring you back.”

  “I want you to come,” she said slowly. “I just don’t want anybody getting stupid ideas about you and me.”

  It was the perfect opening for him to make a suggestive remark, or even admit he wouldn’t think that was a terrible idea if it happened.

  Nathaniel did neither.

  Instead, he picked up his phone and began looking at emails. “I thought I would hear something from the investigator by now.”

  Dani swallowed her disappointment and hurt. It wasn’t Nathaniel’s fault she’d been weaving fantasies. She stood and crossed the room to put some distance between them. “Did he say how he would start his search?”

  “I imagine he’ll follow the credit card trail. That seems to be the easiest route.”

  “Except if Ophelia got stuck in one place like we were, there might be no credit card activity to find.”

  “True. But even if that were so, I’m betting today is different. As soon as transactions start popping up, he’ll find her.”

  “I hope so.” She crouched beside the baby, already half in love with Peaches herself. “She’s so sweet and good-natured. I hope that means Ophelia is a good mother most of the time.”

  Nathaniel’s expression darkened. “I didn’t have much of a mother at all, but I turned out okay, didn’t I?”

  “Of course,” Dani said lightly. If you don’t count the fact that you’re distrustful of women in general and emotionally closed off to a clinical degree. “I think there are a couple of bowl games on. If you want to watch them, I’ll read for a while. I grabbed a book when I ran up to the apartment.”

  “You don’t mind?”

  “Not at all.”

  The tension between them was impossible to ignore. Big emotions were at stake, but Nathaniel wouldn’t talk about them, and Dani couldn’t. The result was an uneasy truce.

  Peaches woke up after an hour. The atmosphere in the hotel room eased after that. The baby provided not only a center point for conversation, but plenty of hands-on work to keep them busy.

  At almost ten, Nathaniel’s cell phone dinged. His expression was triumphant as he read the text. He looked up at Dani with a grim smile. “She bought gas and groceries in Decatur.”

  “That’s good, then—right? She’s still in town?”

  “Unless she’s headed north to run away.”

  “Don’t think like that,” Dani said. “Being the mother of an infant is stressful and emotionally draining. I’ll bet Ophelia had a freak-out moment for some reason, and she brought the baby to you. Once she gets her head on straight, she’ll want Peaches back again.”

  “Let’s hope so.”

  Their little charge went out for the night not long after that. Dani showered and put on the ivory gown and robe. The king-size bed in the center of the room was an invitation for romantic sex, or so it seemed to Dani’s heated longings.

  As if he had read her mind, Nathaniel crossed the space separating them and moved behind her, linking his arms around her waist. He rested his chin on top of her head. “I hope you’re ready for bed,” he said.

  “I am pretty tired.”

  He spun her around to face him and bent to stare into her eyes. “Please tell me that was a joke. I should get stars in my crown for keeping my hands off you all day.”

  “You were too busy with the traffic to notice me.”

  “Don’t fish for compliments, elf. I’m obsessed with you, and it’s damned uncomfortable.”

  Ten

  Nathaniel had never meant to be so honest. But his moments with Dani were slipping away. He couldn’t afford to waste a single one.

  Tonight seemed like an ending—bittersweet and momentous at the same time. He was damned tempted not to let her go. Her openness and caring were the antithesis of the way he lived his life. Keeping her would be not only dangerous, but selfish. He couldn’t imagine a future without her, but he knew he wasn’t equipped to be the man she needed.

  He undressed her carefully and then removed the athletic pants he had donned after his shower. They climbed into bed without speaking. He pulled her to the center of the mattress and wrapped his arms around her. “I don’t want to hurt you, Dani.”

  Dani went rigid in his embrace. “I can take care of myself,” she said, the words tart. “Maybe you should worry about me hurting you.”

  He smiled in the darkness. She was reminding him that their relationship was a two-way street. What she couldn’t know was that he had gone years without letting women get close enough to penetrate the walls around his heart. If anyone had the power, it would have been Dani. But he was in no danger. He held all the cards.

  As long as he remained in control, everything would go according to plan. He could assign Dani to a new division and gradually wean himself from her allure.

  He hadn’t allowed himself to fall in love with her. That was how he knew everything was going to be okay.

  For the next hour, he lost himself in the pleasure of her body. The sex was as good as it had ever been, but something was a little off. His Christmas elf wasn’t as open with him as before. She held something back. Put up a few no-trespassing signs.

  Her reticence might have been infuriating if he hadn’t been balls deep in making love to her. Not loving her. There was a difference.

  Each time he made her come, he was jubilant. She might have other lovers after him, but he was determined she wouldn’t be able to erase the memories of tonight.

  Beyond that testosterone-fueled goal lingered a strange mixture of elation and terror. His body was sated, lax with bone-deep pleasure. He held Dani close and buried his face in her hair.

  It was only sex, he told himself desperately. Only sex...

  * * *

  Morning came far too soon. Peaches had given them a good six-hour stretch, taken a bottle and then gone right back to sleep until almost eight o’clock. Even so, Nathaniel wanted to spend the morning in bed. With Dani.

  As they took turns getting ready, his lover was quiet. It was just as well. He had nothing witty to say, no funny quips about melting snow or holiday blues or poopy diapers.

  Dani’s mother was preparing Christmas lunch for the midday meal. Dani and Nathaniel were instructed to arrive no later than eleven in order to have time for opening presents and taking official family photos.

  The Meadows family owned fifteen acres of land outside of town. Their property ran alongside a rich river bottom and up the side of a small hill. Dani had told him stories about running barefoot through fields of cotton and catching fireflies on hot summer nights.

  He was charmed in spite of himself. Such rustic, simple pleasures were a million miles away from his own upbringing. Oftentimes as a kid, he’d spent hours at the kitchen table, figuring out homework on his own and listening to the ticking of the mantel clock as it echoed in their elegant, lonely home.

  Shaking off the maudlin thoughts, he concentrated on maneuvering the Hummer around Gainesville. “Nice town,” he said.

  “It was a fun place to grow up. I love Atlanta, though. I’m a big-city girl at heart. I even thought about moving to New York at one time.”

  “But?”

  “It’s expensive. And I would miss my family. Atlanta is home.”

  At a red light, he braked and glanced in the rearview mirror. “Is she doing okay?”

  “Almost asleep. I wish we could drive around long enough for her get a good nap. Mom expects promptness, though. My siblings and I learned that the hard way. If we came in late from a date or a party, we’d be grounded for two weeks. It was effective punishment.”

  “Don’t take this
wrong, but it sounds like the Meadowses are a typical American family. It’s nice.”

  Dani shrugged. “You could say that. Still, even typical American families have problems, Nathaniel. Normalcy doesn’t exempt anyone from pain and tragedy.”

  He mulled over her odd answer as they drove ever closer to Dani’s childhood home. Was she trying to tell him something, or was he reading too much into her words?

  When they finally made it to the other side of town and out into the country, Nathaniel thought they were home free. The sky was gray and the trees bare, but it was warm—fifty degrees already. He hadn’t counted on the scenic creek that ran through the Meadowses’ property.

  To ascend the drive that led to the house, it was necessary to cross the creek on a narrow concrete bridge. Today, the creek was a raging river...and rising rapidly.

  Dani’s hands gripped the dash and the door, white-knuckle. “I don’t like this, Nathaniel.”

  “Hummers were meant for situations like today,” he said. “There’s barely any water over the bridge yet, so I’ll take it slow and we’ll be fine.”

  They inched their way forward. The water was still rising, but certainly not fast enough to sweep the Hummer off the bridge. For a brief moment, it occurred to him he might be getting stuck with Dani in another weather-related situation, but he ignored the thought. He tightened his grip on the wheel and pressed the gas pedal carefully.

  The vehicle kept a gratifying grip on the road surface. “See,” he said. “You were worried about nothing.”

  In the next second, he saw a large section of creek bank in front of them crumble into the muddy water. With a loud, groaning crack, a corner of the concrete bridge gave in to forces it was never meant to withstand.

  “Hold on,” Nathaniel yelled. They were six feet from safety. More of the concrete could give way at any moment. He gunned the engine, floored the gas pedal and made the unwieldy vehicle lurch forward like an elephant released from a slingshot.

  Everything happened in slow motion. Dani screamed. Another chunk of the bridge sheared off. But the Hummer came through for him. They landed on firm ground, inches away from the disaster they had so narrowly missed.

  He shifted into Park with a shaky hand and reached for Dani. “God, I’m sorry. Are you okay?” They glanced at the back seat in unison, reassuring themselves that the baby had slept through it all.

  Dani nodded, her face milk white. “I’m fine. It wasn’t your fault.”

  It was, and he would kick himself for that later, but now all he wanted to do was reassure himself they were alive. He cupped Dani’s head in two hands and turned her face up to his for a frantic kiss. His heart still beat in sickening thuds. “Your parents will shoot me,” he said hoarsely.

  Dani’s arms were wrapped so tightly around his neck she threatened to strangle him. It didn’t matter. The fragrance of her skin and the tremors that shook her body were killing him bit by bit with guilt. She might have been hurt. He could have lost her.

  “We’re fine,” she insisted, though it was clear she couldn’t stop shaking. “You saved us, Nathaniel. If we’d been on that bridge and it collapsed, we could have ended up nose first in the water. I don’t even want to think about it.”

  “Me, either,” he said. He rested his forehead against hers. “Damn it, little elf, I nearly ruined your storybook Christmas.”

  She laughed softly, her fingertips caressing the hair at his nape and making him shiver. “There was never anything storybook about this holiday. I suppose today is more of the same. Come on. Let’s go get some lunch. Adrenaline makes me hungry.”

  * * *

  Dani moved through the next hours in a dream. She’d done her best to reassure Nathaniel that their near disaster wasn’t his fault. The experience shook her to the core. Personal danger wasn’t at the heart of it. What if Peaches had come to harm? Or Nathaniel?

  The terrifying moments on the bridge replayed in slow motion in her brain, even as she greeted her family and introduced Nathaniel and Peaches all around. It had been a long time since the Meadows clan had an infant in the house, so the baby helped defuse any awkwardness about Nathaniel’s presence.

  Nathaniel himself rolled out a generous helping of charm, complimenting Dani’s parents on their home and their view. Lunch was delayed when the men decided they needed to check the status of the rising creek. The four males donned rain boots—some borrowed—and trudged down to the bottom of the hill while Dani and her mom and sister put the finishing touches on the meal.

  Dani held the baby and snitched a piece of ham. “This looks amazing, Mom. You must have been up since dawn.”

  “Angie helped a lot. Why don’t we go hang out in the den until the boys get back? No sense standing when we can sit.”

  Dani knew what was coming next. Jared hadn’t brought a date. With only her mother and sister in the room, the confrontation to come was a given.

  Angie played leadoff. “So tell me, little sis. Since when are you and the head of NCT so chummy?”

  “I explained that already. It was a weird situation. He was going to drive me to the train station, but the snow got too bad too fast.”

  “And that’s when you found the baby.” Angie rolled her eyes. “Give me a break. This sounds like an episode of a really bad soap opera.”

  Dani’s mother intervened. “Don’t be rude to your sister, Angie.” She pinned Dani with the kind of look parents perfect when their kids are still toddlers. “Are you sleeping with him?”

  “Mom!” Mortification flooded Dani’s face with heat.

  “That’s not an answer.”

  “He’s my boss,” Dani said, desperately wishing she had never initiated the idea of Nathaniel coming with her. “That would be entirely inappropriate.”

  “Danielle...” Her mother’s voice went up an octave.

  Dani clutched Peaches and straightened her spine. “There’s nothing going on between us. Nathaniel doesn’t trust women. He’s a confirmed bachelor.”

  Angie pointed across the room, sympathy on her face. “Too late, kid. Give it up. Mom was worried about the creek. She and Dad have been scouring the valley all morning.”

  Dani looked over at the cushioned seat in the bay window. There were the high-end binoculars she had bought her dad last Christmas. For bird-watching. “Oh?”

  Her sister put an arm around her waist and leaned in to whisper in her ear. “They saw the kiss, Dani. Every passionate second. You’re busted.”

  “I can explain. We were scared. It was adrenaline.”

  Her mother frowned. “Is this serious, Dani?”

  “No,” she cried. “I swear it’s not. Please don’t make a big deal about nothing.”

  Fortunately, the men returned before her mother could continue the inquisition. Dani was temporarily saved from further embarrassment. Everyone was hungry, so presents had to wait.

  Over lunch, the adults teased each other with old stories about Christmases past. The year Jared opened all his presents in the middle of the night and tried to rewrap them before morning. The time Angie cried when she didn’t get a doll she had actually forgotten to ask Santa for. And then Dani’s most embarrassing Christmas. The one when her high-school boyfriend gave her a kitten because he didn’t know she was allergic.

  Jared finished the tale. “Oh, man, Nathaniel, you should have seen Dani. She was covered in red welts from head to toe. It was the quickest breakup in the history of teenage dating.”

  Nathaniel grinned. “It’s hard to imagine. The Dani I know at work never gets flustered by anything.”

  “Okay,” Dani said. “Enough family stories. Pass the sweet potatoes, please. Mom, why don’t you and Dad tell Nathaniel about your trip to Hong Kong last summer.”

  * * *

  Nathaniel was actually having fun. He had expected to sit
back as a spectator while Dani enjoyed holiday rituals with her family. Instead, he had been pulled into the fray with a vengeance. The Meadows clan swapped jokes and debated blockbuster movies and argued politics passionately, including Nathaniel at every turn.

  The only subject completely off-limits was Peaches. He knew Dani had explained the bare bones of the situation. Dani’s siblings and parents handled the baby’s presence with sensitivity. They didn’t ignore her, but they also didn’t say or do anything to make Nathaniel feel uncomfortable.

  In the unlikely situation in which he found himself, his hosts’ kindness and generosity were extraordinary. “May I propose a toast?” he asked as Mrs. Meadows brought out a ten-layer apple stack cake and a bowl of freshly whipped cream.

  “Of course,” Jared said. “But do it quick—before we all fall asleep. The tryptophan in the turkey is doing a number on me.”

  Nathaniel raised his glass of wine. “To snowstorms and spontaneity and hospitable families. Thanks for including me.”

  “Hear, hear,” Dani’s father said. “Now, about that Hummer...”

  As Jared and his father argued over who would get first turn behind the wheel, Nathaniel followed Dani into the den where a mound of beautifully wrapped presents was piled beneath a real Fraser fir Christmas tree. The room smelled amazing, a cross between Alpine ski weekends and the comfort of home.

  For a moment, Nathaniel felt a keen sense of loss for something he had never known in the first place. Shaking off the odd feeling, he took the baby from Dani. “You’ve been holding her forever. My turn, I think.”

  It was eye-opening to watch how the siblings and Dani’s parents related to her. At New Century Tech, Nathaniel knew Dani as sharp and capable and goal oriented. In this setting, she was the “baby” of the crew. They petted her and teased her. Perhaps it was so ingrained in the family dynamic they didn’t realize how much they underestimated her.

  Nathaniel had done nearly the same on a more personal level. At work, he kept such rigid boundaries he never allowed himself to fully appreciate Dani’s qualities as a woman, though the physical awareness had been there all along. It had taken a massive snowstorm to make him see what he was missing.