“It says it converts.”
“Hmm. It is a good brand. But let’s look at a few farther down the way. We’d be smarter to get one that’s for a toddler that converts to the next stage rather than back.”
“Good point.” Honoring their tentative truce, he refrained from mentioning they were unlikely to reach the next stage in the next three months. He also ignored the pang that accompanied the thought.
He never second-guessed his decisions. Now was not the time to start doing so.
As he moved down the lane, he saw the differences in the sizing Lexi pointed out and made the decision when she waffled between two choices. He propped the big box in her cart and headed for the checkout.
“Wait,” she called out, “I want to look at the strollers while we’re here. I lent ours to a friend and never got it back.” She disappeared around the corner, giving him little choice but to follow. A glance at his watch showed they had time.
He pushed the cart past three empty lanes before finding her. She stood studying a stroller she’d pulled into the aisle. He saw the appeal.
“Sporty.” He observed of the three wheeler.
“Yeah, it can be used for walking and jogging as well as everyday use. I like it.”
“Then get it.”
She sent him a you’re not helping look. “I’m considering my budget, trying to justify the expense.”
Surprised, he checked to see if she was messing with him. He assumed he’d be paying. But no, she sincerely appeared to be struggling with her decision as if she fully expected to make the purchase.
“What the heck.” She finally succumbed. “It’ll make for more Jazi and me time.”
He applauded her reasoning. “Does that mean we’re done?”
“Almost. She’s grown so much I want to grab a couple of outfits—just enough to last until I can shop more later.”
“We’ve used our extra time, so while you do that I’m going to get in line.”
“Good idea. I’ll be right there,” she promised and rushed away.
He supposed that meant he was in charge of the stroller too. Looking for a box he spotted a tag instead indicating he’d claim the item at merchandise pickup. All the more reason to move on to the checkout counter.
With his destination set, he rounded the corner. And came to a dead stop. The endcap assaulted the eyes with a kaleidoscope of color in the form of stuffed animals. The one that caught his attention was a little blue fish with a large rainbow tail. Jazi’s fish book came to mind.
Keep it impersonal, he reminded himself, maintain your distance.
Sound advice, the only true way to navigate his way through this situation. And still he found himself reaching for the pretty stuffed fish. Leaving one home for another was always scary. Hopefully, the rainbow fish would give Jazi something to hang on to while the grownups decided her fate.
* * *
Lexi quickly grabbed some outfits for Jazi. The little girl would need them. But more than that Lexi needed the time to think. She’d been scrambling ever since she’d agreed to Jethro’s condition to move in with him.
It pained her to think of him being hurt in the foster system. He said it didn’t matter but she knew better. Still she couldn’t let it affect her. They didn’t mean anything to each other.
The searing passion she’d experienced in his arms flashed through her head.
She ruthlessly tamped it down.
Cultivating any relationship beyond parent and adoptee would be foolish and only complicate an already convoluted situation.
Which didn’t make it any easier to think of living with him.
But she’d do it. Because he held all the power in this situation.
All she had to do was make a good impression on Jethro.
Challenging him less might be a start, but that’s not who she was. She’d spent her childhood acquiescing to her mother’s wishes, seeking love and approval. All she got for her troubles was discipline and more practice. She mastered the violin and the piano. But whatever she did, her efforts were never enough to meet her mother’s exacting requirements. She was always required to do more, better.
At the age of sixteen she got invited to play the winter season with the Michigan Philharmonic. She loved it and hated it. Loved the sense of accomplishment and working with professionals. What she didn’t care for was adjusting to the maestro’s version of the music. She played the notes fine, but it jarred so strongly with her musical ear that it actually hurt.
Of course her mother accused her of acting out.
Jethro’s earlier complaint echoed of her mother’s lectures. His controlling demeanor certainly got her back up. She’d known him all of three days and she already recognized domineering as his default mode. But she’d also seen him be supportive, gentle, vulnerable, traits that made him much more approachable, even likable.
Which was way more dangerous to her peace of mind.
Best she focus on his harsher characteristics and stay as far away from him as possible over the next three months. It would be safer for all concerned.
Happier with a plan in place she headed to the front of the store and the checkout stands. Along the way she spotted a stuffed fish, blue with a rainbow tail just like the character in Jazi’s book. She tucked it into her arm, the perfect gift to distract her little ball of energy while Lexi and Jethro dealt with red tape.
At the checkout counter, Jethro was waiting for her. The big items had already been rung up and paid for. He smoothly stepped back into line at the empty counter, took the clothes from her and placed them on it. The fish he handed to the cashier. The teenager smiled and put it under the counter.
“Hey!” It all happened so fast Lexi didn’t know what to address first. “I said I was buying.” Under no circumstances did she want finances to be an issue for him to reject her. She’d made it clear she didn’t want money from him and she meant it. “And I want that fish!”
“He already bought the fish.” The teenager giggled as she held out the receipt to Jethro. “You two know your kid.”
Another customer started piling items onto the counter forcing Lexi to move along. Jethro’s hand on her elbow encouraged her toward the door.
Oh, no. She planted her feet. “I said I was going to pay.”
“I said I’d cover your expenses for the next three months. That includes Jasmine’s as well. I can afford it, Ms. Malone.”
She gritted her teeth. “Stop calling me Ms. Malone. And I can afford to care for Jazi.”
“Yes, you’ve made it clear you want nothing from me but my signature. However, those are not my terms. My reasons for giving my daughter up are my own, but dodging monetary support is not one of them.”
“I never thought it was.” Clearly she’d struck a nerve. Suppressing a sigh, she followed him to the SUV. “That’s not the point.”
“I know the point.” He loaded the stroller into the back. “I suggest we leave this discussion for when we go over the contract.”
“Contract?” Her heart leaped. “You never mentioned a contract.”
“I didn’t think I had to. Of course there will be an adoption agreement. My financial responsibilities will be outlined within it.”
Her teeth clicked together again. Her pearly whites were going to be nothing but nubs at the end of three months.
“You’re not supposed to have any financial responsibilities,” she repeated.
Instead of answering he handed her the fish.
She accepted the plush toy and realized it was an answer of sorts. The care and insight that went into the gift made her stop and think. He’d only spent a few minutes with Jazi, yet he’d noticed she liked stuffed animals and remembered a character from her fish book.
Lexi had been wrong to think his lack of desire
for a family came from disinterest or an emotional disconnect. He may wear an aloof facade, but this trip was not the simple connect-the-dots, collect-the-child exercise for him that she thought it was.
Intense emotions festered below his dispassionate expression.
It made her wonder exactly what his reasons were for giving up Jazi.
The thought disappeared when he started to load the box with the car seat into the back.
“Wait.” She stopped him. “Let’s open that up and put it in the backseat. It’ll be easier to do when we don’t have Jazi with us.”
He glanced at his watch. She bet he was five minutes early to every appointment.
“It’ll only take a few minutes. And it will be worth it, I promise. You learn to think ahead when you’re dealing with a toddler.”
He looked doubtful but he didn’t waste time arguing further. He opened the box and handed her the instructions.
She glanced at them. “On the one we had before, you secured the base first.”
“There is no base. There’s just the chair.”
And that’s exactly what the instructions showed. Lexi looked up to see he had the seat strapped in place.
“See? Easy. Now we just need to adjust the straps when we load her in.”
He cocked a dark brow at her and wordlessly tossed the empty box in the back. “Let’s go get our girl.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
IT WAS LATE AFTERNOON before Lexi carried a sleeping Jazi into Jethro’s penthouse hotel apartment. Her light weight warmed Lexi with a bone-deep satisfaction. This was where she belonged, in Lexi’s arms.
She’d held Jazi the day she was born and these last four months without her had been a living nightmare. Lexi vowed never to lose her again.
The foyer led to a large living room furnished with sleek, modern pieces. Lexi stepped into the room and saw floor-to-ceiling windows made up the exterior wall. On the far end of the area a dining room held a table big enough to seat eight. Bar stools lined up against a kitchen island though the kitchen was out of sight.
An in-wall aquarium behind the bar in the living room held the fish he’d told Jazi about.
“This way,” Jethro said. “We’ll get her settled then I’ll give you a tour.”
He’d offered to carry Jazi, but she was too precious for Lexi to give her up just yet.
He led the way down a hall and opened a door on the right. “This will be you.” Moving on a few feet, he opened a door on the left. “And this is Jasmine.” He scowled at the low, short child’s bed. “There’s been a mistake. This should be a crib. I’ll call down and get housekeeping to send someone up to fix it.”
“No.” Lexi placed Jazi on the bed and covered her with a blanket conveniently draped over the foot of the bed. “I told them to set up the bed. Diana recently told me Jazi has taken to climbing out of her crib. At least this way if she gets up in the night, she won’t have a four-foot drop.”
Jethro ran a hand over the back of his neck. “No, we wouldn’t want that.”
Lexi fussed over Jazi for another couple of minutes, taking off her shoes and tucking Rainbow, her new pet fish, under the blanket with her.
She looked up at Jethro. “Thank you for this,” she said. “Thank you so much for giving her back to me.”
He went still before slowly nodding. “We need to make it through the next three months first.”
“I haven’t forgotten.” Undeterred she kissed Jazi’s soft cheek. “But that’s just a matter of time. Soon it’ll be the two of us and we can start our life together.” She exited the room and pulled the door mostly closed, leaving only an inch open so she could hear Jazi if she woke up.
When she glanced up at Jethro, his eyes were shuttered. He nodded toward double doors at the end of the hall. “That’s me.”
“Oh. You’re close.”
He made no comment to that. Didn’t really need to. Still, she found it a little unnerving to know he was only a few feet down the hall.
From the desk in her room and the shelves and books, she figured the space must have been his office. “I’m putting you out.”
“It’s only for a few months.” He shrugged her statement away. “I do most my work downstairs. It’s no big deal.”
He struck her as a creature of habit, so she rather thought it was more of a deal than he made out, but this arrangement was his idea so she was all right with that. She’d do her best to keep Jazi’s sticky little fingers out the books but if he suffered a few casualties, it was on him.
He showed her the bathrooms, she and Jazi each had their own, the kitchen—a cook’s dream—and the media room. Like the living room, the furnishings were sleek and modern throughout but built for comfort. It was all a tad too minimalist for her tastes but it fit the game the themed hotel was based on so she got it. And the sheer luxury of it made up for a deficit of style.
The apartment exceeded the size of hers by double the square footage yet still seemed small with Jethro standing next to her. The idea of sharing this space with him for the next three months unnerved her on so many levels.
In the kitchen she opened the refrigerator and a couple of cupboards. They were empty except for ground coffee beans and stale crackers.
“I eat out a lot or order my meals from room service.” He explained. “I don’t expect you to cook, but I understand you’ll need to have food on hand. Make up a list and I’ll have groceries delivered.”
“That’s okay. I prefer to do my own shopping.” Yep, she was already looking for an excuse to escape for a few hours. “I like to cook.”
He lifted a dark brow at her claim, but didn’t challenge her. “Tomorrow I’ll introduce you to Velveth. She’s in charge of the hotel nanny service. We do an extensive background check on the nanny candidates, and they are all trained in CPR and self-defense.”
Outrage and hurt lifted her chin. “Are you saying I can’t take Jazi out on my own?”
“No.” His immediate response took the edge off her rising ire. “But if you need to go out without Jasmine, I want you to use the service.”
Shaking off the tension, she nodded. “Okay. That would work when I go to the gym. Is it okay to use the hotel facilities for my workout? Then I’d still be on-site if Jazi needed me.”
“Actually—” He stopped and then continued on. “That’s a good idea. The gym is on the fourth floor.”
“Great.” She wondered what had tripped him up but let it go. They were actually communicating without arguing. All was well.
“I have work. I’ll leave you to get settled.”
“Okay.” Her spirits rose. She’d breathe easier once he left.
“I’ll have my assistant make a reservation for dinner. I’ll collect you and Jazi at six.”
“Sounds like a plan.” She followed him to the door, held it open all the while resisting the urge to shove him through it and snap the lock. “See you later, dear.”
* * *
Little brat. Jethro brooded on Lexi’s farewell message all the way to his desk. Too strange having people share his space.
Except for a few rare occasions when he had to host one of his foster brothers, it had been years since he’d had anyone stay over with him. He liked to keep his private space private. One of the contributing factors in why his long-term relationships failed. Long term being nine months and that experience only lasted so long because she’d been in the middle of a merger and too busy to notice the distance he maintained between them.
He foresaw Lexi and Jazi leaving an indelible stamp on his life.
He opened his bottom drawer and pulled out the contract Ryan had sent down. Lexi kept insisting she didn’t need financial compensation, but today he’d seen the prices of baby equipment and how much stuff came with a child. And there was Jazi’s futur
e to consider—he wanted her to be able to go to a decent college. He needed to do his part. Locating that section, he made a few significant changes.
After booting up his laptop, he sent Ryan a short email outlining the changes. Five minutes later the man stood in his office.
“I thought this woman didn’t want any money from you.” Ryan dropped into a visitor’s chair.
“You know it’s not about the money for me. I’m not attempting to dodge my financial responsibilities.”
“Obviously not.” Ryan held up his phone, where he’d apparently read the email. “What changed your mind? Did Ms. Malone change her tune?”
“Quite the opposite.” He told Ryan how appalled Lexi had been when he paid for the few items at the baby store. “I understand the strategy behind keeping money out of the equation when she approached me. But once I recognized Jasmine as mine, the situation changed. I’m not a stingy man.”
“Of course not.”
“Doesn’t she realize by refusing my assistance she’s insulting me and doing an injustice to Jasmine?”
“It’s not about the support,” Ryan stated. “It’s about control.”
“What’s that mean? I’ve seen her finances—I know she can afford to support Jasmine. But with my help, they’d both have a better quality of life.”
“And that monthly payment would be a permanent link to you.”
“Why is that a bad thing?”
“Consider if the circumstances were reversed.”
Jethro scowled. “I don’t see the problem.”
“Because you’re being stubborn. If you adopted a child and were trying to raise her would you want a monthly reminder going to the child’s mother? Wouldn’t it make you worry that someday she might decide she wants to be a part of the child’s life?”
“That’s not going to happen.”
“Are you sure? You seem pretty involved.”
“Of course I’m involved. They’re in my home. But it’s temporary.” He tossed his pen down on his desk. “When the three months are up, I’ll be out of the picture.”
The CEO's Surprise Family Page 8
