Mom for the CEO's Daughter

by Susan Meier

  Mom for the CEO’s Daughter

  Susan Meier

  www.millsandboon.co.uk

  Contents

  Title Page

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Copyright

  Chapter One

  She brought a bikini?

  Gabriel Fulton, owner of Fulton Everything, stared at his usually prim and proper assistant as she walked from his beach house toward him and his four-year-old daughter, Stacy. He hastily shut his sagging-in-disbelief mouth. But as his assistant got closer, her long legs making short order of the shiny white sand of the beach in Charleston, South Carolina, his mouth fell open again.

  “That’s some suit.”

  Hot pink with tiny bikini briefs held together by string ties on both sides of her hips, it could only be worn by someone with a smoking hot bod. He’d have never suspected conservative Kara Kincaid fit the bill. But she did.

  She laughed. “I’m a twenty-seven-year-old single woman. What did you think I’d wear to the beach? A turtleneck and jeans?”

  Yes. That’s exactly what he’d thought. Well, maybe not exactly, but he certainly hadn’t expected a bikini. Normally she wore bland suits and white blouses, her red hair always caught in a fat bun at her nape. He’d assumed she owned a one-piece. Never in a million years would he have guessed she’d wear a suit so…so…hot that it kicked his hormones awake. Or that she’d unbind her glorious auburn hair and let it fly around her in the ocean breeze.

  “You gave me two-hours warning that we’d be working from the beach for two weeks. I couldn’t shop. I had to pack what I had.”

  “It’s pretty,” Stacy piped in. Shielding her eyes from the sun, his blue-eyed, blond-haired daughter grinned. “You look like Barbie.”

  Smiling, Kara stooped down beside her. “Thanks.”

  “You’re welcome,” Stacy said as she bounced up to retrieve a plastic bucket that had rolled away in the ocean breeze.

  Kara quickly faced Gabe. “So why the sudden shift in plans?”

  Irritation flared in his gut at his ex-wife. He hated the way she made last-minute demands when it came to Stacy, knowing he’d never let his baby girl down. Normally, he didn’t talk about his ex, but he and Kara had no secrets.

  A fact that suddenly struck him as odd. He wasn’t the type of guy to confide in anyone, yet somehow Kara had bridged all his defenses.

  He shook his head. She was his assistant. Trusted assistant. She needed to be informed. Of course they didn’t have secrets.

  “My ex brought Stacy to my house an hour before her flight departed, saying she’d made a sudden decision to go to London. I had no choice except to bring Stacy with me. But with you along, I’ll get to spend time with Stacy and we’ll still be able to negotiate the Bronson takeover.”

  “Well, if plans have to change, this is a nice way to change them.” She sucked in the salt air, causing her full breasts to rise and fall and his temperature to hit simmer.

  He squeezed his eyes shut in frustration. Why was he suddenly noticing these things about his assistant?

  “Seems to me that this is one of the perks of being rich. You own a beach house. You have privacy to negotiate your super-secret deal, and you can still be with your daughter.” She turned to Stacy who returned with the flyaway plastic pail. “I’ll bet you love it here, don’t you?”

  Stacy nodded. “And there’s usually kids next door,” she said, pointing at the blue house beside his yellow one.

  That was supposed to have been another perk of his plan to work at his beach house. For a few hours every day, Stacy could play with Owen, Helaina and Claire, the triplets of Missy Johnson who had married publishing mogul Wyatt McKenzie, and he and Kara could get some work done.

  But their neighbors had been out when they’d arrived, and he and Kara had had to entertain Stacy. He was glad his daughter got along with Kara and that they were comfortable with each other. Except…

  Except today, maybe because they were playing instead of working, everything felt different. Especially the very casual way Kara spoke to him. In the office, their banter and her quick wit made for good communication. At the beach, it tingled up his spine like the hands of a lover. Worse, he was noticing things about her he shouldn’t notice. Not about an employee!

  He handed Kara a plastic bucket. “So what do you say we build a sand castle?”

  Stacy nodded enthusiastically.

  “You get the water,” he said to Kara.

  Kara glanced at the bucket and back at him. Her eyes narrowed. “For?”

  “To make the sand wet so we can pack it.”

  “Oh. I get it.”

  She gingerly picked her way along the sand to the water. Baffled, Gabe let his gaze follow her, only to be treated to a very nice view of her backside. He groaned, annoyed with himself. But when she carefully crouched down to dip the bucket into the retreating wave, she didn’t get any water.

  She stood there, as if confused until another wave came in. Then, stiff as a board, she filled the bucket.

  He frowned. Was she afraid?

  Of the water?

  She returned with salt water sloshing over the sides of the bucket.

  He motioned for her to dump it into the little bowl he and Stacy had scooped out of the sand. “Are you afraid of the water?”

  She shrugged. “I’ve never been to the ocean before.” She looked up and out over the beautiful blue sea. “It’s very big.”

  He gaped at her. “You own a bikini and you’ve never been to the ocean?”

  She shrugged. “I have a friend who has a pool. I tan there…and swim.”

  He almost asked her what kind of friend. Was her friend a man? A boyfriend? But he clamped down on his jealously. Where the hell was all this coming from?

  ***

  Kara focused her attention on the water she had poured into the hole.

  Stacy reached in and pulled out a blob of wet sand which she patted into a small pink bucket. She smiled at Kara. “I’m making bricks.”

  “Let me help.” Kara grabbed the second bucket.

  “So your mum never took you to the beach on vacation?” Gabe asked.

  She sucked in a breath, annoyed with herself. She’d gone an entire year of working with Gabe Fulton without revealing the details of her not-so-happy childhood, and after ten minutes together at the beach she’d slipped up.

  “My mother was a single mum, remember? We couldn’t afford to go on vacation.”

  “That’s too bad.”

  Drat. Now he felt sorry for her. That was the whole reason she didn’t want to tell him about her childhood. She hated pity. She’d pulled herself up by her bootstraps and made herself a success. There was no reason to pity her. She wanted him to like her.

  “I work for the Gabriel Fulton, billionaire entrepreneur extraordinaire. It’s a dream position that every assistant wants.” She caught his gaze. “Most people wouldn’t feel sorry for me. Some might even call me lucky.”

  He laughed and she smiled. There. Not one wisp of pity in his silver blue eyes now.

  He grabbed the second, bigger bucket. “Time for more water.”

  Kara’s eyes followed the stretch of his body as he unfolded from his sitting position in the sand. His swim trunks caressed his perfect butt and left bare a temptingly touchable chest and sculptured abs. Tall and regal, with no-nonsense black hair, he ruled his companies with the skill and mastery of a king guiding an empire. The way he worked had attracted her more than his good looks, but the good looks certainly didn’t hurt.<
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  She watched him walk to the water, bend down, scoop up a bucketful and rise to come back.

  She dropped her gaze to the wet sand she was patting into a brick.

  She had a thing for him. He was finally noticing her. They were in paradise. This was her big shot to change their relationship from professional to personal. The bikini had broken the ice. Now she had to figure out how to melt it completely.

  Chapter Two

  “What do you want for supper, sweetie?”

  Kara walked into the kitchen of her boss’s beach house just in time to see Gabe coax his daughter into eating. After they’d returned from three hours of playing in the sand and a quick rinse under the outdoor shower, she’d toweled off and slipped a T-shirt over her bikini.

  Stacy giggled. “Cocoa cereal.”

  Kara held back a laugh. It was fun watching ruthless billionaire playboy Gabe Fulton being tested by a tiny, blue-eyed, blonde-haired four-year-old.

  “We don’t do cereal for supper.”

  His stern voice caused Kara to face him as he continued.

  “I can make hamburgers, hot dogs, steak or chicken on the grill. Plus veggies. Or I can heat a can of soup. Or you can go to bed hungry. Your choice.”

  The little girl’s lips fell into a pout, but she didn’t argue. “Hamburger, please.”

  Intrigued, Kara strolled to the center island where Stacy sat with her elbows on the yellow granite and her little chin on her closed fists.

  “That’s better. Now go wash your hands.”

  Stacy sniffed out a long breath, but again did what her daddy had told her to do.

  When she was gone, Kara said, “Wow. That was amazing.”

  “If I had to face a boardroom full of four-year-olds instead of arrogant executives, I wouldn’t have half the money I have.”

  She laughed. “So what’s up with your ex-wife’s sudden trip to Europe? Is it business?”

  “Nope. Pleasure. The trip is a vacation.”

  Kara narrowed her eyes, considering that. “But Sunday is Mother’s Day.”

  “She doesn’t care.”

  “Stacy will.”

  ***

  Relief rippled through Gabe. He’d been so bedazzled by the sight of Kara in a bikini that he’d forgotten what a nice person she was. Of course she understood. She might be attractive and it might have shocked him to see her in a bikini…but she was still Kara. Perfect assistant.

  “That’s why we’re not going to even mention it while she’s around.”

  “Got it.”

  He took a mug from the cupboard to pour himself a cup of coffee. Before he did, though, he waved the mug at her. “Can I get you one?”

  “Yes, I’d love a cup.”

  He froze. That was one of about a hundred things they had in common. Even on the hottest days, they loved coffee. They also loved horror movies. And Mexican food and margaritas. If he ever found her counterpart in the dating scene he might have to rethink his vow to never remarry.

  He shook his head to clear it. That was ridiculous. After the bitter divorce war that followed his short marriage, he now only dated. What the hell had put the idea of marriage into his head?

  He nodded at the eReader Kara had in her hands. “By the way, I bought you that business book you said you wanted to read. It should have downloaded by now.”

  She clicked on the eReader. “Closing the Deal?”

  She scrolled through her titles, found it and peeked up at him with a radiant smile. “I’ve wanted to read this for weeks. Thanks.”

  His chest puffed with pride, and that confused him, too. He wasn’t someone who usually needed credit for doing nice things. He certainly didn’t need to impress Kara.

  All this weirdness with her had to be the fault of their out-of-the-ordinary workplace. Not his fault or Kara’s, but the beach’s. Being together only half dressed had to be what had him thinking such strange thoughts. The book could help fix that.

  “You’ll have a chance to read it when I take Stacy to the beach.”

  “Oh… Um, okay. I have been dying to read it.”

  The disappointment in her voice sent waves of self-recrimination through him. He had just deliberately cut her out of his next break with Stacy. And she knew it. And it had hurt her.

  Hurt her? Usually on trips, she loved having time away from him to catch up on work. Add that to the way she’d never worn anything other than drab suits, and a strange possibility rattled through him. He didn’t want to even consider she’d worn a bikini to tempt him. But, damn it, he was a billionaire. His ex-wife had baldly admitted that in the end she’d loved his money more than she’d loved him. Plus, women threw themselves at him constantly. He recognized the signs. Disappointment at being excluded was one of them.

  Still…Kara, his perfect assistant, putting the moves on him?

  No. It didn’t make sense. They’d worked together an entire year without as much as a flirtatious glance. She was not putting the moves on him.

  He pulled the hamburger from the refrigerator and began making patties.

  She slid off her stool and walked beside him. “I can help.”

  The light scent of her perfume mixed with the scent of the sea and wafted to him. He almost closed his eyes and inhaled again, deeper this time, to really enjoy it.

  Damn it! There he went again!

  She was not coming on to him. He was attracted to her. That was the real problem. His body liked hers.

  But she was an employee and he was a good boss. He wouldn’t put her in an uncomfortable position. So it was wise— responsible, in fact—to exclude her from his beach excursions with his daughter. Actually, it would be smart to limit any private moments together until he got this unwanted attraction under control.

  He subtly shifted away from her. “Why don’t you make these patties and I’ll start the grill?”

  She laughed. “It’s gas. You don’t need to warm it up.”

  “It also hasn’t been used for a few months. I should check it out to make sure it still works.”

  He ducked out of the kitchen to the huge deck behind it. Five steps took him to a ground-level stone patio in front of the glistening pool and blessedly away from her.

  ***

  Kara watched him through the big kitchen window. Like her, he hadn’t changed out of his swim trunks. He’d simply put a T-shirt over them. The sun sparkled off his black hair and brightened the red of his shirt. A shirt that hid perfect pecs and washboard abs. Abs she’d love to touch one day.

  She picked up more hamburger meat to pat into a ball. Gabe had just run from her after cutting her out of going to the beach with his daughter. Putting the patty onto a plate, she sighed. Had he figured out she was coming on to him and bolted?

  Probably.

  Disappointment shuffled through her. But so did determination. She’d grown up on the streets because her mother could only sober up long enough to keep her out of foster care. She’d had to beg for food to eat. She’d worked as a waitress to get herself through high school and ultimately college.

  She did not give up at the first sign of a setback!

  Deciding she’d plan her strategy later when she was alone in her room, she washed her hands and picked up her eReader. She breezed through the introduction to the first chapter: Closing Begins at the Beginning. She read two paragraphs and suddenly stopped.

  Aways make your opponent believe the deal is his idea.

  She frowned, turning back to making the patties as she considered. Gabe relished believing the deal—every deal—was his idea. Maybe the bikini had been too much?

  No. Up until she’d worn that bikini, he’d barely noticed she was a woman. He’d needed to be shocked into seeing her as a woman.

  But now that he had noticed her, the trick would be to back off, force him to make the first move, so the romance would appear to be his idea.

  With the last hamburger patty formed, she covered the dish with clear wrap and headed upstairs.

  Ma
ybe it was time to dress like his assistant again….

  Chapter Three

  When Kara walked onto the back deck of the beach house for supper, Gabe did a double take. With her hair in the usual bun at her nape, and wearing jeans and a plain white blouse—not to mention her black frame glasses—she didn’t look a thing like the carefree woman who’d played in the sand with his daughter that afternoon. She was once again his assistant.

  Thank God.

  “Burgers are ready. While you were upstairs I also cleaned some veggies for the grill.”

  “Sorry. I shouldn’t have gone to change without asking if you wanted more help with dinner.” She pushed her glasses up her nose.

  Attraction thrummed through him, along with the unexpected urge to remove those glasses and kiss her senseless. Angry with himself, he quickly glanced away. “I’m perfectly capable of making supper myself.”

  He set the burgers on the table and Kara immediately put one on a bun for Stacy. “Ketchup?”

  The little girl nodded eagerly.

  Kara slathered the burger with ketchup and set it on Stacy’s plate.

  Gabe’s eyes narrowed. This was part of the reason he was suddenly having strange feelings for his assistant. His ex, Zoe, had casually dumped Stacy on him that morning, but Kara seemed to love having her around. That was why he kept noticing her kindnesses. Unlike his ex-wife, when Kara did something nice, it was genuine. He appreciated her being sweet to his little girl. And the bikini explained why he’d let those stirrings of appreciation shift into physical attraction.

  Now that he understood that, he simply had to figure out how to get their relationship to normal ground again.

  While they ate, Stacy and Kara kept up a steady stream of chatter about the sandcastle they’d made. After dinner, Kara volunteered to clean up, so he brought Stacy’s electronic tablet onto the deck and he and Stacy sat in the evening breeze, listening to the ocean as they played one of her video games.

  “Hey, neighbors!”

  “Hey!” Gabe rose and happily greeted Wyatt McKenzie, his new wife Missy and Missy’s triplets, Lainie, Owen and Claire, as they climbed the stairs.