The Executive's Baby

by Robin Wells

  “Jenny’s crying.”

  Sure enough, the familiar wail of the baby wafted faintly down the stairs.

  Rachel pulled her hands from his back and drew away. “We need to go see what she needs.” Tugging her camisole back in place, she slid off the counter. Nick turned to follow her and was treated to the heart-stopping sight of her satin-clad derriere bending to pick up her bathrobe.

  Like a man in a trance, he followed her up the stairs and into the nursery. He watched as Rachel picked up the baby.

  “What’s the matter, sweetheart?” she crooned to the child. “Did you have a bad dream?”

  Nick didn’t know about the baby’s dreams, but she sure had a bad sense of timing.

  Or maybe it was an excellent one, he thought ruefully. He had no business—no business at all—getting romantically involved with Rachel again. He knew that intellectually, but he seemed to have recurrent amnesia on that point. Every time she got near enough to touch, logic and reason flew out the window.

  Chapter Seven

  Rachel’s five friends pounced on her the moment she walked into the private party room at the Mexicali Café the following afternoon for Olivia’s baby shower luncheon.

  “What’s happening with you and Nick?” Molly asked eagerly.

  “We want to know all about it,” Sophia demanded.

  “That’s right,” Cindy agreed, taking Rachel’s pink-and-blue-wrapped gift and adding it to the pile of baby-themed presents stacked on the center of the round table where the rest of the women were seated. She pulled out a chair and motioned for Rachel to sit down. “The whole office knows Rex sent you and Nick home to care for the baby. You’ve been there with him all week, and you haven’t called any of us. So what’s going on?”

  Molly leaned forward on the table, her straight blond hair swinging against her face. “Yeah! We want details—lots of details.”

  “Tell us everything!” said Olivia eagerly, her hands folded over her pregnant belly.

  Rachel momentarily considered fleeing the room. Instead, she hesitantly lowered herself into the chair. “There—there’s nothing to tell,” she said evasively. She pretended a keen interest in the pink and blue balloons tied to a giant cardboard stork in the corner. “Say, these decorations look great!”

  Cindy rolled her green eyes. “We’re not going to be diverted that easily. Come on, Rachel—you don’t really expect us to believe nothing’s going on, do you?”

  “Yeah! This is the man you wanted to marry two years ago!” Molly said.

  “The guy you’ve been carrying a torch for ever since,” piped up Sophia.

  “The guy that no other man can measure up to,” Patricia added.

  Was it that obvious? Rachel had no idea that her friends knew so clearly how she felt. Until this week with Nick, she hadn’t really known herself.

  Well, maybe she’d known, but she’d been in denial. After last night’s kiss, though, there was no way she could avoid facing the truth. She was still as crazy about Nick as she’d been when he’d left.

  Crazier, she silently amended. Now that she’d seen his tenderness with Jenny, she was more in love with him than ever.

  Love. The word made her swallow hard. It was painful to admit, but it was true. Love was the only word that came close to describing what she felt for Nick. Unfortunately he was just as determined as ever to keep from loving her back.

  But now that he’d opened up about his family, she could at least understand why. Nick thought that loving someone meant giving up his own dreams. In Nick’s mind, love meant grim obligations, oppressive responsibilities and surrendering his hard-won control of his own life. No wonder he wanted no part of it.

  And he didn’t. He’d told her as much as soon as she’d rocked Jenny back to sleep last night.

  “I’m sorry about what happened downstairs.”

  “It wasn’t your fault. It was—”

  Nick had raised his hand, cutting her off. “I know, I know,” he’d said curtly, his mouth grim. “An old habit.”

  That hadn’t been what Rachel had been about to say at all. But he hadn’t given her a chance to explain. He’d simply turned and marched into the master bedroom, closing the door behind him.

  Olivia’s voice jerked her back to the moment. “Don’t keep us in suspense, Rachel. What’s going on with you and Nick?”

  “Come on, guys.” Rachel tried to smile persuasively. “I thought this was supposed to be a baby shower, not an inquisition into my love life.”

  “Aha!” Olivia raised a finger in the air and triumphantly looked around at her friends. “She admits she’s got a love life!”

  Rachel sighed. “I swear, Olivia, ever since you started studying for your bar exam, you’ve been acting like Perry Mason.”

  Olivia grinned mischievously. “All you have to do is tell us the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, and we’ll let you off the witness stand.” She again folded her hands on top of her tummy. “Let’s start by establishing the facts. Has he kissed you?”

  Rachel hesitated. She could tell by the way her friends were grinning that the heat flooding her face had already given her away. “Yes,” she reluctantly admitted.

  The women smiled at one another knowingly.

  “But that doesn’t mean anything’s going to come of it,” Rachel insisted.

  “So you claim,” said Olivia.

  “Where there’s smoke, there’s fire,” Cindy chimed in.

  “Trust me on this one.” Propping her elbows on the table, Rachel rested her head in her palms and sighed. “Nick had some things in his childhood that made him dead set against marriage.”

  “But he obviously has strong feelings for you,” Sophia pointed out.

  “That doesn’t mean he’ll change his mind about marriage,” Rachel said.

  Patricia wrinkled her brow. “What are you going to do? It’s going to be awfully hard on you, working with him under the circumstances.” Patricia shook her head ruefully. “Believe me, I know.”

  Rachel smiled sympathetically at her friend. Patricia had fallen madly in love with her own boss, Sam, the moment she’d started working for him six months ago. Rachel knew how Patricia had suffered as she’d watched her boss make plans to marry another woman.

  Rachel exhaled a long, dejected sigh. “I’ve given some thought to asking for a transfer.”

  “You can’t!”

  “We need you!”

  “You’re going to be a bridesmaid at my wedding!” Cindy said.

  Rachel smiled wanly. “I don’t really want to leave, but I don’t know what else to do.”

  “It’s simple,” Molly piped up.

  “It is?”

  Molly’s fine hair bobbed as she nodded. “All you’ve got to do is find a way to change his mind about marriage.”

  “Oh, is that all?” Rachel said dryly.

  “Well, look around the table,” Sophia chimed in. “Cindy, Olivia and Molly all thought their love lives were hopeless, and they found a way to work things out. If you work at it hard enough, I’m sure you can, too.” Sophia’s lips curved into a sly smile. “I know I intend to. I’ve been making plans ever since I was named assistant to the new executive vice president. As soon as Rex Barrington the Third steps foot into the office, I’m going to cast a line and start reeling him in.”

  Rachel stared at her friend. “But you haven’t even met him yet!”

  “It doesn’t matter,” Sophia asserted. She pushed a blond curl behind her ear and gazed at Rachel earnestly. “I want a big family, and I want to be a stay-at-home mom while my kids are little. I promised myself that my children would never grow up poor like I did, so I need a husband who can provide financial security. The Third can fill the bill.”

  “What about Mike from the mailroom?” Rachel asked.

  “What about him?” Sophia’s eyes grew wary.

  “I’ve seen him hanging around your office quite a bit.”

  To Rachel’s amazement, Sophia unch
aracteristically blushed. The other women didn’t fail to notice.

  “I knew it!” Molly exclaimed. “You’ve got a thing for him!”

  “I do not,” Sophia said defensively. “I want more out of life than a mailman can offer. He just happens to be interesting and very nice, that’s all.”

  “Not to mention to-die-for handsome,” Cindy dryly added.

  “Well, he can’t offer financial security. I’ve made up my mind that I’m going to marry the Third, and that’s all there is to it.”

  Rachel leaned back in her chair and sighed. “Well, I don’t care about Nick’s financial status. I only care about his ability to commit.”

  “I know what you mean,” Patricia commiserated. “That’s how I feel about Sam.” She looked shyly around at her friends. “And I’ve decided to do something about it, too.”

  The note of determination in her voice made Rachel look at her in surprise. “What do you mean?”

  “I found out yesterday that Sam isn’t getting married after all. So I’m going to strike while the iron is hot.”

  “How?” Sophia asked.

  Patricia lowered her voice. “I’m going to try to seduce him.”

  The women all began to excitedly chatter at once.

  Cindy’s voice carried above the rest. “What are you going to do, Patricia?”

  “I don’t know yet. I’m still working out the details. But I’m going to seize the moment,” Patricia’s jaw firmed into a determined angle. “I’m not going to let the one thing I want more than anything in the world pass me by without making an effort to go for it.” Patricia reached out and patted Rachel’s hand. “And I think you should do the same thing. It’s plain to see you’re in love with Nick.”

  Rachel gazed around the table at her friends. If only she were as bold as Sophia or as daring as Patricia, she thought wistfully. She’d give anything if what Patricia was suggesting were possible. “What do you think I should do?”

  “Figure out what he finds most irresistible, then dangle it in front of him like a carrot on a stick.”

  At that moment, the side door to the room burst open and two waiters wearing black pants and embroidered vests marched in, bearing steaming trays of enchiladas, chili con queso and tacos.

  “Speaking of irresistible, here comes our lunch.” Olivia rubbed her hands together. “Thank heavens. The baby and I are starved!”

  “You and that baby are always starved,” teased Cindy.

  Rachel sat back as the conversation turned to Olivia’s pregnant eating habits, letting the lighthearted banter swirl around her. Was there any way she could put Patricia’s advice into action?

  Simple seduction wouldn’t work. She and Nick shared a powerful physical chemistry, but that wasn’t enough to overcome Nick’s fear of commitment. If they got physically close without resolving the underlying issue, it would only make the situation worse.

  She had to come up with another answer.

  What did Nick find irresistible?

  “A challenge,” Rachel murmured aloud an hour and a half later.

  “Well, sure it is, but having a baby is also one of life’s most rewarding experiences,” Patricia remarked, holding the restaurant door open for Rachel and Sophia as they toted out the giant cardboard stork. The three women had lingered behind the others to take down the decorations and settle the bill.

  “I’m not talking about having a baby. I’m talking about what Nick finds irresistible.” Rachel squinted at the bright sunshine as she and Sophia stepped outdoors. “It’s a challenge. That’s why he goes for all those adventure sports. It’s even why he’s so good at his job. He’s always setting a new challenge for himself, always trying to improve.”

  “Terrific,” Patricia said enthusiastically. “Then all you’ve got to do is make yourself seem like the biggest challenge he’s ever faced.”

  “That’s all, huh?” Rachel eyed her skeptically. “And exactly how am I supposed to do that?”

  “You could make yourself seem unattainable,” Sophia suggested.

  “Sounds great, but there’s one little flaw with your logic. He’s not interested in attaining me.”

  “He is, too. I’ve seen the way he looks at you. He’s just fighting the urge.” Patricia pointed to her car on the far side of the parking lot. “We need to haul Mr. Stork that way.”

  Holding the cardboard stork’s beak while Sophia held the tail, Rachel stepped off the sidewalk and followed Patricia, who carried a large bouquet of pink and blue balloons.

  “If he sees other men interested in you, I guarantee his self-control will snap,” Patricia added.

  Rachel gave a wry grin. “In case you haven’t noticed, I’m not exactly fighting off male admirers.”

  “You would be if you seemed more approachable.”

  Rachel shook her head. “I’m not the flirtatious type.”

  “Who said anything about flirting? All you have to do is act friendly and interested.” Patricia unlocked her trunk. “The rest will take care of itself. It never hurts to show your assets to their best advantage, either.”

  “What are you talking about?” Rachel placed the bird inside.

  Patricia closed the trunk, then thoughtfully looked her up and down. “I’d say your best features are your legs, your hair and your smile. What do you think, Sophia?”

  “I agree completely,” Sophia said.

  Rachel felt her face color. She was out of her mind for offering them the least bit of encouragement, but she couldn’t seem to help herself. “Just what would you two suggest I do?”

  “Well, you could start by hemming your skirts a little higher,” Patricia suggested.

  “And start wearing your hair loose,” Sophia chimed in. “Let’s see what you look like without those barrettes.”

  Hesitantly, Rachel reached up and unfastened them. Sophia nodded encouragingly. “Oh, that’s much better! It would look great parted on the side.”

  “But this is the really important thing—you need to make more eye contact with men and start smiling more. Be more outgoing. With everyone except Nick, that is.”

  Sophia leaned against the side of the car and nodded her concurrence. “When you’re with Nick, you need to act a little vague, a little distant, as if you’re preoccupied. You want him to think you have something—or someone—else on your mind.”

  “That’s right. Be friendly, but unavailable,” Patricia advised. “If he asks you out, tell him you’re busy.”

  “Absolutely,” Sophia agreed. “Men are always attracted to women who don’t seem to need them. Make him wonder what’s going on.”

  Patricia snapped her fingers. “The company picnic is in two weeks. That would be the perfect opportunity to let Nick see you having fun, surrounded by male admirers, living a full and interesting life without him.”

  Rachel sighed. “I hate to burst your bubble, but in order for Nick to think my life was full and interesting, I’d have to be bailing out of an airplane at ten thousand feet.”

  “Oh, that’s a wonderful idea!” Sophia exclaimed.

  Rachel stared at her friend incredulously. “You want me to take up skydiving?”

  Sophia grinned. “Well, it doesn’t have to be that extreme, but taking up an exciting sport—something he’d never expect you to do—is a great idea.”

  Patricia nodded enthusiastically. “It would make him see you in a whole new light. Especially if he had no idea you were learning how to do it, and you just sprung it on him.”

  Sophia’s head bobbed in agreement. “That’s right. If he starts seeing you as a sports partner, maybe you won’t seem so threatening as a life partner.”

  Rachel had to admit it made some sense. Nick had been deprived of play in his childhood, and he needed to make up for lost time. If he started to view her as a partner in adventure, the idea of marriage might seem a lot less frightening.

  And she knew exactly which sport would be most effective.

  “Scuba diving,” she muttered u
nder her breath. She looked up, surprised to find that she’d actually said it aloud.

  Patricia’s eyebrows rose. “I thought you were afraid to swim.”

  “I am. That’s why scuba would be so perfect.” She couldn’t believe she was actually contemplating this, but the thought made her heart pound with excitement. “He’s got a financial directors’ meeting scheduled in St. John in six weeks, and I happen to know he’s got a scuba expedition scheduled.”

  “Oh, wow,” Sophia said excitedly. “You could take lessons, get certified and just show up at the boat. You’d knock him off his feet!”

  “But what about your fear of swimming?” Patricia repeated.

  Rachel hesitated. All of her life she’d played it safe. She’d avoided risks, she’d used caution, she’d lived by the adage, “When In Doubt, Don’t.” Her life had been ruled by fear—both the fears of her overprotective parents and the fears of her own timid nature. And every time she’d given in to it, it had gained a stronger hold on her.

  Fear had limited her. It boxed her in. It had clipped her wings, imprisoning her like a bird in a cage.

  She’d always avoided risks, but suddenly doing nothing seemed the biggest risk of all. If she did nothing, she could never become the kind of woman she’d always longed to be—a woman with strength and confidence, a woman unafraid to pursue her dreams, a woman with the courage to face and conquer the things that held her back.

  The kind of woman who could win Nick’s heart.

  He needed a woman who would encourage his zest for life, who wouldn’t hold him back or restrain him or weigh him down as his father had done. He needed a woman who would show him that love could be freeing and joyful and fun. A woman with whom forever didn’t sound like a life sentence, but not nearly long enough.

  She wanted to be that woman. She wanted it more than she wanted anything in the world—badly enough to face her deepest, darkest fear.

  “Aren’t you afraid of deep water?” Patricia asked again.

  She hadn’t been back in the water since that awful day she’d nearly drowned. She wasn’t sure how she’d react to being in water over her head again.

  But she was already in over her head, she thought ruefully. She was in love with Nick and Jenny.