The Boss's Baby Arrangement

There was no denying how turned on he was. The connection he’d felt to her in that beachside embrace had made him so damn aware of her. Sure, she’d always been attractive. He knew that, but there was something so sexy about the way she’d endured the gator run-in.

He wanted her, down to his core. All day, his thoughts drifted to her.

Did life ever get easy?

Watching his in-laws with his daughter provided a quick answer to that question. Delilah and Jake weren’t mean—they were matter-of-fact. Particular. Things had to be just so.

Reflecting back on Terri’s perfect makeup and clothes, he saw what a lifetime of being scrutinized could do. How that constant second-guessing had sometimes wrought Terri up with anxiety. Especially when her parents came for a visit. She’d agonize on the arrangement of pillows and the tenderness of the pasta. Her mother and father always had a critique, a method of alleged perfection. Deep down, he knew they meant well.

Seeing Delilah straighten Rose’s bow and quietly comment on staying proper rubbed him the wrong way. He wanted his daughter to grow up confident in her own worth.

He wanted to bring up his child.

“You know, Xander, we could help you with Rose. Keep her until school starts. We’re retired now and we can devote all of our attention to her.” Delilah’s polished voice trilled. She had been hunched over Rose, examining the little girl’s drawing.

“Ah, well, I know she looks forward to seeing you both. I think that helps enough,” he said sympathetically. The pain of loss seemed to form a permanent line on her brow.

“Barry, our family friend and lawyer, you remember him? He mentioned that the court might see an arrangement with us to suit Rose better. We know how hard you work. We have the time to devote to her that you may not right now.” Jake stood behind Xander, resting a hand on his shoulder.

The blood beneath his skin fumed, turned molten. He had to keep his cool. “Well, I know how much you love Rose. But it’s time for her to nap. She’s still not feeling well.”

Smoothing her dress, Delilah nodded. “Yes, she does need rest.”

“I’m sure you feel similarly. You both should probably get settled in your hotel.” His even tone held a challenge in it. He needed separation from them. Boundaries.

Especially now, because their intent had come into full view. They were here to spy on his proficiency as a father.

A more sinister thought entered his mind. What if they just snatched her away? It echoed in his mind as he saw them off the property and as he walked back into the room where his daughter slept. He looked at Elenora, a woman in her fifties with kind brown eyes, and left instructions with a caution about the issue with his in-laws. Elenora had to stay with Rose, and if anyone tried to come on the property, he was to be alerted at once.

The woman nodded her understanding. Feeling satisfied, he walked to his other unofficial charge. He went to find Maureen. Needed to make sure she was okay after her accident. There had been no time to actually check on her—not with his in-laws so close by.

Striding over to the clinic—another retrofitted and well-windowed building—his pace quickened. An urgency to move filled him. The stress of his in-laws, their constant reminders of the danger of the refuge and the way he was raising Rose. It all slammed into him.

Opening the door to the clinic, the sour smell of oil assaulted him. He turned the first corner in the building to see Maureen and a gaggle of oil-soaked seabirds. When the boat tipped, oil had seeped into the water and drenched the feathers of about five birds. The refuge had rounded them up for cleaning.

Maureen worked quickly, using the Dawn dish soap generously to lift the layers of oil from delicate feathers. He studied her, once again reminded of the intense gut-kick he’d felt earlier when she’d fallen into the water. The fear of loss knotted. He hated that fear.

Maureen cooed at the birds, mimicking their squawks with absolute precision. From a distance, and if he didn’t know any better, he’d felt like she was actually talking to them. A real conversation. Her heart seemed to soar with delight as every inky layer of oil was lifted from the feathers of the bird.

Easton, a few feet away in the exam room, diligently looked over every bird Maureen had expertly cleaned.

Her hair was wet and piled on top of her head in a loose topknot with a few spiral curls escaping. She wore surgical scrubs. Apparently she’d only taken a quick shower to remove the muck from herself before going to work again.

She probably hadn’t even thought about getting her own ankle examined. So like Maureen. So tender.

As she stood rinsing a bird, a smile on her lips, he felt the world slip away again. Mesmerized by her grace and movements.

And so kind. That fact, her empathy and patience, it was the remedy he needed. One that might even strike favor with his hard-to-please in-laws.

* * *

Gently, Maureen worked the oil out of the bird’s left wing feathers, careful not to squeeze too tightly and damage the delicate bones. Moments had fallen away before she registered someone lingering by the door frame.

Not just someone. Xander.

Heat flooded into her cheeks as she remembered the way their bodies had pressed up against each other after the gator run-in.

“Are you okay? That was quite a spill you took.”

She shrugged her shoulders, tongue unable to articulate any of her whirring thoughts.

“What makes a girl—hell, anyone—want to wrestle with alligators?” He inched closer.

“They don’t bite nearly as hard as the ones in the boardroom,” she volleyed back, thankful to find her voice again. He unnerved her fully.

“Funny.” A puff of a laugh teased against his teeth, leaving behind a serpentine hiss.

“And I can outrun them.”

“Also funny. But seriously, why this career?”

A loaded question. Freedom. This career awarded her a sense of sky and life the way nothing else could. “Why any career? Why would you want to stay inside all the time?”

“I enjoy the corporate challenge and I have a head for business. Without that, places like this would close down. It almost did.” A defensive edge filled his tone.

She flashed a toothy smile, raising an eyebrow as a soap bubble floated in the space between them. “True enough. And without me, places like this wouldn’t exist. I wanted to be a veterinarian. I just had to find my niche.”

“So someone threw an alligator in your pool and you knew?” His lips parted into an incredulous smile and she found it hard to concentrate. Averting her gaze, she turned back to the double-crested cormorant, the bird made its traditional guttural noise that sounded much like a grunting pig. Funny. Endearing. It helped her re-center, refocus on her work with the greenish-black bird that sported an adorable orange neck.

“I was actually out on a field trip for school. My work group got separated from the rest and we were lost, wandering around deeper into the moors. The fog rolled in and we couldn’t see what was around our feet. It freaked out the others in the group, but I found that soup of nature...fascinating. I just wanted to reach down in there and run my fingers through the mist. I felt...connected. I knew.” She gestured to the world around her. “This is what I’m supposed to do with my life.”

“You are...an incredible woman.”

She felt the blush heat her cheeks. His compliment shouldn’t matter but it did. Her self-esteem had taken some serious dings during her marriage. “Thank you. I’m just a lucky one.”

“Hard work certainly increases the odds of good luck.”

“Still, life isn’t always evenhanded.” In fact, she felt like it was often like an out-of-balance scale. All the counterweights were askew. Looking at him now, leaning casually against the workstation, definitely riled her sense of evenhandedness. Being attracted to him was not without complications. Serious work-altering complications. And then, there was the problem of her work visa expiring.

His face went somber. “True enough.”

“Oh, God.” She touched his arm. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be insensitive.”

“It’s okay. Really. I can’t spend the rest of my life having people measure their every word around me. I wouldn’t want that for Rose, either. I want her to grow up in a world of happiness.”

Searching for some level ground, she offered, “I’m sure she’s being pampered to pieces by her grandparents.”

His face went even darker.