A Daddy By Christmas

Chloe squared her slender shoulders and gave her chin a defiant lift. “Steven and I broke up. It wasn’t working out and we agreed to go our separate ways. No big deal.”

Wrong. The flash of pain in Chloe’s soft doe eyes told him it was a very big deal, but he didn’t press for an explanation. He wasn’t altogether sure why he was even still standing there.

“Wow, I had no idea. I’m so sorry. I don’t really know what to say.” Allegra’s gaze flicked toward him again.

He held up his hands. “I had nothing to do with it.”

How was this his life? He should be facilitating an acquisition right now, or better yet, proposing to Penelope Reed, instead of standing in a ballet school wondering why the enigmatic Chloe Wilde was suddenly single.

“I should go,” he blurted.

Penelope was the logical choice, in spite of their working relationship. She was reliable and discreet. He knew precisely what he’d be getting into if she agreed to a business marriage with him. It would be clean, simple and orderly, which was precisely the sort of relationship he needed right now, even if it was temporary.

As if on cue, Lolly appeared. She’d broken away from the group of little girls sitting cross-legged in front of the mirror and was now standing at his feet with her arms wrapped around his shins.

Too soon.

He shouldn’t have brought her here. She’d been doing so well, and she’d been asking about going back to dance class, so he’d consulted his late brother’s calendar and figured out Lolly’s schedule. For a five-year-old, she was fiercely independent, brimming with confidence. Anders chalked it up to her Manhattan upbringing, but she was still just a child—a child who’d lost her mom and dad.

He should have waited another week or two. Better yet, he should have thrown that crazy schedule out the window and never come here.

But when Anders crouched down and peeled her slender arms from his legs, intent on scooping her up and walking out the door, she turned her back on him and gazed up at Chloe.

“Are you my teacher? I’ve never seen you here before,” she said.

Chloe bent down so she was at eye level with Lolly. “I’m new.” She pulled a face. “Sort of.”

“Is that you on the picture outside?” Lolly pointed toward the lobby.

Of course Anders had noticed the framed poster of Chloe in her flirty Santa costume and silver tap shoes, along with the multitude of surrounding photographs from her performances with the Rockettes. It would have been impossible not to. Even if he’d somehow missed it, Lolly’s reaction would have clued him in.

She’d looked at the poster with stars in her eyes as they’d walked past, and she’d apparently just realized the beautiful dancer from the picture was here in the flesh, standing in the same room.

“That’s me,” Chloe said brightly.

“You look like a Christmas princess.” Lolly tilted her head and looked Chloe up and down. “Are you a Christmas princess?”

And just like that, Anders was in over his head. He hadn’t even formulated a Santa Claus plan yet, much less given any thought to princesses and fairy tales and storybook endings. How on earth was he going to raise a little girl?

Hell, maybe his brother had been right when he’d added the marriage clause to the guardianship paragraph in his will. Anders didn’t know the first thing about being a dad.

“Not exactly,” Chloe said. And before Lolly’s face could fall, she added, “Christmas is a magical time, though. Just like a real-life fairy tale. And you know what? The ballet we’re putting together for Christmas Eve has all sorts of wonderful parts—fairies, dancing snowflakes and even a few snow queens.”