A Baby for the Boss

by Maureen Child

  With muttered agreement, the woman did go back to work, throwing one last fulminating glare at the man smirking at her.

  Jenny lowered her voice when she spoke again. There was no need to humiliate the man, but she wasn’t going to be ignored, either. “Tony, you agreed when you signed on to this project to follow the planned art designs.”

  “Yes, but—”

  “And,” Jenny said, a little more loudly, “whatever you think of video games, the guests who will be coming to this hotel know these games like the backs of their hands.”

  Tony sighed heavily again. “If you’ll only let me show you what I mean—”

  “So,” she said, overriding him again, “you will either do what you agreed to do, or you can pack up your paints and leave.”

  Insulted, he jerked his head back and glared at her. “You can’t fire me.”

  “Oh, yes,” a deep voice sounded from behind her. “She can.”

  Jenny looked over her shoulder, unsurprised to see Mike coming up behind her. The man was always close at hand these days.

  “Mr. Ryan...”

  Mike shook his head and continued speaking to the artist. “But allow me to repeat it so you’ll understand. Either follow the planned design, or leave and we’ll send you your last check.”

  “I’m an artist,” Tony said hotly, lifting his chin with its wispy goatee. “If all you want is someone to fill in the lines with color, you don’t need an artist. You need a child with a box of crayons.”

  “Your choice,” Mike said. “Thanks for your time.”

  Clearly outraged, the man flushed darkly, then spun around to pack up his supplies, muttering all the while. From the corner of her eye, Jenny saw Lena do a little hip-shaking happy dance at the other artist’s exit and she smiled.

  “Well, that was fun.” Jenny looked up at Mike. “I was handling it, you know.”

  “I saw and you were doing a great job.” He smiled at her and Jenny’s foolish heart gave a hard thump in response. “Any reason why I shouldn’t help out when I can?”

  “I suppose not,” she said, but inside, she whispered that it wasn’t a good idea for her to learn to depend on his help. Because it wouldn’t always be there.

  “Lena, are you all right here on your own?” Jenny asked.

  “Are you kidding?” She laughed. “With Tony gone, it’ll be like a vacation.”

  “Great. I’ll send Christa up to help you when she finishes in the dining room.”

  “Fab, thanks. Oh, boss?”

  Jenny and Mike both answered, “Yes?” Then Mike waved one hand as if telling Jenny to take it.

  “I had an idea I wanted to run by you.”

  “Shoot.”

  Another grin from Lena. “I was thinking, what if I drew out one or two of the banshees so that their arms are stretched across the door—you know, so their clawed hands look like they’re reaching for the guest opening their door...” She bit her lip and waited for a decision. She didn’t have to wait long.

  “That’s a great idea,” Jenny said and glanced at Mike. “What do you think?”

  Nodding, he said, “I love it. Good thinking, Lena.”

  “Thanks.”

  “And your banshees look like they stepped right out of the game, I appreciate that,” Mike added.

  “Hey,” Lena said, “I love that game!” When she turned to go back to work, humming to herself, Jenny and Mike headed back down the hall.

  “The elevators are turned off, so we have to take the stairs.”

  “Yeah,” Mike said, “I know. But I don’t like you climbing up and down those stairs every day. What if you tripped and fell?”

  “What am I, ninety?” Jenny shook her head and laughed to herself. “You’re being ridiculous, Mike.”

  “I’m being concerned, Jenny,” he said, pulling her to a stop just inside the stairwell. “I care about you. About our baby.”

  Care was such a pale word. It was pastel when what she wanted was bold, primary colors.

  “I appreciate it, but we’re both fine and I’ve got to get downstairs to finish the main-floor elevator doors. We’re one artist short now.” She started for the stairs, but Mike was too quick for her. He scooped her up into his arms and Jenny huffed out a breath of exasperation.

  He was smiling at her, holding her, and though she wanted nothing more than to hook her arms around his neck and hold on, she knew she couldn’t. “You’re not playing fair, Mike.”

  “Damn right, I’m not,” he agreed, walking down the stairs with her held close to his chest. “I’ve told you how it’s going to be between us, Jenny. I’m just giving you time to get used to the idea.”

  * * *

  Later that night, the construction crew was gone for the day and most everyone else had headed into Laughlin for dinner and some fun. In the quiet darkness, Jenny went out onto the pool deck by herself, eager for a little solitude. It had been days now since Mike showed up at the hotel and it looked as though he had no intention of leaving anytime soon. Didn’t he know that by staying, he was making this whole situation so much harder on her?

  “Of course he does,” she whispered wryly. “That’s his plan, Jenny. He’s trying to make you crazy enough that you’ll agree to marry him, even though you know it would be a mistake.”

  Oh, God, she was so tempted to make that mistake.

  Shaking her head at her own foolishness, Jenny sat down on the edge of the pool, took off her shoes and dangled her feet in the warm water. It was still cool in the desert at night, so she enjoyed the mix of a cold wind brushing over her arms and the warm water lapping at her legs. Lazily kicking her feet through the water, she leaned back on her hands and stared up at the night sky.

  “Beautiful,” she said to no one. With no light pollution here, the stars were brilliant and there were so many of them. It was like a painting, she thought and instantly, her mind drifted to just how she would capture that scene on canvas, though she knew she would never be able to do it justice.

  “It is, isn’t it?”

  Jenny sighed and tipped her head down to watch Mike come toward her. Her time alone was over and though she knew that spending time with Mike was only prolonging the inevitable, she relished the hard thump of her heart at the sight of him. She’d thought he went into town with the others, but she should have known better, she told herself now.

  He took a seat beside her, dropped his bare feet into the water and looked up at the sky. “Being in the city, you never see this many stars,” he said, voice low, deep, intimate. “You forget how big the sky really is.”

  Jenny knew he hadn’t come out here to talk about the stars. “Mike...”

  He looked at her and in the shadowy moon and starlight, his blue eyes looked dark, mysterious. “I talked to Dave today,” he said, surprising her. “He says you quit your job as of this project’s completion.”

  Jenny had hoped he wouldn’t find out so quickly. Turning in her resignation had cut at her. She loved her job and would miss everyone there, but she’d felt obligated to give Dave as much time as he might need to cover her absence. “I had to.”

  “No, you didn’t,” he mused quietly, sliding his bare foot along her leg, giving her chills that had nothing to do with the cool night air. “Dave also said you recommended he hire Christa full-time.”

  She shrugged. “He’ll need someone to fill in for me when I’m gone. Christa’s good. Talented, but willing to take direction.”

  “If you think she’ll work out, that’s good enough for me.”

  Pleased that he thought so highly of her suggestion, she smiled briefly. “Thanks for that.”

  “You could have stayed with the company, you know.” He tossed a quick glance at the sky, then shifted his gaze to hers again. “Could have pulled the the-boss-is-my-bab
y’s-father card.”

  She stared at him, shocked. “I would never do that.”

  His gaze moved over her face as he slowly nodded. “Yeah, I’m getting that. I’m beginning to get a lot of things.”

  “Mike,” she said, hoping to make the situation perfectly clear between them. “Quitting my job was the right thing to do. For both of us. Working together every day would just be too hard. Besides, I don’t need your money to take care of my baby. I don’t need the Ryan name to make sure my future’s secure—”

  “What do you need, Jenny?”

  Oh, wow, that question had too many answers. Too many pitfalls should she even try to tell him what was in her heart, her mind. So she smiled and said softly, “Doesn’t matter.”

  “It does to me,” he said.

  Tipping her head to one side, she looked at him and asked, “Since when, Mike?”

  “Since I woke up and started paying closer attention.” He took her hand and smoothed his thumb across the back, sliding across her knuckles until she shivered at the contact. “I want you, Jenny. More than anything else in my life, I want you with me.”

  Her breath caught in her chest and her heartbeat quickened until it fluttered like a deranged butterfly. To be wanted. It had been the driving force in her life since she was a child. But now, she knew it wasn’t enough. Want wasn’t love.

  “You do for now, Mike,” she said quietly. “But what about in five years? Ten?” Shaking her head, she continued, “Want, need, passion, they’re all good things. But without love to anchor them, they fade and drift away.”

  “They don’t have to.” He gripped her hand even tighter. “Love is something I’ve avoided, Jenny. Too big a risk.”

  She could see what it cost him to admit that, but with her heart hurting so badly, she couldn’t tell him that she was all right and that she understood. “It’s worth the risk, Mike. Because without love, there’s nothing.”

  “Need is something. Want is something.”

  “But not enough.” Sadly, she pulled her hand free of his, swung her legs out of the water and stood up. Looking down at him, she took a breath and braced herself to give him the hard truth she was only just accepting. “We have a child together, Mike. But that’s all we have.”

  She walked back to the hotel and stopped in the doorway to look back at him. He was alone in the starlight, watching her, and it took everything Jenny had to keep walking.

  * * *

  Two days later, things were still tense between Mike and her. She had hoped that after their last conversation at the pool, he would give up and go home. He had to know that nothing was going to come of this. They each needed something from the other that they couldn’t have. Jenny needed Mike to love her. To trust her. Mike needed her to settle for less than she craved.

  Her time here at the hotel was almost done. Most of the paintings were completed now and what was left, Christa and Lena could finish on their own. Jenny couldn’t stay much longer. Because Mike refused to leave her side, she had to be the one to leave. She had to get some distance from him before she did something stupid like rush into his arms and accept whatever crumbs he was willing to offer.

  The cacophony of sound at the hotel was familiar now and Jenny half wondered if the silence of her apartment once she was home again would feel stifling. Between the men talking, the tools buzzing and crashing, and the roar of Jet Skis on the river, it was hard to hear yourself think. But in her case lately, maybe that was a blessing.

  “Jenny! Jenny, where are you?”

  Up on the second-story landing, Jenny was just adding a few finishing touches to the naked tree sprawled across the elevator doors when she heard that familiar voice booming out over the racket.

  “Uncle Hank?” she asked aloud. Setting her paintbrush aside, she quickly went down the stairs and spotted her uncle, Betty right beside him, taking a good look around the front lobby.

  “There she is,” Betty shouted over the construction noise and used her elbow to give Hank a nudge in the ribs for good measure.

  The older man’s face brightened as he grinned and came toward her.

  “Uncle Hank, what’re you doing here?”

  To her surprise, the usually stoic man gave her one hard hug, then let her go and beamed at her. “Well, Betty and I wanted to see what you were doing out here. Take a look around and see what’s what.”

  “Darn fool, we could have caught a plane,” Betty said, scraping her hands across her tangled hair. “But no, he insisted on driving so he could try out his new toy.”

  “No point in having a new car if you’re not going to drive it,” Hank pointed out.

  “New car?” Jenny looked out the front window and saw a shiny red convertible. She couldn’t have been more surprised. Though he was a wealthy man, Hank had been driving his classic Mercedes sedan for twenty years, insisting he didn’t need anything new when that one ran just fine. Shifting her gaze back to her uncle, she asked, “That’s yours?”

  “It is,” he said proudly.

  “Like to froze me to death, driving out here with the top down the whole way,” Betty muttered.

  “No point in having a convertible if you keep the top up,” Hank argued.

  Jenny just laughed. It was so good to see them; she was enjoying their usual banter. But she had to ask, “You didn’t drive all the way out here just to look at my paintings, did you?”

  “Well,” Hank hedged, “that’s part of it, sure.” His eyes narrowed on something behind her and without even looking, Jenny knew who was coming up beside her. Her uncle’s features went cold and hard as Mike stopped alongside Jenny.

  “Mr. Snyder,” Mike said with a nod.

  “Ryan.” Hank gave him another narrow-eyed stare, then shifted his gaze to Jenny, ignoring the man beside her completely. “Jenny, I came to tell you I’ve sold Snyder Arts.”

  “What?” Stunned and in shock, Jenny stared at the man who’d raised her. First a convertible, now this? His company had been Uncle Hank’s life. He lived and breathed the business, dedicating himself to building Snyder Arts into a well-respected, multimillion-dollar firm. She couldn’t imagine him without it. “Why would you do that? You loved that business.”

  Still ignoring Mike, Hank moved in on her and dropped both hands on her shoulders. “I love you more,” he said and Jenny received her second shock of the day.

  He’d never said those words to her before and until that moment, she hadn’t been aware of how much she’d wanted to hear them.

  “Uncle Hank...”

  “I see tears,” he blurted and warned, “don’t do that.”

  She laughed and shook her head. “I’ll try. But tell me why.”

  “Main reason?” he said, sliding an icy glance toward Mike. “So no one could accuse you of being a damn spy for me.”

  “Damn it,” Mike muttered from beside her.

  Jenny hardly heard him as she stared into her uncle’s sharp blue eyes. Oh, God. Guilt reared up and took a bite of her heart. He’d given up what he loved to prove something to Mike and it was all for her sake. “You shouldn’t have done that,” she whispered.

  “It was time,” Hank said, pausing long enough to glare at Mike.

  “There’s more to it than that,” Betty interrupted, her clipped tone cutting through the sentiment that was suddenly thick in the air.

  Stepping in front of Hank, Betty looked at Jenny and said simply, “It was long past time he sold that business. Haven’t I been trying to get him to live a little before he dies?”

  “Who said anything about dying?” Hank wanted to know.

  “Nobody lives forever,” Betty snapped, then focused on Jenny again. “With the company gone, we’ll both have time to help out when the baby comes. We can both be there for you, Jenny. And that’s the important thing. Family s
tands for family. You understand?”

  “I do,” Jenny said and reached out to hug the woman who had always been a constant in her life. Heart full, she looked at the older couple and realized that she’d always had family—she’d just been too insecure to notice. Now, she couldn’t understand how she had ever doubted what these two amazing people felt for her.

  “Now, you just show us around,” Hank said, letting his gaze slide around the lobby and briefly rest on her entry wall painting. “Let us see what all you’ve done here, then you can quit this job and come home with us where you belong.”

  She opened her mouth to speak, but Mike cut her off.

  Speaking directly to Hank, he said, “I know you’ve got no reason to trust me, but I need a minute with Jenny.”

  “Mike—” She didn’t want more time alone with him. Didn’t think she could take much more.

  “I think you’ve said plenty already,” Hank told him.

  “I agree with Hank,” Betty said, lifting her chin imperiously.

  “Please,” Mike said, looking at Jenny directly, catching her off guard with the quietly voiced plea.

  In all the time she’d known him, Jenny had never heard him say please to anyone. And that one simple word decided it for her.

  To her uncle, she said, “I’ll be back in a minute.” Then she turned, walked into the game room, which was currently unoccupied, and waited for Mike to join her.

  With so much happening, Jenny’s heartbeat was fast, her mind spinning. She hardly knew what to think. Her uncle selling the company, her quitting her job, having a baby. And now Mike, wanting to talk again when they’d already said both too much and too little to each other.

  She tried to calm the jumping nerves inside her by focusing on the view out the window. The desert landscape was softened by the trees swaying in a soft wind. Jenny focused her gaze on the purple smudge of mountains in the distance and tried to steady her breathing.

  “Jenny?”

  She turned to face him and her heart raced. He looked—unsure of himself. Something she’d never seen in Mike Ryan. That realization shook her. She wouldn’t be persuaded, in spite of her instinctive urge to go to him and hold on until she eased whatever was bothering him.