The Maverick's Baby Arrangement

by Kathy Douglass

  “I’m sorry, Mr. Dubois, but my father had a heart attack. I have to go home today. Now. I have to leave right now.”

  Daniel ran a frustrated hand over his face. He knew it was irrational to demand that she stay given the circumstances. He’d lost his parents three years ago, barely five months apart. They’d married when they were both twenty-one and Daniel’s father hadn’t been able to live without the love of his life. Though Daniel’s mother had succumbed to breast cancer, his father had died of a broken heart.

  Despite knowing how he should behave, Daniel struggled to find the compassion inside himself.

  “I’m sorry, Mr. Dubois. You can sue me for everything I have, if that’s what you want to do. But my father needs me and I’m going to be there for him.”

  As Daniel and Emma faced off, he became aware that Brittany was staring at the two of them in confusion. Clearly, she was trying to make sense of the conversation. Not that any of this was her business. His private life was his own, a concept he would obviously need to reinforce once—if—they began working together.

  “Then go.” What else could he say? He couldn’t imprison her. If she wanted to leave, she would.

  Emma grabbed her suitcase and darted from the room without looking back.

  A cry cut through the tense silence. Without a word to Brittany, Daniel sprinted from the room and up the stairs to the nursery. Hailey was sitting, gnawing on a rail of her crib. When she saw him, she wiggled on her bottom and gave him a four-tooth grin Smiling, he picked her up and held her warm body against his chest.

  He really loved his little girl. Why was it so hard to get the day-to-day right?

  Hailey babbled something to him in a language only she understood. When he didn’t respond, she slapped her hand against his cheek as if demanding he snap out of it. Right. She needed a new diaper. She might be chatting happily right now, but experience had taught him that if he didn’t get her into a dry diaper soon, she’d be howling like a wolf.

  Carrying her to the changing table, he laid her down and put a hand on her stomach, holding her in place. She gurgled and wiggled her chubby little body. He grabbed a wipe and a diaper and expertly changed Hailey. Her clothes had gotten wet during her nap, so he swiftly changed those, as well. Then he took her back downstairs for a snack.

  He was on his way to the kitchen when he remembered that Brittany was still there. Making a U-turn, he went back to the front room.

  Brittany, who’d been staring out the window, looked around as he stepped into the room. Her eyes widened in surprise when she saw the baby, but she merely smiled.

  “Who have we here?” Brittany said,

  “This is Hailey.”

  Brittany’s her mouth dropped open, her full lips forming a perfect “O”. She blinked then regained her composure. “I see.” She leaned closer to look straight at the baby. “Hello, cutie pie.”

  Hailey chattered a greeting and then reached out her arms to Brittany.

  That was different. Hailey generally didn’t take to strangers. That’s why he’d tried so hard to hold on to Emma. She and Hailey had bonded. Before Emma, Hailey had spent most of the day crying. After Emma, Hailey had gradually become happy. She’d even begun going down for naps without a fight and Daniel had been able to get some work done. He would have his work cut out for him until he found another nanny.

  Emma’s quitting couldn’t have come at a worse time. Still, he’d adapt the same as he had when Hailey had unexpectedly come into his life.

  Brittany touched Hailey’s dimpled finger then looked at him. “I didn’t know you were married.”

  “I’m not.”

  “Okay...”

  This wasn’t going well. Brittany was clearly confused and slightly put out, not that he blamed her. There had been some low-key flirting between them and now he was standing there with a baby in his arms. Although there wasn’t anything between them—and given that his life was in a shambles and he wouldn’t be involved with her or anyone else in the future—he didn’t want her to get the wrong impression of him. His reputation meant everything to him. But he couldn’t worry about her feelings or her opinion of him now. He had to take care of Hailey, who was squirming in his arms. He set her down and she immediately giggled.

  “We’re going to have to end our meeting now. Obviously. Since I no longer have a nanny, I have to take care of the baby. We’ll have to reschedule.”

  “That’s not necessary. I have enough information to get started.”

  “You do?”

  “Yes. I’ll work up a few options and get back to you in a few days with my suggestions.”

  Hailey crawled over to Brittany and yanked on her pant leg. Daniel reached down to grab Hailey at the same time Brittany bent and scooped her up. Immediately, Hailey grabbed Brittany’s hair and gave it a hard tug. Without missing a beat, Brittany pulled her curls from the baby’s hand.

  He took Hailey into his arms again.

  “It looks like you’re going to need a new nanny. I can ask around if you want.”

  “Absolutely not.” His voice was louder than he’d intended and Brittany jumped. He didn’t apologize, though. He needed to make himself perfectly clear. “You are not to tell anyone about Hailey, is that clear? Your job depends on it. If you breathe one word to anyone about Hailey’s existence, I’ll make your life a living hell.”

  She slammed her hands on her hips. “There’s no need to be nasty. And threats don’t work with me. All you had to do was ask me to keep your secret and I would have agreed. Gossiping about you is the last thing I plan on doing.”

  “Fine.”

  “Fine.”

  They stared at one another, each breathing hard and neither speaking. He had to give it to her. She wasn’t one to back down.

  Hailey let out a whimper, ending the senseless standoff. Brittany stalked into his office then returned with her satchel and purse. “You’ve got your hands full, literally and figuratively, so I’ll leave. I’ll contact you when I have something to share so we can discuss our next steps.”

  “You’re assuming you have the job. I haven’t seen your plans yet. I might not like them.”

  She frowned. “Fair enough. I’ll work up preliminary plans and get them to you. Then you can decide what you want to do next.”

  Daniel walked her to the door and watched as she made her way to her car. When he caught himself admiring the gentle sway of her hips, he shut the door. There wasn’t even enough space in his life for the no-strings relationships he preferred. Not that it mattered. Brittany was going to be working for him, setting her on the other side of a line he would never cross. Business and personal were never allowed to mingle. Too bad, he thought as he returned to the living room, the baby in his arms. Too, too bad. Because this was one time he wouldn’t be opposed to them mixing.

  Chapter Three

  Brittany felt Daniel’s eyes on her as she walked to her car. That had to have been the most bizarre meeting she’d ever had. And she’d had some doozies in her time. She’d been challenged, flirted with, insulted and threatened all in the space of a few hours. Flustering her was difficult, but he’d come close to knocking her off her game.

  Daniel’s reputation as a hard-nosed businessman was well established throughout Bronco, although, other than that he was single, very little was known about his personal life. But not from lack of trying. She’d scoured the internet for information about him to prepare for this meeting. Apart from the pictures of him with various women at public functions and the information provided by his company, there was nothing about his private life. Certainly there had been no hint of a baby.

  The busybodies in town had worked overtime trying to dig up tidbits about the man’s personal life. She had no intention of sharing what she’d learned with them. Or anyone.

  Not that she was afraid of him or his threats. She wasn’t. But
she wasn’t a gossip, either. Though she’d never been the victim of wagging tongues, she knew the harm that could result from loose talk. And, really, was the fact that he had a baby anyone’s business? Still, the fact that he was a father had come as a shock.

  As she drove back to her office, she forced all thoughts of Daniel’s status as a parent from her mind and began to work out plans for his event. The ideas were coming fast and furious, but since she was driving, she couldn’t write them down. So she began to sing them aloud. Long ago she’d discovered that creating lyrics for important information and singing them over and over helped her remember. That’s how she’d helped her youngest sister pass eighth-grade science. Even now they still laughed at the esophagus-liver-stomach song whenever they got together.

  Singing to herself about color schemes and centerpieces, she parked and went to her office where she booted up her computer then furiously typed her ideas for the party. Once that was done, she printed out a copy to take home to review later then turned off her computer.

  It was the end of the workday and she could hear her coworkers bustling about as they prepared to leave. There was a knock on her door. Before Brittany could say a word, Julia, another event planner and one of Brittany’s closest friends, opened the door and poked her head inside. “We’re going out for drinks at BB&G. You want to come?”

  Brittany often joined her friends for drinks and dinner after work, but today she turned them down. There was so much she needed to do for Daniel’s event. Besides, she was distracted with thoughts of him and knew if she was questioned about it, she would probably blurt out something she shouldn’t.

  “Not tonight. It’s been a busy day and I think I’ll just go on home. You guys have fun.”

  “We’ll miss you. See you tomorrow.”

  “Bye.” Brittany grabbed her purse and satchel and headed out of the office, to the building’s private parking lot and her car. In a few minutes she’d left downtown behind and was on her way to Bronco Heights and the condo she shared with her roommate, Amanda Jenkins.

  Amanda was home when Brittany arrived, which was a pleasant surprise. Now that Amanda was engaged, she spent a lot of time with her fiancé, Holt Dalton. Even though Brittany didn’t want to get married, she wasn’t opposed to the institution. She was happy that her shy friend had found the love of her life.

  “Hey,” Brittany said, slipping off her shoes.

  “Hi.” Amanda looked up from the bridal magazine she was skimming, a smile on her face. She brushed her long brown hair over her shoulder.

  A pile of other bridal magazines sat on Brittany’s favorite chair, so she gathered them up and set them on the coffee table before sitting down. “How goes the dress hunt?”

  “Oh, I’m still just getting ideas. I’m trying to figure out what I like and what I wouldn’t be caught dead in.”

  Brittany laughed. Amanda was petite and quite pretty, something she didn’t seem to know. “You’re gorgeous and have a great figure. You’ll look great in any style. You’d just better not make us bridesmaids wear some strange, never-worn-anywhere-in-the-real-world-created-by-a-design-school-dropout dress.”

  “Not to worry. You’ll be able to pick your own dress.”

  “Really? Thank goodness. I have a closet full of horrible bridesmaids’ dresses that I will never wear. Those things are so ugly, I can’t even give them away.”

  Amanda set aside the magazine. “Enough about the wedding. How was your meeting with Daniel Dubois?”

  Brittany curled her feet underneath her. “Interesting.”

  “Come on. That tells me exactly nothing.”

  “He wasn’t what I expected. And at the same time, he’s exactly what I expected.”

  Amanda laughed. “Mud would be clearer.”

  “I guess that didn’t make sense. Here’s the thing. Everybody knows that Daniel Dubois is a hard-nosed businessman. He demands to have things his way. And because he’s extremely rich, people usually give in to him.”

  “Sounds about right.”

  “But there’s more to him than that. When we were riding horses, he was friendly. Funny. Charming.” He’d looked so rugged and handsome sitting on that magnificent stallion—like an ad for outdoor living at its finest. He would be the perfect model for any brochures advertising his dude ranch. Of course, she knew without asking that he’d never agree to such a thing. That was too bad. Beauty like his should be shared with the masses.

  Amanda made the timeout signal with her hands. “Hold on. When were the two of you riding horses? I thought you had a business meeting.”

  “We did. Afterward he wanted to show me his property. He owns a horse ranch, and I ride, so it only made sense to see his place on horseback.”

  “Really? That sounds like a date to me.”

  “It wasn’t. It was business.”

  “So you say. But why did you need to see his ranch? It’s certainly isn’t necessary in order to organize his party.”

  “Who am I to question him? He’s the client. He wanted to show me the ranch, so I went.” And she’d enjoyed herself immensely. Those quiet moments they’d shared admiring the beauty of the waterfall far surpassed any of her recent dates.

  “Mmm-hmm.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “It means that you went from really disliking that man and only working with him as a means to an end, to describing him as charming. Your interest in him sounds more than professional.”

  “Being in love has addled your brain. You’re seeing love and romance when there isn’t any.”

  Amanda’s brown eyes sparkled with amusement. “Oh ho, who said anything about love or romance? I just said that you’re interested in him.”

  “I’m not.” Brittany was definite about that. Sure, the man had an undeniable magnetism. What woman wouldn’t feel a tug on everything that was feminine in his presence? But that perfectly human reaction didn’t alter her life plans. The only thing she wanted from Daniel Dubois was his business. She wasn’t interested in becoming involved with him—or any man for that matter.

  Not that she didn’t date. She did. But much to her parents’ dismay, she wasn’t looking for a serious relationship. A husband and kids were the furthest thing from her mind. Perhaps her lack of interest stemmed from the memories of caring for her siblings. Or maybe it came from seeing how exhausted her mother had been. Her mother had worked almost as many hours at the cleaners as Brittany’s father had. Then she’d come home and take care of her kids. She’d never had a minute to herself.

  Brittany was determined to take a different path, which was why marriage wasn’t on her agenda. And kids were out of the question. Other thirty-three-year-old women might hear a ticking biological clock, but not her. She didn’t hear a thing. In fact, her clock might not even be plugged in.

  Her mother insisted that when she met the one, whoever that mythical man might be, she’d be ready to settle down and have babies. Not likely. Brittany had big plans that didn’t include becoming Mrs. Anybody and raising kids. Besides, Daniel’s life was complicated. He had an infant. Even if Brittany was willing to consider a relationship with him—which she wasn’t—his daughter was a deal breaker. Brittany liked kids, but she didn’t want any of her own. She’d seen the toll being a working mother had taken on her mother. Mallory Brandt had been exhausted most of Brittany’s life. And since Brittany had no plans to give up her career, kids were out.

  She wasn’t cut out to be a mother with the full-time responsibility that came along with having kids. That wasn’t the life for her. She’d be the favorite aunt to her siblings’ and friends’ kids, taking them on fun outings, letting them have sleepovers at her house, and buying them ridiculously expensive gifts, but that was it.

  Despite all the reasons he was wrong for her, there was something about Daniel that had reached out to her on an elemental level. Though she might n
ot want to admit it, something in her had reached back.

  “Deny all you want, if that makes you happy. But remember, when you and Daniel do get together, I reserve the right to say I told you so. Oh, and I expect all of the details.”

  Brittany laughed as she stood. “You’ll be the first to know. On that note, I’m going to say good-night and leave you to your dress hunt. See you in the morning.”

  After heating up leftover meatloaf she’d brought home from dinner with her parents earlier in the week, Brittany went into her room. She loved the condo she and Amanda shared, but her bedroom suite was her sanctuary. She’d decorated it in soothing creams, whites and pale blues. Personal pictures were scattered across her dresser and bedside tables. Her desk was situated beneath the windows, where she was able to enjoy a view of nature whenever she worked there.

  She took out her notes with the intention of adding contacts so she could hit the ground running tomorrow morning. She’d pull out all the stops and call in every favor she’d earned to make this dinner the talk of the town.

  But rather than work, she sat there, pen in hand and stared out her window. Instead of her normal view of trees, a manicured lawn, with perfectly spaced flowers, she saw Daniel astride his magnificent horse, galloping across the untouched beauty of his ranch. To her. When he reached her, he jumped from his stallion and closed the distance between them. Smiling, he held out a hand to touch her face. Then he lowered his head as she raised hers to receive his kiss. Just as their lips were about to meet, an owl hooted, and Brittany jerked. Blinking, she tried to clear her head.

  What in the world was she doing? Why was she daydreaming about Daniel? He was her client. And he had a child. Either one of those things alone should have given her pause. Both together should have made her stop and then run in the other direction. The fact that she was fantasizing about him scared her witless.

  * * *

  “I’m coming,” Daniel said more to himself than to Hailey. For the past few days, he’d been caring for the baby on his own as well as trying to get his business up and running. Caring for Hailey took priority, so he generally didn’t get much work done during the day. By the time she was asleep at night, he was all but worn out. In the past, he’d put in long hours, rising with the sun and working well into the night without a problem. But in those days, he hadn’t been caring for a child.