“Worst case?”
His thoughts whirled as he debated the conversation. He’d been clear with his VP but Andrew was right. This would be smoother with him present.
“Dammit,” he breathed.
“You’re coming in, aren’t you?”
“Let me see if Clara and Emily can handle Hunter today.”
“There’s a car waiting for you downstairs.”
He arched a brow. “That sure of the outcome, were you?”
“I’ve worked with you for years. I know how you operate. See you soon, boss.”
Hanging up, he went in search of his housemate.
“Clara?” he called.
Her head popped around his workshop’s open door. “You rang?”
“Can you watch Hunter if I run into the office for an hour?”
She stepped into the room, the baby on her hip. “Yeah, we’ll be fine. Emily’s doing the laundry, magical nanny that she is, and then she’ll be on hand, too. What’s up?”
“Business deal with Asia.”
“See, my tough days are things like, ‘man, I didn’t get that interview’ or ‘I wish I’d written more today.’ I can’t play who had a harder day with you ever.”
“The joys of running a company.”
She shook her head. “Go kick ass. We’ll be fine here for a few hours. I mean it’s only fair, right? I’m ducking out this evening.”
“Yeah,” he growled, not liking the reminder of her date. Pushing to his feet, he kissed the top of Hunter’s head before stepping around her. “Give me five minutes and I’ll be out the door.”
“Good luck,” she called as he headed for his bedroom.
…
“Looks like it’s just you and me, little guy,” Clara said to Hunter, bouncing him.
Glancing around the workroom buzzing with computers she shook her head. “There’s no babyproofing this room. Let’s just call it a death trap and keep the door closed, hmm?”
Switching off the lights, she retraced her steps to the living room and the baby area they’d set up. It would have been easy to turn one of the guest rooms into a nursery, but she liked the light streaming through the large living room windows. Standing at them, she could see the city rolling out toward the horizon. It was a far cry from the view she had at her place of the pizza joint across the street.
Different lives. Different worlds.
And this wasn’t hers.
“Doesn’t matter,” she whispered against the baby’s head. “I’m here for now.”
Might as well enjoy it while I can.
She was still examining the view when she heard Walker run back down the stairs.
“Do you have everything you need?” she asked, drifting into the hall to see him.
And stopped midstep.
Walker stood at the foot of the stairs, focused on buttoning his cuff link.
He transformed that much in five minutes?
Men’s fashion was utterly unfair. Still, she couldn’t stop her heart from fluttering as she took him in. Dressed in an all-black suit, he looked far more dangerous than he did in sweats lounging on the couch. His hair was slicked back, and his two-day-old scruff had been shaved off, leaving his jaw stark and bare.
He looked like what he was: a powerful CEO going to broker an international deal that would involve more millions than she could process.
Different worlds. I don’t fit in his.
Her throat tightened.
“I won’t be long,” he said, shaking out his cuff. “You’re sure you’ll be okay?”
“We’ll be fine,” she promised, forcing the words out.
It wasn’t like this was the first time she’d seen him dressed for work, but it still felt different. When she thought of him, she thought of the Walker she’d met in school back when they’d been equals. The billionaire side of him had always just seemed…extra. Impressive but almost unimportant. It didn’t touch the man she’d spent years growing up with.
But now, seeing him dressed in wealth standing in his sprawling home put her off balance.
“What?” he demanded, pinning her with a gaze that was utterly Walker, no matter what his clothing.
“Nothing,” she said, moving closer. “Your collar is twisted.”
Propping the baby on a hip, she reached up to straighten his shirt, smoothing a hand over his shoulder when it was righted.
“There,” she said, looking up at him. “All better.”
Fire leapt into his gaze for one burning moment as he stared at her.
“Go take over the world,” she said as she stepped back.
He didn’t move, seeming frozen in place.
“Clara…”
“Your team is waiting.”
With a sigh, he ran a hand down his face. “I’ll be as fast as I can.”
“I’ll be waiting.”
Forever, it seems.
Swallowing hard, she and Hunter watched him walk from the home. And she couldn’t help feeling like she was being left behind in more ways than one.
…
As soon as he stepped foot in the office, Andrew was waiting for him, ready to mob him with a coffee peace offering and an armful of files.
“We’ve got a half hour to get you prepped,” Andrew said.
“This is my deal. I’m the one who prepped you.”
“We got their contract revisions this morning, and you should take a look at their demands. They’re coming in hot but will likely settle once we go through the motions for a while.”
Walker sipped the coffee as they strode across the top floor of his building to his office. Inside, a man was already seated at his wide mahogany desk scattered with papers.
“Walker,” he said, rising to his feet.
“Ron.” Shaking the hand of his second in command, he waved him off when Ron tried to move out of the seat he normally occupied. “I’m only here for a few hours. Keep the desk.”
Ron grinned. “How’s fatherhood going?”
“Hunter’s still breathing so I’m counting it a moral victory.”
“I hear you convinced that tasty friend of yours to move in with you to help out. How the hell did you manage that?”
“I asked her.”
Ron laughed. “Marry that woman, you idiot.”
He rolled his eyes. “Let’s get this deal inked, and we can worry about my love life later.”
“There’s the man I know. It’s always business first with you.”
The words unsettled him but he kept his expression blank. “I want updated projections in my hand in five minutes, Andrew.”
“Right away.” His assistant raced from the room.
“He didn’t need to drag you in,” Ron said as he settled back into the CEO’s chair.
“It won’t take long. A few baby-free hours will do me some good.”
“Jonesing for some adult contact?”
“Babies are cute but their conversation skills are pretty poor.”
“If only you lived with another person.”
He dropped into the chair opposite Ron. “We’ve been over this.”
“The legendary friendship that can’t be broken. Yeah, I’ve heard the story. But this woman also took up residence in your house with very little urging. What does that tell you?”
“That I have a remarkable friend.”
Ron sighed. “How can you be this smart and this dumb all at the same time?”
“Feeling pretty secure in that chair, aren’t you?”
Ron rolled his eyes. “You couldn’t function without me. Who else can keep the company on track while you disappear into the math?”
“True. Lucky you.”
“Then tell me the truth. A baby on your doorstep. How the hell are you coping?”
“I’m not going to lie and say it’s been easy.”
“Is there no one else you can…” Ron waved his hand.
“Cast my child off to?”
His VP shrugged.
“No,�
�� Walker said. “That’s not an option.”
“Can’t blame me for asking.”
“Can’t I?”
“My point is, you never asked for any of this. You have options if you need them. Wealth does come with some perks.”
“Like buying a family to raise my only child?”
Ron held up his hands in peace. “I’m just trying to make sure you know your options.”
Walker sighed, running his fingers through his hair. “I get it. It sounds crazy, changing my whole life for a kid I never even knew existed. But here we are.”
“If you’re going to give this dad thing a real go, then we’ll make it work. It’s your company. You’re allowed a family if you want one.”
Everyone just assumed I never would.
He knew the reputation he’d earned. The colleagues he worked closest with viewed him as a robot. The board viewed him as a moneymaker they just had to shake now and then.
Clara doesn’t see you like either of those things.
No, but the way she’d stared at him in the hall would haunt him for a long time to come. It had almost been like she’d been looking at him for the first time and hadn’t been sure she’d liked what she saw.
Complicated. All of this is complicated.
And getting increasingly more so as the days rolled on.
“If you don’t need help getting out of this,” Ron said, “do you need help solidifying it?”
“Such as?”
His second shrugged. “This is uncharted territory for me too. Are there legal issues here? Custody concerns?”
He sighed. “Probably. I’m waiting on a DNA test next week. We’ll take it from there.”
“And the mother?”
Walker simply stared him down until Ron cleared his throat. “Well, let me know if there is anything I or the company can do to help. You’ve got a lot of weight behind you if you need it.”
“I appreciate the support. What I need right now is to get through this meeting and get back to my kid.”
“And Clara?”
“Careful, Ron.”
“Fine, fine. But you know my opinion on the matter. You’d be a fool to let her get away. Honestly, how many women out there do you think would drop everything to help their best friend raise a baby?”
Few to none. Clara is one of a kind.
Which meant she deserved the best, not someone with a secret baby and a jaded view of family.
What if that man is Todd?
Then he’d cross that bridge when he got to it.
“Let’s put a pin in my personal life for the moment,” he declared. “Andrew said the distribution team came back with a list of demands. Run me through them.”
“Works for me. Let’s start with the briefing we got on Monday.”
Settling back into his chair, he listened to Ron, his mind already lining up the pieces he’d need to make today a success. As the clock ticked down to the meeting, a familiar equilibrium filled him. He might not be able to change a diaper quickly or open babyproofed drawers, but this he could do.
And when he left today, Asia would be his.
Chapter Ten
“Emily, have you seen the blanket Hunter likes?” Clara asked, throwing couch cushions around.
“Got it,” the nanny replied, waving the fluffy blue cloth like a flag. “Is he fussing?”
“Yeah and I need to get this article finished before my date tonight.”
Emily opened her mouth but closed it before anything could escape.
“What?” Clara demanded.
The nanny shrugged. “It’s none of my business.”
Clara snorted. “You are helping raise my friend’s surprise child. I don’t think much about our lives is off-limits to you.”
Emily joined Clara on the floor where she sat, a baby to one side and her computer to the other.
“I sort of assumed you were already dating.”
“Walker, you mean.”
“See? I told you this wasn’t my business.”
“No, no, it’s fine. I said you could ask.” She sighed. “We’re not a couple. Never have been. We actually met because he was dating my roommate.”
“Dating the wrong woman. How romantic.”
She laughed. “Not quite. Jess was just a little too social for him. Walker likes his space.”
“Not from you.”
Clara stared down at Hunter. “None of my blood flows in this baby’s veins. What does that tell you?”
“That you love his father.”
She jerked her head up.
“As a friend,” Emily said before she could. “Only a true friend would be here right now and you show no signs of leaving.”
“I will,” she said. “When my three weeks are up. When Walker can do this without me. Then you’ll be the last of us standing.”
“A lot can happen in two weeks.”
“It’s been ten years. What’s a few weeks compared to that?”
Emily shrugged. “Depends on the weeks.”
She shook her head. “I’m just the stand-in and that’s fine. This baby isn’t mine to keep.”
Emily tucked the blue blanket around Hunter. “Who could leave this little darling?” she mused.
Who indeed?
She’d never been sure she wanted kids. Not after raising a pack of them already. But Hunter was different. She’d only known him a few days and already she couldn’t imagine giving him up. How had his mother managed to walk away? What sort of woman would leave a baby without a backward glance? She’d expected a phone call this week or, hell, a drop-in at some point, but there’d been nothing but silence. If Walker knew who Hunter’s mother was he was keeping the information to himself.
Besides, it’s not my place to ask.
Clara was the substitute, not the wife. He didn’t owe her any secrets. Just because they’d always shared everything in the past was no guarantee of the future.
“It seems unbelievable, doesn’t it?” she asked.
“I’ve worked with several families, both good and bad, and I have to say I’ve never come across a case like this one before.”
“It’d make a great story.”
Emily laughed. “I haven’t known Walker long, but I’m going to take a wild guess and say he wouldn’t approve of his family landing in the press.”
“No,” Clara agreed. “He’s a private person. The world’s most unusual billionaire.”
There are parts of his past not even I know.
She bit her lip, wondering if she ever would. He was off doing amazing things for his company and she was…waiting. Waiting to see if anything would ever happen with them. Waiting to see what her life would become instead of pursuing a change.
This date will be good for me.
It would give her a chance to think about anything other than Walker and his son for an evening.
But to get to it, she had to finish her assignment.
“Can you watch him for a little while?” Clara asked. “I really need to get to work.”
“Go. We’ll be fine for a while, won’t we, little guy?” Emily asked the baby.
Smiling her thanks, she pushed to her feet. Article first, date second. That was all she had to focus on today.
Which worked in theory but even as she headed for her room, there was no banishing Walker from her thoughts.
…
“Hello,” Walker called as he entered his home.
“We’re in here,” Emily called.
He tossed his keys on the entranceway table and headed for the kitchen to see his son and nanny perched at the island.
“How did your meeting go?” Emily asked.
“I closed the deal,” he said, setting the bottle of champagne he’d bought on the counter.
“Congratulations. That’s amazing.”
“Thank you. The talks were a little more difficult than I’d expected, but in the end, we prevailed. Is Clara around?”
“She’s upstairs getting ready
for her date,” she said. “And if you’re in for the night I’ll take off. Unless you changed your mind and wanted me to stay.”
“No, no,” he said. “We’ll be fine.”
“He’s been changed and feed,” she said, passing over Hunter. “I’ll be back bright and early tomorrow. Congrats again on your deal.”
He bounced Hunter as Emily grabbed her purse and headed home.
“How about you?” he asked his son. “Did you and Clara have fun?”
The baby gurgled in response.
“You’ll be happy to know today was an excellent day for us. Your trust fund will be thrilled.”
As he walked around the kitchen, he couldn’t help smiling. Hunter’s life would be completely different from his. Maybe one day he’d even want to take over the company.
“We’ll make it a family business,” he said. “What do you think of that?”
It certainly hadn’t been his vision when he’d started it, but now that Hunter was here, he liked the idea of building a legacy he could pass on.
“Who would have predicted any of this?” he said.
When he’d started his company he’d never thought much would come of it. At the university, he’d never been able to sit still long enough to last through a class. He’d failed most of his courses because he’d been more interested in the math than the grades. No one around him had spoken his language, so he’d created a bridge from his inner world to their outer one through his code and, later, his software. From one simple application, dozens had sprouted. Some had made money and some had floundered. But if there was one thing he knew better than math, it was investing. Soon he’d had a company with a handful of employees. Other awkward geniuses who had been able to create a whole digital world together.
If he hadn’t dropped out of school, none of that would have happened. He never would have been independent, never would have begun a start-up, and never would have grown a basement-based company into a tech empire he might one day leave his son.
I might have taken other paths, though.
If he’d stayed in school, who knew what could have happened? He might have married his college sweetheart and had a child in wedlock.
He might have asked Clara out on their graduation day instead of watching her walk across the stage from the recesses in the back of the hall. The routine, the classes, the peers, none of that had been hard to walk away from.
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