Caught in the Spotlight

by Jules Bennett

  He felt the slow burn of challenge. “Are you telling me I’m not qualified to be Jake’s father?”

  “Yes. That’s what I’m telling you. A great sperm count is not an indication of character or parenting potential.” Her cell phone rang, and she frowned, pulling it out of her tiny purse. “Hi. What’s up?” She listened for a moment, her eyebrow puckering. “Oh, no. Okay. I’ll be right there.” She looked at him and stood. “Sorry, I have to go.”

  “What is it?”

  “Chicken pox.”

  He stood, not pausing a beat. “I’d like to help.”

  She cast him a look of doubt. “I appreciate the thought, but this is really not your area.”

  “Maybe it needs to be if I’m gonna become father material,” he said, meeting her gaze head-on. “I didn’t have nine months to get ready, but I’d like a chance to be the man Jake needs as a father.” And a chance to be the man you’d have as a husband, he silently added.

  Seven

  Four days into his son’s chicken pox, Garrett began to realize that watching the Disney channel hadn’t adequately prepared him for parenting.

  Although Jake was adorable, he was justifiably cranky, and Haley wasn’t much better. She might not have the pox herself, but she was tired from being up half the night with Jake because she refused to allow Garrett to stay at her house.

  Jake had initially been shy but curious with Garrett. But Haley had raised a loving, friendly boy, and Jake was becoming more outgoing every time Garrett visited. Jake was beginning to trust him.

  It might be wishful thinking, but Garrett sensed Jake wanted a father figure in his life. He could tell Haley was nervous about how easily Jake had trusted Garrett, but he would prove she had nothing to fear.

  Meanwhile, he and Haley had reached a truce of sorts. He longed for the easiness they’d shared, but she seemed determined to keep him at a distance. And he couldn’t blame her.

  That didn’t mean he was giving up. Each hour he spent in her presence reminded him of all the time he’d missed with her, and he didn’t want to miss any more. He heard her laugh with Jake, and the sound alternately lifted his spirits and twisted his gut because he knew she didn’t feel free to laugh that way with him.

  Susan called and tried to persuade Haley to join her for dinner. Haley looked at her miserable son and gestured for Garrett to stop Jake from scratching. “I’d better not, Susan. Jake’s at the super-itchy stage.” She paused. “Yes, I know I have a babysitter, but he’s not experienced and—” She broke off when her gaze tangled with Garrett’s.

  “I can do it,” he said, walking toward her. “You’re well-stocked with Benadryl and calamine lotion.”

  She looked at him doubtfully. “Yes, but…”

  He saw a faint, grudging glimmer of trust and attraction in her eyes. “I hear you, Susan. I’m not being an overprotective mother.” She frowned at the phone. “Okay, I’ll come, but I’m not staying for more than two hours.” She hung up the phone and looked at Garrett. “Are you sure you want to do this?”

  “Never been more sure,” he said, knowing this was his opportunity to prove himself to her.

  “I’m not sure this is a good idea.”

  “It will help you to get out. You won’t feel so…cooped up and cranky.”

  She gave a double take. “I haven’t been cranky.”

  “Did I say cranky? I meant cooped up and tense.”

  “I haven’t been cranky,” she insisted, then left him biting his tongue.

  When she returned from her bedroom, dressed in a skirt that revealed her pretty legs and a top that clung to her skin, reminding him of intimacies they’d shared, she reviewed medication dosages and procedures. “Jake knows my cell phone number in case you forget,” she said sweetly.

  “Forget?” he echoed, his pride roaring to the surface. “I wouldn’t forget your cell phone.”

  “Well, y’know, you did forget my other number a few years back.”

  “Very cute,” he said. “But I didn’t—254-555-6238.”

  Her eyes widened in surprise.

  “I dialed it a hundred times in my brain,” he told her.

  A combination of vulnerability and something that almost looked like passion deepened her eyes for a moment. “I—uh, didn’t know.”

  “There’s a lot we haven’t had the opportunity to learn about each other.”

  She nodded. He could see she was processing the new information. She cleared her throat. “Well, I guess I should go.”

  “We’ll be fine. I know your cell.”

  “I guess you do,” she said, her lips twitching. She walked to the door then turned around. “Have I really been cranky?”

  “Do you want the diplomatic answer?”

  “No.”

  “You’ve acted like a worried mother who wants her son to feel better and be well.”

  “I thought I said I didn’t want the diplomatic answer.” She chuckled, and the sound filled him with sunshine. “Never mind. I’ll be back in two hours.”

  Within ten minutes, Jake began to itch and scratch. Evening was the worst time for the little guy, and no matter how often Garrett reminded him not to scratch, Jake couldn’t seem to help it. He began to cry. The sound wrenched at Garrett’s heart. He scooped up the child and put him in a lukewarm bath with baking soda.

  The water provided some relief, but upon closer inspection, Garrett learned that Jake’s mouth was filled with blisters. That was why he hadn’t eaten earlier.

  Garrett heard his cell phone ringing while Jake was in the bath, but ignored it. He knew it was his assistant calling about the negotiations he’d originally scheduled for this week but shelved at the last minute. It was a tricky situation, and he could lose the deal. His cell rang again, and he looked into his son’s miserable gaze and let the damn thing ring. Jake’s well-being was the only thing on his mind.

  He took Jake out of the tub and tried to dress him, but the boy fussed. Garrett decided clothes were overrated anyway. He carried him into the den, set up a fan so that a constant breeze blew over Jake and pulled out a half-dozen books.

  Haley arrived home to a house that was eerily quiet except for an odd beeping noise. For a moment, she feared something terrible had happened.

  She rushed through the foyer to the den and stopped short at the sight of Jake sleeping, his head resting on Garrett’s chest, while Garrett, too, slept. Her little boy was buck naked and generously coated with calamine lotion, but he was resting more comfortably than he had the past three nights. She saw a discarded stack of bedtime books and three Popsicle sticks.

  “Popsicles for the blisters in his mouth,” she murmured in surprise, wishing she had thought of it, wondering how the executioner could have thought of such a thing. Maybe because he wasn’t really an executioner. Maybe because he wasn’t the egotistical villain she’d tried to paint him in her mind.

  Garrett still took her breath away. She thought she’d buried her feelings for him, but being with him so much reminded her how much she’d missed him. The way he looked at her made her feel like someone had lit a firecracker inside her. She had concealed her attraction to him so far, but she wasn’t certain how she could continue the charade. His determination to know Jake chipped away at her defenses. His gentle humor with her and the light in his eyes made her heart stutter. Despite her best efforts, their camaraderie was coming back; the magic between them still simmered.

  She looked at the two dark heads so close together and felt her heart squeeze tight. She was looking at her secret dream, a dream so secret she hadn’t wanted to admit it even to herself.

  What if Garrett could be a good father to Jake? What if she and Garrett could find what had brought them together in the first place?

  The forbidden questions terrified her. The annoying beeping sound continued, and she walked toward it, finding Garrett’s cell phone on the sofa. Business, she thought and wondered if it was urgent. She wondered if he would leave again. A knot formed in her throa
t at the thought. More dangerous thoughts. She shouldn’t rely on him. She couldn’t rely on him.

  “Garrett,” she said, awkwardly touching his shoulder. “Garrett.”

  His eyes blinked, and he took a moment to focus. “Hi, Haley.”

  Her heart thumped at the way he said her name. She liked the way he rolled it around in his mouth as if he wanted to savor it. Silly thought, she scolded herself. “Your cell phone’s beeping. I’ll put Jake to bed.”

  “The fan’s the key,” he told her as she lifted Jake from his chest.

  Jake stirred. “Hi, Mommy. Garrett gave me Popsicles to make my mouth feel better.”

  “I know. That was brilliant.”

  “They tasted good, too,” Jake said, making her laugh. She put him to bed and returned to find Garrett on the sofa, raking his hand through his hair.

  “Bad news?”

  He nodded. “I’m going to lose this deal if I don’t get back to Houston tomorrow.”

  Eight

  Garrett was silent for a long moment, lost in thought. He didn’t want to go to Houston at all. He didn’t want to miss a minute with Haley and Jake. He chuckled to himself at the change in him. His job just didn’t seem that important to him anymore compared to being with Haley and Jake. This was where he wanted and needed to be. He’d spent the past four years without Haley and he didn’t want to go another moment without her.

  “You should go,” Haley said, wishing her chest didn’t feel so tight and achy. “It sounds important. I can handle Jake.”

  “I’m not going,” he said, flipping his cell phone shut.

  She laced and unlaced her fingers. “But what if you lose the deal? This was a nice idea to try to be here during Jake’s chicken pox, and you’ve done much better than I expected, but you’re the big chief of Winslow Corporation. Thousands of employees are counting on you to do your thing.”

  Nodding silently, he stood and walked toward her. He touched a strand of her hair and lowered his mouth, surprising the stuffing out of her when he kissed her. His lips were tender and searching. Her knees lost their starch, and she tried to stiffen them. Startled, she blinked when he pulled away.

  “Nice try, Haley, but I’m sticking it out until the last scab falls.”

  “What happens after that?” The telltale question popped out of her mouth before she could stop it. She wasn’t supposed to care what Garrett did, period.

  He cocked his head to one side and gave her a slow, sexy smile that ruffled nerve endings she had thought were deader than a doornail. “I think it depends on what kind of evaluation you give me.”

  She frowned in confusion. “Evaluation? What do you mean?”

  “I mean it’s customary for the supervisor to evaluate the trainee after a special project.”

  Haley nearly laughed aloud at the implication that she could supervise Garrett the executioner in any area. “And the results of my evaluation will do what?” she asked, playing along.

  “You’ll tell me if I’m ready for a promotion,” he said, sliding his gaze over her and heating her from head to toe. “I’m not staying just for Jake, Haley. I’ve missed you for four years. I don’t want to miss you anymore.” He lifted his thumb to touch her chin. “G’night. Call me if you need me.”

  Haley watched him walk out the door and struggled not to drop her jaw in astonishment.

  She shook her head. It wasn’t possible that Garrett would give up the chance to take over another company to add to the Winslow empire. He wouldn’t trade that to stay with Jake while he had chicken pox. It wasn’t possible, she told herself. He would be gone in less than twenty-four hours. She darn well better not expect him to be hanging around her house when he could be pulling down a multibillion-dollar deal. The cold reality chilled her, but she forced herself to face it.

  But the following morning, Garrett showed up at her door, and he did so every day until Jake no longer itched and his last scab fell off.

  Haley fought her attraction to him during those days, but her heart wasn’t nearly as sensible as it should be. Her heart should have learned not to count on Garrett. Her heart should have given up hope a long time ago, but somewhere buried deep inside, that darned little seed of hope pushed through the ground, as if it had been waiting for a spring thaw.

  It was hard to stay cold when she heard Garrett make tugboat noises as he read a book to Jake. It was hard to remain untouched when she saw Jake make Garrett laugh. It was hard not to long for that special something she and Garrett had shared in Mexico.

  After she tucked Jake into bed, Garrett waited for her outside the door. Her heart raced at the look on his face. She wondered if he was going to leave. The thought of it hurt so much it took her breath.

  He laced her fingers in his, and she allowed it. She would have to consider why later. He led her to the sofa and took both her hands in his. “I want a promotion.”

  She bit her lip. “To what?”

  “Anything above the slug who left you alone and pregnant would be an improvement,” he said wryly. His gaze turned serious. “But I want more.”

  “You’re Jake’s father. I won’t keep you from that. I can’t. It wouldn’t be fair to him.”

  He nodded. “That’s important. I want that, but I want more,” he told her. “I want you, Haley, like we were in Mexico.”

  She felt her eyes sting with the threat of tears. “We really can’t go back.”

  “But you’re still everything I’ve ever wanted in a woman. When I’m with you, I still feel that click inside me that tells me everything’s okay. I want you. I want to know you as much as any human being can know another. I love you, and I want the chance to love the woman you’re going to become.”

  Haley’s heart felt as if it were going to burst. She swallowed over the hard lump of emotion in her throat. “What if you change your mind?”

  “I won’t. I never did. I just didn’t think I could drag you into the mess my father left behind.” He lifted his hand to her chin. “It’s okay if you don’t quite believe me. I just want the chance to prove it. If it takes a year, two, three or more, I’ll be here until you see we really were meant to be.”

  “But what about your position at Winslow?”

  “I’ve made arrangements to scale back on my workload. It’s time for me to delegate more deals to my executive team while I take care of the important stuff. You, me and Jake. I can stand to lose a lot, but I never want to lose you again. And maybe when you’re ready, we can revisit Cozumel. But this time, we’ll come back together.”

  Haley’s eyes filled with tears. “I don’t know what to say.”

  “You don’t have to say anything. Just let me prove my love to you. I love you, Haley.”

  “And I love you,” she whispered, and it was the sweetest sound he’d ever heard.

  Epilogue

  There must have been something in the Cozumel water. They went to Mexico for their honeymoon, and Haley got pregnant again. But this time when she delivered their baby daughter with the wisp of strawberry-blond hair and Daddy’s brown eyes, Garrett was with her the whole time.

  While Haley caught a few winks of sleep, he kissed her on the forehead then took his daughter down the hall to meet her big brother. Garrett’s heart was so full he wondered if it would burst. There was nothing more valuable than what he and Haley shared, and she’d just given him one more priceless little miracle of love.

  * * * * *

  ISBN: 9781459223622

  Copyright © 2012 by Harlequin Books S.A.

  The publisher acknowledges the copyright holders of the individual works as follows:

  CAUGHT IN THE SPOTLIGHT

  Copyright © 2012 by Jules Bennett

  BILLIONAIRE’S BABY

  Copyright © 2003 by Harlequin Books S.A.

  Leanne Banks is acknowledged as the author of this work.

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  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental. This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

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