by Kara Lennox
Today’s experience was shaping up to be quite different. For one thing, she wore flip-flops and had her hair pulled back in a ponytail.
For another, they actually watched the game. Ellen Lowenstein was a rabid Astros fan. When they did talk, it was about kids and families and hometowns. Ellen was a widow with no children, as it turned out, but she loved kids and had naturally fallen into designing children’s clothes after a college internship with another kids’ clothing label. She had loads of nieces and nephews, many of whom she’d invited to tonight’s game, so their luxurious skybox was in a constant state of happy uproar.
Max pulled Jane into his conversation with Ellen at every opportunity. But at no time did he mention that he and Jane weren’t married. Kaylee split her time playing with the other kids, eating popcorn, and crawling on whatever adult would pay attention to her. Max was one. He seemed surprisingly natural with Kaylee and the other children. More playacting? Or did he have another reason for staying away from single moms?
After Kaylee referred to Max as “Max” rather than “Daddy” a few times, Jane was sure Ellen would say something. But instead she just laughed. “My niece Dana refuses to call her father ‘Daddy,’ too.”
Jane gave Max a pointed look, but he pretended not to see.
Finally, at the seventh-inning stretch, Jane cornered Max at the cooler, when they both went for bottled water at the same time. “Are you going to tell her?” she whispered.
Max looked pained. “It’s going so well.”
“It’s going to go very badly if she thinks you lied to her. The longer you wait, the worse it will be.”
“Does she really have to know? You won’t even see her again after tonight.”
“Maxwell Remington. You promised. You promised me you would tell her the truth.”
“Okay, okay. Just…not here, in front of all these people. Tomorrow we’ll have more of a business meeting, when we take the tour. I’ll tell her then.”
Jane wasn’t too pleased with his procrastination. But she didn’t feel mean enough to just blurt out the truth to Ellen. She did want Max to get the account, and her decision wasn’t completely unselfish. If Max’s agency went under, she would be without a paycheck.
“All right, but don’t expect me to lie. Not outright.”
“I don’t.”
One of the other children bumped into Max’s leg. Max steadied him with an indulgent smile.
Jane’s heart flipped. Allie was wrong—he was a natural with kids. Every time she saw him with Kaylee, so gentle, really listening to what she had to say and talking to her as if she was as important as any adult, she wanted to cry.
Why couldn’t Scott have been that kind of father? If only he had been decent to Kaylee, Jane could have overlooked all the rest. But he’d ignored her on good days and yelled at her on bad ones. When he was home at all, which was hardly ever.
If she could find a man who would be a good father to Kaylee, she would marry him, even if she didn’t love him. Her remarkable little girl deserved two caring, involved parents.
She cautioned herself not to think of Max that way. If she’d ever met a confirmed bachelor, he was it. She’d seen his “little black book,” so stuffed with names and phone numbers and cross-outs that it threatened to burst its seams. She’d seen the way women threw themselves at him. Even tonight, a couple of single women in the group were flirting with him.
He shot them down, of course. He wouldn’t want Ellen to think he was a philanderer. But if not for that, Jane guessed he would have had himself a conquest.
When the game was over, everyone’s mood was jubilant, celebrating the Astros’ win. Jane pushed her morose thoughts out of her head and joined in the laughter. How often did she get a fun-filled night like this?
Ellen had insisted they take a limo back to their hotel rather than wait in a long taxi line. Now, relaxed in the cool interior, Jane felt a strange lethargy creep over her.
Oh, yes, she could get used to this again. Being poor was a drag. Having to worry about paying the bills, having to weigh every penny she spent and forgo so many of the luxuries that had become habit—it was a lot harder than she’d thought it would be.
Her mother, ever the font of wisdom, had suggested she find herself another rich husband as quickly as she could, and Jane had turned her nose up at the advice.
But, yeah, she could get used to this.
And she could definitely get used to pretending Max was her husband. Especially when Kaylee, exhausted from all the excitement, crawled into his lap and he cuddled her just as if she really were his daughter.
Dangerous, dangerous territory.
MAX THOUGHT HE HAD NEVER seen a more angelic little girl. When she was asleep, at least. Awake, Kaylee could scream and whine and throw things with the best of them. But asleep, she was all sugar-and-spice.
Hannah had been just a little older than Kaylee when Max and her mother, Alicia, had first started dating. Back then, Max had known nothing about children. But Hannah had accepted him readily into her life, and soon the three of them had done everything as a family—pizza nights, kids’ videos. Max had even helped chaperone a slumber party, a situation that had made Cooper and Reece shudder when he told them.
It was only when Alicia had started pushing for marriage that Max had taken a step back and looked long and hard at his life. He’d come to the uncomfortable realization that he didn’t love Alicia.
He loved Hannah. He loved the warm, family feel of being around the little girl and her mother, a feeling that had been totally lacking in his own childhood. But at twenty-eight years old he’d not been ready for marriage. And even if he had been, he wouldn’t have married a woman he wasn’t in love with.
He glanced over at Jane, who was watching him.
“She’s really wiped out,” she whispered, nodding to Kaylee.
“Big day.”
“She didn’t even have a nap today, she was so excited. She’ll sleep like a stone tonight.”
“That’s good, because tomorrow’s another big day.”
The limousine stopped in front of the Hotel Alexander, and Kaylee stirred and rubbed her eyes. “We home?”
“Sort of.”
The driver opened the limo door, and Kaylee clambered off of Max’s lap to follow her mother as she exited the vehicle. “Mommy, look!” Kaylee tugged on Jane’s clothes, pointing to a giant stuffed elephant that someone was trying to fit through the revolving door, with little success.
Jane laughed. “Uh-oh. Guess that elephant had too much dinner.”
Max got out and tipped the driver, then the three of them—Max, Jane and Kaylee, the pseudo-family—headed for the hotel door.
The man with the elephant had set his stuffed toy on the ground while he shuffled his other bags and packages. The temptation was too much for Kaylee and she took off toward the giant plush animal. Unfortunately, before she could get to it an uneven paving stone tripped her up. She went flying and landed with an audible thud.
Max’s heart jumped into his throat as he and Jane rushed forward, reaching Kaylee just as she started wailing in pain and outright fury.
Before Max could caution the child not to move she pushed herself up. He saw the blood on her elbow and almost passed out. She also had a small scrape on her chin.
The hotel’s doorman rushed over. “Do you need medical help?”
“Yes!” Max shouted. “Call for an ambulance.” Dear God, Kaylee was bleeding.
But Jane was the voice of reason. “No,” she said firmly, “there’s no need for an ambulance.” She gathered up the distraught child, taking a quick inventory. “I think we’ll be all right.” She produced a tissue and blotted at the blood. “Kaylee, honey, tell me where it hurts.”
She pointed to the scrape on her arm.
“Ouchy. Let’s go to our room and put some medicine on that.”
Kaylee continued to cry, and Jane picked her up and held her close, rocking her. “Poor sweetie. I know it hurts
. It’ll feel better soon.”
“Are you sure nothing’s broken?” Max asked. “We can take her to a doctor, or the emergency room—”
“Nothing’s broken. She just tripped and scraped her arm, that’s all.”
Max admired the calm, soothing way Jane handled the situation. By the time they’d reached the elevator, Kaylee was more whimpering than crying, and by the time they’d reached their two-bedroom suite on the ninth floor, she’d quieted down completely. However, her big, tear-filled eyes nearly did Max in.
He didn’t know how parents did it, watching their children in pain. Kaylee was nowhere near his daughter, but seeing her injured and bleeding was still traumatic.
Max was ashamed of himself, at the way he had readily pretended to be a father when he hadn’t earned that right. Being a father wasn’t some frivolous thing. Just because he’d held Kaylee in his lap a few times…he never should have misled Ellen. And he was determined to tell her the truth first thing tomorrow.
They had checked into their hotel earlier, but they’d been running late and so they hadn’t even seen the two-bedroom suite, just had their bags sent up. Max had been looking forward to Jane’s reaction to the luxurious accommodations. Women always went crazy over this hotel, with its tall ceilings and plaster moldings, the lush carpeting and silk draped everywhere.
But Jane’s attention was squarely on her daughter. She took her straight into the bathroom and set her down on the counter.
“Oh, shoot, my first-aid stuff is in the other bag.”
“I’ll get it.”
“It’s the small red one.”
Moments later he returned with the bag. Kaylee watched solemnly as her mother produced an antiseptic towelette to clean the scrapes. She apparently carried towelettes for every occasion.
“Ow.”
Jane blew on the scrape. “Sorry. But we have to clean you up so you don’t get any germs.” She tried to clean the cut on Kaylee’s chin, but Kaylee pushed her away.
“No, Mommy. That stuff hurts. I want Max to fix me.”
“Me?”
The child looked at him with adoring eyes. “You have Band-Aids?”
“Your mommy has bandages,” Max countered.
“You put them on.”
“She just wants attention from you because it’s novel,” Jane mumbled as she dug through her bag looking for something. “I always fuss over her. Now, Kaylee—”
“I want Max.”
Chapter Six
Jane looked at Max, her eyes imploring. “It’s late, and I’m in no mood for a tantrum. Do you mind?”
Max smiled. “Not at all.” He didn’t understand Kaylee wanting him, of all people, instead of her incredibly gentle and patient mother, but the little girl was entitled to a bit of spoiling after her accident. That road rash on her arm probably burned like fire.
He dabbed some antibiotic ointment on the oozing scrape. Kaylee watched him with interest, but she didn’t cry or try to pull away. He did the same for the tiny cut on her chin. Finally, he put bandages on her injuries. The arm took two.
“You look like you’ve done this a time or two,” Jane said.
He had. Hannah was a typical rough-and-tumble kid, so he knew how to apply a bandage. Now that he thought about it, Hannah had enjoyed having him fuss over her, too. Maybe it was something common to girls with absent fathers. But what did he know? He was no shrink.
What he did know was that he enjoyed taking care of Kaylee. She aroused protective feelings in him that he’d pushed aside and buried years ago. And he didn’t want those feelings—not at all.
He had specifically stayed away from single moms for this very reason.
But this situation was different than the one with Hannah, he reasoned. He and Jane weren’t involved. If Kaylee felt a temporary attachment for him, it would end as soon as he stopped spending time with her. And, really, he would have no reason to spend time with her after they returned to Port Clara.
“I think we’re done here,” Max said brightly. He needed to get out of this bathroom, away from the false intimacy.
He was not going to fall into that trap again, getting cozy with a woman because he enjoyed pretending to be a family. Not that “cozy” was even a possibility with Jane.
Jane helped Kaylee down from the counter. “Let’s go find your pajamas.”
Kaylee squealed with delight when she saw the big canopy bed in the bedroom she and Jane would share. “It’s a princess bed!”
Max smiled as he fixed himself a drink from the minibar in the sitting room that separated the two bedrooms. He felt tremendous relief that Kaylee seemed back to her old self, that the injury hadn’t been more serious. As he sipped his weak gin-and-tonic, he listened to the murmur of female voices coming from the bedroom.
Peaceful. That’s how he felt. Relieved and peaceful.
That wasn’t a feeling he was used to. His was a world of highs and lows, tremendous drive and energy. Always a goal in mind. He wasn’t used to just sitting, enjoying a quiet moment.
Jane emerged from her bedroom looking beautiful but frazzled. “She wants a story. And she wants you to read it.” Jane settled on the loveseat across from Max. “I’m sorry, but you’ve suddenly become her favorite person.”
“I don’t mind reading her a story. Does she like Green Eggs and Ham? I can do that one from memory.”
“Really?”
Maybe he shouldn’t have revealed that. He didn’t want to get into his history with Alicia and Hannah, not tonight. “It’s my favorite.”
“She likes it, too, Sam-I-Am.”
Max abandoned his drink and strolled into the bedroom. “I am Sam. Sam-I-Am.”
Kaylee giggled. “No, you’re Max.”
As he recited the familiar text from memory, Kaylee’s eyes grew heavier and heavier, and Max’s eyes strayed often to the other side of the double bed, with its luxurious sheets and silk comforter, picturing Jane reclining there, her dark hair spilled over her pillow.
What did she wear to bed? A skimpy nightgown? Boxers and a tank top? Nothing?
Max forcefully corralled his thoughts. She was his employee, a single mom and recently divorced. Off-limits. He had no business entertaining lurid thoughts about her.
But knowing that didn’t stop him. By the time he reached the part about the fox and the box, another part of his mind had Jane undressed and writhing in his arms.
“She’s asleep,” Jane whispered as Max neared the end of the story. They tiptoed out of the room, and Jane quietly closed the door. “I wish I could drop off to sleep that easily.”
“You don’t?”
“Sometimes I lay awake worrying about the future and how I’m going to provide for Kaylee. Sure, everything’s okay now. But she’s young and her needs are simple. What about when she gets older? She’ll want a cell phone and a computer. Prom dresses. Textbooks. College tuition.”
“Ex-husbands are good for that kind of thing.”
“Hah.” Scott would never provide for anything that wasn’t specifically spelled out in their divorce agreement, not unless he underwent a major personality transformation.
Max quickly changed the subject. “You want a drink? I noticed you stayed away from the beer and wine at the ball game.”
“I wanted to keep my wits about me so I wouldn’t inadvertently blurt out something to Ellen that gave away our secret. And, yes, a drink would be nice. Is there wine?”
Max headed for the minibar. “Red or white?”
“White.”
She shouldn’t drink anything. In fact, she should just say good-night and march back into her bedroom, brush her teeth and go to bed, even if she didn’t believe she could go to sleep. She was alone in a hotel suite with her boss. She thought about all those business trips Scott took. Staff development seminars, regional meetings in Dallas…
Oh, who cared about Scott.
Max handed her a glass of Chablis, and she took a sip. It was cold and crisp. “Not bad for minibar w
ine.”
“The Hotel Alexander strives to be a cut above. It says so on all their advertising.”
“Did you come up with that slogan?”
“Yeah. Long time ago.” He reclaimed his drink—something clear with ice—and settled across from her. Well out of arm’s reach, thank goodness.
“So, Max, I’m curious. Why do you have a policy of not dating women with children?”
He scowled. “Where’d you hear that?”
“From Allie. Or Sara—I can’t remember.”
“You shouldn’t listen to gossip.”
“So it’s not true?”
He didn’t answer right away. In fact, he looked troubled, and Jane’s heart sank. Of course they couldn’t date, it was ridiculous. She had just ended one unhappy marriage and had no business even thinking about getting involved again. Yet…
Oh, Jane. She really should cut down on her fantasizing.
“I have dated women with children,” he finally said. “But I found it…complicated.”
“You seem good with kids, though.”
“I like kids. It’s not that.”
“Then what? I know I’m being nosy, but I’m curious. And since I’m not auditioning for the role of your girlfriend, you can be perfectly honest.”
He raised one eyebrow at her. “All right, I’ll be brutally honest. Women with children are so often looking for fathers for their kids. That’s what they see when they see me—a good provider as well as a guy who gets along well with children. I don’t like being seen as just a potential stepfather.”
“That’s a bit harsh.”
“It’s true, though. If you were a single man out in the dating world, you would see that. Not that it’s wrong for a woman to put her child first. I’m sure if you were looking for a boyfriend, your first concern would be for Kaylee. Right?”
Since her thoughts had been running along that very line earlier in the evening, she couldn’t very well deny it. “Maybe you do have a point.”
“It’s a shame, though,” he added absently, almost to himself.
“What’s a shame?”
He looked up, surprised. Maybe he hadn’t meant to say those words aloud. “It would be pointless to deny that I’m attracted to you, and I suspect you don’t find me repulsive. Here we are in this romantic hotel, and under other circumstances…”