It was quite an offer. One that she couldn’t take lightly. Kayleigh was a smart career woman, even if her choice of occupation right now wasn’t showing any real challenge or motivation. She had graduated from college at the top of her class in interior design, but jobs in the field were hard to come by and starting out on her own required financial backing which she didn’t have.
Five years ago, she had come to Sloan Design with the idea that she would work there temporarily until she found a ‘real’ job. Now she was ashamed to admit that once she saw Derek Sloan, she all but stopped looking for work elsewhere. No one in her department had a clue that she harbored a crush on their company president and that’s the way Kayleigh preferred it. Surely someone would tell her that she was crazy to be wasting her time and talent to stay at a dead-end job just because she liked to look at a man who didn’t know she even existed.
Until now.
“Kayleigh?”
“Oh, sorry. My mind wandered for a moment.” She took the empty bottle from Emery’s still pursed mouth and draped a cloth over her shoulder and positioned the baby there so that she could pat her back and burp her again.
Standing, Kayleigh began to pace around the office nervously. “Oh, I don’t know, Mr. Sloan. I’ve never been a nanny before.”
“You’ve been taking care of children for most of your life; you said so yourself just a few minutes ago.”
He had her there. “I suppose I could do it,” she said, thinking out loud. “I mean, I can get to your house before you leave for work and we can work out a schedule so that I have Emery settled in before I leave at night. Then…”
Derek cut her off. “No, I need a live-in nanny. Babies don’t have regular schedules. That much I do know. I need someone to be there around the clock to take care of her. Besides, I don’t keep bankers hours. I never know when I’ll get out of here most nights. It would be easier for you to move in and take care of Emery.”
“You want me to move in with you?” Kayleigh croaked out the words, forcing a lump down in her throat. Could this day get any better?
“Yes.” His gaze met hers with intent.
In her wildest fantasies, she never could have imagined this. Living with Derek Sloan; caring for the child that could be his. It was insane!
Emery let out another un-ladylike belch and Kayleigh chuckled. “I just don’t know…”
Derek couldn’t afford to have her refuse. He had to act quickly to ensure that Kayleigh moved in with him today. “Please, Kayleigh. You obviously know what you’re doing and Emery seems to like you. Please.” He reached out and grabbed one of her hands and gave it a gentle squeeze. Her large eyes looked up at him with pure wonder. “Will you help me, Kayleigh? It will only be for two weeks, maybe three. Tops. I promise.” At her hesitation, he added, “I’ll triple your pay.”
Kayleigh looked at him and studied his pleading expression. She longed to reach out and touch his face and promise him that she’d stay as long as he wanted her, forever even, but in the end, she held on to her composure and controlled herself.
Taking a deep breath, she replied, “Okay.”
Derek sagged with relief. “Oh, thank God,” he murmured. Giving Kayleigh a pleased grin, he stepped back and looked as if a great weight had been lifted off of his shoulders. As he turned to walk back over to his desk, Kayleigh stopped him with her words.
“Babies need a lot of things, Mr. Sloan. Do you have anything at home for her to use?”
“Like I said, she showed up here this morning and before that, I had no idea that she even existed.” He sat back behind his desk and grabbed a legal pad and a pen. “I suppose we should make a list of what she’ll need and then hit the stores to get it all.”
“May I make a suggestion?” Kayleigh began cautiously.
“Absolutely.”
“I don’t mean to sound like a nervous-Nelly or anything, but…if the mother was cold enough to desert her own infant, I’d wonder about what kind of care Emery has gotten at this point.”
“I’m not sure I’m following you.”
“I think that you should have her checked out by a pediatrician to make sure that she’s healthy.”
Derek braced his elbows on his desk and rested his face in his hands. After a moment he dragged them back down his face. “That’s a good point. I never would have thought of that. How do I find a pediatrician?”
Kayleigh gave him a smile that filled him with hope for the first time that day. “You happen to be in luck. My oldest brother is a pediatrician and has a practice not far from here.”
Without waiting for a reply, Kayleigh placed the now sleeping Emery back in that ridiculous basket before reaching across Derek’s desk and picking up the phone. She had no time to catch the stunned expression on his face at her actions. Dialing her brother’s office, she perched herself on the corner of the desk and waited for his receptionist to answer.
“Dr. Mitchell’s office, how may I help you?”
“Hey, Lindsey! It’s Kayleigh. Is Jared available? It’s an emergency.” She was put on hold and her brother picked up in less than a minute.
“Kayleigh? Is everything all right? What’s the matter?” Her brother’s voice held a controlled yet panic tone.
Kayleigh gave him the Reader’s Digest version of events and he agreed to see them just as soon as they could get there. “Thank you so much, Jared. We’ll see you soon.” She hung up the phone and related the news to Derek. “Now we only have one problem.”
Derek arched an eyebrow at her. “Just one?” he chuckled, and though the sound washed over her like pure silk, Kayleigh could tell he was still nervous.
“We are going to need a real car seat to take Emery in and not this crazy basket. It’s not legal for a child to ride in the car without an approved car seat. I could drive over to the Wal-Mart and pick one up while she’s sleeping if you’d like.”
“No!” Derek frantically reached for the phone and ignored her suggestion. He punched in some numbers before he answered her. “Eileen?” he barked in to the phone. “Yes, I know you’re at lunch, but I need for you to run a quick errand for me…No, it won’t take long…Yes, I’ll make the time up to you!” He went on to tell his assistant what was needed and asked her to please hurry back. After hanging up, he looked up at Kayleigh.
“Eileen will pick one up and bring it back with her.” He seemed pleased with himself for solving their problem.
“It really wasn’t necessary to bother Eileen. I could have gone myself.”
His eyes widened at her words; panic clearly setting in. It was a side of Derek Sloan that Kayleigh was finding endearing. “What if Emery had woken up while you were gone?” he asked.
“Mr. Sloan,” she began diplomatically, “you’re going to have to learn to take care of her on your own at some point. She could be your daughter. But even if she’s not, then that means that she’s your niece and either way, whether you’re her father or uncle, you’ll have to learn to handle her without being afraid.”
When Derek remained silent, Kayleigh feared that she had gone too far. After all, not only was he her boss, but he was a very intimidating man that no one dared to disagree with. Now, in a short amount of time, Kayleigh had managed to question his ability to handle just about every aspect of his life. She stood stiff as a poker and waited for him to do or say something – completely filled with dread. It would really be stupid of her to finally get this opportunity to get close to Derek and lose it because of her own big mouth.
Derek leaned back in his chair and raked a hand through his hair which was now in total disarray and sexy as hell. While staring at him, Kayleigh noticed the color of his eyes for the first time. They were a golden brown, like honey. How had she never noticed that before?
Because before today, he’s never even looked at you! That’s why!
Kayleigh could tell that her words had indeed made him uncomfortable. Unable to stand the silence any longer, she blurted out, “How about we work on that
list?” She motioned toward the legal pad and then reached for it herself. A list maker by nature, she felt that she would be less likely to forget something that Emery would need if she was the one who wrote it down personally.
Fifteen minutes and two full pages of items later, Kayleigh finally felt like they had covered everything.
“Are you sure? I don’t think we’ve covered her first car yet,” Derek teased and Kayleigh couldn’t help but laugh. He liked the sound of her laughter. Her whole face lit up and he was finding it remarkably easy to let his guard down with this woman. He was usually always on alert – had his radar on – with the women in his life. They all seemed to want something from him and few, if any, had understood that his company meant the world to him. It would always come first and Derek had no time for emotional entanglements at this point in his life.
But now he was faced with the reality that was the reason for Kayleigh’s being here; Emery could be his daughter. If he hadn’t been able to find time for a casual affair with a woman, how was he supposed to handle being a father? His heart began to race and he felt his face form a frown.
Kayleigh reached out and touched Derek’s hand. “Are you okay?” The concern on her face was genuine, Derek realized, and it touched him that she was worried about him.
“I guess the reality of all of this is just starting to hit me,” he admitted honestly.
With a small smile that was filled with understanding she said, “I’m sure it’s all very overwhelming.”
“You have no idea.” Their eyes met and held and Kayleigh thought, for just an instant, that he was going to come around the desk and kiss her. He didn’t, of course, but in her fantasy filled mind, he did. Just thinking about it made her go warm all over.
Just as she was enjoying the butterflies that were tumbling in her belly, the door crashed open and Eileen walked through carrying the large box that contained the infant carrier they’d requested. Breaking the eye contact, Derek rose and took it from her, thanking Eileen for taking the time to help him yet again. Kayleigh, in turn, took the box from him and immediately began to unpack it and set it up while Derek paid his assistant for the purchase.
Within minutes, Derek was amazed to find Emery changed into a fresh diaper and change of clothes and safely secured in her new seat and that they were leaving the office for their trip to the pediatrician. Several sets of curious eyes watched their progress as they walked down the hallway, but one sideways glance from the boss had most people returning to their work. Kayleigh stopped at her desk to grab her purse before continuing down the hall to the elevator. Hanging back several steps, Derek took a moment to appreciate Kayleigh’s figure. Wearing a simple navy skirt that came to just above the knee, a toast colored twin-set and navy pumps, she made a very elegant picture. The soft sway of her hips and the confidence in her stride made his mouth go dry. She seemed oblivious to the stir she was causing both within the office and within him.
How the hell long had she worked here and he’d never noticed her? He asked himself. Was he that obsessed with this company that he no longer even noticed an attractive woman unless she was blatantly throwing herself at him? At once coming to the realization that he was staring, he made a quick left turn into the customer service area and went directly to the desk of the department supervisor to inform her of his arrangement with Kayleigh.
Chapter Two
Derek met up with Kayleigh in the parking lot. Pulling his sunglasses out of his jacket pocket, he watched her standing in the middle of the lot with a look of confusion on her face. Quite the turn-around from the confident woman of a few minutes ago.
“What’s the matter?”
“Well,” she began while still looking around the lot, “I was wondering whose car we should take.”
“Mine,” he replied as if it were the obvious choice.
“Well, I guess we could but…” Kayleigh looked over at the sleek and sporty Porsche and frowned. Fortifying herself to say what was sure to offend him, “It’s a little small for the three of us.”
The flash of annoyance was brief but noticeable. Then Derek shook his head at his own lack of foresight again. “Where’s your car?”
“It’s the silver Pathfinder on the end,” she said as she started walking in that direction.
Once Emery’s seat was fastened securely into the backseat, a task that Kayleigh handled with ease, they were on their way. Silently. It was a short drive and yet it felt like an eternity – what with all the lack of conversation. Kayleigh wanted to be sensitive to Derek’s needs and if he needed some quiet time to think about the direction that his life was taking, then she was willing to sit and be as quiet as a mouse. Although after several stolen glances at him, she began to frantically search for something witty to say to fill him with confidence.
Her mind was a blank.
True to his word, Dr. Jared Mitchell had a room waiting for them when they arrived and saw them right away. The two men eyed one another as if sizing the other up. Men! Kayleigh thought irritably. Jared was a protective big brother and she knew immediately that even though Derek was merely her boss, her brother would still view him as some sort of enemy out to threaten his sister’s virtue.
“Tell me about your daughter, Mr. Sloan,” Jared began.
Derek paled at the question and snapped his head in Kayleigh’s direction. Luckily she was quick on the uptake. “As I mentioned to you over the phone,” she began, “Emery was left at the Sloan office this morning with little more than a note for identification. It’s unclear whether she is Derek’s daughter or his brother Brian’s.”
It was the first time Kayleigh had called Derek by his first name and he smiled inwardly with pure male satisfaction at hearing it. Focus, dammit!
After being weighed and measured, Jared handed Emery back to Kayleigh for dressing. “Any ideas on who the mother could be?” Jared asked as delicately as he could.
Derek didn’t keep a mental time-line of his relationships and had to rack his brain for a moment. It wasn’t as if he had a harem at his beck and call. Truth be known, he’d been known to go for months at a time without being with a woman. Brian used to dangle his female companions in front of his brother in hopes of luring him out of the office. But ever the professional, Derek put the company first. A little fact that Brian seemed to be oblivious to – with no one running the company properly, no more cash flow. Why couldn’t Brian be more damn responsible? Why was all the weight on his shoulders while Brian went out and played the playboy? Derek thought to himself miserably.
But the fact still remained that he had been intimate with several women in the past year, he just needed to remember their names. God, what a piece of crap he was that he couldn’t even remember the women he’d slept with! And not because there was so many of them, but merely because they had been nothing more than a needed distraction. Correction, a temporary needed distraction. He never made a commitment that went beyond the evening. It just wasn’t his style. There was no time in his life for relationships. Sloan Design was growing and about to go international. Why? Because Derek Sloan had made the commitment to take it global and by God he was going to succeed!
He could remember pattern numbers for every design his company had created in the last five years, surely he could remember a couple of names! Before he could reply, Jared added, “It might do well for you to research that so that we could have an accurate medical history for Emery.”
His ass was getting sore from all the kicking of it he was doing himself today; Derek cursed the fact that he hadn’t jumped on that bandwagon earlier. Grabbing the cell phone out of his pocket, he punched in some numbers and turned his back on the Mitchell siblings. Jared watched him through narrowed eyes for a moment before turning his gaze to Kayleigh.
“So,” she began hesitantly, “is she all right? Has she been well-cared for?”
Jared scribbled some notes onto his chart. “As far as I can tell, she’s the picture of health. My guess would be that she’
s a full-term baby. You mentioned that you gave her a bottle earlier, any idea what kind of formula was used?
Kayleigh shook her head. “I have no idea. It was just in a bottle.” Glancing at Emery and smiling, she quietly asked Jared, “Are you sure she’s okay? She seems so tiny.”
He laughed. “Not everyone gives birth to ten pound babies like our family does, Kay. Don’t worry. She’s responsive and her coloring is good.” He paused before adding, “Besides, she’s not your concern. I mean, I think it’s great that you got him to bring Emery in for a check up and all, but honestly, her well-being is Derek’s responsibility.”
“Well get me some answers, dammit!” Both Jared and Kayleigh’s heads snapped at Derek’s loud voice and Emery started to cry. Turning around to face the looks of astonishment that were facing him, Derek quickly mumbled a quick “I’ll call you later” into the phone and put it away. “Sorry.”
Picking the baby up to comfort her, Kayleigh walked the room while Derek conferred with her brother about Emery’s health. By the time they walked out of the office several minutes later, their arms were filled with formula samples, spare diapers and pamphlets for everything anyone could ever need to know about the health and care of a newborn. Derek’s eyes had glazed over and he was very subdued as they climbed back into Kayleigh’s car. In all of her wayward fantasies about spending time alone with Derek, this bizarre little scenario never came to mind. What exactly was it that she was supposed to do here? Was it her place to offer him comfort? Words of encouragement? And if so, what could she possibly say? Or would she be expected to just act as an employee and pretend not to notice his mood and focus fully on her charge? Oh, why didn’t this damn day come with a handbook?
When several minutes had passed and she hadn’t started the car, Derek turned to her. “I guess it’s off to shop now, right?” There was no joy or even the slightest inflection to his voice – it was very flat and monotone.
The Baby Arrangement Page 2