She's Having My Baby!. Raye Morgan
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you think?” he was saying.
But she was losing her train of thought. Her attention had been captured by the realization that his eyelashes were incredibly long. Why that made her feel light-headed she couldn’t have said. But she stared at them, fascinated, and the room faded around him. He had the most gorgeous eyes she’d ever seen. Weren’t eyes supposed to be windows into the heart? Did he have a beautiful soul to match his wonderful eyes?
She was swaying toward him and she knew it, almost as though he were drawing her closer magnetically, and somehow she seemed to be powerless to stop herself. Those deep eyes, the tiny hairs curling at his hairline, the tanned skin—masculinity radiated from him like heat. She came ever closer, experiencing his pull, taking in his air of casual acceptance, his handsome face, his straight nose…the peanut butter on his lower lip.
“Can you pass me a napkin?” he was asking.
She blinked at him as though he’d just gone off like a camera flash in her eyes, staring at him like a deer in headlights.
But he didn’t seem to notice. Looking down, he groaned. “My God, I’ve eaten your whole sandwich.”
Her peanut butter sandwich. She shook herself and reality washed over her like a cold ocean wave. Her heart began to thump in her chest. What was wrong with her? She’d almost made a very big fool of herself. Was it her pregnant condition? She was being irrational. Had he noticed?
“Your whole sandwich,” he was saying, looking at her as though it were her fault. “Why did you let me do that?”
Taking a deep breath, she steeled herself and fought hard for distance.
“How was I going to stop you?” she said, managing a tart tone, hoping to wipe away any lingering hints of her recent plunge into near-dementia. “You bolted it down like a starved wolf.”
“You’re right. But it was tiny. And suddenly I am hungry.” He looked almost embarrassed as he wiped his mouth with her only napkin. Not actually embarrassed, but almost.
“I’m really sorry.” His lopsided grin was meant to make up for it. “Listen,” he said impulsively. “I know how to fix everything. I’ll take you out to lunch.”
She gasped. Quick. She had to think of an excuse. “But it’s almost one o’clock. I have to be at my desk by one.”
He wasn’t buying it. “Hey. Who makes the rules around here?”
“I don’t know.” She frowned, thinking. She did not want to spend any more time with him if she could help it. That silly little trance she’d gone into might have been a harbinger of things to come if she didn’t watch out. She couldn’t risk it. Besides, she needed time to think up a good way to tell him she was going to be having a baby. It had to be done today. “I guess you do.”
“Damn right,” he said, sliding off her desk. “Come on. Let’s go.”
“I…I really can’t,” she said quickly. “I have so much work and…”
“Nonsense. We’re going to lunch. And that’s an order.”
“Mr. Haley…”
“Besides, I owe you. Remember on Secretary’s Day I gave you a rain check?”
How could she forget? He’d done that every year since she’d come to work for him. He’d never been keen on doing the lunch thing. Why now? Why with her?
“I’m not a secretary,” she tried feebly.
“Administrative assistants should get special days too,” he told her cheerfully. “And this is it. I’m finally going to pay up. You’re going to get your lunch.”
And the next thing she knew, she was stepping into the elevator, heading for lunch with the boss. And looking back longingly at her little office area, seeing it as a haven, a safe harbor. How long before she would get back to that safety?
This was going to be great.
Kane had a plan. A rather good plan, if he did say so himself. He was going to get his superbly skillful assistant working with him to find his baby. He was sure that she would attack the problem with all her legendary efficiency. He didn’t know why he hadn’t thought of doing this before. It was perfect.
There was only one flaw he could think of—getting her to do it. Instinctively, he knew she would resist. She would think it was a part of his personal life and she had no role there—and, of course, she was right. But he would have to find a way to convince her.
His current scheme was to use this lunch to build a sense of camaraderie between the two of them, get her to feel like a friend, and then to enlist her in the search. It was underhanded, sneaky, and not very nice. He knew that. But desperate times called for desperate measures. He was going to have to put aside all scruples and go for the throat.
As they entered the building that housed his favorite restaurant, he glanced at her sideways and his gaze accidentally cruised down to where her blouse gaped to show a bit of cleavage. She had nice cleavage. It gave him a little jolt of pleasure to see it, and he didn’t even feel guilty about it. After all, it meant nothing. She was married. Out of bounds and absolutely safe.
He put a protective hand at the back of her neck as he ushered her into the restaurant itself, and felt another pleasant sensation at the smoothness of her warm skin. It made him want to slide his hand down under the collar of her blouse, but he resisted the urge. That might be taking friendship a little too far a little too fast.
The Shoreline Grill combined old-fashioned semi-private booths with a modern menu that included mesquite-grilled meats and inventive pizzas. The manager hurried out and personally escorted them to one of his prime locations, with a view of the lake.
“It’s good to see you again, Mr. Haley,” he said, handing them menus. “We haven’t seen you for quite some time.”
“I haven’t been going out much lately,” Kane told him vaguely.
“Ah, but now, I’m sure we’ll be seeing you again regularly,” the manager said, giving Maggie a significant look.
He left before Kane could think of an answer to his insinuation, and for just a moment, both he and Maggie stared after the man, neither knowing what to say.
“Well, I guess…” he began.
“I don’t think…” she began at the same time.
They both stopped, their gazes caught and then quickly detached again. Kane frowned. Things weren’t working out quite the way he’d thought they would. He was feeling a strange awkwardness he wasn’t used to, and he wasn’t sure what was bringing it on. It seemed to have something to do with Maggie.
Probably because of his plan, he thought with a sense of relief that he’d pinpointed the problem. After all, it was manipulative. But necessary.
“Maggie,” he said firmly, smiling at her in a friendly fashion. “We’ve worked together for a long time now. I think it’s high time we put our relationship on a more personal level.”
“Oh no,” she said, paling and looking positively dismayed at the thought. “Let’s not.”
It seemed an odd reaction, but he patted her hand in what he hoped was a reassuring manner. “I’m talking about names, Maggie. I want you to call me Kane from now on. Except when we’re in board meetings, of course. Things like that. But for the most part, you can call me Kane.”
“I don’t think that’s a very good idea,” she said, “I like it the way we have it. You’re the boss and I’m the assistant. I can’t call you by your first name.”
He stared at her for a moment. Had he ever noticed how blue her eyes were before? He couldn’t remember. They sparkled like diamonds, making him wonder what she would look like all dressed up with fine gems draping down into that lovely cleavage.
But