Billionaire's Bargain. Maureen Child
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I’ll win. I can afford to fight you for years. Hell, by the time everything’s settled, you’ll be bleaching gray roots. Understood?”
Her mouth worked as if words were gathering there, trying to spill free, but she was holding them back. Finally, she managed to say, “Understood.”
There was no way she’d fight him on this. Mainly because she just didn’t care enough.
Adam looked at the baby boy in his arms and wondered what the hell he was supposed to do now. Adam knew nothing about babies. There was no family for him to call on for help. His dad was gone and his mother was living in Florida with her latest boyfriend—and she wasn’t exactly a “typical” grandma, anyway.
He was going to have to hire someone. A nanny. But until then... Reaching for the intercom button again, he pressed it and said, “Kevin, come in here, will you?”
A second or two later, the office door opened to reveal Kevin Jameson. Tall, with dark blond hair and sharp eyes the same shade of blue as his silk tie, Kevin paused long enough to give the woman in the room a hard look, then walked to Adam. “What do you need?”
Instantly, Adam handed the baby over and just managed to swallow a sigh of relief before it could escape. If the situation had been different, he might have laughed at the expression of pure panic on Kevin’s face, but Adam had a feeling his own features hadn’t looked much different a minute or two ago. “Take care of him while Kim and I get this situation resolved.”
“Me?” Kevin held the baby as he would have a stick of dynamite with a burning fuse.
“Yeah. His stuff is in that bag,” Adam added, then waved to the two men in staid black suits entering the room. “Thanks, Kev.”
As the lawyers huddled around the desk, Adam didn’t watch Kevin and the baby leave. But he knew he’d hear about it later. Kevin and he had been roommates in college, so they went far enough back that he’d feel free to let Adam know just what he thought about being made an instant babysitter.
With the doors closed, Adam looked at Kim and said, “This is it. A onetime payment and you’ll sign away all parental rights. Are we clear?”
She didn’t look happy—probably because she’d imagined coming back for more money whenever she felt like it. Adam wasn’t stupid enough to allow room for that.
“Fine.”
Nodding, Adam said, “Gentlemen, write it up. I want a document that turns over care of Devon’s infant son to me. And I want one that will stand up in any court.”
Kim’s eyes narrowed. “Seriously? You don’t trust me to keep my word?”
“You’re selling your son,” Adam reminded her tightly. “Why in the hell would I trust you?”
* * *
An hour later, Kim Tressler was gone and Kevin was back in Adam’s office, his feet propped on the edge of the desk. “I’ll get you for handing that baby off to me.”
“I figured you would,” Adam said, lifting his own feet to the desk. He leaned back in his chair, took a sip of coffee and wished to hell it was scotch. “You heard all of it, right? I mean before you came in to get the kid.”
“Damn right I did.” Kevin drank his own coffee. “As soon as I saw her come in with that baby, I knew there was going to be trouble.” He shook his head. “Kid looks just like his father. Adam, we both know Devon picked some crappy women in his time, but that one I think takes the prize.”
“If they gave prizes for selling your own kid, yeah, she would.”
“Man, it’s days like these that make me glad I’m gay.”
Adam snorted, then stopped. Looked around. “Where’s the baby?”
Kevin laid his head back and closed his eyes. “I put Kara in charge of him. She’s got three kids of her own, so I figured, hey. Experience counts.”
“Plus, then you didn’t have to watch him.”
“Major bonus, yes.” Kevin opened one eye to look at Adam. “I noticed you weren’t real anxious to cuddle up, either.”
“Well what the hell do I know about babies?”
“And you think I magically know something?” Kevin shuddered. “Kara’s taking care of him and I sent Teddy from accounting out to buy diapers and food and whatever the hell else it needs.”
“He. Not it.”
“Excuse me.”
“Okay, so the baby’s fine for now. But that won’t last.” Adam frowned. He needed help and he needed it now. “I have to find a nanny.”
“Well don’t look at me.”
“I wouldn’t do that to the kid.”
“Funny.” Kevin took another sip of coffee and sighed. “So do you want me to set up interviews or something?”
He could trust Kevin not only to advertise, but to interview and find the best possible person for any given job. Still, this was something he should probably do himself. “I’ll take care of it. But I need someone today.”
“Yeah, that’s not gonna happen.”
“What about your mom?” Adam asked, delighted when that brilliant idea popped into his mind. Kevin’s mother had practically adopted Adam into the family years ago. She was warm, kind, funny and already a grandmother thanks to Kevin’s sister Nora. “You think she’d help me out for a while?”
“She’d love it,” Kevin said, nodding. “Nothing Anna Jameson likes better than a baby.”
“Good—”
“Unfortunately for you,” Kevin added, “she’s on that Alaskan cruise you gave her for her birthday...”
“Damn it.” Scowling, Adam took another drink of his coffee.
“Got a video email from her last night,” Kevin said. “She and Aunt Noreen are having a great time. Mom bought Nick and I fur coats for winter.”
“We live in Southern California.”
Kevin shrugged. “Didn’t seem to matter to Mom. Oh, and she said to say thank you again.”
“She’s welcome again. Your sister lives in San Diego, so I can’t ask her.”
“Nora’s got three of her own. If you don’t mind the drive she probably wouldn’t even notice a fourth.”
“Funny. I just wish—never mind.” Adam looked at his friend. “Who else do we know?”
“Any number of people.” Kevin shrugged. “None of whom I’d trust with a baby. Except for maybe Nick—and before you suggest it, no.”
Kevin’s husband, Nick, loved kids. He was already an uncle many times over through not only Nora, but his own two sisters and a brother, as well. “It wouldn’t be for long.”
“Overnight is too long.” Kevin shook his head firmly. “Nick’s still talking about us adopting and I don’t want to give him more ammunition.”
“Fine.” But it wasn’t fine at all. He’d done the right thing—saved his nephew from a mother who didn’t deserve him, and now Adam had to come up with some answers. He couldn’t think of anyone who might ride to the temporary rescue. Not as if he could ask his own ex-wife. Even the thought of that made him laugh quietly. Tricia was a TV reporter and had less knowledge of kids than he did. Besides that, he and Tricia hadn’t spoken since their marriage ended more than five years ago. They’d had nothing in common then and even less now. And to top it all off, Tricia was working at a Seattle station now, so geographically undesirable anyway.
Frowning, Adam realized how insular his world was. He set his coffee