The Baby Bargain. Wendy Warren

to LJ when she was close enough to speak softly over Liam’s head and still be heard.

      “Ain’t it the truth?” A smile spread slowly across LJ’s face, softening the bored rich-man expression. He nodded at Liberty. “Evening. I see you’ve been enjoying the good weather.” Still without moving off the porch or even uncrossing his arms, he focused on the baby sleeping against Eden’s chest. “And this must be the teether you mentioned. He looks happy now.”

      Liberty joined Eden, standing near her shoulder. “He doesn’t seem icy,” she cracked sotto voce. More loudly, she said, “Well, we’ve just come back from a picnic. I’ve got to put the leftovers in the fridge.”

      Jogging lightly up the steps, she stopped alongside LJ, who straightened away from the porch rail and extended his hand.

      “LJ Logan,” he said, by way of introduction, “one of Ms. Carter’s coworkers. And you are?”

      “Libertad Sanchez.” Liberty laid on the Spanish accent, which she could turn on and off as easily as she worked a faucet. “Roommate,” she added. “Also in-house natural foods chef and the voice of Eden’s conscience. I have a fruit-sweetened berry crisp in the kitchen, and you’re welcome to try it as long as you didn’t come here to rake Eden over the coals. She already feels terrible for dissing you in your business meeting.”

      “Liberty!”

      Without a glance at Eden, Liberty gave LJ a sexy smile and a shrug. “I tried. You two play nice. Try to set a good example for the baby.”

      She disappeared into the house. More slowly than her friend, Eden walked up the steps. She looked Mr. Logan straight in the sunglasses.

      “I did not ‘dis’ you. I stated my opinion calmly and courteously.”

      He cocked his head. “Where are you from?”

      “Pardon me?”

      “I’m trying to place your accent. It comes and goes. Right now it’s a little thick, so I’m guessing that you’ve worked hard to eradicate it, but when you’re tense it comes back.”

      Eden, who liked to think she had total control over the accent she had indeed tried to eradicate, frowned at him unhappily. “Mr. Logan, it’s after work hours and you haven’t told me why you are here.”

      He nodded. “You see? You said, heah. You’re stressed around me. Like you were at the meeting. Why was that?”

      He was sure right about her being stressed now, Eden thought; he liked to knock her off track. The conversation kept changing direction, and still he hadn’t answered her question. “Why are you—” she stopped short of saying heah “—present?”

      Teeth that had been straightened to perfection flashed in a grin. His entire being oozed male charm. “To be perfectly frank, I’m not certain why I’m here, Ms. Carter. Why don’t you ask me in—or at least invite me to have a seat on your very inviting porch—and perhaps we’ll both find out.”

      Eden gestured to the porch.

      “You can sit there—” she nodded toward a wicker chair with a tall fan back “—while I put the baby down.”

      Liam was asleep in his crib, changed and dressed in footed pajamas before she joined her self-invited guest. Garage-sale furniture, Goodwill crockery and a selection of organic herbs she kept watered and well-groomed decorated the porch he’d called inviting. She set a tray with two glasses of iced tea on a large wooden end table.

      Settling into his chair’s mate and wishing she’d had time to sand and paint her porch furniture in the last year, Eden watched LJ sip the herbal tea.

      “It’s…different. What is it?”

      “Mostly fenugreek and blessed thistle, herbs that are good for lactating women. They increase milk supply.”

      He’d removed his sunglasses while she was in the house. The blue eyes she remembered from the meeting regarded her wryly. “And what, pray tell, will they do to me?”

      Eden raised her glass. “Let’s find out, shall we?” She drained half the glass, inviting him to do the same.

      His appreciative laugh drew the glance of a neighbor walking his boxer. Eden waved.

      “So we were going to figure out why I’m here,” he said, making his own chair creak as he leaned back. “I think I know.”

      She waited while he let the suspense build. He was quite the politician, working his audience, watching for the reaction. Her continued silence didn’t seem to bother him in the least.

      “I like you,” he said finally. “Your coworkers like you. I’d go so far as to say they respect your opinion. That says something.”

      “And did you charm one of my respectful coworkers into giving you my address?”

      “Not at all. I charmed one of them into letting me look at the company files.”

      Surprised by his honesty, she let herself relax. “You’re unrepentant.”

      “I’m determined. I’d like to talk to you about my plan for the Children’s Connection campaign.”

      “Isn’t it the same one you showed us in the meeting?” She covered her mouth. “I apologize. I didn’t mean for that to sound rude. I just mean I already saw it, and I…”

      “Don’t like it. Right.”

      When her cheeks reddened, he nodded and set his glass on the table between them. “This is why I want to talk to you again. I like you. I don’t want you to say something you’ll feel awful about. You see, I have a theory. You don’t like my ideas…yet. But you do like me. And right now you’re thinking to yourself, ‘Eden, just give the guy a chance.’” He leaned toward her, smiling. “Am I right or am I right?”

      Chapter Three

      Eden felt a little moustache of nervous perspiration break out above her upper lip. Damn, he was good. And, she had to admit that when he leaned forward like that, his gaze focused as if she were the only person in the world, it was easy to forget he was here for one reason and one reason only: to make his own life easier by persuading her to support him.

      “Actually,” she demurred, shooting him an apologetic look, “I feel bad any time I have to tell a potentially hurtful truth. Why, once, I saw a neighbor’s big old tomcat chasing a sweet little marmalade tabby and it was not the first time, let me tell you. I marched right across the street and knocked on that neighbor’s door and said, ‘Ma’am, your tomcat is behaving like the neighborhood bully. You’d better put a stop to it at once or he won’t have any friends at all.’ I felt awful then, too, but it had to be said.”

      Finished, she sat back, a butter-wouldn’t-melt-in-her-mouth smile on her face. To his credit, LJ’s eyes sparked in appreciation. He nodded. “Well, it was just a theory.” Speaking more sincerely, he said, “I’m a public relations and marketing expert, Eden. I know what I’m doing. I can put the Children’s Connection back in the community’s good graces. And I can do it quickly. But it’s going to be more difficult if one of the organization’s favorite employees bad-mouths my ideas.”

      Modest, too, she thought wryly. “I don’t doubt you know more about ad campaigns and promotions than I do, Mr. Logan.”

      “LJ.”

      “But I know about prospective parents. I won’t restate all my objections to your approach, except to say again, since you’re here, that I don’t think we can establish credibility by looking as if we don’t understand or are afraid to acknowledge reality. By that, I mean the reality of our troubles at the Connection and the reality of being a parent. Especially a single parent.”

      “I see.” He mulled her words over. When he spoke again, she had to admit he didn’t sound defensive at all. “Putting aside the problems at the Children’s