Corporate Daddy. Arlene James

didn’t know you had a daughter,” Emily finally managed to say.

      “Neither did I,” he replied dryly, “not until the authorities contacted me after the accident.”

      Emily let that sink in. “My goodness.”

      “To put it lightly.”

      The implications were astounding. She shook her head. “What are you going to do?”

      He straightened his tie and smoothed back his hair. “Right now, I’m going to go into my office, sit down at my desk and look over your notes on this morning’s meetings. After that, well, I’ll take it as comes.”

      She stared at him. “And Amanda Sue?”

      He smiled. “She’ll be with you, of course, getting settled into her new home.”

      “Me?”

      “Who else?” he asked. “You’re the only executive assistant I’ve got.”

      Emily wanted to do some screaming herself. Considering how she felt about this man, she was looking at a prescription for disaster. Her light brown eyes narrowed. “Now, wait just a minute. I’ve gone way above and beyond the job description for you in the past. I’ve lied to your many women, juggled your affairs, ordered gifts to salve wounded pride and snatched your cookies out of the fire more than once in the process, but baby-sitting your unexpected daughter is taking the term ‘executive assistant’ just a little too far!”

      His expression turned pleading. “Come on, Em. She likes you, and she’s had all she wants of me right now, and vice versa, frankly. Who else am I going to count on to help me out here?”

      Emily held Amanda Sue out to him. “Obviously, you’ve tried your mo—”

      “Don’t say it!” he warned frantically.

      Emily grimaced. “All right, fine. If your you-know-what can’t help you, why not try one of your many conquests? There’s got to be one willing to make points with you by baby-sitting your child.”

      “Have you got any idea what a can of worms that would be opening?” he retorted.

      “That’s not my problem,” Emily said. Apparently entertained by the exchange, Amanda Sue sat atop Emily’s arm and swung one little foot absently, slowly drinking her milk. Emily stubbornly stuck to her guns, despite the fact that she was weakening.

      “Emily, I need someone I can trust,” he argued smoothly. “This is my daughter we’re talking about. I can’t leave her to some scheming female more concerned with dropping a marriage noose around my neck to get at my money than Amanda Sue’s welfare.”

      Emily sighed inwardly. Without committing herself, she asked. “How old is she?”

      “Sixteen months.”

      With that uncanny ability of all children, Amanda Sue knew she was now the topic of conversation. She laid her head back against Emily’s chest and grinned up at Emily around the bottle nipple. Emily found herself reluctantly in love. “She is a little doll.”

      “Don’t let the looks fool you,” Logan warned dryly. “That little doll has put me through sheer hell today. She can get out of a seat belt faster than—”

      “A seat belt!” Emily echoed. “You had her in a seat belt, not a car seat but your standard, adult-type seat belt?”

      He blinked at her. “Every car seat has its own seat belt, Emily. You know that.”

      She couldn’t believe he was that uninformed. “Every infant safety seat has a belt, too, and it’s designed to keep the child safely in place. Riding a child in a car without one is so dangerous that the State of Texas, and nearly every other, has made it illegal to do so. You’re lucky you weren’t pulled over—or worse!”

      He put his hands to his hips. “See? See! That’s what I’m talking about! I don’t know this stuff. Why would I? I’ve never had to think about what kids need!”

      Emily found her chair with her foot and pulled it over to sit down, Amanda Sue’s weight beginning to wear on her. Amanda Sue immediately tossed her bottle aside and bucked out of Emily’s grasp, sliding to the floor, where she momentarily crouched, looking around her. “Where’s her stuff?” Emily asked resignedly.

      “Right here,” Logan said, indicating the diaper bag.

      “That’s it?”

      “The social worker couldn’t bring more on the airplane.”

      Emily rolled her eyes. “Well, we have a lot of shopping to do, then.”

      “You have a lot of shopping to do,” he said pointedly.

      “And who’s going to watch the baby?”

      “You’ll take her with you, naturally,” he said brightly, edging toward the office door. “Just take my house key from the lockbox. I’ll meet you both there when I’m through here.”

      Emily frowned. “You’re going to owe me big-time for this, Fortune.”

      “Absolutely,” he said convincingly.

      The lower drawer of Emily’s desk suddenly rolled out, Amanda Sue at the handle. Recognizing nothing of interest there, she toddled around the end of the desk and out of sight, ignoring Emily as she called to her. Emily jumped up and went after her. Sensing pursuit, Amanda Sue began to run as fast as her little legs would carry her. Before Emily reached her, she’d knocked over the trash can and a potted plant. The sound of Logan’s office door clicking shut came just as Emily reached Amanda Sue, who giggled as she was scooped up, then immediately howled to be let down again.

      Emily laughed. “Okay, kiddo, first order of business is a dry diaper. Then we’ll order you an infant safety seat. Thank God for department stores that take telephone orders. Meanwhile, we’ll get acquainted. How does that sound?” For reply, Amanda Sue stuck her fist in her mouth and kicked both feet. Emily couldn’t help herself. She hugged the baby tight and kissed her chubby cheek, laughing at the idea of the great Logan Fortune cowering behind his office door in fear of his toddler daughter. Poor guy. Poor kid!

      The whole city was in for a shock when the news got around, but maybe, just maybe, this little bolt of greased lightning would put a kink in her clueless daddy’s nocturnal activities. God knew it was time that Logan Fortune learned there was more to life than business and willing women. Much more, for those lucky enough to understand it.

      Two

      It was after seven o’clock when Logan let himself into the three-bedroom town house that was his private residence. As part of one of the most exclusive planned communities in San Antonio, it afforded him privacy, luxury, and a number of useful amenities such as indoor pools, gym, game rooms and sauna, all with twenty-four-hour staff. He hadn’t seen Emily’s sensible compact car in the drive, but it was not beyond possibility that she was here.

      “Emily?”

      Silence. He was unconcerned, however. Emily Applegate was nothing if not efficient and dependable. In the two years that she had been his executive assistant, his life had been sublimely simple—until now. Until Amanda Sue. Desperately, he put his young daughter out of mind, as he had done all afternoon.

      Taking the mail out of his jacket pocket, he flipped on the overhead light in the entry and began to thumb through it as he moved down the cool hallway. Bill. Bill. Solicitation. Advertisement. Advertisement. Bill. He stepped into the living room and looked up, more to get his bearings than for any other reason. What he saw there, however, brought him to an immediate halt. It looked like a baby store warehouse!

      Mouth ajar, he surveyed the bounty. He identified a crib, a high chair, a stroller and a playpen before turning to the rocking chair heaped with colorful fabrics in the center of the floor. His gold, butter-soft leather couch was piled with toys. Tiny articles of clothing