Karen Booth – The Ten-Day Baby Takeover (страница 1)
A billionaire’s baby deal!
One look into his infant son’s trusting blue gaze and Aiden Langford knows his wild, carefree days are over. If only he can get Sarah Daltrey, his son’s temporary guardian, to give him daddy lessons... Certainly the soft-hearted entrepreneur will agree to his ten-day proposal to stay as the nanny. Aiden just needs to keep his mind on parenting and off Sarah’s seductive curves...
Being in the handsome tycoon’s arms puts up Sarah’s emotional defenses even as her body begs her to let go. But being a babysitter with benefits isn’t on her agenda—especially for a father and son who might steal her heart...
Stay with me.
Sarah wasn’t sure she’d heard Aiden’s words correctly. They were surprising. They were scary—driving her to a place where she surrendered to her deep longing for him.
He granted the smallest fragment of a smile, looking at her with his heartbreaking blue eyes. He tenderly tucked her hair behind her ear, drawing his finger along her jaw to her chin. “I don’t know what force in the universe brought you to me, Sarah. I only know that right now I need you. I want you. And I’d like to think that you want me, too.”
The air stood still, but Sarah swayed, light-headed from Aiden’s words. Their one night together had been electric, filling her head with memories she’d never surrender, but judging by the deep timbre of Aiden’s voice, they might shatter what happened in Miami. “I don’t want to ruin our friendship.” And no-strings-attached only breaks my heart.
“Is that why you shut things down after Miami?”
“Yes.” It wasn’t the whole truth, but it was enough. As much as sleeping with Aiden might be a mistake, she didn’t want to deprive herself of him. Would one more time really hurt? “And I’ve spent the last two nights regretting it.”
“Then I say we have no more regrets.”
Before she knew what was happening, he scooped her up into his arms.
* * *
Ten-Day Baby Takeover is part of Mills & Boon Desire’s No. 1 bestselling series, Billionaires and Babies: Powerful men wrapped around their babies little fingers.
The Ten-Day Baby Takeover
Karen Booth
KAREN BOOTH is a Midwestern girl transplanted in the South, raised on eighties music, Judy Blume and the films of John Hughes. She writes sexy big-city love stories. When she takes a break from the art of romance, she’s teaching her kids about good music, honing her Southern cooking skills or sweet-talking her husband into whipping up a batch of cocktails. Find out more about Karen at www.karenbooth.net.
For my dear friend in the writing world and the real world, Margaret Ethridge. I will always want to stay up way past my bedtime, talking and giggling in the dark with you.
Contents
The lobby of LangTel’s Manhattan headquarters was practically a shrine to order and quiet restraint. It was not the place to bring a fussy baby. Sarah Daltrey had done precisely that. Marble floors, towering ceilings and huge expanses of windows facing the street made any sound, especially baby Oliver’s errant cries, echo and reverberate like crazy.
Sarah kissed his forehead, bouncing him on her hip as she paced in the postage stamp waiting area. For such a massive building, taking up nearly an entire city block, LangTel had been distinctly stingy with the amenities for the uninvited. Two chairs and a ten-by-ten rug sat opposite a closely guarded bank of elevators. It was clear that no one occupying this space should stay for long.
Oliver whimpered and buried his head in her neck. Poor little guy—none of this was his fault. Oliver hadn’t asked to take a four-hour train ride that morning. He certainly hadn’t asked to come to an ice-cold office building in the middle of his nap time. More than anything, Oliver hadn’t asked to lose his mother three weeks ago, nor had he asked to have a father who refused to acknowledge his existence.
Sarah took her cell phone and dialed the number she’d memorized but wasn’t about to add to her contacts. As soon as she got Oliver’s dad to accept his paternal responsibility, she’d force herself to forget the string of digits that led to an office somewhere in this building, most likely the top floor. There would be no maintaining ties with Aiden Langford. Their connection was temporary, albeit of paramount importance. She had his son and he was going to take custody, even if it killed her.
“Yes. Hello. It’s Sarah Daltrey. I’m calling for Aiden Langford. Again.”
One of the two security guards manning the lobby gave her the side-eye. Meanwhile, the woman on the other end of the phone line expressed equal disdain with her snippy tone. “Mr. Langford has told me a dozen times. He does not know you. Please stop calling.”
“I can’t stop calling until he finally talks to me.”
“Perhaps I can help you.”
“No. You can’t. This is a personal matter and Mr. Langford should appreciate that I’m not sharing the details of this situation with his assistant. I outlined it all in the email I sent to him.” More like seven emails, but who’s counting? “If I can just have five minutes of his time, I can explain everything.” Five minutes was a lie. She’d need at least an hour to walk Mr. Langford through Oliver’s schedule, his likes and dislikes, and to make sure he was off to as good a start as possible.
“Mr. Langford is very busy. I can’t put through the call of every person who claims to need his time.”
“Look. I just spent four hours on a train from Boston to New York and I’m downstairs in the lobby, caring for a ten-month-old sorely in need of a nap. I’m not leaving until I speak to him. I’ll sleep here if I have to.”
“I can have security escort you from the building, Ms. Daltrey. Surely you don’t want that.”
“Does LangTel want the embarrassment of their security removing a kicking and screaming woman with a baby from their lobby?”
Mr. Langford’s assistant said everything with her momentary silence. “Can you hold, please? I’ll see if there’s anything I can do.”
Sarah had very little hope for this, but what other options did she have? “Sure. I’ll hold.”
Just then, a statuesque woman with glossy brown hair dressed in a tailored gray dress and black pumps came through the revolving door. Sarah might not have noticed her, but she had a baby bump that was impossible to miss. The security guard beelined to her, taking the stack of papers in her arms. “Good afternoon, Ms. Langford. I’ll get the elevator.”
Anna Langford. Sarah recognized her now, from the research she’d done on the Langford family while trying to find a way to get to Aiden. Anna was one of two LangTel CEOs, along with her brother Adam. She was also Aiden Langford’s younger sister.
Oliver dropped his favorite toy, a stuffed turtle, and unleashed a piercing wail. Sarah cringed, crouching down, scooting across the carpet in her wedge sandals, scrambling for Oliver’s toy while cradling the phone between her ear and shoulder. Anna came to a dead stop and turned her head, zeroing in on Sarah and Oliver.