Mom for the CEO's Daughter (2 page)

Hurt her?
Usually on trips, she loved having time away from him to catch up on work. Add that to the way she'd never worn anything other than drab suits, and a strange possibility rattled through him. He didn't want to even consider she'd worn a bikini to tempt him. But, damn it, he was a billionaire. His ex-wife had baldly admitted that in the end she'd loved his money more than she'd loved him. Plus, women threw themselves at him constantly. He recognized the signs. Disappointment at being excluded was one of them.

Still…Kara, his perfect assistant, putting the moves on him?

No. It didn't make sense. They'd worked together an entire year without as much as a flirtatious glance. She was not putting the moves on him.

He pulled the hamburger from the refrigerator and began making patties.

She slid off her stool and walked beside him. “I can help.”

The light scent of her perfume mixed with the scent of the sea and wafted to him. He almost closed his eyes and inhaled again, deeper this time, to really enjoy it.

Damn it! There he went again!

She was not coming on to him.
He
was attracted to her. That was the real problem. His body liked hers.

But she was an employee and he was a good boss. He wouldn't put her in an uncomfortable position. So it was wise— responsible, in fact—to exclude her from his beach excursions with his daughter. Actually, it would be smart to limit any private moments together until he got this unwanted attraction under control.

He subtly shifted away from her. “Why don't you make these patties and I'll start the grill?”

She laughed. “It's gas. You don't need to warm it up.”

“It also hasn't been used for a few months. I should check it out to make sure it still works.”

He ducked out of the kitchen to the huge deck behind it. Five steps took him to a ground-level stone patio in front of the glistening pool and blessedly away from her.

***

Kara watched him through the big kitchen window. Like her, he hadn't changed out of his swim trunks. He'd simply put a T-shirt over them. The sun sparkled off his black hair and brightened the red of his shirt. A shirt that hid perfect pecs and washboard abs. Abs she'd love to touch one day.

She picked up more hamburger meat to pat into a ball. Gabe had just run from her after cutting her out of going to the beach with his daughter. Putting the patty onto a plate, she sighed. Had he figured out she was coming on to him and bolted?

Probably.

Disappointment shuffled through her. But so did determination. She'd grown up on the streets because her mother could only sober up long enough to keep her out of foster care. She'd had to beg for food to eat. She'd worked as a waitress to get herself through high school and ultimately college.

She did not give up at the first sign of a setback!

Deciding she'd plan her strategy later when she was alone in her room, she washed her hands and picked up her eReader. She breezed through the introduction to the first chapter:
Closing Begins at the Beginning.
She read two paragraphs and suddenly stopped.

Aways make your opponent believe the deal is his idea.

She frowned, turning back to making the patties as she considered. Gabe relished believing the deal—every deal—was his idea. Maybe the bikini had been too much?

No. Up until she'd worn that bikini, he'd barely noticed she was a woman. He'd needed to be shocked into seeing her as a woman.

But now that he had noticed her, the trick would be to back off, force him to make the first move, so the romance would appear to be his idea.

With the last hamburger patty formed, she covered the dish with clear wrap and headed upstairs.

Maybe it was time to dress like his assistant again….

Chapter Three

When Kara walked onto the back deck of the beach house for supper, Gabe did a double take. With her hair in the usual bun at her nape, and wearing jeans and a plain white blouse—not to mention her black frame glasses—she didn't look a thing like the carefree woman who'd played in the sand with his daughter that afternoon. She was once again his assistant.

Thank God.

“Burgers are ready. While you were upstairs I also cleaned some veggies for the grill.”

“Sorry. I shouldn't have gone to change without asking if you wanted more help with dinner.” She pushed her glasses up her nose.

Attraction thrummed through him, along with the unexpected urge to remove those glasses and kiss her senseless. Angry with himself, he quickly glanced away. “I'm perfectly capable of making supper myself.”

He set the burgers on the table and Kara immediately put one on a bun for Stacy. “Ketchup?”

The little girl nodded eagerly.

Kara slathered the burger with ketchup and set it on Stacy's plate.

Gabe's eyes narrowed. This was part of the reason he was suddenly having strange feelings for his assistant. His ex, Zoe, had casually dumped Stacy on him that morning, but Kara seemed to love having her around. That was why he kept noticing her kindnesses. Unlike his ex-wife, when Kara did something nice, it was genuine. He appreciated her being sweet to his little girl. And the bikini explained why he'd let those stirrings of appreciation shift into physical attraction.

Now that he understood that, he simply had to figure out how to get their relationship to normal ground again.

While they ate, Stacy and Kara kept up a steady stream of chatter about the sandcastle they'd made. After dinner, Kara volunteered to clean up, so he brought Stacy's electronic tablet onto the deck and he and Stacy sat in the evening breeze, listening to the ocean as they played one of her video games.

“Hey, neighbors!”

“Hey!” Gabe rose and happily greeted Wyatt McKenzie, his new wife Missy and Missy's triplets, Lainie, Owen and Claire, as they climbed the stairs.

When they were all on the deck, he stooped down in front of the triplets. “I was hoping you'd be here this week.”

Owen said, “We're here for Mother's Day.”

“It's a treat for Mum,” dark-haired Lainie agreed.

As Stacy ran over to see the triplets, Kara stepped onto the deck. “I thought I heard voices. I'm Kara, Gabe's assistant.” Her eyes widened as she saw the triplets. “You guys are adorable!” She caught Missy's gaze. “Triplets?”

“Yes.”

Stacy grabbed Claire's hand. “Come play with me.”

But Missy held her daughter back. “We have to get home again. We were just walking on the beach when we noticed you were on your deck. We stopped to ask if you could play on the beach with us tomorrow.”

Stacy turned hopeful eyes to her dad.

He laughed. “That sounds great.”

The McKenzies left and Stacy yawned. He lifted her into his arms. “Let's get you to bed.”

Twenty minutes later, with Stacy tucked in for the night, he walked downstairs on his way to his own room. But he noticed the deck door was open. Walking over to shut it, he saw Kara standing by the railing, staring out at the ocean.

She wore a tiny tank top and sweatpants. But rather than the pants being baggy, the low waistband clung to her hips, exposing the top of her round bottom. He swallowed just as she faced him.

“What's up?”

Heat suffused him. “I was going to close the door but I saw you standing there.”

She faced the ocean again. “It's a beautiful night.”

Her hair was down again. It swayed in the ocean breeze.

“Come on. Stand with me a minute, Gabe.”

He cautiously walked to the railing.

“Being here, on the ocean…it's like a dream for me.”

He tried to view the scene through her eyes, but he'd been here so often he failed. Nights at the ocean were beautiful, but he didn't get the thrill of seeing it for the first time that he realized she felt.

She faced him. “Thank you for bringing me.”

Her genuine gratitude kicked him in the gut. She was a wonderful person. Not just a good assistant, but a nice woman.

A beautiful woman…

“You're welcome.” Temptation deepened his voice to a husky whisper.

He would have been embarrassed but she smiled.

The urge to kiss her snaked through him. He controlled it by reminding himself that she was an employee, a valuable employee, whom he couldn't live without.

She stepped closer.

“This place is so beautiful I could be in a tent,” she gazed out over the ocean again, “and be every bit as happy as I am in your beach house.” She shook her head. “Maybe happier. I love my tent.”

“You camp?”

“Yes. Woods mostly. I love the fresh air and the sense that I'm not confined.” She shrugged and her eyes lit with amusement. “I have this thing about being free.”

He had a thing about being free, too. Pressure to be perfect fueled everything he did, and some days it was a prison. “I get that.”

“Here I always believed you thrived on the excitement of being part of everything.”

“I do.” He leaned against the railing. “But I'm human. It's good to have a retreat sometimes.”

She said only, “Hmm,” then assumed the same position he had. Forearms on the deck railing, staring out at the black ocean.

The breeze whipped her long red hair over to him. The desire to catch it teased at him. He imagined grasping a strand and using it to bring her closer.

Closer so he could kiss her.

Need whispered through him with the same rhythm as the swooshing surf.

Catch her hair
.

Pull her close
.

Kiss her
.

Temptation bubbled up again. He'd looked at her soft pink lips for an entire year but had never really seen them until today. He hadn't known she wore bikinis, or that she'd never been to the ocean and loved kids. Until today. Today everything was different.

He faced her just as she turned to him. Moonlight played over her face, bathing her pearly skin with pale light. Her hair drifted to him on the breeze. His body tingled with anticipation.

Desire took over, kicking his common sense off the deck. He leaned down and pressed his lips to hers.

Fire flashed through his veins when his mouth met the soft curve of hers. He raised his hands to her shoulders and found smooth skin, and the fire became hot ice. His breath stilled in reverence of the perfect feel of her, then his instincts took control and his mouth moved over hers. Easily at first. But he'd never kissed anyone who was so soft, so supple, and before he could stop himself he was devouring her.

His lips nipped and sucked, and when that wasn't enough he coaxed open her mouth. With the swish of the ocean providing dramatic background music, their tongues twined and pure unadulterated lust exploded inside him. In twenty seconds, he could have that tank top over her head. In thirty, he could probably lure her to the big comfortable bed in his room.

Before he could put the idea into action, though, she pulled away. Stepping back, she smiled shyly. As if it were a first date, she quietly said, “Good night.” Then she slipped into the beach house.

With his blood racing through his veins and his hormones popping as if they were preparing for the Olympics, he cursed.

Not because she wouldn't sleep with him but because he knew eventually she would.

Chapter Four

The next morning, excitement pushed Kara down the steps on a wave of happiness.

Gabe had kissed her! He no longer saw
her
as just an assistant. He actually saw her, as a person, as a woman. And he liked her enough to kiss her!

When she reached the kitchen, she flicked on the light, only to find Gabe sitting on one of the tall stools by the center island. His sexily mussed hair reminded her of how he'd looked at the beach the day before. Young. Carefree. Happy. As happy as she felt right now.

Memories of their kiss sent joy shivering through her. One kiss wasn't a happy ending, but it was the start, finally, of something personal between them.