The CEO's Baby Surprise. Helen Lacey

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СКАЧАТЬ hard, fighting the awful feeling with every ounce of willpower she possessed.

      And failed.

      She rushed forward to the closest exit, racing past Solana and him and headed across the room and out to the patio, just making it to the garden in time.

      Where she threw up in spectacular and humiliating fashion.

      * * *

      Daniel remained where he was and watched as his grandmother hurried through the doorway and quickly attended to the still-vomiting woman who was bent over in the garden. If he thought he was needed Daniel would have helped, but he was pretty sure she would much prefer his grandmother coming to her aid.

      After several minutes both women came back through the door. Mary-Jayne didn’t look at him. Didn’t even acknowledge he was there as she walked to the front door and let herself out, head bowed, arms rigid at her sides. But he was rattled seeing her. And silently cursed himself for having so little control over the effect she had on him.

      “The poor thing,” his grandmother said, hovering in the doorway before she finally closed the door. “She’s been unwell for weeks. Ex-boyfriend trouble, too, I think. Not that she’s said much to me about it...but I think there’s been someone in the picture.”

       Boyfriend?

      His gut twinged. “Does she need a doctor?” he asked, matter-of-fact.

      “I don’t think so,” his grandmother replied. “Probably just a twenty-four-hour bug.”

      Daniel ignored the twitch of concern. Mary-Jayne had a way of making him feel a whole lot of things he didn’t want or need. Attraction aside, she invaded his thoughts when he least expected it. She needled his subconscious. Like she had when he’d been on a date a couple of weeks back. He’d gone out with the tall leggy blonde he’d met at a business dinner, thinking she’d be a distraction. And spent the evening wishing he’d been with someone who would at least occasionally disagree and not be totally compliant to his whims. Someone like Mary-Jayne Preston. He’d ended up saying good-night to his date by nine o’clock, barely kissing her hand when he dropped her home. Sure, he didn’t want a serious relationship, but he didn’t want boring conversation and shallow sex, either.

      And since there had been nothing boring or shallow about the night he’d spent with the bewitching brunette, Daniel still wanted her in his bed. Despite his good sense telling him otherwise.

      “So,” Solana said, and raised her hands. “Why have you come home?”

      “To see you. Why else?”

      She tutted. “Always a question with a question. Even as a toddler you were inquisitive. Always questioning everything, always asking why to your grandfather. Your brothers were never as curious about things as you were. Do you remember when you were eight and persuaded your grandfather to let you ride that mad, one-eyed pony your dad saved from the animal rescue center?” She shook her head and grinned. “Everyone wanted to know why you’d want to get on such a crazy animal. And all you said was, why not?”

      Daniel shrugged. “As I recall I dislocated my collarbone.”

      “And scared Bernie and me half to death,” Solana said and chuckled. “You were a handful, you know. Always getting into scraps. Always pushing the envelope. Amazing you turned out so sensible.”

      “Who say’s I’m sensible?” he inquired lightly.

      Solana’s smile widened. “Me. Your brothers. Your grandfather if he was still alive.”

      “And Miles?”

      His grandmother raised a silvery brow. “I think your dad would like you to be a little less sensible.”

      “I think my father would like me to eat tofu and drive a car that runs on doughnut grease.”

      “My son is who he is,” Solana said affectionately. “Your grandfather never understood Miles and his alternative ways. But your dad knows who he is and what he wants from life. And he knows how to relax and enjoy the simple things.”

      Daniel didn’t miss the dig. It wasn’t the first time he’d been accused of being an uptight killjoy by his family. “I can relax.”

      His grandmother looked skeptical. “Well, perhaps you can learn to while you’re here.”

      Daniel crossed his arms. Something about her tone made him suspicious. “You knew I was coming?”

      Solana nodded, clearly unapologetic. “Blake called me. And of course it was my idea.” She sat down at the table. “Did you know your grandfather had his first heart attack at thirty-nine?”

      Daniel sighed. He’d heard it before. Mike Anderson died at sixty-nine from a massive coronary. His fourth. After two previous bypass surgeries the final heart attack had been swift and fatal, killing him before he’d had a chance to get up from his desk. “Gran, I—”

      “Don’t fob me off with some vague assurance that it won’t happen to you,” she said, cutting him off. “You work too hard. You don’t take time off. You’ve become as defined by Anderson Holdings as your grandfather was...and all it got him was an early grave. There’s more to life than business.”

      He would have dismissed the criticism from anyone else...but not Solana. He loved and respected his grandmother, and her opinion was one of the few that mattered to him.

      “I know that. But I’m not ready to—”

      “It’s been over four years,” Solana reminded him gently. “And time you got back to the land of the living. Simone wouldn’t want you to—”

      “Gran,” Daniel said, hanging on to his patience. “I know you’re trying to help. And I promise I’ll relax and unwind while I’m here. I’m back for a week so I’ll—”

      “You’ll need more than a week to unwind,” she said, cutting him off again. “But if that’s all you can manage then so be it. And your parents are expecting you to visit, in case you were thinking you’d fly under the radar while you’re here.”

      Guilt spiked between his shoulder blades. Solana had a way of doing that. And he hadn’t considered not seeing his father and stepmother. Not really. True, he had little in common with Miles and Bernadette...but they were his parents, and he knew they’d be genuinely pleased that he’d come home for a visit.

      From a young age he’d known where his path lay. He was who his grandfather looked to as his protégé. At eighteen he’d been drafted into Anderson’s, studying economics at night school so he could learn the business firsthand from his grandfather. At twenty-three, following Mike Anderson’s death, he’d taken over the reins and since then he’d lived and breathed Anderson’s. Blake and Caleb had followed him a few years later, while Daniel remained at the helm.

      He worked and had little time for anything resembling a personal life. Simone had understood that. She was a corporate lawyer and worked seventy-hour weeks. Marrying her had made sense. They were a good match...alike in many ways, and they’d been happy together. And would still be together if fate and a faulty brake line hadn’t intervened. She’d still be a lawyer and he would still spend his waking hours living and breathing Anderson СКАЧАТЬ