Sweet Surrender, Baby Surprise / The Secretary's Bossman Bargain. Kate Carlisle

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      He would build a super-deluxe swing set on the side of the house, with a slide and monkey bars to play on. And Jake would need a dog. A big one.

      Cameron was just beginning to doze off when it occurred to him that the thought of Jake visiting once every few weeks didn’t appeal at all. Maybe Julia and Jake should simply move into his sprawling home on the cliffs overlooking the bay. The place had six bedrooms. There was plenty of room for all of them and the kitchen was big enough for Julia’s baking stuff.

      Whoa. In a flash, Cameron threw off the covers and sat on the edge of the bed. “Am I insane?”

      What was he thinking? He wasn’t fit to be a father. And he had no business inviting Julia to move in with him. Hadn’t he been through this before? Had he forgotten about Martina?

      Years ago, long after the fiasco with his high school girlfriend Wendy, he’d left the marines and gone to work with his brothers to start up their development company. Through business acquaintances he met the very attractive Martina Moran. He thought he’d learned his lesson where love and women were concerned, but once he met Martina, his good sense flew out the window. She came on strong, and almost as a test of his own will he began dating her.

      Their relationship flourished and he thought he might be falling for her. Anxious to prove he’d grown as a man and was no longer subject to his father’s cruel legacy, he proposed, and Martina said yes. Cameron thought he might be able to finally relax and looked forward to many happy years of married life.

      He had been young, stupid and oh, so wrong.

      It turned out that Martina had been using Cameron to make another man jealous. Her scheme worked and that man, trust-fund baby Andrew Gray, had begged Martina to marry him. She walked out on Cameron as fast as her Jimmy Choo shoes could carry her.

      Cameron had taken Martina’s betrayal as a message from the fates. His birthright could no longer be ignored and he had to force himself to accept that he was, indeed, a bad risk, a loser and irretrievably flawed. It was a hard lesson to learn, but it was for the best that he’d vowed never to give in to love again. It could end only in disaster.

      He was older now, but was he any smarter? Could he actually make this work with Jake and Julia? Did he really have any choice in the matter? Jake was his son and Julia was Jake’s mother. He was determined to make it work. Julia would have to understand that it was all for Jake. As long as they both had Jake’s best interests in mind, everything would be fine.

      He lay back down and as he drifted into sleep, a plan began to form in Cameron’s mind.

      It was an effort just to slide the key card into the door slot, Julia admitted the following evening. She was exhausted. She hadn’t slept well the night before and she’d just spent one of the most grueling conference days ever. She was looking forward to a glass of wine and a long soak in the tub after she got Jake settled for the night.

      But as she stepped into the foyer of the suite, she was instantly assailed by the sounds of controlled madness. Music was playing and people were laughing and talking. Was Cameron having a party? Where was Jake?

      Julia had just spent ten long hours working the conference. She was not in the mood for a party. Could she possibly get away with sneaking straight through to the hall and disappearing into the back bedroom?

      But that would be a spineless act of cowardice. Julia considered the alternatives and decided she was okay with that.

      Before she could make her move, though, a woman about her age walked into the living room and spied Julia lurking in the foyer.

      “You must be Julia,” she said with a smile. “Cameron’s told us all about you.”

      And what was that supposed to mean? Julia wondered.

      “Hello,” Julia said, trying not to eye the other woman with too much suspicion. Not only was she drop-dead gorgeous and tall, with thick brown hair and perfect skin, but she looked really nice and friendly.

      Was Cameron dating her? Not that she would blame him; the woman was lovely. But did he have to rub Julia’s nose in it? Had he invited his friends over for a party? Julia was more convinced than ever that slinking off to the back bedroom was the way to go. She had no place here among Cameron’s friends.

      At that moment Sally Duke marched into the living room. “Trish, where is—” She stopped when she saw Julia and cried, “Oh, she’s here!”

      “Hi, Sally,” Julia said, now thoroughly confused.

      “Come in, sweetie. We’ve completely invaded your territory and you must be beat after that long day.”

      “That’s okay,” she said weakly.

      “Come meet my boys and have a glass of wine. You’ve already met Adam’s wife, Trish.”

      “Not exactly.” Julia turned and smiled much more warmly and extended her hand to shake the other woman’s. “Hi, Trish.”

      Trish ignored the handshake, instead pulling her close and giving her a hug. “I’m so glad to meet you. Jake is precious. We’re all so lucky Cameron found you both.”

      “Thank you. I’m happy to meet you, too.”

      “I’m relatively new to the family, too,” she said, linking her arm through Julia’s. “Adam and I just got married a month ago.”

      “Oh, how wonderful. Congratulations.”

      “Thanks. We’re really happy.”

      “Well, of course you are,” Sally said with a wink. “I wouldn’t have planned it any other way.”

      They both laughed, then Trish glanced at Julia. She must’ve been wearing a look of sheer bewilderment because Trish quickly said, “It’s complicated.”

      Sally laughed again. “But you’ll hear the whole story eventually. Come meet my sons.”

      Sally grabbed Julia’s other arm and she and Trish led Julia through the dining room and up to the kitchen bar.

      The first thing Julia noticed was that the spacious kitchen area was literally dwarfed by three big, handsome men, obviously Cameron and his brothers, who chatted and laughed with Sally’s girlfriends, Beatrice and Marjorie.

      The next thing Julia noticed was that the largest of the brothers was holding her baby over his head as though Jake were a paper airplane about to be launched across the room. Jake screamed with laughter and excitement.

      Julia, on the other hand, had to take some deep breaths in order to remain calm. This had to be Brandon who was holding Jake. Cameron had told her he used to be an NFL quarterback.

      “I want to hold him,” the third brother said. By process of elimination, this was Adam. Without waiting for an okay from Cameron, Adam reached over and grabbed Jake mid-flight.

      Jake cooed with delight.

      “Hi, Jake,” Adam said, staring up at the baby. “Welcome to the family.”

      Brandon reached up and tickled Jake’s stomach. “Hey there, kiddo. You’re pretty happy СКАЧАТЬ