Single Mom, Billionaire Boss. Sheri WhiteFeather

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СКАЧАТЬ anticipated her crying like that.”

      “She seems okay now.”

      “Thanks to you.”

      He shrugged, making light of it, even if there was heaviness inside him. “It’s all in a day’s work.”

      “I hope she’s going to be okay for the rest of the day.”

      “She’ll be fine.” He almost offered to come back and check on her, but he’d already taken this further than he should have. “You can stop by on your lunch hour to see her. Lots of the other parents do that.”

      “I definitely will. Thank you for everything, Garrett.”

      “You don’t have to keep thanking me.”

      “You’ve just done so much to help, with the job and now with Ivy.”

      Garrett didn’t reply. Her daughter’s tears had affected him more than he cared to admit. It reminded him of the younger kids who used to cry in foster care.

      Ivy turned and waved at her mother, giving her permission to leave, and he and Meagan walked out of the day care together.

      “Oh, my goodness,” she said, as soon as they were free of the place. “My first experience with taking my baby to school.”

      Garrett merely nodded. He could tell she was struggling not to break down, but her eyes had turned teary nonetheless. He considered giving her his handkerchief, the way he’d done when they’d originally met. But he refrained from making the gesture. By now, he was supposed to know better.

      While he steeled his thoughts, she dabbed at the corners of her eyes with the tips of her knuckles, as if she were trying to wipe away the evidence of her emotions and look stronger than she felt. Only it wasn’t working. She still seemed fragile.

      But Meagan’s vulnerability wasn’t his concern. Nor was he going to be sitting on the floor with a bunch of kids for the rest of the morning. He had grown-up meetings to attend. He was leaving tomorrow on a business trip and had a lot to do before then. “I should go.”

      She quit fussing with her eyes. “Maybe I’ll see you later.”

      “Yeah,” he replied, intending to escape with his indifference intact. “Have a good first day of work.”

      “Thank you. I’ll try.”

      She was clutching her daughter’s cartoon character purse as if the bag contained magic. And maybe in some sort of storybook way it did. He could almost imagine stars and moons and bits of glitter coming from it.

      They said a quick goodbye and exited the atrium, going in different directions. But being separated from Meagan didn’t stop Garrett from thinking about her. Once again, he couldn’t seem to shake her, no matter how hard he tried.

      * * *

      Meagan hadn’t seen Garrett since he’d soothed Ivy at the day care, and that was a week ago. Time was moving on already. Today was her second Monday on the job, and she was doing well at work. But she couldn’t help wondering why he hadn’t come by the stables. She’d expected to catch sight of him at the barn, hanging out with his horses or going for a ride. But he was nowhere to be seen, at least not while Meagan was present.

      Was it a coincidence that he hadn’t been there? Or was he staying away on purpose, distancing himself from her?

      She spoke to the gelding she was grooming. “What do you think, Ho-Dad?”

      The horse blew out a breath as if to say she was jumping to conclusions.

      She laughed. “You’re right. Why would he go out of his way to avoid me? If he wanted to ride, he would come here and saddle up. He’s probably just had a heavy schedule.”

      Ho-Dad bobbed his head, and she decided, a bit foolishly, that he actually understood what she was saying. Still, she wished that Garrett would appear, just so she could get accustomed to being around him. Otherwise, her stomach would keep tying itself up in little knots. Or tangled butterflies, or whatever they were.

      The gelding stood there patiently as she continued grooming him. When she was finished, she gave him a carrot, offering it to him from the flat of her hand.

      As Ho-Dad chewed and dropped tiny orange bits from his mouth, she heard a man say, “Are you spoiling that surfer boy?”

      Meagan’s heart pounded like a drumbeat in her chest. She recognized Garrett’s voice. She’d wished that he would appear, and now he was here.

      Preparing to face him, she turned all the way around. He was standing on the other side of the stall, dressed in jeans, a casual Western shirt and boots. Obviously, he was planning on riding this afternoon.

      “Ho-Dad is my favorite,” she said, trying to keep herself calm.

      Garrett nodded. “I figured he would be.”

      She struggled to act normally. The horse was chomping his treat in her ear, and her heart was thumping just as loudly. “Have you been busy?”

      “Why do you ask?”

      “You haven’t been at the barn.”

      Garrett raised his eyebrows. “You’ve been keeping tabs on me?”

      Meagan nearly winced. She wasn’t doing a very good job of seeming normal. “I just noticed that you haven’t been here. You told me that you ride nearly every day and that I would see you at barn, but you haven’t been around. So I wondered about it.”

      “I was in Las Vegas at a hospitality convention. I’m leaving again in a few days, so I’ll be gone again.”

      “For how long?”

      “Another week. It’s for business, too.”

      “Do you travel a lot for work?”

      “Not necessarily. I prefer staying home and running the resort, but sometimes it can’t be helped.” He shifted his stance. “I’m here now, though, and ready to ride.”

      Yes, he most definitely was. She was used to cowboys, both of her brothers being that type. But Garrett was altering her perspective. With the sexy goose bumps he was giving her, she was seeing Western men in a far less brotherly way. Or this man, anyway. But she’d always had a hot and dizzying thing for him, so she’d been doomed from the start.

      Ho-Dad nudged her shoulder, bugging her for another carrot. Normally she gave him two. Already they’d established a routine.

      “Go ahead,” Garrett said.

      “Go ahead and what?” she asked.

      “Give him the other one. I can tell that’s the pattern between you.”

      Either Garrett was highly observant or she and the horse were ridiculously transparent. She removed the second carrot from her pocket and offered it to Ho-Dad, and the gelding took it eagerly.

      Meagan stayed inside the stall, even though she didn’t СКАЧАТЬ