Sweet Surrender, Baby Surprise / The Secretary’s Bossman Bargain: Sweet Surrender, Baby Surprise / The Secretary’s Bossman Bargain

As she switched off the light, Julia remembered the other point Cameron had made to sweeten the deal. They were hot for each other.

“So true,” she murmured, and felt a jolt of desire in her lower stomach at the thought of the two of them in bed together. The image was so vivid, she had to stop for a moment, take a deep breath and let it out slowly, before she was able to walk into the living room. Her eyes instantly sought and found Cameron, who watched her with an intensity she’d never experienced from a man before.

Julia’s laid-back facade turned to dust as Cameron’s blazing awareness scorched her from across the room. Oh, yeah, they had heat. The question was how long could they make it last?

Cameron scrunched his pillow and wondered if he would ever sleep again. In keeping with his plan, after their guests had left, he’d led Julia to her bedroom door where he’d kissed her good-night and walked away.

“For the third damn night in a row,” he said. Once again, he lay in bed wide awake, wondering what the hell was wrong with him. He was a marine, he’d led warriors into battle and faced the enemy, but walking away from Julia a few hours ago had been the hardest thing he’d ever done.

But it was for a good cause, he reasoned. His plan was working. Leave her wanting more. He’d give Julia another few days, but in the end, she would come to see that marriage was the best thing they could do for little Jake.

None of that seemed to matter to his libido, though. He stared at the moonlight streaming in through the window and resigned himself to another sleepless night. All for the good of the plan.

It was impossible for Julia to avoid Cameron in the morning, not when he was sitting at the dining room table, eating toast as he fed Jake his breakfast of rice cereal and mashed bananas. She wondered how he’d picked up the baby’s routine so well in less than three days. Was the babysitter giving him private lessons?

She also wondered if she would ever get a decent night’s sleep again. It was bad enough that Cameron had dropped a bomb when he asked her to marry him. But then after that, when she’d gotten all hot and bothered and tempted by the way he watched her so intently, what did he do? He kissed her chastely and dumped her off at her bedroom door.

She hadn’t slept a wink and it was all his fault.

“Jeez, kiddo,” Cameron muttered, grabbing Jake’s hand before he could smear bananas in his hair. “They go in your mouth, not in your hair.”

Despite her somewhat surly mood, Julia bit back a smile. “Nice save.”

He looked up and grinned and Julia’s heart took a sharp dip. “Thanks. You off to the conference?”

“Yes,” she said. “The babysitter should be here in five minutes.”

“Okay, good,” he said, as he took a cloth and wiped cereal off Jake’s neck. Jake giggled and Cameron gave his nose a light tweak. Jake pounded his tray in delight and Cameron stroked his head affectionately. “Yeah, you’re pretty tough, aren’t you, pal?”

Julia’s first baking demonstration was to begin in less than twenty minutes, but how could she leave when Cameron and Jake were having so much fun bonding, eating, playing? It was all so domestic. So normal and comfortable. So … desirable. She’d wanted this so badly, for so long, and now it was happening. How could she leave? Not just today, but ever? How could she give this up?

The man and the baby laughed in unison and Julia stared, mesmerized. Dear God, was there anything more sexy than the sight of this strong man taking care of her baby?

The tears came from nowhere and Julia tried to sniffle them away. She had to go. Leave. Quickly, before her brain exploded from confusion, from distraction, from yearning. From love. Not to mention lust.

She took another deep breath and let it out, then leaned over and kissed Jake’s cheek. “Bye-bye, sweetie. I love you.”

Without thinking, she kissed Cameron as well, right on the mouth. Realization hit her and she tried to break off the kiss, but he grabbed her arm and kept her close, lengthening the contact until she gasped for air.