She's Having the Boss's Baby

Damn. He turned away to stare at…something else. This had been happening a lot lately and it was one more thing he could blame on all that wedding madness. Or it would be, if it weren’t for the fact that he’d been ogling his business associate’s legs for a long time now. Every time she came near him lately, he was ready to pounce like a jungle cat. And who could blame him? The woman had world-class legs. And a world-class smile. He was pretty sure she had world-class breasts, as well, but that was none of his business. She had a gorgeous smile and beautiful lips. Clear blue eyes, an adorable nose and lush dark hair that she wore in a straight style that fell like a thick ribbon halfway down her back.

Was this attraction to Ellie one more example of the sneaky universe conspiring to ruin his life? Was there such a thing as orange-blossom poisoning? Had he overdosed on weddings? Absolutely. That’s all this was. Too much romance and talk of happy ever after. So of course he’d been noticing Ellie’s legs lately. He’d have been blind not to.

There, a perfectly reasonable explanation. He felt better. Except for the knot of need in his stomach and the more visible sign of his desire that he fought to suppress before she noticed and ran screaming from his office.

After a long moment, he turned and gave her a nonchalant smile, as if he hadn’t been picturing her naked in his bed seconds ago. But hell, a jury of his peers would never blame him for having those thoughts. She was wearing a dress in some cheery, summery color that was sleeveless and short and contoured to fit her well-endowed body perfectly. When had she started dressing so…Hmm. Had she always been this sexy and he just hadn’t noticed until recently? Damn. Might be time to get his eyes checked, after all.

Whatever, that dress showed off her smooth, lightly tanned arms and her aforementioned awesomely hot legs.

And now that he thought about it, he realized Ellie rarely wore dresses, preferring lightweight tailored suits and what Aidan referred to as “sensible” shoes. But the weather had turned even warmer than usual lately and they did live and work on a tropical island, after all. That might explain those three-inch-high strappy sandals she wore that gave even more definition to her attractively toned legs.

He mentally kicked his ass. Thinking of his senior VP like this was completely unacceptable. The woman brought incredible resourcefulness and negotiating talent to the company. Not sex. Not ever. End of story.

He blamed his wayward thoughts on the fact that he hadn’t been out with a woman in…How long had it been? Didn’t matter. Ellie was off-limits. He reeled in his urges, sat down at his desk and smiled tightly at Ellie. “So what can I do to you?”

“Excuse me?” she said.

“I mean, do for you?” Good grief. “Sorry, I’m a little distracted by that, uh, union issue I mentioned. So what’s on your list?”

As she studied the tablet screen, she wriggled in her chair, uncrossed and re-crossed her legs. Aidan was captivated by the movement and wondered if she would mind if he pulled her onto his desk and began to lick every inch of her legs, starting with her ankles and moving up to her—

“Number one on the agenda has to do with the new sports center,” Ellie said. “The Paragon contracts are printed and ready to sign.”

With his jaw clenched, Aidan forced the sultry image away and shook himself back to attention. Now what was she saying? Oh, yeah. Paragon was the vendor that would be supplying the center with everything from workers’ uniforms to gym towels to drinking cups. Aidan and Logan were old surfing buddies with Keith Sands, the Paragon CEO, and knew him well.

“Good,” Aidan said. “Let’s overnight them to Keith and get that wrapped up.”

“Done.” She tapped out a message on her screen keyboard, then nibbled on her bottom lip as she studied the screen. Aidan tortured himself by watching her luscious mouth in action and wondered if maybe he needed to take a cold shower.

As he dragged his gaze away, he vowed to find himself a date while visiting California over the weekend. It had been too long since he’d indulged in some good old-fashioned, no-strings-attached sex. That had to be another reason why he was so distracted by Ellie’s excellent body, but he had to snap out of it. There was no way he would allow the oneway attraction to grow. Otherwise, he would never shake off this funk. “What’s next?”

She pressed the tablet’s surface and a new screen appeared. Glancing up, she said, “As you know, the new hotel is on track to break ground in two weeks.”

“Right. But there’s a holdup with the cement mixer company.”

“Yes, I spoke to them,” Ellie said. “I think we’ve worked it out. I’ll keep you posted.”

“Thanks, I appreciate you taking on that issue. Next agenda item?” Aidan asked.

“Right. This one’s a little tricky.” She shook her hair back and took a deep breath. “I’m overdue for some time off and I’m sorry for the short notice, but I have to take three weeks off next month, from the second to the twenty-third.” She checked her tablet. “I’ve arranged coverage for all of my assignments so there shouldn’t be any problems.”

Before Aidan could say a word, Ellie rushed on to the next item on her list. “Now this is good news, but I’ll need you to approve it. The hotel’s limousine service will upgrade their entire fleet six weeks from now. I’ve worked out a deal with a company over on St. Bart’s to buy the old cars, but we’ll need to ship them there by freighter. They’re willing to split the freight cost, but I’d rather we be the ones to arrange everything. There’s a new Danish shipping company based in Nassau that can do it, but I’ll have to let them know fairly soon if we’re interested in using them.”

“Send me their info and I’ll get back to you.” He held up his finger to stop her from continuing. “But…let’s go back to that last item you mentioned.”

“The cement mixer?” she asked, her eyes wide and curious.

He didn’t believe that wide-eyed innocent act for a second. “No, Ellie. Your vacation. Three weeks?”

“Yes, but don’t worry. I don’t leave until next month.”

He grabbed his calendar and calculated the dates. “We’re practically at the end of this month. So next month starts next week. You want to leave a week from tomorrow?”

“Yes. Something important just came up. I’m sorry I couldn’t give you more notice, but it’s urgent that I go.”

He frowned at the calendar. “A week from tomorrow?”

“Yes, a week from tomorrow.” She said the words slowly, as though she was speaking to a recalcitrant kindergartner.

“That’s really short notice.”

“I know, Aidan. But I have an important appointment scheduled and the timing is crucial. I have to leave a week from tomorrow.”

His eyes widened. “Is something wrong, Ellie? Are you sick?”

“No!” she said at once. “No, I’m fine. But this can’t be put off.”

“I’m glad it’s nothing health-related.” He flipped through the week-at-a-glance calendar. “But can’t we talk about this? I really need you on the job over the next month or so. You know I’m about to leave for a long weekend. And Logan won’t be back for two more weeks. The Erickson deal needs immediate attention, the Duke project needs supervision, and I’ve got a dozen new secretary applicants I was hoping you’d help me interview. I hate to be hard-nosed about this, but it’s really a bad time for you to be gone.”

“No, it’s not. I’ve worked out the—”

“Wait,” he said, ignoring her as he tapped the calendar page. “The cardboard-box convention is right in the middle of that time period. That’s your client. Those guys love you. You can’t desert them.”

“I’m not. I’m leaving them in good hands. They love our sales staff.”

“It’s not the same,” he said, grasping at excuses. Damn it, he was already without his secretary. How the hell could he keep this place running without Ellie, as well? “You know you have a knack with the conventioneers.” He peered at her. What was this sudden vacation all about? Was she planning to meet up with some man? Aidan wasn’t sure he liked the idea, not that he had any say in the matter. Of course, that had never stopped him from issuing an opinion. “What’s so important that you need to go next week?”

She gazed back at him steadily. “It’s personal.”

“You can tell me. We’re friends.”

“You’re my boss.”

“And your friend.”

She smiled. “Trust me, Aidan. You don’t want to know.”

He folded his hands together on his desk and smiled patiently. “Now that’s where you’re wrong. What can possibly be so important that you can only give one week’s notice and then go off and leave us for three long weeks? We need you here.”

“I appreciate that, but I’m entitled to a vacation.”

“Of course you are,” he said, wondering why he was being so inflexible about this. She was their best employee. Employee? Hell, she was practically a partner in the business. Of course she was entitled to take time off. He just didn’t want her to leave right now while things were in flux. It was bad enough he didn’t have a secretary. But to lose his right-hand man—er, woman—for three weeks? He didn’t want to think of the many things that could go wrong. “We have two major construction projects going, there are union issues, my brother is out of the country, I’m going to have to travel, as well. You know we depend on you to keep everything running smoothly.”

“But—”

“It’s not about whether you deserve the time off,” he rushed to add. “It’s just that, hell, you’re always so organized. You plan your vacation time a year in advance. What happened?”

“Something came up,” she said primly.