Steven Read online

He flicked a button and a black shield went up between them and the driver. “And now the driver can’t see us.” He put his hand back on her thigh, much higher than he had before.

  “I thought this was a business trip! I feel like I’m in a car with a randy teenager.” She brushed his hand off her lap with an annoyed expression.

  “Randy? Does anyone even use the word randy anymore?” He laughed softly. “I kind of like it. You can call me randy anytime you want, baby.”

  She elbowed him in the stomach to get him to stop. “Please keep your hand to yourself, Randy.”

  His laughter filled the car. “Since you asked nicely, and said please and everything, I’ll behave. But just so you know? In my mind, my hand is on your thigh, and you’re not wearing anything.”

  She turned bright red and sputtered. “You have to stop saying things like that to me! I’m your employee.” She couldn’t believe he was acting this way. Where was the angry man she’d met just a week before?

  “Hiring you was the best decision I ever made.” He slipped his arm around her shoulders and waited for her to protest. When she didn’t, he took his other hand and turned her face toward him. “Anytime you want me to stop, and I mean really want me to stop, you just say so. I’m not going to force anything. But I am going to do this as often as I can get away with it.” He lowered his mouth to hers, kissing her lightly.

  He didn’t try anything else, because he saw they were about to pull up to his private hangar at Alliance Airport. When the driver opened the back door, he dropped his arm from around her shoulders. “Make sure all the luggage ends up onboard the plane, please. We’ll need to be able to have easy access to it.”

  “Of course, sir.” The driver acted as if Steven were royalty. That’s his problem, she thought. Everyone treats him like he’s the most important person in the world, so he thinks he is.

  Steven climbed out and waited while Bailey unbuckled Faith and handed her car seat to him. He looked down at the blanket Bailey had tucked over the baby’s face before handing her out. “Are you sure she can breathe okay?” The concern in his voice thrilled her. He seemed to genuinely care about Faith.

  Bailey smiled at him. “She’s fine. I just don’t want her to catch cold.” He seemed to be more interested in his little girl every day, and Bailey loved that about him.

  He led the way onto his private jet setting the car seat down in one of the seats. “Would you mind buckling her in? I’m not sure I’d do it right.”

  Bailey immediately went to the baby to buckle her and looked around at the jet. It was huge, and seemed to have every amenity they could possibly ask for. A stewardess came out as soon as they were seated, asking if they’d like a drink. Bailey asked for a Pepsi while Steven ordered bourbon.

  Bailey chose a window seat, because she’d never flown before and wanted to be able to see out. “How long is our flight?” She figured if she asked often enough, he’d finally tell her.

  Steven just smiled at her, refusing to answer just as he had the last time she’d asked. She sighed. If he wanted to hide the destination of his business trip, that was up to him.

  He worked on his laptop for the first part of the trip. He kept glancing out the window to see if they were near the ocean, but would quickly glance back to his computer if she spotted him. When the ocean did come into sight, she breathed in quickly. “Oh, the ocean! It’s so beautiful!” She turned to him excitedly. “Will we be near the beach? I could take the baby.”

  He smiled. “Wait and see.” He watched her as they flew to the coastline and over the ocean. Her eyes were as wide as saucers as she stared out.

  He knew she’d soon grow tired of staring out the window during the twelve hour flight, but he wasn’t going to burst her bubble. He’d deliberately scheduled their flight for the evening hours, so they could sleep if they chose to. Each chair on the plane was able to convert to a sleeping position.

  She had to get up to tend the baby a few times, but obviously Faith liked flying, because she slept soundly most of the trip.

  Finally around midnight, after they’d been served a light snack, Bailey laid her chair back to sleep. He watched her sleep for a few minutes, before sliding his own chair back and joining her. Without thinking about it, he reached his hand out to hold hers while he slept.

  He didn’t wake up until the wheels of the plane touched down on Bora Bora. He’d arranged for a charter boat to take them to the private island of Motu Tane. He couldn’t wait to see her face as she walked along the beach for the first time.

  He shook her gently to wake her, and then unfastened the baby’s car seat. She sat up rubbing her eyes bemusedly. “Are we here?” Her voice was husky from sleep and he loved it. She’d never sounded sexier to him.

  “Yeah, we need to take a boat to our destination now. There’s no airport on the island.”

  Her eyes lit up at the word island, but she didn’t say anything. She grabbed the diaper bag, and he gave instructions for the luggage to be put onto the boat. He carried Faith off the plane, stretching his muscles as he walked. The seats on the plane were as comfortable as money could buy, but no matter how comfortable, it still made you stiff to sit for twelve hours.

  He led her to the waiting boat, watching as she took her seat. He’d tried to time the flight perfectly so they could watch the sunrise across the water as they sped on the boat to the private island. He could see by her face, he’d accomplished what he’d set out to do.

  Her eyes were glued to the sunrise. The sky, as well as the water, were painted a lovely shade of pink. “It’s so beautiful!” She turned to him with a grin. “Thank you for bringing me with you.”

  She didn’t give him a chance to reply, just turned back to watch the water. The salty spray hit their faces, and she quickly reached out to tuck Faith’s blanket around her face. “She would not be happy waking up with salt water in her face.”

  He laughed, thankful she knew to think of things like that, because he never would have.

  The island was just as he remembered it. There was a huge resort he’d rented just for their small group. The other two men had indicated they were each bringing someone, which had both surprised and pleased him. It would be nice for Bailey to have someone to be with while they were in their meeting. There were no people other than the staff who would serve them. After the boat stopped, he helped her onto the dock, watching her obvious delight in the island.

  “I can’t wait to build a sand castle!” She raced toward the resort, leaving him to carry the baby.

  “I think she likes it here, Faith.” It was the first time he’d talked to the baby, and was surprised at how naturally it came to him. He gave instructions for the luggage and followed Bailey up the path.

  She was spinning around looking at everything when he walked in behind her. “This place is amazing!” The excitement in her voice had him smiling. It was so much more fun to do things he took for granted with someone who had never done anything remotely similar.

  He grinned, putting the car seat on the floor, and walking up behind her, his hands gently rubbing her shoulders. “Do you want to stay here in the main building? Or do you want to stay in one of the smaller bungalows along the beach?” He didn’t care which she chose as long as he could stay with her.

  “Where will you be?” She wanted to stay here, but if he would prefer a bungalow, then she would choose a bungalow.

  “Wherever you and Faith are.”

  “Then I want to stay here. It’s so beautiful!” She turned to him and threw her arms around him. “Thank you for bringing us. I can’t wait to start exploring!”

  She picked one of the big suites for herself and the baby, immediately unpacking for them. When she was done, she wandered into the living area. “When will your business associates get here?” It felt weird to be there without them, but she hoped it would be a while before she didn’t have him all to herself.

  He shrugged, choosing not to answer, staring out the window instead. She walke
d over and stood next to him, looking out at the beach. “I’ve never seen anything as amazing as the sunrise over the water this morning.”

  He smiled. “I thought you’d enjoy that.” He looked down at her blond head wondering when he should tell her the others wouldn’t be there until the following day. Maybe he should wait for a while before breaking that little piece of news to her. Now they were actually here, he wondered how they would relate to each other.

  “I’m so glad you brought Faith and me. We’re going to have so much fun on the beach. Are there boats we can rent?” As soon as she said the words, she regretted them. She didn’t want him to have to spend another dime on her. She bit her lip as she thought about the things she wanted to do while they were there.

  She wanted to get dozens of photos of Faith on the beach. Although the baby wouldn’t remember her first trip there, she wanted to be able to show her what it had been like, and how wonderful her daddy had been to take her there.

  “We have a boat at our disposal. The resort includes everything you could possibly imagine to do here. We can even arrange to have a Polynesian dance show on the beach if you’d like.”

  “Where are we anyway? You still haven’t told me!” She sounded both lost and annoyed at the same time.

  He chuckled softly. “We’re in paradise.”

  She slapped his shoulder. “What’s the name of our paradise?” She couldn’t argue about it being paradise, though. It was truly amazing there. Her eyes couldn’t quit dashing in every direction taking in everything about the place.

  “We’re just off the island of Bora Bora. This is a private island called Matu Tane in the country of Tahiti if that helps you.”

  “So we’re somewhere in the South Pacific?” Wow. She’d never before seen an ocean or been on a plane, and she was somewhere in the South Pacific. Would her life ever return to normal? Would she ever want it to?

  “Pretty much.”

  “Wow! Am I allowed to start singing songs from the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical?”

  He eyed her skeptically. “I don’t know. Can you sing?”

  “Church choir all my life!” She didn’t add she’d only been in it because her father had insisted and the choirmaster had always been careful to ask her to sing softly. She loved to sing, but she knew she sounded terrible.

  “I’ll have to think about it.” He grabbed her hand and pulled her toward the kitchen. “Are you hungry?”

  She shook her head. “Not really. I’m not much of a breakfast eater. I just want to go play on the beach.” She looked out the window at it wistfully. She wished she could have a day or two there with absolutely no responsibilities. Of course, then she wouldn’t have Faith, and she was so much more important than the beach.

  “Go change into your bathing suit then. I’ll wait.” He looked down at the baby, certain he could take care of her for the few minutes it would take her aunt to change.

  “I can’t. Faith will be waking up for her bottle any minute.” Her voice made it clear she wished she could do what she wanted for once instead of what she should.

  “Fix her bottle and we’ll take her down to the beach and put her on a blanket there. When she gets hungry, you can feed her.”

  She frowned at him. “Have you ever fed her?” She crossed her arms over her chest, letting him know she thought he should take a more active role in his daughter’s life.

  He shook his head. “I’m not planning on it either.”

  “How can you bond with your daughter if you never spend time with her? I’ll fix the bottle, but you feed her.” He really needed to learn to do simple things for the baby.

  “What do you think I pay you for?”

  She laughed and ran to change into a bathing suit. She had two suits with her. She looked at them trying to decide. One was a perfectly modest one piece swim suit. She’d never worn anything else. For some reason, she’d bought a two piece for her honeymoon, but had never worn it. She looked at the skimpy bikini and contemplated.

  The good girl in her told her she should wear the practical one piece. The bad girl, who wanted nothing more than to spend the night in her boss’s arms, told her the one piece was boring. After a moment of debate, she changed into the pink bikini. She was tired of being a good girl. She was in a tropical paradise with the first man who had ever made her blood sing. She was going to ride this wave as far as it would take her.

  She grabbed the terrycloth robe from the back of the door and slipped it on before she left the room. Even though she was brave enough to wear the bikini, she wasn’t brave enough to just walk out of the room in it.

  She fixed the bottle, grabbed a blanket and the diaper bag, and left him to carry his daughter out to the beach. She spread the blanket carefully, making sure there was no sand, and gestured for him to put Faith on it. She smeared sunscreen liberally over the baby’s face before facing the water.

  She waded in it up to her ankles for a few minutes, feeling Steven’s eyes on her. Finally, he called, “I’ve got the baby. Go on in.”

  She walked a few feet out of the water, and dropped her robe onto the sand. She jumped into the waves, surprised at how cold the ocean felt even though the temperature here was so nice.

  Steven’s eyes widened as he saw her suit. He’d pegged her for one of those girls who would wear a suit that covered everything he’d ever want to see. The suit she wore left nothing to the imagination. She wasn’t as skinny as he’d originally thought. Her curves were perfect.

  He was so busy watching Bailey he almost didn’t hear Faith cry. He picked her up carefully sure he’d drop her. Taking the bottle of formula Bailey had made, he popped it into her mouth. He knew Bailey usually changed her as soon as she woke up, but he’d save that milestone of fatherhood for someone else. Changing diapers was not something billionaires did.

  Chapter Five

  When Bailey came out of the water, she found Steven sitting with the baby on his lap as he fed her the bottle of formula. Faith’s eyes were wide open and she was staring at her daddy.

  “Have you burped her yet?” She’d have offered to take the baby, but she was wet, and she wanted to see how Steven did with her on his own. He never seemed to have a whole lot of contact with her, but he didn’t seem disinterested. He simply didn’t know what to do with her.

  “When am I supposed to do that?”

  “About halfway through the bottle. Go ahead and do it now.” She reached down and pulled a burp cloth from the diaper bag, and put it over his shoulder.

  “What’s that for?”

  “In case she spits up on you.”

  He wrinkled his nose. “You mean baby puke?”

  She laughed. “I guess that’s one way of putting it.” She settled down on the blanket beside him, showing him how to lift the baby to his shoulder and pat her back.

  He held her awkwardly, but quickly got a loud burp from her. The grin on his face made him look like he’d won some sort of prize. He cradled her in his arm again and stuck the bottle back in her mouth.

  “How was the water?” He couldn’t keep his eyes off her. Her entire body had a sheen of water over it, and the damp swimsuit did nothing to hide her luscious curves.

  “Absolutely amazing!” Her eyes glowed as they looked into his. “This is an experience I’ll never forget.” She hoped he realized how very much it meant to her he’d included her and the baby on this trip. Seeing the ocean for the first time was awesome, of course, but doing it from a private island with gorgeous beaches, was unbelievable.

  “Better than Galveston?” he teased.

  She laughed. “Well, the company is certainly better than it would have been in Galveston.”

  “Not missing old what’s his face too much, then?”

  She shook her head. “Not missing him at all. He wasn’t the man I thought he was.” She looked down at the quilt she’d spread for them to sit on, her hand wrinkling it.

  “Because he took off with your best friend?”

  She
shrugged. “Actually, it’s more than that. His biggest complaint about me was always that I’m too perfect.” She wrinkled her nose as she said the last word. “I’m anything but perfect. I don’t even have a desire to be perfect.”

  He grinned. “Why were you too perfect? Because you wouldn’t go to bed with him?”

  She shrugged, blushing. “That’s probably the main reason. My parents were always so strict. If I wore a skirt it had to be well below the knee. No make-up until I was eighteen. I couldn’t date until my parents met the boy, and then he had to meet their standards. Do you know how many boys passed their stupid test?”

  He shook his head. “How many?”

  “Two! Mom died while I was still in high school and Daddy died during my freshman year of college.” She looked down at her hands. “I started dating Bradley right after I graduated. His dad and mine were good friends, so I figured he’d be okay.” She shook her head at her naiveté.

  “But he wasn’t?”

  She shrugged. “I guess he was decent enough most of the time. He certainly didn’t know how to take ‘no’ for an answer, though.” She paused staring out at the ocean. “I’m sure that’s why he ended up with Tiffany. She was willing to put out before marriage and I wasn’t. Of course, if he’d just waited a few more days, it all would have been good.” She rolled her eyes.

  “So are you heartbroken about the breakup, or glad it happened so you could go on with your life?”

  She turned to him then, her blue eyes meeting his brown. “If he hadn’t broken it off, I’d never have left Hamlin. Or met you. Or been able to help raise Faithy. I think he did the best thing he could have done for me.” She laughed. “Of course, I didn’t think so at the time.”

  Hearing about her childhood made him wonder what happened to Angela, but he figured it was just a case of a preacher’s kid held down for so long, when she didn’t have something holding her down, she went nuts. It was a spring action kind of thing he’d heard about from a lot of preacher’s kids.

  He put the baby to his shoulder to burp her again, this time doing it perfectly. She smiled at the way he was getting to know his daughter. “My life is a little different than I expected, too. I mean, a week ago I was watching the Super Bowl with my two business partners and suddenly, I have a baby I never knew about. And then a nanny moves in with me. What happened to living it up?”