Baby for the Billionaire(130)
He gave her a long look. “Our secret.”
Suddenly feeling as if her skin had grown too tight, Victoria pulled Dylan closer. The silence surrounding the three of them seemed to quiver.
What in heaven’s name was happening to her? Victoria started to hum again. Anything to break that seething quiet. After a while she switched over to “Old MacDonald Had a Farm” and Connor joined in.
Dylan sucked the last dregs out of the bottle and his eyelids started to droop.
“I’ve been thinking …”
Instantly Connor had all her attention. “What?”
“Dylan should stay here.”
Euphoria swept Victoria along. She’d gotten what she’d wanted. Now she had to make it work, prove to Connor it was the right thing for Dylan. “I’m so glad you realized I was right.”
His gaze narrowed to cool slits and all the easygoing camaraderie evaporated. “Hang on, we’re not changing the custody arrangement of the will. He stays with you for now, but we’ll review the arrangement in a month.”
No, that wasn’t what she’d intended.
She considered arguing that his solution only meant unsettling Dylan later down the line, then decided to quit while she was still ahead. When the time came, she was sure she’d be able to convince him that Dylan would be better off staying with her. As for her resolve to tell Connor that she wanted to keep their relationship formal as Dylan’s guardians, it appeared that would not be necessary. Connor was all business. He certainly showed no signs of being a man overwhelmed by desire. She suppressed a ridiculous stab of something suspiciously like disappointment.
He was speaking again. “Dylan needs you. I can’t deny it—you’re so good with him.”
Victoria stared at him, astonished. Connor thought she was good with Dylan? He wasn’t the kind of man to give false praise. A surge of happiness swept her. So much for all her fears that she’d be terrible at the mothering stuff.
He was still talking. “But it’s going to slow down your career track.”
“I know, and I’ve come to terms with that.” She would have to speak to Bridget and tell her that she wouldn’t be working late into the evenings anymore. She gave Connor a bright smile that faded a little as his gaze intensified in a way that made her shiver inside.
“So you’ll need to take leave for a couple of weeks.”
Take leave? Averting her face, Victoria placed the empty bottle on the coffee table. How could she take leave? Especially now when everyone at ACE was working to full capacity. She’d tell him later that she had no intention of taking leave. Now was not a good time. He might renege on his decision to leave Dylan with her.
When she was sure she had her emotions under control, she raised her head—and clashed with Connor’s intense gaze. Her stomach rolled over.
Victoria drew a steadying breath. Now was not the time to be sucked in by Connor’s lethal charisma. She wasn’t looking for a man. And he was the last one on earth that she’d pick. Surely she hadn’t forgotten that?
He was all wrong for her—he’d just proved it beyond a shadow of a doubt. He’d never let her retain the financial and emotional independence she’d fought so hard to attain. He’d want a woman who he could control and command. A woman who would give up work at his demand. And that would never be her.
She would never risk being at the mercy of a man’s whims. Like her mother had been. It wasn’t only the woman who suffered, but her children too. She had first-hand experience of what happened when children paid the price of impulsive passion.
But she wasn’t about to lose custody of the only son she’d ever have. So Victoria said carefully, “Yes. And I’m going to take a leaf out of your book and delegate more—hire a junior to assist me. That’s just one more thing I need to discuss with Bridget.”
Six
After Connor had gone, Victoria called Bridget Edge.
The assurance that Victoria would be at work the following day was met with a sigh of undisguised relief. And after a small pause Bridget had agreed to Victoria’s suggestion that hiring a junior accountant would be a good idea—provided, of course, that Victoria’s client base kept growing.
Victoria set the phone down and closed her eyes. For the first time since learning of Michael and Suzy’s deaths her sense of optimism blossomed again.
Everything was going to work out.