Booties and the Beast by Valerie Parv

Author:Valerie Parv
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2013-10-14T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Six

A couple of days later, Sam appeared at the office door. He watched her for a moment before saying, “Come outside. It’s too nice a day to be working. You and Joel could use the fresh air.”

She kept her gaze on the monitor screen for fear of betraying how tempted she was to accept. Since the moment he had turned into The Beast her sister had known, accusing Haley of keeping Joel away from his father for her own selfish reasons, she had tried to keep her promise to maintain a businesslike relationship with Sam.

He wasn’t making it easy. As well as taking turns cooking dinner, he had started bringing her coffee and fresh muffins at the desk, and had volunteered to play with Joel while she worked. It was becoming harder to reconcile the way he acted now with the man who had betrayed Ellen.

For someone who hadn’t wanted to know about his child, he was prepared to give Joel a lot of attention, Haley thought. Did Sam somehow sense the blood tie that bound them, responding to it in spite of his reluctance to admit paternity?

She had been bathing the baby in the bathtub yesterday when Sam had propped himself against the wall to watch. She had surprised a silly grin on his face, and tartly suggested he lend a hand. He had supported the slippery baby like an expert, cooing nonsense words to Joel while she got a towel ready.

He hadn’t objected when Joel splashed an obviously expensive shirt with soapy water. In fact, he had seemed to enjoy himself. Haley’s pulse picked up speed as she remembered the way the wet shirt had defined his superb musculature. When she took the baby from him, Sam’s hand had trailed over her arm, sending a shiver through her. She had told herself she was simply chilled, but meeting his warm gaze had exposed the lie.

She didn’t want this, she told herself urgently. Wanting him was one thing, a biological urge that she couldn’t control. But she could control what she did about it. She shook her head. “I have to finish this.”

He rested a hand on her shoulder. “You’ve already done more in a week than I expected in a month. Look at this place.”

She didn’t need to look. She was well aware of the difference she’d made in his office. The piles of old reference materials had been sorted, and the useful cuttings filed where they could do him some good. When she finished, he would be able to locate anything he needed at a moment’s notice.

Unfortunately, the work had also kept her from going through the files of old artwork that might have given her the proof she sought that Cosmic Panda had been her sister’s creation. To Haley’s frustration, Sam had decided to get the artwork ready for the exhibition by himself, thinking he was doing her a favor. She could hardly object without betraying her secret agenda.

Sam’s computer was the last remaining hurdle, and she was busy reorganizing the contents into files and folders instead of the present confusion.

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