Corporate Daddy by Arlene James Read Free Book Online

baby, purse and bulging diaper bag, when she called out, “We’re going now.”
    To her surprise, Logan got up from his desk and hurried out to send them off. “Wait. Amanda Sue can’t go without telling Daddy ’bye-bye.” He waved at his daughter and pretended to blow a kiss, as before. His daughter, however, had other ideas. She puckered her lips and leaned so far forward that Emily had trouble holding her up. Logan laughed. “What’s she doing now?”
    Emily smiled. “I think she wants a real kiss.”
    He all but recoiled. “A real kiss?”
    “It won’t kill you, Fortune, and my arm’s weakening.”
    He bent and quickly smacked Amanda Sue on the cheek, but the baby objected, wiping it away with a flat wipe of her hand and puckering up again. Logan looked to Emily for help, and it was all she could do to keep from laughing. Finally, he pursed his lips and gave Amanda Sue a dry, fleeting peck on the mouth. Satisfied, Amanda Sue grinned and settled back, her arm looping around Emily’s neck. Logan colored, but the eyes with which he gazed at his daughter were very nearly worshipful.
    “See you later,” he said nonchalantly, but he wasn’t fooling Emily. That first real kiss from his daughter had tied his heart into knots.
    He turned away, but a sudden thought occurred to Emily. “Oh, wait,” she said. “What about the safety seat? I can’t take her in my car without it.”
    “You’re right. Here, take my keys.” He dug into his pants’ pocket. “Better yet, just take my car. Otherwise, I’ll have to walk down with you.”
    “True. If you’re sure that’s how you want to handle it, though, we’d better trade. Otherwise, how will you get home?”
    “Good point.”
    She dug in her purse for her own keys and handed themover, then thought better of it. “Uh, actually, I have to stop to get some overnight things and feed my cat, so I’d better take my apartment key.”
    “Right.”
    She pointed out the key, and he worked it off the ring, handing it over with his own.
    “This thing just keeps getting more and more complicated, doesn’t it?” she said, putting the keys into her bag.
    Logan sighed. “To tell you the truth, I guess I’m still reeling from the news. It’s like this whirlwind blew into my life and hasn’t slowed down yet. I keep hoping that when it does, it’ll leave behind some semblance of order, but what are the chances of that?”
    “Not much, I’d warrant,” she admitted sympathetically, “but it’ll get better eventually.”
    He sighed. “At least I have you until it does,” he said softly. “God help me if I didn’t.”
    Emily felt a strange heat blossom in her chest. She quickly turned away before it could spread to her cheeks. “Better get going,” she said briskly.
    “Remember,” he called as she pushed through the door, “dinner’s on me.”
    She nodded and kept moving, afraid to look back for fear of what she might see in his eyes. Simple gratitude or a certain sensual warmth? The problem was, she wasn’t sure which would frighten her more.
    The little car chugged into the driveway and promptly died. Logan pulled the emergency brake, removed the key from the ignition switch and grabbed the bag of Tex-Mex on the passenger seat. The clutch in Emily’s inexpensive car definitely needed an adjustment, as did the driver’s side door, which creaked alarmingly when he opened it and maneuvered his way out.
    The temperature had dropped into the upper thirties in the past few hours. Logan shivered, wondering if Amanda Sue had a heavy coat. It would be infrequently needed here inSan Antonio, but he couldn’t have his little girl going around cold, not that it was apt to slow her down any.
    He made a mental note to ask Emily about the coat as he trudged up the walk to his front door. Then he’d suggest she get that clutch looked at. He wouldn’t have her driving his daughter around in an unsafe vehicle. In fact, he wasn’t sure he wanted Amanda Sue in such a