Daddy by December (The BAD BOY BILLIONAIRES Series) (5 page)

Meg almost groaned
again but she glanced in the rear-view mirror and saw that Jessie was busy
lecturing her dolly.

“No more cookies for
you,” she said as firmly as a tiny girl’s voice could go.  “They’ll give you
cavities.”

Meg couldn’t help
smiling but then her thoughts went back to her dilemma.  What was she going to
do with Jessie?  She’d been on her way to the babysitter’s house when she got
the call.  What was she going to do now?

All the people she
could think of were already at work and her parents were too far away for her
to just drop by.

Meg sighed and put on
her indicator then pulled over to the side of the road.  There was only one
thing to do – call and cancel her meeting.

She dialled the direct
number Drake had given her and he picked up the phone immediately.  “I’m so
sorry,” she said.  “I won’t be able to make our appointment today.”

“What happened?  Is
everything all right?”  To her relief he sounded more concerned than angry.

“It’s okay.  Nothing
happened.  It’s just…” She bit her lip.  Should she tell him?  It took her only
a second to answer her own question.  She had to be honest.  “Jessie's
babysitter cancelled on me just as I was on my way to drop her off.  I can't
find anyone else, not at such short notice.  She’s in the car with me right
now.”

“Why don’t you take her
with you?  I can give her some paper and pencils.  Maybe she can entertain
herself for a while so we can work.”

Meg frowned.  Was Drake
Duncan going out of his way to be nice to her?  “Are you sure?  I don’t want to
turn your office into a mini daycare-”

“Meg,” he said, cutting
her off, “bring the child.”

At that, Meg’s brow
knitted tighter.  She hadn’t expected this from him but it certainly solved her
immediate problem.  “Well, if you think it’s okay...”

“It is,” he said
without hesitation.  “Now drive safely.”

When he hung up Meg
rested her head on the steering wheel and gave a sigh of relief.  Thank
goodness he was an understanding man.  He may have been a jerk but at least he
had this one redeeming quality.  He was sympathetic to the plight – and the
scarcity of options – of a single mom.

Within fifteen minutes
of their conversation Meg was holding Jessie’s hand as she rode the elevator up
to the fortieth floor of the Duncan Investments building.  Eyes big as baby
moons, Jessie watched the numbers light up as they went higher and higher.

“Are we going all the
way to the rooftop, Mommy?”  she asked as she clung just a little bit tighter
to her hand.  She sidled closer and pressed against her mother’s hip.

Meg chuckled. 
“Almost.  We’re going to the penthouse floor.”  She tousled her daughter’s
hair.  “Don’t worry.  We’re almost there.”

She nodded her curly
blonde head but the way she clung to her dolly told Meg she still wasn’t
comfortable.  When the elevator door opened she popped out even before her
mother could take a step.

“I got out first.  I
beat you, Mommy.”

“Yes, you did.  You’re
the winner.”

Before Jessie could
give her usual celebratory yell, Meg caught up with her and put a finger to her
lips.  “Now we’re going to be really quiet when we go into the office, aren’t
we?  Quiet as a mouse.  Can we do that?”

Jessie lifted her
little shoulders then nodded.  “Yes, Mommy,” she said in a staged whisper. 
“Quiet as a mouse.”

The receptionist
greeted them warmly and took them to Drake’s office.  Jessie, eyes huge with wonder
at the strange new sights, stopped in the middle of the doorway and refused to
take another step.

“Come on, Jessie.”  Meg
took her hand and tried to urge her forward but she would not budge.

“So, is this the little
princess who's come to entertain me?”

Meg looked up and there
was Drake, all smiles, looking for all the world like a doting dad smiling down
at his beloved daughter.  There was not an ounce of guile about him.  His smile
was genuine and she found herself smiling back, grateful that he was making the
effort to put her child at ease.

Jessie stepped closer
to her mother as she stared shyly at Drake.  “I’m not a princess,” she said. 
“I’m a little girl.”

Drake paused and cocked
his head to one side.  “Are you sure you’re not a princess?”

Jessie shook her head.

“Well, you look like a
princess to me,” Drake said, then he crouched down so the little girl could
look him in the eyes.  “And do you know what little princesses get?”

Her eyes big and blue,
Jessie shook her head again.

“Lots of tickles.” 
Before she could move, Drake reached out to tickle her cheek then her arm and
soon she was laughing out loud.  When she stopped laughing she was all smiles. 
Gone were the shyness and the hesitation.  She looked ready to play.

Meg shook her head. 
“I’m not sure those tickles were a good idea,” she said, smiling.  “Now she’s
going to stick to you like glue.”

“I don’t mind,” he
said, looking totally unconcerned.  “My nephew is only three so I’m used to
having a little one around.”

Meg watched as he took
Jessie’s hand and led her over to a small table on which were laid out several
sheets of paper and colored pencils.  He lifted the child onto the seat then
stepped back.  “There you go.  An art studio of your own.  Now let me see what
you can create.”

It was so weird,
watching this mega-powerful business executive, a billionaire no less, catering
to the needs of her child.  Who would have thought he would be so caring, so
thoughtful as to go out of his way to make Jessie feel comfortable?  This was
the total opposite of how she’d seen him.

Could she have been
wrong about him?  He was nice now but...no, she didn’t think so.  He was
probably super nice to kids but when it came to women that was a whole other
story.  But she wouldn’t let that concern her now.  She had work to do.

While Jessie drew
flowers and turtles and princesses in castles, Meg and Drake tackled the first
phase of the project.  Through a list of interview questions designed to elicit
the key elements of Drake’s story she was able to record the first pages in his
journey toward domination of the investment arena.  For Meg it was a real
eye-opener.

She learned that Drake
hadn’t started out poor.  He was from a wealthy family with generations of
experience in investing and creating wealth.  As a child he’d picked up tips
and investment strategies right there at the family dinner table.  But once he
left college and started his own business his fortunes galloped past anything
he or his family had ever dreamed of.  He’d made a series of smart moves which
placed him solidly in the category of billionaire.

After about an hour of
it, Meg went over to check on Jessie.  “Are you okay, sweetie?  Do you need
anything?”

Jessie shrugged then
shook her head, seeming totally absorbed in her current masterpiece, a drawing
of a woman, a little girl and a man.  He was tall, and she'd colored his hair
yellow.  He was holding the woman’s hand.  For a moment Meg stared at the
picture, almost afraid to ask.  But then in the end she didn’t have to.

“This is the daddy I
want,” Jessie said in a voice as clear as crystal.  If Meg had wanted to be
discreet about the drawing those hopes were dashed immediately.  Jessie pointed
to the stick figure of the man.  “Mommy, when are you going to get me a daddy? 
Can I get one for Christmas?”

Meg’s eyes widened and
she had to fight not to slap her hand over Jessie’s mouth.  It was a
conversation they’d had many times but why here, why now? 
Oh, Jessie,
please.  Not when Drake Duncan is hearing every word.

“Uhm, we’ll talk about
that another time, Jess.  You must be thirsty.  Let’s run downstairs and get
your lunch kit.”  Meg started to bustle the child out of the chair but she
pulled away.

“No, I want to finish
my picture.”  Jessie’s tone was adamant which meant she wasn’t planning on
moving any time soon.  Not without a fight.

“There’s a cafeteria on
the first floor.”  Drake’s voice broke into their mini-struggle.  He was
standing there watching them, the slight curl of his lips making his amusement
obvious.  “You can get her a juice or a snack.  Anything she wants.”

“Oh,” she said,
wondering why he was being so helpful.  “Thank  you.  Come on, Jessie.”

“No, Mommy, I want to
stay.  Can I stay, please?”  Jessie turned on her whining voice and screwed up
her face as if she was close to tears.

Meg knew that strategy
well, one that Jessie used to garner the sympathy of onlookers.  The little
girl was a master at getting others on her side then they’d gang up on Meg to
get her to give in to her daughter’s wishes.

“Why don’t you let her
stay?  She looks like she really wants to finish her picture.”

Meg stared at Drake. 
Good heavens.  Jessie’s trick had worked on him, too.  Defeated, she shook her
head and walked to the door.  “I’ll be back in a minute,” she said, glancing at
her child whose attention was back on her drawing.  She looked totally
absorbed.  Guessing that she wouldn’t be too much of a distraction for Drake,
Meg went out the door.

And as she hurried down
the hallway she breathed a prayer that while she was gone Jessie would not,
under any circumstances, mention a word about her wish for a daddy.  As it was,
Drake Duncan had already heard too much.

******

As soon as her mother
had walked out the door Jessie laid her pencil down and turned guileless blue
eyes up at Drake.  “Can you help me?”

Drake frowned.  Was the
child in some kind of trouble?  He reached out and pulled up a chair then sat
down beside her.  “Is something the matter?” he asked gently.  “I’ll do my best
to help.”

“Can you help me find a
daddy by December twenty-four?”

Drake shook his head
but, not wanting to scare the child, he tempered it with a smile.  “What do you
mean, Jessie?  Why do you need a daddy by that date?”

“It’s for my mommy,”
she said, her little face earnest as she stared up at him.  “She never gets
flowers for her birthday or for Christmas like my best friend’s mom does and
she never, ever, gets roses for Valentine's Day.  Sometimes she looks so sad…”
Her voice trailed off and her face grew pensive.  “I think if we had a daddy at
our house like my friends do then she’d be happy.”  She turned her eyes back to
him.  “Can you help me find one?”

“Well, I’m…” He clamped
his mouth shut. What the hell could he say to the kid?  I’d love to apply for
the position but your mom would never have me?  He cleared his throat as he
tried to buy himself some time.  “What’s so special about December
twenty-four?”

Jessie gave a tinkling
laugh.  “It’s Christmas Eve, silly.  That’s the last day to tell Santa what
presents you want.”  She leaned toward Drake then whispered, “I made Mommy
think I want a daddy for me but it’s really for her.  I want it to be a
surprise.”

Drake sat back in his
chair and stared at the five year old matchmaker  in admiration.  Who would
have known that such a tiny child would have the gray matter to plan to trick
her mother into a relationship?

He shook his head as he
contemplated Jessie.  She was an observant little tyke, too, to notice her
mother's lack of presents on those special days.  Poor kid.  It must have been
hard for her, losing her daddy.

“You miss your dad a
lot, I guess,” he said softly, not wanting to upset her with sad memories.

“Unh-unh.”  She shook
her head vigorously.

Drake cocked his head
to one side.  “You don’t?”

“I don’t know my daddy,”
she said.  “I mean, not anymore.  I was too little when he died.  Mommy said he
was hit by a drunk driver.”

Oh, shit
. 
He didn’t say it out loud.  What a crappy way to die.  The poor guy had
probably been on his way home to his family when some idiot put out his lights
forever.  “I’m sorry to hear-”

“I’m back.”  Meg burst
into the room, an overly bright smile on her face.  “I got your juice.”  She
walked over and laid a bottle of strawberry kiwi juice blend on the table. 
“And I got you a big, chewy chocolate chip cookie.”  She produced her prize
with a flourish and laid it on the table beside the juice.

Jessie seemed
unimpressed.

Meg looked at her then
at Drake.  A frown crinkled her brow.  “Is everything okay?  She hasn’t been
bothering you, has she?”

“Not at all," he
said and got up to walk over to the wide windows looking over the city.  “We
were just getting to know each other, that’s all.” 

That brought an even
more worried look to Meg’s face.  “Know each other?”  She looked back at Jessie. 
“What exactly did she say?”  Her face had taken on a pink hue, a definite sign
of her uneasiness.

On an impulse Drake
decided to seize on an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.  He and Meg would be
seeing each other on a professional basis but this might just be his chance to
abandon professionalism for a while.  He wanted the opportunity to be with her,
speak to her, understand what he’d done that made her resent him so much.