And now, on top of all that, she has to deal with this persistent accountant guy who keeps pestering her for a date…
Jake is good-looking, it’s true, but Cassandra isn’t interested in casual dating. She’s a mom, and that comes first.
As the doors close, Jake greets Emilio with respect, then smiles at her.
“How’s your day, Cass?”
“Better now that I’ve seen you. Still not interested in that date?”
Cassandra glances at Emilio. His face is closed and distant, as if he is above seeing or hearing mere mortals like Jake.
Still. How can Jake talk like this in front of their boss?
“I’m still waiting for an answer, Cass,” Jake says.
“I can’t, Jake,” she replies curtly. “Sorry.”
“How long will you make me wait?”
“Don’t. Guys are the last thing on my mind right now.” Suddenly, Cassandra can feel Emilio’s dark eyes raking over her.
“At least you didn’t say ‘no,’” Jake says. “Whenever you’re ready, I’ll be waiting.”
The elevator doors open again, and Jake steps out, leaving Cassandra alone with Emilio. She’s acutely aware of every inch of him.
When she meets his gaze, Emilio says, “It’s against the bank’s policy for employees to date each other. I hope you’re aware of that.”
“Yes, Mr. Rodriguez, don’t worry. All I care about is my son, right now.”
She holds his gaze until she starts to feel awkward. Why is he staring like this? She quickly looks away.
Emilio can’t tear his eyes away from Cassie, watching her chest rise and fall with each heavy breath she takes.
She’s practically hyperventilating. Worrying about her child.
Her baby boy.
Emilio’s own heart is hammering unusually hard, too. He knows exactly how long ago the two of them had their night of passion. Fifteen months. And she was a virgin. What are the odds that the child is not his?
Low. Very low.
He will need to remind Jake McAlister of the office rules on dating. It’s no surprise Jake made a move on Cassandra—any man would. But Jake needs to know his boundaries.
Emiliano glances again at her enticing curves, because he can’t help it. For some reason, the thought of another man touching her body makes him seethe.
“Relax,” Emilio says as the helicopter takes off from the top of Rodriguez International. “You’re in safe hands. José here is the second best pilot in Manhattan.”
“Who’s the best?” she asks.
He gives an arrogant smirk. “You’re looking at him.”
She could get used to traveling by helicopter, Cassie decides. It’s so much quicker than a car or the subway. No traffic jams. No inexplicable delays. And that’s a blessing when every second counts.
Beside her, Emilio is scrolling on his phone as she stares down at the view of the city beneath them. He looks as bored as if he were in a taxi. Any other day, Cassandra would have been thrilled to be up in the air like this, free as a bird. But today the whole experience is wasted on her. All she can think about is getting to Alex.
Poor little boy. She never should have gone to work today.
The office will be buzzing with gossip tomorrow about how the boss flew the new receptionist off in his Sikorsky, but right now, she doesn’t care. All she cares about is getting to her son as quickly as possible.
Ten minutes later, José lands them on a rooftop close to the daycare building. “Wait for me here,” Emilio tells him.
Then he jumps out, ducking low against the wind of the helicopter’s blades. Cassandra follows him, accepting his hand when he reaches back to help her.
As their skin touches, she gasps. It’s almost like static electricity.
Did he feel it too?
He shows no sign of it.
He leads her to an elevator and they make the descent to street level in silence. Cassandra doesn’t have the bandwidth to talk to him, and he seems to understand that. Which is something.
Out on the street, she dashes to the daycare building, not even checking to see if Emilio is following her.
“Mrs. Williams,” she calls, heading straight for the back where the kids are.
“Ms. Miller, come in. He’s in here,” Mrs. Williams calls from the bathroom.
Cassandra walks in to see her little boy sitting in the bathtub, crying. She kneels down next to him, touching his hot cheeks. His cries get louder.
“He needs a doctor. Where are his clothes?”
She doesn’t have time to think about that now. She needs to get Alex dressed and out of here.
“You must be little Alex’s father,” Mrs. Williams says sweetly to Emilio.
Cassandra freezes as she reaches for Alex’s diaper. Why can’t Mrs. Williams keep her mouth shut?
“He looks just like his daddy,” the other woman says.
Emiliano smiles politely, noting that Cassie doesn’t even try to contradict the assumptions of these busy bodies. Instead, she just focuses on getting the child into its clothes.
He steels himself to look at the baby.
He has his suspicions, but he’s not sure if he’s ready to face the truth.
If this is his baby, Cassie clearly never wanted him to know anything about it. She didn’t come crawling to him, demanding support and recognition. That should make him happy.
So why is he here?
And then, for some reason, he thinks of annoying Mr. Phillips, and how the man is always pointing out that Emiliano needs to plan better for the future.
Emiliano’s wild and irresponsible cousin Rafael currently stands to inherit Rodriguez International if anything happens to Emiliano.
The bank is Emiliano’s life’s work, his pride and joy. Over the past nine years, under his guidance, it has doubled in size and reach. He can’t bear to think what will happen to it if Rafael gets his hands on it.
He loves his cousin, but he wouldn’t trust him to run a lemonade stand.
Taking a deep breath, he looks at the child.
Instantly, it’s as if all the air has been sucked out of his lungs.
The baby looks just like him. Dark hair, dark eyes, thick eyebrows, and most shocking of all—a dark birthmark under his ear. Without thinking, Emiliano reaches up to touch his own birthmark in the same spot.
His great-grandfather had that mark. So did his grandfather and his late father. It’s a family trait.
This is his son. There is no shadow of a doubt in his mind.
He hears Cassie say, “There’s an emergency room a few blocks away. Thanks for calling, Mrs. Williams.” Then she turns and walks past Emiliano as if he doesn’t exist.
Emiliano catches up with Cassie as she tries to flag down a taxi. “Come on,” he says, taking the baby bag from her, “I’ll fly you to a decent doctor.”
“The emergency room will be fine—”
“They’ll keep you waiting for hours. Come on.”
She hesitates then nods her thanks. Eyes fixed on her baby’s face, she lets him guide her back to the helicopter.
“Valmont Hospital, José,” he says. It’s where his aunt Beth works—the mother of his cousins, Rafael and Isabel.
