The Tycoon's Cupid Surprise (a Valentine's novella) (Holiday Babies) Read Online Free Page A

ready-to-party hormones under control and crossed over to see Chance. Xander had set up a playpen enclosure, and associated security cameras, behind the counter. Not only was the baby well supervised one hundred percent of the time, suddenly he was sleeping less through the day and better through the night. Bonus!
    N ow Chance lay on a big, thick quilt. Recently he’d discovered his hands. Brooke watched as he spread his fingers and then, making a loose fist, tried to plant his hand in his mouth. Hunkering down, leaning over the rail, she wriggled his foot. He cooed and then sucked again.
    Xander crouched beside her. Brooke tried not to focus on the powerful bronzed arm resting an inch away from hers. And that subtle musk scent literally made her mouth water. Once, when he was changing in the back room, she’d seen him sans shirt. Damn , was that body ripped! Chests like his belonged on billboards. Sometimes she caught herself imagining him bench pressing, hitting the bag…
    H olding her close.
    “ You on for scissors, paper, rock?” he asked.
    She grinned. Strange way for a rich dude to make decisions and yet, at least once a day…
    “What for this time?” she asked.
    “Who give s Chance his bath.”
    Xander w asn’t angling to ditch a chore. They both got a kick out of seeing the baby splash around in his suds.
    She and Xander pumped their hands twice then both delivered paper, and then scissors, and then paper again. By the time Xander’s paper finally covered and squeezed her rock, they were laughing. And his nose was a hair’s breadth away from hers.
    T heir expressions eased but his hand over hers tightened more. Then he leaned that bit closer and suddenly her eyelids grew heavy. Beneath her tee, her nipples seemed to swell, rubbing against the lace of her bra. Her heart was beating so hard, she wanted him to kiss her so bad, the physical longing was an ache beneath her ribs.
    H is gaze dropped to her lips...her eyes drifted shut…and then….
    The n the heat of his hand fell away.
    R eality flooded back.
    Brooke smoothed her hair and cleared her clogged throat. Beside her, talking to the baby about his bath, Xander appeared unaffected.
    What the heck was she trying to do? Ruin everything? Xander might find Chance irresistible; he obviously felt for their situation and, for whatever reason, believed in her business. That did not mean he wanted to get romantically involved. Not on a long-term basis anyway.
    She wasn’t that naïve.
    Brooke pushed to her feet as a knock sounded on the door. It was after closing time but another sale was another sale. Besides, she needed time and space away from Xander and his pheromones. Every day those deeper feelings seemed to grow.
    As Xander scooped Chance up and headed for the back, Brooke crossed to the shop’s street entrance. Before she could open the door, she caught a glimpse of the person waiting outside. When she recognised the jacket, the color and cut of the hair, an ice-cold veil settled over her.
    The man on the street had turned to study the traffic. Now, as he angled back to face the door, Brooke grabbed the window’s blind and wrenched it down. With every muscle braced, she counted three beats before that knock came again. And again. To her soul, she wanted to charge out there and tell him to go to hell and never come back. But, even more, she didn’t want to cause a scene. She wouldn’t give him that kind of power or satisfaction. 
    From behind her, a deep voice broke into her thoughts and she spun around. Xander was looking at her, questioning.
    “ Brooke, did you hear me? Are you okay?”
    She forced a thin smile. “Sure. Fine.”
    “ Are you going to let them in?”
    S he hesitated. “I think they’ve left.”
    With Chance balanced in the sling of one arm, Xander walked over. When he studied her face, she pressed her lips together. She didn’t want to get into this. She’d rather never discuss it at all.
    X ander’s eyes narrowed before he