Bossman’s Baby Scandal (Kings of the Boardroom #1)(30)
Author: Catherine Mann

“Uh, sure. Why not?” She blinked at his surprise shift in the evening plans.

Did she have a problem with being impulsive? He wouldn’t have thought that from the way they made love when and wherever the mood struck. On the way to supper, he’d had to pull off onto a deserted road or risk a wreck. She been frenetic and demanding and he’d enjoyed the hell out of every minute of it.

Come to think of it, that could have also played into why they were late for dinner.

He helped her aboard, nodding his thanks to the club employee who’d prepped the sails so he could head straight out with Lauren. So far, she seemed at ease on the boat. Her feet steady, she settled into a seat and tipped her face into the wind. The slap and ping of sails and lines soothed him after a tense day at work.

Lauren seemed content with silence—something he appreciated since most people he knew felt the need to fill up quiet spaces. He guided the boat out into the Bay. The moon overhead and lights along the shore showcased a top-notch view of the shopping at Fisherman’s Wharf and historic Alcatraz.

After an hour of cruising, he set the anchor and joined her on the bow of the boat. The boat’s running lights sparked off the crest of waves, the shoreline lit with nightlife.

Jason draped a blanket over her shoulders and sat behind her. “Are you cold?”

She shook her head against him. “I’m fine. Lots of layers, just like you instructed before we headed out.” She burrowed more deeply into the quilted folds. “But leave the quilt. It’s getting colder.”

He pulled her closer, enjoying the feel of her body tucked against his even through the blanket. “Did you have a productive afternoon working?”

“Not particularly creative, but busy. I’m taking care of creditors since your infusion of cash came through.” She rested her hand on his bent knee. “Thank you again. My company means a lot to me.”

“No thanks necessary.” And he meant it. “You’re paying me back, remember?”

She chuckled. “At an absurdly low interest rate.”

He hoped they could just write off that whole damn debt soon. He’d meant to help her, and now he hated the way she seemed hung up on not taking anything from him. With luck, the private detective he’d hired to hunt down her accountant would turn up something soon. If she got her money back, then she would have stability in her company, which afforded flexibility.

He knew there wasn’t a chance in hell she would accept more money from him, but perhaps he could persuade her to keep the original loan for their kid, expand her business with a San Francisco base. Best for the baby, right?

And damn great for him.

She glanced back at him, wind whipping her long auburn ponytail over her face. “I’m glad you suggested this. I imagine it’s no surprise I’ve been a little stressed out lately.”

“The water has a calming effect.” Waves lapped the side of the boat, fish plopping a few feet away. Lights from a couple of other crafts glittered in the distance, but no one close enough for him to see details in the night.

“You could live here. The boat has more furniture than your house.”

He decided the time had come to press her for more. According to her preset deadline, he only had a week left before she returned to New York. “Maybe Sunday we can wander around Fisherman’s Wharf, do some furniture shopping.”

“Jason, you’re pushing.” She traced the outline of his kneecap, her eyes still set on the horizon. “What made you decide to get out of the Navy? Prentice mentioned something over dinner about you being a hero during a pirate incident. You went really quiet.”

He tensed at her surprise charge into his past. Then decided to let her subject change go unnoted, since she hadn’t left his arms. “I was just doing my job. I only mentioned it to Prentice because he has a nephew in the service.”

“What happened?”

His Navy time seemed such a world away now, but it was a part of him, giving him a discipline, drive and focus his old man had always insisted he needed, but was never around to teach or model. Jason felt his baby roll lightly under his hands and vowed to do better, to be present. “It was a hostage situation off the coast of Malaysia. We were called in to help.”

“We?”

“I was a dive officer attached to a SEAL team, working EOD.”

“EOD?” she prodded.

“Explosive ordinance disposal.”

She shuddered against him. “Sounds scary.”

Scary? In the early days, but in later years, the shakes usually didn’t set in until after a mission. “There were some tense times, sure, but you train hard, then go on autopilot for the mission.”

“Your job must seem tame now.”

“Just different. Sometimes I miss it, but for the most part I’m content with what I offered my country. I’m ready to move on. This is what I studied to do in college. It’s what I’ve always wanted to do. I was just so determined to be different from my old man that I chased other dreams for a while before coming back to what’s in my blood.”

“You’ve certainly stepped well out of your dad’s shadow, here and back in New York, too. You’re your own man.”

He appreciated that she saw that. He’d sure as hell tried. “I took a Navy ROTC scholarship to college since my inheritance from my grandparents wouldn’t come through until I was twenty-five. After I graduated, I owed years of service in return. I like to think I would have joined even if I hadn’t needed the money.”

“Your parents wouldn’t pay for you to go to college?”

“Oh, they would have paid, but there were too many strings attached.”

“Like what?”

“Go to my father’s alma mater, join the family firm. I appreciate the advantages my family provided while I was growing up, but I couldn’t be a spoiled trust-fund kid.”

“You definitely proved yourself.”

“It’s an ongoing process.” Lifelong, in fact. He thought about her mother who’d so devalued Lauren’s art because it wasn’t the same as hers. Maybe Lauren understood his problems with his parents better than he would have realized before. “Overall, I’m happy here, with the locale and the job.”

“Given your obvious love of the water, San Francisco is a good fit for you, then, much more so than the cold northern winters back in New York.”

“I’ve been diving since I was in elementary school. It’s convenient having my boat here rather than losing time jetting to a vacation spot.” He rested his chin on top of her head. “The sunken ships are fun to explore, and the coral reefs are amazing here. I’d like to take you after the baby’s born.”