Page 33 of His Long-Lost Baby

Letting out a sigh, I shove my hands into my pockets. I was too hard on her yesterday.

It’s not just the fact that she had to leave early. I understand that.

It’s that she didn’t tell me she has a kid.

Not that she’s obligated to. I just hate that she didn’t, because that’s one more thing I didn’t know about her.

Add that to how she looked when she came back into the office — so afraid, so fragile — and then her clear expectation that I would be rude to her, combined with my frustration over the meeting, and it was the perfect storm.

I snapped. Said something pretty uncaring.

I was wrong, and I need to take it back. Who knows if she’ll even want to hear an apology, though?

The phone rings on my desk, and I whirl around. Billie?

Nope. It’s Roger, one of my associates on the East Coast.

“Roger,” I answer, trying to put on my best happy voice. “How’s it going?”

“James, my man!” Roger says, his voice booming through the phone. “I’m doing great, thanks for asking. And yourself?”

“I’m fine,” I say, my mind still on Billie. “What’s up?”

“Just thinking about the Hawaii conference next week,” Roger says. “You still planning on going?”

I frown. The conference? What conference?

And then it hits me. I forgot all about ThisTech, one of the biggest tech conferences in the world. I almost always go to it, but I’ve been a little distracted the last couple weeks, and I haven’t thought about it once.

“Uh, maybe,” I say, rubbing my chin. “Will you be there?”

“You know it,” Roger says, and I can hear the excitement in his voice. “It’s going to be a networking goldmine, James. You don’t want to miss it.”

I consider it for a moment. It’s true that I could use a break from work. And maybe a change of scenery would do me some good, get me out of this funk I’ve been in. “All right,” I say, finally making up my mind. “I’ll be there.”

“Awesome,” Roger says. “Later.”

As I end the call, I realize I do feel a little better. Maybe a trip to Hawaii is exactly what I need.

But then I think of Billie again, and my stomach sinks. I need to talk to her, to make things right.

And what better way to do that than a trip to Hawaii?

It won’t be all fun and games. We’ll need to work some, but she should still have time to enjoy herself.

And maybe she’ll forget all about how I shoved my foot in my mouth yesterday.

The door opens, and Billie strides in. She has bags under her eyes, and her hair isn’t as styled as it usually is.

And yet she still looks hot as hell.

I highly doubt anything could make this woman look bad.

“Sorry I’m late,” she mumbles. “Quinn can’t go to school until her fever has been broken for twenty-four hours and I was up half the night looking for a babysitter, and then I found someone but she got stuck in traffic, and then I dropped my phone under my seat in the car and couldn’t call, and…” She trails off, looking defeated.

I can’t stop gazing at her. She also hasn’t put on makeup this morning, and damn she looks amazing.

Delicious. Perfect.