Carlton

Before Lexi could give me her reply, the door to my office opened, and I looked up with a frown. It was Felicity, and I felt annoyance seeing her standing right inside the door, fidgeting with her fingers in front of her as she looked at me with a look that was almost fearful.

“Sir, I came to apologize for interrupting your meeting today,” she said nervously.

I blew out a rough breath before trying to calm myself down. It was hard, trying not to glare at her, but she interrupted at the worst possible moment.

“You look like you’re busy,” Lexi said, taking the chance for escape.

“Please, just wait a moment. Can you sit down with Sam while I talk to her?”

She hesitated, and inside, I felt triumphant, though I didn’t let it show. Sam was doing his part, reaching out for her while making insistent noises to be carried. I felt stupid for forgetting to pack his lunch after I fed him this morning, just before I left the house, but I’d been in a hurry. It seemed like it was a good thing, though.

It didn’t take long for her to give into Sam’s silent demand, picking him up under his armpits and bringing him to her chest. She shot me a look, before turning around and going over to the sofa to sit down. I watched until they were settled, then my eyes landed on Felicity, who managed to look even more nervous.

With a gesture for her to follow, I headed for my desk and leaned back against it, while she came to stand in front of me with her head bowed down, fingers still fidgeting.

“Did my brother send you here?” I asked.

She jumped, then hurriedly shook her head. “No one sent me here, sir! But I was at the office when he walked in, so I knew the meeting was over, and he said not to walk in on a meeting again uninvited…”

Damn him.

Alec didn’t need to go that far. I was imposing on Felicity when I asked her to look after my son to begin with, so it wasn’t like I could blame her. Even when I’d anticipated being a father, suddenly finding myself the sole care taker of a baby wasn’t easy. If only I could have had my own secretary, I could have picked someone who knew how to take care of children, but I didn’t have one.

The reason my brother had a secretary, though he was in a lower position, was simply because he’d been to the office more than I had recently. I kept on top of things even before I graduated college, but after I got married, I started slowing down the visits, and came here less often after Sam was born.

Also, Alec wasn’t picky about who he worked with, unlike me. I had requirements if I was going to hire someone for a position or have someone from the company assigned to the position. I’d have to think about it eventually, but I didn’t plan to do all my work from the office for a while.

“You don’t have to worry about what happened, Felicity.”

She bit her lip. “And about your son… I’m sorry, but I don’t think I can look after him. I’ve just never done well around kids, and it was so sudden, so I didn’t have time to mentally prepare. If you need, I could ask around for someone that could watch him…”

“It’s fine. Really, you don’t have to worry about that.” My eyes drifted to Lexi, who was bouncing Sam on her lap, whispering something to him while she smiled, making him laugh. “I may have a solution to my problem, I won’t force you to take care of him for me.”

She tried her best not to look relieved, but she failed terribly.

“Was there anything else?” I asked. “Did my brother send you for something?”

“Oh! No, sir.”

“That will be all, then. Let Alec know I’ll be busy for the rest of the afternoon, if something comes up, he’ll have to take care of it for me.”

“Yes, sir.”

Hurriedly, she turned and left the room, and I turned back to Lexi. She hadn’t realized yet that Felicity was gone. All of her attention on Sam, and it made me smile. I didn’t alert her just yet, instead I took the time to look my fill of her.

She was hot. It was a surprise for me, not that she was attractive but that I thought she was. It it had been a while since I’d had such thoughts. When I first fell for Sam’s mom, she was the only woman I looked at. Even though it wasn’t easy, we made things between us work, and then we had Sam. After she passed away, I didn’t have time for those kinds of thoughts. It had been more than a year already, and this was the first time I was looking at a woman and thinking about sex.

I shook my head quickly to dispel my thoughts. Even though I’d gone two years without, somehow, it felt wrong to look at Lexi with such intentions, especially since I still couldn’t remember where I’d seen her before.

Well, whatever. Remembering wouldn’t change a thing. I was very particular about the people I let around my son. I didn’t have much choice when I left him with Felicity, but he seemed to absolutely love Lexi, and I liked her, too.

Maybe, I could get her to be his nanny for a while, until I could sort something permanent for him. As for her internship at the company, I didn’t need to be a psychic to know things weren’t going well. It would require some negotiation, but I was sure I could manage something for her to get her on board with the idea.

“Oh!” Lexi finally looked up and realized we were once again alone in the spacious office. She stood up, settling Sam on her hip. “Sorry, I didn’t realize she’d left already.”

She hurried over to me, a slight blush on her face when she realized I’d been watching her play with Sam.

“You didn’t give me an answer,” I said before she could try to leave again, pushing off my desk. “Let me know who your supervisor is. I’ll let them know not to expect you for a while and we can go for that coffee.

“Oh, um, but really, sir, there’s not need to do this…”

“Please,” I said simply. “I would like to talk to you, too, if you don’t mind, and I think it’ll be better if we don’t speak at the office.”

She immediately shut her mouth, then tentatively nodded.

I smiled and went to pick up my coat. “Good. Let’s go.”