Page 56 of The Boss's Baby Affair

And best of all, not only would he get to keep Jennie… Candace would never be able to leave.

“It’s the best solution for Jennie,” said Nick.

The best solution for Jennie? If she married him, Candace knew she would get hurt. Marrying a man she was falling in love with, living with him day by day, but never loved by him in return…

It sounded like hell on earth.

In her shock she couldn’t think of anything logical to say, so she stated the obvious. “I’m not the kind of woman a man like you marries.”

“What is the kind of woman a man like me marries?” One dark eyebrow arched up. “Someone like Jilly?”

Help.

“She’d be better suited to be your wife than me.”

“I have to disagree.” One of his hands let hers go and he cupped her face, his thumb stroking her jawline. “I don’t think anyone would make a better mother for Jennie than you would.”

Her insides melted.

“You might even already be pregnant with a sister or brother to Jennie. I didn’t use protection the other night—or are you on the pill?”

Unfair.

“No, I’m not. But it’s highly unlikely…I’ve already worked it out. So don’t feel you have to marry me for that reason.”

“I don’t have to do anything. But marrying me will be the best thing to do.”

Why was he suggesting this? Nick had spent seven years in a loveless union    . Last time he’d been trapped into it. This time he was volunteering it of his own accord. What was he thinking by proposing such an arrangement?

The answer came to her at once.

He was doing it for Jennie.

Nick was prepared to sacrifice himself. Out of his love for his daughter.

For Jennie.

Candace glanced down at the baby playing obliviously with blocks…and her heart ached. Tears pricked at the back of her throat. She’d come here to work as Jennie’s nanny because she’d been convinced that Nick was neglecting her baby. She’d known he didn’t love Jennie with the same depth of emotion that she did. She’d been ready to take Jennie away.

Now he’d just proved conclusively how much he loved their daughter.

Drawing a deep shaky breath, Candace returned her attention to the man who had turned all her assumptions about him upside down. “But what about you?” It was a cry from her heart. She didn’t want him to give up so much for his daughter. “It’s certainly not the best solution for you—you’ll be trapped in a marriage you don’t want all over again.”

“This time it will be different.”

Her heart leaped. Was it possible that he was starting to feel the same way about her as she felt about him?

Candace was almost afraid to ask. Her heart was beating so hard she was sure he must hear it, sitting so close to her. “How will it be different?”

She tensed, wired, every nerve ending expectant as she waited for his answer.

One finger trailed down her cheek, leaving a trail of fire in its wake. “This time I will have a lover.”

So he hadn’t said he loved her. But lover was good, wasn’t it? Candace wavered. No, she decided, she wanted more; she needed him to tell her he loved her. Choosing her words carefully, she asked, “But how will this be different? Jilly was your lover, too.”

The teasing finger stilled. “I never made love to Jilly.”

Was he saying that he’d only had sex with his dead wife, that he’d never loved her? Did that mean he loved her, Candace?

“I know you didn’t love her.”

“I didn’t love her, nor did I make love to her.”

“What do you mean…?” Voice trailing away, she waited. Was Nick saying something else altogether…something she could hardly believe was true?

“You’ve seen my bedroom. It was mine alone. Jilly had her own suite, her own bed. I never shared it. We never slept together.” His mouth compressed at her incredulous look. “There was no sex. Not for seven long years.”

“You once told me there were no other women—” Candace broke off unable to finish.

“That’s right.”

My God.

No wonder he’d been so…desperate. Now he was telling her that he expected their marriage to have sex. Yet he’d never said he loved her.

Stupid! He wasn’t marrying her because he loved her. He was marrying her to gain Jennie a set of biological parents—a set of parents who loved their daughter and would make it clear to any court.

Nick was making the same mistake of going into a loveless marriage with the best intentions for the wrong reasons all over again. Except this time, instead of saving Bertha and Henry, he was trying to save Jennie. And this time sex would be part of the deal.

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