Page 39 of Billionaire Accidental Daddy

I wince.

“What did he want?” Cole asks, voice eerily calm.

“Long story. But the gist is, in order to keep up our cover as an engaged couple, we need to go to Texas.”

“Why?”

“Because that’s where my parents live. And your dad sort of told them about us.”

Cole swears. Then he closes his eyes briefly and growls out, “Come over here.”

I edge toward him reluctantly, unsure if he’s more angry at his dad or me.

“For God’s sake, closer,” he orders. “I’m not going to bite.”

Then why do you want me standing so close?I think, but I do as he says.

Cole half sits on his desk, so he’s a bit shorter than me. He takes my injured hand. Then he pulls out a clean baby wipe from the pile of junk he dumped on his desk and starts gently wiping the blood away.

Once he’s cleaned my cut, he squirts a bit of antiseptic ointment on it, and then produces a band-aid. The band-aid is covered in hot pink dinosaurs.

Right, I remember.He’s a dad.

His big hands are gentle and capable as he covers the cut with the band-aid.

“Need a kiss to make it better?” he jokes, his voice raspy.

My stomach flips.

His eyes take in whatever emotions are flashing across my face. “I’m teasing, Amelia,” he clarifies.

Damn you resting sex voice, I think.

I pull my hand away. Step back. “I know.”

“So.” He straightens to his full height. “We did dinner with my dad last weekend. Now we’re doing a weekend with yours. And in a few weeks, we’ll have a gala with my mom.”

“You’re taking this awfully calmly,” I say.

He shrugs. “I have access to a private jet. We can easily go to Texas and back on Saturday.”

“I said we weren’t using the private jet because of global warming.”

“What?” Cole demands. “You want me to flycommercial?”

“Think of it as doing something nice for Kiera’s future,” I say. “Also, that kind of means we need to stay for the whole weekend.” Then I duck out of his office as quickly as I can and close the door behind me.

His assistant Lucinda looks up from her computer. “Nice band-aid,” she says dryly.

I think of Cole’s gentle care and fight back a blush. “I...uh...got it from Cole.”

“I know,” Lucinda says. “He never kept a first aid kit before Kiera was born. But now he’s got people he wants to take care of.”

She gives me a speculative look.

I realize that if there’s anyone who’s going to figure out this thing between me and Cole is a lie, it’s Lucinda. She probably knows more about his life than anyone else. She knows how badly Cole wants to win that board vote. And she knows that the messages she passed back and forth between Cole and I looked less like love notes and more like work.

I wait for Lucinda to start asking me questions, like everyone else has. It won’t take her long to poke holes in my story.

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