Daddy and Daughters

“Will you marry me?” Welcome to DADDY BOOM! Title Page CHAPTER ONE CHAPTER TWO CHAPTER THREE CHAPTER FOUR CHAPTER FIVE CHAPTER SIX CHAPTER SEVEN CHAPTER EIGHT CHAPTER NINE CHAPTER TEN Copyright

“Will you marry me?”

Pulling free, Cassandra turned and walked briskly back along the path they’d just taken.

“Cassie, wait a minute.” Jared grasped her arm and halted her. “At least discuss it,” he said.

“What’s to discuss? I won’t be a baby-sitter for the rest of my life. All you want is a mother for the girls. A woman doesn’t want to be married unless she’s loved and cherished.”

“Don’t say no tonight, Cassie. Think about it.”

“I don’t need to think about it, I—” Before Cassandra could finish her sentence, Jared covered her mouth with his. It was as if she had been waiting especially for his touch. He forgot the burden of becoming a father, forgot about the demands of the office. The only reality was the petite woman in his arms and the fire her kisses fed.

At last he pulled back and gazed down at her bemused expression. He’d coax her, cajole her and bribe her, if need be. But he wanted her for the mother of his daughters and he’d make sure he got her.

Welcome to DADDY BOOM!

Just look who’s holding the baby now! Following on from our highly popular BABY BOOM series, Harlequin Romance® is proud to introduce a brand-new series, DADDY BOOM, full of babies, bachelors and happy-ever-afters. Meet irresistible heroes who are about to discover that there’s a first time for everything—even fatherhood!

Second in our series is Daddy and Daughters by

Barbara McMahon. We’ll be bringing you one deliciously

cute DADDY BOOM title every other month.

Look out in June for Falling for Jack, by Trisha David.

Who says bachelors and babies don’t mix?

www.millsandboon.co.uk

CHAPTER ONE

JARED HUNTER took a deep breath as the elevator doors slid open. Stepping into the large open office filled with workstations and desks, he looked straight ahead, toward his private office in the far corner. For a moment he wished he had postponed this. His briefcase gripped in one hand, he began the long walk, ignoring the heads that turned his way.

“Sorry about Mrs. Hunter,” Jeb called from his station.

Julie Myers stood as he passed her desk, her features serious and sad. “I’m so sorry, Jared,” she said softly.

He nodded grimly and kept walking. Still dazed by the turn of events, he longed for the sanctity of his office. It was hard to believe MaryEllen was dead. He didn’t realize people died from pneumonia these days. With all the fancy medicines in the world, they couldn’t have stopped the devastation of such an old disease?

“Jared, are you all right?” Helen Walter, his secretary, rose from her desk outside his door and moved toward him. Her eyes brimmed with sympathy.

Jared nodded. “It was a bitch of a trip, but at least I’m home now. How are things here?” He clenched his jaw, feeling the strain. It wouldn’t get easier.

“Morale is down. But with the rapid expansion over the last three years, only the old-timers actually knew MaryEllen. Still, many of the employees have talked to her on the phone, and everyone knew she was the other partner.”

Noticing she’d avoided the obvious, that MaryEllen had also been his wife, Jared wearily pushed open the door and entered his office. Mail was stacked in neat piles on the right side of his desk. A small mound of folders sat on the far left side. Pink phone messages were centered with a long cream-colored envelope across them.

He rounded the desk and dropped his briefcase on the credenza behind his chair. The view of San Francisco Bay sparkling in the afternoon sunshine went unnoticed as he surveyed the work waiting. God, he was tired!

“You just get in?” Helen asked, hovering in the doorway.

“Flight finally landed about an hour ago. I came straight here.”

“Are you really okay? I know you and MaryEllen lived three thousand miles apart these last three years, but she was your wife.”

He glanced at her. “Helen. you know that was a legal technicality.” He paused. “Is the gossip mill humming?”

“No more than usual. Those of us who have been here since the beginning made sure the others knew you and MaryEllen had been married purely to facilitate the start-up of Hunter Associates. I think some of the new employees didn’t realize she was your wife. They never met her. She stayed in New York, you know.”

He nodded. He skimmed the top message, then flicked the envelope. “What’s this?” The rest of his mail had been opened and lay in one of his folders.

“I separated those messages. They’ve been calling every day for the last two weeks. Yesterday we received the registered letter. I tried to explain why we couldn’t reach you in Bangkok. Obviously they weren’t monitoring the news or they would have heard about the typhoon.”

Jared shrugged. He slipped out of his suit jacket, draped it across the back of his chair and slowly sat. “Anyone from here attend the funeral?” he asked.

“No. But most of the New York office went. Bob Mason sent a report. I put it in the folder with the rest of your mail. Don’t blame yourself for not being there, Jared. You would have been there had it been possible. MaryEllen would have understood.”

“Why are these lawyers calling?” Jared didn’t want to discuss the reasons he had not been able to get to New York in time. He’d tried his best, but fate had decreed otherwise. It was over and done with, time to move on. His anger at fate had abated, and a philosophical calm replaced it. If anyone had understood business , problems, it had been MaryEllen. She had thrived on them.

“They didn’t tell me, just insisted they had to reach you. I gave them the Bangkok telephone number, so they could see for themselves why we couldn’t get through. You know lawyers—not very trusting. Why they’d think we were trying to hinder communications, I don’t know.”

“Thanks, Helen.”

“Let me know if you need anything.”

“Right”

She eased the door almost shut as Jared picked up the envelope. He was dead tired. Flying through more than half a dozen time zones did that—especially after two weeks of hell. If he were a superstitious man, he’d be convinced the deal he was working on was jinxed.

The trip had started off wrong, with mechanical difficulties on the outbound airliner forcing an emergency stop on Wake Island. Then there had been the wildly bumpy flight into Bangkok, followed by a customs mixup. Bad weather plagued him from the moment he left the airport. The hotel where he had reservations had burned the night before his arrival, and he’d had to locate new lodgings before the predicted typhoon hit. He’d barely informed his office of the change in location before the high winds and torrential rains of Typhoon Initi let loose.

Severe storms did major damage in the United States, but recovery time was usually rapid. In Bangkok, it seemed interminable. He’d received word of MaryEllen’s death only hours before the full force of the typhoon hit Airplanes had been grounded, communications and electricity cut off. The streets flooded. Accidents abounded. It had been days before a semblance of normal activities could be resumed. Days before he could contact his office to notify them he would return on the first available flight.

Jared tapped the edge of the envelope on the desk, wishing he could quantify his feelings about MaryEllen’s death. He shook his head, feeling vaguely impatient. They had been married for more than six years. Even though their marriage had been primarily a business arrangement she’d been a friend and one-time lover. Maybe fatigue numbed his reactions, dulled his emotions. Shock had been replaced with disbelief. She had been twenty-nine—too young to die. Especially with all she had wanted to accomplish so close to being achieved.

He hadn’t seen her in over a year—and that had been when they’d met in Washington, D.C., with the congressmen from California for the discussion of Pacific Rim trade regulations. But they talked on the phone frequently, kept in touch by e-mail and fax.

Married six years, separated by a continent for the last three of those years, it had not been much of a relationship. Except in business—MaryEllen shone in that arena. It had been her idea to expand into the European market. She’d insisted she be the one to move to New York to set up that office. From the initial discussion to her transfer things had moved like a whirlwind. Once she left San Francisco, she never looked back—never came back, even for a flying visit. And he had not missed her. Now he would, if only in business.

Jared sighed and slit open the envelope. Slowly he began to read.

Stunned, he reread the letter. Unbelievable!

“Helen!” he roared.

He read the words a third time. Was this some kind of joke? How could—“Helen!”

The door opened slightly. Jared looked into the diffident gaze of Cassandra Bowles. His mind occupied with the contents of the letter, it took him a moment to register it wasn’t Helen warily watching him.

“Sorry, Jared, Helen stepped away from her desk. Can I help you?”

“Read this and tell me what it says.” Jared stood and thrust out the letter.

Cassandra entered the office, carrying a thin manila folder in one hand. She had been lurking outside his door on the off chance Jared would have a few minutes in which she could discuss the GlobalNet merger. When she’d heard him call Helen, she’d looked for the secretary. When he’d called again, she felt someone should answer him.

She crossed the expanse of his office and gingerly took the paper. Impatient, Jared ran his fingers through his hair as he studied her. Cassandra dropped her gaze to the typed letter. She had started with Hunter Associates two years ago, immediately after graduating from the MBA program at Berkeley. However, her interaction with the senior partner had been minimal. After all, he was the head of the firm, one of the two partners, and she a mere marketing analyst.

She looked at him, puzzled, unsure why he wanted her to read the letter.

“It seems the attorneys in New York are wondering when you will be coming to get your twin daughters.” Was she supposed to deduce something else from the letter?

“Damn.” Jared sat down, staring at Cassandra. “Twins.”

Uneasily, Cassandra perched on the edge of a chair and gravely studied him. She swallowing visibly, then said, “It, um, almost sounds as if you were unaware of their existence.”

“I had no idea.” How could MaryEllen give birth to his daughters and not tell him?

Cassandra said nothing.

Jared rifled through the pink telephone slips. Each one from the same people—MaryEllen’s attorneys in New York. Slowly he picked up one and punched in the number.

It rang endlessly.

“It’s after five in New York,” Cassandra said softly.

Slipping the receiver on the cradle, Jared nodded. The last thing he expected today was to discover he was a father. Or was he? Why hadn’t MaryEllen told him if he were the father?

“You needed me, boss?” Helen asked from the doorway.

“Are you sure none of these lawyers told you why they were calling?” Jared asked, flicking an impatient finger against the stack of phone messages.

She nodded.

“Read this.” He tossed the letter on the desk.

Helen glanced at Cassandra as she crossed to take the letter. Reading it, her eyes widened with surprise. “Wow, congratulations, Jared. You’re a daddy.”

“You think so?”

She looked puzzled. “It says so.”

“You know that MaryEllen moved east almost three years ago to open the New York office. Unless she was pregnant when she left, those children aren’t mine.”

Helen glanced again at Cassandra. “Maybe you better wait and talk about this later. After you call the attorneys.”

“I tried them, they didn’t answer. It’s late in New York. I’ll call in the morning.”

“Or try one of them at home,” Cassandra offered.

Jared looked at her. “Good idea. See if you can find home numbers for any of the partners,” Jared directed Helen.

When Helen left, Cassandra rose tentatively, holding out the manila folder to Jared. “You probably don’t want to be bothered with this right now, but these are the projections we did for the GlobalNet account. I’m confident they are solid, a bit ambitious but achievable. If anything, we erred on the conservative side.”

Jared took the folder and leaned back in his chair. Petite with glossy black hair, Cassandra represented the epitome of the young executive on the rise. She always wore her dark hair in a conservative French braid, tidy, neat, severe. Dark-framed glasses perched on her nose. Irreverently Jared thought they made her look like an owl, trying unsuccessfully to hide her eyes. Large and dark, fringed with long lashes, they were her best feature. Jared idly let his gaze drift down her neat suit, navy blue with a standard white blouse. The perfect business-woman—all work-oriented with femininity ruthlessly squashed. Just like MaryEllen. Was she as ambitious? As consumed with work?

He took the papers and skimmed the top sheet, but his mind wasn’t on the figures. Twins. He felt stunned. Could it be possible? Had MaryEllen been pregnant when she left San Francisco? If so, why had she kept the news from him? He couldn’t believe it. Yet the attorney’s letter seemed clear on the subject.

“We’re all sorry about Mrs. Hunter’s death,” Cassandra said.

Meeting her eyes, Jared stared at her for a long moment. How was he to answer the sentiment? The employees probably expected a grieving husband. No, Helen had said they understood his marriage. He mourned the loss of a close friend, a strong business associate.

Yet now it looked as if he hadn’t even known MaryEllen. What was the story with the twins?

“Thank you,” he said. What he’d like to do was go home, pour himself a large Scotch and sleep for twelve hours. Instead, he’d wait to see if Helen could reach someone from the New York law office so he could find out what the hell was going on.

“Line one,” Helen’s voice came on the intercom. “Mr. Randall.”

“Jared Hunter here,” he said into the phone, motioning Cassandra to sit down again.

“We’ve been trying to reach you for over a week, Hunter.” The speaker had a definite New York twang.

“I believe my secretary explained where I was. The airport just reopened in Bangkok.”

“You back in the States?”

“As of a couple of hours ago. I arrived at the office and found your letter. What kind of scam is this?” As far as Jared was concerned, it was just that unless proved otherwise.

“No scam, Hunter. Ashley and Brittany Hunter are your daughters, twins. Cute as can be, too.”

“I never heard about them.” He glanced at Cassandra, noticing her downcast eyes, as if she were trying to efface her existence. Discreet.

There was a hesitation on the other end of the line. “I am aware of that. Apparently Mrs. Hunter was concerned that you would insist on someone else being in charge of the New York office if you discovered the truth. She, er, enjoyed the business aspect of things—apparently had no inclination to give it up for full-time motherhood. Not that she wasn’t a fine mother.”

Sounded like lawyer talk—covering all bases, Jared thought. He closed his eyes. MaryEllen had been right. He would have moved heaven and earth to keep her in San Francisco if he’d known she was pregnant. And probably demanded she curtail some of her activities at the office. A mother’s place was with her children.

“How old are they?” Jared asked, a sinking feeling in his gut. Could they truly be his? Had MaryEllen hidden that from him just to make sure she could keep forging ahead in the business world? Given her unrelenting determination, he could easily imagine her doing just that.

“Two. A month or so over, maybe. I have the file at the office. I can look up their birth date in the morning, if you like. Mrs. Hunter made it clear that they were yours and she had not told you of their birth. We thought you would be here for the funeral and the reading of the will. Actually, we haven’t read the will yet. Two-year-olds don’t understand much, and she left everything she had to them, with you as trustee. We can go over all that when you get here.”

“And where are the twins now?” Jared asked, the enormity of the situation gradually sinking in. He was a father. He had two daughters he’d never met who now looked to him for everything. God, he knew nothing about being a parent. He focused on Cassandra, feeling like she was the only solid, real thing in a world suddenly spinning out of control. Her calm demeanor soothed him. Her downcast eyes had him wondering what she was thinking.

“We didn’t want them to go into foster care, so one of the receptionists at the office agreed to watch them. She has children of her own and is good with kids. But this has gone on longer than we anticipated.”

“I’ll see if I can get a red-eye out tonight and be in your office first thing in the morning.” Jared hung up the phone.

“I’ll call the airlines right away,” Helen said from the doorway.

“You heard?” he asked.

“Enough to know you have to get back there. Are the twins yours?”

“Apparently. The age fits. MaryEllen told him they were mine. She left everything to them with me as trustee. Damn! What a mess. I can’t believe she didn’t tell me.”

“Well, I can. Would you have gone along with her opening a branch office if you had known?” Helen asked dryly.

Shaking his head, Jared looked at her. “What do I know about twins? About little kids?” He rubbed his eyes, his gut churning.

“For one thing, you’ll need someone to accompany you,” Cassandra said. She knew a lot about children, more than she wanted. “Toddlers are a handful. An inexperienced person would be hard-pressed to manage one on a plane—much less twins. Those little girls will be upset with all the changes, and probably missing their mother, which could make them even more fretful.”

Both Jared and Helen stared at her.

“I assumed you would be bringing them home with you,” Cassandra said, looking from one to the other.

“If they’re mine, I’ll have no choice.”

Cassandra nodded. Twins. She smiled gently. She remembered the little boys she’d cared for when she’d been sixteen. What imps they’d been. Whether from being twins or being normal rambunctious boys, she never knew. But they sure kept her busy.

“Any other words of wisdom?” Jared asked.

She gave a small shrug. “I’ve been around kids. If you haven’t, you might not know what to expect.”

Jared couldn’t believe it. This epitome of a career-track businesswoman around kids? She wasn’t married, was she? He tried to remember the interview two years ago. He had been more interested in her credentials than her marital status. But he was certain she was single. “When were you around kids, in another life?”

She nodded. A life she had hoped to leave behind once she graduated from college. The past two years had been great, no children demanding attention or to fall for and then have to give up. She had her way to make in the world and relished her position at Hunter Associates. Children didn’t figure in her plans.

“She’s right, Jared. You will need help. You would with even a single child,” Helen said. “I’ll see if I can find someone to go with you. You’ll need to hire a nanny or housekeeper, though it’s quite late to get anyone on such short notice.”

“Do the best you can. And see what kind of nonstop flight you can get to New York tonight.”

Cassandra rose. “Do you want to hear my recommendations on GlobalNet while you’re waiting? I could get started on some of the ideas while you’re in New York, if you approve.”

Business first, last and always, Jared thought tightly. Just like MaryEllen. “Show me what you have.” He spread out the computer printout and began to read.

Forty-five minutes later Jared leaned back. He rubbed his eyes with forefinger and thumb, then stretched to get rid of the kinks in his back. That Scotch sounded better and better.

The work Cassandra had done was solid, just as she’d said. Interestingly, she gave credit to the entire team she headed, but he knew everyone acted under her direction. She was good at her job—he’d suspected she would be when he hired her two years ago, nearly a year after MaryEllen had moved to New York.

“So we go?” she asked, a tremor of excitement in her voice, a hint of anticipation in her eyes.

“We go. Good job.” He believed in giving praise where it was due.

She smiled. Jared felt the jolt to his toes. Her face seemed to glow with the offhand praise. Her eyes sparkled, and for the first time he wondered what she would look like without her glasses. What would she look like with her hair down, swirling softly around her face? What would she look like wearing something frilly and feminine? Before he could pursue the image, Helen stuck her head in.

“Got you two seats on the eleven-thirty flight tonight. But no help as of yet. Every agency I called said they’d look into it. One called back with a possible for next week. Nothing for today. And they’re closing now, so I don’t expect any answers before tomorrow.”

“So what next?” Jared murmured, his eyes closed. He longed for that Scotch more than ever. Maybe he’d have time to get home, shower and have one before he had to leave for the airport. How much work did he absolutely have to get through before leaving? His employees were competent. He could delegate everything until he returned from New York. The looming problem with the twins overshadowed the normal business routine.

“Maybe Cassandra can go with you. She said she knows kids,” Helen suggested.

“What?” Cassandra shook her head, a look of sheer horror on her face. “No way. I swore once I grew up I would never get involved baby-sitting children again. I don’t want to spend even an hour watching other people’s kids!”

Jared and Helen stared at her vehemence. She took a deep breath, knowing she’d overreacted. But she was adamant—she had watched her last child. She was a businesswoman. Hadn’t Jared just praised her work? Given her the go-ahead on the GlobalNet project? She had better things to do than baby-sit the boss’s children.

“You wouldn’t be watching them, precisely,” Helen said placatingly. “Just helping Jared with them on the return flight. He needs your expertise.”

Cassandra shook her head. The old feeling of helplessness began to rise. Why did everyone expect her to be the nurturer? What about her own needs? When would someone look to see what she wanted, needed, to feel complete? To feel valued? She was more than a competent baby-sitter—and had the degrees to prove it.

Jared narrowed his eyes. “Sounds like the best suggestion I’ve heard so far. It’ll just be a short jaunt to New York. We’ll discuss GlobalNet on the flight over. You can give me pointers on watching twins on the flight back. Consider it part of your job.”

“It’s not part of my job.” Cassandra faced him, her hands fisted in her lap. She dare not cross the line with her boss, but she had to stand up for herself. She didn’t want to be thought of as a baby-sitter just because she was a woman.

For a moment Jared was struck by the sparkle in her dark eyes, the challenging tilt of her rounded chin. Slowly he said, “There’s a clause in your job description that includes other tasks as assigned. I need help, doesn’t look like anyone else is available. As of now, consider this as another task assigned.”