Free The Great Baby Caper by Eugenia Riley Page A

look.
“Mark, I just quit.”
    He held up a hand. “Peace,
Courtney. We’ll get to that later.”
    “Mark, there’s nothing to get to—”
    “ Peace ,” he reiterated
firmly. “All right?”
    “Okay,” she conceded grudgingly.
As a tense silence descended, she added, “You know, much as I do resent them at
times, I must say I don’t know what I would have done without my parents. What
I mean is—I’m really sorry you lost yours.”
    “I know you are,” he replied
quietly. “Although British families tend not to be as closely knit as those
typically American ones, I do miss my folks, as I know my sisters do. They
compensated by quickly forming families of their own. In my case, I went from
being a dedicated student to becoming a diehard workaholic.”
    “Ah, so you have a fault after
all,” she teased.
    “And it seems we have something in
common.”
    She lifted her drink. “Touché.
I’ll admit that I’m quite dedicated to my career—or I was.”
    “You will be again,” he responded
smoothly. “In fact, your devotion to work is one aspect that attracted me to
you.”
    Pleasantly surprised, Courtney asked,
“Really? Why?”
    “Well, with all my various
enterprises and responsibilities, I may never have a great deal of time for a
family. Most women I’ve dated have not been particularly understanding there.”
    “Ah. So you’re seeking that
perfect corporate wife?”
    His mouth quirked devilishly.
“What makes you think I want to marry?”
    She rolled her eyes. “Remember the
scavenger hunt earlier this evening?”
    He chuckled. “Again, Courtney, the
instant marriage part was strictly my grandfather’s idea.”
    “Right. Strictly . Then
you’re just the debonair Englishman playing the field. You’ve no plans to
marry, ever?”
    From the way Mark suddenly shifted
in his chair, he was definitely squirming. “I didn’t say that. I would hope
that even with us, perhaps eventually there might be . . . well,
possibilities.”
    She couldn’t resist a smile; he
could be the artful dodger when he wanted to. “Yes, the prospect does come up
eventually in most people’s lives.”
    He met her eye. “Actually,
whomever I marry, she will have to be—well, very understanding of my
unconventional lifestyle.”
    “Unconventional?” She leaned
closer. “Do you have girlfriends in every port, Mark, or are there aspects to
your lifestyle—you know, weird, kinky stuff—that you’re keeping in the closet?”
    He leveled a mock-scolding look on
her. “I don’t have girlfriends in every port, nor any skeletons in my closet.
But I am apt to dash off on long business trips at a moment’s notice, a reality
that most wives doubtless will not tolerate well.”
    “Unless you had someone who was as
busy as you are,” she muttered, thinking aloud.
    “Precisely.”
    “Like a female clone of yourself?”
    He shuddered. “How unromantically
you put that, my dear.”
    “I’m just being logical, like you.
We do seem to think alike in some ways.”
    “We do.” He cleared his throat.
“So tell me, does marriage fit into your life plan?”
    She slowly shook her head. “Not
really. I’ve pretty much decided the domestic scene isn’t for me.”
    She was thrilled to see a look of
disappointment wash over his handsome features. “It isn’t? May I ask why?”
    “Oh, mostly observing my three
older sisters. They all have young children, and almost all of the housekeeping
and child care responsibilities fall on them. Don’t get me wrong—I adore my
nieces and nephews. But I don’t want my life to be a series of trips to the
grocery and dry cleaner’s, not to mention the soccer field and the
pediatrician. Two of my three sisters are doing all that plus holding down
part-time jobs.”
    He whistled. “Haven’t your
siblings ever heard of nannies or housemaids?”
    “Mark, I don’t hail from a wealthy
family. Although I’m doing well, my sisters and their husbands have had to
struggle