Kathie DeNosky - Suddenly a Daddy

But thankfully with the Southern Oaks Cup Classic only two weeks away and all of the activities that preceded it, they were both going to become very busy in a very short time. If she could just hold out a few more days, everything should be fine.

She was going to have to attend to Dancer seven days a week and make sure that he was ready to run the race of his life. And as the owner of the favorite to win the Cup, Jake would be away at the almost non-stop receptions and balls that were held to celebrate the annual event.

With her going to bed early in order to oversee the thoroughbred’s dawn exercises and Jake sleeping in after being out late with Louisville’s social elite, their paths probably wouldn’t cross more than a handful of times. And the few times they did, it would most likely be in a public setting for pictures and publicity for the race.

Then, by the time the festivities came to a close, Jake would no doubt be bored with the comparatively slower pace of Hickory Hills and more than ready to head back to his exciting life in Los Angeles. She and Mandy would move back into the carriage house and once again settle into their comfortable, familiar routine.

* * *

As Jake sat in the study thumbing through a pile of invitations to teas, receptions and balls being held in honor of the big race, he frowned. How the hell was he supposed to work things out and reconnect with Heather when he was going to have to attend a string of social events?

But staring at the elaborate print on one of the invitations, a slow smile curved the corners of his mouth. The words “and guest” had him rising from his chair.

“Clara, could you watch Mandy for a few minutes while I walk down to the stables to talk to Heather?” he asked when he entered the kitchen.

“No problem.” She smiled when he handed her the baby monitor. “How long has our little angel been down for her nap?”

“About a half hour.” He checked his watch. “I’m not sure how long she sleeps, but I’ll only be a few minutes.”

“Take your time.” Clara grinned as she motioned toward Daily seated at the kitchen table peeling a pile of potatoes. “We won’t be going anywhere for at least the next two weeks.”

“I keep telling you, Grandma. When somebody’s grounded, it doesn’t mean they have to do stuff like this,” the boy complained. “It means they just can’t go anywhere.”

Jake hid a smile as he left the mansion and walking past the pool, started down the path toward the stables. Since his grandmother learned about his plan for a late night rendezvous, Daily had mucked out stalls, mopped floors, polished silver and performed any other menial task she could think to assign him.

In a few days, the kid would get a bit of a reprieve from doing household chores. Jake had already talked to Clara about having Daily help him with a few projects to improve the place. The housekeeper had readily agreed and expressed her gratitude for Jake’s influence with the boy. It seemed that Daily was having a hard time adjusting to his mother remarrying after the death of his father and she’d sent him to Hickory Hills in an effort to keep him out of trouble.

Shaking his head, Jake couldn’t help but wonder what his friends in L.A. would think of that one. With his reputation for partying and entertaining a different woman every night, he was the last person most people would want influencing their teenage boy. But since his arrival at Hickory Hills, Jake had found that he was enjoying the slower, laid-back pace and had started thinking less and less about getting back to the hectic schedule he’d kept for the past several years.

Maybe it had something to do with finding out he’d fathered a child. Or it could be that it was just so vastly different from his usual lifestyle the novelty hadn’t worn off yet.

He frowned. So why didn’t going back to L.A. sound all that appealing?

As he entered the stable, another thought occurred to him, but he dismissed it. He refused to believe that he might finally be ready to settle down. That was just ludicrous. Of course, he wanted to return to his condo and highly successful law practice. He’d be a fool not to want that.

Greeting Tony and another groom as they attended to one of the thoroughbreds, Jake relegated his self-analysis to the back of his mind. It was amusing to think that he owned over two dozen of the finest animals in the country and he’d never been on the back of a horse in his entire life.

“What’s up?” Heather asked when he walked into her office. “Is everything all right?”

Jake nodded. “Mandy is taking a nap and Clara is making Daily rue the day he even thought about sneaking out to see his girlfriend by making him peel potatoes for dinner.”

Heather’s smile sent a shockwave of heat straight to the pit of his belly. “Poor Daily. I doubt that he’ll be eager to try that again.”

Jake barely managed to suppress his frustrated groan. He seriously doubted she realized just how pretty she looked with soft curls escaping her ponytail and her creamy cheeks flushed from the early summer heat.

But it was her coral lips that fascinated the hell out of him. Since kissing her outside of Mandy’s room two days ago, all he’d been able to think about was doing it again and a whole lot more. And it was the “whole lot more” that was about to drive him over the edge.

“Jake, did you hear what I asked?”

“Uh…sorry.” Lost in his own misery, he hadn’t realized that she’d been talking to him. “What was that again?”

“I asked if you needed something,” she said patiently.

Oh, yeah, he needed something all right. But she didn’t want to hear what that was.

“As a matter of fact, there is something I need your help with.” That was an understatement, he thought sardonically. Forcing himself to focus, he sat down in the chair in front of her desk. “I have a million receptions and a couple of balls over the next two weeks.”

She nodded. “That’s part of the Southern Oaks Cup celebration and as Dancer’s owner, you’re expected to make an appearance.”

“From the number of invitations I’ve received, I’m beginning to realize just what a big deal this is,” he said, choosing his words carefully. Over the course of the past several years, he’d gotten into the habit of attending parties without a date. Now, he couldn’t believe how out of practice he had become at asking a woman out. “And I’d really like for you to go with me.”

He watched her open and close her mouth several times before she found her voice. “You can’t be serious.”

He smiled. “I’m very serious. I wouldn’t have asked you to be my date if I weren’t.”

“I…um, appreciate it, but I can’t,” she said, her eyes still wide with disbelief.

That wasn’t the answer he wanted to hear. “Why not?”

“I’m going to be far too busy overseeing Dancer and preparing for the race to be able to attend.” Her smile looked suspiciously relieved when she added, “I’m sorry, but you’ll have to go without me.”

It was perfectly clear to him why she was turning him down. The more time they spent together, the bigger the possibility she could no longer deny the pull between them. And that was the very reason he was going to insist that she go with him.

“But you would attend the various functions with me if not for your job, right?”

“Well… I…uh…since I’m not about to quit, it’s not an issue,” she hedged.

He knew he had her and if the look on her pretty face was any indication, she knew it, too.

Rising from the chair, he walked over and called for Tony to come to the office. When the man walked to the door, Jake smiled. “From now until the race is over, you’re in charge of the stables. I want Heather free to concentrate on overseeing Dancer’s training, preparations for the race and attending social functions.”