Billionaire's Baby Surprise, Part Three Read Free

restoring her appearance to some semblance of passable, horrified by what she had allowed to slip through her lips in an unguarded moment.
    Jake frowned. “What do you mean?”
    She shook her head. “Nothing.”
    His frown deepened, making his forehead furrow. “No, you meant something.”
    Biting her lip, she decided to proceed carefully. “She doesn’t like me, Jake.”
    He waved a hand. “She barely knows you, Sondra. That will come in time.”
    Poor deluded dear. “Perhaps.”
    “You don’t sound confident.”
    She shrugged a shoulder. “She doesn’t approve of me, Jake.”
    “Are you saying she’s racist?” He seemed shocked by the idea.
    Diplomacy warred with honesty and finally won. “No, not at all. I don’t know her well enough to make that assessment.” Shrugging again, she added, “I’m sure it’s just me personally she doesn’t like, not all black women.”
    The conversation had clearly annoyed him, and it bled through his tone. “My mother likes you just fine. I think you’re letting your own insecurities color your perceptions.”
    She froze. “My what?”
    He picked up a pen, twirling it between his fingers in an absent fashion. “I can tell you’re uncomfortable around my people sometimes, Sondra. That’s all I meant.”
    “Your people? Oh, do you mean the upstairs people? Yes, I suppose I do find it intimidating, and I should have stayed downstairs with the rest of the help.” Sondra turned to the stack of papers on his desk. “Let me sort these and get caught up on the particulars for a few moments, and then we’ll get to work.”
    “Sondra, I didn’t mean that at all.”
    She stared at him, wanting to tear into him, but also seeing the sincerity in his expression. “Yeah, I know you didn’t, but it’s still true. Your people aren’t my people, and your mother is very aware of that.”
    He shook his head. “You’re judging her unfairly.”
    It took every ounce of self-control not to tell Jake exactly why she had arrived at her deductions. His mother was clearly his blind spot and pressing the issue would only lead to more conflict between them without resolving anything. “Maybe so. I’ll work on that.” Before he could reply, she hefted the stack of papers and escaped to the outer room of the office, closing his door softly behind her.
    She dropped the papers on the desk she had used before realizing all the pertinent information would be at Eleanor’s desk. Former desk? Ex-desk? Eh, what did it matter? The other woman was gone, which brought a cheerful smile to her face when sat at that desk to sort through the paperwork.
    Sondra let all thoughts of his mother fade to the back of her mind. A small voice whispered in her head that ignoring the problem wouldn’t make it go away, but she was able to disregard that by turning up the music and humming along.
     

Chapter Two
    Things had been a little tense with Jake the rest of the day, and Sondra had made no effort to follow him to his apartment or invite him to hers. Neither had suggested dinner or any other activity, and they had parted with cool goodbyes when the elevator opened on her floor.
    She woke with a headache and burning eyes from the tears she had fought to suppress since yesterday’s squabble. It made her miserable to be at odds with him, but she didn’t know how to solve it. Sondra couldn’t imagine having to tiptoe around the subject of his mother forever, but facing it head on might make their fragile union dissolve.
    Meaning she was better off without the relationship if it couldn’t withstand a dose of honesty about his mother. Cool logic told her that, but her heart protested the idea of being without Jake. With a sigh, she got out of bed and decided she would worry about all of it later.
    At least he hadn’t requested her back in the office today. She had introduced him to Linda yesterday afternoon, and the woman had slipped into Eleanor’s role with ease. It was for the best, because she