Daddy's Double Duty Read Free Page A

babies! There’s nothing I want more.” She didn’t tell him that during her short marriage she’d wanted children, but her husband had insisted he loved her too much to want to share her with a child. Now Vanessa very nearly gagged when she thought of how phony those words had been. Jeff hadn’t loved her. He’d only loved himself. But Conall didn’t want to hear about the personal mistakes she’dmade. Besides, they were far too humiliating to share with a man like him.
    â€œI’ve always wanted children. And I want Hope’s twins to be loved. I’m positive that I can give them that love and raise them as if I gave birth to them myself. But I’m not sure how I can handle all the changes I need to make right now. I have very little time and—”
    â€œWhoa! Slow down, Vanessa. Let’s take one thing at a time,” he said. “What do you need to do first?”
    Behind her, the phone began to ring again, but the subtle change in his expression was telling her to, once again, forget the telephone.
    Turning her palms upward, she tried to breathe normally and assure herself that this man’s sexual aura wasn’t going to suffocate her. “I suppose the first thing is to go to Vegas and collect the babies. They’ve already been released from the hospital and placed in temporary care at a Catholic orphanage.”
    With a dour frown, he turned away from her and began to pace back and forth in front of her desk. Momentarily relieved by the space between them, Vanessa drew in a much-needed breath.
    â€œI’m sure they’re being well cared for,” he said suddenly. “But I’m certain you’ll feel better once we fetch the children back here as soon as possible.”
    We? Where had that come from? This was her problem. Not his. But that wasn’t entirely true, she reminded herself. Conall was depending on her to keep his office running smoothly. Bringing two infants all the way from Vegas and getting them settled was going to chop into her work time. Naturally, this whole thing was going to affect him, too, she thought sickly. And what was that going to do to her job? A job that she’d quickly come to love, and now, more than ever, desperately needed.
    â€œI’m sorry, Conall. I suppose I’ll have to ask for time off while I make arrangements to fly out and collect the twins. If you feel you need to let me go permanently,” she added ruefully, “then I’ll understand.”
    Stopping in his tracks, he scowled at her. “Let you go? What the hell, Vanessa? Do you think Donovans fire our employees whenever they need help?”
    Seeing she’d offended him, she drew in a deep breath and blew it out. “I didn’t mean it like that. You obviously have tons of work to deal with. You can’t do it alone and you put your trust in me to be here every day. I can’t expect you to suffer just because I have a problem.”
    He waved a dismissive hand through the air. “This isn’t like you’re asking for time off to go on a shopping binge or some other frivolous excursion,” he barked, then resumed pacing. “I’ll deal with the problems here in the office. Mother will step in your place for the time being. As for me, I suppose I could ask Dad to deal with my most pressing obligations. He doesn’t know anything about the mining business. But he can always call me with questions,” he went on, more to himself than to her. “I’ll discuss this with my parents tonight. In the meantime, you get on the phone and buy plane tickets for tomorrow. You can be ready by then, can’t you?”
    Vanessa was accustomed to his rapid-fire orders. Some days he rattled them off as though she were a tape recorder. But this afternoon, she’d been knocked off-kilter and the sudden personal attention Conall was giving her wasn’t helping her brain snap into action. She