Mom for the CEO's Daughter Read Free

and wearing jeans and a plain white blouse—not to mention her black frame glasses—she didn’t look a thing like the carefree woman who’d played in the sand with his daughter that afternoon. She was once again his assistant.
    Thank God.
    â€œBurgers are ready. While you were upstairs I also cleaned some veggies for the grill.”
    â€œSorry. I shouldn’t have gone to change without asking if you wanted more help with dinner.” She pushed her glasses up her nose.
    Attraction thrummed through him, along with the unexpected urge to remove those glasses and kiss her senseless. Angry with himself, he quickly glanced away. “I’m perfectly capable of making supper myself.”
    He set the burgers on the table and Kara immediately put one on a bun for Stacy. “Ketchup?”
    The little girl nodded eagerly.
    Kara slathered the burger with ketchup and set it on Stacy’s plate.
    Gabe’s eyes narrowed. This was part of the reason he was suddenly having strange feelings for his assistant. His ex, Zoe, had casually dumped Stacy on him that morning, but Kara seemed to love having her around. That was why he kept noticing her kindnesses. Unlike his ex-wife, when Kara did something nice, it was genuine. He appreciated her being sweet to his little girl. And the bikini explained why he’d let those stirrings of appreciation shift into physical attraction.
    Now that he understood that, he simply had to figure out how to get their relationship to normal ground again.
    While they ate, Stacy and Kara kept up a steady stream of chatter about the sandcastle they’d made. After dinner, Kara volunteered to clean up, so he brought Stacy’s electronic tablet onto the deck and he and Stacy sat in the evening breeze, listening to the ocean as they played one of her video games.
    â€œHey, neighbors!”
    â€œHey!” Gabe rose and happily greeted Wyatt McKenzie, his new wife Missy and Missy’s triplets, Lainie, Owen and Claire, as they climbed the stairs.
    When they were all on the deck, he stooped down in front of the triplets. “I was hoping you’d be here this week.”
    Owen said, “We’re here for Mother’s Day.”
    â€œIt’s a treat for Mum,” dark-haired Lainie agreed.
    As Stacy ran over to see the triplets, Kara stepped onto the deck. “I thought I heard voices. I’m Kara, Gabe’s assistant.” Her eyes widened as she saw the triplets. “You guys are adorable!” She caught Missy’s gaze. “Triplets?”
    â€œYes.”
    Stacy grabbed Claire’s hand. “Come play with me.”
    But Missy held her daughter back. “We have to get home again. We were just walking on the beach when we noticed you were on your deck. We stopped to ask if you could play on the beach with us tomorrow.”
    Stacy turned hopeful eyes to her dad.
    He laughed. “That sounds great.”
    The McKenzies left and Stacy yawned. He lifted her into his arms. “Let’s get you to bed.”
    Twenty minutes later, with Stacy tucked in for the night, he walked downstairs on his way to his own room. But he noticed the deck door was open. Walking over to shut it, he saw Kara standing by the railing, staring out at the ocean.
    She wore a tiny tank top and sweatpants. But rather than the pants being baggy, the low waistband clung to her hips, exposing the top of her round bottom. He swallowed just as she faced him.
    â€œWhat’s up?”
    Heat suffused him. “I was going to close the door but I saw you standing there.”
    She faced the ocean again. “It’s a beautiful night.”
    Her hair was down again. It swayed in the ocean breeze.
    â€œCome on. Stand with me a minute, Gabe.”
    He cautiously walked to the railing.
    â€œBeing here, on the ocean…it’s like a dream for me.”
    He tried to view the scene through her eyes, but he’d been here so often he failed. Nights at the