LITMIR.BIZ

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of this company. Freedom. It had a different meaning these days than when he’d flown crop dusters to make his rent back, in North Dakota.

      “This—” she waved a piece of floral paper in front of him “—is the point.”

      As she passed over the slip of paper, she stepped aside and revealed—holy crap—his kids. He looked down at the letter fast.

      Two lines into the note, his temple throbbed. What the hell was Pippa thinking, leaving the twins this way? How long had they been in here? And why had she left him a damn note, for Pete’s sake?

      He pulled out his cell phone to call his ex. Her voice mail picked up immediately. She was avoiding him, no doubt.

      A text from Pippa popped up in his in-box. He opened the message and it simply read, Want 2 make sure you know. Twins r waiting for you at plane. Sorry 4 short notice. XOXO.

      “What the h—?” He stopped himself short before he cursed in front of his toddlers who were just beginning to form words. He tucked his phone away and faced Alexa Randall. “I’m sorry my ex added babysitter duties to your job today. Of course I’ll pay you extra. Did you happen to notice which way Pippa headed out?”

      Because he had some choice words for her when he found her.

      “Your ex-wife wasn’t here when I arrived.” Alexa held up her own cell phone, her thumb swiping away a print. “I tried to contact your office, but your assistant wouldn’t let me get a word out before shifting me over to Muzak. It’s looped twice while I waited. Much longer and I would have had to call security, which would have brought in child services—”

      He held up a hand, sick to his gut already. “Thanks. I get the picture. I owe you for cleaning up after my ex-wife’s recklessness as well.”

      His blood pressure spiked higher until he saw red. Pippa had left the children unattended in an airplane at his privately owned airport? What had his security people been thinking, letting Pippa just wander around the aircraft that way? These were supposed to be the days of increased precautions and safety measures, and yet they must have assumed because she was his ex-wife that garnered her a free pass around the facility. Not so.

      Heads were going to roll hard and fast over this. No one put the safety of his children at risk.

      No one.

      He crumpled the note in his fist and pitched it aside. Forcing his face to smooth so he wouldn’t scare the babies, he unstrapped the buckle on his daughter’s car seat.

      “Hey there, princess.” He held Olivia up high and thought about how she’d squealed with delight over the baby swing on the sprawling oak in his backyard. “Did you have fruit for lunch?”

      She grinned, and he saw a new front tooth had come in on top. She smelled like peaches and baby shampoo and there weren’t enough hours in the day to take in all the changes happening too quickly.

      He loved his kids more than anything, had since the second he’d seen their fists waving in an ultrasound. He’d been damn lucky Pippa let him be there when they were born, considering she’d already started divorce proceedings at that point. He hated not being with them every day, hated missing even one milestone. But the timing for this visit couldn’t be worse.

      Seth tucked Olivia against his chest and reached to ruffle his son’s hair. “Hey, buddy. Missed you this week.”

      Owen stuck out his tongue and offered up his best raspberry.

      The petite blonde dressed in trim, pressed chinos popped a pacifier into Owen’s mouth then knelt to pick up the crumpled note and pitch it into her cleaning bucket. “I assume today isn’t your scheduled visitation.”

      She would be right on that. Although why the disdain in her voice? Nobody—single parent or not—would appreciate having their kids dumped off in their workplace. Not to mention he was mad as hell at Pippa for just dropping them off unannounced.

      What if someone else had boarded this plane?

      Thank God, this woman—Alexa—had been the one to find them. He knew who she was, but Pippa hadn’t known jack when she’d unloaded his children.

      Of all the reckless, irresponsible …

      Deep breath. He unbuckled Owen as well and scooped him up, too, with an ease he’d learned from walking the floors with them when they were infants. Just as he’d needed calm then, he forced it through his veins now.

      Getting pissed off wouldn’t accomplish anything. He had to figure out what to do with his children when he was scheduled to fly out for a meeting with multimillion dollar possibilities.

      When he’d first moved to South Carolina, he’d been a dumb ass, led by glitz. That’s how he’d ended up married to his ex. He’d grown up with more spartan, farm values that he’d somehow lost in his quest for beaches and billions.

      Now, he itched inside his high-priced starched shirt and longed for the solitude of those flights. But he had long ago learned if he wanted to do business with certain people, he had to dress the part and endure the stuffy business meetings. And he very much wanted to do business with the Medina family based out of Florida. He glanced at his watch and flinched. Damn it. He needed to be in the air already, on his way to St. Augustine. At the moment, he didn’t have time for a sandwich, much less to find a qualified babysitter.

      He would just have to make time. “Could you hold Owen for a second while I make some calls?”

      “Sure, no problem.” Alexa stopped straightening his jacket on the hanger and extended her arms.

      As he passed his son over, Seth’s hand grazed her breast. Her very soft, tempting breast. Just that fast touch pumped pure lust through his overworked body. It was more than just “nice, a female” kind of notice. His body was going on alert, saying “I will make it my mission in life to undress you.”

      She gasped lightly, not in outrage but more like someone who’d been zapped with some static. For him, it was more like a jolt from a light socket.

      Olivia rested her head on his shoulder with a sleepy sigh, bringing him back to reality. He was a father with responsibilities.

      Still, he was a man. Why hadn’t he noticed the power of the pull to this woman when he’d walked onto the plane? Had he grown so accustomed to wealth that he’d stopped noticing “the help”? That notion didn’t sit well with him at all.

      But it also didn’t keep him from looking at Alexa more closely.

      Her pale blond hair was pulled back in a simple silver clasp. Navy chino pants and a light blue shirt—the company uniform—matched her eyes. It also fit her loosely, but not so much that it hid her curves.

      Before the kids, before Pippa, he would have asked Alexa for her number, made plans to take her out on a riverboat dinner cruise where he would kiss her senseless under a starry sky. But these days he didn’t have time for dating. He worked and when he wasn’t on the job he saw his kids.

      With a stab of regret, his gaze raked back over her T-shirt with the A-1 Aircraft Cleaning logo. He’d seen that same emblem in the cover letter she’d sent with her prospectus.

      He also recalled why he hadn’t gotten any further than the cover letter and the fledgling business’s flyer—where he’d seen her headshot.

      Following his eyes, she looked down at her shirt and met his gaze dead-on. “Yes, I have a proposal on your desk.” Alexa cocked one eyebrow. “I assume that’s why you were looking at my shirt?”

      “Of course, why else?” he answered dryly. “You should have received an answer from my secretary.”

      “I did, and when you’re not in a hurry—” she smoothed back her already immaculate hair “—I would appreciate the opportunity to explore your reasons for rejecting my initial bid.”

      “I’ll save us both some time. I’m not interested in the lowest bidder or taking a risk

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