Curvy Fake Wife for the Player

5. Alex

Chapter 5

Alex

J ack’s brown eyes held mine for a long, silent moment. With his elbows resting on his desk and his hands steepled together, he watched me until the silence became uncomfortable. Maddeningly uncomfortable.

“What the hell did you do?”

My brows knitted into a scowl. “Why do you assume I did anything?”

“Oh please,” Jack scoffed. “You show up at my office willingly and without an appointment? You did something and you think showing up here will soften the blow. So, hit me with it.”

Sometimes I hated that he knew me so well, and worse that I knew him too. I’d known Jack well enough to know that he wasn’t going to react well, which yeah, was exactly why I’d shown up unannounced.

“I have a baby.” The words kind of tumbled out of my mouth because I just needed to get them out before I said anything else.

“Explain.”

I nodded as I inhaled deeply and let it out slowly, repeating the move five times until I knew I could tell him everything I knew without stopping. “I can do the math to narrow down who the mother could be, and I’d like to do that, but my first priority is a DNA test.”

“The first intelligent thing you’ve said.” Jack scribbled on the ever-present legal pad in front of him. “You’ll need someone to care for the child when training starts.”

I flashed a proud smile, finally relaxed enough to drop down in the black leather chair directly across from Jack. “Already did that.”

“You did? She needs to be a professional, not some woman trying to become Mrs. Witter, Alex.”

“No shit. Give me a little bit of credit. I went to the service Dante used and I have a nanny. Her name is Sasha, and the best part? She has no fucking clue who I am.” I recounted her disbelief at the fact that there was a hockey team in Texas. “It was a small blow to my ego but the relief overrode it.”

“That’s good. I’ll have NDAs drawn up for the nanny and the woman who runs the business. In the meantime, you need to keep the child under wraps. Don’t take her out with you in public, and for the love of money, do not let anyone get a picture of you and the child together.”

“Dixie,” I grunted protectively. “Her name is Dixie. Not the child .” Why I suddenly felt so protective, I couldn’t say, but Jack’s attitude rubbed me the wrong way. “And she’s a baby, she needs fresh air and sunlight.”

Jack barked out a laugh, his expression was a mixture of annoyance and disbelief. “She’s a baby, Alex, not a fucking house plant. If she needs fresh air and sun, take her on the roof.” He rolled his eyes as if that was a reasonable solution.

“I’ll make sure Sasha takes her out alone so we’re not photographed together,” I promised him in the spirit of compromise. “I need a discreet and fast DNA test, and then I want someone to find where the mother is without contacting her.” I produced the birth certificate and handed it to Jack, watching as his eyes bounced over all the pertinent details.

“You don’t need to do the math, Alex. Her name is right here on the birth certificate.”

“Duh,” I acknowledged. “But unless you can read through permanent marker, we still don’t have an answer.” I shook my head. “There’s just one name visible and I don’t recall any woman named Julie. “It’s always Tatiana or Veronica, Selena or Veronika. Something exotic, not normal.”

Jack stared at me with his mouth wide open. “You sound like an asshole, you know that right?”

I shrugged. “I’m being honest. There hasn’t been a Julie or a Marie.”

My agent leaned forward, gaze narrowed on mine. “No Julia or Maria,” he asked with different accents.

“No.” I spent much of the ride to Jack’s downtown offices trying to piece together who I’d been with fifteen months ago. “That was a long time ago and there have been a lot of women since.” Not my best argument, but it was all I had. The truth.

“I’ll get an investigator on it, don’t worry. What I need you to worry about Alex, is keeping the existence of the child under wraps at least until we have the paternity results.” He noticed my reaction and held up his hands in a defensive gesture. “We need to be certain she’s yours before we figure out our next move, unless you don’t mind walking away from millions of dollars?”

“You know damn well I don’t.”

“Then listen to me for once in your life.”

“You haven’t steered me wrong yet. Except for that underwear ad.” I smiled and Jack barked out a laugh.

“That ad made you a household name and it’s why we’re both so wealthy today.”

Yeah, I couldn’t deny that, but it wasn’t exactly discreet, being on twenty foot tall billboards in nothing but my underwear. “All right, then. I need to get back to the penthouse.”

“Go,” he said and shooed me out of his office. “And keep your dick away from the nanny.”

I laughed off his words, but as the elevator took me down to the underground parking, I thought about the nanny. Sasha. She was a beautiful woman with her thick black hair that hung down her back in soft waves and big blue eyes that always appeared to be laughing. Don’t even get me started on those killer curves. She was more than a foot shorter than my six-foot-six-inch frame, and she wore those curves like a fucking badge of honor, not hiding behind loose fitting clothes like too many curvy women did.

She’s off-limits, I reminded myself as I entered the penthouse, noting immediately that it was too quiet. Dixie was a baby chatterbox, unless she was eating or sleeping, she cooed and babbled nonstop, but now there was nothing. With a frown, I went through the penthouse.

“Sasha? Dixie?” I couldn’t find them anywhere and panic settled in, where in the hell were they?

The door that led to the roof hung open just a few inches and I yanked it all the way open and took the stairs two at a time. A soft, melodic sound met my ears before I made it to the roof and I stopped at the top at the sight of Sasha with Dixie in her arms, head resting on her shoulders as she walked around the rooftop singing softly to her.

Sasha spotted me and flashed a sweet smile. “Everything okay, Alex?”

“I’m not sure,” I admitted easily, maybe too easily, as I drew closer to woman and child. “Everything is in the works, which I guess means it’s on its way to being okay.”

“Every solution starts with a plan so you’re on your way.” Her blue eyes studied me for a minute and I wondered what she saw. She didn’t know who I was, so what she thought of me was anybody’s guess. “I picked out rooms for me and Dixie. The adjoining suites at the other end of the hall so I can get to her easily at night without disturbing you, or when you’re around. I assume hockey has away games?”

I laughed at her question. “Yeah, about half the season is away, which is something else I need to think about. For now, we have baby supplies to worry about. You said something about a changing table?”

She nodded and reached into her back pocket for her phone, pressing her cheek to the top of Dixie’s head in an unconscious gesture of affection. “I made you a list.” She swiped the screen and handed me the phone. “I know it’s going to cost a lot and we can do some comparison shopping for much of it, but it is all necessary. I promise.”

I smiled again. She mistook my shocked silence as an objection to the potential price tag. “It’s not the cost. It just seems like a lot of stuff for such a little thing.”

Unlike her sweet voice, her laugh was throaty and low, and perfectly matched her curves. “Babies need a lot of stuff.”

This list was as large as the one the decorator had given me to furnish this whole damn penthouse, but what did I know about babies? “We can get a lot of this online, can’t we?”

“We can,” she agreed. “But even if it all arrives tomorrow morning, there are necessities like diapers and formula that we’ll run out of before then.”

Indecision weighed heavily on my chest and I knew I would have to be straight with Sasha about my situation.

“Look, I can pop out and grab a few things to get us through the night.” Her lips pulled into a phoney smile at my obvious relief at her offer. “But you should probably give me cash.”

I froze at her words, wondering if I could trust this woman.

Sasha let out a sigh of frustration as she rested one hand on Dixie’s back. “I Googled you while you were gone and I’m guessing that a strange woman buying baby items with your credit card might end up splashed on the headlines tomorrow.”

“Yeah,” I agreed easily, already imagining what Jack would have to say about that. But another, more pressing thought occurred to me. What if Sasha didn’t return with what I needed? What if she took the money and ran, and then sold the story to the tabloids? I couldn’t risk that.

“Alex,” she growled but managed to keep her voice low so as not to wake Dixie. “You hired me. You asked for me specifically, and I’m trustworthy. If you can’t trust me with a few thousand dollars then you shouldn’t trust me with your kid.”

She was right, of course. Then again, wouldn’t a scam artist have all the answers to get me to trust her?

Another sigh of frustration escaped from Sasha as she plucked her phone from my hands. “Fine. I’ll send you the list and you can go get the items yourself. Just give me your phone number, or is that too personal as well?” Without waiting for an answer, she started towards the door. “I’ll write the list on a piece of paper and you can get what you think she needs until tomorrow.”

I hurried behind Sasha, willing my gaze to stay off the small dip of her waist before her swaying hips came into view, and her round ass.

Stop it, Alex. Stop that shit right now.

“Sasha,” I called after her but she was on a roll and when I found her inside the penthouse she had Dixie settled into her carrier and was bent over a sheet of paper, writing faster than I’d ever seen anyone write. “Sasha, stop.”

The stubborn woman didn’t stop, though. She continued to scribble on the paper until she was done, at which point she pressed the paper against my chest. “There. Happy shopping.” She flashed a wide grin that was sassy and just a small bit devious.

“You’re going to be a handful, aren’t you?”

“Me?” She put a hand to her chest and did her best to look innocent. “I’m just trying to help, Alex.”

I shook my head and reached in my pocket for my wallet. “Okay, you win Sasha,” I told her as I fished a few hundred dollar bills from the wallet. “This should be enough to get us started. Get whatever you can and we’ll shop for the rest together online. Deal?”

She stared wide-eyed at the stack of cash on the counter. “That seems like too much.”

I frowned. “You said a few thousand.”

“It’s called hyperbole,” she shot back, her gaze darted between me and the cash.

“I don’t know how much a changing table costs. Or even diapers. Take it and get everything you can with it.” Another thought occurred to me. “Do you have a car?”

“Yes.”

“Okay. That’s good. Get what’ll fit in your car and Barry will help you when you return.” I slid my phone across the counter. “We need to be able to contact each other.”

Her shoulders relaxed. “If you’re sure?”

“I am. This is all new to me so this probably won’t be the last time I piss you off.” I flashed what I hoped was a charming smile.

“Duly noted,” she replied with the barest hint of a smile. “As long as you know that pretty smile won’t stop me from calling you out when it’s necessary.”

My smile grew brighter at her words. “I expect nothing less.”

She gave a sharp nod and scanned the room until she found her purse, shoved the money inside and slipped out the door.

It doesn’t matter how hot and sassy she is. She’s the nanny and I’m staying out of trouble. That’s what I told myself but I had a feeling that once again, trouble would find me.