A Baby for the Boss by Maureen Child Page A

beach and into a snowbank.”
    “We’ve all got our problems,” Mike told him, and instantly, his mind shot back to Jenny.
    The problem there was he couldn’t stop thinking about her, wanting her, needing her. And he knew damn well that there was no place in his life for her. He already knew that she was a liar. Okay, fine, she hadn’t lied lately . But that didn’t mean a damn thing. All it told him was that more lies were coming. When? What kind? And how the hell could he be so damn interested in a woman he knew he couldn’t trust?
    Sean came back, sat in the chair again, braced his forearms on the desk and leaned in. “Talk to me, Mike. What is going on with you? What’s the deal with Jenny?”
    Tempting to confide in Sean, but at the core of it, Mike wasn’t a big sharer. He kept his thoughts, his emotions, locked down tight. Not many people got past the wall he’d built around himself. He loved his brother, but there were some things a man just didn’t discuss. With anyone.
    Shaking his head, Mike scraped one hand across his face. “Nothing I want to talk about, okay?”
    Sean watched him for a long minute before saying, “All right. But I’m here when you want to talk. Remember that.”
    “I will.”
    “Okay,” Sean said. “You’re going to Mom and Dad’s tonight, right? Not backing out?”
    From one problem to another. Mike had considered blowing off his father’s birthday dinner. He didn’t need the aggravation piled on top of everything else going on. All he needed was to stoke the fire burning at the back of his brain. But if he didn’t show up, his mother would make him pay. Somehow. Didn’t seem to matter how old you were, your mother retained power over you. And Peggy Ryan had no difficulty wielding that power.
    “Yeah, I’m going.”
    “Wow, feel the enthusiasm.”
    Mike glared at him. “I’m going. Should be good enough.”
    “You keep saying things that make me want more information,” Sean told him, leaning back in his chair. He kicked his feet up and crossed them on the corner of Mike’s desk. “You don’t want to talk about Jenny. How about you tell me why you’re always pissed at Dad.”
    “Not going there, either.”
    “You are not an easy person to have for a brother,” Sean told him with a shake of his head. “You’ve got more secrets than the CIA.”
    “And the nature of a secret is, it’s not talked about.”
    “That’s what you think,” Sean countered. “You know I could find out. I could just go to Mom.”
    “Don’t.” He didn’t want his mother reminded of old pain. Didn’t want her to have to tell her other son the things she’d inadvertently told Mike so many years before.
    “Just ‘don’t’? That’s all I get? What the hell, Mike? You’ve been at war with Dad for years and you won’t say why.” Sean braced both hands on the edge of the desk. “If you know something I should, then tell me.”
    Mike studied his brother for a long minute. During that short period of time, his brain raced through the familiar scenarios he knew he would be facing over dinner. Strained conversations, his mother trying to be overly bright and happy, his father sending Mike covert glances. It wouldn’t be pleasant. Wouldn’t be easy. But he would play the game for his mother’s sake.
    As far as his little brother went, though, there was just no reason for Sean to have to battle the same emotions that Mike did when the family was together. “Sean, believe me, you don’t want to know. So just let it go, all right?”
    For a second or two, Sean looked as though he’d argue, but finally, he nodded and stood up. “Fine. But try to remember. I might be your younger brother...but I’m not a kid you need to protect.”
    Maybe not, Mike thought, but there was no reason to shatter his illusions, either.
    * * *
    A few hours later, Jenny jolted out of the movie she was watching when someone knocked at her door. Wearing her flannel sleep pants and a white tank, she