The Baby Arrangement by Samantha Chase Page A

shrugged.  “Where do I need to go?  Human resources?”
    “Mr. Sloan’s office.”
    Kayleigh’s heart sank.  “Wh…why?  I thought this was a human resources kind of thing?”
    “No idea.  Besides, after taking care of his niece for three weeks, I would think that this would be easier than going down to human resources.”  With that, she left Kayleigh alone.
    Great.  Now she would have to deal with an up close and personal exit from her job rather than having the freedom to run away without notice.  “My life sucks,” she muttered as she made her way down to Derek’s suite.  Eileen was at her desk and motioned for Kayleigh to take a seat.  At least she knew what to expect from Derek’s assistant; cool disdain.  What was going to happen once she stepped into his office?  Was the human resources director going to be in there?  Would there at least be other people or was she going to be forced to deal with him one on one?
    “Mr. Sloan will see you now,” Eileen said without even glancing in Kayleigh’s direction.
    “Always a pleasure,” she mumbled before standing and thanking her. 
    Her feet felt like lead and her heart was beating way too rapidly as she walked through the doors to Derek’s office.  A quick look around showed that it was only the two of them.  Kayleigh looked across the room and saw Derek sitting behind his desk sorting through some paperwork.  “Please have a seat, Kayleigh,” he said as if he was speaking to a stranger and not someone who had shared his home and his bed just weeks before.
    Kayleigh slid into one of the chairs opposite his and waited, secretly hoping that someone else was going to join them.
    “I have your employee file here,” he began and effectively crushed her hopes for company.  “It looks like we have some paperwork for you to sign regarding your health insurance,” he said as he placed the papers in front of her along with a pen, “and your 401K.”  He shuffled through the papers some more.  “You have two weeks of vacation time that are due to you and payroll has been instructed to send that to you with your final paycheck next week.”
    Kayleigh nodded, studying the papers in front of her rather than looking at Derek.  Once her signatures were on everything, she slid them back toward him.  And then had nothing to do but look at him.  “Was there anything else?” she forced herself to ask.
    Derek leaned back in his chair and drank in the sight of her.  He knew her well enough to know that she was nervous and that she would rather be anyplace else in the world but right here with him.  “Did you find the working conditions here favorable?” he asked, searching for something to say to keep her here with him.
    “Yes.  Everyone has been great to work with.”
    “Did you have any trouble assigning your customers to other reps?”
    She shook her head.  “We are a team out there so everyone stepped in to help.”  Silence.  She wondered why he was dragging this out and why, for that matter, did he feel the need to conduct this meeting himself.  For all that they were doing, it would have made more sense for him to have Eileen handle it. 
    “What are your plans now?” he asked quietly.  “Do you have another job lined up?”
    “Not yet.”
    He nodded.  “Well, I realize that the designs you shared with me were done off the clock, but I shared them with the designers here and we would like the rights to them.  I have some papers here for you to sign if that’s all right with you; you’ll be compensated for them, of course.”
    So this was it.  Not only had he gotten someone to take care of his niece so that he wouldn’t have to, he also got some new designs for his company and a couple of nights worth of sex.  All in all, Derek Sloan made out like a bandit.  When he slid the contract her way, she practically ripped it from his hands and signed it without even reading it.
    He pointed that fact out to her.  “You