was nice seeing you again, Josh,” Mia said as she started up the steps to the front door.
Josh nodded. “I’ll see you in a few weeks at the Christmas Ball.”
Getting into the car, he drove away from the Santiago mansion feeling pretty good about the day. He had successfully straightened out a problem with the work crew on one of the Gordon Construction job sites, had a nice visit with his friend and had set up dinner with Kiley Roberts for tomorrow evening.
“A very good day,” he said aloud as he drove across town to his ranch just outside Royal.
* * *
The next afternoon, Kiley tried to remain focused and not think about Josh stopping by, expecting her to go to dinner with him. But try as she might, every time the door opened, she looked up expectantly. So far, it had been parents arriving to pick up their children, but she knew it was just a matter of time before she looked up to find Josh entering the day care center.
Of course, she had no intention of going anywhere with him. But how could she anticipate and dread him stopping by all at the same time?
“Kiley, would you mind if I leave now?” Carrie asked, looking hopeful. “There are only two more children to be picked up by their parents and I have an appointment at the hair salon in fifteen minutes.”
“Do you have a date with Ron tonight?” Kiley asked. From the time the young woman started working for her, Carrie had chattered nonstop about her boyfriend and Kiley expected any day to hear that they had become engaged.
Her assistant nodded. “He’s taking me out to dinner and then we’re going to see the new Channing Tatum movie.”
“You can only leave early on one condition.”
“What’s that?” her assistant asked cautiously.
Kiley grinned. “You have to tell me all about the movie and how many times Channing takes his shirt off.”
Carrie laughed as she grabbed her coat and purse from the closet by the door. “I can do that.”
“Have a nice evening, and I’ll see you tomorrow morning, Carrie.”
As her assistant rushed out the door to get her hair done for her date, Kiley’s heart skipped a beat when Josh walked in. Dressed in a black suit, pale blue shirt and navy tie, he looked more handsome than any man had the right to look outside the pages of GQ.
“Instead of making a reservation for us in the restaurant here at the club, I thought we might try that new place on the west side of town,” Josh said, flashing her a smile that sent goose bumps shimmering up her arms. “Have all of the kids gone home?”
“Not yet.” She collected the Santa Claus faces made of construction paper and cotton balls that the preschool class had made during their craft time. “But I’m afraid I won’t be able to...” She let her voice trail off when Russ and Winnie Bartlett entered the day care center to pick up their two little girls.
While Josh shook hands with Russ and talked about the upcoming meeting of the general membership, Kiley and Winnie chatted about the children’s holiday program.
“It’s all Sarah can talk about,” Winnie said, smiling at her little girl. As she helped her youngest daughter into her jacket, she laughed and smoothed her toddler’s straight dark hair. “And Elaina tells me she’s going to be one of the ‘kidney’ canes.”
Grinning, Kiley nodded. “She calls them ‘kidney’ canes and Emmie calls them ‘kitty’ canes.”
“Isn’t it fun deciphering what a two-year-old means as they learn new words?” Winnie asked.
“Oh, yes.” When Emmie toddled over to give Elaina a goodbye hug, Kiley smiled fondly at her beautiful little girl. “At times it feels like they speak a foreign language.”
After the Bartletts bid them a good evening, Kiley and Emmie were left alone with Josh. Turning toward her office to retrieve her purse, Kiley heard Emmie start chattering about her toy ponies. Glancing over her shoulder, she almost laughed out loud at Josh’s perplexed expression.
“Me pony,” Emmie said, reaching up to wrap her little hand around one of Josh’s fingers to tug him in the direction of the play area.
“What does she want?” Josh asked, sounding a little alarmed. He might have been bewildered about what Emmie wanted, but to his credit, he followed her over to the toy box on the other side of the room.
“She wants to show you her favorite toys,” Kiley said, quickly grabbing her things and switching off the office light.
“That’s nice.” Josh smiled when Emmie held up a purple pony with a flowing white mane and tail. “How much longer before one of her parents arrives to get her?”
“Emmie goes home with me,” Kiley said, taking their coats from the closet. “She’s my daughter.”
“I didn’t realize you had a child,” he said, glancing down at Emmie digging through the toys to find more ponies.
When he looked back at her, Kiley could tell by his expression that Josh realized her going to dinner with him wasn’t going to happen. But as they continued to stare at each other, a mischievous spark lit his brilliant blue eyes.
“So you like ponies and horses, Emmie?” he asked.
Emmie vigorously nodded her little blond head. “Yes.”
Squatting down to her level, he handed the toy pony back to her. “I like horses, too. I have several of them at my ranch.”
Emmie’s little face lit up. “Me wanna see.”
“I think that can be arranged,” Josh said, giving Kiley a triumphant grin.
Kiley didn’t like the idea in the least. “I don’t think that would be—”
“Why don’t you ask your mother to bring you over to my ranch on Saturday afternoon so I can show you my horses?” he asked before Kiley could stop him from making the offer.
“Pease, Mommy?” Emmie asked, skipping over to her. “Pease. Wanna see ponies. Wanna see ponies.”
Kiley was fit to be tied. Josh had deliberately manipulated the situation and now her daughter looked so hopeful, she hated to refuse. But on the other hand, she didn’t want to spend more time with Josh than she had to. Nor was she overly happy about his taking control of the situation.
“Is this retaliation for not going to dinner with you?” she asked, delaying her answer. A thought suddenly occurred to her. “You aren’t going to let this influence your decision about the funding for the day care center, are you?”
“Not at all.” A frown creased his forehead as he rose to his full height and walked over to her and Emmie. “I just thought your little girl might like to see a real horse.”
“You knew she would,” Kiley accused.
“Not really,” Josh said, rocking back on his heels. “I don’t know enough about little kids to know
