Her Perfect Valentine Birthday Surprise Read online

  I swallowed my shock. “You do? But I’m—”

  “No buts. I think you’re a very intelligent woman, Elizabeth, and a great asset to this company. I’m giving you the opportunity to prove me right. You want it?”

  “Yes. Yes,” I chirped.

  And so for two week, Sheldon and I stayed in close contact, pouring over files, sales statistics, annual reports, and all legal and financial documents pertaining to Gleason. It was very hard working that close to him and not constantly dwell on the intimate moments we’d shared. But our ship had sailed.

  His patience and gentleness toward me were touching. His enthusiasm about me was empowering. He was a perfect gentleman and never once made a pass at me, even though I saw the desire in his eyes, felt it when he accidently brushed against me and when our fingers inadvertently touched. I started doubting that he’d cheated all those years ago. Or maybe he had, and had redeemed himself. I didn’t know. But I grew to respect his loyalty to his wife. She was one lucky woman. I envied her, more so because I’d once experienced the strength and intensity of his passion.

  On Friday of the second week, Sheldon walked into my office. It was close to four and I was getting ready to leave. His hands were shoved deep into his pockets and his shoulders were drooped. He looked haggard.

  “You have a minute?” he asked, closing the door.

  “Just one. It’s almost—”

  “Four,” he finished for me. He came up to my desk and stared down at me. “Elizabeth, I know you have a child. She’s the reason you run out of here every day at four. You have to pick her up from daycare.”

  My heart sank, but I managed to keep my composure. “How do you know? Who told you?” I asked, watching my life crumble before my very eyes.

  “I followed you yesterday.”

  I felt my throat closing up. “Are you stalking me, Sheldon? Are you spying on me? That’s harassment, you know.”

  “No,” he responded hastily. “I was curious. These past two weeks, I was introduced to a side of you I find absolutely…” He cleared his throat. “Well, don’t tell me you don’t feel the tension, the pull between us.”

  Not wanting him to see the tears in my eyes, I swiveled around and turned my back to him. “You shouldn’t be saying such things, Sheldon. You’re a married man.” My hands balled into fists on my lap.

  “Yes, and up until yesterday, I thought you had someone special in your life. A man to be exact.” He walked around my desk and crouched down in front of me. “I know we used protection that night, but I also know that condoms aren’t always one hundred percent full-proof, so I’m going to ask you once, and don’t lie to me, Elizabeth. Is that little girl my child?”

  The earnestness in his voice shook me to the core. I could lie about anything except the paternity of my child. I was shocked when I learned I was pregnant. But how could it be? I’d asked myself a million times. We’d used protection. But now that Sheldon knew about Marissa, it was pointless to lie to him.

  “Yes, she’s yours,” I said, releasing the burden I’d been carrying for more than five years.

  A broad smile swept across his face. He pushed to his feet and stared out of the window for a few silent moments before turning back to me. “I knew it the very moment I saw her. She looks just like Ruby.”

  “Yes, she does resemble your youngest daughter,” I said without emotion. The fact that he had a wife and another family brought me back to reality. There was no room for Marissa in that circle. “Look,” I said, “I don’t need anything from you. As long as I can keep this job, I can take care of Marissa myself.”

  “Marissa. Marissa. That’s such a pretty name.”

  “I named her after my mother.”

  “How soon after our night together did you get married?”

  “A month.”

  “So your ex-husband must have known she wasn’t his.”

  “Well, David and I had been dating for two years. We’d been broken up for about a little over a month when you walked into that bar that night.”

  “So it was a toss up?” He waved his hands in the air.

  I nodded. “We had a quickie marriage, but three years into it, things began falling apart. He’d been an excellent father to Marissa, but had become verbally abusive to me. One day, out of spite, he threatened to leave me and take Marissa. I told him about my one-night-stand with you, and that she may not be his to take. He demanded a paternity test, and when it proved that Marissa was not his, we divorced.”

  “I’m sorry you had to go through that,” he said with a tender note in his voice.

  “I always knew in my heart that Marissa was yours,” I replied. “I was just in denial. I never thought I’d ever see you again. I wanted my marriage to work for her sake.”

  “Is your ex still part of her life? Does he see her regularly?”

  I sighed. “No. He moved to California, remarried, and started another family.”

  “How is she coping with him being so far away?”

  “It was really bad at first. She cried every night for months, but she’s learning to live without him. She doesn’t ask for him as often as she used to.”

  “No child should ever have to cry for a parent’s attention. Especially not another child of mine,” he said with a hint of harshness in his voice.

  I frowned. His anger seemed to stem from more than David’s paternal neglect.

  He glanced at his watch. “Let’s go.”

  “Where?”

  “To pick up Marissa. I want her to know who I am.”

  I jumped to my feet. “Sheldon, you can’t just approach her and tell her you’re her father. You’ll confuse her. David’s the only father she’s ever known.”

  “But he left her to father his own child. Didn’t he? He doesn’t love, nor does he want her.”

  I couldn’t argue with that hard fact.

  He raked his hands through his hair. “I want to see her, hear the sound of her voice, and maybe even hug her. She’s my firstborn child, and I’ve never even held her. I’ll follow you in my car,” he added, making a dash for the door.

  “Sheldon, what am I supposed to tell her about you?”

  “Think of something on the way.” He opened the door.

  I grabbed my purse from the desk drawer and walked with him to the underground garage. I don’t remember how I got to the daycare. I don’t remember stopping for traffic lights or making any turns. All I could think about was that Sheldon wanted to know his daughter. What did it all mean?

  Marissa was playing with some other children when I pulled up into the driveway of the afterschool daycare center. She ran toward me, and I knelt down and wrapped my arms around her. My heart throbbed with love as I closed my eyes and drank in her sweet innocence, stroked her curly long golden stresses.

  “Hi, Marissa.”

  I startled at the deep voice behind me. I glanced over my shoulder at Sheldon, still not knowing how to introduce him.

  “You’re a stranger. I can’t talk to strangers.”

  Sheldon’s smile vanished from his face. But, Marissa was right. He was a stranger to her. I wet my lips at the irony that he’d been a stranger to me the night she was conceived. If I hadn’t left the bar with him, Marissa wouldn’t be here. “Honey, you can talk to this man. I give you permission.”

  “Why come?” Her brows wrinkled as she gazed up at Sheldon through piercing blue eyes.

  “He’s Mommy’s friend. He wants to be your friend, too.”

  “Why come?”

  “Why come? Why come? Is that all you can say?” Sheldon stooped down to her eye level, grinning with abandonment.

  I could tell he was smitten by her already. Marissa was the type of child who everyone fell in love with at first sight. It was one of the reasons I instilled the fear of talking to strangers in her. I worried every time I was away from her.

  “I bet you like ice cream,” Sheldon drawled with enticement.

  “Yeah!” Marissa shouted. “You got so
me?”

  “I know the perfect place where we can get some.” Sheldon stood up and reached his hand toward her. “Come with me,” he told her, just as he’d told me six years ago on the night she was conceived.

  “Is Mommy coming?” Marissa asked, as she took her father’s hand for the very first time.

  “Of course. You’ll both ride in my car.” He looked at me for confirmation.

  I nodded. “Give me a minute.” I ran inside to sign out Marissa and get her backpack. When I came back outside, she and Sheldon were still holding hands. They looked perfect together. Again I wondered what his presence in her life meant. “Ready,” I said, standing beside them.

  “Let’s go get ice cream.” Marissa pulled on Sheldon’s arm.

  I followed behind them as they walked to his Mercedes.

  “What about Mommy’s car? I have important stuff in there,” Marissa said, forcing him to a halt.

  He chuckled as he gazed down at her upturned face. “What kind of important stuff?”

  “My Barbies and my dollies, my coloring books, and my Disney movies.”

  “Wow, those are very important stuff. I’ll bring you and Mommy back to her car after ice-cream, okay?”

  “Okay?”

  I didn’t say much at the ice cream parlor. Marissa and Sheldon had a lot of catching up to do. I sipped lemonade while my daughter took her father on an informational ride into her world. She named all her friends at school. She told him about the time she fell on the ice and broke her arm and had to wear a cast for eight weeks. She told him about little Jacob whom she punched in the nose when he tried to kiss her.

  Sheldon threw back his head and laughed at that one. “No boy steals kisses from my baby-girl,” he exclaimed.

  “I’m not your baby-girl,” Marissa said adamantly. “I’m my daddy’s little baby-girl. I love him. I’m his baby girl!” She crossed her arms and dropped her chin.

  David always used to refer to her as his little baby girl—well until he found out she wasn’t. She missed that. She missed him. Seeing the hurt in Sheldon’s eyes, and the sadness on my daughter’s face, I intervened. “I think we should call it a day.”

  We rode in silence back to the daycare center. Marissa’s goodbye to Sheldon was cold. I buckled her into the back seat of my car then walked Sheldon to his. “You have to give her time,” I admonished him gently. “David is the only father she has known. She misses him.”

  “I know. I understand. And it’s driving me crazy to know that I can’t be there for her. Be a father to her, yet.” He looked at me thoughtfully then asked, “Can I come by tonight after she’s asleep?”

  “Why?”

  “I need to talk to you.”

  “About what?” Did he want custody of Marissa? He was rich; I was poor. He was married; I was not. He could offer her all the luxuries in life when I can barely pay for her afterschool daycare. The familiar courtroom drama flashed across my mind. The knots formed in my stomach. I glanced back at my car and hopped from one foot to another, the fear building inside me at an enormous rate.

  “It’s nothing to worry about,” he assured me, sensing my fears, as he seemed to have a knack to do. “There are important things we need to discuss. I promise, Elizabeth. I just need to talk with you. I just found out you had my baby. There’s a lot we need to discuss, don’t you think? I’m not taking Marissa away from you. I would never do that. We just need to talk,” he reiterated, gazing down at me with earnestness in his blue eyes

  I knew I was crazy, but I agreed to let him come by. “Okay. She’ll be asleep by nine.”

  “Thank you. See you at nine, then.”

  I rushed home and cooked a burger and fries for Marissa. I couldn’t eat. I put her to bed, then showered and splashed on some perfume. Sheldon knocked on my door at 9:05. He was wearing the same suit he’d worn all day. He hadn’t been home, it seemed.

  “Elizabeth, I love you. I’ve been in love with you ever since that night we met,” he blurted out as he came through my door. His eyes shimmered with warmth and passion.

  “Sheldon, you’re married,” I reminded him after the shock wore off.

  He closed the door and gazed down at me. “That’s the thing, Elizabeth, I’m not.”

  My mouth dropped open. “You’re not what?”

  He cleared his throat. “Denise and I don’t love each other. Hell, we don’t even like each other. Our parents forced us into that marriage to merge our companies. It was business, not love. I love my kids, but that marriage has been slowly choking the life out of me. After spending two weeks with you and a few hours with Marissa today, I know—”

  I put my hands up to stop him. “Back up. I’m still on your, ‘I’m not’. You’re not what?” I repeated. I needed to hear the full sentence.

  “Denise and I have been divorced for six months.”

  My heart leaped against my ribcage. I took a few steps back from Sheldon. Being that close to him, knowing he wasn’t married was making me dizzy. “You’re divorced?” I asked when I finally found my voice again. “How come it’s not public knowledge?”

  “We kept it quiet for business, and for the girls. We still share the master suite to keep up appearances for the nanny and the housekeeper. I sleep on the couch in the bedroom the few nights Denise has spent at home since the divorce. But now that you’re back in my life, I don’t see the need to keep our split shrouded in mystery. You and I have wasted too many years, already. I don’t want to waste any more, especially not with Marissa.”

  I was speechless. I couldn’t, didn’t want to believe the words that were coming out of his mouth. He loved me! He was divorced! I could have him right here and now if I wanted, and I did want him.

  Sensing my shock and inability to respond, he marched right up to me and pulled me into his arms, just as he’d done the night we met. And when his lips descended on mine, as usual, my common sense took flight, but only for a few brief moments. I needed to know.

  I pushed him away and gazed up into his entrancing eyes. “Sheldon, were you married that night we made love? Were you involved or even engaged?”

  His eyes narrowed to slid as if he was hurt I would think so little of him. But if he’d cheated on his wife back then, how could I be sure he wouldn’t cheat on me. He could just be telling me he loved me just to get into my panties again. Nothing was about me anymore. I had a child to protect now.

  Sheldon dropped his hands to his side. “The night I walked into that bar was the night my father told me I had to marry Denise to save our company,” he said, with a regretful twist to his lips. “Denise and I knew each other through our families’ connection, but we weren’t a couple.” He scoffed. “I was never even attracted to her. But when my father explained the trouble our company was in, I had to agree to save it, to save our family from financial ruin.”

  He shook his head as if to shake off the memory of that conversation. “God, I was so distraught. I just wanted to drink myself into oblivion, so I went out bar hopping. Yours was the third I hit, and when I saw you sitting there, looking like a love goddess, I thought how unfair life was. I only had that one night of freedom left, and I was determined to make every second count.”

  Relief circulated through me, replacing the doubts I’d been harboring about his fidelity. I reached up and stroked my fingers along his strong jawlines. “I was lonely that night. My girlfriend was supposed to celebrate my birthday with me, but she had to cancel,” I said. “I guess it was the loneliness that drove me into your arms, your car, and your bed.”

  “I don’t care what it was that brought us together. I’m just happy we did get together.” Sheldon took my hand and let me over to the couch where we sat holding each other. He chuckled as he stroked his fingers through my hair. “I told you I was your Perfect Valentine Birthday Surprise. It was even more perfect than either of us realized.”

  “Yes, our beautiful daughter was born from that union.” Suddenly, a different kind of doubt set in again. I gazed up a
t him through the dim lamplight. “Are you sure you want her, me...”

  He took my hand and held it against his chest. “With all my heart, darling. I promise we’ll be together soon. You, Marissa, and my other two daughters are the most important things in my life. We will be a family, Elizabeth, hopefully by the time your birthday and Valentine’s Day come around again.”

  Remembering how he’d reacted when I told him Marissa didn’t see her father regularly, I asked, “Can you live with the fact that you wouldn’t be there for your daughters everyday, Sheldon?”

  “Angelica and Ruby will be living with us,” he said. “That is if you don’t mind being a mother to them. They’re really great kids,” he added with a hint of hope in his eyes.

  “What about their mother? What kind of custody do you guys share?”

  “Denise never wanted them. Her parents forced her into having them, just like they forced her into marrying me. She hardly spends any time with them. She’s too busy with her friends, and whatever else keeps her away from home. At any given moment, she packs her bags and takes off to Paris, London, Las Vegas, or wherever the social wind blows her. She’s still very immature. I thought she would grow up after Angelica was born, but she got worse. Her lack of maternal instinct and nurturing is what hurts worst in all of this.”

  “How could any woman not want her children? I can’t even imagine my life without Marissa in it. I hate being away from her all day, but I have to work.”

  “You won’t need to work once we’re married,” Sheldon said with a grin. “In fact, I’m firing you right now. Don’t bother coming in tomorrow, Ms. Ryder. Your services are no longer needed.”

  “None of my services?” I asked, tongue in cheek. “However will I get by?”

  “Don’t worry. I have it covered.”

  “I’m sure you do,” I said on a smile as Sheldon’s lips descended on mine once more. I knew I could trust him. He was loyal to a woman he didn’t even love. I would never have to worry about his commitment to Marissa and me, but even though he said his girls never see their mother, I worried about their reaction when they learned that their parents were not together anymore. It may not have been a happy home, but it was all they knew.