The Billionaire's Christmas Son - Leslie North Page 0,1

to do at the Elk Lodge.

“Of course I am,” Jonas said. “I’ll be back in a minute.”

He felt Gabe’s eyes on his back as he went out into the hall. The expanse of plush carpet was empty, the elevator humming at one end, and he stabbed at the button impatiently. It was so slow. He couldn’t bear the wait. After fifteen seconds, he hustled for the stairwell, taking them down two at a time. There was a separate elevator for the guest rooms—and she was more than likely headed there.

He burst into the vaulted lobby a few moments later, into the swirl of elegant Christmas decorations and soft music. Glancing around, he caught sight of Rachel by the enormous Christmas tree, tucking a length of jet-black hair behind her ear. She was grinning down at something he couldn’t see because of a huge leather sofa blocking his view.

Another woman stood close by, her red hair piled on top of her head in a loose bun. Lisa, the resort babysitter, who was on call for any family who needed one. He blinked, moving closer without thinking.

And then he came to an abrupt halt.

The little boy had come into view, and—he was a miniature version of Jonas. Rachel had black hair and blue eyes, but this little boy had Jonas’s dark blonde hair and his chin, too.

His heart stuttered to a start again.

Her son. The little boy couldn’t have been much more than two, and he pulled gently at Lisa’s hand as they stood, swaying toward the tree and back again.

Oh, God. No wonder she wanted to leave. If what he suspected was true—if this was his son. “Rachel,” he called out, before he’d thought about what to say.

She straightened, turning to meet his gaze.

“Mr. Elkin.” Lisa gave him a nod and said something he couldn’t hear to Rachel, and then turned to leave. “Merry Christmas,” she told them all, waving until she was out of sight around the corridor.

Jonas wanted to talk to Rachel about the one-night stand, but that seemed insignificant now—laughably so. He went to where she stood with the little boy, irresistibly drawn to them both. It was an awkward moment and he stuck his hands in his pockets to cover any sign of nervousness.

Rachel bit her lip.

The little boy stared up at them, small lips pursed.

Outside, the Colorado snow came down in gentle flakes, the cool light tempering the golden glow from the hundreds of lights inside the lobby. It was as though time stood still.

“I was going to tell you—” Jonas racked his brain for what he’d come to tell her. “I was going to say that I didn’t want you to leave on account of what happened between us. Before.” He dragged his eyes from the boy’s and back to Rachel’s—a lighter blue than his own. “But I think there’s something else I should know. Something more important.”

The rest of the room disappeared. It was only the three of them and the Christmas tree. Everything else—the tinsel and the music and the other people in the lobby—they were gone, and Jonas braced for the words that would change his life. One way or the other, things would be different.

“He’s yours,” Rachel said, her voice calm and matter-of-fact.

Yours. The word echoed in his mind until it was big enough to fill the entire lobby of the Elk Lodge, bouncing around in a thousand echoes of itself. “Mine.”

“Yes.” Rachel was at ease with her son, letting him step from side to side, but her shoulders were tensed up to her ears. “It happened after we were—were together that one time.” Her cheeks went a deeper red. “I thought you were another guest. I didn’t know you were Jonas Elkin.”

“And I never told you.” It had seemed like such a good idea at the time. The night had lifted the weight from his shoulders long enough for him to catch his breath. Jonas wasn’t in the habit of asking—he was used to telling people what to do as part of his job as CEO. Nobody wanted a CEO without leadership ability. But Rachel didn’t technically work for him—not for the Elk Lodge, anyway. “You don’t need to leave.”

She raised her eyebrows. “Are you sure? Because this is a huge thing to find out, and I’m sure you’re…” Her voice softened, the sentence petering out. “I’d understand if you didn’t want me here at a time like this.”

His emotions were so huge he thought he might burst. Guilt. A