She's Having the Boss's Baby - By Kate Carlisle Page 0,20

change another reason why he’d made up his mind so easily about offering to father Ellie’s child? He wasn’t prepared to answer that just yet.

To divert himself, he stared out the windows. The cloud cover had dissipated and he tried to guess what area of the country they were flying over.

“Looks like Louisiana,” he murmured, gazing down at the verdant surface a mile below. Rivulets intertwined like snakes through miles of lush growth and trees, emptying into small lakes and ponds. Bayou, he thought. Definitely Louisiana. That meant he had another two hours in the air before they reached Alleria.

He leaned both arms on the high back of the leather seat and thought of his own unhappy youth. His mother had walked out on the family when he and his brother were seven years old. Both Aidan and Logan always vowed to stay single because women couldn’t be trusted. Their mother wasn’t the only woman in the world who’d proven that theory true.

And after hearing his cousin Cameron’s story about what he’d been through with his own miserable father, it just went to show that there were plenty of men who couldn’t be trusted either.

Hell, Aidan knew that. But it hadn’t hit so close to home before. Cameron Duke’s old man was a son of a bitch.

Aidan realized that he and Logan had really lucked out in that realm. Their father Tom was the best dad any kid could ever have.

But their mother was a mess. Not that she had ever beaten them, or starved or lashed out at them. No, his mother’s sins were ones of neglect and abandonment. She just didn’t care. She’d never even taken the trouble to figure out which of them was Aidan and which was Logan. She used to look at one brother or the other and say, “Which one are you?”

That was pathetic, but it wasn’t criminal.

So yes, their dad was the best there ever was. But Aidan still had his mother’s genes. He’d always worried that he might turn out like his mom and be a terrible parent who only cared about his own selfish needs. But it didn’t have to be that way, he realized now. He knew himself, knew he would never be like her. By making his offer to Ellie, he knew her child would be in good hands. Ellie would make a wonderful mother and Aidan would be there to support them both.

Aidan shook away all thoughts of his mother and focused instead on his dad. It had been so good to see him interacting with Sally and all the Dukes, almost as if they’d always been a family. They had welcomed all three Sutherland men unconditionally, but Aidan got a special kick from seeing his dad so happy.

“I have your lunch ready for you, Mr. Sutherland,” Leslie said.

“Thanks.” Beyond grateful for the distraction, Aidan put aside all those thoughts and sat to wolf down the perfectly cooked pasta and salmon Leslie had prepared. While he ate, he flipped through a business magazine and made some notes. Afterward, he put the finishing touches on some contracts he’d brought with him, then slid his briefcase away for the rest of the flight.

Aidan poured himself a glass of wine and tried to relax. The plane was over the Gulf of Mexico and he couldn’t wait to get home. He was getting more and more anxious to see Ellie again and he’d convinced himself that she’d made her decision to take him up on his plan.

He almost laughed when he thought about how he’d planned to find a woman while he was in California. Who knew his feelings would change so drastically in a week? Now all he could think about was Ellie. He couldn’t wait to see her again.

He recalled her nervousness about “getting naked” with him and chuckled, thinking he could hardly wait to calm her nerves.

Unbidden, an image of little Jake popped into his head. Weird, wasn’t it? Aidan was a man who had never wanted children and yet he was willing to father a child for his business associate. He squirmed a little uneasily in his seat. Fathering a child and being a father were two different things though, he assured himself. The baby would be his blood and would have his full support throughout his life. That didn’t mean he would be interacting with it on a daily basis.

And at that thought, another memory of Jake, curled up and asleep on his lap, zipped through Aidan’s