Baby Benefits by Emily McKay

that was playful and mischievous. Man, what he wouldn’t give to see that expression over a bowl of strawberries and whipped cream. It was the stuff of fantasies.
    Fantasies which were, at the moment, strictly forbidden.
    The weather had turned unseasonably warm overnight. When Raina showed up at his house this morning, instead of the jeans and T-shirt she’d worn the day before, she’d been clad in denim shorts and a green tank top.
    There was nothing wrong with her clothes. Her shorts weren’t too short, despite the tempting length of leg they revealed. Her tank top was modestly cut, covering everything that needed covering, even if it did cling to her breasts in a manner entirely too appealing. However, on her, the outfit seemed downright suggestive.
    Which might have been more bearable if she wasn’t hovering. Eager to help, she trotted around to the other side of the SUV and climbed in. She shot him a sympathetic look over the car seat.
    “Let me help. You’ve been at this for a while now. I’m guessing you need a break.”
    “Where’s Isabella?”
    “I rocked her to sleep and put her down in the bouncing seat in the living room.” Raina patted the receiver to the baby monitor she had clipped to her hip. It squealed static in response. “I’ll hear if she wakes up.”
    “Great,” he muttered. Just great. He’d worked for hours last night trying to get Isabella to sleep. Raina did it in less than thirty minutes.
    She tilted her head to the side with a frown as she studied his face. “And you look exhausted. How late were you up with her last night?”
    He felt a growl of annoyance rumbling through his chest and snapped, “Late.”
    “Ah. I thought so. Maybe you should call Mrs. Hill again for tonight.” When he glared at her, she held up a hand. “Or not. If you really feel like you have to do everything for yourself or you’re a failure, then by all means, work yourself into a state of exhaustion.”
    Then, with quick efficiency, she nudged his hands out of the way and began loosening all the straps. “Did you read the instruction manual?” she asked as she plunged one of the latches between the seat back and base.
    “Of course I read the manual.” Briefly. “You’re supposed to hear a—”
    And at that moment, she wiggled her hand around and the latch gave a loud click as it snapped into place.
    “A click?” she asked with a grin.
    Smiling at him from over Isabella’s car seat, she looked so impertinent, so unlike the Raina he knew, he was struck by the sudden notion that maybe he hadn’t known her at all.
    Was that possible? Had he really worked side by side with this woman for nearly a decade and not actually seen her? He’d sure as hell never noticed how attractive she was. How tempting.
    Had he disappeared so completely into his role as CEO that he’d stopped seeing people for who they really were? And did it matter, when no one saw him beyond his position anyway?
    Crouching, Raina wiggled around the car seat to his side of the car. He had to climb out to make room for her, and still she seemed to fill the entire backseat. As thin and willowy as she was, her arms and legs seemed everywhere, brushing against him as she maneuvered into place. She snapped in the second latch, then wiggled around again so her knee was lodged in the car seat.
    “I read somewhere that the only way to really get these straps tight enough is to put your weight in the seat.” She sounded slightly out of breath, no doubt from all the wiggling.
    But to him, the sound was positively erotic. That combined with the tempting view she’d presented him with of her behind made his senses leap to life. The fog of his exhaustion lifted as sexual awareness prickled along his nerve endings.
    Finally, she scooted back to the other side of the car and shoved at the car seat. “There you go. Doesn’t move more than an inch in any direction. It’s perfect.”
    Her cheeks were flushed with exertion and delicate beads