Restraining the urge to yell for her, he returned to his desk and pushed the intercom button. “Mrs. Grayson, please come to my office for a moment.”
“Right away,Mr. Grayson.”
He clasped his hands on his desk and waited while trying to put a coherent speech together in his mind. Something had been bothering him since early that morning. She didn’t seem like herself. He’d noticed it upon her arrival just after six o’clock, but he couldn’t pinpoint the exact problem. She made the coffee, returned phone calls, confirmed appointments for him, all the usual stuff she did before noon. The problem wasn’t in what she did, more like how she did it.
Yesterday, she’d nearly bitten his head off during a routine check-in phone call. Now, she practically radiated sunshine. He caught her humming a few times. What was happening? Had marrying the CEO of an impressive company gone to her head already?
He missed his faithful, unflappable Ms. Greer and wanted her back. This new woman, the one using his last name, confounded him on every level. She reminded him of one of his nutty temps, only a competent one instead of what he usually found himself stuck with.
She waltzed into his office with what seemed to be a satisfied smile as if they were playing poker and she had the winning hand.
“What happened with the doctor? Did you make an appointment yet?”
She nodded. “Two weeks. That was the soonest they could get me in.”
His eyes narrowed on her face. “Why are you so pleased with yourself today?”
“Who says I’m pleased about anything?”
“You’ve been floating on air all morning. What’s up?”
She froze for a moment, and an odd look crossed her face. “I, uh... have a great idea that will help with employee morale and save the company money.”
He leaned back in his chair, relaxing as they headed into familiar territory. He understood business, not women. The fact she wanted to talk about work set his mind at ease. The things he wanted to say to her could wait for a better time and place, perhaps the lake house. “And what is this great idea?”
“Daycare.”
He blinked. “Excuse me?”
“Did you know you have over five hundred employees working here at Grayson Towers? More than three hundred of those have children, and out of that three-hundred-plus, forty-two have children under the age of five. Do you have any idea how much time and money we could save by offering daycare here?”
“Sounds expensive to me.”
“You have an empty floor in this building that’s being used for junk. Let’s fix it up and invite employees to bring their children to work with them. We can charge enough to cover the expense of hiring workers to care for the babies and toddlers. It’s a win-win.”
He would have turned the idea down flat if anyone else approached him with it, but Katie seemed so happy that he couldn’t say no. Not that she gave him a chance. She continued to speak, her face flushed with excitement.
“A place this large needs a daycare. Think about all the time you’ll save your employees. They can come straight here instead of dropping their children somewhere else, and they’ll have peace of mind knowing they can take the elevator to see their child anytime they want.”
He held a hand up. “You’ve sold me.”
“The kids will benefit, too, and feel safer. They’ll know they can see their mommy or daddy if they need them.”
“I think you want a daycare so you can keep working after our kid is born.”
The blood drained from her face.
Stupid! What was wrong with him? For just a second, he’d forgotten she was leaving him as soon as she had the baby. They would be going their separate ways, and his child would never spend a single day in the daycare she wanted to create for his other employees.
“Sorry,” he said.
She shook her head. “Don’t apologize.”
“It was a dumb thing to say. Sometimes I forget…”
“Really, it’s fine.” She headed for the door, but stopped halfway there. “Since you brought the subject up, you are still planning to sign over your parental rights, aren’t you? Nothing has changed?”
His heart dropped to his stomach. He didn’t want to think about the gaping hole she would leave in his life after their divorce. The idea of her leaving him was not acceptable. Not yet. He didn’t want her to be that far out of reach. Since they were at work, he pushed his objections to the side.