The Billionaire's Baby Chase. Valerie Parv

simple sheath in a pale avocado silk. The severely tailored lines were softened by a row of amber beading stitched into the neckline. Her neighbor Julie called it a drop-dead dress. “In it, you can tell anyone to drop dead,” she’d explained when Zoe hesitated over spending the money. Was that the reason Zoe wanted to wear it today, to put her on a more equal footing with James? She wouldn’t consider that it had anything to do with his attractiveness as a man.

      “Observant means you notice everything,” she explained wryly as she finished dusting fine powder over her even features. All right, so she was overdressed for a street fair, but today she needed all the morale boosting she could get.

      Coral lipstick outlined a smile even she had to admit looked shaky. She forced her lips into a more convincing arc and swung around. “Let’s go.”

      There was no sign of James when they reached the main street, which had been closed off for the day. A crowd already thronged the fairground attractions and street stalls, but she could have spotted James in any crowd. Not only did his unusual height make him stand out, but he radiated an aura of power and authority that drew all eyes like a magnet.

      Zoe’s nerves were now strung wire-taut. She was glad when Genie begged for a turn on a huge inflatable jumping castle that already held several shrieking children.

      “I’ll sit over there and have a cup of coffee where I can watch you,” she told the excited child as she paid for a ticket. She chose a seat at an outdoor table surrounded by lush green potted plants and sank gratefully onto a wooden chair. “Cappuccino, thank you,” she told the waiter who appeared at her side.

      “Make it two,” a deep voice contributed.

      Reaction blistered through her as James took a seat opposite her. She had almost convinced herself he wasn’t coming, that everything would be all right. Now he was here and her stomach churned. She regretted not forcing herself to have some breakfast this morning. His presence made her feel abruptly light-headed.

      “You look pale. Perhaps you should eat something,” he suggested with uncanny insight.

      “I’m fine,” she denied. Anything she tried to eat under these conditions would probably refuse to stay down.

      He nodded distractedly, his gaze sweeping the attractions around them. “Where is Genevieve?”

      Her flashing glance gave him the answer. His eyes followed her gaze to the inflatable castle where Genie bounced up and down, tumbling over then righting herself, all the while shrieking with delight.

      His reaction was a sharply indrawn breath. “The photographs didn’t begin to show how beautiful she is.”

      Against her will, Zoe’s gaze lifted to his taut features. They radiated a look she’d seen in the mirror countless times—a look of pure parental pride. Pain pierced her like an arrow. She hadn’t wanted to see such a look on his face. It would be easier to bear if Ruth had been right and he didn’t care.

      But it was all too apparent that he did and his intent expression revealed just how much. “She is beautiful in nature as well as in looks,” she agreed softly, unable to keep her anguish from seeping into her tone.

      He brought his gaze back to Zoe with obvious reluctance, as if it was all he could do to tear his eyes away from the happy child. “You’ve done a fine job raising her,” he said, his tone husky with emotion.

      Zoe had promised herself she wouldn’t beg, but the words came out anyway. “Then why not let me go on doing it?”

      A waiter placed coffee in front of them, obscuring James’s face for a moment, but there was no mistaking the challenge in his voice. “If our roles were reversed, could you walk away?”

      She sprinkled sugar over the cocoa frosting of the cappuccino and watched the froth start to dissipate like so many of her hopes and dreams. “No, I couldn’t.”

      A muscle worked along his jawline. “Yet you expect me to be able to?”

      “You’ve been out of her life for almost two years, two years in which I’ve been the only mother she’s known. You said yourself I’ve done a good job.” She didn’t add that they were years in which she had fixed him in her mind as an uncaring monster. Confusion spilled through her as she was forced to confront the reality of a man determined to get his child back at all costs. Hardly the image of a monster.

      “It doesn’t change the facts. I’m her father,” he said, confirming her turbulent thoughts. He cupped both hands around his coffee, then flexed his fingers as if reaching a decision. “I hoped we could reach an agreement without this, Zoe, but your stubbornness leaves me no option.”

      Iced water trickled down her spine. “To do what?”

      He looked up, his eyes alight with purpose. “I’ve been checking. I thought you simply sold real estate, but you hold a much more senior job in property management, don’t you?”

      What was he getting at? “Yes,” she admitted cautiously. “I’m only handling the sale of the Strathfield place as a favor to the owner.”

      “For whom you manage several apartment blocks?” She nodded again. “Which means you collect the rents, find tenants, solve their problems and generally take care of things for the owner. It must take up a lot of your time.”

      “I have plenty of time to be a mother to Genie, if that’s what you’re implying.”

      His eyes snapped fire. “I’m not implying anything. I’m stating facts. Your work takes up a good deal of time.”

      A hollow sensation invaded her. His spies must have been thorough for him to know so much about her. “It doesn’t mean Genie’s neglected,” she asserted. “I love her. I work hard to give her everything she deserves. As a foster mother, I get a welfare payment but it doesn’t stretch to the life I want for her.”