I hate working for Logan Ray.

He’s arrogant. He’s demanding. He’s impossible to please. He may be a genius and one of the hardest working people I’ve ever come across, but he’s still a total jerk, and I don’t want to work with him at all.

I love working for Logan’s company, which is maybe a little ironic. The company culture is great and relaxed, people work hard but they don’t go crazy, and everyone tends to really care about each other. It’s a fantastic place to work, plus the pay is pretty good, and I could use the money.

I’m not high up on the marketing department ladder, which means I get most of the assignments that other people don’t want. I work on the small projects, and more often than not I’m overlooked for promotions and raises. It’s not because my work isn’t good, it’s just because I work on projects that nobody really notices.

So you’d think that when Logan Ray has some important pet charity project, I wouldn’t be anywhere near it. A project that he cares deeply about should go to one of the top marketing managers. But that’s not the case at all.

Nobody wanted to touch this thing. Yeah, it’s going to be a fantastic building and it’s going to do a lot of good for the city. Everyone wants it to get built and to be successful, but nobody wants to be the person that has to personally work with Logan.

He’s strict and he expects late nights. He’s going to be very much a part of every aspect of this building, which means I’ll have to get his approval on every little detail, and that’s going to be a nightmare. Sure, he’s handsome and can even be charming sometimes, but it’s still horrible to be held up to such impossible standards.

But I’m sick of being overlooked for everything. I want to move up in the world, not stay at the same junior position that I started out at two years ago. When this building project came up, and everyone treated it like it’s toxic sludge, I decided to volunteer to lead the marketing side.

After some discussion, I got the project, probably because I was the only person willing to do it. And it’s nights like this one that I totally regret it.

Logan is impossible to please. He holds himself to the same standards that he holds everyone else, but that doesn’t really make it any easier. He shoots down every one of my ideas, and essentially makes me redo absolutely everything. That’s why we’re working late into the night in his own personal office, which happens to be attached to his personal apartment. I don’t know many men that live in the same place that they work, but that’s Logan Ray. He’s one of the richest men in the world for a reason.

Of course, there’s tension between us when I’m working late into the night with him. I want to smash his nose in sometimes, or yell at him, or just scream in general out of frustration. But I can’t help but notice how handsome he is, how muscular he is under his expensive suits, and how sometimes his eyes roam over my body as I pass him a folder or bend over to pick something up. The thing that drives me crazy is, he doesn’t even try to hide it.

Of course, I’m keeping this professional. I can barely stand working for the man, I don’t know what it would be like if I did something so stupid like getting personal with him.

Which is why it’s a total nightmare when we step out into the hallway and there’s a baby on the ground, staring up at us with a cute, bored expression. I don’t know why, but I grab the note, not really thinking too much about it. In retrospect, I should have known better. I should have run away from him right there on the spot, or refused to look at the note, or anything other than what I ended up doing.

Instead, I read the note, and handed it over to him.

Logan, I’m sorry I have to do this. Her name is Alexa and I can’t handle her anymore. She’s your daughter. Please take care of her, I know you will. Jessica.

He doesn’t react right away. He reads it once, twice, and finally folds the note up and shoves it in his pocket. I’m horrified and terrified and I have no clue what’s going to happen. This is pretty serious. Some woman he got pregnant just dropped a baby off on his front doorstep. Who knows how long the baby has been out here.

I bend down and unstrap her from the car seat and lift her up into my arms. She’s a healthy looking child with a cute little smile and light blue eyes.

And she definitely needs to be changed.

I start looking around and notice a smaller bag tucked in behind the car seat. I put Alexa back in the seat before opening the bag up. Inside are a few changes of clothing and some fresh diapers, which is a relief. I don’t know where we’d find diapers this late.

“What’s that?” Logan asks, staring at me.

“Looks like a diaper bag,” I say. “She needs to be changed.”

“Changed?” He looks like I just told him that Alexa is part lizard person.

“Changed, like, her diaper,” I say to him, standing. “Do you know how to change a baby?”

He shakes his head. “I’ve never even held a baby before.”

Shit. I shake my head, frowning. I know I have to make a choice right here and now. I look down at Alexa, and she’s just so cute. I look back at Logan, and he’s clearly in over his head. I know this man can be a tough boss sometimes, even impossible to work with, but he obviously needs help.

“Come on,” I say. “I’ll show you. Grab that car seat and follow me.”

He does as I ask without a single comment. Normally he has lots to say, but apparently he’s too much in shock to question anything right now.

I carry the bag and he carries the car seat. We head back into the conference room and I direct him to place the seat down on top of the table. I spread out a little blanket that’s inside of the bag and lift Alexa out of her seat.

“Watch carefully,” I say to him. I take Alexa out of her little baby pajamas before rolling her up and removing the diaper. Logan stares the whole time, a little wide-eyed, as I clean Alexa off and get her in a new diaper. When I’m finished, I put her pajamas back on.

“Simple,” I say to him, lifting Alexa up into my arms. “Right, little girl?”

She smiles and burbles a little bit, but obviously she’s exhausted.

“How do you know how to do that?” he asks me suddenly.

He’s looking at me a little strange, and it sends an odd thrill down my spine. It’s like he’s really looking at me, really seeing me for the first time. I don’t really understand it, but it makes me feel good, really good.

“My little sister is twelve years younger than me,” I say. “She was a little surprise. I helped change her and watch her when I was a kid.”

“That must have been hard,” he says.

“Not really. I didn’t mind. She’s family, after all.” I cock my head at him and he’s still staring at me. Alexa is practically sleeping in my arms. “Uh, stupid question, but you don’t have a crib, do you?”

He shakes his head, coming back to reality. “No crib,” he confirms.

“You need to put her to bed,” I say. “And tomorrow, there’s a lot of stuff to get.”

He stares at me blankly for a second. “Like what?” he asks finally.

“Diapers, formula, a crib, probably a changing station, maybe a diaper genie, you know, baby stuff.”

“Baby stuff,” he repeats, and I can tell he’s not taking any of this stuff in.

I don’t know what to do. Logan is clearly not equipped to deal with this. He obviously doesn’t know the first thing about taking care of a baby. I can’t exactly leave Alexa with him, because he wouldn’t know what to do.

Then again, this isn’t my problem. I just work with him. Logan has enough money that he can buy whatever he needs for Alexa and then some. He could hire ten nannies if that’s what he wanted.

But right now, he can’t do any of that. It’s too late for him to find someone to help, and stores aren’t open for him to buy what he needs. I don’t want to get involved in this, because I can already tell that it’s a bad idea, but he needs help. And this baby needs someone to watch her.

He watches me for a second before taking a deep breath. “Everly, I’m going to ask something of you.”

I bite my lip, already knowing what he’s about to say. “I’ll help,” I say quickly.

The relief is evident. “I need to make some calls. I don’t… I don’t know what I’m going to do.”

“I understand. I’ll help, but just for tonight.” I hesitate for a second. “Do you have a cardboard box?”

He cocks his head. “Why do you need a box?”

“For the baby to sleep in. We’ll put some blankets in there and keep her next to the bed.”

“You can’t put a baby in a box,” he says, a little surprised.

“Sure, you can. Do you have any better ideas?”

He hesitates. “I have some in storage we can use.”

“The cleaner, the better.”

“Follow me.”

We head down the hall and around the corner. He leads me into his personal apartment, and I can feel my heart hammering in my chest as I cradle Alexa in my arms.

His apartment is beautiful, which is what I expected. It’s immaculately clean, modern, and expensively furnished. Everything looks like it belongs in a museum or in a magazine.

“Wait here,” he says. The main area is an open floor plan that’s part modern kitchen and part beautiful living room. There’s an incredible view of the city out his windows, with no other buildings in sight, which means nobody can look in even if they wanted to. I stand at those windows and stare out at the gorgeous view as Logan disappears into the back.

Alexa fusses a bit and I know she just wants to sleep. “It’s okay, sweetie,” I whisper to her, rocking her softly. “We’ll get you down soon. I know it’s late.”

I shouldn’t stay over here. I don’t even know what I’m doing in Logan’s apartment, holding his baby. He seems to be getting his faculties back together after the shock of finding out about Alexa, but he still doesn’t know a thing about babies. I can help him overnight tonight, just this once, and tomorrow he can hire people to him figure this all out.

I can just keep telling myself that I’m doing it for the baby, not for Logan. Somehow, that makes it a little bit easier.

Logan comes back a few minutes later with a pretty big cardboard box. “Perfect,” I say. “Now we need blankets.”

He disappears again and returns with some very soft blankets. We carry the box into the living room and line it with the blankets before I slowly place Alexa down on her back in the little soft nest.

She wriggles a little bit, but she’s obviously going to fall asleep. We watch her together for a second. I glance at Logan and he has a strange look on his face.

He looks back at me and nods. “Thank you, Everly,” he says. “I’m going to make some phone calls. Do you mind?”

“No, that’s okay,” I say, feeling awkward. “I, uh, I’ll just keep an eye on her.”

“Make yourself at home. Whatever you want. Feel free to make yourself something to eat or to get changed into something from my closet if you want.” He turns to leave but pauses and looks back at me. “I really appreciate this, Everly. And please… I think it goes without saying, but this is a very personal matter.”

“Of course,” I say quickly. “I wouldn’t dream of telling anyone.”

He nods, satisfied. “I appreciate it.” He turns and leaves the room.

I watch him go for a second, at a total loss.

I’m standing in Logan Ray’s personal apartment, watching the baby that he just found out about, and apparently I’m allowed to wear his clothes. I don’t know what to think. This is the craziest situation I’ve ever been in.

And yet… I want to be here. I want to help Logan. He may be a hard boss, but he’s clearly at a loss, and he needs someone to help him. I can be that person, at least for now. Besides, if I’m lucky, Alexa will sleep most of the night anyway.

I head into the kitchen to make myself something to eat, all the while keeping an eye on little sleeping Alexa.