Baby Under the Christmas Tree. Teresa Carpenter
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the new team commercials to finish up this week,” she reminded Ray. “Plus I’m working with the printers on the brochure for the owners’ meeting at the end of the month.”
“So get Jenna to help you.” He dismissed her workload. “It’s that or I assign her to Max and I’d rather not do that.”
Everything in Elle rebelled at that option. Elle had taken the girl under her wing and mentored her. Jenna was fresh and bright and enthusiastic. She had a lot of talent and potential, but she still held the players in awe. The Beast would eat her alive.
Not to mention this deal had disaster written all over it.
Jenna would be out of her depth and Max would walk all over her, which meant Elle would probably be called on to fix anything that went wrong. She chewed on her lower lip, knowing it would be so much better to be in control and prevent those mistakes from happening to begin with.
But if things went south, she could kiss her plans for advancement goodbye. And with Max’s kiss still tingling on her tongue she knew she risked everything if she took the job. She made one last stab at salvation.
“Are you sure this situation doesn’t require your special touch?” she asked hopefully. After all he was retiring, his career couldn’t be hurt.
“No time. I have to hold Natalie’s hand for the whole Wish upon a Puck gala event. It’s only three weeks away now. The woman can’t make a decision to save her life. Tell me again how I got stuck with this assignment?”
“You and the owner go way back and his delicate daughter knows you and feels comfortable working with you, because she knows you’re a pushover.”
A snort came down the line.
“See, that’s why I need you on this Beasley issue. You see the big picture and can cut through the bull. What’s it going to be? Are you going to take it on or should I send Jenna over?”
“You know he’ll just push her around.”
“And she’s not your little sister. It’s a tough business. The blinders have to come off some time.”
Dang it. Dang it. Dang it. Elle sighed. If she didn’t take it she’d be letting both herself and him down. And in her heart she knew she’d be letting Troy down. Hadn’t she vowed to do her best by him last night?
“I’ll do it. But you have to back me up, Ray. Tell him my word is law.”
“I already have,” he told her as if he’d never been in any doubt she’d agree. “Keep me in the loop. I’ll be monitoring the situation. And Elle.”
“Yes?”
“This is a sensitive issue and I trust you to be on top of it. I know you have your eye on the directorship when I retire next year. Handle this right and you’ll be sitting pretty.”
With that the line went dead.
Elle slowly closed her phone. It was already ugly.
Making it through this assignment with her job intact might be the least of her worries. She was going to have to do her best to not outright kill the man.
* * *
“If you have custody, why is Troy living with his mother?” Elle thrust a fragrant bag branded with familiar golden arches into Max’s arms when he opened the door to her almost exactly an hour later.
“Really?” He popped a hash-brown potato stick into his mouth and pulled a sausage-and-egg sandwich from the bag. “She’s his mother, and I travel more than half the year.”
“Huh. So why petition for custody to begin with?” She powered through to the kitchen, where he’d set up Troy in a high chair with cereal loops on the tray.
“Because I prefer to be the one to say how much I pay for child support.” He unwrapped the sandwich, cut it in half and gave part to Troy.
“What do you pay her?” Elle asked as she sat at the island and pulled a computer pad from her purse.
“Why? What difference does it make?”
She sighed. “This is going to take a really long time if you’re going to question everything I ask. I need to get a feel for this situation before I can format a plan.”
He considered that, saw the sound reasoning. Still, he hated discussing his private life, exposing vulnerabilities to a near stranger, no matter how good she tasted.
“Four thousand a month. And I bought a house for them in the best school district in San Diego.”
He wasn’t cheap, damn it. But he didn’t like being taken advantage of and Amber had crossed that line when she deliberately got pregnant.
Emptying the fast-food bag, he poked a straw into an orange-juice carton and added it and some hash browns to Troy’s meal before taking the rest to a seat on the opposite end of the island from Elle. He looked at the pile of sandwiches and potatoes and grunted in approval. At least she recognized a man his size required a decent amount of food.
He frowned, noticing Elle wore her usual buttoned-up, straight-lines professional wear, with her hair once again pinned up in a tidy bun. He much preferred her in the clingy sweater and swinging ponytail. But now he thought of it, he should be happy for the professional armor she insisted on wearing. It helped to remind both of them that their association was totally work-related.
What had possessed him to kiss her?
He’d wanted her help, of course, and had thought to get his way by the usual means, a little charm, a little unemotional sex. Who knew her frozen facade hid such a wanton?
He did. He could tell himself he’d forgotten her taste, the perfect fit of her in his arms, the way she lit up with passion. But he was lying to himself.
He thought about that for a heartbeat, two. And decided he could live with that.
“Is the title of the house in her name or yours?”
“Mine.”
“Does she have a job?”
“No.”
Just like at the Gala, one taste of her and he’d known he needed more, which should have warned him to walk away. Again.
Instead he’d sampled her a second time. A mistake because he already longed for more. He studied her lips even as he remembered Ray’s orders to stay clear of her. Max wasn’t much for rules but he decided to behave himself. He needed her help.
Plus he valued his freedom. And his family jewels.
Now he thought about it he’d clearly experienced a touch of temporary insanity when he suggested they had a mutual attraction. That was just plain nuts.
“So,” she continued her interrogation, “by taking Troy, you’re threatening her livelihood?”
“Yes. And she’ll fight tooth and nail to keep it.”
“Have you had concerns about Amber’s care of Troy before now?”
“Not really.” He shook his head. “Mostly because she’s not the one who usually takes care of him. Her mother does. Donna’s great with Troy.”
“So what’s changed?”
“Donna met a guy who lives in Las Vegas. He’s in town two or three times a month for business. And now she’s been flying over there to see him. I’ve got the feeling Troy’s the only thing keeping her here, and I expect that to change soon.”
Elle typed away on her pad. “So more of Troy’s care has fallen onto Amber.”
“Yeah. Or, more accurately, onto whoever she can con into taking him. And then she forgets he exists until she’s ready to come back again.” And the woman had the nerve to call him an absentee father. “It was bad enough when it was me or her best friend she left hanging. I didn’t know