Underfoot. Leanne Banks
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made a face, but took a long draw.
“I almost lost a big account today.”
Harry nodded, his gaze turning serious. “Almost means you can still keep it.”
“Yeah,” Walker said. “Bellagio Shoes.”
Harry’s eyes widened. “Bellagio. That Tarantino girl who dumped you at that altar in front of God and everybody. Wasn’t she related to those Bellagios?”
“Yeah,” Walker said and took a drink of water, wishing it was bourbon, not because he’d lost Brooke, but because he didn’t want to lose the Bellagio account.
“That’s why I never got married,” Harry said.
“Because you were afraid of being dumped at the altar?”
“No. Because of the Gordon curse,” Harry said. “We stink in the marriage and fatherhood department.”
“I thought it was more of a fatherhood issue. Brooke and I had agreed not to have children.”
Harry snorted. “Talk to your mom if you think it’s just fatherhood. How you gonna keep the account?”
“They like me and trust me. They know I deliver. But they probably think I should have been able to keep my woman under control.” Walker took another draw from his bottle of water. “I need to produce a bang-up commercial fast. If I can pull a few key Bellagio people onto my side, I think I can keep the account. Especially since I’m staying in Atlanta.”
Walker thought of Trina and frowned. He wondered why she had been so reticent with him. He’d enjoyed their friendship before he’d left for France. Trina had been fun to be around. He’d felt as if he could let down his guard with her and everything would be okay. Plus she had assured him that their one-night stand hadn’t meant anything to her. Now, he didn’t know what to think.
“By the way, your phone rang a couple of times, but I didn’t pick up,” Harry said. “Caller ID looked like it may have been your brother.”
“BJ usually calls the house first,” Walker said, wondering if his brother’s latest troubles were financial or personal. “I’ll call him. Enjoy the game, but don’t sneak any more cigars or beer tonight.”
Harry made a face. “Okay,” he conceded. “I won’t tonight.”
Walker walked upstairs to his home office and sank into the leather chair behind his desk. He picked up the phone and dialed the latest number his brother had given him at the same time he opened a desk drawer and pulled out his checkbook. Conversations with BJ almost always involved his checkbook. He didn’t resent it. He was just glad he had the ability. Someone had to make up for his father.
One half of a ring later, he heart his brother’s voice. “Walker?”
“BJ, what’s up?” Walker asked, rubbing his face. “Everything okay?”
“Could be better,” BJ said. “I got a woman pregnant.”
Walker’s stomach clenched.
“Are you sure the baby is yours? You use protection, don’t you?”
“Well, yeah, but this girl, she seems pretty sure.”
“Girl,” Walker echoed. “Tell me she’s over eighteen,” he said, praying his brother hadn’t knocked up an underage teenager.
“She’s twenty-two,” BJ said and paused. “I think she wants me to marry her.”
Walker closed his eyes and could barely stifle a groan. His younger brother had tried to pull off a lot of crazy ventures over the years—trying to use chicken manure for fuel, pet time-share sales, propelling a chain letter he was certain would yield him a fortune, real estate agent for a Caribbean island that didn’t exist.
Walker had bailed him out with repeated warnings. He and his brother parted ways on many things, but one area on which they’d always agreed had been the subject of fathering. Don’t just say no. Say never.
“Walker, I know we always said we wouldn’t have any children, but I gotta tell you I want to be a good father for this baby. I want to be a husband for Danielle. I never thought I would say it, but I want to be a family man.”
For how long? Walker wondered. In all the time Walker had known his brother, BJ had exhibited the staying power of a fly. “BJ, this isn’t another business investment you can dump and move on to another one. This is a human being. A person. Do you really want to take on that responsibility? And this girl? Do you love her enough to stick with her and try to get a real job and earn a real living?”
“I know the baby’s a human being, and yeah, I do love Danielle. I have for a while now. I just didn’t want to tell you. I can tell you don’t believe in me. Can’t say I blame you.”
“I didn’t say I don’t believe in you,” Walker replied. “I’ve always said you had great potential.”
“And you’ve always gotten me out of trouble. You know I can be a hard worker, though,” BJ said.
“Yeah,” Walker admitted. Hard, just not all that focused.
“So, Danielle and I think it would be better for us to move to Atlanta. I’d like to go to work for you, big brother. It’s always been my dream.”
Alarm shot through him. Despite the Bellagio principle of having all those relatives work for the same organization, he’d always firmly believed that family working for family was not a good idea. In fact, it was a horrible idea.
“I can do it,” BJ continued. “I’ll do anything you ask. I’ll run errands. I’ll answer the phone. I’ll help you sell advertising. Just give me a chance.”
Walker cleared his throat. “I’m not sure you would be happy in the advertising field, BJ. You have a lot of entrepreneurial spirit. That’s great, but sometimes it makes it hard to take orders from someone else.”
“Walker, I need to make a fresh start if I’m going to make this work. I need your help like I’ve never needed it before. I gotta grow up and be somebody else’s daddy.”
THE NEXT MORNING, Trina’s supervisor, Ben Ferguson, invited her into his office and closed the door behind him. First clue that something unusual was up.
He sat across from Trina and looked at her for a moment. She returned his glance calmly, although her stomach twisted.
“There are some changes in the works. I need to know if you want my job.”
She blinked. “Excuse me?”
“If I were to move up, are you sure you want my job?”
“Of course I do,” she said. “I’ve always wanted your job.”
He laughed. “That’s what I like about you, Trina. You want my job, but you don’t stab me in the back to get it. You help me get promoted instead.”
She smiled. “What I like about you is that you realize I’m trying to help you.”
“You’ve made me look good. Good enough that I’m filling in for Anthony Tarantino’s VP spot this summer. He’s talking about retiring.”
“That’s great,” she said. “You’ve got to be pleased.”
“I am,” he said. “But I’m going to be in a limbo phase where I’m filling in for Anthony at the same time I’m still acting PR supervisor. If you’re really sure you want my position, then I need you to step up now.”
“I always have.”
“I hesitate to mention this, but you’ve had a baby and you’re a single parent. Is that going to be a problem?”
“Absolutely not,” Trina said, although she felt the slightest twist of uncertainty. “Women have been successfully multitasking for ages.