Teresa Southwick - Flirting With the Boss

“What about them?”

“My mother and sister work at Caine Chocolate.”

“Are they in management, too?”

She shook her head. “A college degree is a requirement, and I’m the first in the family to get one. Your grandfather created the position of manager of specialty and seasonal items just for me. He told me the idea came to him out of the blue on my birthday—” She stopped because she was blathering like an idiot.

“When?” Max asked.

“On my birthday. It’s February twenty-ninth.”

“Leap year?”

She nodded. “Jordan and Rachel, my two best friends, were born the same day. Because of the unusual date, our families kept in touch. Since we only have a birthday once every four years, we celebrate together. This year it was in New Orleans.”

“And that’s when my grandfather came up with the idea?”

“Yes,” she said, an odd feeling raising goose bumps on her arms. That was the night they’d recovered the tacky brass lamp, à la Aladdin. The grateful shop owner dressed like a gypsy, had insisted they each rub the lamp and make a wish. Hers had been money and power—not that she was going to share that with Max. He’d think she was crazy.

“Mr. Caine waited to announce my promotion until I had my degree in my hot little hand.” Had her wish been granted with the promotion? No, that was too weird.

Max looked at her. “After doing the math, it occurs to me that it took you a while to get that important piece of paper. I know you’re brighter than the average bear. I have to ask—what took you so long?”

“I had to work full time to pay for college and help out at home. That tends to slow down the process. But I’m determined to make up for lost time.”

“Well your promotion is a good start.” He took a sip of beer. “But I always suspected you were determined enough to take over the world.”

There would never be a better time to ask. “Are you back to take over the company for your grandfather?”

“Why would you think that?”

“Obviously he isn’t getting any younger. His health is fragile. You haven’t been back until now. I just wondered if—”

“The buzzards were circling?” he interrupted, a muscle contracting in his cheek.

“Actually—yes.”

“No.” He met her gaze. “I don’t want or need Caine Chocolate. You have more ties to the company than me. In fact, I could ask you the same thing. Do you have your eye on taking it over?”

“There are a lot of people more qualified than me.”

“But you’re the one who’s making up for lost time.” His eyes narrowed.

“If the opportunity presented itself, I wouldn’t turn it down. But I respect the fact that it’s a family-owned company. If you want to fill in some blanks, there’s one.”

“Okay. But I don’t understand why you’re so hostile.”

It was too much to hope he hadn’t noticed. Normally, she was able to hide her feelings. In fact, she was feeling bad about all the one-liners she’d lobbed his way. And why had she done it? A lot of years had passed since they’d talked and she’d developed a crush on him. Was that enough reason for her grudge? Was she that weird?

Or was it because he’d been her first crush? As hard as she’d tried, she hadn’t been able to forget him, probably because he had been her first. So to speak. The second time she’d let herself care about a man, her bad choice had made her life more difficult than it had to be. But Max had been her first personal experience in the curse of the Gallagher women. He was the first to show her men leave.

And it didn’t bother her anymore that he’d left her. It was the cavalier way he’d completely turned his back on his grandfather that fried her grits. “You think I’m hostile?”

“Come on, Ash. I’m a lot of things, but stupid isn’t one of them.”

“Okay. You want to know why? I’ll tell you. It’s your behavior.”

“Excuse me, but I haven’t seen you for ten years. What do you know about my behavior?”

“I know you walked away without looking back.”

“Has anyone ever told you there are two sides to every story?”

“I’m aware of that. Let me point out that adversity doesn’t build character, it reveals it. Your behavior revealed that when there’s a bump in the road, you’re the kind of person who walks away and never comes back. Instead of trying to work things out.”

“There was nothing to work out.”

Anger ballooned inside her. “If that’s true, why did he hire a detective to find you? Why did he follow your career and save every scrap of information he came across about you?”

“You’d have to ask him.”

“No, I don’t. Because actions speak louder than words,” she said. “The way he repeatedly contacted you about coming back. How profoundly hurt he was when you ignored his seventieth birthday party. He knew you received the invitation, by the way.”

“I was working.”

“That’s not good enough. And you didn’t bother to RSVP. You didn’t even contact him and lie about why you wouldn’t be there. You just ignored him.”

He folded his arms over his chest. “Did it ever occur to you it was kinder that way?”

“No,” she said, and her voice shook.

His gaze narrowed as he studied her. “Are we only talking about the fact that I haven’t been back to see my grandfather?”

“Not entirely.” Not if she was honest.

“Okay. Then you need to give me a little more information.”

“How about the fact that you stood me up?”

“What?” He frowned. “When?”

Oh, swell. He didn’t even remember. Could this get worse? “Never mind. It’s not important. Let’s drop it.”

“Let’s not. You’re ticked off about something. Put it all on the table so I can defend myself.”

She took a deep breath. “Before you left town, I was grounded for a month. The deal was I went from summer school to the chocolate factory so my mother could keep an eye on me while she was at work.”

“I remember.”

“You went out of your way to talk to me. Every day at lunch.” The anticipation of seeing him had been the main reason she’d gotten up every morning during that time. “You even promised me a post-punishment meal, somewhere other than the company cafeteria.”

“I did?”

“Yeah.” Why hadn’t she just agreed that her hostility was all about his grandfather? In this case, honesty was not the best policy. “We had a date…I mean we’d agreed on a place and time to meet. You didn’t show up. A couple days later it was all over town that you’d left.”

He leaned toward her and rested his forearms on the table. “It slipped my mind. I’m sorry.”

“Me, too.” Sorry that the memory could still bother her even a little.

“Did it ever occur to you that I might have had a good reason for leaving?”

“No. I was fourteen.”

“And now you’re twenty-four. A grown-up. Isn’t it possible something came up that took precedence over the plans I made with you?”

She looked at him, remembering. She’d waited hours on her front porch for him to pick her up as promised. Every time the phone had rung, she’d raced inside to see if it was him. But it never was. What was so important that he couldn’t even call to let her know he wouldn’t be there? It took a long time for her to grow up enough to see that she’d been nothing but a sappy dreamer, and he’d duped the dope. And now it didn’t matter.

“Sure, it’s possible,” she said.

“Your sincerity is underwhelming.” A muscle contracted in his jaw. “So I have to conclude that either you blow things out of all reasonable proportion. Or—”

She knew she was going to regret asking. “Or what?”