Emma Darcy - The Billionaire's New Year Gift

He thought for a moment. “One of women on the foundation board chairs an annual luncheon and fashion show that makes a mint for the Seattle Opera Guild. Maybe your girlfriend’s assistant could do something like that in Portland.”

“Think she’d be willing to talk to Amy?”

“Amy’s the assistant?”

J.T. nodded.

“I can’t imagine that she wouldn’t.”

J.T. seemed relieved. “Let me run this by Amy, then. If she thinks it’s something she can handle, I’ll get back to you.”

“Sure. Not a problem.” Alex drank some of his beer. “You hungry?”

“Getting there.”

“I’m starving. How about I throw something together for us to eat?”

“What did you have in mind?”

“Paella,” he said, heading back into the kitchen. “I picked up shrimp and sausage at the market last night. That sound okay?”

“You can make paella?”

Alex just shook his head and laughed. J.T., Justin, and Gray were all intelligent, successful men. But their idea of cooking was limited to grilling steaks or chicken.

“Then it sounds great,” J.T. said.

As Alex began his preparations with J.T. watching, he tried to remember the last time he’d shared a meal with one of his brothers, and he couldn’t.

Harry’s bride-hunt idea might be unconventional, perhaps even crazy, but it had accomplished something unexpected. It had brought Alex and his brothers closer together.

And for that, Alex was grateful.

* * *

J.T.’s visit had got Alex thinking, and he’d decided he really needed to find out more about P.J. before he made any kind of move—for two reasons. One, even though she seemed to be exactly the kind of woman he wanted, and it was hard to believe she was hiding anything, only a fool would take someone on face value, and he wasn’t a fool. Two, if she was already spoken for, he’d have to look elsewhere for his bride.

The first thing he did was Google her. Several items with either the initials P.J . or the name Kincaid came up, but those didn’t apply. Then he saw an article that had appeared in the Seattle Times about someone named Paige Jeffers Kincaid.

He clicked on the article, dated April of the previous year. It was a write-up about Peter Prescott Kincaid, CEO of Kincaid Industries, whose ancestors had made fortunes in lumber and shipbuilding. Paige Jeffers Kincaid was one of Peter Kincaid’s daughters. At the time the article was written, she was twenty-nine years old.

Alex frowned. Could P.J. be Paige Jeffers Kincaid? The age was about right. Too bad there wasn’t a picture with the article.

He went back to the Google home page and entered Paige Jeffers Kincaid . Several items appeared and he scrolled down until he found one with a picture.

The picture accompanied an article about Paige Kincaid’s graduation from a private girls’ high school where she’d been valedictorian of her class.

The picture showed a fresh-faced, serious-looking P.J. Alex stared at the photo for a long time. The article called her an heiress. “Heiress to a great fortune,” it said. “The third of Peter Prescott Kincaid’s four children,” it said, “who will be attending Stanford in the fall.”

At first, he was indignant. What the hell was she doing , pretending to be an ordinary woman working at an ordinary job? Before long, though, amusement supplanted the indignation. She was doing exactly what he was doing. How could he be angry with her? He’d be willing to bet every single thing she’d told him had been the truth.

Well, well, well. This changed everything. And yet, did it? After all, if Alex did marry P.J., no one could ever accuse her of wanting his money.

So now he knew half of what he needed to know. And he’d just bet Rick could supply the other half. He decided the first chance he got, he would quiz Rick about her.

It was Wednesday before he got the chance. The two of them were eating lunch together in the cafeteria and Rick mentioned something P.J. had said earlier. “Hey,” Alex said after he’d finished telling the anecdote, “I’ve been meaning to ask you. What’s P.J.’s story?”

Rick, who had just taken a huge bite of his burger, chewed and swallowed before giving Alex a knowing grin. “I knew you liked her.”

“I’m just curious about her. You have to admit, she’s not exactly the kind of woman you’d expect to find in a warehouse.”

“Yeah,” Rick agreed. “I figured out a long time ago she comes from a different background than most of the women at the center. More educated.” He looked at Alex speculatively. “Kinda like you.”

“ Me? ”

“It’s obvious you’re a helluva lot more educated than the rest of us, Alex. Lotta the guys been wondering what you’re doing at the center.”

Alex winced. And here he thought he’d been fitting in so well.

“It’s no big deal,” Rick continued. “Most of ’em figure you got your reasons for working there. Hell, we all got our reasons. Anyway, I think P.J.’s family probably has some money or something. She pretends she’s like the rest of us, but you can tell she comes from a privileged background. I mean, even the way she talks is different, you know? Something must have happened, though,” Rick added, “because here she is.”

“Happened with her family, you mean?”

“Yeah. Maybe they don’t get along.”

Alex nodded. Yet on the night he’d met her jogging she’d mentioned having a date with her sister for dinner and the other night at the Thai place she’d said her family all lived in the area. She hadn’t sounded as if they were estranged or anything. On the other hand, she might have felt she didn’t know him well enough to mention any problems they might have. He certainly hadn’t said anything about his family. “Does she ever talk about them?”

Rick shook his head. “One time she just said they didn’t see eye to eye.”

That could have been a reference to the differences she’d mentioned regarding her job choice. Or it could be something deeper. Maybe she’s got a mother like mine . “How long has she worked for the company?”

“She started about six months before I did. In fact, we worked on the same team for a while.”

Alex wondered if Rick had resented the fact P.J. had been promoted to a supervisory position and he hadn’t.

“But it was obvious from the beginning she wouldn’t stay a picker for long,” Rick said. “She’s too smart.”

“Did you mind that? That she got promoted and you didn’t?”

“Me? Hell, no. I don’t want to be in management. Nothing but headaches managing people.”

Alex smiled. Rick was right. In fact, managing the staff at the foundation was Alex’s least favorite part of the job. Thank God for Marti. She was a jewel when it came to getting people to do their jobs without resentment or problems.

“P.J.’s a good boss. Lots better than I would have been,” Rick said.

“Wonder why she’s not married,” Alex commented, keeping his voice casual as he got to what he really wanted to know.

“Now that I can answer.” Rick grinned. “She doesn’t believe in marriage. Said there’s no way she’s ever gonna let some man order her around.”

Alex chuckled in spite of himself. That sounded like P.J. “Think she means it?”

“I’ve never known P.J. to say anything she doesn’t mean.”

The words were hardly out of Rick’s mouth when a voice behind Alex said, “Who’s taking my name in vain?”

Alex turned around. P.J. stood there, hands on her denim-clad hips, a mock frown on her face.

“We were just sayin’ what a great boss you are, boss,” Rick said.