First Love (Love Collection)

by Natalie Ann

  “True,” he said, just bringing it back to his attention that this was exactly what he was doing with Lauren. As if it wasn’t weighing enough on his mind, this was coming up. “Just move one of them.”

  “That’s the problem. Brandy is the store manager and she’s good. Really good. She’s turned that store around in the past year and I’d hate to move or lose her.”

  “Then move the assistant manager,” he said.

  “The closest store to move him is exactly an hour away. He’s really good too, and they work well together. They compliment each other work-wise.”

  “It seems other ways too,” he said, grinning.

  Judy smiled. “True. They are so far out that the next store is exactly an hour away from their home like I said. The problem is, Todd is a single father now. His wife left him with the kids and one of them has health issues. I don’t feel right doing that to him when he needs to be close by for any issues that might come up.”

  “What did HR say?”

  “That rules are rules and keeping them together was going to cause more problems in the store. Morale issues with other staff, blah, blah, blah. It’s not happening though. It’s not a secret they’re in a relationship. I talked to other department managers and they’re all fine with it.”

  “What do you want me to do? Overrule HR?”

  He could. He wanted to, but he needed to hear everything right now. If people thought they could run to him when they didn’t like answers, he’d lose respect and control in departments that provided the structure.

  “Well, if I don’t do what they say, then it’s on my shoulders. You know I don’t like to color outside the lines.”

  He laughed. “This store was in bad shape before Brandy took it over, correct?”

  He remembered that. That he dumped a lot of money into it and rebranded it. It was one of the original stores and in the past year, things had really turned around like Judy said. Revenue was higher, and their customer service was through the roof positive on all their mystery shops. Better than most of the other stores.

  He did look over all those reports and remembered anything that was significant. That store had been in talks to be closed but Brandy had phoned him personally and said she could turn it around. He’d promoted her to manager after the one before her was canned for allowing the store to decline so much when Jace took over.

  “Yes. She’s doing a terrific job and I’d hate to pull her. She’s really well liked. I think she was in a domestic violence situation, so many were happy to see her get out of her marriage. Todd’s situation was a bit odd too. I think his ex was just an overall loser. I mean she did up and leave him with two small kids. Most of the employees are actually rooting for the two of them. Trust me, there are no bad feelings there.”

  “For now, let’s leave it as it is. Schedule a conference call with me, you, and the two of them and we’ll talk about this and figure out a way that they both have to report to you and not have Todd reporting to Brandy. Are you okay with that? It’s more of a burden on you.”

  “I’m fine with it. I guess I’m rooting for them too. I’d like to give this a chance. If things get sticky then we’ll separate them.”

  “I don’t see a reason we can’t keep it as it is,” he said. “Once we get the details taken care of, I’ll deal with HR and let them know my reasons for not following protocol on it.”

  “Thanks, Jace. Don’t take this the wrong way, but your father wouldn’t have even taken the time to see me let alone listened to this. He’d say he had other things and rules were in place for a reason. I’m glad to know you’re willing to bend things a bit before you drop the hammer.”

  He smiled, glad someone thought that way, but not thrilled with the hammer dropping reference. That was what his father did whenever he was ready to make cuts or changes and he knew people wouldn’t be thrilled with it.

  Employees heard the hammer reference and everyone got paranoid.

  A few minutes went by and Katy was back and knocking on his door. “Hi, Jace. Can I get you some lunch today?”

  He glanced up and saw her standing there with a short skirt on, sexy heels, and a shirt that was showing way more than it should. “I’m good. I’ve got plans, so I’ll be leaving around twelve thirty.”

  “Do you want me to reschedule your meeting with Lauren then?” she asked, her hand on her hip. He heard her name called and angled his head to see Scott, the Operations Director from his other venture standing there waving at her, winking, then walking away. He didn’t know Scott was in the building but put it aside for now.

  He looked at his schedule quickly and saw he had a meeting with Lauren at one thirty. He should reschedule it himself, but it might stand out if he did. “Sure. That’d be great. Tell her I’ll find a time this week.”

  Katy smirked and then walked back to her desk where he could hear her voice loudly telling Lauren on the phone that Jace had plans and needed to cancel. The tone was a bit snottier than it should be, but he let it go too. He’d deal with it later. There were more important things than petty employees.

  Romantic Move

  Lauren hung the phone up and turned back to her computer.

  She wasn’t hurt. Not really.

  Liar.

  It was not the first time Katy had called her to say Jace was rescheduling a meeting.

  Just because Jace normally sent her an email or text stating it himself didn’t matter. It wasn’t unheard of to have his secretary do it.

  Nor was it the first time Katy was an absolute bitch while she was doing it.

  Like she knew Jace and her were seeing each other and was ticked off about it and rubbing it in her face that Jace couldn’t handle it himself.

  But no one could possibly know. She and Jace had just those two dinner dates and then went away over the weekend where no one could see them.

  Since they’d been back in town, Jace hadn’t been as warm with her though.

  She was trying to figure out what she’d done wrong. What she could have done to turn him off. Or if he’d been playing with her all along.

  That he wanted to conquer her and she gave it over so easily.

  But it wasn’t just last Friday night that was so special. It was Saturday too.

  The two of them lying there getting a massage. He’d reached over and grabbed her hand and held it at one point and she thought to herself that it might have been the most romantic move any guy could do. Silly, she knew, but she hadn’t had a lot of happy thoughts or moments in her life. And that he was holding her hand in front of people made her feel giddy and young again. She couldn’t remember the last time her hand was held.

  Then they’d gone shopping like he’d said, but she wouldn’t allow him to buy her clothes. They might have slept together and he paid for the whole weekend, but she could buy her own clothes and told him that.

  Maybe that was what he was ticked about. That she wasn’t fawning over him and letting him do everything.

  She had guessed he liked to control things. Well, that was just too damn bad. She didn’t need someone controlling her or buying her things and he was just going to have to get used to that.

  And if he couldn’t, then she was thinking maybe what started so quickly might be ending.

  ***

  Jace walked up the steps to his father’s house and let himself in. His father was sitting in the kitchen with a beer in front of him.

  “Since when do you drink this early in the day?” His father wasn’t known to drink much more than scotch a few times a week and even then it was at night.

  “I was in the mood for a good beer. One of my buddies dropped this off the other day. Do you want one?”

  “No. I’m good. I’ve got to go back to work after this.”

  His father waved his hand. “Take the rest of the day off and relax.”

  “Who are you and what happened to my father?”

  Jason Stratton was not sitting in front of him trying to act more like a friend t
han a father. It seemed his world was turning on more than one axis lately. Between his relationship with Lauren and being so confused over that, trying to get a handle on the sub and frozen yogurt franchise while running the grocery store chain, and now this.

  His father laughed. “Live a little, Jace. Though, it seems to me you are.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “You had a nice weekend away.”

  “Son of a bitch. You’re still following everything I do.”

  “Relax,” his father said. “No. You told me that you were going to Connecticut to meet with another franchise owner. I went by your house on Saturday and the housekeeper was there. She said you were out of town until Sunday.”

  “Oh.”

  “Listen, Jace. I made a lot of mistakes with you when you were growing up and I admit that, but I wouldn’t do that to you as an adult. You can make your own choices in life and so far it seems to be working for you.”

  “Yeah.” He wasn’t going to confide in his father he was running on fumes trying to keep everything straight and in line.

  Or that he was spending more time focusing on a woman when he should be focusing on work. That would be the last thing his father would approve of, even if he did mellow a bit lately.

  “So tell me what you learned in Connecticut.”

  “I brought Lauren with me and she met with their finance department. I’ve got a lot of data that’s being analyzed and we’re trying to make as many changes as we can without ruffling too many feathers.”

  “You can’t worry about that. You’ve got a business to run. If employees don’t like that, they can find another job.”

  So much for thinking his father had changed. “I’d rather not have everyone walk out the door. I’m weeding out who needs to go. Those that have left so far most likely needed to go anyway.”

  “You’ll figure it out. How is it going with Scott? Is he still giving you grief?”

  He’d kept his father up to date on most things. “Yeah. I found out that Scott tried to buy the business from the Robinsons but couldn’t secure the funding. I think that is part of the bigger issue. He’s been in and out of the office lately, talking with the staff there, meeting other executive managers and setting up plans to move the offices over.”

  “Why are you giving him that freedom?” his father asked.

  “Because I’m trying not to walk in and make massive changes at once. I don’t think it’s the way to go. Besides, like I said, he wanted to buy it, so I’m trying to see what he thought needed to be changed. When he isn’t avoiding me or sucking up, he does talk business and he’s been there for years.”

  “Interesting,” his father said. “Maybe you need to cut ties with him. That bitterness of not getting what he wanted, plus you making changes, probably doesn’t sit well with him. It sounds to me like he’s used to being in charge.”

  “Yeah. The previous owners deferred pretty much everything to him.”

  “All the more reason to cut those ties with a sharp knife now,” his father said, narrowing his eyes. His father would have done that on day one; Jace wanted to at least give Scott a chance.

  “I’m sure it will come to that, but right now I’m gathering some more things with the help of Lauren.”

  “Lauren is the auditor you hired,” his father said.

  “She is. She’s really great. She knows exactly what she’s doing and has been a tremendous help so far.”

  “She came highly recommended,” his father said.

  “What? How do you know her? What do you know about her?” Did his father have spies in the office too? He wouldn’t put it past him.

  “Her professor gave me a call months ago when Lauren applied. Denise Clinton and I have known each other for years. We’ve been on a few local community boards together. She hadn’t realized I wasn’t involved with the day-to-day operations anymore.”

  “Why would she call you over an entry level position?” Maybe Jace could get some insight on Lauren without realizing it.

  “I guess Lauren is a little bit shy. She was going through a rough patch and Denise was afraid that Lauren might not interview well. She wanted to make sure that it wasn’t held against her and that she was given a chance.”

  “Did Denise say what was going on with Lauren?”

  “You spent the weekend with her, didn’t you?”

  “Who?” he asked.

  But his father was still smiling. “Lauren. I said I knew you were gone all weekend and you said you brought Lauren with you.”

  “That doesn’t mean a thing. I could have come back to town with Lauren on Friday after the meeting and left again.”

  “Very true, but you just asked me if I knew anything personal about her and normally you would have just moved on.”

  “So what?” he said to his father. “No lecture or disapproval if I am in a relationship with her.”

  “I’ve been known to sample a few of the females at work. It happens. Not an issue. Just stay honest and find a place to move her when it ends.”

  The last thing he wanted to do was have this in common with his father and said as much. “This is the first time I’ve gotten involved with an employee.”

  “Well, now you know how to handle it when it runs its course.”

  He didn’t want to talk about Lauren or his franchises anymore so they turned their attention to eating the lunch that had been served and he left shortly after.

  When he got back to the office he walked down to Lauren’s office, but she wasn’t at her desk. He turned to leave and saw her standing in the hall talking to one of the guys from marketing.

  There was a lot of flirting being sent Lauren’s way, but she seemed oblivious to it. Then why was he feeling his blood pressure rise with the two of them standing there talking?

  “Lauren,” he said, walking forward.

  “Oh, hi, Jace. I thought you were out the rest of the day.”

  “I just got back if you’ve got time to meet this afternoon.”

  “Sure. I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

  He turned and walked away, then shut his door. Barely two minutes went by before there was a knock and it was opened by Katy. “Lauren says she has a meeting with you, but I reminded her that you canceled. She is insisting you’re meeting now.”

  “She’s right. Send her in.” He’d have to deal with Katy another day. Her attitude was getting old.

  Lauren came in with her laptop and brought it over to the conference room table. He got up to meet her there and before she could sit down he pulled her in his arms and kissed her hard.

  She wasn’t clinging to him even though she wasn’t pushing back. “What was that for?” she asked.

  “I wanted to kiss you,” he said quietly.

  “I thought we talked about this and not doing it at work.”

  “But you were flirting with that toolbag from marketing in the hall just now,” he said.

  She really wasn’t, but the words just tumbled out like the jealous fool he was sounding like.

  “Really? I’d hardly call that flirting. He asked me on a date and I told him no.”

  He wanted to yank her in and claim her as his again. “Did you tell him you were seeing someone?”

  “What’s gotten into you?” she asked, her hands on her hips now. “You’ve barely spoken to me since we’ve gotten back in town, you canceled my meeting and couldn’t even do it in person, and now you want to know if I’m telling someone else I’ve got a boyfriend.”

  When she put it that way he sounded like an ass. “I’ve been busy and so have you. My father wanted to have lunch today so that is where I was. I didn’t know I had to tell you all my moves.”

  “You don’t. You don’t owe me any explanation other than why you just kissed me in this office when we haven’t seen each other since you brought me home on Sunday morning.”

  He looked into her eyes and saw the hurt. He was acting like his father right now, he was pretty sure. What he s
aid he didn’t want to do.

  “I’m sorry. I really have been busy. Things aren’t sitting well with me for the sub franchise. I’m in new territory with you. My father set me off. It’s just all building.”

  “Then talk to me, but don’t treat me like a possession you get to grab when you want. I don’t need that, nor will I take it from anyone, least of all my boss.”

  “Have a seat. You’re right. Let’s start over.”

  “Let’s talk about work. That’s why I’m here. If you want to talk about us, then we can do that after hours. I’d like to think I was mature enough to separate the two.”

  “You hit below the belt when you’re annoyed,” he said, slightly impressed.

  “Just remember that.”

  Can Take It

  Lauren was waiting for Jace in the lobby of his apartment building. Something was definitely going on. The past few times he’d been standing there when she arrived, but now she’d texted him twice already and she was still waiting even though he knew she’d be here around five. His garage door wasn’t even open for her so she’d pulled into the visitor parking lot.

  She’d told him she wasn’t going home, but coming straight from work. No use changing or making plans. They had to talk and that was all she was going to do.

  Since he wasn’t in his office when she left, she fully expected him to be here.

  She was pacing back and forth now, her temper starting to flare. That hardly ever happened, but damn it all. What was going on with him?

  What about “us”? What was going on with us?

  How had one of the best weekends of her life turned into something that was now ulcer inducing?

  “Lauren,” Jace said, racing forward from the hallway. “Sorry, I got held up at work. You left before me.”

  “You weren’t in your office when I left. I even checked.” Katy had been gone so she felt it was safe to peek around the corner. The light was off in his office.