Blake
Vera caught me as I was heading back to my office. “Your three forty-five appointment is in your office.”
“Who—?” But I then I saw the expression on Vera’s face, and I knew. “Michelle.”
“Yes. She insisted on waiting in there.”
And that said everything you needed to know about Michelle. Pushy. Entitled.
I stormed into my office, knowing this had to end. A promise was a promise, but Michelle was taking advantage of this situation. Enough was enough.
She stood when I entered and leaned her back against my desk. She wore an ankle-length fur coat though the weather outside was in the sixties. Her hair was swept up in an elaborate style, and her face was fully-made up. Battle paint, it seemed like. As if she was expecting an argument.
“What’s this about a diamond necklace?”
“Necklace? What necklace?” Michelle asked, her words as insincere as her tone. “Oh, do you mean this one?” Her hands met at her waist and then she pulled her coat open.
She was wearing the necklace, all right. I could see it sparkling from here. She wore the necklace… and high heels… and nothing else.
Holy shit.
Exactly how many times was I going to walk in on a mostly naked woman in my own office?
Michelle’s smile was amused. Knowing. And inviting.
And it was the only part of her I was willing to look at.
“Put your coat back on,” I growled.
Instead, she spread her arms wider, opening the coat more. Her look was both an invitation—and a challenge.
Nobody issued a challenge in my office besides me.
I strode toward her. “Turn around,” I barked.
She did so willingly, placing her hands on the edge of my desk, clearly anticipating being taken from behind.
Tearing off my tie, I moved up behind her. She flinched when my arms went around her waist. Pressing the ends of my tie into her hands, I spoke in a firm voice. “Tie your coat together like a robe.”
“But don’t you want to—“
“No,” I growled. “I don’t. Tie it together.”
I pressed my body against her back, not letting her move until she’d done so. Then I took her by the shoulders and spun her around, pushing her into a chair. “Sit there. Legs together. Arms on the armrests. Now.”
Stalking away from her, I circled my desk and sat down. Michelle had complied with my orders and was modestly covered. Thank god.
“I’m not interested in you.”
“You’ve made that pretty clear,” she said, her voice brittle.
Damn. I wasn’t happy with her stunt, but I didn’t want her crying in my office, either. “I’m seeing someone. Someone important to me. Maybe check that next time before showing up without any clothes.”
“Like that old gray mare out there would tell me anyway. Vera hates me.”
“Because she thinks you’re taking advantage of my generosity.”
“And what do you think?” Michelle leaned forward, the top of her coat gaping open, and she started to cross her legs.
“Uh-uh. Sit back, feet flat on the floor, or I tell Vera what you did and ask her to find some clothes for you. I’m sure she’ll pick out something very flattering, just for you.”
The threat worked, and Michelle sat back.
“What do you think my father would say if he knew how you were treating me right now?” Michelle’s counterstrike was desperate—but on target. She knew how to get to me.
“As a father, I think he’d probably be pretty happy I’m not currently fucking his daughter against my desk.”
She continued on as if she hadn’t heard me. “You promised him you’d take care of me. It was his dying wish. Your old friend’s dying wish.”
Shit, she knew how to deliver low blows. I had no defense against the dying wish part, but the rest was a bit of a stretch. Edwin Grant hadn’t been my friend; he’d been a business associate—one with a hopelessly outdated company that was almost bankrupt.
My staff and I had met with him a few times. He owned several factories that still operated as they did forty years ago in his father’s time. Hollister Holdings had made him an offer. A more generous one that we should have. Despite his lack of business sense, I’d liked Edwin. He was a nice man. Quick with a joke or to offer a cigar. Or Scotch.
Days before he was to sell his company to us, we toured one last factory. He had a heart attack and collapsed, right there on the factory floor. He died in my arms. His last words had been hard to hear at first. “Me… Mish… Mish-a. Take care… of her… please… my… my… daugh—“
He’d never finished the last syllable. Later, I’d met his wife she introduced her daughter, Michelle, to me. That’s when I realized that Grant’s dying wish had been for me to take care of Michelle. The young woman had seemed heartbroken over the loss of her father. I vowed right then to take care of her as best I could. And I had, for years. Supplying money. Meeting her for lunch. It was the only promise I’d ever made that I hadn’t broken—until now.
“This ends today, Michelle. The money. The lunches. You’re an adult, you can take care of yourself.”
“How?” The word seemed to escape her lips unbidden. It had been bald—and honest. It was a nice change of pace.
“I suggest getting a job.”
Now the calculating look returned to her face. Her lip curled up in a half-smile. “Is there anything I can do for you?” Her hand grazed across the soft fur of her coat, but she didn’t make any move to open it again.
“I’ve made it pretty clear you can’t. I’m seeing someone, and I’m very happy. I suggest you find some way to be happy, too. But happy or not, it’s time you became self-sufficient.”
“So my father’s dying wish meant nothing?” It was more accusation than question.
“I’ve done right by you. Now it’s time for you to stand on your own two feet. And might I suggested that that’s easier to do when you have some clothes on.”
“Fine. Be smug. You don’t want me, that’s fine, there are plenty of men who do. But don’t pretend you’re the hero in all this, Blake Hollister. You made a promise to a dying man. That you would take care of his little girl…” her voice broke off. “He was all I had, and now he’s gone.”
Christ. Were her eyes watering? Real or fake, it was getting to me.
“You promised him not to let me down. And you have. Just like every other man in my life. My father left me, and now you.”
“Michelle…”
“I’m used to it,” she said, hiding her face with one hand. Her voice choked up. “That’s what men do. Men like you. I should have known better than to trust you. Men like you can never be trusted. You always let the people who need you down.”
Shit.
I stood up. Moved toward her.
Hell, I didn’t know what the right thing to do was anymore.
But it was clear she needed comforting, and I wasn’t the right person for that job. I was the one who’d made her cry. Who’d let her down. Just like I let every woman in my life down.
“I’m sorry,” I said, but she didn’t look up. “I’ll leave you alone now. Take as much time as you need to pull yourself together.”
I shut the door to my office and strode down the hallway, no destination in mind. I’d made her cry. Who’d disappointed her. Just like I had everyone else in my life.
Except one person. Looking around, I realized I was heading toward the nursery without conscious thought. But then I remembered that Zoe wasn’t there. She was at home after the doctor’s appointment.
Turning around, I headed in a different direction.
Penny
I burst into the nursery, startling the hell out of Pat, his assistant, and the half-dozen children who now attended regularly. “Here, take her,” I said, all but shoving my precious little girl at Pat. My words came out in a rush. “She’s-tired-she-had-a-nap-but-she-could-probably-sleep-longer-and-I-have-to-
go!”
Pat stared at me, his jaw dropped, as he took Zoe into his arms. I shot him an apologetic smile and took off at a run.
I took the back hallway. A much as I liked Vera and my coworkers, there was only one person I wanted to see right now. Blake. I couldn’t wait to tell him.
Bursting into his office I called for him. “Blake. Blake!”
But the only person in the office wasn’t Blake. Not even close.
It was Michelle.
Skidding to a stop, I stared at her in shock. What the hell was she doing here?
She seemed just as surprised to see me. “Penny?” She was dressed to the nines in an expensive fur coat buttoned up in the front. Mile-high heels adorned her feet, and at her neck was the most sparkly necklace I’d ever seen.
Why was she here? Did she know Blake?
“What are you doing here?” Michelle’s voice seemed different than usual. A little bit raw. Hoarse. Maybe she had a cold?
“I—I work here. What are you doing here?”
My stepsister’s look of surprise was rapidly morphing into something else. Into a smile. A confident smile. “Oh, Blake and I go way back.”
“Oh. I didn’t know that.” He’d never mentioned her to me.
“We’re old friends,” Michelle said, and now her voice was practically a purr. She leaned against the back of his desk as if she had every right to be here. With one long, manicured finger, she lifted the sparkly necklace at her throat, toying with it absently.
I didn’t quite know what to say to this surprising news. “Umm… that’s a beautiful necklace.”
“It is, isn’t it? I was shocked when he spent so much, but I guess he knew that diamonds are a girl’s best friend.”
“He?” My heart seemed to stop. “Did Blake… did he…?”
“Oh yes. He insisted on getting it for me. Of course, a whole strand of diamonds isn’t the same as one…” She trailed off, waving her left hand, emphasizing her bare ring finger. “But I expect that’s coming soon.”
No.
No, she couldn’t be telling the truth. Blake wouldn’t be with someone like her… would he?
“He… you… you can’t…”
“Oh, my dear little sister,” Michelle stood up now, her voice sympathetic. “Has he been leading you on? Flirting with you? Penny, that’s what men do. But he always comes back to me. He came today… several times.”
Michelle reached in the pocket of her coat and casually pulled out something red. A tie. Blake’s scarlet tie. I’d seen him wear it many times. Why did she have it?
Absent-mindedly, she twisted the tie in her hands, at one point looping it around her wrists suggestively. Had he tied her up? Involuntarily, I glanced at the door to his private suite. Had he taken her in there?
I felt faint. I needed to sit down.
Instead, I backed away, slowly.
“Don’t go,” Michelle said. “We should talk. Sister to sister. You wouldn’t believe the things I could tell you about your sexy boss…”
Blindly, I ran from the room, shutting the door as I went.
How could he? After he treated me like I was special. Like I was different. Like I was the only one.
Tears poured down my face as I ran down one hallway and then another. For once, I was glad that Hollister Holdings was a labyrinth. I wanted to get lost. Lost forever so I’d never have to face Blake again.
And then I ran into him.
Literally.
I crashed into his chest and he stepped back, steadying me with his arms.
“Penny! You’re here. But what’s wrong? Why are you crying?”
“Because this will never work.”
“What won’t work?” He was leaning toward me, his head bent to see me better, but I couldn’t look at him. Not after what he’d done.
“This. Us. Only there is no us.”
“But… why?”
“Because you let me down. Because I can’t trust you. Because it was never real in the first place.”
Pushing past him, I raced down the hall. Now I had a destination in mind—the nursery. I had to get my daughter and get out of here.
Behind me, Blake called my name. “Penny? Penny!”
But he didn’t follow me.
He just let me go.
Blake
Over the next few days I wracked my brains trying to figure out what had gone wrong. I wasn’t sure how I’d fucked this up so royally, but I had. Penny wasn’t speaking to me. My mother was calling, wanting to know when she could see Zoe again. Michelle was disappointed in me. Even Vera seemed angry about something, though that may have just been my imagination.
I’d been wrong, trying to start something with Penny. The stakes were just too high. She had a baby. A little girl who needed her. Only a total ass would try to start a relationship with a single mother when he had as bad a track record as I did.
I hadn’t spoken to Penny in four days. She’d taken a sick day Tuesday and Wednesday. Because of me. I’d upset her. For all I knew, I’d actually made her sick. And she’d been here yesterday, and she was here today, but I hadn’t talked to her. I scrupulously avoided her desk, and Vera hadn’t assigned her to any tasks that involved her getting anywhere near me.
Truth was, I’d let down every woman who’d ever relied on me. My mother. Penny. Not-Sarah. Even Michelle. Plus countless women in college and beyond whom I’d ditched after they began to fall for me. It was for the best, but of course they hadn’t seen it that way.
Shit. It was nearly four, and I hadn’t gotten a damn thing done this afternoon. Probably I should just get the hell out of there. Head home to my empty penthouse. And my empty life. Yeah, that sounded about right.
I took the back halls so I wouldn’t risk running into Penny. She obviously didn’t want to have anything to do with me. I’d always known she was a smart woman.
My escape route took be past the door the nursery. A terrible racket was coming from inside. I knew for a fact that there were, at the most, seven children in there, but it sounded like a hundred children. All of them screaming at the top of their lungs.
Cautiously, I poked my head in the door. Pat was holding two little boys, on in either hip. His assistant, Amber, was holding a little girl and trying to comfort a baby in a crib.
“What’s going on?” I said, shouting to be heard over all the crying.
Pat looked tired, but calm. Far calmer than I felt. Why were they all crying at once?”
“This happens sometimes,” he said. “One starts crying and then they all start.”
Good god. Suddenly, Pat’s job seemed a million times harder than my own.
Mustering my courage, I stepped into what sounded like a torture chamber. Made my way over to the crib Zoe usually used. When I got there, her tiny face was red. Tears streamed down her chubby little cheeks as she cried at the top of her lungs.
I turned back to Pat. “Call Penny. She can come get her.”
“I tried. Vera said she went to pick up some booklets. A couple of the other parents are on their way, though.” I frowned for a moment and then remembered that Vera had had some new promotional material made a company that specialized in printed. Quite possibly she’d sent Penny to fetch them in an effort to help the younger woman avoid me.
Turning back to Zoe, I tentatively placed my hand on her back, patting gently. Poor baby. She had no way of expressing what was wrong. What she needed. And I sure as hell didn’t know. But Pat did.
“For Christ’s sake, pick her up,” he growled as he passed me on his way to another one of his crying charges.
Me? Hold Zoe? I didn’t even know how.
“Just do it.” Since Pat was now holding three babies, I figured I ought to at least try with one.
Gingerly, I reached into the crib and grasped Zoe under the arms. Was I supposed to hold her head? But that must be for younger babies like the one Amber was holding.
Zoe continued to cry as I lifted her up, but as far as I could tell, t
here weren’t any additional tears. I didn’t think I was hurting her. I was being as gentle as I could.
I balanced her on my hip, hugging her to my chest as I’d seen Penny do many times. She was so light… she hardly weighed a thing. Hard to believe such a big sound could come from such a little girl.
Zoe leaned her head against my chest, her tears wetting my shirt, but I didn’t mind. I just wanted to make her feel better. Patting her back, I looked at the top of her little head, willing her to feel better. When that didn’t work, I took a step to the side and then back again, bouncing her gently as I did so. It was like dancing with the world’s tiniest partner.
It didn’t seem to be helping, but I stuck with it, rubbing her back, moving around. Slowly, I headed toward the smaller room, away from the others. Maybe if she had a little space she could calm down.
Rubbing her back, I thought maybe she was a little quieter. Maybe. I lowered my head down, smelling the clean scent of her hair. Gently, I kissed the top of her head. She was such a sweetheart.
She was definitely quieter now. Her breath was more even, not coming out in fits and bursts as it has before. And she was clinging to my shirt now, hugging herself against me.
This sweet, sweet little girl was taking comfort. From me. From my arms. Her cries were only whimpers now as she rested her head against my chest. If I had my way, she’d never cry over anything ever again. She wasn’t mine, but in this moment she felt like she was. And I wanted to give her the world. I wanted to show her the world. Tomorrow, I’d set up a college fund. And I’d find some other ways to help, ways that were far more practical than a teddy bear ten times her size.
Soon, Zoe was completely quiet. I looked down, and she blinked up at me, looking sleepy. But smiling. She was smiling at me. I smiled back, but even as I watched, her eyes closed and her head drooped.
She fell asleep in my arms, and I didn’t ever want to let her go.
“Nice job,” Pat said quietly, coming up next to me. He was only holding one baby now, a toddler who looked pretty sleepy, too. Two children in the main room were still fussing, but all in all, it seemed the storm had passed.
Tempting: A Cinderella Billionaire Story Page 18