Playboy Heir

by Brandy Munroe

  Did she seriously think these pampered entitled men were going to be able to handle this?

  Chapter 6

  Aleksander

  Curious to see what Leona was rattling on about, Richard and I stepped out into The Boutique. It was wall to wall people and more were waiting to get in.

  Richard pulled the sales receipts; his jaw could have hit the floor. "Leona racked up more sales in the hour and a half that we had been in the boardroom then what I've seen in an entire weekend."

  "You've heard of trial by fire," Richard warned me. "Well, here is yours. Get on that register, figure it out quick. It's not hard, pretty self explanatory, and let Haley and I deal with the customers."

  Richard was one of the few people who knew I spent my college days doing any odd job I could to not have to depend on my father's money. I knew Richard wasn't worried about leaving me alone to figure out a cash register.

  Looking out at the showroom, I thought this would have been a dream job for Manly. He would enjoy having hordes of wealthy women fawn over him.

  "Haley, you take care of the men and leave the ladies to me," Richard instructed with a sly grin.

  I may not have been a shoe clerk but I understood women loved being waited on by a man, just like men enjoy being waited on by women. I knew it was an old sexiest attitude but it still worked in the retail sector.

  I noticed Richard and Haley's backs were turned to me. I didn’t like the way my body was reacting to it. Was Richard flirting with her? I knew all about Richard’s appetite for the ladies. Haley did not seem Richard's type. What was so important that he was standing so close that only she could hear? Was she blushing the way she had with me?

  When they turned and I could finally see their faces, my hands that had balled into a fist at my sides relaxed. The expression on her face let me know it was all business. I was briefly relieved until it dawned on me. Was that the look I would get from now on if I became her boss? All business?

  By the time Leona got back from lunch, Richard, Haley and I had taken care of the overflow and The Boutique was looking normal again, albeit down several stacks of shoes.

  Leona pulled the sales receipts. "Wow," she exclaimed, "I thought I was magical. Look at these sales." She looked at Richard sitting in one of the comfy chairs looking exhausted and told him, "you realize today's commissions gets split between Haley and I. There really is no way to tell who sold what." Then she added, "technically, neither of you are listed as associates so the accountant wouldn't know any better and would just split it two ways anyway."

  "All's fair in love, war and shoe commission," Richard teased.

  "Oh, there will be no love if you try to pilfer any of that commission," Leona gave back to Richard’s amusement.

  "I get it," Richard said as he stepped back with his hands up in surrender.

  Haley cashed out her last customer, facing Leona. "Is it okay if I take my lunch now? I won't be far if you need me, just in the break room." This was the second time today she was walking away without giving me a second thought.

  "Go ahead, I can handle things from here," Leona assured her.

  "Aleksander and I have to be on our way, anyway," Richard nodded to me before hugging Leona.

  I knew what he wasn't saying. Even though Richard Sr. signed off on the partnership, he wanted to meet with me personally. He wanted to make sure that I was as committed to the Van de Graaf brand as if I was a member of the family. Then, and only then, would he give this venture his blessing.

  Richard made it very clear that his father's blessing meant more to him than his father signing off on the partnership itself. I wanted that more than anything and I was sure once Richard Sr. looked me in the eyes and saw into my soul, he would know this was the right decision.

  All I could do was hope that the senior Mr. Van de Graaf would see what the younger Mr. Van de Graaf had seen in me all along. Otherwise this morning's show would have been for nothing.

  Maybe not nothing; I did get to meet an very interesting young lady. How closely would we be working together? What lines was I willing to cross to get to know what those slender legs looked like under that skirt?

  Chapter 7

  Haley

  It had been a hectic day and I was glad to be away from the man with the dark chocolate eyes, that danced with mischief. He was taxing my nerves and I did not like it, not one bit. I caught him staring at Richard and I with the same possessive look Brad used to have. A look of jealousy I couldn't make sense of.

  Did he and Richard have some bromance thing for those stares to be directed at me? I had no doubt Mr. Tall, Dark and Brooding was into women. I couldn’t forget how hard he became, sitting next to Leona. Was I feeling jealous of my boss, my friend? It wasn't Leona’s fault Mr. Tall, Dark and Brooding found her desirable. She was a beautiful woman and of his world. From the greeting, they could have been more than friends once. Would it bother me if that was the case? I shrugged it off; maybe he goes both ways, who was I to judge.

  I felt bad leaving Leona alone again while I took my lunch. At least I would be in the break room if I was needed. It gave me time to think of how to approach the subject of transitioning into the marketing department. I thought I was ready, but for the first time since I started this direction in my life, I was second-guessing myself. The silent treatment from the board had shaken my confidence.

  I was grateful Aleksander had come to my rescue. Unfortunately it was what he was doing to my sanity I was having trouble with. I needed to get to familiar ground, The Boutique, Leona, my safe place and away from him, at least for now.

  Later I would figure out how to deal with my most inappropriate feelings for Mr. Tall, Dark and Brooding. He wasn't even my type; too thin. I liked the fact that Brad had a little bulk on him. Squishy, I used to call him. He would get upset and remind me he was a wall of unmovable muscle.

  Aleksander was anything but bulky. He was tall and lean. When he removed his jacket during his fitting, I could tell he worked out.

  And what was going on with my stomach, that burning low in the belly, too low to be heartburn from skipping breakfast and drinking too much coffee. Not hunger pains, I knew what those felt like. But this, this I had never felt before. Desire, lust, like I’d imagine the heroine felt like in romance novels. I never felt anything like this with Brad.

  Brad and I had been friends first and the feelings that grew out of that were more subtle. I remembered the first day I had met Brad. It was the day I moved in with Uncle Charlie, a confirmed bachelor, a long haul truck driver by trade. He never found the time to settle down because he was on the road all the time. Tranquility might have been Uncle Charlie's place of residence, but the good old US of A was his home.

  Uncle Charlie told me he regretted not being home more to raise me but I was fifteen and I believed I was quite capable of taking care of myself, or so I thought at the time. Fifteen going on thirty. Don't grow up too fast, Haley, he used to say. Was he right? Had I grown up too fast because of the challenges life threw at me? Now retired, Uncle Charlie had been a great help to me with Peyton.

  Uncle Charlie living next door to Brad’s parents meant Peyton got to see his grandparents without me having to deal with them. They never believed I loved Brad and had only seen him as my ticket out of Tranquility.

  The truth was, Brad was the one with delusions of grandeur. All he talked about was being rich and famous. I was allowed to stand at his side as I was deemed the perfect trophy wife. As long as I followed his dreams, stroked his ego, gave him all my attention.

  I had given up on my dream once, for love. My dreams put on hold so Brad could pursue his. I gave Brad the power to take over my life. He made all the decision in the guise of knowing what was best for both of us. Brad and I had become friends that first summer when I moved to Uncle Charlie’s. By fall I was his girlfriend and wearing his school sweatshirt.

  Next came fitting in with his friends.

  I could not be dating the star of the fo
otball team without hanging with the boys and the cheerleaders. I was encouraged to join the team. Next came the cheer makeover, complete with the bleaching of my mousy brown hair blonde and covering my dull grey eyes with bright blue contacts.

  I became another bookend. Another pretty blonde cheerleader, that, when lined up together, could all pass as sisters. Some even thought me and another girl were twins.

  Thinking back, there were many occasions when I let Brad decide what was best for us. What began as love and protection became possessive and domineering. A shoulder injury during a big game prevented Brad from being drafted. His attitude and short temper only got worse as one specialist after the other told him his career as a professional athlete was not going to happen.

  After Peyton was born, his uncontrolled jealousy over the lack of attention he was receiving was the final straw that made me leave.

  If I hadn't decided to put Peyton's needs ahead of Brad’s, would I still blindly follow Brad from treatment to treatment feeding into his delusion that he can still make it at the professional level? At least I left knowing I encourage Brad to finish his business classes at college. I called it our back up plan. I wished he would have realized he could be more than simply football. Maybe things would have ended differently for us.

  Why did I find myself daydreaming again — I needed to get Aleksander and Brad out of my head.

  I needed to refocus and get back to work. Tonight after Peyton went to bed I would work on my strategy to get that new men's boutique into play, showcasing my talents. With a little luck and a lot of hard work I could get myself into the marketing department downtown.

  The day might have started off cold and drizzly and I may have started off on the wrong foot with my potential new boss, but it was going to end in a ray of sunshine. If only I could get those smoldering brown eyes from Mr. Tall, Dark and Brooding out of my head.

  I need to be less concerned about getting him out of my head, and more concerned about him getting me out of me panties. Never. Going. To. Happen.

  Chapter 8

  Haley

  I barely slept last night. I could not shut my mind down. The events of the day had me stirring, and not in a good way. A deep sleep finally overtook me. The dream had me at work, not putting on the Boardroom and Beyonds but taking them off. Next was the tie, then that mocha shirt. All the while staring into those chocolate brown eyes. The alarm sounded; I hit the snooze, what was next, yes the socks, then…

  "Look Mommy, I dressed myself today."

  Peyton, the alarm for which there was no snooze.

  He was grinning ear to ear. "Look Mommy, I am all dressed and ready for breakfast before you."

  He was proud of his accomplishment. Morning lately consisted of dragging Peyton out of bed, dressing him while he was half asleep, and feeding him Pop-Tarts on the way to school.

  There he was, mismatched socks, shirt inside out. At least he picked clothes from the clean laundry hamper. I may not have got the laundry hung up but at least I got the laundry done and Peyton chose the right basket.

  Not wanting to dwarf his hard work, I smiled back at the little man jumping on my bed. "Make sure you tell Mrs. Simpson that you got dressed all by yourself this morning. I'm sure she will be as proud of you as I am."

  This way, when I dropped Peyton off at school, Mrs. Simpson would not feel the need of another lecture of how to properly raise a young boy. The unfortunate thing about a small town is that everyone knew everything. Since Brad lived there all his life and I was fifteen before Tranquility became my home, the complete disaster that became of our marriage must have been my fault.

  Sometimes it just take a little longer to get where you were meant to be, Haley, I thought to myself. Here I was, staring at the rambunctious kid jumping on my bed and I knew all the hard work would pay off for both of us. Our new future awaited us — all I had to do was get myself out of this bed and shower. Cold shower, then get ready while Peyton ate a real breakfast this morning. No Pop-Tarts today.

  I took Peyton to school that morning and left with a smile on my face. Mrs. Simpson seemed pleased with the fact that I did not try to force Peyton to change. Positive reinforcement, she called it. The day had started out really good, despite the fact that I had trouble sleeping with all the events of the previous day floating around in my mind. One event in particular.

  Today was a beautiful spring morning. The cold and drizzle from the day before had disappeared and the fresh morning air was invigorating. I decided I had time to walk to work. A small snicker came about from the fact I was actually going to walk to work today because I wanted to, not because I had to.

  I didn't need to be at The Boutique early; I had time to stroll along the shops and stop for coffee. I did not go for all those fancy kinds. I liked plain black coffee. I enjoyed watching the expressions on the young barista's face when I ordered a large black coffee. Especially the new trainees; you could see them waiting for me to add, with whipped or nonfat something or other. I had already had my morning coffee at the house but today as I walked I treated myself to another.

  I did not often treat myself to anything. Every purchase was carefully priced out and if it did not fit into my budget, well, it just was not bought. I knew I would soon have a huge commission check from yesterday's sales. Not just the sales from Aleksander, but from what came after the press conference.

  As I walked to work I made an attempt to figure out just how much commission I might have earned. Soccer season would start soon and I could use that commission money to buy Peyton new soccer cleats. I had always got Peyton second hand equipment. I could not see the point of buying new when he was only going to outgrow them after one season.

  I was also going to have to call Brad and remind him again that I needed the registration money. He missed the deadline so I used some of the special funds I had put away to pay for the last semester of my online marketing classes. The last one before I would get my full degree.

  I might have taken the long way to get that degree but I was finally going to see some fruit from my labor. One last semester, six more months, but the wheels were already turning on how I was going to fit into this new regime.

  I was curious about Leona's perception of the situation. Leona seem to have a sixth sense about the company's comings and goings. I used to joke that she must have everyone bugged so she could keep tabs on everything.

  The fact that she was as blindsided as I was yesterday proved that was not the case. I would have to ask what Leona thought the next steps were going to be for The Boutique. There were so many unanswered questions yesterday.

  It was going to be an interesting time in the Van de Graaf's main office this morning. Would Richard and Aleksander be able to separate the the two lines within the company? Keep them separate but not really apart from each other?

  Would they show up at The Boutique today to give us any information about what was their plan? Would he show up at The Boutique today? Would those mesmerizing chocolate brown eyes stand out if he wasn't wearing that exquisitely fitted mocha shirt?

  Walking to work was supposed to help me clear my mind and get me ready to face the day. What I found myself doing instead was overanalyzing everything. I needed to keep today light and simple, go to work, sell some shoes, make lots of money. Then I would go home and continue with the preparations I started last night to showcase my talents and get ahead.

  As I arrived at The Boutique, I saw Brad sitting on the bench outside the store. Great, I thought, he must be here to give me the money for Peyton's soccer. Unfortunately, I could not have been more wrong.

  I barely got out the word hello when Brad jumped off the bench and threw a tabloid at me. "What is the meaning of this?" I looked at the tabloids and on the front page was a picture of me and Aleksander from the press conference.

  It was taken at the exact moment he grabbed my hand to pull me onto the podium during yesterday's events. The caption read After Months Of Self Exile, IS THIS MANLY'S NEW C
ONQUEST?

  I threw the paper back at him. "We are divorced. Anything I do is no longer any of your business," I reminded him. "Not that I have to explain myself, but this picture was taken out of context. Aleksander was cueing me to take my place at the podium during yesterday's press conference. If you read all the news and not just the sports and gossip page you would know that already," I explained.

  "So, was it too presumptuous of me to think you are here to give me the money to pay for Peyton's soccer and summer recreational program" I taunted him.

  "There won't be any soccer if they can't find a replacement coach.” Before I could start at him, Brad responded, "I won't be coaching this year. I’m going to be out of the country. There’s this new guy they call the Witch Doctor and once he is done with me, Haley, I will throw a football like never before." He reached over and ran his hand down my arm. “If this works, things can go back to the way we were. The kid is older now, he doesn’t need all your attention anymore.”

  I pulled back. His touch did nothing for me. Not like the touch from yesterday by Mr. Tall, Dark and Brooding. This topic had been an ongoing battle. Brad’s jealousy of his own son. Did Brad honestly believe I would put our son second to anyone? “Peyton’s always going to need my attention, Brad, and yours,” I added.

  “I used all the money I had for the trip and the treatment."

  "We had an agreement. I already paid because it was due and I needed that money from you to replace my education fund." I was fuming. If he didn't pay up it would put me back six months because my tuition was due next week. I hadn’t used all my funds. Enough though to put a major dent in my tight budget.

  I hated being indebted to Brad for anything and the last thing I wanted to do was beg. Before I could bring myself to do that, Brad sweetly chimed in, "Don't worry, Haley, without a coach there won't be any soccer so they will have to give everyone a refund, problem solved. As for the rest of the summer, I guess we’ll have to address that when I get back.