Falling for Carrick (Working Class Billionaires Book 1)

by Erica Breyer

  “Oh, sorry…Mom, this is Carrick. He gave me a lift from the site.” Kelly made a brief introduction.

  “Pleasure to meet you, ma’am.” Carrick took Bonnie’s hand in hers and smiled warmly. Chloé had wiggled between the two of them and was hopping on her back legs. Carrick reached down and scratched the top of her head.

  “Likewise, Carrick,” Bonnie smiled back. “Thank you for helping Kelly. Would you like to come in for coffee?” Kelly aimed an intense stare at her mother, but Bonnie ignored her.

  “Well, I—” he began, but Kelly stopped him short.

  “I don’t think we’ll have time, Mom,” she said firmly. “Remember, we have to get ready for…for…um…”

  “Pizza Night?” her mother filled in when she didn’t finish the sentence.

  “Yeah!” Kelly answered, turning to Carrick. “Friday night is Pizza Night,” she explained. “It’s a family tradition. We never miss it.”

  “Oh yeah?” he said. “Well, I wouldn’t want to mess with tradition.” He winked, turning to leave.

  “Oh, but—” Bonnie started to speak, but Kelly knew exactly what she was planning. An impromptu dinner invitation was about to be extended, and she was having none of it.

  “So, thanks again, Carrick. I’ll see you on Monday?”

  He looked from her to Bonnie and then back, giving a brief nod. “Sure thing,” he said. “I’ll be here by seven-thirty?” Kelly gave a nod, and he smiled at Bonnie. “It was good to meet you, ma’am.”

  Bonnie nodded and smiled back. “Lovely to meet you too, Carrick. I hope you’ll be able to stay longer next time.”

  “Me too,” he said. “See you ‘round.” He headed back to his truck, and Bonnie turned to Kelly.

  “Well, that was rude, Kelly,” she said, the corners of her mouth turning downward. “He seems like a very nice man. So kind to offer you a lift. And really easy on the eye, if you ask me!”

  “Cut it out, Mom!” Kelly tried not to snap. “I don’t want him getting any ideas.”

  “Or maybe you’re the one who’ll be getting ideas, darling,” her mother answered enigmatically.

  “Excuse me? And just what do you mean by that?” Kelly asked abruptly.

  “I just think you’re afraid that if you spend too much time with him, you won’t find it so easy to push him away,” Bonnie said, tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear. “You can’t hide from love forever, Kelly.”

  “That’s not where I want to find love,” Kelly said. “Just another blue-collar boy scraping by till he finds a meal-ticket. Drives a clapped out rust-bucket, probably lives in a trailer. I bet he’s just waiting to mooch off of some poor woman who gets weak at the knees because he’s got a chiseled jawline and abs of steel.”

  “Abs of steel?” Bonnie repeated. Then her mother’s eyes narrowed on her. “Kelly, there’s nothing wrong with a man who works with his hands or has a humble job. Besides, how do you know he’d do any of that? You’re making unfair assumptions and behaving like a snob.”

  “I’m not a snob, Mom,” Kelly huffed. “I’ve just seen his type before, and I’m not falling for it. I’m not—" She stopped as she felt her phone vibrating in her back pocket. She reached for it and glanced at the screen. “It’s Head Office...I’d better take this.” Bonnie nodded in understanding.

  “Hello?” Kelly said as she answered the call.

  “Kelly, hi, it’s Patricia Parker here,” the voice on the other end said.

  “Oh, Patricia! It’s good to hear from you. How can I help?” asked Kelly, surprised to hear from her after work on a Friday evening.

  “I believe that you’re having some family issues at the moment,” Patricia said. “I’ve been advised to suggest that you take a personal day on Monday.”

  Kelly frowned in confusion. How on earth had they found out? “Umm…that would be w-wonderful,” she stammered, “I’d love to be able to spend the day with my mother.”

  “Certainly,” the other woman replied. “Jackie will email a leave form for you to complete when you get back. Good luck on Monday.”

  “Thank you,” Kelly replied, still bewildered. It must have been Taneka. Her heart felt warm as she thought of her new friend. Patricia was saying goodbye and ended off the call. Kelly turned to her mother. “That was Mr. Cross’s Executive Assistant,” she said. “They’re letting me take the day off to be with you on Monday.”

  “Oh, that’s wonderful, darling,” her mother breathed. “I’d be so much happier if you were there with me.”

  Kelly nodded and reached for Bonnie’s hand. She gave her fingers a gentle squeeze. Perhaps the impossible Mr. Cross wasn’t such a grinch after all.

  Chapter 6

  Early on Monday morning, Kelly’s phone buzzed as she and Bonnie were finishing their coffee. It was a text from Carrick. They’d exchanged numbers after arranging their lift schedule.

  ‘Will you be going to the doc this morning?’ it read.

  Kelly wondered why he would ask, but decided that he might have thought she would make an arrangement to get the day off.

  ‘Yes. Head Office called to arrange a personal day,’ she texted back. ‘No lift today. Thanks.’

  ‘No sweat. See you tomorrow. Good luck,’ his reply pinged on her phone.

  ‘Tks,’ she sent in response.

  Bonnie raised an eyebrow, and Kelly shrugged.

  “Carrick,” she said. “Checking if I still need a lift.”

  “Well, that’s nice of him,” said Bonnie. “I really think you should be a little more friendly to that man. I like him.”

  Kelly gave an exasperated sigh. “Let’s not discuss it now, Mom,” she said. “We’ve got enough to think about.” She reached for her purse and took her mother’s hand at the same time, heading for the car. With the pressure off, Jarrod had slipped back into his favorite role of layabout son. He gave a wave from the couch as the pair headed out of the hallway.

  “Good luck, Ma,” he called out.

  Bonnie gave him a tight smile. “Thank you, darling,” she called back.

  The drive to the doctor’s rooms was tense, although Kelly tried to make light smalltalk. By the time they reached their destination, her head was throbbing. It was almost a relief to have a few minutes of quiet while they sat in the waiting room.

  “Mrs. Hanson?” the receptionist in the medical suite eventually addressed them. “Dr. Harrison is ready to see you now.”

  Kelly and Bonnie stood nervously, heading into the doctor’s office. A group of people stood in the room, waiting for them. Bonnie cleared her throat.

  “Dr. Harrison?” she said, a tiny tremor in her voice betraying her fear.

  A tall, silver-haired man stepped forward, his face softening as he looked at her mother. “Bonnie, it’s so good to see you,” he said warmly. “Although I wish it were under more pleasant circumstances.” He reached out and grasped Bonnie’s hand between both of his. In spite of the difficult circumstances in which they’d met him, Kelly had always enjoyed spending time with the man. He appeared to care deeply for his patients.

  “I’d like to introduce you to some of my colleagues,” he continued, gesturing towards the others in the group. “You’ll remember Dr. Johnson and Dr. Maxwell from the oncology department where you received your previous treatment?” Bonnie nodded and smiled at the two doctors. “I’ve also asked Dr. Caxton to join us today. She is our resident psychologist, who assists patients with counseling in more complicated cases.”

  Kelly swallowed hard, and Dr. Harrison turned to her with a smile. “I’m so glad you could be here with your mother today, Kelly,” he said. “This is Kelly Hanson, Bonnie’s daughter,” he told the others in the room. There was a murmur of greetings, and the group headed towards a large table at the side of the room. Once everyone was seated, Dr. Harrison began again.

  “Now, Bonnie, as you know, we’d hoped that your previous treatment would assist in reducing the size of your tumor.” A screen beside the table reflected a scan of
her mother’s brain. Dr. Harrison pointed out various areas as he spoke. “We have compiled a new approach that we’ll discuss with you today. I’m going to outline each stage, and then my colleagues will provide additional information. Feel free to ask questions at any point in our conversation.” He smiled at Bonnie and Kelly, but it didn’t ease the knot of anxiety unfurling in Kelly’s belly. She reached for her mother’s hand and squeezed.

  ∞∞∞

  Carrick heaved a sigh. He’d called Patricia to arrange a day off for Kelly as soon as he’d left her home on Friday. Then he’d spent the weekend mulling over his motives. Sure, she was a colleague – an employee, really – but why had he jumped in so impulsively? And why was he keeping his identity from her?

  ‘She’s an asset to our company, one of the team,’ he said to himself. ‘I’d do the same thing for anyone else.’

  Maybe…but what made him feel so drawn to her in particular? Why her?

  “Because…Pizza Night,” he said to himself. He’d never had that. His folks didn’t do ‘family traditions’. It didn’t fit them…even though he yearned for it as a kid. But they didn’t get that. They didn’t get him. His grandmother did, though. Nan. The only one who’d bothered to try to find out who he was. She had so much faith in him, listened to his dreams. She’d been the one who made his success possible. The inheritance she’d left him had quickly been translated into a small fortune.

  It had driven his father ballistic…knowing Nan had trusted Carrick with funds he thought were his birthright. Carrick invested the money in a small apartment block in a seedy part of town, and renovated it, doing most of the work himself, with just a couple of guys to help. Miggy had been there. Later Taneka joined; others too – his crew. Patricia was his right hand from the beginning. He’d built his own family of people who got him. He’d sold that building on and repeated the exercise, quickly amassing a respectable portfolio of properties. The area took an upward swing less than a year later, and he was in business. Cross Construction was born…and the rest was history. His father had never forgiven him.

  Something niggled, though. Something told him he was trying to fool himself. Kelly Hanson had been on the payroll for a couple of weeks, and he hadn’t formally introduced himself. Not only that, he was now deliberately withholding his identity from her. Why do that?

  ‘Because she might not be so honest with me if she knew who I was,’ his mind filled in the blanks. ‘And if she knew who I was, maybe she wouldn’t see who I am,’ he admitted to himself. But why did it matter? The thought had bothered him all weekend. It was as annoying as a gnat buzzing around his beer at twilight. He should have been enjoying some relaxation time, but instead, he was consumed by thoughts of her. Her eyes…her lips, the set of her chin when she was making a point. Those hips…that ass.

  Dammit!

  He’d hit the weights in the private gym he’d installed in his apartment. Then he’d taken to the jogging track around the park that his apartment overlooked. Hell, he’d jogged it twice. And then a third time for good measure. By Sunday evening, avoiding the calls of his regular friends, he’d sunk into a contemplative state of exhaustion that was colored by the ache of strained muscles and a mind that didn’t want to answer the questions his heart was asking.

  By Monday, he was over himself. He was over the mulling and agonizing and questioning of his own motives. He’d sent her a message to check if she needed a lift because he didn’t want her to realize he might know she wouldn’t need him to collect her.

  Then he headed to the site in the hopes that he’d be able to focus on keeping things running as they should. Yet he knew his mind was only half on the job. The rest was consumed with thoughts of her and what she was going through with her family. And a very large portion of him felt like the world’s biggest dick for making her life so difficult when she was already going through so much.

  ∞∞∞

  It felt like hours had passed when they finally left the medical rooms. Kelly’s head was swimming with information – some of which felt like too much to comprehend. The headache that had begun earlier was now a full-scale migraine. Her mother remained silent as they made the drive home.

  “How you doing, Mom?” Kelly glanced at Bonnie as they drove.

  Bonnie quirked her lips slightly in an attempt at a smile. “I guess I’m in their hands now,” she said quietly.

  “You’re going to be fine,” she murmured, brushing her fingers over her mother’s arm before putting her hand back on the wheel.

  Bonnie nodded, still silent, then cleared her throat. “So…so if this doesn’t work…” She stopped. “He still won’t operate.”

  “It’s going to work!” Kelly said emphatically. “And you know why he feels that way. The risk of permanent brain damage is just too great.”

  Bonnie nodded again. “Yes…I think…I think I’d rather not…” She took a shuddering breath. “I’d rather not live like that. I’d rather die.”

  Kelly put her hand back on Bonnie’s arm and squeezed. “Don’t talk like that. We take this next step, and it’s going to work!” Her voice was so emphatic, it was as if she hoped to create the outcome with the strength of her words. Bonnie put her hand over Kelly’s fingers and interlaced them for a moment.

  “Thank you, darling,” she whispered.

  “For what, Mom?” Kelly asked.

  “For being strong for me,” Bonnie said.

  ∞∞∞

  Carrick arrived outside Kelly’s home at seven-thirty sharp. She watched from the living room window as he climbed out of the truck and jogged up the garden pathway, long legs covering the space in easy strides. When he knocked at the door, Bonnie was first to open it.

  “Carrick!” she said warmly. “Lovely to see you again. I hope you had a good weekend?” Chloé, who was at Bonnie’s feet as always, gave a little yap as if echoing the greeting.

  “Good to see you again, too, Mrs. Hanson,” he replied. “I hope your appointment went well yesterday?”

  “Oh, you know doctors,” Bonnie replied vaguely, “always so serious.” Kelly heard her give a light laugh. “I’m sure everything will work out just fine.” There was no hint of the anxiety she’d displayed the day before. Bonnie hated to make people uncomfortable.

  “Well, I’ll be thinking of you and wishing for the best, Mrs. Hanson,” Carrick responded, leaning down to stroke Chloé’s fluffy head. The little dog fixed dark eyes on him, and she gave a happy little burble.

  “Bonnie,” her mother replied. “Please call me Bonnie. Now, let me get Kelly for you, I’m sure you want to get on your way.” Kelly emerged in the hallway before Bonnie could call. For a moment, Carrick seemed a little self-conscious, running his hand around the back of his neck. The curls she’d seen almost brushing his collar the week before had been neatly cropped. It seemed he’d paid a visit to the barber since she’d seen him last.

  “Good morning, Miss Hanson,” Carrick said to her, his eyes crinkling with amusement.

  “Good morning, Carrick,” Kelly answered, following him as he turned to leave.

  “Goodbye, for now, Bonnie,” he said to her mother as they left. Bonnie called out a farewell in return. Kelly stopped at the passenger door and waited for Carrick to coax the door into opening. He cocked his head and gave her a grin.

  “Yeah...I still gotta get that fixed,” he said as she slid into her seat, and he slammed the door shut. “So how did things go yesterday?” he asked as he maneuvered onto the street.

  Kelly sighed. “Okay, I guess,” she answered. “They’re trying a new treatment. It’ll be a lot more aggressive.”

  “Well, here’s hoping that does the trick,” he answered, keeping his voice neutral. Kelly remained silent for a few minutes, lost in her own thoughts, and he didn’t push for conversation.

  As they turned the corner towards the site, he glanced at her. “It’s going to work out fine,” he said, his voice holding a gravelly edge. “Your mom seems strong...like you. She’ll get th
rough this.” She gave a small smile as the truck pulled up outside her office.

  “Thanks,” she answered. “And thanks for the lift.” Carrick dipped his head in response, then hopped out to open the door for her. Taneka was heading up the stairs to the office as they arrived and stopped to wait for her. Kelly slipped quickly out of the vehicle. When she reached her friend, she wrapped her arms around her in a hug.

  “Hey, girl!” Taneka laughed, returning the embrace. “I missed you too!”

  “Thank you...for arranging yesterday,” Kelly murmured. “It meant a lot.” Taneka looked confused for a minute.

  “Sure,” she said, “it was no big deal. I was here, anyway. Nothing to arrange.”

  “I mean…getting me the day off like that. It meant a lot to my mom,” Kelly continued.

  “Hon, I never—" Taneka began but was interrupted by the some of the guys on the crew calling out a greeting. “Yo, Migs!” she called back. “Be safe out there today!”

  Kelly heard Carrick’s truck pull off as they made their way up the stairs. Inside the office, all was as she’d left it when she left on Friday. She heaved a sigh of relief.

  “Oh, thank God,” Kelly laughed. “I don’t think I could face another onslaught of notes from His Highness!”

  “Well, he’d have to do some fast moving to get that right,” Taneka answered before powering up her laptop. Kelly glanced at her curiously then shrugged.

  “And I’ll have to do some fast moving to catch up with the work I missed yesterday,” she sighed. Although she’d organized her workload significantly, things were not yet ready to be left for a day. When lunchtime came round, she turned down Taneka’s offer of one of the canteen’s renowned cheeseburgers.

  “I’m going to work through lunch to catch up,” she said as the other woman got up and stretched.

  “You’d better take care, hon, you’re going to get square eyes!” Taneka warned lightly as she left the office. Thirty minutes later, Kelly was interrupted by a knock at the door. She looked up to see Carrick in the doorway holding a tray. Although his work clothes were dusty, he’d scrubbed up, and his shirtsleeves were rolled up to his elbows. A smattering of fine dark hairs glistened on his forearms, clearly recently washed.