Dynasties:The Elliots, Books 7-12

by Various Authors

  “—date. They also suggested a carriage ride and champagne. Shipped me the ring, and gave me a wallet card full of catch phrases. You want to see it?”

  “Daniel, stop.”

  He sighed. “I’ve got a big day coming up. Can you say whatever it is you came to say and get out?”

  She recoiled from his anger.

  Too bad. He wasn’t feeling particularly charitable at the moment. Especially not with her standing there looking so sexy and desirable, reminding him of what might have been.

  “You’re glaring at me,” she accused.

  “No, I’m not.”

  “Yes, you are. I can’t say what I want to say with you glaring.”

  He let his arms drop to his sides and tried to soften his expression. Now he just wanted to get this over with. “Fine.”

  “I came to say I’m sorry.” She moved in a little closer. “I also came to say…” She raked her teeth over her bottom lip. “That was one perfect ring.”

  His body went still, and her scent swirled out to tease him.

  She gently touched his arm, making him flinch.

  “I’m sorry I misunderstood,” she said. “But after your father—”

  “My father?”

  “He stopped at my office yesterday to apologize.”

  Daniel all but staggered against his desk. “My father apologized to you?”

  “He said you told him to.”

  “Yeah, well…” Daniel nodded. “I did.” But he never thought his father would do it. Not in a million years.

  “Then he told me you still needed me. And then you showed up with a ring, and I—”

  “Put two and two together?”

  “And came up with seven. I’m so sorry, Daniel.” Her hand trembled on his arm and she gazed into his eyes. “I really loved that ring.”

  A weight lifted from his shoulders. His chest tightened and his heart thudded deeply. “You saying you want it back?” He’d already returned it, but he could fix that with one phone call.

  “It was perfect,” she said.

  “You hate perfect.”

  “Yeah? Well, I’m working on that.” She slipped her arms around his waist and settled her body against his. “Because you’re perfect, and I really, really want you.”

  “I don’t have the ring,” he confessed.

  Her eyes mirrored her disappointment.

  He felt like a cad. He should have been prepared for this. He usually had contingency plans for his contingency plans.

  Then his gaze caught the paper clip holding his letter of resignation.

  On the other hand, he could try for spontaneity. He slipped the paper clip off and twisted it into a loop.

  He held the makeshift ring out to Amanda. “But will you marry me anyway?”

  She grinned and presented her finger, giving him an eager nod. “Yes. But don’t think this gets you out of a big diamond and a well-planned proposal,” she said.

  He slipped the paper clip over her finger. “You hate it when I plan.”

  “I was thinking a suite at the Riverside. A few dozen roses. Champagne. A string quartet.”

  “Think I’ll leave that one to you.” He reached behind him and lifted the letter from the desktop, holding it in front of her eyes. “Because I have other plans to make.”

  “What’s—” She adjusted the focal length and started to read. “I don’t understand?”

  “I’m offering Cullen my job as editor in chief.”

  She stared up at him. “Why?”

  “I’m going traveling.”

  “Where?”

  “Everywhere. I’ll be looking into a new adventure magazine.”

  Her eyes went very wide. “Your father agreed?”

  He shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know.”

  “You haven’t asked him?”

  “It was a spontaneous decision. You want to come along?”

  A grin grew wide across her beautiful face. “You bet.”

  Amanda smiled to herself as she snuggled up to Daniel’s bare chest.

  Cullen had accepted the position of editor in chief of Snap, and Patrick had agreed amazingly easily to let Daniel investigate an adventure magazine for Elliott Publications. Bryan and Cullen were ecstatic about the reunion and made their parents promise to get married before they left on their travels.

  They had no plans so far, but Amanda wasn’t worried. Sooner or later, Daniel would give in to temptation and rent a ballroom somewhere.

  She kissed his chest. “Have I mentioned lately that I love you?”

  Daniel kissed the top of her head and gave her a squeeze. “Not for about thirty minutes. But that yodel thing you did was good for my ego.”

  She elbowed him. “I did not yodel.”

  “Sure, you did.”

  “Are you going to keep making stuff up?”

  “Yeah.”

  Then he stroked her hair with his wide palm. “No more planning. From now on, I’m making stuff up as I go along.”

  Her chest tightened. “I don’t want you to change for me.”

  “I’m changing for me. And partly for you, because you’re the best thing I never planned. I love you, Amanda,” he whispered gruffly and drew her into his arms.

  The phone beside his bed interrupted their kiss.

  Amanda checked the clock. “Who on earth—”

  Daniel picked up the phone. “Hello? Cullen?”

  Amanda sat straight up.

  “Is she okay?” Then Daniel grinned. “Are they okay?”

  They?

  Daniel covered the mouthpiece. “It’s a girl.”

  Amanda jumped out of bed and grabbed for her clothes.

  “Seven pounds, six ounces,” said Daniel. “Maeve Amanda Elliott.”

  Amanda’s chest contracted and her eyes filled with tears.

  “Come on,” she whispered to Daniel.

  “We’re on our way,” he laughed into the phone.

  “We’re grandparents,” said Amanda as she climbed into her slacks.

  They made it to the hospital in less than fifteen minutes.

  While they stood at the nursery window, scanning name tags, trying to locate their new granddaughter, a harried Cullen burst through the swinging doors of the maternity wing.

  “Mom,” he cried, his yellow paper gown flapping around the knees of his pants. He immediately pulled Amanda into a tight embrace. She had to gasp for breath as he rocked her back and forth.

  He kissed the top of her head, his strong voice cracking. “I can’t believe what you went through for me. How can I ever thank you?”

  Amanda’s chest swelled, and she blinked back a sheen of tears. “You don’t have to thank me,” she whispered against his chest. “You were the most wonderful son in the world.”

  Cullen pulled back to look into her eyes. “Oh, Mom.”

  She grinned at him, smoothing back his damp hair from his forehead. “Congratulations, Dad.”

  He shook his head in disbelief.

  Then he turned to Daniel and held out his hand. “And, Dad. You did this. You did this twice!”

  Daniel chuckled, shaking Cullen’s hand and pulling his son into an embrace.

  Amanda wiped away the tears as they spilled over her lashes.

  Cullen turned to gaze through the nursery glass to where a nurse was wheeling in a bassinet. “There she is,” he sighed. “Oh, she’s so tiny.”

  “She’s supposed to be tiny,” said Daniel.

  Amanda moved up to the window while the nurse placed the bassinet in the center of the front row, giving them a warm smile.

  “I’m almost afraid to touch her,” Cullen confessed.

  Daniel patted him on the back. “You’ll be fine, son. You’ll feed her, change her and bathe her, and before you know it, she’ll be begging you for bedtime stories.”

  Cullen gave a forced chuckle and put an arm around each of his parents. “I just hope I make it through the first twenty-four hours.”

  Amanda lea
ned her head against her son. “She’s beautiful.”

  “She is,” he agreed.

  “How’s Misty?” asked Daniel.

  Cullen blinked rapidly. “She’s perfect. She’s wonderful.” He drew a breath. “She’s sleeping now.”

  “Hey, bro. Way to go!” Bryan and Lucy arrived and the three separated so Cullen could greet his brother.

  Daniel shifted closer to Amanda as the Elliott family began streaming into the nursery hallway. She felt the familiar stirrings of unease as first five, then nine, then twelve of them crowded around the window, talking and joking with each other.

  By the time Patrick and Maeve rounded the corner, Amanda’s stomach was cramping with insecurity. What had she gotten herself into?

  “It’s going to be okay,” Daniel whispered into her hair, sliding an arm around her waist.

  But Amanda wasn’t so sure.

  Then Patrick gave her a nod and a smile of greeting. Karen called her name and sent her a wave across the crowd. And Daniel pulled her tight into the circle of his strong arms.

  Little Maeve opened her mouth in a wide yawn, and there was a collective sigh from the assembled adults. It was obvious their hearts had melted then and there for the newest Elliott.

  Amanda leaned her head against Daniel’s chest and drew hope from the enduring bonds of his family. There might be bumps on the road ahead, but they were going to make it this time.

  Together.

  The Intern Affair

  Roxanne St. Claire

  Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  One

  Cade McMann smelled trouble all around him.

  At the moment, trouble smelled like honeysuckle, or at least what he imagined honeysuckle would smell like if he had the opportunity to sniff some. Sort of sweet and fresh and…inviting. And, truthfully, the scent was not all around, but definitely wafting from behind, if he wasn’t mistaken.

  And Cade made it a point to avoid mistakes at all costs.

  Trouble cleared her throat. “Did you want to see me, Cade?”

  He spun his chair around from his view of Park Avenue seventeen stories below and looked across his desk at the young woman whose expectant expression was only partially covered by the hideous horn-rimmed glasses with lavender-tinted lenses. She hadn’t worn those in her interview six months ago, of that he was certain.

  But since the first day of her internship at Charisma magazine, Jessie Clayton had hidden behind the glasses and kept her waist-length auburn hair pulled tightly back in a braid or a bun. Although, by the end of the day, some silky strands usually slipped out of their prison and caressed the creamy complexion of her cheeks. Caressed?

  Oh, boy. Serious trouble.

  He forced himself to focus on the business situation, not his suddenly poetic imagination.

  “I did need to see you, Jessie.” He indicated one of the empty guest chairs. “Have a seat.”

  She clutched a cheap vinyl-covered day planner to her chest, her gaze still on him as she sat. “Everything cool, Cade?”

  No. As a matter of fact, nothing was cool when this vivacious twenty-something was in the room. A situation that a man who ran a predominately female staff and boasted of having four younger sisters didn’t relish.

  “Totally cool, Jessie.” He let his mouth kick up in a smile as he spoke, and was rewarded with a quick and easy laugh that had become as common a sound in the cubicles of Charisma magazine as a ringing phone.

  “Careful, Cade. You’re starting to sound less like the boss and more like one of Charisma’s loyal readers.” She brushed one of those careless strands away. Of course, it was past four o’clock. The braid would start to give way soon.

  “I’m only thirty, Jessie. I can say cool. Plus,” he reminded her, “I’m not the boss. I’m just her right-hand man.”

  But, of course, he was the executive editor, and way up the publishing food chain in this intern’s eyes. “And speaking of our illustrious editor-in-chief, I have some very exciting news for you.”

  He could have sworn some color drained from those creamy cheeks, leaving behind a dusting of freckles as natural as the darker streaks in her cinnamon-colored hair.

  “Really?” She made a show of opening her day planner and getting out a pen, to take notes.

  “You don’t need to write this down. I know you won’t forget.”

  She looked up at him, hesitancy in her smile. “I won’t?”

  “You’ve been selected as Finola Elliott’s shadow intern.”

  The smile froze as she stared at him, pen poised. Then it faded, replaced by a little crease in her forehead. She swallowed, dry-throated enough for Cade to see that she had to struggle with the action. “Shadow intern? It sounds…mysterious.”

  “It’s not. Every year we pick one intern who gets to shadow the editor-in-chief for one month. Fin goes to a meeting, you go to a meeting. Fin previews the next month’s issue at the printer, you preview the next month’s issue at the printer. Fin gets wined and dined by an advertiser, you get—”

  She held up her hand. “I get the idea.”

  He waited, and watched her try to swallow again.

  The reaction validated the very suspicions that motivated him to pick her as the shadow intern. Sure, she had all the professional qualifications—she was smart and hardworking and well-liked—but something was off about Jessie Clayton.

  And, he reminded himself as he forced his gaze to stay on the colored lenses, he’d better start paying attention to her bizarre behavior instead of the concave dip in her throat, just in case it had anything to do with the business of Charisma magazine. Although, for some reason, when Jessie Clayton was around he thought less about business and more about…Jessie.

  “It’s funny,” he said slowly. “I would expect you’d be a little more excited about this opportunity.”

  She gave her head the tiniest negative shake and pushed her glasses firmly into place. “I—I can’t take that assignment.”

  “Pardon me?”

  “I’m sure there are other interns more deserving. And Scarlet just gave me this incredible layout project to handle myself and, with the whole place upside down trying to…well, you know, working so hard to win the family thing…I just don’t think the timing is right.”

  Cade took a deep breath and tipped his chair back as he regarded her. “By the family thing, I assume you mean the ultimate management of Elliott Publication Holdings.”

  She shifted uncomfortably. “Well, I mean, everyone knows that Patrick—Mr. Elliott—has pitted the four magazines of EPH against each other to see which of his offspring will run the overall company.”

  Of course, from the boardroom to the janitor’s closet, the whole of EPH was discussing the “contest” among the four Elliotts and the magazines they each ran. The lucky one would replace Patrick at the helm, and the competition among the four editors-in-chief to make the highest profit was getting downright dirty.

  It didn’t surprise him that Jessie Clayton would know about the situation. Especially if his suspicions about her were correct.

  And her response was only confirming those suspicions. Why would she be reluctant to accept what had to be a coup among the interns at one of the world’s most successful fashion magazines?

  “Let me make sure I understand this. Are you saying you don’t want to be Finola Elliott’s shadow intern for the month of September?” He didn’t bother to hide the incredulity in his voice.

  Her tongue darted over her lips as though they were as parched as her throat. “That’s right. That’s what I’m saying.”

  He let out a small choke of disbelief. “You know this is the most coveted
assignment for an intern at the magazine?”

  Her eyes widened, but the color was so hard to discern behind the tinted glasses. “I am honored and grateful, Cade. I can’t imagine why I’d get picked, but—”

  “Because you are an excellent candidate,” he interrupted. “Because your ideas are fresh, your energy is constant, you’ve never been late or out sick in five months, and you’ve shown great promise in the world of high fashion publishing.”

  And you’ve made a point to avoid any contact with Finola Elliott.

  But he didn’t add that little piece of information. She didn’t know that her unusual behavior had landed her on his radar screen. Of course, her silky hair and slender body, that porcelain complexion and melodic laugh also got his attention. Too much of it, actually. But it was her proactive avoidance of the woman most interns did handstands to impress that had ultimately landed her in his office.

  “You’re a model intern and you’ve earned this reward.”

  She opened her mouth, then closed it again. One more time she adjusted the frames of her glasses. “No. Thank you. I’d rather not.”

  Every highly trained cell in his body screamed in alert. Before him sat a young woman who was smart, attractive, qualified and ambitious enough to work for nothing but exposure to the business. Why would she turn down a plum high-profile assignment?

  “Why not?” he asked.

  “We’re days from the editorial deadline for January, and Scarlet let me have this whole Spring Fling layout for March, which will mean I’ll have to go to the photo shoot and meet with…” She trailed off and wet her lips again. “I just would rather not take on that kind of assignment right now,” she finished quietly.

  There was only one explanation that occurred to Cade. She didn’t want Finola’s close attention and examination. And there could be a very good reason why.

  Business instinct told him that nothing he asked could get her to reveal that reason. He couldn’t scare it out of her, even though he’d been known to intimidate a few employees on occasion. He couldn’t coax it out of her, even though he’d seen her react with a sweet blush to his friendly teases.