Unexpectedly Yours: A Forever Love Story (InterMix)

by Jeannie Moon

  “The client asked us to get this done quickly. We had to work within a specific time frame.” Gary was still trying to justify the report to Campbell Holdings. Unbelievable.

  “But at what cost?” she asked.

  “You still shouldn’t be going behind the firm’s back and making recommendations to your boyfriend. It’s unethical.” Mark was still pretty calm; it was almost scary. But the way he said “boyfriend” with a sneer in his voice, made Caroline take notice. He was jealous.

  “How is being honest unethical, Mark? I would think not doing a complete assessment is more unethical when the firm could profit from that kind of failure.”

  That shut everyone up. Caroline had called them on their bullshit again. She was on a roll. Thank God she had a different job lined up. Mark took a deep breath and calmed himself. He must have figured he wasn’t winning this argument.

  “It’s put us in a bad spot, Caroline.” She started to say something and he held up a hand to halt her. “You made Gary look incompetent and put the firm in a bad light.”

  In her head she heard a little voice say, “Well, duh.”

  “Then this morning? With Keith? With the inspectors? What the hell were you thinking?”

  Keith was still raging. She could see it— his face was all scrunched and he was clenching his fists so tight his knuckles were white. “You had no right to undermine my authority.”

  “Dear Jesus,” she whispered, hoping her prayer would save her from this stupidity, but she wasn’t holding out much hope. “Are you saying it was okay for you to blame everyone for your mistake with the water system? That was acceptable?”

  “I didn’t make a mistake. I made a good decision.”

  The room was silent because everyone around the table knew Keith had made a whopper of a mistake. Caroline handled things wrong, but he made the mistake, and it was going to be a very expensive one.

  “Keith, stop talking.” Mark was pissed at pretty much everyone, and now it was starting to show. “I don’t even know how we’re going to fix what you did.”

  “What?”

  “You really should go.”

  Keith stood up and left the room. He didn’t wait for anything else to be said, and by Caroline’s estimate, there was a good chance he was going to be fired. At least she wouldn’t be the only one. Mark nodded at Gary, who got up and left, but not without shooting a dirty look at Caroline.

  The two partners stood. She didn’t even know their names. There were at least a dozen and she’d never been introduced, and they left with a nod to Mark. Leaving her alone with a man who had expected her to put out for a promotion.

  “You’ve been busy,” he said. “I didn’t think you were this ambitious.”

  “I take pride in what I do. But what does that have to do with ambition?”

  “You took out two well-established members of this company. Gary knows he should have made different recommendations, and Keith I can’t assign to anyone again. He’s done. Which clears the way for you.”

  “That’s not why I did it.”

  “No? It’s pretty ballsy.”

  “Mark, I just wanted to do the right thing. In both cases. Keith’s situation became personal when he attacked everyone for incompetence when it was obvious he was the one who disregarded every recommendation about the hydraulic system.” She twisted her fingers. “And considering you think I’d be that underhanded, I guess it’s a good time to tell you I’m tendering my resignation.”

  Mark closed the folder in front of him and folded his arms. If he was shocked it didn’t show. The man had the best poker face ever. “I didn’t take you for a quitter.”

  “I’ll be going to a new firm. Promotion, raise, great perks. I wasn’t moving forward here, so I had to look for something else.”

  “That was also ballsy. At least it will save me the trouble of firing you. But to be honest, I never thought you’d go someplace else.”

  “No?”

  “No, I thought you’d marry the millionaire you’ve been screwing and write your dirty books full time.”

  Alarm bells sounded in her head and Caroline sat up straight in her chair. “Excuse me?”

  “Don’t look so shocked. It’s my job to know what my people are up to. You use the company network from time to time with your personal device. Don’t you think we see things?”

  “You check up on me? I use my own computer to check my e-mail.”

  “Don’t get worked up about it. The boyfriend was a bit of a surprise. He came out of the blue.”

  This was wrong on so many levels Caroline couldn’t count them. It was nothing short of bizarre, it scared her more than a little, and it had nothing to do with her job.

  “We never talked about your writing. How long have you been at it?”

  Did she have to answer these questions? Should he even be asking?

  “You’re using a pen name, right? Wouldn’t want to embarrass your new firm.” He paused and a dirty smile crossed his face. “So, is your stuff pretty hot?”

  “Is this something we need to talk about?” Caroline had to get out of there. He’d been spying on her. Apparently, calling him creepy was an understatement. “I’ll get the resignation letter to you this afternoon.”

  “Don’t want to discuss it?”

  “I think I should go. To answer your questions: I’m not yet published. I do use a pen name and no, I don’t care to discuss it, but I have nothing to be ashamed of. Is that all? Can I go?”

  “You’re in a hurry? Don’t want to talk about your little fantasy?”

  There was a low burn in her belly after hearing him disparage her work like that. She’d basically just landed a job that was similar to his. She was more qualified and was probably going to out-earn him, yet all he saw was a female body. But there was more. It was that he taunted her. She should have known he’d try to use everything in his power against her. It was his style. Mark was unpredictable and he obviously had a second, very robust career as a stalker.

  “Let me buy you lunch,” he said. “You can tell me everything. I’d like to help you if I can. I do know people.”

  Was he kidding? Lunch? He knew people?

  “Thanks, I’ll pass. I have work to do.”

  She made it to the door of the conference room but his voice stopped her. “I can help you.”

  “You said that,” she responded. Her hand was on the doorknob and she didn’t dare turn around because he might see how nervous she was. How scared. Why was she scared? Why? She heard a chair move and within seconds he was pressed behind her, trapping her against the conference room door.

  “Don’t underestimate me, Caroline. I could be very good for you.”

  Her breathing was short and shallow, and the confined feeling she had from the closeness of his body and the lack of air made her a little light-headed. He seemed to be enjoying the game. When she looked back over her shoulder, the turn of his mouth told her he felt fully in control.

  “Mark, let me go.” She took a deep breath and thought about how she would get out of this if he didn’t back off. “Let go of me now.”

  There was a second’s hesitation before he stepped back, and Caroline bolted from the conference room. She got back to her desk, grabbed her things, and knew she had to leave. She’d take a sick day. And she would be sick. Thinking about what he said made her want to vomit.

  Just as she turned to go, Josh walked into view. Oh, no. His meeting. He’d had his meeting. But the minute he set eyes on her he knew something was wrong. His face changed. His posture. And he closed the gap between them in record time. The sight of the big man heading toward her turned every head.

  He dropped his hands on her shoulders and looked her into the eyes. “What happened? You’re white as a sheet. Did he do something to you?”

  Caroline nodded. Her breath was catchin
g in her throat and all she could think about was how much Mark knew. But she couldn’t cry here, she couldn’t.

  “I should fucking kill him,” Josh growled.

  “No, just get me out of here. Please.”

  He looped his arm around her and guided her through the cubicles to the reception area, where even Fern looked concerned. “Do I need to call anyone?”

  Josh shook his head. “I’ve got her, but tell Strickland he’ll be hearing from me.”

  Fern’s eyes widened and she watched as Josh guided Caroline onto the elevator. Thankful when the door finally shut, she collapsed into him.

  She felt his arms around her and his hands moved rhythmically up and down her back, soothing her as best he could, but her sobs came out in big, breathy gulps. “Please calm down, honey. Please.”

  Looking up at him, she blurted out what she’d discovered. “He’s stalking me.”

  His face washed out.

  “He must have installed something on my computer. He knows things. He knows things he shouldn’t.”

  “Your computer? Fucking bastard.” They walked from the building into the plaza near the street and Josh knew exactly what to do. Quick and decisive, he pulled out his phone and made a call.

  “Jason, it’s me. Caroline’s boss might have installed something on her computer that he’s using to spy on her.”

  He looked at her and planted a light kiss on her forehead while his hand gently rubbed her back again. His soft touch, the depth of his voice; all of it calmed her. “We can be there in fifteen minutes.”

  He ended the call and walked her right to the curb where Neil waited with his car.

  Once inside, he took her hand and wove his fingers with hers. Gentle, sure, steady. Caroline was in a daze and all she could do was be grateful he was there to help her. She was such a wreck she didn’t know if she’d have even thought to call Jason.

  “Jason said we should bring your computer to him and he can have his team analyze it. He’ll be able to figure out exactly what happened.”

  “I had no idea. He could have been tracking me for months.”

  “I really want to go back there and hurt him.”

  “I know. But don’t leave me, okay?”

  “Not a chance.”

  ***

  Caroline paced around Jason’s office while he checked out her computer. Her poor thumbnail was going to be chewed down to the quick. “Is it bad?”

  “It’s not legal,” he responded. “There’s a program exporting your data.” Jason closed the laptop and called his assistant, Harper, who was in the next office. “Get someone to take this down to Nolan in the security lab. Tell him to check everything running in the background. There’s an exploit program on here.”

  “That motherfucker.” Josh was practically snarling.

  “Really? Little Rossi has a stalker?” Harper asked.

  “Looks like it.” Jason’s brow furrowed. “Have him look everything over and do a full backup.”

  “Got it.” Harper left the room without even acknowledging Caroline. Personally, she didn’t love Harper Poole. She was as gorgeous and smart as she was cold and calculating, but Jason’s business couldn’t run without her. Caroline knew there was a human being in there because Harper had jumped in and helped when Jason and Meg’s custody situation with Molly got ugly.

  Caroline plopped into one of the two large leather chairs near Jason’s desk and Josh crouched down in front of her while Jason sat in the other chair. “You want to tell me what’s happening?” her brother-in-law asked.

  “This is all crazy. This kind of stuff doesn’t happen to me, Jason. I’m not the type of girl who inspires mad passion and gets stalked.”

  “Caroline? Come on. What’s happening?”

  She launched into the story, telling him everything about work, Mark, the things he’d done, everything.

  “Damn, the guy has a couple of screws loose.”

  “You could say that.” Caroline spoke in a suffocated whisper. She’d never been so scared.

  “And you’re in trouble... why?”

  God, there was so much. Her crazy behavior, Mark, her desire to write, the guy thing... she really had to pick just one. “I don’t know why this is all happening, Jason, but he knows things about me that he shouldn’t. It scared the crap out of me. He was asking about my writing, if I used a pen name. If it was hot. The whole thing skeeved me out.”

  “I want to kill him.” Josh was still squatting in front of Caroline, holding her hands.

  Jason grinned. “I got that, but I have a better idea.”

  “I just want to get away from here.” Caroline seriously felt like she was losing her grip.

  “I bet.” Jason paused. “It’s going to take a while, but we’ll figure it out. It’s a good thing he tripped himself up. Otherwise who knows how long he would have grabbed your information.”

  “Thank God I don’t have to go back to that place for long.”

  Josh rose and perched on the arm of Caroline’s chair. “She just landed a great job with a new firm. She’s starting next month. But I don’t think you should go back at all,” he said to Caroline.

  “That’s not a bad idea. I hate quitting like this, but... I wish I had more nerve.”

  Jason smiled and reached out, laying a hand on her shoulder. “Caroline, you never cease to amaze me. The engineering has always boggled my mind, but the writing—that’s pretty cool. And as for having nerve, you have it in spades. Don’t let an ass like your boss define you.”

  “It’s hard. People don’t take me seriously. Meg called writing my ‘little hobby’. My mother told me to focus on my career. You were there.” She drew a deep breath and continued. “Plus, I write romance. It used to be everyone thought it was just trashy writing, but now people equate what I do with porn.”

  “So, you’ve kept it all under wraps at work?”

  “No one knew at work. Mark made it sound so dirty, and now he’ll use it to cause problems for me.” Caroline trailed off, thinking about how she’d hidden what she loved from everyone, but mostly from the people who were most important to her. Except Josh. She turned her face toward her guy. “I hate it.”

  “I know, baby. I know.”

  Jason leaned back in the chair and stretched his arms over his head. “So, when were you going to tell us you guys were an item?”

  “Jason,” Josh said, “don’t jerk her around.” He looked down at her. “He knows and Meg suspects.”

  “I figured,” Caroline said. “I really wanted to go to dinner with Mom tonight, but now I just want to get out of the city.”

  “Look,” Jason said, leaning forward and resting his elbows on his knees. “Why don’t you take a few days off from work? I’m sure you have vacation days to burn before you quit, right? Go up to the cottage and decompress.”

  The Cottage. That was a lovely code name for the five-bedroom house on Martha’s Vineyard that Jason bought for Meg when they were on their honeymoon. It was a beautiful and peaceful waterfront escape and Caroline was tempted, but not convinced. “What would I do there?”

  “Sleep? Sightsee? Write?”

  Caroline sprang to her feet. “On my laptop? Hell, no! He might find me.” She sucked in a breath. Crap. Reality struck like thunder. She was scared. Honestly scared. Tears welled up in Caroline’s eyes and she faced Josh. “Oh, my God.”

  Caroline collapsed into his outstretched arms and felt a shiver go right through her. “What if he finds me? He was tracking me.”

  “I agree with Jason that you need to get away, but maybe alone isn’t the best idea. I hate that I can’t leave for a few days until I get some projects settled.” He settled her back into the armchair and crouched in front of her, but looked up at his brother. “Maybe Meg can go with her?”

  “I’ll call her.” Then Jason turned to
Caroline with his plan. “Here’s what we’ll do. We’ll get you a new laptop and I’ll have my IT department set it up for you. We’ll transfer all your files and lock down the access. Good?”

  “Okay,” she whispered, nodding. “Okay.”

  “Good. Let me make some calls and we’ll take care of it. Now, can you go home? Will you be okay?”

  Caroline looked between Josh and Jason and wondered how they ended up so different from their parents. These guys were amazing, and she and her sister were very lucky women. “I’ll be okay.”

  As she readied to leave, Caroline gave her brother-in-law a hug. “Thank you, Jason. Thank you so much.”

  As she stepped back, Jason put his hand on her arm. “Caroline, you can tell your sister anything. I know she seems overpowering, but Meg loves you, and even if you tell her to back off, she’s still going to love you.”

  “It’s hard sometimes.”

  “She wants you to be happy. Everyone does. I know she wants to be at dinner tonight. We both do; would that be okay?”

  Thinking for a second, she nodded. “Yes. It’s okay.” Caroline still wasn’t sure how her mom and sister were going to react to anything. She could only hope they were as open-minded as Jason and Josh.

  “I’ll call you with details about the trip. Plan on leaving tomorrow, but until then focus on having a good time at dinner.”

  Caroline nodded and watched as the brothers shook hands and then moved into an embrace. “Thanks, man,” Josh said.

  Feeling Josh’s hand settle at the small of her back, Caroline felt herself calming down. If she knew nothing else, she was confident that Josh would stand by her. Her career might falter, her relationship with her family might be shaky, but he was her constant. Even if she had nothing else, she had that.

  ***

  Caroline fidgeted in her seat at the very pretty Italian restaurant near Times Square. It looked like a Venetian garden, but the only thing keeping her from jumping out of her skin was the glass of pinot grigio she was gulping down. Josh tried to settle her, but he wasn’t having any luck. It wasn’t a good day for keeping Caroline calm.

  “It’s going to be fine, you know.”