Breathless In Love (The Maverick Billionaires #1)

by Bella Andre

  “I’m really sorry,” Jeremy said again, his face now completely red.

  “If she complains, I’m gonna tell the management it’s your fault for being the worst bagger we’ve ever had.”

  Rage welled up in Will. His hands fisted until his knuckles turned stark white. If Jeremy hadn’t been there as witness…if the clerk had so much as laid a hand on him…if Will hadn’t damn near annihilated the Road Warrior inside him…

  Will reached Jeremy’s side just as she issued the last threat. He flayed the woman with a look that could shred flesh. “Don’t ever talk to Jeremy that way again. Apologize to him. Now.”

  The checker’s hands stopped moving over the scanner, where she was holding a can of green beans. She stared at Will, openmouthed. Finally, she muttered, “I’m sorry.”

  “Say his name when you apologize to him.” Will hadn’t raised his voice, but his intent to tear her apart with his bare hands if she didn’t fix things was crystal clear nonetheless.

  “His name?” Her face screwed up. “I don’t know.”

  “Didn’t you just say you work with him all the time? How can you not know his name?”

  Fixing her stare on Jeremy, she opened her mouth, and by her narrowed eyes, Will was sure something merciless was about to spew out. Until she looked back at him, took in the steely set of his mouth—and the silent threat in his eyes—and swallowed hard. “I think it’s Jeremy.”

  “Apologize again. Properly.”

  “I’m sorry, Jeremy.”

  “It’s okay.” Jeremy’s face was still beet red.

  Will gave her one last look that personified the expression if looks could kill. And the clerk clearly recognized it. “There are no idiots here.” Except her. “And I will know if you use that word to speak to anyone here again. Ever.” He turned to Jeremy. “Ten minutes left on your shift, buddy. I’ll wait for you over there.” He crooked his chin toward the door, where the checker would be in his sights.

  “Okay, Will,” Jeremy said, his voice too quiet.

  Watching from his spot over by the doorway, Will was afraid he’d make Jeremy nervous. On the other hand, there was no way he’d let anyone have another crack at Harper’s brother. But Jeremy did well, with no more cantaloupe-versus-eggs incidents. He even helped an old lady out with her groceries. She winked as she passed Will. “You did good, sonny. That woman’s always been a nasty piece of work.”

  Of course, the checker was as sweet as apple pie for the rest of the time that Will watched. Then it was five, and Jeremy ran to clock out. When he returned, Will slung an arm around his shoulder as he removed his store apron. “You did real good in there.”

  “I didn’t. I put the melon on the eggs.”

  “They probably didn’t break. And even if they did, it was just a mistake. We all make mistakes sometimes.” As Jeremy climbed into the BMW, Will wished he’d had one of his fun cars for the kid to enjoy. “Is it always like that in there?”

  “Like what?”

  “Busy. Crazy.” With nasty women calling him nasty names. Will’s jaw tensed again thinking about the madness that had almost taken over when he’d seen Jeremy being bullied.

  “Just at the end,” Jeremy confessed. “Most of the time it’s fine. But around five, it’s really busy.”

  Will didn’t like it. The boy had to put up with that every single damn day. How many times had someone called him an idiot? Will’s hands were fists on the steering wheel. For so many reasons, nothing bothered him more than watching people being bullied. “That woman shouldn’t be working there.” His voice was a growl.

  Jeremy fluttered his hands in the air. “Sadie didn’t mean it. It’s just that her mom’s sick and she’s going to die soon.”

  He wanted to say that was no excuse for being a total jerk. Sometimes, he knew, there were reasons why a person lost control. Not an excuse, just a reason. But he still couldn’t quite squash the desire to flatten the woman with a cast iron skillet versus a fly swatter.

  Will had tried to tell himself he didn’t solve things with his fists anymore, but in that grocery store, he’d been ready to run down anything in his path. It was the part of himself he still feared lurked inside him, even after all the years since he’d ditched the gang.

  “Jeremy—”

  “Are you going to get her fired, Will? ’Cause I’d feel really bad if you did.” The plea appeared as two big furrows across Jeremy’s brow and a moist sheen in his eyes.

  Will didn’t want to let the woman off the hook, but for Jeremy he’d make an exception. “I’ll give her one more chance. But if she treats you like that again, I need to know about it. Okay?”

  “Okay.” Jeremy nodded vigorously.

  It was time to lighten the mood. Jeremy needed to move on even if Will’s nerves were still firing like a racing engine. “Now, what do you say we order some Chinese? I know a great place.”

  “Yay.” Jeremy clapped, his enthusiastic self again, as if he’d forgotten the whole thing.

  Will could only hope that he had.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  “I’ll be back in the office tomorrow morning,” Will told Maya, his Human Resources director. It was after seven and he’d had to call her at home. “Thanks for rescheduling our meeting.” Ending the call, Will turned to Jeremy. “Enjoying dinner?”

  Jeremy nodded exuberantly. Seated at the breakfast bar in Harper’s kitchen, he was chowing down on yet another helping of sweet-and-sour pork.

  “I’ve got another question for you,” Will said. “How would you feel about a new job?”

  “For me?” Jeremy asked, his mouth full. Harper likely wouldn’t be pleased with the lack of manners, but Will felt it meant that Jeremy’s guard was down with him. More like a person was with family.

  “Yeah. A job for you.”

  He wanted to make things better for Jeremy. Will hated it when the big fish picked on the little ones.

  Mostly because at one time he’d been the big fish. But that had ended with the Mavericks. It had taken a few years before he’d believed that he truly belonged with them, but they became his brothers. And even if he hadn’t been as careful with other people as he should have been, he’d always fought for the Mavericks and protected them when they needed it.

  But it had been a long, long time since anyone had needed him like that. Until Jeremy and Harper.

  “What kind of job?” There was a piece of rice on Jeremy’s shirt, which Will flicked onto the bar top.

  He’d come by the idea somewhere between ordering the Chinese food and the delivery person’s dropping it off: If Jeremy worked for him, he would no longer be a victim of sharp-tongued checkers. Or anyone else, for that matter. No one at Franconi Imports would dare to call him names. He would be treated with respect, Will would make sure of that. There would be no late-afternoon customer rush to confuse him, either. Sure, the tasks would be new to him, but they’d teach him new skills without the stress of too many people coming all at once. Anyone would have a problem with the environment he’d been in.

  “How about working in my mailroom?” Will said. “You can deliver mail, pick up packages.”

  Jeremy’s eyes glowed. “You mean like a postman?”

  Will nodded, smiling. “A postman for my employees.”

  “Wow. Cool.” Jeremy bit off half his spring roll and chewed, his eyes wide.

  “You can also pick up people’s papers to put through the shredder, and run office errands, and deliver supplies.” The more he thought about it, the more tasks came to mind that Jeremy could easily handle. “What do you think? Would you like to try it?”

  Jeremy nodded eagerly. “I do!”

  Harper’s brother was so exuberant about everything that sometimes it was hard to tell if he actually wanted to do something or he merely thought he needed to play the yes man. Which was why Will asked, “Will you miss your friends at the grocery store?”

  “Yes, but that’s okay. I like making new friends.” Jeremy shoveled more food into
his mouth.

  “Great. We’ll talk to Harper and see what she thinks.”

  “Okay, Will.”

  She opened the front door almost as Will said her name—and he got that special little kick under his ribs when he saw her. Her lipstick had worn off as though she’d been biting her lips on the way home, her suit jacket was crumpled in her hand, and she was clutching a grocery bag that looked ready to topple.

  She’d never looked more gorgeous.

  Will moved quickly toward her, grabbing the sack before it fell. And then, without a word of greeting, he planted his mouth on hers. The kiss was sweet and closemouthed in front of her brother, but it still made his heart beat faster. Especially when she leaned into him, as though she was glad that he was there to put his arms around her.

  “Sorry I’m late,” she said as she drew back. “I forgot we needed milk. The lines at the store were atrocious.”

  “I want to talk to you about that. But later. Right now, you need sustenance.”

  He took her jacket, laying it over the back of the sofa. Then he stashed the milk in the fridge and pulled out the wine he’d been chilling.

  “Oh my God.” She stopped dead in the kitchen. “You did the dishes. But how?”

  “Believe it or not, I’ve loaded a dishwasher and washed dishes plenty of times,” he said wryly. She seemed to have the mistaken notion that he’d been brought up privileged. Then again, he hadn’t exactly shared the truth about his childhood with her, had he? So why would she think any differently?

  “I helped,” her brother piped up.

  “That’s great, Jeremy, thank you,” she said. But she was glancing warily at the dishwasher.

  “Don’t worry,” Will said. “I also know the dry soap goes in the machine and the liquid is for the hand-washing.”

  “I didn’t mean to doubt your dishwashing prowess…it’s just that you’ve already gone to so much trouble tonight.” She rubbed a hand over her eyes. “I’m sorry. I didn’t even think about what the house looked like when I sent you over or that you’d need to do the dishes so that you could have plates to eat with.”

  “I told you not to worry about anything tonight, Harper. And I meant it.” He held up the bottle of Riesling he’d picked up. “I’ll pour a glass of wine and fix you a plate.”

  “You don’t have to.” She clearly wasn’t used to having anyone take care of her.

  He pointed to the couch and put on his best boss voice. “Sit.”

  She shook her head at his tone, but he caught the way her lips were curving up as she relaxed into one end of the sofa. Slipping off her high heels, she leaned back with a sigh, obviously admiring the newly tidied room.

  They’d also cleaned up in there, sorting Jeremy’s crayons by color into the huge box. Will had learned that coloring was homework, likely a hand-eye coordination exercise.

  “Can I watch Animal Planet?” Jeremy dashed across the room and picked up the remote, but stood motionless, his finger on the button, until Harper nodded. Then he plopped down on the carpet in front of the TV and started flipping channels.

  “Not so close, please,” Harper chided.

  As Jeremy spider-walked backward, Will poured her wine. Between them, he and Jeremy had unloaded the dishwasher, found where everything went, and stacked all the dirty dishes in the machine. Which meant that Will not only knew where her wineglasses were, he also knew that she had too many cans of baked beans and an empty peanut butter jar, as if she always forgot to make a grocery list and couldn’t remember what she needed when she got to the store. He’d also found the bag of white chocolate truffles in the cupboard next to the fridge, probably the only treat she let herself indulge in.

  But most of all, he loved that her house was clearly a home, full of warmth and messes and laughter and love. His own spectacular compound seemed cold by comparison.

  “This should ease the day’s tension.” He handed her the glass of wine.

  She sipped gratefully, closing her eyes to savor either the flavor or the relaxing effects. “This is just what I needed. Thank you.” She glanced up. “This is the same wine I had at Cannelli’s.”

  “I remembered you liked it.”

  “You’re too good to be true,” she said softly, and something tightened in his gut. The same tightening that occurred when she’d called him sweet over the phone. Because if she knew the truth about the things he’d done...

  Forcing the thought aside, just as he had so many times before with her, he plated a portion for her from each carton and finished off with a spring roll covered in sweet-and-sour sauce.

  “Aren’t you eating?” she asked when he sat on the couch empty handed.

  “Jeremy wouldn’t eat unless I did, too. And since I wasn’t sure when you’d make it back—”

  “I’m really sorry.”

  “Stop apologizing. In fact, as I recall, I promised that if you did it again—”

  Will took her mouth in a second kiss that was a heck of a lot less sweet and soft than the first of the night had been. Jeremy might still be in the same room with them, but he was glued to the TV and wasn’t paying any attention to them at all.

  Forcing himself to draw back before he got completely carried away, Will said, “I enjoyed your brother’s company. I always do.”

  “Am I allowed to say thank you for getting dinner and picking Jeremy up?” She gave him a cheeky smile. “Or do I say thank you too much, as well?”

  “I love it when you’re polite,” he said as he curled a lock of her hair around his finger. Then he lowered his voice and added, “So polite one moment, and then so wild the next.” He was close enough to appreciate the sound of her breath hitching in her throat at his suggestive words.

  He drank from her glass of wine, then stole a cashew off her plate. It was another intimacy he enjoyed, just like playing with her hair. From the first day they’d met, he’d had a need to touch her in small ways as well as big. It didn’t always have to be about sex—in fact, these little touches seemed to heighten their intimacy in a way simple sexual contact didn’t. He’d never been like this with another woman, never so much as thought about becoming intimate with one of them beyond a few hours in the bedroom.

  But Harper was different. She was important to him.

  So important that he hoped the wine had mellowed her. She’d already had a harried day, and he didn’t want to make things worse. But he didn’t feel right trying to seduce her before he’d talked with her about what had happened at the grocery store.

  “There was an issue at the store when I arrived.”

  She glanced at Jeremy, a deep line forming immediately between her brows. “What happened?” she asked in a low voice.

  Will looked at Jeremy, too. Thankfully, the leopard cubs reigned over his attention. “He didn’t do anything. It was busy. Like it always is at the end of the work day,” Will added to bring home his point. “He wasn’t bagging fast enough for the checker or the customer, and he didn’t pack the groceries correctly. A cantaloupe on top of eggs.”

  She waited, an expectant and on her pursed lips.

  “And,” he said in a voice low enough that only she could hear, “the checker called him an idiot in front of the customers. Among other insults.”

  Her gaze shot to Jeremy again, her eyes darkened with worry. And a deep sorrow that Will wished he could erase permanently. “Is he okay?”

  “He’s fine. Your brother is resilient. Compassionate, too. He actually asked me not to have the woman fired, because she’s got a sick mother.”

  Leaning forward, she slid her plate onto the coffee table, and somehow, when she sat back, she seemed farther away from him. “Why did he think you were going to have the woman fired?”

  “I made her apologize. In front of everyone who had just witnessed her acting like such a jerk.” He shook his head. “I know I’m always telling you not to apologize, but when people do something they know is wrong, they need to apologize for their actions.”

  H
e was one to talk, wasn’t he, considering he could never say he was sorry for all the things he’d done in the past. Still, that didn’t mean he would allow Jeremy to be denigrated.

  “Do you know what it’s like in that store at that time of day?” he asked.

  She frowned again. “I know it’s busy. I just never thought—”

  Belatedly realizing his question might have sounded too harsh, he touched her hair again, drawing her back in. “What I’m trying to say is that I’m not so sure it’s the best place for him. It’s too chaotic.”

  Her jaw tensed as though she was clenching her teeth. “It gives him purpose. He’s always said he likes it.” Once again, her gaze shifted to Jeremy.

  This was Will’s chance to make a difference for them. “I’ve got a better idea. I talked to my people and I found him a place in my mailroom.”

  Her nostrils twitched. Like a mother rabbit sensing danger to her young. Yet again, she reminded him of Susan, who had taken better care of him than anyone in the world. Better care than he’d ever thought anyone would.

  “You work in the city,” Harper said. “He has school until noon, and the bus drops him off at the store. I can’t get him all the way up to your office.”

  “I have a driver who can pick him up after school. And I can bring him home at the end of the day.”

  “I see you’ve thought everything through.”

  Yes, he’d considered the proposal from every angle. That’s what he did: analyzed each scenario and conquered every possible problem that could arise. “I’ll make it good for him, Harper. And he told me he’d like to do it, that he won’t miss his job at the grocery store.”

  In a heartbeat, she went as cold as a Chicago night in winter. “You already told him about this? Without discussing it with me first?”

  He felt the stillness settle around them. The TV played on, and so did the leopard cubs, while a chilly silence dropped over Harper and him.

  And that was when Will realized, far too late, that he’d just made a huge tactical mistake with the woman who had already become the most important person in his life.