The Executive's Decision ~The Sweetened Version~ (The Keller Family Series)

by Marie, Bernadette

  “Thank you.” She moved in closer to him, and her body was pliant. She was comfortable with him, and he couldn’t have been more pleased to feel that wall she kept between them crumble.

  In his bedroom, with moonlight casting a glow over the room, she was comfortable in Zach’s arms. But she was beginning to worry the feeling would go away. She’d felt that way in Alexander’s arms too—at first.

  Alexander Hamilton and Zachary Benson were so different. Alexander bullied his employees into doing what he wanted them to do. Zach took care of them, and in turn, they took care of him.

  She’d never met Alexander’s family, and until the day he came looking for her in the hospital, in which he’d put her, he’d never met her family. Already, she’d spent time alone with Zach’s mother, and she adored his father.

  Alexander had whispered things about trips and jewelry. There were promises of riches and houses. It wasn’t like that with Zach. He spoke of his family with love, and he cherished hers. There was talk of travel, but it wasn’t just a job. There was talk of vacations and destinations for them and only them. He’d spoken of marriage, though it was what his mother had wanted, but he’d said it aloud. Audrey wanted a big wedding to plan and grandchildren running through her home. Could it be that Zach was the man she could do these things with?

  What happened to the promise she’d made to herself? Fear settled into her. Perhaps if things were as serious as they seemed, she should think about finding a job away from him.

  No, that would be silly. She loved working with him. She loved being with him, and she was quickly realizing she was head over heels in love with him.

  Regan turned to him in the moonlight and studied the lines of his face. His eyes were still bright as he looked back at her. He hadn’t asked about her scar again. He didn’t ask about the relationship she’d told him she’d had. He’d let her be. Perhaps it was time to tell him everything. Confide in him her travels into corporate America though the law offices in Los Angeles. She could continue about how the tall, dark, and handsome Alexander Hamilton had swept her off her feet. Would it discourage Zach to find out that he wasn’t the first to turn her head in a matter of a few weeks? With Alexander, she left a perfectly good job and moved to Hawaii. She’d given up the connection she had with her family, just to be with the man she’d thought she loved.

  Her heart rate picked up. She’d had a ring. She’d had a condo. She’d been pregnant with a child that she loved.

  Zach would have to know these things. She had to confide in him. She had to…

  She opened her mouth to speak, to tell him everything that had happened to her before she’d fallen onto his lap. But she thought better of it and closed her mouth.

  Zach touched her face gently. “What were you going to say?”

  “Nothing,” she said and cuddled closer to him. She was a coward.

  Regan’s family chose to travel to New York together. However, they kept it a secret from Arianna. Regan knew when she saw them all she’d flood them with tears. Though she was a professional, there was no reason to tempt her fate as an actress. As far as she knew, only Regan and Zach would be there to see her debut.

  “You look beautiful, Mama.” Regan kissed her mother in the lobby of the theater, then she turned to her father and kissed him too. “And don’t you clean up good?”

  “You brought him with you?” he asked softly in her ear as his gaze transferred to Zach, who stood at the bar.

  “Yes, I brought him.”

  Alan Keller nodded his head, keeping his lips close to his daughter’s ear. “He’s treating you okay? Everything is okay with you working with him?” And there was the hesitation she’d known would arrive.

  “We’re doing fine, Daddy.” She moved even closer to him where no one could hear. “I love him.”

  He kissed her cheek, and she knew he already understood how she felt.

  “I’m going to get your mama a drink,” he said with a wink. He took Emily’s arm and walked across the lobby to the bar.

  “I find it amazing that there hasn’t been one murmur of an affair on the job site,” Carlos whispered as he moved to her side.

  “Oh, Carlos.” She gritted her teeth. She was tiring of the inquisition even if she understood their concern.

  “Hey, I know he makes you happy. I live on the couch.” He raised his eyebrows, and heat rose in her cheeks. “They’re just worried about you. You can’t blame them.”

  She turned sharply. “Listen, I love the man. I can’t help myself. But he knows nothing of what I’ve gone through.”

  “You can’t keep that from him if you plan to make this work.”

  “Maybe not, but it’s too early.” She felt tears forming in her eyes as Curtis walked up to them. “You all have to help me keep my secrets. And you all have to trust me that I know what I’m doing.”

  “I ran into his mother at the hospital last week,” Curtis said softly. “She’s got high hopes for the two of you.”

  “I’ve heard.” She gripped the clutch in her hands tighter.

  “Are you ready for that? The Bensons don’t exactly fly under the media’s radar. What about Alexander?”

  “What about him? He tossed me to the curb. He’s no threat to me anymore,” she said, but last week’s lunch meeting in Dallas had renewed the doubt in her mind. Was Rebecca still in contact with him? Had she recognized Regan, and if she had, would she say something to Alexander? Her knees felt weak beneath her. She straightened her shoulders and tried to push away the feeling of fear, which was always so quick to take over.

  “Okay, what about the…” When Regan threatened him with her stare, he stopped. “Fine, but you know Alexander and Zach run in the same circles. With wealth and power like the Bensons have, your paths are sure to cross.”

  Leave it to Curtis to turn over every rock. No. There was no need to get worked up over it. She had regained her life by sheer determination. Alexander Hamilton could no longer do her harm.

  When Regan saw Zach walk toward her with a glass of wine, she stepped back from the tight circle she and her brothers had made.

  Zach handed her the glass. “I love New York. So many wonderful buildings.”

  Curtis gave him a nod. “How many of them have had a sign with your name out front?”

  “More than I know.” Zach gave a self-deprecatory shrug. “My grandfather was partial to New York.”

  “Makes for a nice trust fund,” Carlos added, and Regan jabbed his ribs with her elbow. “Hey!”

  The lights in the lobby flashed, and the crowd that lingered scurried toward the theater doors to take their seats.

  Zach touched the small of her back as they walked through the door. “Everything okay?”

  “Yes. I guess that since you don’t have any, you wouldn’t know how nosy and pushy they can be. They mean well, though.”

  “You forget, I don’t have brothers or sisters, but I do have my mother. I know nosy and pushy.” He gave her back a warm rub. “They’re that way because they love us. No matter how crazy they make us.”

  After the performance, Arianna had arranged for Regan and Zach to visit her backstage. Regan tapped on the dressing room door and heard her sister’s voice giving her permission to enter the room.

  “I’ll be out in a moment. I’m changing. But I’m decent, so Zach can come in.” Her voice was muffled behind a screen and racks of costumes.

  “You’re sure you’re decent enough?” She held in a laugh as she motioned for the family to enter.

  “God, I’m not a prude.”

  Regan looked around the room. Props and costumes from tonight’s show filled every corner. It had all moved so effortlessly, she’d never realized that her sister had changed so many times.

  Bouquets of roses and other flower arrangements filled her counter. They gave a feminine smell to the room that also smelled like hot, sweaty bodies—an odor she was sure was from the heavy costumes her sister must have sweltered in.

  “Tha
t’s better.” Arianna pulled her robe closed and tied her hair in a tail atop her head before she turned and noticed her entire family standing before her. She let out a scream of joy. “Oh, God!” She pulled the crowd into her arms and kissed each of them.

  “Mama, Papa, I didn’t know you were coming.” Tears streamed down her cheeks. “But thank God I didn’t know. I’d have forgotten every line.”

  “I wouldn’t have missed this for the world.” Alan kissed her, and Emily dabbed at her eyes.

  “Carlos, the kids. This is your weekend. You said…”

  “I lied. I was coming all along.” He kissed her and held her face in his hands. “You are amazing.”

  “Thank you.”

  Arianna pulled Curtis into her arms and he hauled her off her feet. “You… you…” He set her back on the ground and looked her over. “Well, you didn’t suck.”

  She punched him the shoulder then kissed him.

  Arianna turned back to Regan. “What did you think?”

  Zach stood to the side, Regan’s shawl over his arm. “She was bawling like a baby,” he said, saving Regan from giving her opinion.

  “Zach.” She crossed to him and kissed him on the cheek. “Thank you so much for coming.”

  “They’re right. You’re amazing.”

  “You’re a keeper.” She turned back to her family. “Let’s go to dinner. All of us. And then, Daddy, maybe you can spin us all across a dance floor.”

  They dined and danced together well into the night. Regan was thrilled to have the man she loved enjoying the company of her family. He fit. He wasn’t supposed to, but he did.

  When Carlos bought him a drink and Arianna danced with him and laughed as he dipped her, her nerves unraveled. They had accepted him.

  Zach pulled Regan from the table by her hand. “C’mon. You owe me a spin on the dance floor before they close.”

  “I’m tired. I don’t want to dance.”

  “Your father is out there spinning your mother in circles. I can’t be shown up like this,” he said, tugging again, and she laughed.

  Regan’s parents danced as though they were forty years younger. It was a sight she would never tire of.

  Zach led her next to them, and her father gave a nod. “Ready? Trade!” her father called out as each of them spun his partner off and collected the one that danced toward him.

  “Well, Zachary, you sure do know your dancing,” Emily said on a laugh as Zach dipped her and pulled her back into his arms.

  “Like I told your daughter, I was forced into it.”

  “I doubt that.” She laughed again. “Men say that, but then when it comes time for them to show off on a dance floor, they are glad they know what they are doing.”

  He removed his hand from around her waist and rested it over his heart with a nod. “My secret is no longer safe.”

  Alan spun Regan away from her mother and Zach, and spun her until she was dizzy and began to protest.

  He slowed down. “That is for all the times you stepped on my feet.”

  “You told me to step on your feet.” She laughed as he spun her again.

  “I like him.”

  Regan tripped on his foot and had to work to regain her balance. “What?”

  “I like this new man of yours. He wants to take care of you. I can tell.”

  “I think you’re right, Daddy. He’s not like the other one.”

  “This I already know.” When he spoke from the heart, his German accent came through strong. “You never brought the other one around. You let him hide you away.”

  Her movements became jerky, and it was hard to focus as she tried to keep her composure. “You’re right. I was wrong to do that. I’m sorry I hurt you and Mama by staying away.”

  The music stopped, and the musicians began to put their instruments away. The dancers cleared the floor—all but Regan and her father.

  “You are a smart girl. You did what was right.” He patted her cheek. “Don’t ever think I’m disappointed in you or that your mama is either. We love you.” He looked up and over at his wife and Zach watching them. “You take care of him too.”

  Zach pushed the button for the elevator as Regan’s family gathered around. An awkward silence followed them. Their rooms were scattered throughout the hotel. Carlos and Curtis got off the elevator on the tenth floor, kissing their mother good night as the doors opened.

  Zach stood to one side of her parents and Regan on the other as they rode to the fifteenth floor. The heat in the small elevator felt as though it was climbing when Zach noticed both Emily’s and Alan’s eyes on him. He shifted his gaze to the escalating numbers over the door, and the elevator finally came to a stop.

  “Good night, Mama.” She kissed her mother as the elevator door opened. “Good night, Papa. I love you both.”

  Zach shook her father’s hand and did not let the gentle squeeze of a warning go unnoticed. When the elevator door closed, he fell against the wall with a huff.

  “What’s wrong?” Regan made her move toward him.

  “How old is your father?”

  “He’s seventy-six. Why?”

  “He’s very old-fashioned.”

  Regan wrapped her arms around his waist and placed a kiss against his throat. “Yes he is. Why do you say that?”

  “He’s not very keen on us sleeping together.”

  “What did he say?” She stepped back and looked up at him. Her face had grown concerned.

  “Not one word. But the looks. The body language. The handshake.” He cleared his throat. “I’m not kidding, Regan, I think I’ll go down and see if they have another room available. If not, I’ll just bunk with Curtis and Carlos.”

  “You’ll do no such thing.” She laughed as she took his hand and pulled him out of the elevator as the doors opened. “

  “If you insist.” He smiled broadly as he adjusted his suit jacket and brushed his hands down his sleeves.

  “Oh, tonight I’m the boss.” She winked at him as she slid the key card into the door.

  Chapter Nine

  Z

  ach was pleased with the state of business as the year inched from spring into summer. Every building site was a bustle of workers doing as much work as they could from sunup to sundown. Completion dates neared. New sites were acquired. New investors were found.

  The Nashville project was ahead of schedule, even with the changes that Zach had made. He’d sent John Forrester to Kansas City to get the site up to speed, which he had done skillfully.

  “I’m sending John to Memphis at the end of the week,” he told Regan. “I want you to go with him because you were there for the meeting with Byers. We should have been there

  three weeks ago.” He didn’t like not keeping his word. He had threatened Roger Byers that he’d be back in a week and he’d let his schedule slip. It wasn’t something he’d say aloud, but his diligence to business hadn’t been as important since he’d fallen head over heels in love. Every task was harder to accomplish knowing Regan was right outside his office door. “I need to get to L.A. by the end of the week and see to it that the loose ends are being tied up so we can get that project rolling. If we can finish up Nashville, Memphis, and Kansas City enough to do interior work during the winter, it would be a good time to get L.A. underway.”

  He watched as Regan took down every word in her notepad. He leaned his arms on the pile of papers on his desk and inched closer to her. “Once I return from L.A., I’ll need you to set up accommodations at the Ritz Carlton in New York City. First-class airline tickets for two. My mother enjoys the opera, but see what your sister can do to get her tickets to her show.” Regan’s glance finally shifted up to him. “It’s their fortieth wedding anniversary,” he explained.

  A warm smile lit her face. “I’ll get those arrangements taken care of,” she said, sitting up straighter and looking across at him. “Is there anything else, Mr. Benson?”

  “Yes.” He stood and walked around the desk. He took her hands in his
and pulled her to her feet.

  She looked very much like the day he’d met her. The day she’d fallen from heaven and landed on his lap. All tucked up in her professionalism, she was sexy. She'd pulled back her hair, exposing her soft neck. He caressed her cheek, gliding his thumb over her cheekbone.

  She lifted her hand to pull his from her. “Zach…”

  “I’m the boss.” He took her mouth with his, driving her into a deep kiss that left her swaying against him.

  “We had an agreement,” she reminded him as she lifted her hand to his chest to push him away.

  “Yes, but we didn’t sign a contract. I only work with contracts.”

  She bit down on her lip. “Yes. And the only way I’ll get fired is if I lose you a contract.” Her eyes hazed with something dark, but it wasn’t pleasure or seduction. A tautness around her mouth told him it was anger.

  “Where did you hear that?”

  “Mary Ellen on my first day. She said you were a softy, but if someone lost you a contract, you’d fire them on the spot.”

  He pulled her closer to him, willing the haze in her eyes to turn smoky with lust. “We’d better not sign a contract about kissing at work, then. I’ll have to fire myself for breaking it. I can’t keep myself from you. I love you.”

  She stiffened and stepped back from him. But he moved closer. “While my parents are in New York, you and I are going to spend the weekend at their house. Let’s see if you really like Tennessee sprawling land.”

  She took a breath, but a knock at the door stopped her. For that he was grateful. He didn’t want excuses, he wanted her.

  They had just enough time to step back from each other and look professional before Kirk Peterson pushed open the door and walked in uninvited. “We’ve got troubles in Memphis.”

  He held a report in his hands. For the first time in months, he bypassed his normal sleaziness and looked past Regan to Zach.

  The Memphis project had been red flagged and could be shut down if inspectors returned and didn’t see changes ASAP. There had never been a Benson, Benson, and Hart project shut down. He sure wasn’t going to let Roger Byers bring down his record.