by Susan Meier
“I think you’d fit very well into Max’s organization. You’re honest and kind. You’ve won over our doormen and Mrs. Petrillo without blinking an eye.”
She felt her face redden. “That was pretty easy. They’re all nice people.”
“See? Only a really kind person deflects praise.”
She rolled her eyes. “Whatever.” But she had to admit the fact that he thought her kind gave her another confidence boost. That and the way he felt she’d fit into Max Wilson’s organization.
She almost told him about her mom, about the thoughts she’d been having the past couple of days. That it was time to make up, but she wasn’t sure how.
But the baby fussed, and when she went to her room to check on her, she couldn’t get her back to sleep. Her eyes were red-rimmed from crying, her cheeks wet with tears.
She carried her out to the living room, where Seth sat watching a baseball game.
When he saw her, he said, “What happened?”
“I don’t know. Could be any one of a number of things. I think I need to call the pediatrician.”
“Give her to me so you can talk.”
He took Crystal and settled her on his lap, but as soon as Harper started talking, she began to cry.
Seth got up from the sofa and walked with her, talking soothingly as he approached the windows at the back of the sitting area. He pulled open the drapes, showed Crystal the lights beyond the glass, and she stopped crying.
Harper stared at him at them, her heart aching. Whether he knew it or not, someday he’d make a great dad.
She watched them for a few minutes as she waited for the pediatrician to come to the phone. When he came on the line, he listened to Harper’s explanation and suggested that Crystal was probably getting her first tooth. He told Harper to examine her gums, see if she could feel a bump or see any redness and to apply an over-the-counter gel.
As soon as she disconnected the call, Seth turned from the window. “What did he say?”
“That she’s probably teething, I should look for signs of it and use an over-the-counter teething gel.”
“Can we get it locally?”
“I already have it. Teething can start as early as three months, so I bought some for when her teeth began to come in.”
“Smart.”
She walked over to take Crystal from him. “I just know to be prepared.”
They set the baby in her carrier and Harper looked at her gums. “They’re red.”
She swiped a finger along the space that seemed the deepest shade of red and felt the bump.
“Yep. This is it. She’s getting a tooth.”
“Did you hear that, Crystal? This time next week, you can be eating steak with me and your mom.”
She laughed, then sniffled.
Harper rose. “Stand by the carrier while I get the gel.”
She raced into her room, found the gel and was back in a few seconds. She smoothed it across Crystal’s gums then rocked her until she fell asleep.
After taking the baby to her crib, she walked out to the sitting area and plopped down on the couch. “This might turn into a long night.”
“Might?” He laughed. “I think you could be up every twenty minutes.”
She turned her head along the back of the couch to look at him. “Unless the gel works.”
He nodded. “Unless the gel works.”
She couldn’t get over how comfortable he was, not just with Crystal but with the teething. “The first night I stayed here, you woke up when she cried.”
He shrugged. “I was a newbie.”
“You were.”
“Now I’m a pro.”
“Not a pro but close.”
He got up from the sofa and went to the kitchen, where he grabbed a beer. “I’d offer you one, but I take it you’re on duty.”
“I know. I’m glad I didn’t drink that second glass of wine.”
He ambled back to the sofa. “So, what are you going to do? Sit up all night and be available for when she cries?”
“Maybe.”
“Seriously?”
“This is my first baby. My first new tooth.”
He laughed. “I won’t drink this beer and I’ll take a shift.”
She gaped at him. “Don’t be silly. You have work in the morning.”
“I know. But I feel like I should help.”
“We’ll be fine.”
But he put the beer back in the fridge. The TV still played softly in the background with the sounds of the baseball game turned down low enough that that didn’t interfere, but when someone hit a home run and the crowd erupted with a shout, Seth looked at the screen.
“They’re winning.”
“They are.”
“Clark loved the Yankees.”
Harper nodded.
They were quiet for a few seconds, then Seth quietly said, “Ever feel bad that he’s missing out on all these things with Crystal?”
She shook her head. “I should but I don’t.” She took a long breath, wondering what to say, what to hold back, and in the end she decided to be honest. “I don’t think he’d have helped much with Crystal.” She sneaked a quick peek at Seth. “Don’t get me wrong. He wanted her. He wanted a family. But he’d have been more of an observer in her baby years. Happy to wait until she was old enough to throw a baseball or ride a bike before he got involved.”
Seth looked shocked. “Really?”
“Yeah.”
“But she’s so funny.”
“He’d have been able to resist her cuteness.” She paused again. Bit her tongue once, but couldn’t stop herself. She said, “He was more interested in business. I think he saw his place as being the one to provide the income and me the one to make the home.”
“Sounds dangerously like my dad.”
“Clark wouldn’t cheat subcontractors.”
“I know that. I’m sorry. It’s just that my dad left all the home stuff to my mother, too.”
The truth burned on her tongue. Not that Clark was bad, but that she was angry. Seriously angry that he hadn’t involved her on decisions that had affected her future.
She felt herself losing the battle, knew she couldn’t hold back anymore. “Do you know my name wasn’t on our condo?”
He peered over at her. “Clark didn’t put your name on the deed?”
“After I found the huge mortgage on the condo, I understood that he hadn’t put my name on, so he could use it as an asset.”
Seth’s mouth opened then closed. After a long sigh, he said, “I’m not going to tell you that’s normal because I think you know it isn’t.”
“He did a lot of weird things. More than juggling our money and assets. Things like scheduling things on the same day I had planned to visit my parents or the same day my parents were having a party.” She sucked in a long breath, not quite disgusted with herself for talking about Clark, but not about to stop, either. “I don’t think he kept me away from my parents for any reason other than he knew we didn’t get along. In his own way, I think he was protecting me.”
“Maybe he was.”
“You don’t do things like that, though. You don’t tell me where to go or what to do. You’ve almost been a supporter of my parents.”
He glanced at her, one eyebrow raised. “I’m the one who thought of the charade.”
“Yeah, but you also say things like my mom’s not so bad or she needs to see the baby.” She pressed her lips together, then blew out a long breath. “I don’t know where I’m going with this except that I had to talk to someone. Explain how I feel so I don’t let my thinking go too far.” She took another breath for courage before she said, “The month before I moved in here I stopped making excuses for Clark and started seeing him as a normal guy.”
Seth didn’t see
m impressed. “We’re all normal guys.”
“I think all those months I stayed at home after Clark died, I was trying to hold onto the fairy tale. I didn’t want to tell my mom Clark had failed because I didn’t want to face it, either. I wanted to pretend everything was fine, even as my life was falling apart around me because of decisions he’d made.”
“It’s pretty difficult for a knight in shining armor to stay perched on a white horse his whole life.”
She laughed. “I know. And I’m not angry with him. It just feels weird to settle into the knowledge that my husband wasn’t perfect. That he had some pretty big faults. And he lied to me. Maybe not straight-out lied, but he didn’t put my name on our condo, got a mortgage, leveraged the firm I thought was a cash cow.”
“I understand. Try finding out your dad has a mistress...has had several mistresses. Kids think their dads walk on water. When I found out my dad was supporting a woman across town I was shell-shocked.”
“That is bad.”
“It gets worse. He never hit us, but he was a mean, spiteful person. He loved being in charge. He loved making people squirm. Even me and Jake.” He shook his head. “Especially me and Jake. When we finally figured that out, we were at university, both broke, both jobless and soon-to-be out of our dorms because our dad hadn’t paid for them, Jake learned to play the game. He got a job, earned money, said all the right things to our dad. I left my dorm and moved in with Clark. We both ended up the same...earning our own way. But it leaves a mark when someone you trust cheats you.”
“It does.” She caught his gaze. “Clark hadn’t really cheated me, except for not putting my name on the condo. And I worry that when I tell this story to my parents, they’re going to think I’m stupid.”
“No. It might put another nail in their dislike of Clark, though.”
She pulled in a breath. “So, how’s your mom since your dad died?”
“Good.” He frowned. “But we’re not as close as I think she’d like us to be.”
“Are you going to fix that?”
“A week ago, I would have said no.” He shrugged. “Tonight, I don’t know.”
They both grew quiet. Harper looked at her watch and noticed the hour. “I better try to get some sleep. As soon as that gel wares off, Crystal will be up.”
Seth flicked off the TV. “I’m going with you. I have to be up early tomorrow.”
They headed down the hall, side by side. Quiet. Each lost in their own thoughts.
But when they reached her door, Seth stopped, too. “I know it hurt you that Clark kept so much a secret. But you’ve come out of this a very strong woman.”
Pride shimmered through her. “Thanks.”
She looked up as he looked down and the same temptation that always hit her when they were close eased through her. His eyes changed, went from happy to serious in a blink. Then he bent and kissed her.
The quick sweep of his mouth across hers raised gooseflesh but there was more to it than that. There was no surprise as there had been in the first kiss, no demand as there had been in the second kiss. Emotion warmed this kiss. Genuine affection. They’d gone from two people unexpectedly attracted, to two people who cared about each other and could talk to each other. She didn’t have to be a psychic to realize Seth probably didn’t talk about the fact that he and his mom weren’t close.
Warmth filled her. Attraction blossomed in a new way, a more potent way. If she touched him now, it would be with affection, not curiosity. Which was stronger, more powerful. She’d give every cent she had to take away his pain over his dad, every cent she had to make him happy.
He pulled away, ran his thumb along her lower lip. “Hope you get at least an hour tonight.”
She laughed. “I was kind of hoping for two.”
He smiled. “Good night.”
“Good night.”
She watched him walk down the hall to his room, new feelings fluttering inside her.
He liked her.
He didn’t feel sorry for her. Didn’t feel he had to take care of her, be around her out of obligation.
He liked her.
CHAPTER TWELVE
THE NEXT MORNING, Seth woke up and tiptoed past Harper’s room, careful not to awaken either baby or mother. He took the Ferrari to work, rode the elevator to the McCallan executive floor and walked to his office, feeling the strangest things.
Happiness, of course. He’d helped Harper get her life back on track, and last night he’d talked her through her resentment about Clark. To do that, he’d had to tell her about his dad, but he hadn’t hesitated.
And she’d understood.
Which filled him with something he could neither define nor describe.
He tried to analyze it. She might have understood because Clark had done something similar to what his dad had done. Clark’s sins weren’t nearly as egregious as his father’s. But there was a common thread there that had given them an understanding of each other’s situation.
He was just about positive that was why he’d kissed her. And why the kiss had been so different, filled with emotion. What had started off as a light caress had formed a connection of some sort. Maybe a bond.
He’d forever remember Crystal’s first tooth, remember Harper shopping for clothes, remember her struggling to right her life...and her listening about his dad.
It made him feel strange. Vulnerable in a way, but not really because he knew she’d never tell anyone. Not ever.
Which took him back to being happy.
Jake strolled into his office, a stack of contracts under his arm. “These are for you.” He looked up from the contracts, saw Seth and frowned. “What’s up with you?”
“Nothing’s up with me.”
“You have a silly look on your face.”
“It’s not a silly look. It’s the expression of a guy who stayed up most of the night, listening for Crystal crying because she’s getting a tooth.”
“A tooth?” Jake laughed. “You are in for a lot of sleepless nights.”
Worrying about Harper, he said, “How many?”
“I never counted Abby’s, but it seemed like just when one tooth would come in, another would start.” He winced. “It’s not fun.”
“We can handle it,” he said, without really thinking it through.
Jake studied him. “But you don’t like babies. And you’re not sleeping with Harper. What were they doing there?”
“She and the baby have been living with me since Harper’s apartment sold. That’s how we slid into dating.” He decided to shift the conversation back to Crystal. “When you’re living with a baby, you either grow to like her or figure out someplace else to sleep.”
“So, you like her.”
“Have you seen Crystal? She’s cute as a bug.” Realizing he sounded smitten, he added, “But if all goes well, I could be out of my condo in another few days. Two weeks at the most.”
Jake took a seat in front of Seth’s desk. “You found a place?”
“I did. A couple remodeled a penthouse then couldn’t afford it. Everything’s new. I offered top dollar.”
“So you can leave your apartment?”
“No. So Harper can have an apartment...and I can get a bigger place. Something more suited to my needs.”
Jake frowned. “Are you breaking up with Harper?”
The question, though irrelevant because they weren’t really dating, sent a shaft of confusion through him. What would they do when he moved out?
“We can still date.”
Jake rose. “But you won’t. Once you leave, I’m pretty sure you’ll move on. Too bad.” He nodded at the contracts on Seth’s desk. “Legal team has those. They’ll be briefing you in two weeks. It’s your choice if you want to muddle through them now, then get their memorandums, or if you want to read the legal memos and then
read the contracts.”
Jake left Seth’s office and he sat back in his chair, once again feeling strange.
It didn’t seem right to leave Harper. Especially with Jake’s prediction that once he moved out, he’d move on. Things weren’t really settled for her. She might have had a good interview, but she didn’t yet have a job.
He didn’t have his new condo, either. As much as he liked it, maybe he should hope the deal would fall through?
His phone rang. Bill Reynolds’s name and smiling face popped up on his screen.
* * *
Harper awakened after eight. In the crib by the bed, Crystal slept soundly, which was natural, given that she’d cried from three to five.
Grateful both she and the baby had been able to fall back to sleep until eight, Harper walked to the kitchen to warm a bottle and make herself a cup of coffee.
There were a million things to think about today. First, if Seth got his penthouse, she would be moving in here. They hadn’t talked about furniture, but she had her own. Not that she didn’t like his, but he could use it until he bought new or even donate it to a charity.
That meant she had to get herself onto the schedule of a moving company. The last time she’d been lucky that the mover had had a cancellation. She couldn’t count on that again.
She also needed to think about her job. If she got the position with Max, she’d need a babysitter, maybe day care. But after talking with Seth, realizing that his dad had been the worst parent possible, she had begun wondering if she should offer her mom the chance to keep Crystal one day a week.
It was strange to consider her mom for such a big job. But talking to Seth the night before had settled so much of her thinking. She understood that she could love Clark and not like some of the things he’d done in their marriage. She saw that her mom could be a heck of a lot worse, and that it was time to mend their relationship. Giving her a day with Crystal might be a good first step, if only because by offering she’d be telling her mom she trusted her.
Because she did. And she wanted her family back.
