The Playboy's Office Romance

by Karen Toller Whittenburg

  “The door’s open.” Nell was already heading that way, but Lara beat her to the doorway and into the next office, listening hard for the sounds of a small boy on the loose. A swift visual check under Nell’s neat-as-a-pin desk revealed no Calvin. There was no Calvin hiding behind the file cabinet, no Calvin in the coat closet either, and Lara’s strides lengthened as she started for the hall. “Calvin? Come back here, right now.”

  A husky, little-boy giggle wafted back from the reception area at the end of the hall, followed by the slapping sound of small rubber soles on ceramic tile. Then the ding of the elevator bell, a faint, “Oomph!” and a surprised, “Whoa there, Peter Pan. You’re flying a little low, aren’t you?”

  “Who are you?” Calvin’s voice demanded.

  “I’m Captain Hook,” Bryce’s voice growled back playfully. “…and I eat little lost boys for breakfast!”

  “Mommy!” Calvin shrieked. He was, understandably, not overly trusting of men these days. “Mommy!!!”

  Lara came around the corner into the large reception area and Calvin practically buckled her knees in his clinging haste to get behind her. She wished there were someone she could put between her and Bryce, but unfortunately, all the available knees were taken. “You didn’t have to scare him to death,” she said defensively, because she was a little shaken and Bryce was a handy target. “He’s only four.”

  Bryce looked from Calvin to Lara and, beyond her, to Nell. Then he stooped to the child’s level, even though he remained a respectful distance back. “Sorry, Cal,” he said with a smile, both beguiling and tender. “I’m not really Captain Hook and I never eat anything larger than a bagel for breakfast. I was only playing.”

  Calvin’s death grip on her knees loosened. “Who’s Pe’er Pan?” he asked.

  “A boy who can fly.”

  Cal thought that over carefully. “Who’s Cap’n Hook?”

  The corner of Bryce’s mouth lifted in tune with the arching of his eyebrows. “A pirate,” he said.

  Stepping out from behind Lara, Cal kept his hand clenched in the linen of her slacks. “Who are you?”

  Bryce stayed at the four-year-old’s level as his gaze momentarily lifted to Lara’s. “I’m your mommy’s new boss.”

  “She’s not my mommy,” Cal corrected sternly and without prompting. “She’s Aunt Lara.”

  “In that case, I’m your Aunt Lara’s new boss.”

  Intent on clearing up any possible misunderstanding, Cal raised a determined little chin. “I’m the boss of myself.”

  “That’s an interesting philosophy. What does your Aunt Lara think about it?”

  “She likes it,” Cal stated confidently.

  “I’ll just bet she does.”

  “Uh-huh.” Calvin, sensing a kindred spirit, but not quite sure enough to risk getting too close to Bryce, stepped away from Lara into the no-man’s land in between. “Who’s the boss of you?”

  “Until today, I was the boss of myself, too, but now I think the shareholders may have the upper hand.”

  “I hold Aunt Lara’s hand when we cross the street,” Calvin informed him. “So she won’t get runned over.”

  “I’m glad to know that, Cal—is it all right if I call you Cal?”

  The child nodded solemnly, his little chest expanding with self-importance, obviously falling victim to Bryce’s charm despite Lara’s devout wish otherwise.

  Bryce sealed the deal with an answering nod. “I’m glad you keep your Aunt Lara safe, Cal, because that is a very important job. I would be very sad if anything happened to her.”

  Oh, right, Lara thought. As if he wouldn’t shove her in front of the nearest Mack truck if he thought he could get away with it. But he was being nice to her nephew, and for that she could give him the benefit of the doubt.

  “Me, too.” Calvin smiled up at her with the gaptoothed grin that had already found a soft spot in her heart. “He likes you same as me, Aunt Lara.”

  “Mm-hmm,” she said without conviction. “You know what? It’s time for us to leave, partner. Are you ready to go?”

  The child’s eyes widened and his eyebrows dipped in a calculating vee, an expression with which Lara had become very familiar over the past week and a half. It meant Calvin had an agenda. “I got to spin first,” he said and dashed off, a streak of pure energy in a red striped shirt and denim overalls, racing down the hall, heading for Adam’s office and the whirling chair.

  Bryce pushed to his feet. “Does he go everywhere at that speed?”

  “No,” Lara said with a sigh. “Usually he goes faster.”

  “I guess there’s a good reason he couldn’t spin right here?”

  “Two seconds after we walked into Adam’s office, Calvin discovered the chair will turn in a complete circle and he’s been whirling like the Tasmanian Devil all morning.”

  One corner of Bryce’s mouth tipped with a half smile. “All morning, huh? Sounds like you’ve been here since dawn. Is that your normal schedule or are you trying to impress your new boss?”

  “You are not now and never will be my boss.” Lara hadn’t meant to snap, but the edginess was just there in her voice, in the thick knot of injustice in her throat, in the sudden realization that he was wearing jeans and deck shoes and a shirt better suited to weeding the garden than working in an office. “The only reason I came in at all today was to leave my resignation on your desk. But—”

  “You decided not to ruin my first day on the job.”

  “Nell tore it up.”

  Bryce nodded. “Good work, Nell. Give yourself a raise.”

  “You can’t do that,” Lara informed him, thinking he’d have the company in shambles within six months. “Not that Nell doesn’t deserve a raise, but you can’t just give her one without going through Human Resources.”

  The smile reached a wry completion. “Are you telling me I have to get permission before giving my secretary a raise?”

  “Of course not,” Nell said firmly…no fool, she. “You’re the boss.”

  “There’s something called protocol,” Lara said, the snap continuing undaunted in her voice. “Your first day might be a good time to figure out what that means.”

  “You’re my assistant. You figure it out and tell me what it means.”

  “I’m not—”

  “Hey! Aunt Lara’s boss!” Calvin yelled down the hall for attention. “Come in here and watch me spin!”

  “I’ll go after him.” Nell turned on her heel, directing a stern glance over her shoulder at Bryce. “You convince Lara to stay.”

  “Consider it done,” Bryce said as Nell walked away and around the corner at a sensible, unhurried pace.

  “Not you!” Calvin’s voice was loud and commanding as he caught sight of Nell. “Aunt Lara’s boss!”

  “He’s busy,” Nell said in a voice that was softer, but just as commanding. “For now, you’ve got me and I’m going to get to that chair first.” There was a momentary lull after the threat, then the muffled shuffle of Nell pretending to run and of Calvin racing to stay ahead of her and then a faint, but audible shout of childish glee. “I beat you!”

  Lara frowned, feeling she had to offer some sort of explanation for Cal’s exuberance. “He likes to get everywhere first,” she said.

  “Things like that are important when you’re four. Plus, it is a really cool chair. I’ve taken a few turns in it myself.” His smile turned persuasive and charming. “Stay, Lara.”

  “No,” she said in succinct answer and turned away because…well, because he was persuasive and charming. “I can’t, even if I wanted to.”

  “But you do want to, don’t you, Lara?”

  His soft challenge stopped her, the truth of it sifting through her like a fine powder, coating all her denial. She did want to stay, if only to see him fail. “There has never been any love lost between us, Bryce. We both know that and you’re not going to trick me into saying I love my job just so you can take even greater pleasure in firing me.”

&nb
sp; “You believe I’d fire you?”

  “In a heartbeat and with great pleasure.”

  His expression changed and when he spoke again, the teasing note she always heard in his voice was missing. “You know, for years now I’ve harbored the idea that you knew me perhaps better than anyone. Didn’t like me, but understood essentially, who I am. It’s a disappointment to discover you know nothing about me, at all.”

  She felt ashamed, for some unimaginable reason. “I can’t think how you ever got such a ridiculous idea.”

  “Maybe because of the inordinate amount of energy you expend to convince me of how smart you are.” His smile scolded her gently. “But quitting because you’re afraid to work with me isn’t smart, Lara. You’re not a coward and this isn’t what you want, so cut to the chase, vent your real feelings and let’s get past this.”

  He was so wrong, so very, very wrong, she hardly knew where to begin. “You won’t convince me to stay by appealing to my fighting spirit, Bryce. Believe it or not, I don’t particularly enjoy sparring with you and working with you every day would be just too exhausting.”

  “Maybe, but it won’t be boring.”

  How had he known that with Adam in charge, she had experienced occasional bouts of boredom? Adam was such a solid, deliberate thinker, never hesitant to make a decision, but not rushing into one, either. Risks were analyzed, considered from every angle, incorporated into the long-range plans. Lara admired that, but she also loved the adrenaline rush of danger, the moments when the only choice was to pick one risk over another. “I’m resigning, Bryce,” she said, hating the decision but knowing it had to be this way. “Effective immediately.”

  He touched her arm, kept her from walking away from him and sent an unexpected tangle of sensations coursing beneath her skin. “I won’t beg, Lara, but I will ask you for two months notice. Considering your position and the difficulty in finding someone to replace you, I think that’s only fair.”

  “Fair?” she repeated. “It’s not fair that Calvin has two parents who can’t take care of him. Compared with that, I think an employee leaving without notice is merely an inconvenience.”

  “What happened to his parents?”

  “Nothing happened to them. They’re just…” Lara sighed, not wanting to reveal her dysfunctional family, but unable to honestly sidestep the question, either. The truth was, she was furious with the whole lot of them and didn’t much care who knew it. “Marie—I can’t bring myself to refer to her as his mother, although she did give birth to him—found motherhood and marriage unfulfilling and left before Cal was a year old. Cal wouldn’t recognize her if he saw her on the street. I’m not sure I would, either. As for my brother? Derrick won’t take responsibility for himself, much less for a child. However, from time to time he catches the this-is-my-son-damn-it syndrome and pops in to assert his paternal rights. Marie, at least, is consistent and seems to have successfully forgotten she even has a child.”

  “So where has Calvin been for four years?”

  If possible, Lara hated this part even more. “With one or the other of my sisters. Apparently, they’ve been bouncing him back and forth between their apartments and a twenty-four hour day-care center. Then about three weeks ago, Derrick showed up and convinced Shelly to let him take Cal for the afternoon. When he wasn’t back two days later, my sisters called me.”

  “They should have called the police.”

  Lara knew that. But family ties ran deep, even when they were tangled beyond repair. “They called me.”

  “And you called Adam.”

  “He gets things done.”

  A shadow skimmed his expression and was gone. “It’s a Braddock tradition. So you found Calvin.”

  Lara went cold just thinking of her nephew’s life, remembering the little suitcase he’d been clutching like a lifeline when she and Adam had found him alone in a hotel room in Fresno. “He seems okay, happy enough, although I don’t know how he can be. I feel terrible for not stepping in and resolving this situation a long time ago.”

  “Sometimes stepping in isn’t an option.”

  Bryce’s thumb stroked the back of her hand in soothing circles and she realized she found the touch not only comforting, but somehow erotic. Great. Even her normal responses were all messed up this morning. She took back her hand. “Sorry, I don’t usually talk about my family.”

  “I did ask.”

  “You did, but that doesn’t mean I have to give you the ugly details.”

  He shoved a hand into his hip pocket. “I thought you were explaining why you feel you have to resign, because Calvin needs a full-time mom for a change.”

  The man was drawing all sorts of strange conclusions this morning. “I’m not his mother. This arrangement is temporary, just until my youngest sister gets her life squared away so she can take him back.” She shook her head for emphasis. “I’m the last person in the world who should be raising a child. My sisters haven’t made great choices for their lives, but they’re better at mothering than I am and Cal needs someone nurturing and maternal. That’s definitely not me. I’ve already hired a nanny to stay with him while I’m at work.”

  “So you’re resigning because you’ve already accepted another job offer?”

  “No, Bryce. I’m resigning because I can’t work with you.”

  He looked surprised. “How do you know? You’ve never done it before.”

  “I don’t have to bang my head against a rock wall to know it would give me a headache.”

  “If you keep this up, you’re going to hurt my feelings,” he said, the teasing note returning to his voice, the sparkle of fun coming back into his eyes. At moments like this, Lara knew why women fell hard and fast for him.

  Fortunately, she wasn’t so easily impressed. “It takes a tough guy to be the top dog around here.”

  “Is that a fact? I thought all it took was the right office and a tough-as-nails assistant.” He paused. “Come on, Lara. Tell me what it’s going to take to get you to stay.”

  She was puzzled by his persistence and, against her better judgment, flattered that he was working so hard to win her over. It was a ploy, just a way of gaining her trust long enough to set her up for a fall. Or maybe he wasn’t as dumb as she thought. Maybe he was afraid he couldn’t do this without her. Which, of course, he couldn’t. “I’ll stay,” she said, calculating the request he couldn’t possibly grant. “Providing I get a substantial increase in salary, a guaranteed bonus and—” She paused, then delivered the coup de grâce, “—you make me a senior VP.”

  “Done,” he said without a blink.

  “You can’t do that.”

  “I just did.”

  “No, you can’t just randomly award titles. The board makes those decisions.”

  “They’ll endorse my decision.” His smile softened. “Adam isn’t the only Braddock who can get things done.”

  “But…”

  He extended his hand, clearly expecting her to accept the deal she’d put on the table.

  Stalemate. She either had to back down or shake his hand. With an unexpected rush of relief and excitement, she put her hand in his and gave it a firm clasp. “I will not under any circumstances call you Boss.”

  “And I will not call you Sweetcheeks.”

  She let go of his hand abruptly. “This will never work.”

  “Well, all right, I’ll call you Sweetcheeks, but I think the junior VPs will be jealous.”

  How she could have let him manipulate her into staying, playing to her sympathy just so he could taunt her by sitting in Adam’s chair, behind Adam’s desk, taking over Adam’s office. “Forget it,” she said. “I can’t work with you.”

  “Lighten up, Lara,” he said, his voice getting a bit testy to match hers. “You’ve been hanging around my starched shirt of a brother too long. You’ll find I have a more laid-back style of management.”

  “Management, ha! You won’t last out the week.”

  “Watch me.”

&nbs
p; “Brave words for a man who hasn’t got a clue what this company is about.”

  “You’ve always underestimated me, Sweetcheeks.”

  “Don’t ever call me that again!”

  “Aunt Lara?”

  She whirled to see Calvin standing hesitantly in the hallway, shifting his slight weight uneasily from foot to foot. “Calvin,” she said, apology in her voice, regret that he’d heard her speaking so sharply to Bryce, to anyone.

  “Are you mad?” he asked.

  Lara was conscious of the tremor in his voice, the insecurity in the way his arms were tucked across his chest. He’d heard too many mad voices in his short life already. “No, Sweetie,” she said soothing him with a smile. “We were just talking about, uh, hurt feelings.”

  Calvin considered the matter, then his smile beamed out, including them both. “If a feeling’s hurt, you should kiss it and make it all better.”

  “Now there’s a good idea,” Bryce agreed, his smile returning as if the tension of a moment ago had never been. “In my experience, kissing makes everything better.”

  Calvin nodded. “Kiss him, Aunt Lara, and then you and him come and watch me spin.”

  Bryce’s eyes were alight with mischief when her gaze nailed him.

  “Don’t even think about it,” she warned beneath a falsely bright smile.

  His answering smile was almost irresistible. “I was only thinking,” he said as if it were true, “that kids say the darndest things.”

  Chapter Three

  “And why do I need this?” Bryce leaned against his desk, arms crossed, watching as Peter finished setting up the indoor practice putting green.