A Win-Win Proposition

by Cat Schield

  “Very funny.” He rolled onto his side and watched her cross the room to the dresser.

  The phone had stopped ringing by the time she fished it out of her purse. “Whoever it was, I missed the call.”

  “Come back to bed.”

  “Just a second, let me check my messages.” Something about the late-night call gnawed at her nerves. No one except Sebastian would call her at such an hour. That meant something was wrong. When her brother’s voice sounded in her ear, she knew she was right.

  “Missy, when you get this, call me. Dad’s been hurt. We’re heading to the hospital now.” Heart twisting in fear, she ended the message and turned to face Sebastian.

  He came off the bed in time to catch her as she swayed. “What’s wrong?”

  “Sam left me a message. He said my dad’s been hurt. They’re heading to the hospital.”

  “Call him back and see what happened.”

  Her hands shook so badly, it took her three tries before she keyed up her address book and found her brother’s cell phone number. Not until the phone started ringing did it occur to her that she could have just found his missed call and hit send. Sebastian wrapped her in a robe and rubbed her arms while she waited for her brother to pick up.

  “Missy, it’s bad,” Sam said.

  “What happened?”

  “He was stabbed.”

  “Stabbed?” Her gaze found Sebastian’s. She caught concern reflected there. His fingers tightened. “How did that happen?”

  “I don’t have a lot of details. There’ll probably be more once we get to the hospital and talk to the cops.”

  “Is he going to be okay?”

  “He’s a tough old bird.”

  She squeezed her eyes shut and counted to five. “I’m going to catch the first plane out of here.”

  “Aren’t you in Vegas at that thing for your company?”

  “Yes, but Sebastian will understand that I have to leave.”

  He leaned forward and kissed her on the temple. The tender caress brought a lump to her throat. She sank into his strength, letting him absorb some of her trembling.

  “I’ll keep you informed as we get news.”

  The hand holding the phone dropped to her side. “My dad’s been hurt. I have to go home.”

  “Let me take care of everything. You go pack.”

  Numb, she got to her feet and stumbled out of the bedroom. She tossed clothes and toiletries into her suitcase and dressed in jeans and a T-shirt. Zipping her bag, she slid her feet into sandals.

  Sebastian entered her room. He wore slacks and a dress shirt. “I have a plane waiting to take us back to Texas.”

  “Us?” She couldn’t be processing his words properly.

  “You don’t seriously think I’m going to let you go by yourself, do you?” He took charge of her suitcase and wrapped strong fingers around her elbow to escort her into the hall.

  “But what about the summit? And your meeting with Smythe tomorrow? You can’t disappear at such a crucial time.”

  “I guess it’s good that my dad showed up, isn’t it?”

  They stepped onto the elevator and Sebastian pushed the button for the lobby. Missy shivered as reaction settled in. Sebastian pulled her into his arms and shared his heat with her.

  “You’re chilled. Do you have a coat?”

  She shook her head. “I tossed everything out. Remember?”

  He bought her a sweatshirt at the hotel gift shop and dressed her in it as if she were a small child. Caught in a dark place, Missy let him lead her across the lobby and get them into a cab. Tucked into the crook of his arm, she huddled against his side as she watched the Las Vegas strip slide by the car window.

  They boarded a private plane and were taxiing down the runway as the sky began to lighten over Las Vegas. As the city lights fell behind them, Missy began to disengage from the fantasy of the last few days.

  Sleeping with Sebastian a couple times might not be a mistake, but letting herself fall for a man who never intended to marry her went against her solemn vow to never again let herself reach too high. If she hadn’t let her heart lead, she never would have begun a game she could never hope to survive, much less win.

  Missy put her hands between her thighs, all too conscious of Sebastian’s shoulder a few tempting inches away. It was more than wonderful of him to worry about her comfort. To arrange for a plane to take her to Crusade. To sit beside her the whole way there. This sort of behavior made a girl want to rely on him. To lose herself in his strong arms and let him soothe her fears.

  And then what?

  When they returned to Houston, she wouldn’t be his employee or his lover. She wouldn’t be anything.

  It was better to disengage now. Before she became too dependent on a dream.

  His hand covered her forearm, the firm pressure bringing a lump to her throat. She told herself the sympathetic gesture was one anyone would make. She’d seen her mother offer support in a similar manner.

  Her heart squeezed. What did she expect? That he’d fall madly in love with her in the space of a few days? She pressed her lips together and shot a tight smile his way.

  “Your father’s going to be fine.”

  “I hope so.” Worrying about her love life while her father’s life hung in the balance demonstrated what a selfish idiot she was. “Thank you for everything.”

  “You don’t need to thank me.”

  But she did. He’d left Las Vegas in the middle of his leadership summit to be there for her. He’d gone above and beyond the call of duty. And she wanted to make more of his motives than was wise.

  “Sebastian.” She struggled with how best to frame what she needed to say next. “I’d prefer it if my family didn’t know anything about what happened between us in Las Vegas. I haven’t told them that I broke up with Tim yet and…”

  “You’d rather not further complicate an already complicated day.”

  “Yes.” Although she was glad he understood, she couldn’t help but wonder if he was relieved she wouldn’t expect anything more from him.

  An hour later, the plane landed at a small airstrip outside her hometown. She’d called Sam from the air and let him know what time they’d be landing. David was waiting as the sky began to lighten in the east. She hugged the youngest of her big brothers, clinging to him without asking how their father was doing, afraid the news had changed for the worse in the past two hours.

  “Sebastian, this is my brother David.”

  The two men shook hands. David assessed Sebastian through narrowed eyes. Missy had spoken of her boss often, some of it not particularly flattering. She’d never expected him to meet anyone in her family.

  “Thanks for bringing my sister. Dad’s out of surgery, but he’s still listed as critical.”

  They followed David to his truck. He tossed Missy’s suitcase in the back. She sat between the men, staring out the windshield.

  “What happened?” she demanded.

  “We’re not exactly sure. We think he got a call from Angela Ramirez’s son. Her ex-boyfriend showed up drunk and half out of his mind. Dad went over there and tried to calm the guy down. He got stabbed.”

  “Why didn’t he call the police?” she asked, ticking off familiar landmarks as they slid by in pre-dawn light.

  “I think Angela Ramirez is here illegally.”

  “And Dad thought nothing of his own safety,” Missy grumbled. “He was only worried that a member of his congregation was in trouble.”

  Beside her, Sebastian tensed. “Congregation?”

  She’d never told her boss about her family or her upbringing and he’d never inquired about her past. Hopefully that wasn’t about to blow up in her face.

  “Didn’t Missy tell you?” David piped up. “Our dad’s a pastor.”

  Eight

  Rarely was Sebastian struck dumb.

  Missy was a preacher’s daughter? How had she worked for him for four years and not shared that bit of news? Did he know her at all?


  Unbidden, doubts rushed in. He’d known very little about Chandra before letting his passion get the better of him, and look how that had turned out. Her supposedly pregnant. Them married. Him discovering her lies and manipulation.

  Now history was repeating itself with Missy. With her sexy curves and knack for shattering his restraint, she’d ignited his desire, made him lose control, and once again, he’d moved too fast.

  Sebastian rubbed his cheek, hearing the rasp of stubble. He’d left without packing a bag, figuring he’d accompany Missy to the hospital, find out how her father was doing and then leave her in her family’s care. Now he wished he’d never gotten on the plane in Las Vegas and never found out this tidbit about her origins.

  “No,” he said, rediscovering his voice. “She never mentioned that.”

  From the way she stared straight ahead, her eyes fixed on the road before them, he figured she had a pretty good idea how frustrated he was at the moment. He couldn’t wait to get her alone so he could hear her reasons for keeping him in the dark.

  Or did the blame lie at his feet?

  How come he’d never asked about her family? Pressed her for details about growing up in west Texas. He’d taken and taken. Her free time. Her loyalty. Her expertise. And he couldn’t even remember her birthday. Missy deserved better.

  He glanced her way. Her fixed gaze and frozen expression confirmed that she wasn’t happy. He rubbed his forehead.

  “I’m not surprised,” David said, appearing unaware of the tension that filled the pickup’s cab. “She never acted like one growing up.”

  “I can’t wait to hear all about it,” Sebastian said.

  “Wild.” David slapped the steering wheel. “That’s the best way to describe my sister.”

  “That’s just not true,” Missy protested. “I didn’t act any different than any of my classmates.”

  “Oh, I don’t know. You pushed things pretty far.”

  “That surprises me,” Sebastian said. “She certainly doesn’t give the appearance of someone with a checkered past.”

  “Checkered?” Missy shot him a warning look. “I’d hardly call staying out past curfew and drinking with my friends worthy of being called a checkered past. It was all the regular stuff teenagers get into.”

  “No stealing cars to go joyriding?”

  “No.”

  “There was that time you and Jimmy McCray got stopped coming back from the lake.”

  “That was his mom’s car. He didn’t steal it. Just took it without mentioning it to her and she thought it had been stolen.”

  “That’s probably because he was grounded and so were you. Neither one of you was supposed to be out at three in the morning. And you sure weren’t supposed to be doing whatever it was you two did down by the lake.” David wore a wicked grin. “But you can’t really stop young love, can you? Hey!” David exhaled air on a protest as his sister jabbed her elbow into his ribs.

  “Shut up, David. You weren’t exactly the poster child for upright behavior, either, when you were young. Chet’s going to be eleven in five months. Maybe I should tell him about the time you stuck fireworks in a dead squirrel and blew it up on the back porch. I don’t think you could sit down for a week after Dad found out.” Missy paused for only a second before continuing. “Or, how about the time you and our trusty brother Matt—”

  David’s voice rose over hers. “Okay, I get your point, I’ll shut up.”

  “Thank you.” She smirked, but her pleased expression didn’t last long.

  Sebastian spoke softly in her ear. “I see we’ll have lots to discuss when you get back to Houston.”

  She eyed him without turning her head. “It was a long time ago.”

  “But it’s part of who you are so I’m interested in hearing all about it.”

  Like all small towns at five in the morning, Main Street looked buttoned up tight. David blew past five blocks of store-fronts before Sebastian had a chance to blink. What had it been like for Missy to grow up in such a place? He’d guessed her hometown was small, but he had no idea how isolated. He’d assumed as a preacher’s daughter, she wouldn’t have had a lot of chances to learn how the world worked. Now, however, Sebastian recognized signs of the teenage rebel lurking beneath the sensible, efficient exterior of the woman who’d been his assistant for the past four years.

  The truck passed a sign pointing the way to the hospital and David took a right at the stoplight. Conversation suspended as David turned into the front driveway that would take them to the entrance.

  “I’ll drop you off here and park. Dad’s probably still in recovery so everyone should be in the waiting room.”

  Sebastian slid out of the pickup and reached for Missy’s hand to help her down. Despite the warm night and the sweatshirt she still wore, her hands were like ice. Shock. He recognized the signs. His mother had been like this when Brandon had collapsed. Sebastian knew what to do, offer a strong shoulder to lean on and keep the Kleenex coming. His mother had gone through an entire box before her husband had come out of triple bypass surgery.

  Pulling Missy’s arm through his, he tucked her hands between his arm and his body to warm her. She moved like a zombie at his side, her steps jerky as if her muscles had stopped functioning properly.

  “It’s going to be okay,” he murmured as the hospital doors swung open before them.

  They stepped over the threshold. Missy straightened her shoulders and pulled away. As hard as it was to let her go, Sebastian held back as Missy reunited with her family. Three tall men, mirror images of David, gathered her into tight hugs that left her teary and out of breath. Four women hovered behind the men, then took their turns, each returning to offer support to one of Missy’s brothers.

  With the greetings complete, Missy cast about for him. Sebastian’s heart bumped against his ribs as her shell-shocked gaze found him. He came to her side, needing to wrap her in his arms, but she sensed his intention and shook her head, eyes pleading.

  Turning to the group, she said, “Everyone. This is my boss, Sebastian Case.”

  As he shook hands with Missy’s brothers, he couldn’t help but contrast this tight group of brothers and wives with his own family. He and Max were close in age and the best of friends growing up, but as adults they’d gone out of state to different universities and taken different career paths. Eventually those paths had converged at Case Consolidated Holdings, but the years of separation had taken their toll. They’d become less like family and more like coworkers.

  From what he gathered, Missy’s family all lived within a couple miles of each other. In a few short minutes, he learned each brother was married and had between one and five kids ranging in ages from four months to fourteen years. He visualized boisterous family dinners every week with tons of children running around, and he understood why hitting thirty had heightened Missy’s longing for marriage and children.

  Two hours after they arrived, Reverend Ward was released to the ICU where he would be watched and monitored. Each of his children got to visit him one at a time. Missy went first, then sat beside Sebastian on a molded plastic chair, hands in her lap, distanced from him by her need to keep her family in the dark about their altered relationship.

  He wasn’t accustomed to seeing his ultra-efficient assistant so down and out. The sight unnerved him. Being unable to offer her support frustrated him. As she’d pointed out often these past couple days, he wasn’t the sort to sit idle. He needed to help.

  But he also needed to be in Las Vegas at the summit. Leaving his father in charge for more than a day could spell trouble.

  At eight o’clock, he could wait no longer to check in. Not wanting to disturb Missy’s family, he stood. Missy had closed her eyes and let her head fall back against the wall behind her. When he moved, she straightened and blinked in blurry disorientation. Rubbing her eyes, she looked around. The sisters-in-law had gone home to check on their children. All who remained were Missy’s brothers.

  “
I’m going to step out and see how the summit is going,” he told her, giving her hand a squeeze.

  The cellular reception at the hospital had prevented him from receiving any calls. However, two messages awaited him. The first one made him curse.

  Damn it. What the hell was going on?

  He dialed Max’s cell and heard the frustration in his brother’s voice when he answered.

  “Sebastian, I’ve been trying you for hours. Where’ve you been?”

  “In Crusade with Missy. Her father was in an accident.” No need to explain more. “Lucas Smythe said he’s leaving the summit. What’s going on?”

  “He’s not selling us his company.” Despite the fact that this was an overseas call, Max’s tension came through loud and clear.

  Curses reverberated through Sebastian’s head. “Why not?”

  “Said he’s having second thoughts.”

  “He was completely on board a week ago.” What had their father said during a round of golf to convince Lucas that selling to them was a bad idea—or was getting caught with a half-naked Missy in his suite to blame? “Did he say what he’s going to do instead?”

  “No. He’s heading home this morning. You have to convince him to change his mind. I’m in Amsterdam at the moment. My flight won’t get in for another twelve hours.”

  “Send Nathan.”

  “Nathan isn’t on board with this deal.”

  “He’s on board,” Sebastian said.

  “I’m not sure I trust him to convince Smythe to sell to us.”

  Max still had a chip on his shoulder where their half brother was concerned. Sebastian suspected it had more to do with being unable to forgive their father for his infidelity than any animosity he felt toward Nathan.

  Sebastian sighed. Early on, he’d had his doubts about being able to work with Nathan; but lately their half brother had demonstrated that even though he might not be keen on the current business strategy for Case Consolidated Holdings, he was open to working with it.

  “I won’t make it back to Vegas before he leaves.” Sebastian’s gaze traveled across the waiting room to where Missy sat beside her brother.