I Married the Boss!

by Laura Anthony

  For a moment Lucas was so overcome with emotion that he could not speak. “There’s nothing in the world like it.”

  The four other couples all turned to each other, clasped hands and smiled as if they couldn’t wait for their own miracles.

  Mike cast a sideways glance at Sophia. She had her hands clasped together in front of her and her lips were pressed into a firm line as if she were trying not to cry. His heart ached for her. He longed to reach out and touch her. To tell her he understood the depths of her feelings. But he could not.

  “Come on, everyone,” Lucas said, “let’s go see my son.”

  Talking excitedly, they descended upon the nursery. Lucas beamed proudly as a nurse held his wriggling baby boy up to the nursery window for all to see.

  “May I present to you Nathaniel Wyatt Hunter. Eight pounds, six ounces with an excellent set of lungs.”

  Everyone chuckled and gathered closer for a better look at the newest arrival. The ladies oohed and aahed over the infant while the men slapped Lucas playfully on the back.

  “Good work, Hunter,” Jack said.

  “You gotta be proud.” Nick grinned.

  “He’s a fine-looking boy,” Sam contributed.

  “Bet he’s going to give you and Olivia a run for your money,” Kyle added.

  “Your life will never be the same,” Mike said. “Your bachelor days are gone for good.”

  Sophia jerked her head to stare at Mike. Was that how he saw fatherhood? As an end, not a wondrous beginning? But what else could she expect from a man who could not stay put in one place long enough to develop a relationship?

  “No,” Lucas said. “You’ve got it all wrong, Mike. With Nathaniel and Olivia, my life has just begun.” He smiled affectionately at his son through the nursery window.

  Sadness streaked through Sophia. How could she have lost her head over a man like Mike? Despite her best efforts to the contrary, despite trying to make herself fall in love with Michael Barrington, she had tumbled into that same sorrowful trap that had once snared her mother. She had foolishly allowed herself to be swept away by chemistry.

  Unable to face him, knowing how he felt about babies and marriage and permanence of any kind, Sophia took Nick aside and asked him to give Mike a ride home. Then without a word of explanation, she disappeared, anxious to get as far away from this hospital and the happy event as she could.

  It was only much later, as she was lying alone in bed that night, that Sophia realized Michael Barrington had never shown up at the company picnic.

  Chapter Nine

  “Sophia.” Michael Barrington’s voice poured out of the receiver like rich Colombian coffee. “I’ve got to apologize for standing you up this weekend. I tried to make it back to Phoenix in time for the picnic, I truly did, but something unexpected came up. Looks like I’m going to be in Germany several more days.”

  Sophia stared listlessly at the wall. Olivia had been correct. Michael Barrington was too busy for a relationship. He stood people up and then expected work to be a viable excuse with no questions asked. She’d been foolish to think she could ever marry a man like him. They came from two different worlds. They had absolutely nothing in common.

  “Don’t worry about it, sir. I understand completely. You’re a very busy man and business comes first.”

  “Hey, what’s this? I thought we agreed, no more ‘sir.’ You’re supposed to call me Michael,” he chided her.

  “I’ve been thinking about it and I don’t think it sounds very professional.”

  “Since when?”

  Since you made promises you don’t keep. Since I realized I’m not in love with you.

  “All right, Sophia,” he replied quietly. “Whatever you wish.”

  He told her goodbye and hung up, leaving her feeling cold and empty inside. She sure had a penchant for picking unavailable men. On the one hand there was Michael—accomplished, successful, stable and financially secure, but he was an emotionally distant workaholic. On the other hand there was Mike—fun-loving, exciting, sexy and very handsome but utterly unable to commit to a job, a woman or even to a city.

  “Knock, knock.” Patricia Peel appeared in her doorway. “How are you this morning?”

  “Hi, Patricia,” Sophia greeted the assistant personnel director. “Come on in.”

  “How about that picnic?” Patricia said, strolling into Sophia’s office. “Was the birth of Olivia’s baby the grand finale or what?”

  “It did add fireworks to the proceedings. Hey, want to see the baby blanket I bought Olivia when I went shopping on my lunch hour?” Sophia pulled a sack from beneath her desk and unwrapped the blue quilt decorated with teddy bears and trains.

  “That’s so darling,” Patricia cooed. “Olivia’s so lucky.”

  Sophia nodded and sighed in spite of herself. Patricia mistook her sigh for one of hopeful longing rather than for what it really was—despair.

  “I know.” Patricia smiled. “I’m so jealous. I can’t wait to marry Sam and start having babies of our own.”

  “When’s the wedding?”

  “Not until June.” Patricia groaned. “It seems ages away.”

  “It’ll be here before you know it.” Sophia placated her friend. She didn’t want to talk about weddings or babies or happiness. It simply wasn’t fair!

  All her friends were in love. They had found good men and were in the process of getting married or starting their families. Why had she been left out? Why was she the only one without someone to love her? Even her mother had struck up a budding relationship with Stanley Whitcomb. And as happy as Sophia was for Jannette, she couldn’t help but feel a little sorry for herself.

  Sophia pushed her hands through her hair. Her life was falling apart. All the plans she’d made were nothing but hollow pipe dreams. A lump formed in her throat, but Sophia swallowed it back. She wasn’t the type to wallow in self-pity. If God intended for her to be alone the rest of her life, then so be it. She’d find some way to fill the long. lonely years stretching before her.

  “I thought you might want to know,” Patricia said. “Mike turned in his resignation today.”

  Patricia’s words hit her like a punch. Sophia sucked in her breath. So he’d gone through with it. She’d only thought her spirits were low before. That bit of news served to send her lingering hopes spinning into outer space.

  “Oh?” she said, trying to act coolly disinterested while inside her tummy burned.

  “Didn’t he tell you?”

  Sophia shrugged, feigning indifference. “He might have mentioned something about it.”

  “You’re not upset?”

  “Why on earth should I be upset?” Sophia struggled to keep her hand from trembling. She didn’t care. Good riddance. Who needed passion, heat and chemistry? Who needed their world turned upside down and inside out? Certainly not she.

  “Well—” Patricia looked hesitant “—I sort of assumed you two were an item.”

  Sophia laughed but it sounded forced even to her own ears. “Whatever gave you that idea?”

  “You two seemed to get along so well together. I don’t know. You made a cute couple.”

  “We were never a couple,” Sophia denied hotly.

  Patricia raised both her palms. “Sorry. My mistake. Mike was just so popular around the office that we’re all going to miss him.”

  “Don’t, get me wrong,” Sophia said. “I’m fond of Mike. He’s a fun guy. But he means nothing to me personally. Absolutely nothing.”

  Her voice cracked.

  “You’re in love with him, aren’t you?” Patricia said seriously.

  Silently Sophia nodded. Fat tears unexpectedly slipped down her cheeks.

  “Oh, sweetie.” Patricia came around the desk to wrap her arms around Sophia. “It’ll all work out.”

  “How can it? Mike’s leaving. And even if he wasn’t, he’s not the kind of guy you build a future with.”

  Patricia handed her a tissue. “It might not work out with M
ike, but you’ll find someone. I promise you.”

  “Really?” Sophia dabbed at her eyes.

  “Cross my heart.”

  “A guy I can depend on? Someone who’ll be a good husband. A man who’ll stand by me through thick and thin, no matter what?”

  “If you refuse to settle for less.”

  “That’s a tall order to fill.”

  “Hey,” Patricia said, snapping her fingers. “What about Michael Barrington? I thought you were hoping to date him when he came home to take over the business?”

  “That was just a silly infatuation. I’ve learned a few things since then.”

  “Oh?”

  “Yes. Work means more to Michael Barrington than any woman ever could. I don’t want to play second fiddle to anyone’s career.”

  “I suppose it’s better to learn that now, before you ever got involved with him.”

  Sophia nodded. It sounded so sensible coming from her friend, but in the course of a single morning she’d lost both of the men she’d been interested in. It hurt. Here she was, twenty-nine and baby hungry with no marriage prospects in sight.

  “Cheer up, Sophia, and mark my words. One of these days you’ll find your Prince Charming.”

  Yeah? When I’m ninety-five?

  “Thanks,” Sophia said, resolutely tucking the tissue in her pocket. “You’ve been a big help.”

  And it was true. Her friend’s sympathy went a long way to ease the sorrow weighing down her heart. Everyone at the Barrington Corporation had been great. In the two years she had worked here Sophia had come to feel like part of the family. And for a little girl who’d once been, shunned and outcast because of a background she couldn’t help, that meant a lot.

  “You’re welcome.” Patricia smiled. “Oh, I almost forgot. Olivia asked me if you could type up the contract on the Helsberg account. Stanley’s new assistant hasn’t quite gotten the hang of things and Olivia knew you were familiar with the details.”

  “Sure,” Sophia readily agreed. Anything to help her friend. She’d have to stay late, after she got her own work done, but that was all right. She needed something to keep her mind off Mike.

  “You’re a doll. And remember, chin up.”

  Sophia smiled and waved goodbye but beneath the facade her heart was breaking.

  “You haven’t told Sophia yet?” Rex Barrington frowned at his only son.

  They were having an early supper at a hotel Rex was considering acquiring on the shores of Lake Olivet in the resort community of Briarton, located twenty-six miles southwest of Phoenix. He’d wanted Michael’s opinion before closing the deal.

  The place was pretty, Michael conceded. Another feather in the Barrington cap. But right now he didn’t really care. The setting sun was spectacular, but he scarcely noticed the vivid burst of salmon, purple and rose streaking the sky. A band played soft music. Sailboats glided across the water in front of the shaded veranda where they sat dining on shrimp cocktail and grilled flounder. Except he wasn’t hungry and his plate remained untouched.

  “No,” Michael admitted, taking a sip of his Scotch and water. “I haven’t talked to her.”

  He’d meant to tell Sophia who he really was. A dozen times or more. But something had always stopped him. The time had never been right. But then again, was there ever an appropriate time to tell the woman you loved that you were a liar and a fraud and a fake?

  Rex cleared his throat. “You’re not being fair to her.”

  “I know, Dad, but it’s just not that simple.”

  “She’s in love with you, Michael. Can’t you see that?”

  “She’s not in love with me. She’s in love with an image, a part I’ve been playing.”

  “Isn’t that what you wanted? To trick her into falling in love with a poor man so you’d know for sure she wasn’t after your money?”

  “Yes. No. I don’t know.”

  Frustrated, Michael stared out across the water. He didn’t know what to believe anymore. Once upon a time the Barrington Corporation was the most important thing in his world. He’d lived and breathed the business. He’d only wanted to make his father proud by expanding the company, earning more money, making things bigger and better. Suddenly, something had Michael questioning all his old values.

  And that something was Sophia Shepherd.

  He could not, no matter how hard he tried, erase her from his mind. That blond hair, so long and curly, dominated his dreams. Her scent, like fresh wildflowers. teased his nostrils at the most unexpected times. Her lips, so soft, so pliant, branded his memory and refused to dissipate.

  Sweet, petite Sophia. With a heart of platinum and a will of steel. She knew what she wanted and she’d been unable to settle for less. How could he blame her? Wasn’t he built like that, too?

  He passed judgment on her for letting her mother run her life, but hadn’t he done the very same thing when at his mother’s dying behest, he’d turned his back on his carefree, fun-loving nature to cultivate his serious side? When he’d tamed down the part of him that was wild and creative in favor of his button-down life?

  Michael had criticized Sophia for seeking financial security, but didn’t he do it on a daily basis? He made deals. He toyed with the stock market. He kept an eye on the bottom line. His whole life was about money but then he had the audacity to be resentful when people admired him for his ability to produce it. If anyone had ever sent out mixed signals, it was Rex Michael Barrington III.

  Truthfully, he’d never been able to reconcile the dual aspects of his nature. When Michael had promised his mother he would leave his errant youth behind, he’d meant it. In order to deal with his inner conflict, he had buried that part of himself that was the epitome of Mike the mailman. By constantly focusing on work and leaving no room for anything else in his world.

  He’d paid a high price.

  Other than his father, he had no one he could truly trust. No one to rely on. No one he could reveal himself to.

  But he wanted that. So badly. Those moments at the hospital when Lucas and Olivia’s baby had been born had shown Michael what he’d been missing. Love. Hope. Joy.

  He wanted Sophia.

  The first step to achieving his goal was to find her and tell her the truth. That he was both Michael and Mike. He was at once serious and carefree, wealthy and poor, stable yet risky. He was all these things and more.

  Could Sophia accept him? Would she take him just as he was? Most importantly, did she love him enough to forgive his deceit?

  There was only one way to find out.

  Michael pushed back his chair and stood up. He pulled a handful of bills from his wallet and left them on the table.

  “Buy the hotel if you want,” he told his father. “I‘ve’ got unfinished business to take care of in Phoenix.”

  It was almost seven o’clock when Sophia finished typing up the Helsberg contract. She’d called Olivia at home to let her know it had been completed. After discussing baby Nathaniel and the joys of new motherhood for several minutes, Olivia had asked Sophia to make sure the contract got to the mail room before she left the office so it would go out in the morning mail.

  “No problem,” Sophia had said. Then it occurred to her she was going to have to go down into the basement. After hours. Alone.

  She hated the thought of running into Mike. Especially since she’d so successfully avoided him all day, planning to be out of the office when she knew he usually made his mail runs.

  Don’t worry. Mike will have gone home hours ago, she reassured herself. In fact, he’s probably out riding his Harley in the desert right about now.

  Why did she have such a sudden urge to be out there riding with him, the wind rushing through her hair, the setting sun in the distance, her arms wrapped tightly around Mike’s warm body.

  Stop it! Get your purse and Nathaniel’s baby quilt, get the contract, go down to the mail room, push the envelope through the mail slot and head for home. Forget about Mike!

  Except she
could not. Everything reminded her of him. The glass cat paperweight prominently displayed on her desk, the length of rope that had bound them together during the three-legged race draped across her lamp, the number of the pizza delivery service on the telephone speed dial where Mike had programmed it in.

  Agitated with herself, Sophia sealed a large manila envelope with the Helsberg contract inside, and addressed it to the office in Germany. She shouldered her purse, tucked the sack with the baby quilt under her arm, shut out the lights and locked her door. She walked through the empty corridor. The only sound she heard was a janitor running the vacuum cleaner somewhere down the hall.

  She got on the elevator and pressed the button for the basement. She watched the numbers light up as the car descended, her chest curiously growing tighter with each passing floor.

  It settled on the basement floor with a ding.

  The door slid open.

  Sophia stepped out into the darkened hallway and hurried over to the mail slot in the door. She slide the envelope inside then turned to go back to the elevator.

  “What are you doing here?”

  Terrified, Sophia clutched her chest with her right hand and accidentally dropped Nathaniel’s baby quilt. Wide-eyed, she looked up to see Mike emerging from a side door, a key ring in his hand.

  “I’m sorry,” he apologized. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

  Oh, no! What was Mike doing here at this time of night? He was the last person she wanted to see.

  “You didn’t,” she lied. She would not let him know exactly how much he affected her.

  He sauntered toward her, his boots echoing against the tile.

  The fluorescent hallway lights flickered off, then buzzed back on. Startled, Sophia gasped.

  “Don’t worry,” Mike said. “I’m sure Rex paid the electricity bill. Must have been a power surge.”

  “Of course,” she replied, feeling foolish.

  Mike bent over and picked up the baby quilt. With fingers that felt as numb as frozen sausages, Sophia accepted the sack from him.