“No!” Annie yelled, slapping her steering wheel. “Not tonight. It’s not a good time.” Although she couldn’t think when a better time might be. She was always running somewhere.
She pulled into a mini-mart parking lot and got out of her car. The sun blazed down on her. It might be December everywhere else, but in L.A. it felt like August.
She walked around her car. Sure enough, the right front tire was flat. She had a spare and a jack. She even knew how to change the tire. Assuming she could get the lug nuts unfastened.
She glanced at her watch, groaned at the time, then reached for her cell phone. No way she was going to be ready by five.
Seconds later the call was picked up. “Mr. Patrick’s line.”
“Annie McCoy for Duncan.”
“Of course, Ms. McCoy. I’ll put you right through.”
“Another crisis?” Duncan asked when he took the call.
“Yes. I have a flat tire. I’ll be a little late. Do you want me to meet you there?”
“You need new tires.”
She stared at the worn treads and rolled her eyes. “Obviously. I’ll get them. I’ve been saving. In another two months I’ll have enough.”
“It’s nearly the rainy season. You need them before then.”
Probably, but no amount of needing brought in more money each month. She rubbed her temple, feeling the exhaustion creep into her bones. She’d been out late every night this week and still had to get up early for school. Fifteen five-year-olds kept her running all day. The last thing she needed was Duncan stating the obvious.
“I appreciate the heads-up,” she said, trying not to sound as annoyed as she felt. “Look, it’s hot, I’m tired. Just tell me what you want me to do.”
“Let me buy you the tires.”
“No.” She drew in a breath. “No, thank you.”
“You’re supposed to be where I say, when I say. If new tires are required to get you there, then you’ll get new tires.”
“That is not a part of our deal,” she told him, angry and sad at the same time. “You’re not buying me tires. You’re not buying me anything else. The freezer was too much, and I’ve already accepted that.”
“Why are you mad?”
“I just am.” She wanted to get out of the sun and heat. She wanted to curl up somewhere and sleep for two days. But mostly she didn’t want to be Duncan Patrick’s charity case.
“Annie? Talk to me.”
“I don’t have anything to say. I’ll meet you there. I know how to change a tire. It won’t take long.”
He was silent. Worry replaced annoyance.
“Duncan, I’m sorry I snapped. I know this is part of our deal. I’m not backing out of it.”
“Is that what you think? That after all this time, I would pull your brother out of rehab and toss him in jail?”
“No, but…”
“Which means yes.”
“It means I owe you. I’m just crabby. It’s hot, I’m tired. Let me get home and dressed and I’ll be better.”
“No,” he said. “Just go home. You’ve got the Christmas play at school tomorrow night. You have to be rested for that.”
“Winter festival,” she corrected.
“Right. Because everyone is fooled.”
“Exactly.” Her bad mood faded a little. “I want to come to the party.”
“No, you don’t. Go home. Rest. It’s okay.”
She could take a bath, she thought wistfully. Sip some wine from the box. “Really?”
“Yes. About the tires…”
She groaned. “Don’t make me have to hit you the next time I see you. I have a great jab.”
“You have a sad excuse for a jab. It would be like being attacked by a butterfly.”
Probably true, she thought. “You’re not buying me tires.”
“What if I set up an employee discount? I buy a lot of tires for my trucks. I have a service bay here. If it was available to everyone who worked here, would you use it?”
She would guess a lot of Patrick Industries employees would appreciate the discount as much as she would. For the greater good, she told herself. “After I see the announcement in writing.”
“You’re a tough negotiator.”
“I spend my day dealing with five-year-olds. I have skills.”
“I can see that. Are you okay changing the tire? I could send someone.”
“By the time he got here, I’d be finished. I’ve done this before.”
“Call me when you get home so I know you’re okay.”
The request stunned her. “Um, sure. I will.”
“Okay. Bye.”
“Bye.”
She pressed the end button to disconnect the call, then walked around to the trunk where the jack and spare waited.
Suddenly it wasn’t nearly as hot as it had been and she wasn’t tired anymore. Duncan wanted her to let him know she was all right. He worried about her. Maybe it wasn’t much, but as it was all she had, she was going to hang on to it with both hands.
Friday evening, Annie checked to make sure all her students were in their white men’s T-shirts, with the fabric wings sewn on the back. Glitter-covered cardboard halos bounced over the five-year-olds’ small heads. Once everyone was accounted for, she took a second to glance through the edge of the thick drapes to see if Duncan had arrived. Something she’d been doing every half minute or so since she’d arrived.
He still wasn’t there. Which was fine, she told herself. He’d said he would try to get there, which was probably a polite way of saying he wasn’t interested. It wasn’t as if they were really dating. What gorgeous single guy wanted to spend Friday night with a bunch of other people’s kids?
She held in a sigh as she backed away from the drapes. Only to bump into something warm and solid.
She turned and saw Duncan standing behind her.
“What are you doing here?” she blurted.
“You asked me to come.”
She laughed, hoping she wasn’t blushing. “No, I mean backstage.”
“I wanted to say hi before the program started. One of the moms is saving me a seat.”
Annie took in the broad shoulders, the strong features and the way he filled out his suit. “I’ll just bet she is.”
“What?”
“Nothing. Thanks for coming. You didn’t have to.”
“I wanted to see if you were still pissed.”
“I was never pissed.”
Humor brightened his gray eyes. “Now you’re lying about it.”
“I’m not. I was annoyed. There’s a difference.”
“You were pissed. You were practically screaming about the tires. Talk about shrill.”
He was teasing, which she liked a lot. Back when they’d first met, she would never have imagined it possible.
“I was calm and rational,” she told him.
“You were a girl. Admit it.”
“I could hit you right now.”
“You could and no one would notice. Especially not me.” He took her arm and led her into a shadowy alcove. “Here.” He handed her a piece of paper.
She looked at it. The sheet was a printout of a memo, detailing the new policy on discounted tires.
“Now will you get your damn car fixed?”
She stared at him, knowing that while he’d been helping her, he was also helping a lot of other people. “I will,” she said, raising herself onto tiptoes and lightly kissing him. “I promise.”
He put his arms around her and pulled her close. “Good. You’re a pain in the ass. You know that, right?”
She giggled. “Yes. You’re dictatorial. And annoying.”
They hung on to each other for several seconds. Annie loved the feel of him, the strength and heat of his body. As always, being close to him made her feel safe.
“I have to get back to my class,” she said reluctantly. “They’re wearing cardboard halos that won’t really survive very long.”
“Okay. I’ll
see you after the Christmas thing.”
“Winter festival.”
“Whatever. I’ll see you.”
“Yes,” she said and watched him walk away.
She knew then that despite the fact that she’d only known him a few weeks, she was well on her way to being in love with him. He was unlike anyone she’d ever met. He was better in every way possible.
He’d promised not to ask her to be friends and she trusted him to keep his word. But he’d also promised when the holiday season was over, so was their relationship. And she knew he would keep his word on that, as well. Wishing for more wouldn’t change the outcome. Duncan had told her once that, in his life, somebody always won and somebody always lost. This time, she had a bad feeling the loser would be her.
Monday morning Duncan walked into his office to find a plate of cookies on his desk. They were covered in holiday plastic wrap and there was a handwritten note attached.
Dear Mr. Patrick,
Thank you so much for the new tire discount you announced on Friday. I’m a single mom with three kids and money is always tight. I’ve needed new tires for a while now and simply couldn’t afford them. The discount means safer driving for my family.
I’ve always enjoyed working for Patrick Industries. Thank you for giving me another reason to be proud of my place of employment.
Have a wonderful holiday season.
Sincerely,
Natalie Jones
Accounts Payable
Duncan had no idea who the woman was or how long she’d worked for the company. He unwrapped the cookies and bit into one. Chocolate chip. His favorite.
Still chewing, he crossed to the windows overlooking the six-story atrium in the center of the building. He could see people coming in to start their week. People he’d never bothered to get to know.
Ten years ago, he would have been able to name every employee. He’d worked twenty-hour days, struggling to make the company profitable, then to grow it as quickly as possible. For the past few years, he’d had contact with his senior management team, his assistant and no one else. He didn’t have time.
Who were these people who worked for him? Why had they chosen this company and not another? Did they like their jobs? Should that even matter to him?
He looked back at the note and the plate of cookies. Annie would be a disaster as a boss, giving away more than the company made. But maybe it was time for him to leave the confines of his office and remember what it was like to know his employees. To listen instead of command. To ask instead of demand. Maybe it was time to stop being the meanest CEO in the country.
Nine
Duncan had never really enjoyed his board of director meetings, but this was worse than usual. Not because they were complaining—that he could handle. It was the way they were all smiling at him. Beaming, really, as if with pride. What the hell was up with that?
“The last two articles on you have been excellent,” his uncle said. “Very positive.”
“Just doing what we agreed.”
“This reporter…” One of the board members adjusted his glasses and frowned at the business journal. “Charles Patterson seems to think you’ve had an awakening. Who’s this Annie person?”
“Annie McCoy,” Lawrence said, before Duncan could answer. “The woman Duncan’s seeing.”
The other board members looked at him.
“You told me to find someone nice,” he reminded them. “She’s a kindergarten teacher. Very pretty. Charles has a crush on her.”
“Well done,” the oldest board member said. “You should bring her around here so we can all meet her.”
“There’s no need for that,” Duncan said, thinking the last thing Annie needed was a bunch of old guys trying to flirt with her.
“Annie’s special,” Lawrence announced. “Good for Duncan, too.”
Duncan narrowed his gaze. “I’m seeing her through the holidays. It’s a business arrangement, nothing more. You told me to find someone nice and clean up my act. I did. Don’t make it more than it is.”
“It didn’t look like a business arrangement to me,” Lawrence said.
“Looks can be deceiving.”
There was no way he was telling his uncle or anyone on the board that he also thought Annie was special. They didn’t need to know how she’d wormed her way into his life. The kicker was he didn’t think she’d even been trying. But regardless of his feelings for her, when the holidays were over, so was their relationship.
The board moved on to other business. When they were finished, Lawrence lingered in the conference room until the other men had left.
“Are you serious about ending things with Annie?” his uncle asked. “I saw you two together, Duncan. You like her. You should marry her.”
Duncan shook his head. “I’ve been married.”
“To the wrong woman. I don’t know what Valentina wanted, but it wasn’t you or a real marriage. Annie’s different. She’s the kind of girl you spend forever with.”
This from a man who’d been married five times? “You know this how?”
“I’ve lived a lot longer than you. I’ve seen things, made bad choices. There are few regrets more painful than knowing you let the woman of your dreams get away. You’ve always been smarter than me about most things. Don’t be an idiot now.”
“Thanks for the advice,” Duncan said, standing up to leave.
“But you’re not going to take it.”
“I did what the board asked. That’s all you’re getting from me.”
Lawrence stared at him for a long time. “Not everyone leaves.”
Duncan didn’t react to the statement, even though he knew the old man was wrong. Nearly everyone who mattered left. He’d learned that a long time ago. It was better not to care. Safer.
“Annie doesn’t leave,” his uncle added softly. “Look at her life.”
“What do you know about it?”
“What you told me. She has her cousins and their friend living with her. She’s helping to pay for their college educations. She agreed to date you to help her brother, after he tried to throw her under the bus. She’s not a person who gives up easily.”
True, Duncan thought uneasily. Annie took responsibility, hanging on with both hands. “That’s different,” he said.
“It’s not and you know it. Annie scares the hell out of you because with her, everything is possible. Don’t let what happened before ruin this for you. Don’t live with regrets about letting her go. They’ll eat you alive.”
“I’ll be fine.”
“You can keep telling yourself that, but it won’t be true. You’ve never been afraid of anything but risking your heart. Annie’s the closest to a sure thing you’re ever going to find.”
Duncan found himself wanting to listen, which would only lead to trouble. “Annie got into this to save her brother. It has nothing to do with caring about me.”
“Maybe it didn’t, but it does now. Just pay attention. All the signs are there. She’s falling for you. Maybe she’s already in love with you. Chances like this don’t come along very often. Trust me, you don’t want to blow this one.”
Lawrence walked out of the conference room. Duncan stood there, alone, wondering if the old man was telling the truth. Would he regret letting Annie go? In time he would find out. His uncle was also right about Annie scaring the crap out of him. There were possibilities with her. Great ones.
But he’d already given his heart to someone. He’d already believed in forever, and he’d learned a hard lesson. Love was an illusion, a word women used to sucker punch men. Maybe Annie was different, but he didn’t know if he was willing to take the chance.
Despite three late nights at the office, getting by on minimal sleep and a workout schedule that would exhaust an elephant, Duncan still couldn’t get his uncle’s words out of his mind. He couldn’t stop thinking about Annie.
Taking a chance violated everything he knew to be true and yet…he was tempted. It was the on
ly possible explanation for his being in a mall less than a week before Christmas, fighting the crowds and looking for presents for her cousins and Kami.
He should have had his assistant buy something online, he told himself, as yet another shopper stepped in front of him without looking. What did he know about the wants and needs of college-age girls? He was about to leave the department store when he saw a sign that proclaimed every woman loved cashmere.
There was a display of sweaters in an array of colors. A well-dressed salesperson came up and smiled. “Are you buying something for your wife or girlfriend?”
“Her cousins,” he said. “And a friend. They’re in college. Does cashmere work?”
“Always. You don’t happen to know sizes, do you?”
He shrugged, then pointed to a young mother walking by. “About like that?”
“Got it. Do you want to pick the colors?”
“No.”
“Should I gift wrap?”
“That would be great.”
“Give me fifteen minutes and it will all be done. There’s a coffee bar over by shoes, if you want to get away from the crowd.”
He nodded and wandered in the direction of coffee, only to be stopped by a display of Christmas trees. They were small, maybe two feet, covered with twinkling white lights and miniature ornaments. The one that caught his eye was done in white and gold and decorated with dozens of angels.
They were all blonde and innocent, with big eyes. For some reason, they reminded him of Annie. He picked up the tree and carried it to the register.
Annie glanced anxiously at the box of fudge next to her. Despite her sudden stop at the unexpected light change, the box stayed firmly on the passenger seat of her car. Normally she was a careful driver who anticipated stops, but tonight she couldn’t seem to get herself together. Probably because Duncan had completely rattled her with his invitation to “drop by.”
They were in a lull—a four-day stretch with no parties—right before the last-minute craziness started. On Thursday, there was a party every night through Christmas Eve. When she’d first seen the party schedule, she’d been excited about the break, but now she found herself missing being around him. The four days, and nights, had seemed endless.
One-Click Buy: December 2009 Silhouette Desire Page 10
