by Calista Fox
Still, Anne ensured him she was wholly committed to the cause. And flashed him a peek of her Staci Kay ballerina shoes that she told him no woman her age could survive an eight-hour workday running from here to there without.
On the downside, Anne knew absolutely nothing about Dr. Elizabeth Sherman. So Ryan shouldn’t have been quite so shocked when his assistant announced the unscheduled appearance of his ex-fiancée.
But he was shocked. To the very core of his being.
Ryan was in the middle of juggling lunch at his desk and the last update of his charts on his computer when Anne rapped softly on his open door and said, “You have a visitor, Ryan.”
His head snapped up. Sure, ninety-nine-point-nine percent of him immediately believed—hoped—that visitor was Maxi.
But no…
His gaze landed on Elizabeth. And everything inside him went instantly cold. Hardened.
Not sensations a red-blooded, single man wanted to experience when staring at a beautiful woman. But an inevitability when it came to this particular woman.
Elizabeth had blonde hair and delicate features. She was of the porcelain-to-be-viewed-behind-expensive-and-locked-cases variety versus the free-spirited, fiery, and touchable category under which Maxi easily fell.
After all he’d shared with Maxi in such a short period of time, Ryan couldn’t even fathom how he’d thought he’d been in love with Elizabeth. How he’d fallen for all of her shallow-minded opinions and social-ladder-climbing strategies.
What the hell had he been thinking?
He wasn’t exactly sure. Except that he’d lived in a fast-paced world in DC, where being in the know, having your finger on the pulse, and rubbing elbows with the elite and influential were excellent ways to secure your future. Personally and professionally.
If you were someone as image-obsessed as Elizabeth Sherman, that was.
Ryan shoved back his chair and stood, not at all happy with the intrusion.
She said, “It appears as though you have a few minutes to spare. You’ve not quite finished your sandwich. Pastrami and Swiss on rye? Lots of calories there, Ryan.”
And those calories came with the perfect complement of a spicy mustard. Maxi had turned him on to Fitch’s Deli his first day at work, and he was hooked.
That woman knew all the right buttons to push—in the most tantalizing way.
Too bad it wasn’t Maxi who’d crossed the threshold into his office. Rather, Elizabeth had darkened his doorway.
His assistant, Anne, made a discreet exit. Elizabeth crossed to his desk.
“I don’t recall inviting you in,” Ryan said. His nature was not to be rude, but when it came to being publicly humiliated by his fiancée in a roomful of his peers, Ryan tended to hold on to the slight.
“Now, Ryan, dear,” she said in her soft, cultured tone. “Let’s be civil with each other.” She removed her gloves and waited for him to come around his desk and help her out of her fur coat.
Every fiber of his being fought his impeccable manners. Especially since he didn’t owe this woman an ounce of good conduct. What she’d done to him had even sent shudders through his closest friends, Nate, Ted, and Liam. The looks that had flashed in their eyes when Elizabeth had cut him down in order to make herself appear mightier…well, it was a wonder the woman dared to show her face around any of them. Especially Ryan.
But that was Elizabeth. She didn’t deign to fall victim to her own viciousness. She left her wounds—and didn’t think twice about it when crossing paths with the casualties of war. Or inflicting even more pain upon them.
However, Ryan was not a part of her world any longer and therefore did not have to subscribe to her tactics. Why he had done so in the first place was still beyond him. Except that Elizabeth was highly skilled in drawing people into her web. Then sucking them dry.
Like a black widow.
He said, “I don’t believe I have to be civil when you’ve entered my territory. Unwelcomed, no less.”
Her pale-pink lips pressed together in apparent disapproval of his comment. Then she told him, “I still don’t understand what you’re doing here. You could be working at the Pentagon right now.”
“And I just might work for the Pentagon a year or two from now. That’s not an issue, currently. There were five MIT graduates equally qualified for the contracted job the government offered to me. A top candidate landed the position when I declined it. And here I am, doing something I find invaluable.”
“Ryan,” she said as she propped her hands on her bony hips. “Solving a shoe-shipping crisis is not invaluable work. In fact, I’m embarrassed beyond all belief that you agreed to help Staci Kay.”
“Really?” he challenged, ire riding the rush of blood in his veins. “Staci Kay was not only your patient, but a friend. She’s hardworking, driven, and committed to her employees and her customers. She could have lost her entire business, everything she has. What is it about Staci Kay that is so unseemly that you shunned me for wanting to help her?”
Elizabeth’s small face twisted in angst. “This is so beneath you, Ryan. And for God’s sake—how do you think it makes me look in front of the hospital Board? My family? My friends? We were engaged. You had this brilliant career and future ahead of you. Then you threw it all away. For what? A global shortage of high heels?”
“Screw the hospital Board, your family, and your friends,” Ryan said with equal disdain. “Because none of them are exactly solving world peace, now, are they? So who are they to judge me? Until one of you cures cancer, I don’t think that all of the work I’ve done for the space program, the Climate Prediction Center, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and other agencies—along with Staci Kay Shoes—is so feeble it should be looked down upon from your snooty perches.”
“Ryan!” Elizabeth’s voice bounced off the walls.
Another shock, because he’d never heard her tone rise beyond a delicate decibel. Though he now recognized that biting, condescending tone. She tossed off the fur coat draped over her shoulders and stalked forward, to the very edge of his desk. “Your problem is that you have this unruly side of you that does not fit in polite society. But lucky for you, I’m willing to overlook it. That’s why I’m here.”
Her gaze locked with his.
She commanded, “Quit this ridiculous job, come back to DC, marry me, and work at the goddamn Pentagon where you belong.”
Ryan’s temper simmered. His fists clenched at his sides.
Who was she to tell him what to do and how to do it? Who was she to make demands on him after what she’d done to him?
“Careful there, Elizabeth,” he said in a measured tone. “You might cause a wrinkle or burst a blood vessel. At the very least, you could end up breaking a sweat. We both know how you loathe anything hot and sweaty.”
He glared at her. Her gaze narrowed on him.
She said, “I’m offering an olive branch, Ryan.”
“Fuck your olive branch. I’m perfectly happy with where I am—with who I am—right this very minute.”
Her eyes widened. “When did you become so barbaric?”
“I’m not barbaric. I’m honest. I’m genuine. I’m secure with who I am as a person. Perhaps you should try it sometime.”
“I—wha…?—I—” she stammered. Then her own hands balled, and she cried out, “Ryan!” She slammed her fist on the desk. Right on top of the packet of mustard for his sandwich. It burst open, and the dark yellow fluid shot out and splattered against his black pants, his tie, his glasses.
She continued to glare. “No one says ‘no’ to me!”
* * *
“We’re fucked.” Cal from Facilities dropped a stack of papers on Maxi’s desk and added, “All of the extra manufacturing and assembly your people have managed to pull off in a week—also thanks to Staci’s successful staffing negotiations—will soon go to hell in a handbag.”
“Impossible,” she said. “We’ve all worked together to devise a foolproof plan. Accor
ding to Ryan’s projections, our increased productivity has yielded—”
“Excellent results, yes,” Cal concurred. “I’m not disputing that.”
“Then what’s the problem?”
He pinched the bridge of his nose with his finger and thumb. Dragged in a long breath. Let it out slowly.
“Cal?” She eyed him speculatively. “Give it to me straight, buddy…”
The VP of Facilities, who was just a few years older than Maxi and had a wife and two kids to support—lots of responsibility there and no room for losing his job—pinned her with a grave look and said, “The warehouse we selected to house all of the additional stock for distribution got rented out from underneath us. Just this morning.”
“What?!” Maxi pressed her palms against the edge of her desk and pushed. Her chair shot back and she jumped to her feet.
“Legal didn’t act fast enough,” Cal said. “There was a ton of paperwork to review, negotiation of terms, whatever. It didn’t get done over the weekend, and some other company interested in the space snaked us.”
“No!” Maxi paced. Panic seized her.
“I had all of the documentation into Legal on Wednesday like you told me. As soon as we found the best location and contacted the owner of the building we were on it. But the lease agreement never made it up the chain of command, never got signed, and so here we are. Fucked.”
“Oh, my God.” A million tiny spiders crawled through her veins. “After the full-court press we put on—you’re saying we have no place to store the shoes we’re cranking out?”
“It’s not just about the storage, Maxi. It’s about the packaging. The distribution. We have no facility to operate at Ryan’s projected full capacity.”
He punctuated the last sentence in a way that made the anxiety swell in her throat.
Maxi’s eyes bulged.
A complete and utter bottleneck—literally and…literally! In her throat and at the manufacturing plant.
Holy. Shit!
She headed to the door.
“Where are you going?” Cal asked.
“I have to see someone,” she mumbled, her stomach sinking lower with every step she took. This was a disaster! “I need algebraic equations, Gantt charts, and a goddamn laser pointer that will show us that this is all going to be okay!”
She rushed from her office. Avril called out, “What can I do to help?”
“Pray.”
Maxi stalked across the Operations division and down the short corridor to Ryan’s office, breezing past Anne Phelps.
Maxi barged in on her director and blurted, “We have no place to store all the shoes we’re producing, and that means they’re not getting shipped out!”
She drew up short, her extreme panic instantly replaced with completely different emotions. Her heart launched into her throat. Her blood ran cold.
Ryan stood behind his desk, his glasses off. While some tiny, Tinker Bell blonde loosened his tie.
Maxi gaped.
What the hell had she just walked in on?
Chapter Nine
Ryan said, “Maxi Shayne, meet Dr. Elizabeth Sherman.”
“I—you’re—urgh!” Maxi gaped again. Her chest pulled so tight it was a wonder she could breathe. This was the absolute last thing she’d expected to find—Ryan and his former fiancée in a compromising position.
And it was a compromising position, with Elizabeth’s slender fingers wrapped around the knot of Ryan’s tie. Worse, Maxi knew the man only removed his glasses during the day for one thing.
“This is just…so unbelievable,” she muttered, the pain of betrayal lancing through her.
How could this be happening? Again?
How many times was Maxi going to stumble upon a scene such as this? Lord knew she was pushing a half dozen, with Kev adding a few too many instances to the shitty track record. Each betrayal had shredded her, because Maxi didn’t believe in infidelity.
She didn’t believe in deceiving or intentionally hurting someone you supposedly cared about.
This moment was even more horrific, because she’d really and truly thought she’d broken her pattern, had escaped her past full of cheaters.
She’d trusted Ryan.
Yet here he was…with Elizabeth. His ex.
Ryan said to Maxi, “Give me just a couple of minutes to pull myself together, and I’ll meet you in your office.”
How the hell could he be so blasé about this?
She was at a loss for words. Though only momentarily. She irrationally said, “Don’t bother. I don’t need you.”
Maxi spun around and stormed off. She returned to her office. Slammed the door behind her. And screamed.
She fought the sting of tears threatening her eyes. Tried to accept the logic in the situation. Ryan’s split from Elizabeth was still fresh. If Tinker Bell wanted him back, now was a great time to make a play for him. While he cooled down from whatever argument they’d had to tear them apart in the first place, and before he got seriously involved with another woman.
But…come on!
Maxi’s heart wrenched.
She thought that Ryan was getting seriously involved with another woman. With her.
The signs had been there, visible and easy to read. All the things he’d said to her, the way he was always fixated on her—and no other woman. Even Avril’s batted lashes had had no effect on the man. Only Maxi had seemed to captivate him.
And the way he’d touched her, fucked her…
For God’s sake! They’d seemed crazed for each other!
But, no…
She amended her mental statement. Maxi was crazed for him.
Clearly, Ryan could take or leave Maxi.
Like she was just some novelty. A break from his usual reality of high-society lovers. A theory he’d tried out. One that apparently held no weight, so he’d decided to go back to Elizabeth.
She shook her head as dismay slithered down her spine. He’d made that decision right there in his office. Where Maxi or anyone else could have easily walked in on him and this other woman.
If it hadn’t been Maxi to discover them, she would have heard about it from someone else.
Was that what Ryan had wanted? For her to learn about the choice he’d made from anyone other than him? So that he didn’t have to deal with any emotions on her side? So that he could make a clean break?
Maxi’s fists balled at her sides. She’d been through this so many times. Had sworn she would never let another man do this to her—even if she couldn’t stop him from cheating, she wouldn’t let him devastate her.
So fuck it all. Dr. Ryan Donovan could have his clean break. Maxi would not give him the satisfaction of crumbling at his feet.
She was stronger than that.
Or at least, she had to be in this case. Because it occurred to Maxi that losing Ryan was the most painful experience of her life. Agonizing enough to make her want to curl up on her sofa and cry a river.
But the company had been hurled back into crisis mode because of the flub in Legal, and Maxi had to do something about it.
So she sucked it up. Swiped at the few traitorous tears that had seeped from the corners of her eyes. She collected her notebook and left her office, meeting up with Cal in his, not bothering to invite Ryan to the strategy session.
Maxi had spent most of her life taking care of things herself; she’d handle this new situation on her own.
She’d meant what she’d said to Ryan.
She didn’t need him.
* * *
The end of the afternoon rolled around, and Maxi locked herself in her office to get more work done. She told her assistant that if Ryan stopped by or called, to let him know she’d left for the day.
This clearly perplexed Avril, but Maxi didn’t elaborate. She and Cal had agreed to scour the city for sufficient space to rent. He pounded the pavement while she searched the Internet. They’d already briefed Staci on the catastrophe, and after she spoke with the Board, Staci plann
ed to deal with Legal.
Maxi was certainly glad she wasn’t Judith Layton, VP and General Counsel. That woman was about to get an earful…and possibly a pink slip.
Then again, it wasn’t so much fun being Maxi Shayne at the moment.
At least she had something to occupy her mind so that she didn’t have to think about Ryan—with Elizabeth practically in his arms.
Christ, if Maxi had walked in just a few seconds later…
She gave a sharp shake of her head to dislodge the image wanting to take up space in her brain and torment her. She wouldn’t allow it. There was a company at stake. Her job was at stake. How she’d gotten sidetracked in the first place was beyond her. She knew where her focus needed to be. On business.
So maybe this was a good thing. Maybe Ryan and Elizabeth reconciling was exactly the catalyst to get Maxi back on track professionally.
She’d like to pat herself on the back for finding a silver lining.
Instead, more tears flooded her eyes. And Maxi knew she wouldn’t be getting over Einstein anytime soon…
* * *
Ryan was a bit perplexed. Maxi hadn’t answered his calls or texts after she’d left the office the night before and now she’d separated out the departments in the division and managed one set of meetings while he managed the other. As though she were avoiding him.
He couldn’t catch her alone all day. That agitated him further. What was going on?
“She’s been acting a little strange,” Avril admitted when Ryan stopped by her desk for the fifth time to see if he could steal a minute with Maxi. “Very curt and standoffish. Locking herself in her office. That’s not like her at all.”
“No, that definitely doesn’t sound like her,” he concurred.
“Has she said anything to you?” Avril asked. “Or did something happen between the two of you?”
“Absolutely not. The last time I saw her was in my office when—”
Oh, for fuck’s sake!
Was he really that colossal an idiot?
He instantly thought of Elizabeth reaching for the knot on his tie to whisk it off and dab club soda on the silk before the splatters of mustard stained it. And Ryan had taken his glasses off to clean them.
