Fiancé. Sofia took a deep breath and smiled widely. “Congratulations on your engagement. What’s his name?”
Heather slanted her a sly smile. “Her name is Suzanne.”
Sofia felt her cheeks go bright red. “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to assume. It’s just that...” Well, there had been those winks.
“Oh, no worries,” Heather said, waving away Sofia’s embarrassment. “It’s a known fact that Mr. Jenner flirts with everyone. He’s an equal opportunity flirt. But he keeps a hard line between flirting and hitting on someone.” She leaned forward, her voice quieting to a whisper. “We’re not supposed to talk about his former fiancée—and I don’t recommend bringing it up—but there was a young woman who’d just started in the agent department when Mr. Jenner got dumped. She made a move.”
It was wrong to gossip about Eric, both as an old friend and a new boss. That noble sentiment didn’t stop Sofia from asking, “And?”
“And not only did he rebuff her advances, she was gone a month later.”
“He fired her?”
“No, actually. That’s the weird thing.” Heather looked just as confused as Sofia felt. “She got ‘a better offer’ from one of his business rivals. The rumor is Mr. Jenner engineered it. I overheard him tell the Nortons that Wyatt got what he deserved out of the deal.”
Wyatt—hadn’t there been a kid named Robert Wyatt back when they were kids? If she was thinking of the same boy, then that was the kid who’d cornered her one time while Eric had been in the bathroom and tried to cop a feel.
Sofia remembered she’d done what her father had taught her and kneed Wyatt hard in the groin. Eric had found his so-called friend rolling on the ground and yelling bloody murder and Sofia had been terrified Wyatt would get her mom fired. But instead, Wyatt never came back over to play and Mrs. Jenner had bought Sofia a doll with a new set of clothes.
Heather was staring intently at her. “Well. That’s...interesting, isn’t it?” Sofia said numbly.
If she’d thought that would be the end of the conversation, she was wrong. “You two used to know each other?” Heather, Sofia realized, was the office gossip. Which meant that she was a good person to have on Sofia’s side. But that didn’t mean she wanted to spread every childhood moment she and Eric had shared around the office. There was a fine line here and Sofia had to figure out how to walk it—quickly.
When she didn’t answer right away, Heather pressed on. “I mean, that’s what it sounded like. I’ve never heard him tell an interviewee—or anyone else, for that matter—that they ‘grew up.’”
“We knew each other when we were little kids. His father gave my father a start in business.” That line had worked well enough for the Nortons, but when Heather didn’t respond immediately, Sofia decided she needed to steer the conversation away from the past. “It’s good to hear that he’s still the same kid he used to be. I was hoping being a billionaire hadn’t changed him.”
Heather exhaled heavily. “I don’t think the money is what’s changed him,” she said quietly. Then she turned a too-bright smile to Sofia. “Okay? Here are the vendors that we use to order coffee...”
Sofia didn’t get the chance to ask what Heather meant by that. And did it matter, really? No. What mattered was that Eric was giving her an incredible opportunity and putting a great deal of faith in her. What mattered was that his staff loved working for him. What mattered more than anything, she decided, was that he didn’t sleep with his receptionist and he nurtured the talents of the people he hired.
She was going to make this work, she decided with renewed resolve.
So she better learn how to order the coffee.
Four
Normally, Eric would’ve been on the water by now. There was only one reason he was still at his desk today. Sofia. Somehow, he couldn’t leave without making sure she’d take the job.
He was supposed to be reading her contract and nondisclosure agreement, but it wasn’t going well. He was also supposed to be looking over the latest plans for the St. Louis trip, but he wasn’t doing that, either.
Instead, he was thinking about Sofia. He couldn’t remember the first time he’d seen her. She’d always been there. There hadn’t been any big formal goodbyes, either. The Cortés family had not come to his farewell party when he’d gone away to school. He hadn’t sought her out after the party. That had been that.
She’d always been a part of his life—until she wasn’t anymore. He wanted to think he’d regretted not getting the closure of a goodbye, but honestly, he wasn’t sure he had.
Now suddenly Sofia was back in his life. A mother with two little babies who depended on her.
She was taking the job, by God. That was final.
A soft knock on his door pulled him out of his messy thoughts. “Yes?”
The door opened and there she was. His breath caught in his throat as she stepped into his office. It didn’t seem possible that she got lovelier every time he saw her.
But there was no denying it—she was simply prettier than she’d been an hour ago. Especially when her eyes lit up as she looked at him, her mouth softening into a kissable smile. “You’re still here,” she said, a touch of wonder in her voice. “I thought you’d be out on the lake by now.”
He grinned. It didn’t mean anything that she remembered how much he needed the water. Everyone else thought it was part of his eccentric charm, but Sofia had always understood that he needed the water like some people needed the air. “I’m still here,” he told her. “Have a seat. I’m just going over your contract.”
He watched her carefully as she crossed the room and sat in front of him. She looked a little bashful, but not like she was on the verge of another anxiety attack. “I don’t suppose you made my salary something reasonable?”
“A hundred and twenty thousand is very reasonable, Sofia.”
She laughed. “What if I’m not worth that much money?”
He was stunned by the words—and by how much she seemed to mean them. Nervously, she glanced up at him. “I’m going to pretend you didn’t say that,” he said. “Stop acting like you don’t belong here.”
“I don’t,” she said, and he was impressed that she didn’t sound cowed when she said it. “You’re the one trying to make me fit into this world.”
“You’re the one who showed up for a job interview,” he reminded her. At that, she opened her mouth to reply and then closed it with an audible snap. “There. We agree. You want the job and I’m giving it to you.” He shoved the contract across the desk.
She reached for it, and he continued, “It’s the standard contract, details on the benefit plan, bonus schedule and nondisclosure agreement. You’re more than welcome to take it home and look it over. If you decide to accept the job, I’d like you to start next week. But Sofia?” She looked up at him again, the contract in her hand. “You’re going to accept the job.”
He braced for the worst—another panic attack—but it didn’t happen. Instead, her brows furrowed and she twisted her lips. “I’m not going to win this argument, am I?”
“Of course not. I never lose arguments when I happen to be right.”
“What are you going to tell your parents?”
He blinked once, then again. Of all the things she might have said—that wasn’t what he’d expected. “I don’t know that I need to tell them anything.” Except that was a hedge and he knew it.
Because he wanted to know why his mother hadn’t kept him up-to-date on what Sofia was doing and there was no way he could ask without revealing that Sofia now worked for him.
“I assume your parents know where you are?” he asked.
“They do.” She dropped her gaze back to the contract and flipped the page. “They were worried.”
“About?” Suddenly, he found himself hoping the Cortés fa
mily hadn’t followed all the headlines—his abandonment on his wedding day or the subsequent re-sowing of his wild oats afterward.
“They want to see me succeed but...well, they knew this job was a stretch for me. I don’t have the experience.” She looked up at him and he saw the truth in her eyes. “I shouldn’t even be telling you this,” she went on in a rush. “Because the truth is that we’re not friends anymore. We’re old acquaintances who only knew each other because my parents worked for yours. Now you’re my boss and I shouldn’t be telling you about my family’s hopes or that I suffered debilitating panic attacks after my husband died. You’re not supposed to know these things about me.”
She was almost shouting at him. The force of her emotion pushed him back in his chair.
“Oh, God,” she said, slumping down. “And I definitely shouldn’t be yelling at you. I couldn’t be screwing this up more if I tried, could I?”
If it were anyone else, he’d agree. He’d show her the door and count himself lucky to have dodged a bullet.
So why wasn’t he doing that right now?
When was the last time anyone had put him in his place? No one—with the obvious exception of his parents—talked to him like this. They all minced around him like he was a volatile chemical and they were afraid of the reaction he’d spark. Even Marcus Warren—who had no trouble telling anyone what he thought about anything—had been pulling his punches with Eric.
Sofia telling him off should have been infuriating. But...
All he could think about was how he’d missed her. And how he hoped she’d missed him, too. “You need a friend.”
She looked at him, her eyes suspiciously shiny and a quirky smile on her face. “Maybe you do, too.” Abruptly, she stood, grabbing her handbag and clutching the contract to her chest. “I’m going to take this job because you’re right, I need it. But I won’t be your object of pity. You don’t owe me a larger salary. You don’t owe me any special perks. I’m your employee. Try to remember that.”
That was, hands down, one of the most effective set-downs he’d ever received in his life. It was so good that all he could do was smile as she walked out of the office.
* * *
“Mama!” Two small voices cried in unison when Sofia came through the door that evening. She still felt that she was moving in a daze but at least here, in the sanctuary of her parents’ house, with her two children launching themselves at her, everything still felt the same.
“Babies!” she cried back, just like she did every time she had to be away from them. She opened her arms as they flung themselves at her, almost knocking her off balance in her heeled shoes. “Were you good for Abuelita today?” she asked over their heads as her mother slowly climbed to her feet from where she’d been sitting on the floor.
“Fine, fine,” Mom said, waving away this concern. “How about you? You got the job?” Then, after a moment’s hesitation, she added, “Did he remember you?”
Sofia staggered over to the couch that was possibly older than she was with the children squirming in her arms, collapsing in a heap of happy baby sounds. Addy curled up in her lap and began humming contentedly while Eddy slid down and toddled over to a small set of table and chairs, where he picked up a piece of paper he’d made some very colorful lines on. He showed it to her proudly.
“Oh,” Sofia said, touching the picture. “So pretty.” Eddy began to chatter about whatever it was he’d drawn. She grinned. The twins weren’t quite talking yet, but they sure had a lot to say.
As expected, Addy took all this attention for Eddy as a direct challenge to her artistic merits. She went to get her drawing, too. The twins were always competing like this and only occasionally did it result in tears.
After she had also complimented Addy’s colorful lines, she leaned back, settling into the ancient cushions of the couch while the twins started coloring again. Even when her father had started selling houses and they’d moved into this small ranch home, the Cortéses hadn’t wasted any money on new furniture.
Even though they were now respectably middle class, they still lived carefully and those were lessons Sofia had a hard time unlearning. It’d taken a long time to get used to the way David would decide he wanted a new phone or a new computer and just go buy it. Almost all of their fights had been about money. She’d never felt comfortable spending it but he couldn’t understand why she didn’t want a few nice things.
If anything, Eric was a million times worse than David ever could have been. The craziest thing David had ever done with money—besides spending five thousand dollars on her engagement ring—had been buying a brand-new, top-of-the-line flat screen television that took up a huge chunk of wall in their living room. But that had only been seven thousand dollars.
Eric was throwing an extra fifty thousand dollars at her. Truly, he was being an idiot about it. But wasn’t she being an idiot to try to give that cash back? It wasn’t like she couldn’t use the money. The life insurance money had run out and she’d moved back in with her parents because, well, she’d been in the grips of depression and the mother of two newborns. But it’d also been to save money.
She sighed. Eric was right. Fifty thousand was a year to her. To him, it couldn’t be more than fifteen minutes of one day. And she had shown up for the job interview hoping that the Jenner kindness would help her get back on her feet. She was in no position to refuse that kindness.
Her mother appeared with a glass of lemonade and a worried smile on her face. “Well?”
“He remembered me. And I got the job.” She took the lemonade and drank deeply. “He’s paying me too much money.”
At this, Mom smiled. “The Jenners—they always pay too much. They’re very generous people.”
Sofia looked up at her mother. Rosa Cortés had worked her entire life to take care of Sofia. But it wasn’t until Sofia had unexpectedly become a widow with two infants that she had appreciated how her mother always kept her head up and hope in her heart.
Mom had given her everything. It was time for Sofia to return the favor. “Listen, I’m going to start paying you to watch the kids. And hire someone to help out.”
Her mother’s eyes got wide and then immediately narrowed. Sofia braced herself. “You’ll do no such thing,” she snapped. “I love spending the day with my nietos. It’s not a job.”
“Yes, I will.” Sofia was almost too tired to argue—but this was important. “You quit your job at the brokerage to stay home with us. You’ve kept me going more times than I can count. You’ve always taken care of me, Mom. Let me take care of you, too.”
Her mother shook her head and stamped her foot, which was a show of temper for her. Rosa was so mild mannered as to be meek.
“Fine,” Sofia said, knowing further debate would only make Mom dig in her heels even more. “I’ll put the money in a retirement account for you. And I will hire someone to help out. That’s nonnegotiable. You know Dad’s going to be on my side about this.”
Although he would never want to hurt Mom’s feelings by suggesting she couldn’t do everything, Dad had privately told Sofia he worried the twins might be too much for Mom.
Her mother looked like she was going to argue but just then, Addy flung her crayons to the side and stared at Sofia’s glass, moving her hands in the way that meant she wanted some, too. Not to be outdone, Eddy plopped his bottom down on the rug and began to fuss. Mom clucked softly. “Oh, now—you two, it’s time to wash our hands and have a snack.” She picked up Eddy and Addy toddled along behind, the mention of a snack suddenly the most important thing in the world.
Sofia grinned after her babies. She had pictures of David at that age and Eddy, especially, was going to look a lot like his father. Addy’s hair was a little darker, her face a little more round—just like Sofia’s had been.
She sank back into the old couch, grateful for the momen
t of silence. Maybe her mother was right. Maybe that’s all there was to this insane salary. Eric was just being generous. Maybe it had nothing to do with her at all. To a guy like him, a Jenner, money was the easy, obvious solution. It would never run out.
It didn’t feel like that, though. If anything, it felt...dangerous. More than just the way he’d talked her down from the panic attack, more than the heated way he looked at her whenever she pushed back against his dictates. Those things were bad enough, but easy to dismiss as old friends catching up or him flirting with her just like he flirted with everyone else.
No, what was dangerous to Sofia’s mental well-being was the way he had matter-of-factly stated that he could somehow keep her safe.
It had been a sweet thing to say, but Sofia had recognized something else in his eyes when he said it, something lost. He had been left at the altar. Had he loved his ex-fiancée? Had his whole world changed in that one single moment and he still wasn’t sure who he’d become in the aftermath?
How far had he fallen before he’d picked himself back up?
She shook her head. It didn’t matter. She couldn’t be that friend for him, not like in the old days. She was a professional. And besides, she didn’t have much of a heart left to be broken.
“What am I supposed to do, David?” she whispered in the quiet of the room. She got no answer, but she wasn’t expecting one.
She had the job. She could take care of her outstanding bills, hire some help for her mom and start moving past living just one day at a time. And she could do all that without getting entangled in Eric’s life again. She’d keep a tight handle on any behavior that might be construed as unprofessional, too. No more panic attacks—at least not in public. No more telling him she wasn’t qualified for the job. She didn’t belong in his world, but she could fake it until she made it.
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