Sam was fairly certain Donald didn’t know about Annabelle. He’d kept it out of the press, and the girl was basically an angel sent from heaven. Offered him forgiveness without him even asking and convinced him to clean up his act.
It was people like Annabelle and April who convinced him the world wasn’t completely going to shit. He tried to think of that positive energy even as everything dark and angry wanted release.
“I want those shares. I don’t know what you did to the Bs, but they’re mine.”
Donald raised his brows in mock shock. “What are you talking about? I offered them a deal and they took it. It was all perfectly legal.”
Sam’s lips curled into a snarl. “Legal my ass. That was dirty business and you’re too smart to not know that, so don’t play dumb. I don’t have the time.”
Donald’s lips tightened and he set his untouched drink down. “You put yourself into a very vulnerable position by taking so much capital from them.”
“How dare I get into business with some very pleasant men who are all-around decent guys with a lot of extra cash burning a hole in their hedge funds?”
“They were vulnerable. If the owners of a company are weak, what does that say about the business?”
Sam shrugged. “If the owner of a company is an egotistical maniac, what does that say about the business?”
Donald shook his head. “I don’t know what you thought you’d achieve by coming here. I’m not selling you the shares.”
“What the hell are you going to do with them? You’ve never done a damn thing with kitchen appliances.” Sam narrowed his eyes as he awaited the response. Even if his father answered, it would probably be a lie. This was all one big game to him.
“I’m going to keep them safe. You obviously need guidance. Don’t think of me as some evil marauder storming into your sanctuary. Consider me a partner.”
Sam eyed his father, trying to see through his veiled meanings to the true endgame. “So we’re going to be working together? How’s that going to work?”
Donald waved his hand in a circular motion. “You just do what you’ve been doing. I’ll look over the financials and make suggestions where I can.”
“And have you oversee my company? Like hell. I’d rather jump off the Empire State Building than have you as a boss.”
“Well, as of today at…” Donald dug through a stack of papers. “One o’clock this morning, I own sixty percent of HuntCorp. So you can sell me your forty percent, or you can accept your place at my side.”
It took everything in him to bite back a scream. God, it would feel good to punch something. Preferably Donald’s smug grin. “You know my lawyers will be going over those contracts first thing Monday.”
“And they’re airtight. I had my own team go over them with a fine-tooth comb.” Donald stood his ground, not showing the slightest hint of unease.
Of course the contract was airtight. Sam would expect nothing less. But he would still hemorrhage money on lawyers, even if all it did was annoy his father. “So should I expect your minions to crawl all over my office from now on? Someone to watch over your investment?”
“I don’t know if that’s necessary. I’m sure you’ll cooperate, even if you are reluctant at the moment.”
Sam let out a silent sigh of relief. At least he wouldn’t have to deal with one of his father’s people breathing down his neck for the foreseeable future. There was a very real possibility that this arrangement wouldn’t work or that Sam couldn’t get those shares back from his father. They’d tangled in business before, and Sam had a bad track record so far.
He turned to leave; he knew he wouldn’t be able to have a reasonable conversation with Donald. If he had any chance of finding a weakness, he’d have to regroup and play as dirty as the enemy. But before he even got two steps, he paused.
“I want April.”
Sam twisted around just in time to see Donald’s appraising gaze rake over him.
“From what I heard, you’ve already had her.”
Do not punch your father. Do not punch your father. “She can be your liaison. She’s good at handling me when I get…stressed. And talking to you raises my blood pressure.”
Donald raised a stark white brow. “I know what you’re after. You don’t care about your blood pressure.”
“What does it matter to you? You’ve already gotten what you want, right? Give me April back.”
“She’s not a secretary anymore. She’s a valued member of my team and I’m not sure she’d want to regress in her career.”
“She won’t be my assistant. She’ll be a communications specialist. That has to look good on a resume, right? Now give me April.”
Donald let out a sigh. “I suppose I’ve put you through a lot for one day. You can have your communications specialist.”
Relief cut through Sam, only to clash up against the burning rage that he even had to ask permission to get April back with him. He had no idea where he would go from here or whether it was even possible to crawl out of the hole Donald had stuck him in, but somehow the idea of having April with him made him feel as if he had a fighting chance.
Sam savored the tiny victory. “I want her in my office Monday morning.”
“No problem,” said Donald.
Sam waited for the catch. He’d never once heard his father utter the words “no problem” without some sort of “but.”
Then he heard it. “Only if she agrees.”
~~~~~
April scrubbed the tiny spot on the counter even harder. It had been there from the moment she’d moved in and, damn it, she was getting rid of it today, even if it killed her.
It was better than thinking about…anything else. Her mind wouldn’t stop replaying the whole morning through her mind. Sam’s apology, his kisses, his touch, his smile. And then the moment his entire world was torn apart and all she could do was watch.
It was now well past four and she hadn’t heard a peep from Sam. Not a text or call or email or freakin’ telegram. But she couldn’t bring herself to reach out to him. It was obvious he had enough to deal with. She didn’t want to be the girl he slept with and who wouldn’t stop calling him.
But she so wanted to talk to him! She wanted to make sure he was okay and to find out what the hell they were even doing.
Sex! Her and Sam! Multiple times! God, how did that even happen? Her mind swirled with possibilities and memories. What if he didn’t call her? What if he thought it was a one-time thing?
What did she think it was? She’d imagined her and Sam being together thousands of times. Millions of times. But this was reality. The real deal. How could she have known her fantasies would come true? And why did they have to come true under these circumstances?
She renewed her scrubbing with extra vigor. By now the entire apartment was spotless, not that there was a huge amount to clean. She’d swept, dusted, vacuumed, laundered, and washed everything in sight. Except this damn spot.
April put all her muscle on the abrasive, plastic scrubber, determined that she could get this one thing taken care of. The intercom buzzed behind her and the sponge flew across the room as she jumped a good six inches in the air.
She stared at the speaker on her wall as she tried to catch her breath and pulled off her rubber gloves. For a few seconds, she rested her head in her hands. She needed to get a grip. Before she could dwell on her frayed nerves any longer, the buzzing came again.
She grabbed a towel as she crossed the room, only belatedly realizing she was wiping off her clean hands. Sighing at her scattered mind, she pressed the speaker button. “Hello?”
“April, finally. I was worried you weren’t home,” came Sam’s gruff voice.
“Sam? Oh my goodness.” A rush of relief flowed through her. Sam was here and she would get some answers. Maybe. “What happened? Have you talked to the Bs? Why didn’t you call? I mean, before you came over. Why didn’t you call before you came over?”
“It’s been a long day.
Can I come up? I’m in a bit of a hurry.”
“Yeah.” She unlocked the entry door. “Sixth floor, fifth apartment on the left.”
She heard a soft laugh. “I can see the number, April.”
With a sigh, she pressed her forehead to her palm. Getting close to Sam was supposed to make her less awkward around him. Not more so.
April leaned against the door and looked over the thrown-together color palette of her apartment. She was almost always the type to do a rush cleanup job, but at this point there was nothing left to scrub.
All she could do was listen to her heart pound faster and faster in her chest as the man of her dreams came up to her apartment.
The seconds ticked by, each one longer than the next. She shouldn’t be this nervous. This was the same Sam she’d worked side by side with for years. They’d laughed together and gone out together. But he’d never once looked at her as anything more than a co-worker.
She twisted the towel in her hands. She’d wished she could see Sam all day, but now that he would be there any moment, she suddenly didn’t want him in her tiny apartment. Her entire equilibrium was off-kilter, and she didn’t think she could handle his kind of crazy at the moment.
He didn’t have to knock. She was so hyper aware of his pending arrival that she heard his self-assured footsteps long before he rang the bell. She jerked the door open; her gaze raked over him as she tried to pick up any hint of what had happened.
He was in the same rumpled shirt and tux pants he’d been in as he ran out of her hotel room, but somehow he didn’t seem disheveled. He pushed past her as he strode into her apartment and she softly shut the door behind him.
“Sorry to show up on you.” He paced back and forth between the kitchen area and the living room. “I’m trying to get a lot of shit taken care of.”
She frowned. Those weren’t exactly the first words she’d want from a man she’d spent all night, er, morning making love to. “I’m just something on your list to take care of?”
He stopped. “What? No.” His brows drew together for a moment. “Okay, I can see how that could’ve been taken the wrong way.”
April padded over to him and set a hand on his bicep. He didn’t move much, but he seemed to relax into her touch. That was a good sign. Maybe he wasn’t adverse to them continuing their little…whatever the heck they had. Relationship? “I’m guessing it’s been a long day.”
He looked down at her. The tension finally eased from his muscles. “You have no idea.”
She led him over to her sofa and pushed him gently until he sat down. “Now I don’t have coffee, but I have some milk or orange juice. Or tap water.”
Sam shook his head, leaned forward and snatched her wrist. With a strong pull, she was sprawled on his lap. He wrapped one arm around her waist, while a hand rested on her neck. His thumb softly caressed her jaw.
“None of that,” he said. “You’re not my assistant here. No waiting on me.” He looked up for a moment as though thinking. “Unless you’re naked. And in bed. Then you can wait on me as much as I want.”
A rush of heat shot through her at the image his words conjured. Her cheeks warmed and she knew she was probably blushing. She always blushed. “So this morning wasn’t a one-time thing.”
He pressed a quick kiss to her lips. The heat turned to a burn, and April moaned at the contact. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and kissed him back. The stresses and worry faded away with his touch.
But as she melted into him, Sam pulled back. “I really can’t stay.”
“Don’t say that.” She brushed her lips against his. “Just for a little bit.” She kissed him again.
He groaned beneath her and let his head fall back. “You’re not making this easy.”
“I thought the point was to make it hard,” she said with a smirk.
“You’re such a little minx.” He wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly against him. But then he went right back to pushing her away. “No, no, no, no. That’s not why I came here.”
“Oh yeah. You came here to ‘take care of shit.’”
He cocked his head slightly and gave her such an innocent smile that she couldn’t help but burst out laughing.
“You’re not going to let me live that down, are you?”
“It was a stupid thing to say, Sam.”
“Then consider me humbly shamed.”
She stared into his blue eyes and tried to etch the moment into her memory. “If you really feel bad, you’ll stay with me.” She bit her lip as she waited for his response. This was it. Her putting herself out there. Actually telling Sam that she wanted him.
But the sudden tightening of his muscles beneath her told her the answer before he did. “I have to deal with this company thing.”
“I understand,” she said. It wasn’t a lie. She knew exactly how important HuntCorp was. “I guess I just wanted to savor the moment.”
He ran his hands up and down her back. “There’s a reason I came here.”
“You mean you didn’t come here for the cozy atmosphere?”
“No. I talked to Donald today.”
“And from the mood you were in when you stormed in here today, I’m assuming it went swimmingly.”
He scoffed. “It could’ve gone better. But I’m trying to think up a plan to get those shares back.”
“So it’s true? He has controlling interest.” She regretted the words the moment she said them. Any hint of happiness vanished, replaced with a look of steel.
“I’m working on it. I’ve lined up talks with some of the best consultants in the business for later today and the lawyers are going to tear through the contracts on Monday. But there’s another vital step to me getting my company back.”
He had that mischievous glint in his eye, and April wasn’t sure she wanted to hear what he had to say. But she obliged anyway by asking, “What’s that?”
“You.”
Yep. Not what she wanted to hear. “I told you I’m not into that corporate espionage stuff.”
“You and me. We’re going to get to the root of the problem. Remember that night you quit?”
Her brows shot up. “I vaguely remember storming out or something.”
“And when did Donald offer you the job?”
“The next morning.”
“Exactly. Someone at HuntCorp is feeding him intel. And you and me are going to weed out the bastard and cut him off at the knees.”
April pushed herself away. “I’m not spying on Donald for you. Or spying on Donald’s spy.”
“We’re doing this as a team. Donald gave you back to me. You get to come to HuntCorp on Monday and we’ll be together again.”
“We’re together now. And what do you mean, ‘Donald gave me to you’? He can’t give me to anyone.”
“Well, it wasn’t like a gift exchange. You’d keep your title and salary. Since he has those shares, you’re not moving jobs. Just location. And he specified that you don’t have to work for me if you don’t want to.” He phrased it as a statement, but April saw the uncertainty in his eyes.
Her mind raced. Being with Sam. Working alongside him again. “Of course I’ll go back.” To hell with her nerves. He wanted this and she wanted it. She was going all in.
A grin lit up his face.
“Try not to look so smug,” she said.
“Impossible. I have to leave but I don’t want to.”
She rolled her eyes and pushed herself off him. “Nope. You have consultants to consult, remember? I asked you to stay, you said no, so now you go. Capiche?”
“You’re such a nerd.” He stood and crossed to the door. Before he left, he turned back to her. “April. This day has been hell. I’m happy you were around to make it better.”
Joy speared through her at the words. All she’d wanted to do was cheer him up, and she’d done it! At the same time, she didn’t know quite how to respond. Sexual banter she was getting used to. Sentimental banter was a completely different ba
llgame. So she chose humor instead.
“I don’t know about this nice Sam. I hate to tell you, but I’m only attracted to assholes.”
“Well, that works out great because I’m an ass ninety percent of the time.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
April held the neon orange skirt up to her as she studied her reflection. “I don’t know if I can pull off orange.”
“I’m a firm believer that every woman can pull off every color if they wear it with swagger,” said Jessica from behind her. “But there is no way in hell I’m letting you buy that.”
A distressed moan escaped April. “Why?”
“Because it’s probably going to make your ass look fantastic and I refuse to let you wear that around Sam.”
A wicked grin spread across April’s face. What would Sam say when he saw her? What would he do? Good Lord, she was having an office affair. This was so HBO. Nothing like this ever happened to plain old April Morgan.
Jessica grunted in disgust. “Get that look off your face. At least try to look ashamed.”
April set the hanger over her arm and moved on to the next rack of clothes. “Could you at least pretend to be happy for me?” After she’d giddily called Jessica right after Sam left, they’d planned a Sunday shopping trip. April thought it would be fun to splurge on a few new outfits for her reunion with HuntCorp. Apparently Jessica thought it was an intervention.
“This isn’t you. Sam is a toxic influence you need to purge from your life. You’ve only been together two days and you’re already being sucked back into your old job. Remember why you left in the first place? The prestige for working for Donald Hunt. The money.”
“None of that has changed. My resume will be as pristine as ever. Just now I get to have more fun.” She pulled out a black dress with a pattern of yellow triangles. “Does this look work appropriate to you? Like, my work, not yours.”
Jessica didn’t look amused. “What if something goes wrong? Do you have any idea what will happen if either of the Hunts blacklist you?”
“Sam wouldn’t do that to me.” Even as the words left her mouth, she knew how naive she sounded. How many other women had said the same things about their lovers, boyfriends, and husbands? But she really meant it. “Besides, you date powerful men all the time. What makes this different?”
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