One More Moment

by Samantha Chase

* * *

  For four days, Christian had spent his time doing two things—wandering around his house and fielding phone calls from his family.

  Both were making him crazy.

  Here he was—at seven o’clock on Monday morning—and he was wide awake with nothing to do. As much as he’d love to disobey the doctor’s orders, he’d been scared straight enough to know that wasn’t the thing to do. His blood pressure was better than it had been in the emergency room, but not by much, and he knew if he didn’t make some drastic changes in his life, being bored was going to be the least of his problems.

  His mother was worried sick and had cried because she wasn’t there with him, and offered to fly back. His father offered to come and take over the day-to-day operations at Montgomerys while he was incapacitated. Christian turned them both down.

  Fast.

  Then his sister had called and offered to come and stay with him, using the excuse of being able to work with his IT department again on some updates. If he were more of a selfish person, he would have taken her up on the offer, because he knew he could trust Megan to keep an eye on things at the office without trying to take over. And he’d enjoyed having her here back in the spring.

  The biggest surprise had been when his brother had called and offered to come and cook a month’s worth of meals for him. Christian had laughed it off because even though Carter was one of the biggest celebrity chefs around, he couldn’t imagine him coming to San Diego and being happy preparing boring meals for one person. Once they had gotten that whole pretense out of the way, they had eased into some great conversation—something they didn’t indulge in too often mainly because they were both workaholics.

  “Maybe you should let Mom come,” Carter had said. “I know she was just there, but you know she’s worried sick about you now. She called me and cried, dude. Like seriously cried.”

  “Oh, geez.”

  “You know Mom’s not the overly emotional type, so for her to be like this, you know it’s real.”

  “I’m not incapacitated, Carter,” Christian had argued. “I don’t need a babysitter. What I need is to figure out how to change a lifetime of bad work habits.”

  A snort of derision was his brother’s response.

  “What? What was that?”

  “You and I both know you don’t have bad work habits, Christian. What you have is years of Dad badgering you about being the model employee—the model CEO. He wanted you to be the golden child of Montgomerys and in the process he sucked the life out of you!”

  Okay…yikes, he thought. This was something they definitely hadn’t talked about before.

  “I wouldn’t say he sucked the life out of me—”

  “Tell me something,” Carter interrupted. “Can you honestly say you love what you do? That sitting behind a desk, reading figures, and planning other people’s finances makes you happy? That you’re passionate about it?”

  “Not everyone is passionate about their jobs, Carter.”

  “I am.”

  “Yeah, well… You’re lucky. And we can’t compare the two. Your job allows you to travel and create new things while meeting new people in festive environments. That’s not how the majority of careers are.”

  Carter let out a loud huff of frustration. “You’re avoiding the question. Do you still get excited about meeting with new clients?”

  “It’s interesting,” he reasoned.

  “Oh my gosh, can you please just give me a straight answer? Yes or no, dude? It’s not that difficult!”

  “Okay, fine!” he’d shouted. “No, no I don’t get excited about meeting new clients, I’m not happy at my job, and yes, a little of the life has been sucked out of me while I try to please dad. But this is all I know! This is all I’ve ever been allowed to know! So while you got a free pass to go off and do what you want to do, remember it’s not like that for everyone.”

  “Christian…”

  “I hated you for that!” he went on. “You had the balls to stand up for yourself and I never even knew that was an option. And every time I even dare to comment on how I need a break or how exhausted I am, I end up being guilted because I feel that way! Do you have any idea what that’s like?”

  His heart had raced and he had trembled all over because he’d finally said the words out loud to his brother that he’d always been afraid to.

  “Geez, Chris, I had no idea,” Carter said gruffly. “I mean, I knew Dad was hard on you, but…I had no idea you felt that way about me.”

  Shit. The last thing he’d wanted to do was make his brother feel bad. Christian knew what it was like to have someone do that to you, and he never wanted to be accused of being like their father in that respect.

  “I don’t hate you, Carter,” Christian finally said, his own voice sounding rough to his own ears. “I just wish I could have had the choice.”

  “But you do! You are not obligated to stay in a job—a career—where it’s killing you.”

  “It’s not that easy—”

  “Yes, it is! Seriously, you think you’re the first Montgomery to break out of the family rut? The only reason you’re even in San Diego is because Ryder needed a break! And you know what? He never went back. He made a life for himself in North Carolina not working sixty hours a week. James ran away from being part of it, and Zach moved as far away as he could and he’s always run his division on his own terms. You remember how often he would travel and go off on those crazy extreme-sport adventures?”

  “That almost killed him? Um…yeah.”

  “Not the point,” Carter reasoned. “I’m saying that the only one killing himself over this company is you.”

  Yeah. That was becoming more and more obvious. All of his cousins were married and had kids and weren’t working for months—years!—on end with no vacations. He was the last Montgomery working for the company who was doing that. Even his father and uncles took time to get away from the office, so…why wasn’t he?

  “I know this was a crappy time to bring this up,” Carter said, interrupting his thoughts, “but I thought it was important to talk about it. A heart attack at your age isn’t anything to take lightly.”

  “It wasn’t a heart attack.”

  “It’s a precursor to one, and you know it.” With a sigh, his brother went on. “Look, I know you’re taking a week off, but why not two? If you don’t want me to come there, why don’t you come and see me? Right now, I’m in New Orleans, but I can take a couple of days off and we can hang out and relax and do a little sightseeing. The last time you came here, you were in and gone in less than twelve hours.”

  “You kept changing the date of the restaurant opening,” Christian argued lightly. “I did what I could.”

  “Mom and Dad stayed for five days. They ate, they played tourist. All I’m saying is if the old man can do it, then so can you.”

  While he knew what his brother was saying, he still hated being compared to his father.

  “Look, I’m gonna say one more thing and then I’ll drop this. I swear.”

  It was Christian’s turn to sigh. “Fine.”

  “Maybe let them come and see you. Talk to Dad face-to-face and tell him you’re going to start delegating more and taking some time for yourself. This would be the perfect time for you to do it, because he’s not going to want to upset you and risk sending you back to the hospital.”

  Logical? Yes.

  Happening? No.

  It wasn’t like he didn’t appreciate their concern. He did. But he knew that having them both stay with him would only add to his stress. Because no matter how much his parents promised to behave, his mother would no doubt hover and make him crazy and his father would just…well, be himself, and that would definitely make Christian crazy. There was no way he could deal with them right now. The most important thing to do for himself was try to figure out how to make these
lifestyle modifications he needed without losing his mind.

  Baby steps. One thing at a time.

  Changing his diet was easy enough. Getting more exercise wasn’t going to be an issue either. Cutting back on his work hours? Um…yeah. That one was going to prove to be the most challenging. Even thinking about it right now had his muscles tensing up and it took a real effort to make himself focus on something else.

  His conversation with his brother had been eye-opening, and while Christian had refused the offer to go to New Orleans, Carter had promised to call and check in on him—he was already looking forward to it. Over the years, they had drifted apart—mainly for the reasons Christian had stated earlier, and he hated his brother’s independence. Loved his brother, hated how he was living the life Christian only dreamed of.

  Something to think about at another time.

  Grabbing his coffee mug—because cutting coffee out of his diet was not going to happen—he walked out to the deck and sat down. This was something that really did relax him, and he had to admit, it was nice to be able to stay out here and linger rather than rushing inside to get ready for work.

  Except…every time he came out here, he looked for Sophie.

  He was still kicking himself for the way they’d ended things when she was here. It wasn’t his intention to make her feel bad or for her to leave the way she had. But in that moment, he was feeling a little overwhelmed and he hadn’t handled things well. In the process, he’d hurt her feelings. While he wanted to apologize to her, he wasn’t sure how.

  Sure, he could’ve gone to the water every time he saw her, but every time he was about to step off the deck, he chickened out. Partly because he wasn’t really sure what to say, and partly because he was afraid he had misread the situation and maybe she was only interested in him as…you know, a patient.

  And man, would that suck.

  Then there was the possibility of calling her, only he didn’t have her number. They hadn’t exchanged them when she was here and—

  Wait a minute, he thought. She had interviewed at Montgomerys—or rather, the agency she worked for had sent her to Montgomerys—and no doubt she’d filled out an application, so really, he could call the office and ask Patricia for that information. It would simply be a matter of him calling to thank her for the help—at least, that’s what he’d tell Patricia.

  With a nod of approval at this idea, Christian smiled and felt a little bit better about the situation as a whole. Calling her would mean he wouldn’t have to see the expression on her face if she was really only interested in him because of the whole anxiety attack thing—he could apologize and not have this hanging over his head, consuming his thoughts any longer.

  With a big sound of relief, he relaxed in his seat and took a sip of coffee. The thought of another day sitting around the house was beyond unappealing, but what else was there to do? His doctor had recommended finding a low-stress hobby like reading, but that wasn’t something he envisioned himself doing for hours at a time. No, he needed to get out of the house so he wouldn’t be tempted to check his emails or watch the stock market or anything related to the financial world.

  Oddly enough, that got him thinking about Sophie again. When they’d been talking over lunch, she had shared with him that she’d decided to take up surfing as a distraction of sorts. It wasn’t as if she’d been dreaming of being a surfer her whole life or anything, but once she arrived in town she figured it was a great way to meet people and learn something new.

  Christian really didn’t want to surf, but there were other sports or activities he could try. Standing up, he leaned on the railing and looked out at the morning crowd. Most of them were surfers, but there was also a group who did yoga on the beach, and there was a constant stream of joggers.

  Now that he thought about it, he’d been on the track team in high school and college, maybe it was something he could ease back into.

  Out of the corner of his eye he spotted a sassy red ponytail and the curvy woman it belonged to. He needed to do something about this obvious attraction he had for her. That meant talking to her and apologizing for his behavior and then feeling her out about seeing her again.

  As usual, she didn’t look in his direction, so for the next hour, Christian was content to watch her try to master the sport of surfing.

  Which—oddly enough—was both entertaining and arousing.

  Chapter 4

  Hanging up her phone, Sophie wasn’t sure if she should leap with joy or be offended.

  Patricia from Montgomerys was calling to thank her for her assistance during Christian’s health crisis and then not only gave her a schedule for next week—along with the fact that they had reached out to the agency she worked for put them in touch with several other offices in his building.

  And recommended Sophie for all of them.

  All. Of. Them.

  Getting more jobs wasn’t the problem. It was the reason for why or how she got the job that was bugging her.

  “I don’t understand,” she’d said to Patricia. “I haven’t even started working for you yet. Why would you reach out and recommend me to other businesses?”

  “After you came in and we had a chance to talk, I realized you truly are the perfect fit for the position—something that both Mrs. Montgomerys had said you would be.”

  “Wait—who?”

  “Mrs. Eliza Montgomery and Mrs. Monica Montgomery,” Patricia explained. “They said they had met you on the beach and had invited you to come and interview for the position.”

  “So…they’re both related to Christian?”

  “Eliza is his mom,” Patricia said pleasantly. “She was excited about you coming in—and I hate to say it, but she was also disappointed when she missed getting to meet with you again.”

  With a bit of annoyance, Sophie replied, “I explained what happened. Believe me, if I could have gotten there…”

  “Oh, I know, I know,” Patricia said. “And believe me, I’m so sorry you had to deal with that. But I think it was a blessing in disguise.”

  “How do you figure that?”

  “If you had gotten the job earlier, you wouldn’t have been here when Mr. Montgomery fell ill. I believe your being here made all the difference.”

  Normally, Sophie wouldn’t mind taking the credit for saving someone, but other than trying to keep Christian calm, there wasn’t anything anyone could have done to help—or hinder—Christian’s prognosis.

  “That’s sweet of you to say, but it was the fast action on your staff that helped. I merely stood by and tried to keep him calm while we waited for the paramedics.”

  “You’re too modest,” Patricia said. “Anyway, after talking to you, and meeting you personally, I can already tell that you’re very good at your job. I talk to a lot of the other human resources managers here in the building and when I told them about all that you did for Christian, they all wanted to meet you. But Christian was the one who insisted on calling and singing your praises to your bosses and then sharing the information about the other companies in the building.”

  “This was Christian’s idea?” she asked incredulously.

  “Oh…um, well, yes. He feels incredibly thankful to you for all you did.”

  “I see.”

  Sophie wasn’t stupid—she’d accept any and all the jobs she might get through this. That was a no-brainer. But knowing that Christian had more than likely orchestrated it bothered her. Was he doing it simply because he was thankful, or was it because he’d acted like a jerk when he’d refused to let her help him?

  Unfortunately, she didn’t know him well enough to know for sure.

  With no other choice—because she would make herself crazy sitting here thinking about it—she took a shower and got ready, bracing herself to go knock on Christian Montgomery’s door.

  Did she take a little extra time in the shower
and use her favorite scented soap?

  Yes.

  Did she spend a little extra time on her makeup?

  Yes.

  And did she curse more than once while she styled her hair because it was way too long and took forever to make look good?

  Again, yes.

  But as she looked at her reflection when she was done, all Sophie could say was, “Damn, girl! You look good!”

  With all of the extra attention she’d already given herself, choosing something to wear was a bit more challenging. Obviously, he knew she wasn’t working, so showing up on his doorstep dressed up would look ridiculous. However, showing up in a pair of cutoffs and a T-shirt seemed wrong. It wasn’t as if she had an extensive wardrobe to begin with, but right now it sure as heck felt that way!

  Grabbing a pair of faded denim capris and a bold blue halter top, she felt casually sassy. That was a thing, right?

  Slipping on a pair of flip-flops, she grabbed her purse and was out the door, feeling much calmer than she had an hour ago. The drive took less than fifteen minutes, and as Sophie parked in his driveway, she took a moment to give herself a small pep talk.

  “The good thing is that you have a job,” she said quietly. “It shouldn’t matter why you have the job, the fact is that you have one.” She paused. “And while it would be great if he apologized for coming off as being ungrateful last week, you need to remember that he’d had a traumatic day and maybe it wasn’t about me at all.”

  Sighing, she flipped down her visor and checked her reflection in the mirror, fixing her lipstick. When she was done, she flipped it back up and continued her talk.

  “If he recommended me for these jobs because he feels sorry for me, then I am completely within my rights to tell him that I’m offended. I don’t need charity. However, if he did it based on my experience, then I’ll be polite and say thank you.” She took a steadying breath and thought about how she was going to feel when she saw him back at the office after he went back to work. “He needs to know that I’m going to be checking up on him and his health more than anyone else in the company—especially in the beginning—since I know his history. Like it or not.”