The Deal With Triplets

by Rayner, Holly

  As much as I’d told Ellie that my tryst with Lucas had been a one-time thing, I couldn’t help but smile timidly when he approached.

  “Zoe, you have a report due on my desk this afternoon.”

  I was completely caught off guard by the coldness in his voice. I hadn’t expected him to come and kiss me right here in the office, but a “Hello, how was your day off?” might have been nice. Even the same words with a lighter tone would have made me feel better. Lucas clearly hadn’t registered my smile at him, however subtle it had been. He appeared to be taking our agreement to keep things professional to the extreme.

  “I do, sir,” I replied, matching his tone. “I’ll have it with you no later than three.”

  He offered up the slightest of nods before continuing on his path to the stairs.

  Had I been imagining things, or had he really been as cold as I thought he’d been? I didn’t have time to ponder the answer, because Margie offered up the insight I was seeking.

  “And you were saying?” she said.

  “Uh… never mind.” My voice was barely a mumble. “Thanks for taking care of lunch.”

  I retreated to my office, replaying the past minute in my head. Sure, we’d agreed to remain professional, but it hurt to see how little he cared. I’d suspected—or, at the very least, I’d hoped—that, beyond our sexual compatibility, Lucas had felt a meaningful connection, as well. Now, it seemed as though he had no regard for me at all as anything other than just another employee.

  We’d spent a wonderful night together, and I’d thought it had meant something to him. I still got butterflies when I saw him, and I wanted him to feel the same way about me. At the same time, I couldn’t help but think back to what Ellie had said about falling for an emotionally unavailable man. Nothing good could come of it. As far as I could tell, Lucas was emotionally unavailable, or maybe just downright uninterested.

  Either way, I was an adult. I was too old, too driven, too self-respecting to pine for a man who didn’t want me back and couldn’t muster up so much as a hello. I plopped down into my office chair, trying to push the hurt out of my mind.

  I’d spent too much of my early twenties waiting by the phone for guys to call. If Lucas didn’t want to be anything more than colleagues, that was fine with me. I wasn’t about to waste my time yearning for him. I’d done enough of that to last a lifetime.

  Chapter 10

  Lucas

  While Zoe and I hadn’t explicitly agreed to avoid one another back at the office after our little tryst, it sure felt that way. It had been an entire week since getting back from Hawaii, and I hadn’t seen her in any capacity outside of a group or meeting setting, save for her first day back when I’d forced myself to hide any trace of compassion and had ended up sounding like a huge jerk. We hadn’t talked one-on-one at all, and I hadn’t made up my mind if that had made things better or worse.

  The meeting we were currently in was the closest I’d been to her for more than fifteen seconds since the night we’d spent together. The board rooms at Borroni Chocolates were in definite need of some upgrading, starting with an increase in size. There were nine of us in this room, and we were in such close quarters that it felt as if we should be a family of some sort, sitting around a dining room table. Instead, it was me, Zoe, Marco Borroni, the VP of Sales, the VP of Operations, the VP of Finance, and three board members crammed into a meeting room that had previously been an office.

  Zoe’s presentation was centered on the upcoming summer marketing campaign and implementing some of the marketing strategies she’d taken away from the conference in Hawaii. As she spoke about limited edition products, I couldn’t help but notice that she was avoiding eye contact with me. In fact, we hadn’t looked one another in the eyes in a week.

  “Social media is the focus, the future,” she said, with an attractive, commanding quality to her voice. “Though Borroni and Cadieux are old-fashioned, family businesses, it is imperative, as we’ve discussed in the past, to keep our products relevant to consumers of all ages. Experiences are about more than the experiences themselves, nowadays. Everything is social. Everything should be shareable.”

  One of the stakeholders leaned forward. “And how does this factor into the new campaign?” he asked.

  Zoe handled the interruption with grace. “Great question. The focus is on sharing in a wide range of facets—sharing with family, sharing with friends, and sharing with the wider online community.”

  Admittedly, I zoned out during her presentation more than I should have—not because I was bored, but because I was still flustered being in such close quarters with her.

  I hated how ridiculous I felt. I’d never been the type of person to be so nervous around someone that I avoided them completely. It was bad enough that it was taking a toll on my love life, but it was even worse to be impacting my workday. All I could think about was Zoe, but all I seemed to be able to talk about with her was work.

  One meeting a few days ago, with me, Marco, and Zoe, had been the worst. Though I knew logically that Marco couldn’t do anything to me if he found out that I’d slept with Zoe, it was still something I didn’t want getting out. It would put my entire professional reputation at risk.

  By that token, I’d spent the entire hour-long meeting staring at Marco and completely avoiding eye contact with Zoe. Marco had gotten so freaked out by my apparently intense gazes at him that he’d been convinced he had something in his teeth I wasn’t telling him about. I felt like I was back in school all over again.

  I looked up at Zoe, whose ten minutes to present her team’s goals for the upcoming quarter were almost up. Though I noted that she took the time to make eye contact with each of the other people sitting around the table at one point or another, she unwaveringly avoided eye contact with me.

  I supposed I deserved that. I’d handled things terribly. Instead of sitting down with Zoe and talking about the situation like rational adults, we’d avoided speaking about it completely. I only had a limited amount of time before I had to get back to Belgium, and I should’ve been making sure the company was as prepared as possible instead of virtually ignoring one of the best and brightest at the company.

  More than that, I regretted how I’d handled the situation because I really felt as though Zoe and I had a connection. The picnic we’d had on the beach was the most I’d opened up to someone in a long time, and I’d felt totally comfortable with her. I was certain she felt the same way—or at least she had that day. She’d opened up to me, too, and we’d found that we had more in common than we ever could have expected.

  I’d anticipated a dull trip to Hawaii, another boring business trip with the occasional interesting seminar, but Zoe had made the entire trip exciting. I’d looked forward to seeing her each time we were separated. And, as great of an emotional connection as we seemed to have, our physical connection had been even more electrifying. Our night of making love had been other-worldly, passionate and wild, and everything in between.

  The quiet applause around me brought me back to reality. Zoe thanked us for our time and returned to her seat, then Marco Borroni stood up at the far end of the table.

  “Next up, Lindsey Maron, our Vice President of Sales,” Marco said.

  The seven of us who were not the introducer or one introduced clapped politely as Lindsey stepped up to the head of the table and projected her presentation onto the blank wall behind her.

  I tried to make eye contact with Zoe once Lindsey’s presentation was in full swing, but she was having none of it. She wouldn’t even look in my general direction, and I couldn’t say I blamed her. She was beautiful. I’d picked the perfect seat to be able to look at her while appearing to be looking at whoever was speaking at the front of the room.

  While I was thrilled to hear Lindsey tell the group about the increase in Borroni’s sales over the past quarter, I was more invested in this situation with Zoe. I wanted to pursue it. I wanted to see her again. I couldn’t imagine never having a nig
ht like that ever again.

  But I was being ridiculous. We’d decided to keep things professional for a reason. If nothing else, I’d be back in Belgium in a week or two, and the last thing either of us needed was a transatlantic relationship. Zoe had her life here, and I had my life in Brussels. Zoe was also one of the most hardworking people I’d met in my years at Cadieux, undoubtedly the best marketing executive to come out of any of our acquisitions. She was too valuable to the company to risk rocking the boat.

  Suppose I asked her to pursue a relationship and things went south? Not only would we both be heartbroken, but Borroni by Cadieux would be out one of its most valuable team members. I’d listened to Zoe tell me all about how hard she had worked to get where she was in the company. I wouldn’t let her put her own career at risk. Certainly, I would never force her to leave the company if things didn’t work out, but I’d imagine she wouldn’t want to work with me as her CEO if the circumstances led to that.

  I couldn’t make Zoe choose between me and her career, and she’d never ask me to choose between her and mine. It simply could never work, and I was ridiculous for thinking otherwise.

  I reminded myself that it was in both of our best interests that I hadn’t pursued anything—that even if I put aside our work relationship and the distance, there was still the fact that neither of us had time for a relationship—but each time I looked over at her, I was reminded of our incredible night together. It happened each time I got a glimpse of those delicate hands that had caressed my cheek when she kissed me, or watched her flip her gorgeous, shiny hair over her shoulder.

  I supposed there was the option of continuing on with the secret nights together, a no-strings-attached sort of arrangement, but that sounded all sorts of complicated and hazardous. Besides, while all of the physical stuff was nice, I longed for more than just a physical relationship. I longed for a connection, a person to look forward to saying good morning to each day and good night to each evening.

  Even if, by some small chance, Zoe was the right woman, it was the wrong time.

  I focused my attention back to Lindsey. I wasn’t sure how much longer I’d be staying in Chicago before getting back to Cadieux, but I knew I had limited time to make a good impression. I’d taken what Zoe had said to heart, about lightening up and allowing myself to seem more approachable, but that didn’t mean my work was done. I wanted them to know I was an attentive CEO, and, in this moment, I was failing at that.

  * * *

  Marco and I each left Lindsey with a few ideas and questions to take back to the sales team before calling it a wrap on the meeting. Now was my chance to talk to Zoe, to clear the air any bit I could. I walked over to shake each of the board members’ hands, and, by the time I turned around, she was gone.

  A pat on the back made me jump.

  “Sorry. Didn’t mean to scare you there.” It was Marco.

  I laughed it off. “No worries,” I said. “You and your uncle have assembled a fabulous group here. I’m excited to see what they come up with over the next quarter.”

  “I can’t take credit,” he replied. “It was all Nicolo. But I’m thrilled with how it’s all turned out, too. Just wanted to remind you about our video meeting at five with the California folks.”

  “I’ll meet you in the upstairs conference room at 4:45.”

  The rest of the workday leading up to the meeting went just like every other day over the past few weeks had gone. I had it down to a science at this point. Mornings were filled with meetings, afternoons were filled with shadowing and observing, and Marco and I usually had one or two phone meetings thrown in throughout the day, the time depending on the time-zone differences.

  With each successful meeting, I was feeling more at home at Borroni. This was the worst part of acquiring new companies—the learning curve, adapting to each company’s culture, finding a balance between how we did things at Cadieux and how each individual company did things.

  I had to admit that I was paying Borroni more attention than I paid my other subsidiaries, and there were two key reasons for that. The first was Mr. Borroni. As I’d told Zoe on the beach, he’d been one of the few people I’d met in the industry who hadn’t let money or success or product sales go to their head. He was humble beyond belief and had trusted me with his most precious possession, his life’s work.

  From the outside, I may have seemed like some big-shot businessman just picking up new companies whenever I could, but that was far from the truth. I was only interested in companies with a strong identity and a great company culture. I took the utmost care in ensuring a smooth transition for each acquisition, whether it was with one of my trusted staff members or me. Since Nicolo had been the one to approach me, I felt even more so that I had to keep the integrity of his company and ensure its success.

  The other reason I hadn’t bolted after my usual two weeks was, of course, Zoe. Things had been weird between us, but even just getting to see her each day made me smile. She had an aura about her, a sort of commanding yet gentle presence that I was still trying to figure out.

  I shook the thought from my brain and decided to distract myself with a quick scroll through social media. It was half past six, and everyone else was gone for the day. I looked at photos posted by friends, the occasional update from my own company’s social media stream, and a surplus of the usual useless information you could find on the internet.

  There was something comforting about this place, about sitting alone in the shadows and decompressing after a long day of work. I hadn’t been here long, but my office, the one formerly occupied by Nicolo, had become a sort of sacred space for me. I’d kept most of the office the same. There was a framed dollar bill from the company’s first sale that had been in the office since the day they’d moved in, and I’d left it exactly where he’d hung it. Even though I hadn’t been part of the company then, or even alive, for that matter, it was a reminder of how much the company had grown. I only wished that my grandparents had thought to keep such a memento from Cadieux.

  I turned my attention back to my computer screen. A college friend had posted that he would be visiting Brussels and Zurich from his home in Australia over the summer, so I sent him a quick message telling him I’d love to take him for a drink when he’s in town.

  Then I came across Benoit. More accurately, I came across a picture of my brother and his wife holding up a sonogram photo. His caption read, “We’re thrilled to announce that Baby Cadieux will be joining our family this October.”

  I drew in a breath and tried to ignore the pain that shot through my entire body. He was my own brother, and I’d had to find out that he and his wife were expecting their first child, my future niece or nephew, through social media. He and Fleur looked so happy together, and, from the picture, you would have never known that anything in his life was less than perfect.

  With each year that passed with no contact, I missed out on more and more milestones in my brother’s life. I wished there was something I could do, but I knew he’d never give me the time of day. For a moment, I contemplated wishing him congratulations on his post, but I decided that he probably wouldn’t want to hear from me. I wouldn’t put a damper on his exciting news.

  It seemed like everyone was moving forward in their life, and I was stuck where I was. Sure, the company was growing, but, as a person, I hadn’t progressed at all. I wanted to be a father one day. In fact, I was thrilled at the possibility of having a little boy or girl to call me dad someday. But, with each day I spent buried in my work, the prospect of that happening was growing slimmer and slimmer.

  The conversation I’d had with Zoe on the beach in Hawaii played over in my mind. We’d both been forward about how focused we were on our careers, and about how we felt left out as all of our friends were getting married and starting families. She’d described the way I felt so vividly that I could tell our souls were in the same place. Neither of us had had time to date, let alone enough time to find the right person.

&nb
sp; Maybe there was some sort of solution for both of our problems. It would be unconventional, yes, but it could also have incredible and life-changing results. Zoe might think I was completely crazy for my suggestion, but something in my heart told me she’d actually take me seriously. At the very least, I had to try.

  Before I could stop myself and think this through, I found myself searching through my phone for Zoe’s phone number. I pressed her contact information and waited with bated breath as the phone rang.

  “Hello?”

  I sighed in relief. Despite my horrible handling of the situation, she was talking to me. That had to be a good sign…right?

  “Hey, Zoe,” I said. “Do you have a minute? We need to talk.”

  Chapter 11

  Zoe

  Despite my wardrobe being a significant upgrade from what I’d worn in my early twenties, nothing felt good enough for dinner with a billionaire. I was no pauper, but I also felt more than a smidge out of my depths.

  What did Lucas want, anyway? I tried to recall the exact words he’d said, but I’d been too flustered to take note. He’s said he wanted to discuss something. That word was so incredibly vague. Did it have to do with work or pleasure? Had he had an issue with the presentation I’d given to the board members earlier?

  I’d thrown out some new-for-us ideas, but nothing too far-fetched that they’d warranted a separate dinner to debrief. I considered the possibility that he’d ask me to leave the company—perhaps because of our one-night stand, or maybe because of my suggestions for the company—but that seemed extreme.

  No reasoning I came up with made sense. I’d have to wait an hour until our reservation to find out. As I tried on outfit after outfit, I couldn’t ignore the butterflies in my stomach. This would be our first time speaking one-on-one since Hawaii.