ago.
“To what do I owe the honor of your presence?” Reece asked a few minutes later. They were sitting at the B and B’s kitchen table, digging into their sandwiches. “You’ve been so wrapped up with work, we’ve hardly seen you.”
“I’m trying to turn a profit. It’s not going too well.”
“Sounds like something I should know about.”
He couldn’t meet Reece’s steady gaze. “I lost the Kidz’n’Stuff account.”
“Damn.”
“But that’s not what I came to talk about. I have a bigger problem than cash flow.”
Reece looked confused. “Is there a bigger problem than cash flow?”
“Jane.”
“Ahhhhhh. We all saw that one coming, dude. All of us but you, anyway. Did you cross the line?”
“No. I haven’t touched her. But it’s killing me. Seeing her every day, smelling her perfume or shampoo or whatever it is. And even if she didn’t work for me…there’s Kaylee.”
Reece nodded. He, if anyone, would understand. He’d been around during the Max and Alicia breakup fiasco. “You don’t want another Hannah situation on your hands.”
“Exactly. During the trip to Houston, when I was pretending that Jane and Kaylee were my family…it felt good. Incredibly good.”
“Really?”
Of course Reece would be surprised. Max hadn’t acted like a man ready to settle down, especially over the past few years. After Alicia he had played the field like a madman, never dating the same woman more than a month or two.
“I could never see myself married to Alicia. But Jane is different.”
“So you might bend your ‘no dating single moms’ rule for her?”
He thought about Kaylee, about how she’d pushed him away after she’d seen him bring her father down. It still stung. How much worse would it be if they truly bonded and then things ended badly? “I don’t want to hurt Kaylee.”
“It’s not like you to be fearful of risk. Cooper and I have spent half our lives pulling you back from the brink of one disaster or another because you
Max pondered that as he sucked down the last of his root beer. He’d risked all of his personal wealth on a business venture. But one little blond girl and her mother scared him to pieces.
“Even if I wanted to go for it,” he finally said, “I can’t. She’s my employee. And don’t tell me to fire her.”
“Find her another job, then.”
“I can’t. I need her.”
“You could find another artist. Didn’t you have three or four panting for the job a couple of weeks ago?”
“Jane is more than an artist. She’s brilliant with the clients. She comes up with concepts. I landed Coastal Bank today because of her.”
“You’ve answered your own question, then. You can’t date her.”
“I know that.” Maybe he’d just wanted someone else, someone he trusted, to confirm it.
“Or maybe you’re just using the boss-employee thing as an excuse because you’re afraid.”
Max didn’t dignify that observation with a response.
Reece polished off his sandwich and wiped his mouth. “Thanks for lunch.”
“Thanks for being a sounding board. I think.”
“Any time. What else can I do for you?”
“Can you get me an extension on my business loan?”
“I told you you spent too much on the remodeling.”
“I don’t need a lecture, I need cash. Payroll is coming up. I’ve hired two new account executives and a media buyer.”
“I’ll try to get the extension. But you can always borrow a little from me or Coop.”
Max shook his head. “No. I have to do this on my own. After the way I left Remington Industries, burning all my bridges because I was so confident, I can’t go borrowing from family, not even you guys. Especially you guys. You’re newlyweds, you and Sara have a kid on the way, you’re both trying to run businesses of your own.”
Reece nodded. “Okay. But we’re here if you change your mind. Whatever you do, do
“Uh, no.” He never paid attention to that stuff, he just signed papers and spent the money.
“Coastal Bank.”
“HE DIDN’T MEAN IT,” Carol said. “It’s just that male ego thing.”
Jane studied her computer screen, refusing to even look up. “That’s no excuse. His attack was completely unjustified. When I first took this job, you said he was fair.”
“He is…most of the time. You’re not going to quit, are you?”
“And do what? I have mouths to feed. Is that all Max is worried about? Making sure I don’t quit?”
Carol came all the way into Jane’s office and settled in the ugly flowered chair. “You know why this is happening, don’t you?”
“Yeah, because Max is a jerk.”
“The tension between you two has been building since the day you arrived. I can feel it in the air every time you’re in the same room. Something had to give. Either you were going to have a big fight or you were going to wind up in bed.”
That made Jane look up. Was she really that transparent? “You’re crazy.”
“No, I’m not,” Carol said with utter certainty. “Personally, if it was me, I’d stop fighting and go with plan B. The constant tension is going to make it hard for you to work together.”
“We can’t,” Jane almost wailed, realizing too late she’d just admitted to Carol that she was right. “He’s my boss, and it’s unethical.”
“Oh, please. People who work together do it all the time. If we worked in a big corporation where there was a policy against it, that would be one thing. But we’re just a little company.”
Jane shook her head. “Workplace romances are a bad idea. Sure, it’s fine at first, but what about when things don’t work out? Then people quit or get fired, which can lead to jealousies, charges of harassment…” She had no firsthand experience about this, but she’d heard stories of what went on at Scott’s office.
Carol rolled her eyes. “Can you see anyone around here who would sue anybody else? And who would be jealous? Not me. I don’t need a man in my life.”
“Exactly! Neither do I. What I do need is this job. I love this job, even if my boss does behave like a jerk. I’m not going to mess things up because of a few hormones.”
“Well, I think you’re crazy, throwing away a fine man like Max Remington. How many women would give up their hair extensions to hook up with him?”
Jane saved her file and turned away from her computer. It wasn’t as if she was actually getting any work done. “Plenty do go out with him. Have you ever seen his little black book? He left it open on his desk once, and I couldn’t help but see it. He actually puts stars by their names.”
“Was your name in there?”
“I don’t know.” He’d walked in before she could flip to the S’s.
A soft knock sounded on the door, and Jane’s heart did a little dance. She wasn’t ready to face him yet. She didn’t have her temper completely under control, and she didn’t trust herself to behave rationally.
“Come in,” Carol sang out, as if she had the perfect right to. “I was just leaving.” She scurried out behind Max, giving Jane a mischievous wink over her shoulder just before disappearing.
The look on Max’s face nearly did her in. He was actually nervous about facing her.
“If you’re here to lecture me,” she began, going on the offensive, but he cut her off.
“No more lectures.” That was when he produced the flowers, which he’d been holding behind the door. Roses. Red roses. A dozen of them.
No one had brought her flowers since…well, since the last time Scott had tried to win her back after she filed for divorce. She’d thrown them in the trash.
