“Don’t even think about it,” he warned in a low voice.
Sammy looked startled. “Hey, I was just checkin’ the place out.”
“I’m sure you were. However, if one item in this office moves by so much as an inch, I will know where to look. Do we understand each other?”
Sammy shrugged. “You’re the boss.”
“That’s right.”
“What am I gonna do?”
“It’s a messenger job. You’ll see that the mail is picked up from the offices, sorted and distributed. Once in a while you might be asked to take something into town.”
“How? You plannin’ to loan me your car?”
“No. I’m planning to give you bus fare.”
“What’s this job pay?”
Jason named the minimum wage figure.
“You’re kiddin’ me, right?”
“I’m not kidding you.”
“I could make more than that busing tables in some dive.”
“Maybe. Is that something you’re interested in doing? I have a couple of friends who own restaurants.”
Sammy seemed startled by Jason’s willingness to give him a choice. “I thought this was a done deal. Now I get it. You’re just doing my sister a favor—again. The minute I screw up, I’m out, right? If you can pawn me off on one of your friends, you won’t need to mess with me at all and you’ll still be square with Dana.”
It was a long speech for Sammy. To Jason’s surprise, he realized that there was an edge of real hurt in the boy’s voice. Jason wondered how many times people had made snap decisions about Sammy, had promised him something only to yank it away again.
“Sammy, let’s back up a minute. Do you really want a job?”
Sammy shrugged. “Dana works too hard. I should help out.”
“That’s an admirable attitude. Now, if you really had a choice, if you could do anything in the world you wanted to, what would it be?”
Sammy rolled his eyes. “I’m just a kid.”
“You’re sixteen years old. You’re almost a man. Surely you’ve thought about what you’d like to do when you get out of school.”
“Not really.”
“What is your best subject?”
“Math, I guess. I like English, too. I get good grades on all my essays.”
There was no mistaking the faint spark of enthusiasm. Sammy tried hard to maintain his distant, nonchalant attitude, but Jason detected the slight shift in his mood from boredom to interest.
“What if we rethink this job situation a little, then? How about working three hours after school? You spend the first two hours taking care of the mail. Then during the last hour each day we’ll let you spend some time in different departments around here. You could start in accounting, maybe spend some time with me in marketing, helping me with some writing I have to do. If you’re interested, I’m sure my grandfather would be happy to teach you about the manufacturing process, too.”
“We’re still talkin’ that minimum-wage stuff, though, right?”
Jason grinned. “At first. But if you catch on quickly in any of the departments and want to move up, we’ll talk about a salary increase then.”
“I suppose that would be okay.”
His tone was lukewarm, but there was a rare spark of excitement in Sammy’s eyes.
“You’ll start tomorrow?”
“Why not,” Sammy said, then added with studied nonchalance, “I got an hour to kill now, if there’s somethin’ you want me to do.”
“I’ll have Harriet take you down to personnel and you can fill out some forms. Then, if you still have some time, I’ll show you around.”
He buzzed for Harriet, then watched Sammy leave with her. To his astonishment, the boy actually seemed to be walking a little taller. Jason heard Dana’s greeting in the outer office, then the quick rush of questions about how the interview went.
“No problem,” Sammy said, his tone cocky. “I’m a tough negotiator, sis. You’re lookin’ at one top-notch executive trainee.”
Jason was still chuckling when Dana stepped into his office, her eyes sparkling.
“Executive trainee?” she said. “I thought you were having trouble with the concept of messenger.”
“Actually Sammy was having more trouble with that than I was. Minimum wage did not appeal to him. We compromised. He still gets minimum wage, but he’ll rotate through the departments so he’ll get a little experience in various things. Who knows, maybe he’ll find his niche.” He regarded her hopefully. “Do you suppose there’s any chance we could talk him into a more normal haircut before my father sees him?”
Dana chuckled at the wistfulness in his voice. “I doubt it. You know, Jason Halloran, you’re not nearly as tough as you like to pretend to be.”
“Oh, but I am,” he said. “I intend to make the person who got me into this pay.”
“Pay how?”
He reached for her hand and tugged her closer. “Like this,” he said softly and pulled her into his arms. “I think for a few more kisses like this, I might be willing to make Sammy head of marketing.”
LOVE
Chapter Twelve
For a man who’d always been determinedly grounded in reality, Jason had developed a surprisingly fanciful habit of imagining Dana’s voice whenever he started feeling lonely. This morning, however, he was certain that for once it was not his imagination playing tricks on him. They didn’t have an appointment, but he was willing to swear she was in his outer office. He poked his head out and discovered her in the midst of what looked like a very conspiratorial group—Sammy, an astonishingly lighthearted Harriet and his grandfather. Brandon looked like the sassy cat who’d just swallowed the canary.
“What kind of trouble are you all getting into out here?” Jason demanded. “And why wasn’t I included?”
Four moderately guilty faces turned in his direction. Brandon was quickest on his feet. He’d had years of experience twisting tricky situations to his own advantage.
“You can’t possibly begrudge an old man a little time with your girl,” he said. “However, if you’re jealous, you can come
