Tempting the Billionaire (Love in the Balance) Page 9

  Which he was.

  “Crickitt?” he called after her.

  She turned, raising her eyebrows. “Yes?”

  “You’re a lifesaver,” he said.

  She smiled. “Glad I could help.”

  “I mean it,” he mumbled, flitting his eyes away. She’d reached into the muck and pulled him out, fished him from the refuse floating in the dingy waters of his soul. It was no small feat, and she hadn’t even been trying. And there was no way to tell her that without sounding certifiable. So instead, he pointed at his scalp. “Good as new.”

  “Well, if it comes back, you know where to find me,” she said, then stepped out of his office.

  He shook his head and opened the folder on his desk. “Yeah,” he muttered to himself, “I do.”

  Chapter 14

  The afternoon meeting with “Team Townsend” went smoothly.

  And Shane had successfully pulled out of the cloud fogging his brain earlier. Not that Crickitt was ever a far-off thought. He’d seen her blurry figure rushing down the hall a couple of times. It’d taken some doing to focus on the projects littering his desk, but once he dove in, thoughts of his father receded into the distance, leaving him feeling more in control than he’d been earlier.

  “’Night,” Crickitt called as she passed by his office.

  Shane’s eyes went to the clock. Six already?

  “Wait!” He thrust out of his chair and walked over to her, trying to come up with a valid reason for what he was about to ask. “Are you available this evening?”

  She stopped in front of his office, eyes widening as her hand went to her chest. “I’m sorry?” she asked, trying to act natural while clutching the front of her shirt for dear life.

  He pretended not to notice, it was the least he could do, but the relentless vision of her cleavage snapped into his memory all the same. Sexual harassment suit, here we come.

  “I didn’t have a chance to go over Lori LaRouche’s account with you earlier.” He palmed his neck in embarrassment. First eavesdropping, then looking down her shirt. What was he, fifteen?

  “Oh.” Crickitt’s forehead bunched as she looked over at her darkened office. “I didn’t expect to work late. I sort of made plans.”

  With whom? Her ex? He clenched his jaw at the idea of her with that bozo.

  “I guess I can reschedule,” she said, reaching for her phone.

  “No, don’t.” Shane pushed her phone aside. He’d asked her to stay under the guise of work when what he really wanted was to be near her a little longer. Even for a useless fifteen-minute meeting. It was selfish. Dangerous. Like picking a fight with Temptation and betting on himself to lose.

  “No need to change your plans,” he said, sorry the second he said it. He tucked his hands into his pockets, trying to look nonchalant.

  “If you’re sure?” She held up her phone again. “It’s just drinks with a friend.”

  A male friend? Worry ate at him as he considered that upsetting possibility.

  “Thank you. I’m sure.” But he wasn’t sure. About anything. He shooed her off anyway. “Go. Enjoy.”

  Sending him a tentative wave, she headed into the empty reception area. If not for the guard on the door after five p.m., he would have walked her down. But the afternoon had sent his normally reined emotions all over the place as it was. It was probably better he stayed put.

  He stood over his desk and blew out a long-suffering sigh. Where he would normally dig in with renewed vigor once the building was quiet, tonight he found himself distinctly unmotivated.

  Making a snap decision, he picked up the desk phone and speed dialed a number. His cousin answered on the third ring.

  “Wanna grab a beer?” Shane asked.

  “Who is this?” Aiden asked. Then a smile in his voice added, “Name the place.”

  * * *

  Crickitt picked the greasy wings-and-fries joint near her apartment instead of a wine bar or equally stuffy atmosphere. She’d been spoiled lately with catered lunches, breakfast quiche from the high-end cafeteria, and caramel soy milk lattes from an in-house espresso machine. Crickitt worried she was losing touch with her less-refined self, who indulged in flat beer and gnawed chicken directly from the bone.

  “I almost didn’t make it tonight,” Crickitt said to Sadie after they decided what to order. “Shane asked me to stay late. No wonder he’s a billionaire. He’s a complete workaholic.”

  There it was, her attempt to segue into, By the way, I jumped him the other night, and this morning he caught me staring at his second in command.

  But Sadie didn’t bite. “What happened to your shirt?”

  Crickitt looked down where a not so strategically placed paperclip held her shirt closed. “I lost a button.” Thankfully, she had discovered the button missing before the Team Townsend meeting this afternoon. To think how close she’d come to flashing her boss. She so did not need the added pressure. As it was, her attraction for him was teetering on a thumbtack’s edge. Thankfully, Shane’s killer headache kept his eyes tightly shut. She didn’t need him thinking she was a shameless hussy on top of everything else.

  “Last week, we went to Columbus for an account, then back to his home office to work until midnight,” Crickitt said, attempting to steer the conversation back to her brewing confession.

  Sadie sighed.

  Crickitt slouched in the uncomfortable wooden booth. “I give. What’s wrong?”

  Sadie met her eyes, and Crickitt felt the force of her anguished expression all the way down to her trouser socks. Her best friend looked like she might burst into tears in the middle of Wings n’ Things.

  “Aiden saw her the other day,” Sadie said, her voice barely audible over the bar hubbub.

  “Who?”

  Sadie rolled her eyes. “Who do you think?”

  Like her, Crickitt knew Aiden was recently divorced. “His ex?”

  Sadie nodded.

  “That happens,” Crickitt said carefully. She and Ronald got together several times after their split, either to discuss division of property or exchange items mixed up in the boxes when she moved out.

  “Do you think he still loves her?” Sadie asked.

  Crickitt would do anything to comfort her friend. Anything except lie to her. Aiden and his former spouse could be reconciling right this minute for all she knew. Marriage inextricably linked two people. As much as she hated to admit it, if Ronald begged her back during the painful and emotionally draining separation, Crickitt would have said yes. At the time, the familiarity of even an unhappy marriage would have been more appealing than the great unknown. Now she couldn’t even imagine being with him, knowing what she knew.

  “I don’t know,” Crickitt said softly.

  The waitress brought a pitcher of beer and filled two glasses. Sadie studied her lap until she was gone.

  “You really like him, don’t you?” Crickitt asked.

  “We have a connection.”

  Wow. That was almost…romantic. And coming from her tough-talking friend, a little frightening.

  “I don’t want to lose him,” Sadie said, her voice cracking.

  Crickitt reached for her friend’s hand over the table. The gesture must have snapped Sadie out of her melancholy. She blinked several times as if coming out of a trance.

  Sadie raised an eyebrow. “I think I need a drink.”

  They hoisted their mugs and, in a tradition years old, banged them together and agreed, “Toasts are lame.”

  Half the contents gone, Crickitt refilled both their glasses.

  “Is that shirt…pink?”

  Crickitt tucked her chin to examine her wardrobe. “Um…peach. I think. Why?”

  “You usually wear neutrals. You look really pretty. Girly.”

  Crickitt shrugged. “Thanks.”

  “Okay, Kitty-cat,” Sadie said, the only person on the planet allowed to call her by that ridiculous name. “You called me. Spill it.”

  Well, bringing up Shane now would ju
st be insensitive. Sadie was uncharacteristically torn up over his cousin. Before she could speak, their food arrived, a BBQ chicken pizza and plate of fries smothered in cheese sauce. Crickitt moved a slice of pizza to her plate to cool.

  “I’m waiting,” Sadie said.

  She’d have to tell her something…and she knew just what. With a wince, she blurted, “Ronald called me today.”

  “What the hell did he want?” Sadie spat. “Lose his balls again?” She snorted and munched on a fry. On anyone else it would have been unattractive.

  “He—uh…” Wow. She didn’t expect this to be so difficult to say out loud. “He told me he missed me and said he made a mistake.”

  Sadie sat slack-jawed, half of a French fry in one hand. And that wasn’t the worst of it.

  “He wants us to get back together. And start a family.”

  * * *

  Aiden took a slow sip of his beer, taking care to line it up on the square cardboard coaster on the bar.

  Shane stared down at his own, unable to take a drink. “When did you find out?”

  “On the way over. They don’t know for sure. But all of her symptoms are like they were.”

  Aiden’s mother had been suffering from cancer on and off for the last five years. Until now, she’d been in remission for eight months.

  “She’s going to see her doctor tomorrow.” He shrugged.

  “Maybe it’s not back,” Shane said carefully.

  “Yeah. Maybe.” Aiden took another drink of his beer.

  Shane wasn’t buying his own empty reassurance. If Uncle Mike and Aunt Kathy told Aiden, chances are they already knew the worst and were planning on breaking it to him in person tomorrow.

  “If Mom’s sick again,” Aiden said, “Harmony’s coming back.”

  The walls of the bar practically shook from that bombshell. “What do you mean ‘coming back’?” Shane asked. When Aiden had divorced, Shane had been tempted to throw a parade in his honor. He hoped his cousin wasn’t contemplating getting involved with her again. If he did, he’d be setting himself up like a ten pin.

  Aiden angled a glance at him. “Mom doesn’t know we’re divorced, Shane.”

  “Why the hell not?”

  “Because we didn’t want her worrying herself sick. Literally.” Aiden’s eyebrows slammed together.

  Shane worked to process the new information. Aunt Kathy may have cancer again, and still believed Aiden and Harmony were lawfully wedded? Worse, Harmony might actually worm her way back into Aiden’s life?

  “She’s not living with me.”

  Thank God for that.

  “I called Harmony. She’s agreed to meet us at the doctor’s office tomorrow.” Aiden’s face twisted. “She’s going to be around a lot if this doesn’t shake out the way we hope.”

  “What about Crickitt’s friend? I thought you two were hitting it off.”

  He didn’t miss the flash of guilt on his cousin’s face. “I have to do what’s best for my mom right now, Shane.”

  Selflessness. One of Aiden’s finest qualities. Shane spent a lifetime arming himself against that kind of vulnerability, and here Aiden was, putting himself last with hardly a second thought. It was admirable…and frustrating.

  “Have you talked to Sadie yet?” Shane asked, wondering, Does Crickitt know?

  “Not yet.” Aiden shifted on the bar stool.

  After a moment, Shane couldn’t help but mutter, “It’s not good, man.”

  “Right, because you have so much experience seeing relationships through,” Aiden snapped.

  Shane started to argue but decided against it. What Aiden said was harsh, but it was also the truth.

  “Sadie and I just met. Do you think she’s going to stick around while I’m scrambling to help Dad care for Mom? Think she’ll come with me to the waiting room while Mom has chemo? Do you think Sadie wants to be around the drugs, the sickness…the utter depression of watching someone die?” On that final word, Aiden’s voice cracked. He brushed the heels of his hands over his eyes, then polished off his beer.

  Shane gave his cousin some space, signaling for the bartender to bring a refill.

  Aiden had made a good point. And he’d probably prefer to stop making it. If the news was bad, who could blame Sadie for walking away? And knowing Aunt Kathy, she would take the news of Aiden’s divorce—and the fact that Aiden had lied to her for the last several months—hard. Aiden was right. His mother didn’t need the stress.

  Shane opened his mouth to change the subject to how well Angel was doing on the Townsend project, but “Crickitt kissed me” tumbled out instead.

  Aiden’s mug hit the bar with a thud. “No shit? When? Why?”

  “Last Friday. And what do you mean, why?”

  “I thought you had this ‘I don’t have sex with my assistants’ rule you follow.”

  “I don’t sound like that.”

  “Yeah. You do. You need to loosen up. It’s okay to give yourself a break sometimes.”

  Did Crickitt see him that way? Some stiff, stuffed shirt who sat rigidly still while she moved her luscious mouth over his?

  “I know you like her. From the second you pushed past me at the club,” Aiden said, stabbing the bar top with one finger, “I knew.”

  “Well, it was an accident. I don’t even think she meant to do it,” Shane said, suddenly worried by how true that sounded. “We agreed to keep things professional for the good of our working relationship.”

  “For the good of your— Do you hear yourself, man? When was the last time you let yourself have a little fun, anyway? Even when you dated what’s-her-name—”

  “Sara,” Shane supplied.

  “—you were miserable. Already, Crickitt’s had a positive effect on you. You’ve been acting like the old you instead of Robo-Shane.”

  Shane pulled a face, not sure which name to be more offended by. “The old me?”

  Aiden gestured around them. “You’re in a bar. On a weekday.”

  He had a point. Since Crickitt started working at August Industries, he’d felt more relaxed than he had in years. He’d thought at first it was because of her efficiency, but lately he could see it was something more.

  “Well, she’s good for you, whatever she’s doing,” Aiden said.

  “We’re not doing anything.”

  “Whatever,” Aiden said, his lips quirking.

  They sipped their beers in silence for a few minutes before Shane spoke. “I’m sorry.”

  Aiden nodded.

  “Let me know if there’s anything I can do.” It was the most useless sentiment ever, but what else could he say?

  “Thanks,” Aiden said. He sounded sincere.

  Shane found himself wanting to bring up Crickitt again. But hadn’t Aiden just proved there were more important things going on in the world than the flirtation Shane was having with an attractive co-worker? Besides, if they did broach the topic again, what did Shane have to add? What he knew about relationships could fit in the bowl of peanuts resting at his left elbow.

  He turned his attention to the televisions blaring overhead and commented on the game. Aiden cheered his approval, content to focus on anything but the topic at hand. Shane obliged, settling back into his chair and whooping alongside him.

  Chapter 15

  Henry Townsend perused the fresh artwork before him in flinty silence. Crickitt fidgeted as she waited and watched. Though she was confident the meeting wouldn’t end with Shane firing her, she didn’t have as much faith in Townsend.

  The new logo was almost identical to the one she’d sketched that night in Shane’s office. The same night he’d moved to sit next to her, then brushed his shoulder against hers. The memory snapped like flashbulbs in her mind.

  Fiery, amber eyes flicking to her lips.

  A guttural sound escaping his perfect mouth.

  The heat of his lips searing hers.

  She risked a look over to Shane, who happened to look over at her at the same time. He nodded his head
in reassurance, and for the first time in a good long while, she didn’t feel alone.

  “No mascot,” Townsend growled.

  Carrie straightened, perched on the edge of her chair like a nervous canary.

  Shane and Crickitt kept quiet.

  Townsend slapped the portfolio full of artwork, business plans, and ad pitches closed and slid it across the conference room table. It skidded to a halt in front of Crickitt.

  “Let’s do it,” he said.

  Crickitt and Shane exchanged glances. “Which part, Henry?” she asked.

  His lined mouth tilted into what she guessed was supposed to be a smile. “All of it, Ms. Day. All of it.”

  With that, he pressed his gnarled hands onto the table’s shining mahogany surface and pushed himself up. His cronies followed him single file out of the room. The moment the door swung shut behind them, Crickitt turned to Shane. He startled her, grabbing her up and lifting her off her feet. Instinctively, she wrapped her arms around his neck.

  “You did it!” he said, giving her a squeeze and pressing her against a wall of hard male chest. He set her down, but his cologne continued tickling her nostrils. He smelled so good. Downright edible. She slid her arms from his neck, letting him go, even though every part of her anatomy protested.

  “You really did it,” he said.

  “We did it,” she corrected as they took an awkward step away from each other.

  Shane palmed the back of his neck. “Yeah, I guess we did.” Then he smirked. “And you didn’t even have to make out with him.”

  Crickitt flushed. “Lucky me, I guess.” She busied her hands packing the portfolio into her bag.

  Shane gathered his briefcase. “Do you have plans tonight?”

  She didn’t. And more than anything she hoped that Shane was asking because he wanted to make plans with her. She shouldn’t hope that at all. Not after they promised to keep things between them platonic. Not after Ronald’s confusing phone call.

  “Why? Feel like treating your PA to a congratulatory dinner?” she blurted anyway.

  “You’ve earned it.”

  A thread of pride caused her to lift her chin. She had earned it. And more than that, she deserved to spend the evening the way she wanted. And she wanted to spend it with Shane. “Okay,” she told him. “I accept.”