- -
- 100%
- +
“Office romances are a bad idea. They never –”
“Stop.” Tom put his index finger against her lips.
“But I –”
“Shh. Listen. Are you listening?”
Shelly made a face at him. “Hit me with it.”
“I have examples.”
“Of?”
“Office romances that worked out great. Better than great. Let’s see…Jack Hanson and his wife, Samantha. Samantha and Jack were old business rivals. Then she came to work at Hanson Media – with Jack. And then there’s David Hanson, George Hanson’s brother. He actually married his secretary, Nina. Can you believe that?”
“OK, OK. I’ll modify my position.”
“You bet you will.”
“Sometimes office romances do work out. How’s that?”
“Better.”
She cleared her throat. “So. Are you going to…kiss me again?”
CHRISTINE RIMMER
came to her profession the long way around. Before settling down to write about the magic of romance, she’d been everything, including an actress, a sales clerk and a waitress. Now that she’s finally found work that suits her perfectly, she insists she never had a problem keeping a job – she was merely gaining “life experience” for her future as a novelist. Christine is grateful not only for the joy she finds in writing, but for what waits when the day’s work is through: a man she loves, who loves her right back, and the privilege of watching their children grow and change day to day. She lives with her family in Oklahoma. Visit Christine at www.christinerimmer.com.
Christine Rimmer
www.millsandboon.co.uk
For Tom and Ed,
who never fail to comfort
and inspire.
Prologue
Two years ago…
It was the moment.
And Tom Holloway knew it.
Across the black granite boardroom table, Helen Taka-Hanson waited, her beautiful face composed, showing him nothing. Behind her, beyond the floor-to-ceiling windows, the afternoon sun reflected off the tall buildings of North Michigan Avenue. Tom kept his gaze level, on Helen. But he knew what was out there: The Second City. The Magnificent Mile.
Chicago. Tom wanted it. Needed it, really. A fresh start in a new town. He would be chief financial officer of TAKA-Hanson’s new hospitality division.
Which meant hotels. Contemporary luxury hotels on a grand scale. It was the biggest venture he’d tackled so far and it sounded good. Better than good.
And the job was his. Helen had already made the offer.
What he said next could blow it for him—more than likely would blow it for him. Which was why he’d left the crucial information off his résumé. His disgrace had happened so long ago, it was easily glossed over now.
But Tom had learned the hard way that concealment didn’t work in the long term. The high-stakes world of finance was too damn small. In the end, his past always found him.
Better to show his stuff first, let them know he had the chops, get all the way to the job offer. And then take a deep breath and lay the bad news right out there.
The offer just might stand in spite of his past. If it didn’t, if he lost the job, well, chances were he would have lost it anyway in the end, when the ugly facts surfaced.
Oh, yeah. A delicate moment, this. The moment of truth.
Helen said, “Well, Tom. You’ve heard our offer. Is there anything else we need to go over?”
Tom sat back in the chair, ordered his body to relax and told himself—for the hundredth time—that it had to be done.
“As a matter of fact, Helen. There is something else…”
She arched a brow at him and waited for him to go on.
He said, “I was fired once. It was a long time ago, my first job out of Princeton.”
“Fired.” Helen spoke the word flatly. “That’s not on your résumé, is it?”
“No. And it gets worse.”
“I’m listening.”
“I was young and way too hungry, working on Wall Street, determined to make it big and do it fast. None of which is any justification for my actions. I was discharged for insider trading. And then I was arrested for it. And convicted. I did six months.”
A silence. A pretty long one. Tom could feel yet another great job slipping away from him.
At last, Helen asked the big question. “Were you guilty?”
“Yes. I was.”
He might have softened the harsh fact a little. He could have explained what a naive idiot he’d been then. He could have told her all about his mentor at the time, who’d convinced him to pass certain “tips” to big clients. He could have said that the guy got away clean by setting Tom up to take the fall for him. That the same former mentor had been a curse on his life since then. Because of that one man, Tom had lost out on a number of opportunities—and not just in terms of his career. It would have been the truth.
However, his former boss wasn’t the one up for CFO, TAKA-Hanson, hospitality division. Tom was. His prospective employer needed to know that he’d once broken the law—and then gone to jail for it. The why and the wherefore?
Not the question.
Tom sat unflinching, waiting for the ax to fall.
Instead, Helen smiled.
It was a slow smile, and absolutely genuine—a warm smile, the kind of smile that would make any red-blooded man sit up and take notice. From what Tom had heard, this genius of the business world, now in her late forties, had saved Hanson Media from collapse several years back, after her first husband, George Hanson, died suddenly. The story went that before she was forced to step in and save the family business, she’d been a trophy wife.
Smart and savvy and strictly professional as she’d been since he met her, Tom had been having trouble seeing her as mere arm candy for a tycoon. But now he’d been granted that amazing smile, he wasn’t having trouble anymore.
That face, that smile…
George Hanson had been one lucky man. And so was her current husband, TAKA-Hanson’s chairman of the board, Morito Taka.
“I prize honesty,” Helen said. “I prize it highly. So I think it’s time I repaid your truth with one of my own. I’ve done my homework on you, Tom. I’ve known all along about how you lost that trading job, and the price you paid for what you did. I’ve been interested to see if you’d tell me about it. And now that you have, I’m more certain than ever on this. Other than that one admittedly serious black mark against you—for which you’ve paid your dues—your record is spotless. I know you’ll make a fine addition to my team. I’ve got no reservations. You’re the man for this job.”
Tom’s heart slammed against his breastbone. Had he heard right? Had it worked out, after all? The CEO knew the truth.
And she’d hired him anyway.
He held out his hand. Helen took it. They shook.
When he spoke, his voice was firm and level. “I intend to make sure you never regret this decision.”
“I believe you,” said Helen. “That’s another reason you’re our new CFO.”
Chapter One
The present…
In the humid darkness of a warm June night, a long, black limousine eased up to the curb of a modest brick bungalow in the Chicago suburb of Forest Park.
Inside the luxurious car, Shelly Winston turned to the uncle she’d met for the first time that evening. “Would you like to come in? I could—”
“Sorry.” Drake Thatcher, handsome as an old-time movie star, with coal-black hair and eyes to match, waved away her offer before she’d finished making it. “Thanks, Shelly. I really can’t. I’ve got a flight to catch. I want to be touching down at Teterboro two hours from now.”
Teterboro. Even Shelly, who didn’t travel in exclusive circles, had heard of the New Jersey airport where all the rich people kept their private jets. The Kennedys flew in and out of Teterboro. And of course her long-lost uncle did, too. Drake was rich, after all. At dinner, he’d told her about his bicoastal lifestyle. He owned a penthouse on the Upper East Side, a beachfront estate in Miami and a Century City condo in Southern California.
The dinner Shelly had just enjoyed had been the finest she’d ever tasted. The lobster had been flavored with hyacinth vapor, whatever that was. And the licorice cake she’d devoured for dessert had been topped with a special muscovado sugar. The menu had no prices on it, but she had a feeling the tab and tip together would have taken care of her mortgage payment for the month—her mortgage which wasn’t overdue yet. But would be. Soon.
“Thank you, then,” she said sincerely. “For the wonderful dinner. And even more, for the lead on that job at TAKA-Hanson. It sounds like just the kind of thing I’m looking for.” Not to mention what I need. Bad.
Drake pushed a button and the privacy window behind the driver slid up the rest of the way. Then he leaned across the plush seat toward her, bringing with him the smell of expensive aftershave. It was a fine scent, but he’d laid it on a little too heavily.
He pitched his voice to a confidential level. “I mean it, Shelly. You need to get on that tomorrow. Make a move and make it fast. It just so happens you’re in luck with this. I got word that the job would be opening up ahead of their HR department. But it’ll be snapped up before noon, take my word on it.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll be there waiting when they open the doors.”
“Excellent.” He patted her shoulder and sat back in his own seat again, taking the heavy cloud of pricey cologne with him.
“Well, I’ll let you get going then. I mean it. Thanks so much.”
“One more thing.…”
“Sure.”
He glanced away, then back to her. “It’s not a big deal, just…you might be wiser not to mention my name at TAKA-Hanson.”
Shelly frowned. “But I don’t see—”
Another wave of his well-manicured hand. “Shelly. I’m sure you know that the business world is a cutthroat one. Unfortunately, in the past, I’ve found myself going head-to-head with more than one top TAKA executive. No, it probably won’t make any difference if you mention that I suggested you apply there. But then again, why take a chance of starting out on the wrong foot with them?” His smile was wide and oh-so-charming.
And Shelly had a powerful suspicion that she was being played.
But for what? Her long-lost uncle had asked nothing of her. All he’d done was to take her out for an expensive dinner and give her a terrific lead when she happened to mention she was looking for a job.
She kept it light. “Honestly, Uncle Drake. What could the TAKA-Hanson people possibly have against a wonderful guy like you?”
Drake shrugged. And backed off the point. “Listen. If you feel more comfortable telling the clerks in HR that your uncle suggested you should apply there, go for it.” He glanced at his Rolex. “And I’ve got to get rolling.”
“Thanks again.”
“Don’t mention it. I’m glad we got together. Call me. Soon. I want to hear all about how much you love your new job.”
Inside the house, Shelly turned on the air-conditioning. The day had been hotter than usual for early June and the house was stuffy. She’d been doing without air-conditioning over the last couple of unseasonably warm days. It cost money to keep the place cool—even a small house like hers.
But she could afford to splurge on a little cool air tonight. Because tomorrow she was getting that job. It was exactly the kind of top executive assistant position she’d been looking for.
She flopped to the sofa and grabbed a throw pillow to hug. “TAKA-Hanson, here I come!” The cheer in her voice sounded more than a little forced.
But why wouldn’t it? All she had was a tip, after all. There were no guarantees. Maybe someone else had an inside track on the position, too. Maybe her uncle had been wrong and there was no position, after all.
The house seemed so empty. She missed Max. A lot.
Shelly tossed the pillow aside and reached for the phone, auto-dialing her mom’s number.
“Hello. Winston residence. This is Norma.” Norma Winston had been a librarian for over thirty years. She’d retired five years before, but she still answered the phone in a formal tone.
“Hey, Mom.”
“Honey. Hi.”
“I know he’s asleep, huh?”
“That child.” A world full of love was in those two simple words.
“Keeping you busy, is he?”
“I love every minute of it.” Six-year-old Max stayed with his grandparents for a month every summer. Shelly’s mom and her dad, Doug, loved having him there. And Max loved the time he spent with them. Shelly missed her son. A lot. But she enjoyed the break from single parenthood, too. Especially this year, when she’d been out of work for three months and was starting to get seriously stressed about it.
“Give him a big kiss for me, huh? Tell him I’ll call tomorrow.”
“You know he’d rather call you.”
“No kidding.” It was Max’s latest thing. Memorizing important phone numbers, making the calls himself. “Okay. Have him call about six. I’ll be home by then.”
“Home by then?” her mother echoed hopefully. “Something come up on the job front?”
“Oh, Mom. Cross your fingers for me and say a little prayer.”
“Honey, you know I will.”
“I heard about this great job opening up. Just tonight, as a matter of fact. You’ll never guess who I heard it from.…”
“Someone I know?”
“Uncle Drake.”
“Drake…Thatcher?” Her mom sounded as surprised to hear her half brother’s name as Shelly had been when she’d picked up the phone and heard his deep, smooth voice on the other end. Norma Winston and Drake moved in completely different circles. They exchanged Christmas cards, but that was about the extent of their keeping in touch.
“He called this afternoon. He was in town, he said, just for the day. He wanted to meet me. He said it was about time.”
“Well. I guess so.…” Her mother’s voice trailed off. Shelly knew she was wondering what could possibly have inspired her half brother suddenly to take an interest in Shelly, when up until now he’d behaved as if she didn’t exist.
“It is kind of strange, huh?” Shelly voiced her doubts. “I mean, him calling up out of the blue like that?”
“No. No, of course it isn’t. I think it’s…nice. It’s never too late to get to know your family.”
Shelly smiled again. Her mother was such a sweetie. Norma’s father, Bart Thatcher, had divorced Shelly’s grandmother and married “up” into a wealthy New York family, leaving his original family behind. Drake was the first child of Bart’s second marriage. He’d grown up rich as they come, while Norma had started out with so little. But Shelly’s mom had made a good life for herself and held no grudge.
“He took me to dinner,” Shelly said. “And when I told him I was looking for a job, he said there was something coming available at TAKA-Hanson. You’ve heard of Hanson North America, right?”
“Oh, yes.” Norma Winston prided herself on staying informed. She took three newspapers: the Mt. Vernon Register-News, the Tribune and the New York Times. She read all three, too.
“Uncle Drake says Hanson Media merged with a giant Japanese company called TAKA Corporation some years back, becoming Hanson North America here in the States. Since then, under the name TAKA-Hanson, the merged company branched out into other things, beyond the media business. Including this way upscale, exclusive hotel chain. I guess Uncle Drake’s got an ‘in’ there or something, though he was pretty vague about how he knew the job would be open.”
“But you’re excited?”
“Yeah. I am. I have a feeling this is it.”
“Well. I know it is.”
“Mom. That’s what I love about you and Dad. You’re always so sure good things will happen.”
“Because they will,” her mother said. And then she laughed. “Nothing but good news ahead.”
“I hope you’re right.”
“Of course I’m right.”
Shelly was ready and waiting at the TAKA-Hanson building the next day when the human resources office opened. She turned in her résumé and made it through two tiers of interviews. When asked what brought her to apply at TAKA-Hanson, she played it safe and left her uncle Drake out of it.
“I like what I’ve heard about the company,” she said. It was true. She’d spent two hours on the Internet before bed the night before, researching like crazy, learning all she could about TAKA-Hanson, which had home offices in Chicago and Tokyo. “And it occurred to me I ought to come in and get my résumé on file,” she added. “Just in case.”
The woman across the desk nodded. “As it happens, your timing is perfect. We’ve learned this morning that Tom Holloway, CFO in our hospitality division, will be needing a new assistant.”
Yes! Inside, Shelly was jumping up and down, doing the happy dance. But when she spoke, it was in her most polished, professional tone. “It sounds like exactly what I’m looking for.”
The woman clicked her mouse and frowned at her computer screen. “If you’ve got time, I’d like to go ahead and send you upstairs now. You’ll meet with Verna Reed, the woman you would be replacing.”
“I have time. Definitely.”
The elevator ride to the top floor seemed to last forever. But the doors slid wide at last and a slim, fiftyish woman was waiting on the other side. “Shelly? I’m Verna. Follow me.…”
They went to Verna’s desk in a roomy alcove outside a closed door with Tom Holloway’s name on it. Verna looked over Shelly’s résumé and explained the job duties and asked questions about how Shelly might handle this or that situation. Shelly felt she did well. And she liked Verna, who was friendly and down-to-earth.
“I love this job,” Verna confessed. “The money’s great, there’s lots of variety—and Tom Holloway is my hands-down favorite as bosses go. But my husband’s retiring. You should see the RV he went out and bought. We’ve always said someday we’d travel together, see America, all that.” She cocked her neatly combed head. “Let me see if Tom can spare a minute or two for you right now. What do you say?”
Shelly’s heart did a forward roll. Yes! “I’d love to meet Tom.”
Two minutes later, Verna ushered her into the sunlit corner office. The man behind the wide desk looked up. He had gorgeous blue eyes. “Shelly. Hi.” He rose to greet her.
His jacket was nowhere in evidence and his silk shirt, which exactly matched those unforgettable eyes, was rolled to below the elbows. She took the hand he offered. His grip was solid. Strong.
When he released her hand, he gestured toward a nearby chair. She sat.
“Verna seems to think she’s already found her replacement.” He had a great voice. Deep and firm. Warm. And so…manly.
She grinned then. She just couldn’t help it. “I think so. And I really hope you think so, too.”
He had her résumé and application up on his computer. “Let me have a look here.…”
She waited, thinking how attractive he was, wondering if she was happy about that or not. Having a hunky boss could be a distraction.
But hey. She could learn to live with that. She could learn, easy.
“Everything seems to be in order here.” He sent her an approving glance. “Two years at Southern Illinois University studying business…and until a month ago, you were managing the office at Coffey Fire Alarm, Incorporated?”
“That’s right. Life kind of got in the way of my getting my degree.” Life in the form of a beautiful baby boy. “And at Coffey, I wanted a promotion. And more money. They were happy with my work—you can see they gave me a great letter of recommendation. But they’re a small company. I was running the office for them. That was the best they had to offer.”
“So you quit.”
“Yes. I loved working at Coffey. But after making several requests for a raise and a promotion, and being told there was nothing available unless I wanted to move over into sales, I felt the job was going nowhere. I wanted to be free to look full-time for something better.” She didn’t mention the sleepless nights since then, the worry and the guilt. What sensible single mom quit her job when she didn’t have another one lined up? At the time she handed in her resignation, she’d felt she just couldn’t bear another day in the job that went nowhere. But months without a paycheck had shown her otherwise.
Tom was nodding. Did that mean he liked her answer?
God. Interviews. Like walking through a minefield of handshakes and loaded questions and cordial smiles.
“What brings you to TAKA-Hanson?”
He would have to ask that one. She hated to lie. And really, why not just tell him the truth? Her uncle’s name was on the tip of her tongue. But with her savings on life support and the perfect job in the palm of her hand, she couldn’t do it, couldn’t take the risk of losing what she needed so much.
She played it safe and trotted out the same story she’d given the woman down in HR. It seemed to fly.
“You’ve heard about our hotel project, then?” he asked.
She had. From Drake, when he’d told her about the job. And from her research the night before. “I saw that article in the Tribune. The Taka San Francisco will open in the fall, right?”
“A soft opening,” he said. “Gives us a chance to work out the kinks. Our grand opening will be in Kyoto, Japan, over the holidays.” He was quiet again, studying his computer screen. “I see there’s a child.”
“Yes. My son, Maxwell. He’s going into first grade this year.”
“You’re not married,” he said thoughtfully, his eyes on the monitor. She’d checked Single on the application.
She hitched up her chin. “That’s right. It’s just Max and me.”
“I’m guessing your ex-husband has the boy some of the time?”
“There is no ex-husband. In fact, Max’s father is not in the picture.”
“You’re…on your own?”
Irritation made her curt. “Yes.” What business was it of his that Max’s dad hadn’t wanted a kid? “Is that important, somehow?”
He sat back from the computer screen and rested his elbows on the arms of his plush leather chair. “I don’t mean to offend you.” His sincere tone and direct gaze banished her annoyance.
“You haven’t.” Or if he had at first, she was over it.
“I only asked about the child’s care because I travel. To the west coast and to Kyoto, currently, to keep an eye on construction and development at our flagship sites. I’m gone for several days a month. Sometimes I’ll go on my own, but more often than not, I’ll need my assistant with me. Will you be able to manage that, with your son to consider?”
Okay, it wouldn’t be easy. But she could make it work. Because she had to. “If I have at least twenty-four hours’ notice, I can make arrangements for my son’s care. And for the next few weeks, it won’t be an issue. Max is down in Mount Vernon—that’s my hometown. In southern Illinois, not all that far from St. Louis. He’s staying with my parents.”
Those dreamboat-blue eyes measured her. Did he find her lacking somehow? Did he have doubts that she could handle a demanding job, with travel, and take care of her son?
Shelly sat tall. Though her palms felt clammy and her pulse raced, she faked calmness and confidence for all she was worth.
A sweet, open, girl-next-door face, a megawatt smile and a sharp mind. Plus, she took no crap from anyone. Even a prospective boss.
Tom had liked Shelly on sight. Not only did she seem exactly right for the job, there was something… direct about her. Something true. Her handshake was firm, her references good ones. Tom had the feeling he’d be able to count on Shelly Winston, that he’d quickly come to trust her.