A Bargain with the Boss (15 page)

“I suppose I owe you that.”

Amber moved again, determined to leave. “You have a ten o'clock with Lucas,” she told Tuck.

“Maybe,” he responded.

What did that mean? Was he heading out the door before 10:00 a.m.? Now that Dixon was in the office, would Tuck simply walk out?

Good.

Great.

It really didn't matter to her either way.

With the two men sizing each other up, she quickly made her way down the hall. She'd set herself up outside Dixon's office once again. Tuck could come and say goodbye or not. It was entirely up to him.

* * *

Tuck stared at his brother across the table in the meeting room.

“I told him I needed to get away,” said Dixon. “He wouldn't listen.”

“I heard.” Tuck didn't see any point in hiding anything. “I overheard the two of you talking in the library. I heard what he said about me as a vice president.”

“Were you surprised?”

Tuck hadn't been surprised. But he had been disappointed. “Nobody wants their father to have such a low opinion of them.”

“We're talking about Jamison Tucker.”

“He likes you just fine.”

“Yeah,” Dixon scoffed. “Well, we all know why that is.”

“Because you're the anointed one.”

“I mean the other.”

“What other?”

Dixon stared at him in silence and obvious confusion.

“I have no idea what you're talking about,” said Tuck.

“The affair.”

“With Margaret?”

Dixon drew back. “Who's having an affair with Margaret?”

“Dad.”

“What?”
Dixon was clearly shocked. “What on earth makes you say that?”

“Because it's true. Margaret gave it away to Amber.”

“It's not like Amber to gossip.”

“She wasn't gossiping. Wake up, man. Do you know what you've got in Amber? The woman will practically take a bullet for you. She has more character than you can imagine.”

Dixon's intelligent eyes sized him up. “Got to know her pretty well while I was gone?”

Tuck was not about to give away anything that might embarrass Amber. “Got very frustrated with her at one point.” Then his mind jumped back in the conversation. “What affair were
you
talking about?”

“Mom's.”

“Whoa. No way.”

“You knew about it.”

Tuck knew no such thing. “Who thinks Mom had an affair?”

“Dad.”

“What? When? And he's living in a glass house, by the way.”

“Three decades ago.”

“Clearly that's relevant.” Tuck knew their father's affair had gone on right up to his heart attack.

Dixon carefully enunciated his next words. “Thirty years ago. In the months
before
you were born.”

Everything inside Tuck went still. “Are you saying?”

“How do you not remember that huge fight we overheard?”

“Are you saying I'm not Jamison's son?”

“You are his son. He did a DNA test years ago.”

“Then, how is that the thing? Why would it make him hate me?”

“He doesn't hate you.”

“He has no use for me.”

“My theory,” said Dixon, “is that he looks at you and remembers you could have belonged to someone else.”

“That's really messed up.”

Dixon scoffed out a cold laugh. “Up to now, you thought we were a normal, functional family?”

Tuck came to his feet as everything became clear. He'd never had a chance. He'd been fighting for something he couldn't possibly win. He had to get out of here, leave the company, maybe leave the city. Maybe he'd leave the state and the money behind and find his own life and career.

There was a brisk knock on the door before it opened to reveal Lucas.

Lucas didn't miss a beat when he saw Dixon. “You're back.”

“I'm back.”

“Good. Tuck, Gena wants to join us at ten.”

“Who's Gena?” asked Dixon.

“Our new finance director.”

“Why do we have a new finance director?”

“Harvey quit,” said Tuck.

“Why?”

“He missed you.”

“What did you do?” Dixon's tone was decidedly accusatory.

“Nothing,” said Tuck, heading for the door. “Hasn't that always been the problem?”

“I'll try to get him back,” said Dixon.

Tuck halted, a flash of anger hitting him. Dixon intended to reward Harvey for his disloyalty?

Tuck opened his mouth to protest, then decided not to waste his breath. Dixon was back. Tuck's father was never,
ever
going to accept him. And what Tuck liked or didn't like no longer had any relevance.

“Whatever,” he said without turning. To Lucas he said, “Dixon can take the ten o'clock.”

Twenty paces down the hall, he came to Amber at her old desk outside Dixon's office. She was setting out her things, settling in.

“So that's that?” he asked, struggling to come to terms with his life turning so suddenly and irrevocably upside down.

“My boss is back.” She didn't pretend not to understand.

“You bailed quick enough.”

“He asked me to move here.”

“And what Dixon wants—”

Amber glared at Tuck.

He wanted to tell her she couldn't, that she should march back to her desk at his office to work with him, not with Dixon. He wished he had the right. He wished he had the power. Against all reason and logic, he wished his brother had never come home.

“What about you?” she asked, adjusting the angle of her computer screen.

Unlike her, he did pretend to misunderstand. “My office has been in the same place for years.”

“And what are you going to do in it now?”

“Nothing.”

He could take a hint. Well, maybe he couldn't take a hint. But he could understand the bald truth when it was thrown up in his face. He wasn't wanted here. And there was nothing he could do to change it. He might as well have been born to a different father.

Two months ago, it probably wouldn't have mattered. But it mattered now. Maybe it was pride. Or maybe he liked the sense of independence and accomplishment. Or maybe he just liked Amber.

He was going to miss her.

He wasn't sure he could leave her.

“You're walking away,” she said.

“I am.” He had to stifle the urge to explain.

He knew she understood dysfunctional families, and he knew she'd understand what he was going through. But he couldn't presume they had a personal relationship. She'd made that clear enough at the hospital yesterday morning. She was his brother's assistant, and that was all.

“I won't be your boss anymore,” he said, determined to give it one last shot.

“We both knew that would happen.”

That wasn't a hint one way or the other. She wasn't giving him any help here.

“We could,” he said. “You know...”

She raised her brows and looked him in the eyes.

“Date,” he finally said, wondering what the heck had happened to his suave, sophisticated style.

“Each other?”

Okay, now he was just getting frustrated. “
Yes
, each other.”

“Is that a good idea?”

“I'm suggesting it, aren't I?”

“You're free now, Tuck. And you're practically running for the front door. And that's fine. I understand. You never said or did a thing to suggest otherwise. And you don't need to now. Dixon's here. You have your life back.”

Tuck stared at her in silence.

That was how she saw him? Well, at least he knew the truth. Even after all they'd done together, how hard they'd worked to save clients and accounts, she thought he'd only been biding his time until he could go back to the party circuit.

“I'm free,” he agreed between gritted teeth.

“Then, no reason to linger.”

He stared hard into her eyes. “No reason at all.”

Unless he counted how he felt about her, how much he wanted to be with her, how hard he wished she'd see something in him besides an irresponsible playboy.

“I'm going to be busy with Dixon,” she said airily. “And with Jade, and with Crystal.”

“I'm going to be busy getting my name back in the tabloids.” As he said it, he willed her to call his bluff.

She didn't even hesitate. “Good luck with that.”

“Thanks.”

There was nothing left to say. But the last thing he wanted to do was leave.

He wanted to hug her. He wanted to kiss her. At the very least, he wanted to thank her for the help and for the amazing memories.

Instead, he left without a word.

Twelve

A
mber missed Tuck, and the hurt was beyond anything she could have imagined. Each day she arrived at the office and promised herself it would be better. She'd think about him less, stop imagining his voice, stop thinking every set of footsteps in the hallway might be his. She was going to get past it.

Jade was home from the hospital and Crystal was adorable. Though the baby wasn't the best sleeper in the world. Amber told herself that living in a state of mild sleep deprivation had to be contributing to her depression. Surely, one man couldn't be the cause of all this.

Dixon had slipped right into the familiarity of his old job. He was definitely in a more upbeat mood, but he was just as efficient as always, no matter what the crisis.

It was coming up on eleven and the phone had been ringing almost constantly. There was a storm in the Atlantic and a major rock slide across one of the main rail lines between Denver and Salt Lake City. Everybody was rerouting and rescheduling.

“The Blue Space file?” Dixon called through the open door of his office.

Amber knew the Blue Space file was in Tuck's office. She'd been avoiding going in there, worried about triggering memories. Not that anything specific had ever happened in his office. They hadn't kissed and they certainly hadn't made love there. Thank goodness, at least, for that.

“I'll get it,” she called back.

“They're phoning right after lunch,” said Dixon.

“On my way.”

She took a bracing breath and stood. She was going to do this. In fact, she wanted to do this. Maybe it would be a turning point. Maybe she'd built it up to be something it wasn't. She could probably walk in there, get the file, walk back out and realize it was just another room.

She headed down the hall.

Tuck's office door was closed. But she refused to slow down. She reached out, turned the knob, thrust the door open and walked inside.

There, she stopped, gasping a breath, picking up his scent, her brain assailed by memories. Tuck laughing. Tuck scowling. His brows knitted together in concentration.

She could hear his voice, feel his touch and imagine his kiss.

“Amber?” Dixon's voice startled her.

“I'm sure it was on the desk,” she said, pushing herself forward.

There was a stack of files on the corner of the desktop and she began looking through them.

“I'm meeting Zachary for lunch,” said Dixon.

“Zachary who?” She tried to remember if there was a Zachary connected with Blue Space.

“Zachary Ingles.”

She looked up. “Why?”

Dixon moved closer. “I'm trying to get him to come back.”

“Why would you do that?”

“Because he's good. And he took a bunch of accounts with him when he left.”

“There's nothing good about that.”

She'd never liked Zachary. She didn't trust him and she'd been glad to see him leave. The new guy, Samuel Leeds, was much more professional. He was young, but he seemed to be learning fast.

Dixon chuckled. “I know Zachary's not the warmest guy in the world.”

Amber continued sorting. It wasn't her place to criticize, and she didn't want to insult Dixon.

“Samuel's a bit too laid-back,” said Dixon. “He's inexperienced. A director position isn't the place to learn the ropes.”

“He's enthusiastic,” said Amber.

“A little too enthusiastic.”

Dixon had said the same thing about Gena, the new finance director. He hadn't replaced her yet, but Amber knew he'd been in contact with Harvey.

“Are you going to undo everything Tuck did?” As soon as she asked, Amber immediately regretted the question.

“You mean, am I going to undo the damage?”

She practically had to bite her tongue.

“It must have been bedlam around here.” Dixon crossed his arms over his chest.

“Who says that?”

“Harvey, for one.”

“Consider the source.”

Dixon didn't respond and Amber realized she'd gone too far.

“What did that mean?” asked Dixon, a clear rebuke in his tone.

Amber straightened and squared her shoulders. She was loyal to Tucker Transportation and she'd been appropriately loyal to Dixon. She now found herself feeling some of that loyalty toward Tuck.

“Tuck worked hard,” she said.

“I've no doubt that he did.”

“He not only worked hard—he succeeded. Yes, Harvey and Zachary bailed. But you should ask yourself what that says about them.”

“They couldn't work with Tuck.”

“Or they
wouldn't
work with Tuck. Zachary stole your clients. He
stole
them. He was disrespectful to Tuck. He was disloyal to you. He was downright dishonest. And, by the way, he hits on your female employees. Tuck, on the other hand, came in here without the first idea of what to do. He could have bailed. He could have turned and run the other way. But he didn't. He dug in. Even knowing what your father thought of him, and how he'd been treated in the past, and how overwhelming the learning curve turned out to be, he stuck it out. Did you thank him? Did your dad thank him? Did anyone thank him?”

“We paid him.”

“He didn't do it for the money. And he didn't do it to save the company. He has pride, Dixon. He had purpose. We won back half the clients and we signed up some more. He worked eighteen-hour days, threw his heart and soul into making sure the company didn't fail while you were off sailing. He hunted far and wide to get Gena and Samuel. Yes, they're both young. But they're well educated. They have some experience. And they're bringing new energy to the company. And that's thanks to Tuck, who was thrown in here without a lifeline.”

Amber stopped talking. As she did, the magnitude of her outburst hit her.

“Amber?” Dixon began, clearly baffled by her behavior.

She was instantly overcome with regret. She knew she was about to get fired by the third Tucker Transportation owner. It was going to be a clean sweep.

“Yes,” she said in a small voice.

“Did something happen between you and Tuck?”

She ignored the personal implication of the question. “I got to know him.” It was an honest answer.

“You got to know him well?” Dixon was watching her carefully.

“Better than before. When he first showed up, I thought the same thing you obviously do—that he was a lazy playboy who was going to fall flat on his face and wouldn't even know it when he did. I wouldn't even help him. I mean, I helped him, of course. But I wasn't going the extra mile like I might have been. But then I saw how hard he worked. He truly was dedicated. And I started to understand that he hadn't chosen to stay away—your father had barred him entry.”

“He has an office,” said Dixon.

“That's what I said. And he does. But nobody wants him. He understands that full well.”

“Amber?”

“What?”

Her fear was gone. Whatever was going to happen was going to happen. But she wasn't about to turn her back on Tuck. He'd worked hard and she wouldn't pretend that he hadn't, even to please Dixon.

“That wasn't my question.”

She hesitated. “I know.”

“What happened between the two of you?”

“Nothing.”

Dixon waited, looking unconvinced.

“Okay, something,” she said. “But it's over and done.”

Silence settled thick in the air, but she refused to break it. She'd already said too much.

Dixon went first. “Are you in love with Tuck?”

She felt the world shift beneath her feet. “No.”

She couldn't be. She wouldn't be. She'd made mistakes with Tuck, but she wouldn't make that one.

“I'm sorry,” said Dixon.

“For what?” Was she about to be fired after all?

“That Tuck hurt you.”

“He didn't hurt me.”

And if he had, she'd get over it. She'd seen what falling for the wrong man could do,
would
do. She wasn't going to do that to herself.

Dixon gave a considered nod. “Okay. Tell me what else you know about Samuel.”

“Why?”

“Because you just made an impassioned plea on his behalf. Do you want to drop the ball now?”

She didn't. “He works well with Hope. And I respect Hope. She has her finger on the pulse of social media.”

“You think we need social media?”

“That's like asking if you need telephones or computers. Yes, you need social media. Your father might not have seen it, but you need to think about the next twenty years, not the past twenty years.”

“I'll give it some thought,” he said.

She couldn't quite let it go. “
It
meaning social media, or keeping Samuel?”

Dixon coughed out a chuckle. “You know, Tuck went to great lengths to impress upon me how loyal you were to me. But what I'm seeing right now is how loyal you are to him.”

“I'm not loyal to Tuck.”

“Okay.”

“I'm only being fair to him.”

“Then, I'll be fair to you.”

She swallowed. “You won't fire me?”

Dixon looked puzzled. “Fire you for what?”

“Insubordination.”

“Is that a euphemism for offering your opinion?”

“In this case, it means offering my opinion forcefully and without provocation.”

“That's not what I meant, but you're not fired, Amber. I'd hire fifty of you if I could.”

She handed him the Blue Space file. “That was a nice thing to say.”

“I'm hoping to win back your loyalty.”

“You never lost it.”

He glanced around the office. “Then, I can't help but wonder what exactly it was that Tuck gained.”

She was about to say
nothing
, but Dixon turned and left her alone.

She stood for a moment, holding the atmosphere, remembering every little thing about Tuck until her heart throbbed and her chest ached, and she felt silent and alone and empty.

* * *

Tuck stared at his silent cell phone for a full minute before he slid it back inside his pocket. He was dressed to the nines, had a reservation at the Seaside, followed by tickets to a popular live comedy show, and he planned to end the evening at the Hollingsworth Lounge.

MaryAnn was a great date—bright, bubbly, lots of fun. But Tuck simply didn't have it in him right now. He didn't want to romance MaryAnn or anyone else. He didn't want to dine with them, dance with them or even sleep with them.

He was on the rebound from Amber. He got that, even though they'd barely dated. But the rebound had never hit him like this before.

The front door of the mansion opened and Dixon entered the foyer, doing a double take at the sight of Tuck.

“Hot date?” Dixon asked.

“Just got canceled.”

“She get a better offer?”

“Something like that.” Tuck wasn't about to tell Dixon that he was the one who'd canceled the date. He'd used a lame excuse of having a headache. As if a normal guy would give up a night with MaryAnn over a headache.

Trouble was, most normal guys hadn't fallen for Amber.

“Are you staying in?” asked Dixon.

“Might as well.” Tuck loosened his tie.

“Drink?”

“Sure.” Tuck followed his brother into the library.

He purposely sat down across from the chair where Amber had sat in her bare feet and sparkling dress. Then he smiled wistfully at the memory. She was so incredibly sexy with those luscious lips, simmering eyes, smooth shoulders and toned legs. He shifted in his chair.

Dixon handed him a crystal glass with two ice cubes and a shot of single malt. “What?”

“Nothing,” said Tuck.

“You're smiling.”

“I'm not sorry about the date.” Tuck took a drink.

“That's an odd reaction.” Dixon sat down.

Tuck gave a noncommittal shrug.

“I was talking to Zachary today,” said Dixon.

“Why would you do that?” Tuck wouldn't have given the man the time of day.

“He's interested in coming back.”

Tuck didn't bother responding. Dixon knew how he felt about Zachary.

Dixon seemed to give him a moment. “You got any thoughts on that?”

In response, Tuck scoffed. “You don't want to hear my thoughts on that.”

“You don't think we should take him back?”

“I think we should drop him off the Michigan Avenue Bridge.”

Dixon cracked a smile. “Let's call that plan B.”

“Let's.” Tuck drank again, pulling for plan B.

“Amber doesn't like him,” said Dixon.

“Amber's not stupid.”

“No, she's not.”

Her image appeared once more in the chair across from Tuck.

“You're smiling again,” said Dixon.

“Did she tell you her sister had a baby?”

“When did that happen?”

“Two weeks ago. Just before you got back.”

“Is her sister in Chicago?”

Tuck nodded. “She is now.” He found himself glancing around the library. “You ever give much thought to the way we grew up?”

“You mean with a controlling father and a distant mother?”

“I mean with gold-plated bathroom faucets.”

“The faucets aren't gold-plated,” said Dixon. “Though I'm honestly not sure about the dining room chandelier.”

“We never worried about having enough to eat. Heck, we never worried about running low on gourmet ice cream.”

“Rich people still have problems.”

“I know that,” said Tuck. “They never would buy me a pony.”

He knew Amber's childhood challenges had been on a whole other level. Whenever he thought about that, it left him feeling petty.

“How about the fact that your father thought you were illegitimate?”

Tuck had given that revelation a lot of thought these past few days. It didn't change anything, but it did boost his confidence. He hadn't earned his father's disdain. It had been there all along.