Fresh Temptation: Barboza Brothers, Book One (7 page)

“What?” Patty asked. “He
gave you money?”

“Yes,” Cara said. “He
thinks I’m pathetic. It’s an advance on my paycheck. That’s how I
bought all these new clothes today. I barely have any nice clothes
in my closet that fit anymore. I could wear anything to Doyle and
they didn’t care.”

Marcy picked up a long
blue skirt, inspecting it from top to bottom. “But he didn’t know
that, did he?”

Patty said, “Yeah, you
didn’t tell him you needed money, did you?”

“No.” Cara’s eyes rolled.
“He seems to know a lot more about me than he should.” She glared
at Patty. “Have you been keeping in touch with him since you met
him the other day? Did you tell him Doyle owes me
money?”

“Absolutely not, hon,”
Patty said. “I think he does his research because he likes
you.”

Cara sighed. “No, he
doesn’t. I promise. You should’ve seen the way he looked at me
today. I’m a charity case to him.” She let out a loud groan. “Would
you believe I ripped a huge hole in my pantyhose when I got out of
the car? I had to take ‘em off. He kept staring at my legs.” She
huffed. “Probably at my varicose veins. I was so embarrassed. But
at least I remembered to shave.”

Marcy snickered and shot a
funny look at Patty. “Are you hearing what I’m hearing? Sounds to
me like he was checking her out.”

Patty nodded. “Yes, I was
just thinking the same thing. He was looking at your
legs.”

“Ugh,” Cara said. “Why
would he do that? I felt like a stuffed sausage in this outfit. I
should’ve worn my body shaper to keep everything in place.” In her
heart, even with the extra weight, Cara didn’t feel unattractive.
She always turned a few approving heads when she went out in
public. But she was afraid to get her hopes up about
Victor.

“I don’t know why you’re
so down on yourself,” Marcy said. “You’re as pretty as
ever.”

Cara picked up a blouse
from the pile. “I’m not pretty enough to land a guy like Victor.
And I’m not sure I’d even want to. He seems like a control
freak.”

Patty slapped her own knee
as she laughed. “God help the man who ever tries to control
you.”

Patty and Marcy shared a
long laugh at Cara’s expense.

Determined not to let them
get to her, Cara stood up and headed to the stairs. “I don’t care
what you guys think. It’s stupid to think a guy like Victor Barboza
would ever be interested in someone like me. You should’ve seen
that woman he was with at the charity dinner.”

Patty shook her head. “You
don’t give yourself enough credit. The guy’s obviously interested.
Just let it happen and stop being so
you
about it.”

Marcy gasped and brought
her hand to her mouth. “It’s like a fairy tale come true. Cara, you
deserve a fairy tale. Don’t chase him away.”

Cara let out a frustrated
growl. “Fairy tales do
not
come true. You’ve been watching too many movies.
Or reading too many of those cheesy romance novels about regular
girls getting swept away by the dashing billionaire.” She sighed as
she walked upstairs, her voice trailing off. “What a load of
crap.”

It was eleven-thirty on
Cara’s first day at Monarch Enterprises, and so far it was
uneventful. She had spent most of the morning sitting through
employee safety videos that would probably never apply to her.
Gary, Victor’s assistant, had given her the grand tour of the
building.

But there had been no sign
of Victor.

And in a way, Cara was
grateful. She’d spent hours on Sunday trying on outfits,
determining the ones that were most flattering. After her
embarrassing display at the interview, she wanted to prove she was
a polished professional. Victor’s absence this morning at least
gave her a reprieve from that anxiety.

At the same time, where
was he? If she had allowed herself to think he actually liked
her—which she strived
not
to do—she may have been offended that he didn’t
make time to see her on her first day. It meant she was right all
along. This job was an act of pity, and nothing more.

I told you
so
, she said to herself.

And for once, she wished
she hadn’t been right. Unfortunately, there was a shred of hope
within her that allowed her to entertain fantasies of the tall,
dark, handsome dream man. A man who was so far out of her league,
he wasn’t even in her universe. Surely he spent his weekends
chasing young, flighty debutantes who were barely legal. The sort
of women who were bred to be trophy wives. That life definitely
wasn’t for her. It was Cara and Isaac against the world. Maybe soon
she’d have enough money saved to move them into a nice apartment in
the city and send him to a good pre-school. That’s all that
mattered.

Bored with filling out yet
another set of new hire paperwork, Cara went to the break room Gary
had shown her earlier. If she didn’t have any real work to do yet,
at least she could figure out how to use the space age-looking
digital coffee machine.

As she took a small paper
cup from the counter, a woman in a blue dress entered the room. She
had sandy brown hair and looked to be in her late twenties, about
Cara’s age. She gave Cara a smile and said, “I don’t think we’ve
met. Are you new here?”

“Yes, I’m new. My name’s
Cara Green.”

“Rhonda Flint. Mr.
Noonan’s assistant. Nice to meet you.” Rhonda opened the
refrigerator door. “So, you the new assistant, here in
acquisitions?”

“Um…no?” Cara stopped to
consider the question. She knew so little about her new job, she
had no idea if Victor’s department was casually referred to as
“acquisitions.” “I report to Mr. Barboza. My title is Public
Relations Liaison.”

Rhonda abruptly closed the
refrigerator door and gave her a wide-eyed glance.
“What?”

Oh no
. “Is that a bad thing?”

Rhonda’s high heels
clopped along the floor as she walked up to Cara. She looked over
her shoulder as if someone were eavesdropping. “You might not wanna
talk about that too loudly. Barboza doesn’t hire people. The whole
company’s under a pretty tight hiring freeze unless it’s
urgent.”

“So, what do I tell people
if they ask?” Cara chuckled. “I can’t exactly lie and say I’m
somewhere else.”

“Hmm. That’s true.”
Rhonda’s lips puckered as she thought about it. “I know. You tell
‘em you’re a consultant, working on a project for Barboza. And if
anyone asks about the project, you tell ‘em you can’t talk about
it.

“Okay.” Cara was
skeptical.

“Gary.” Rhonda
simultaneously rolled her eyes and blew her bangs out of her face.
“He should’ve warned you.” She smirked. “He’s gay, you
know.”

Cara nodded. “Yeah, I got
that.” She’d noticed some pictures on Gary’s screen saver that
morning of him with another man in a position that was slightly
more than friendly. But then she had a thought. “Oh wait, you mean
Gary, not Mr. Barboza, right?”

Rhonda tossed her head
back, laughing hard. “Yes, Gary. Barboza…hell no.”

Cara didn’t like the sound
of that. “What do you mean?”

Rhonda stopped laughing.
“Oh, nothing. Your boss is the most eligible bachelor in the
building. Hell, in the whole city. At least he is now. He was
engaged for a long time.” Rhonda cleared her throat and changed the
subject, her eyes flickering as if she knew she shouldn’t be
confiding so much gossip in the new girl. “So anyway, Gary probably
should’ve told you to keep your new job a little private around
here. We just had lunch last week. Wonder why he didn’t tell me
there was a new hire?”

“What’s the big deal?
People come and go all the time.”

“That’s not it. People
don’t come and go in Barboza’s group. It’s just him and
Gary.”

“Is that
strange?”

“For this place, yeah.
He’s the only partner who doesn’t oversee a whole staff. All we
know is, he knows his shit and he brings in a lot of business.” Her
eyes were huge. “And we don’t know anything else.”

Cara gasped, thinking
about the unsavory owner of Doyle Construction, where she sensed
all along that something wasn’t right. “Is he doing something
illegal? Please tell me he’s not.”

“Oh no. Nothing like that.
He’s a good guy. Keeps to himself.” She shrugged. “And really
friendly when you see him around.” Her voice got quiet. “But I hear
he’s a playboy.”

Cara’s heart sank.
“Really? Is that why he’s single?”

Rhonda’s brow arched and
she looked around the room, suddenly feeling the urge to confide a
piece of juicy gossip in the new girl. “You can’t repeat this.
Hell, you could find it online if you knew where to look. But
there’s a rumor his engagement ended because of infidelity. We all
think he cheated with a girl who got fired the week before it
happened.”

“Oh no!”

“Yes. Of course, it’s just
a rumor, but still.” Rhonda sighed. “So, tell me a little about
you. New to the area? Married? Kids?”

“I’m from Newark
originally but I just moved back home after losing my job in
Chicago. This is my first real job in months. Never been married.
One kid, Isaac. He’s three.”

Rhonda grinned. “I got a
three-year-old, too. A girl, Justine. Also got a five-year-old,
Aidan. And I got a no-good cheatin’ ex-husband. The divorce was
final last month.”

“Oh, I’m so
sorry.”

“It’s okay. Could be
worse. Could’ve had that third kid we were trying for when I found
those pictures on his cell phone. What about you? You got a
cheatin’ man, too?”

“No.” Cara nervously
straightened the cuff of her sleeve. The situation with Isaac’s dad
was a secret she’d decided long ago to take with her to the grave.
It was easier to tell everyone she never knew his dad than to tell
them the truth. “Isaac was my gift from a one-night stand my last
semester in college. Never saw him again. I consider my son to be
my graduation present.” She smiled.

“Ah. Well, you’re better
off anyway.” Rhonda looked at her watch. “I gotta get back to my
desk but I’ll come over for some chitchat later if you like. They
give you an office or a cubicle?”

“An office.” Cara
swallowed, hard. After this conversation, she was reluctant to
mention she’d been given a spacious office with a spectacular
view.

“Okay. I’ll come over
there and find you later.” Rhonda patted Cara’s shoulder. “Take
care. Nice meeting you.”

Cara waited until Rhonda
was safely out of the break room before leaving herself. It was
good to make a friend at her new job so soon, but with Victor
keeping such a low profile, she wasn’t sure it was smart to hang
out with one of the office gossips so quickly.

No matter. With her head
held high, she left the break room and went back to her office,
trying not to obsess about this new information she’d received
about her boss. Was he really a playboy? Did he cheat on his
fiancee? Is that who he was with the night they met? It would make
sense and possibly explain why that lady was so furious about him
talking to another woman in front of her.

Cara had to get herself to
stop thinking about it. After all, he was just her boss and this
was simply her work place. Nothing more. What he did in his
personal life was none of her business.

She took a deep breath
with the realization that she definitely had a crush on him. And
that sucked.

* * *

“Damn it!” Victor was
almost angry enough to curse aloud in Spanish today.

If it wasn’t one thing, it
was another. A meeting ran too long. Then a traffic jam. An
important business associate needed an hour-long phone call to make
a simple decision. And now, another traffic jam. He had looked
forward to this morning for days, and it seemed like fate was
working against him. But he would not be discouraged.

All morning, his thoughts
were with Cara. Was she happy in her new job so far? Had Gary made
her feel comfortable in the office?

Was there any chance at
all that she had been thinking about him the way he was thinking
about her?

His interest in Cara had
grown immensely since he’d last seen her, made worse by the fact
that he’d done some informal detective work…via Facebook. She only
had five pictures available for public view and he could’ve
probably found a way to see them all, but it made him feel
creepy.
Successful businessmen don’t cyber
stalk, do they?
He chuckled to himself. It
didn’t matter what others did. He had to find a way to see her and
he was grateful for the pictures.

There were, however, no
public pictures of Isaac. Victor could still hear his high-pitched
voice on the phone, mispronouncing words. So cute. He had never
thought of dating a woman who had a child before, but now, he
wanted to.

Victor wasn’t much older
than Isaac when his own father passed away but some of those early
memories stuck with him in tiny fragments. The most vivid memories
were of the way he laughed when he and his brothers climbed all
over him like they were wrestling. His father always pretended he
was losing, and the brothers always reveled in their victory. They
had no idea how poor they were; a family of five living in a tiny
clay house with no running water and barely enough food to eat. But
Victor was grateful for those hard times. He knew they helped mold
him into the man he was today.