NextMoves (7 page)

“We’ll figure it out together, one day at a time, babe. It’s
been awhile for me too.” He rubbed his cheek against hers. “Joci, does it
bother you that I can’t have kids?”

“Not at all. I have Kylie. How do you feel about it?”

“My life is full of kids. I’m mostly content with that.”

“But not always.”

His silence did more to shout the depth of his pain than any
words ever could.

“Were you born that way?”

“Outcome of a fight.” The neutrality of his voice was
practiced, too practiced. It shone a light on the regret buried near the
surface.

“I’m sorry.” Her fingers ran through the soft patches of
hair on his forearms. She ached for him, a raw physical anguish that lanced through
her soul and had her turning in his arms to kiss him fiercely. His arms
tightened around her. His warmth and comfort wrapped around her like a down
quilt on a winter night. They held each other until sleep blanketed them both.

* * * * *

The phone blared, a screaming wake-up call she had no
interest in answering. “The machine will get that,” Joci said, snuggling in his
arms, groggy but content.

He kissed the top of her head. “Any regrets?”

“Not at all.”

After showering and a whole lot more loving, Jocelyn threw
together a breakfast of freshly brewed coffee, scrambled eggs laced with
tomatoes and feta cheese, hot, home-baked blueberry muffins and sliced ripe
melon.

The phone rang again.

“Odd. That’s the second call. No one calls on Sunday
morning.”

The answering machine kicked in. “Jocelyn, it’s Myron
Atwater.”

“The mayor? I better get it. ”

Her heart sank to her feet as she listened. Jared sidled up
behind her and put his arms around her, allowing her to lean against his
strength. She lapped it up.

“Let me turn on the TV and assess the damage. I’ll get back
to you.” Her voice held steady, but her knees buckled. She was glad he was
there to catch her.

“Talk to me,” he said.

“I’m not sure yet. Something about Premier Health
collapsing, which means the closing of Health Corp. I need to turn on the
news.”

She grabbed his arm, her fingers digging craters into his
biceps, and she led him to the living room to watch her life go directly to
hell, no passing go, no collecting two hundred dollars.

One of Jocelyn’s hands bit into Jared’s wrist, the other
shredded the couch arm. Her gaze was glued to the news reporter on TV.

“In response to the financial scandal come to light, the
Board of Directors of Premier Health has requested the resignation of the
senior leadership, including the president and CEO and three vice presidents.
Given the magnitude of the financial losses, Premier Health will close multiple
locations across the country.”

Her head fell into open palms, shoulders drooped. “Damn.”

“Talk to me.” Jared’s arm circled her shoulders and coaxed
her toward him, promising warmth, waiting out her resistance. It came quickly.

“I should’ve seen this coming, all the signs were there.”
Joci was grateful beyond words to have arms around her during a crisis, his
presence offering a tonic to the anxiety churning through her chest. She kissed
his shoulder where her cheek had found haven. Her mother’s arms were the last
to give her comfort, weak as they’d been, after Nick left. Her dad and her
brothers had never dealt with emotional pain well, which had left the care of
her mother, now her father, to her.

“Joci, I get this is bad but I’m new here. Tell me what this
means.” He laid his head against hers and stroked her shoulders, back, lending
his strength to hers.

“About six months ago, Premier Health bought up Health Corp,
one of Madison’s largest companies. It employs over two hundred people and a
number of local businesses, including Don’s, depend heavily on its contracts.
After the acquisition, it looked as if Premier would close the Health Corp
site. They wanted several technologies Health Corp had invented, not the
company itself, so we put a team together, demonstrated the value the firm
offered if it stayed open. They agreed, even talked about expanding the site.
It was too easy. They rolled over too soon. Now I see why. They used it as a
financial cover.”

“That’s what you were doing when we met at the airport.”

“Yes, and that’s what we were celebrating when you arrived.
You were too busy mauling me in the conference room to take notes.” She allowed
herself a smile even though her life had just been slammed headfirst into the
toilet.

“I’d like to be mauling you now but finish the story.” His
hold tightened around her, a temporary sanctuary against the chaos banging at
the front door.

“Two of the vice presidents who negotiated the deal were
fired so we can assume the deal’s off and they’ll close Health Corp as
initially planned. We’ll lose those jobs and other health care companies that
can’t adjust quickly enough to the loss of Health Corp’s contracts. The
economy’s fragile, barely recovered from the decline of manufacturing. This
will be a serious blow.”

“What happens now?”

Although all she wanted to do was lose herself in the man
next to her, that wasn’t her way. “We get to work.” Ripping herself out of his
embrace, she gathered her laptop, the portable phone, her Blackberry, a pen and
paper, and dumped it all on the kitchen table amidst their half-eaten
breakfast. She cupped his face between her hands and kissed him, fast and hard,
a last indulgence before she dove into the problem at hand. “Roll your sleeves
up, good-looking. We have a town to save. You’re on the computer, I’m on the
phone.”

Jocelyn’s shift from playful, affectionate lover to
tough-as-nails CEO kicked his ego in the balls with a metal-tipped boot. He
knew he was being unreasonable, but anger ground up what was left of his
breakfast, whether it was warranted or not.

Instead of fucking her to heaven and back, which was what he
should be doing, he’d morphed into her assistant, caught up in a flurry of
business meetings, phone calls and intelligence gathering. This was Joci’s
world and he understood why she fought relationships. A town sat on those
slender shoulders and she dragged it around without a word. When she thought no
one was looking, she ducked into a corner, wiped off the sweat, sewed a smile
on her face and came back swinging. If he wanted her, he’d have to lift some of
the weight, not jump on the crush wagon. Association of Executive Assistants,
here he came. “More coffee?”

“Please,” she said, not looking up from the notepad, her
hand scribbling.

Coffee mugs on the table, he massaged her shoulders, his
fingers kneading through knotted flesh. “Whatever you need me to do, I’m here
for you, baby.”

“You’ve done this before.”

“Of course, I have physical education and kinesiology
degrees. I know all the muscles in the body, every nerve ending,” he nipped at
the pulse beating in her neck, “and all pleasure points.”

She sighed and leaned into his hands. “If only…but there’s
too much to do.”

The frustration in her voice had him backing off and
stuffing down the image of her riding tile marks into his back on the kitchen
floor. He threw himself in a seat to hide the tent that had set up camp in his
pants and focused on the computer screen.

Giggled goodbyes and a slamming door startled them to
attention. Kylie had come home.

Wide eyes and unhinged jaw, Kylie’s stare volleyed between
Jocelyn’s blue silk bathrobe and Jared’s naked chest.

“Coach Wyatt, what are you doing here…without a shirt?”

Shit.
“Kylie Johanna Wade, that is not how I taught
you to talk to adults.” Sheer willpower held the flush of embarrassment from
creeping up her neck to her cheeks. Not the way she planned to tell her
daughter about Jared, but this had to be addressed now.

Kylie kicked at the floorboard of the living room. “No, Mom.
Sorry, Coach Wyatt.”

“Guess we need to talk, baby girl.” She took Kylie’s hand
and guided her to the couch. Jared headed upstairs, presumably to finish
dressing.

“First things first. How’d you get home? I was supposed to
pick you up later.”

“Tessa was at the sleepover. Ms. Atwater came early, said
she’d take me home to help out, that you and Mayor Atwater were dealing with
some big crisis. Are you and Coach Wyatt, um, a couple, Mom?”

“Yes, honey. It’s still new and we have to see how it grows.
How do you feel about that?” Jocelyn relaxed back into the couch, giving her
space to think.

“You don’t date, Mom. Why Coach Wyatt? He always got your
mean look. I didn’t think you liked him.” Curiosity, not anger, filled her
voice. A good sign.

“I liked him too much. That scared me, a lot. My marriage to
your father didn’t work so well so I used my mean look to keep him away. He
stayed anyway.”

“Coach Wyatt never gives up on you. It’s why I like him.”
Kylie twisted and untwisted a lock of hair around her finger, her face puckered
as if deep in thought. “It’s kinda weird, you dating my coach, but I’m okay
with it. He’s hot, for an older dude.” Her grin and glowing face said it all.

Jocelyn laughed as she pushed that lock of Kylie’s hair
behind her ear. “You’re growing up way too fast.” Once again, Jared’s
fingerprints littered the crime scene, stealing her heart, one deed at a time.

“Will he sleep here, Mom?”

She did not see that coming and never before had to deal
with the question. The last batch of parenting advice books swam through her
head but she let her heart make the choice. “Yes, sometimes,” she said, more
confident by the second word.

“Good. We could use a man around the house.”

“Kyles, we get along just fine without one.”

“We laugh more when Uncle Gid’s around. Even with Uncle
Tommy, but he’s more intense. I think it’ll be the same with Coach Wyatt.”

“That’s settled. Did Ms. Atwater tell you about the crisis?”

Kylie shook her head.

“Health Corp may close, for real this time. There’s a
meeting here tonight, likely the first of many.”

“Maybe Tessa could come over with her father, hang out. I’ll
call her.”

Wow. Kylie taking the initiative. Crisis be damned, she was
starting to love the direction her life was taking and the man in the driver’s
seat.

* * * * *

Upstairs, Jared’s heart was light. In the midst of a crisis,
she dropped the world, kicked it aside and raised Kylie to the center.
Workaholic sure, had to be nowadays, but her priorities were screwed in
straight and tight. Just the way he liked them. Dressed, he ambled down the
steps to find Kylie bounding up. “You okay with this?” he asked.

“Yeah, it’s good for Mom. She won’t admit it though. I worry
about her sometimes.”

Jared chuckled at that. Insightful, like her mother even if
she didn’t let it show that often. “Promise you’ll talk to me if this creates a
problem for you on the team and I promise to help you with your worries about
your mom. Deal?”

“If I can get out of the push-ups, deal’s sealed.”

“No special treatment.”

Kylie laughed, a deep, rich timbre that could have been
Joci’s. “Can’t blame a girl for trying.”

“Your mom taught you well. Now she’s got me in training. I
have to go help her save Madison.”

“She’s good at that.”

He found Jocelyn on the couch, her gaze drilling a hole
through the floor. “You okay?” he asked, falling into the cushion next to her.

Her tongue was in his mouth, fingers gripped his cheek, a
kiss to end all kisses, ripe with promise. “You’re amazing,” she said,
breathless, face flushed, forehead pressed against his.

Yowza, everything was moving in the right direction. “Not
that I’m disagreeing or complaining, but what was that for?”

“My talk with Kylie was painless and mature. Before soccer
she was moody, dour and unpredictable, rarely in a good way. Since you
swaggered that fine ass into town, everyone in this house is much happier.
Kylie’s approved you hanging around here.”

He grinned from ear to ear. “Women like me.”

* * * * *

Madison’s leadership descended on Jocelyn’s house. She opted
for the warm comfort of a living room over the cold steel of the Chamber
building to manage the tensions that would flare in the meeting. What worry
plagued her disappeared when Tessa Atwater arrived on her father’s arm and sped
to Kylie’s room as soon as she crossed the threshold. Jared’s eyes smiled back
at hers, adding to the joy hesitantly moving into her heart. He behaved as part
of the household—taking coats, pouring drinks, slicing cheese, moving
furniture. His periodic light touches on her arm, her lower back, her shoulder
kept her spirits high. When Brenda arrived on Don’s arm, she winked to let
Jocelyn know she had noticed and would follow up.

When all the participants had drinks in hand, she kicked off
the evening. “I’m not going to mince words. Premier Health is hemorrhaging
financially and closures throughout the country are imminent. We are one of
their newest facilities, unproven, and unnecessary since they own the
technology patents. We must assume the company will close and focus on managing
the recovery.”

Don crossed and uncrossed his legs, folded and unfolded his
arms. “Jocelyn, I don’t agree. We should focus our top resources on keeping
Health Corp open.”

“I concur, keeping the facility open is the only real option
we have,” said Debbie Hester, leaning over Jared to offer cleavage and
well-tanned legs for his viewing pleasure.

She should do something about that cellulite. Meow. So
below you, Joci.

“Jocelyn, why a different strategy this time? What’s
changed?” Myron asked.

“The deal we struck assumed the firm was growing. We
demonstrated the Madison facility could spur that development by helping it
enter new markets. The recent scandal revealed the poor financial situation of
the company. Its only survival strategy is to scale back operations and reduce
market size.”

Tension thickened the air. Reality was sinking in and it
hurt.

“We don’t know that for sure, do we, Jocelyn?” Don’s voice
projected the anger and fear simmering underneath his in-control façade.

“No, nothing’s certain at this stage, which is why I’ll ask
you to lead a small team to Premier’s Headquarters to ferret out the facts and
negotiate if there is an opportunity to keep Health Corp open. I’ll form the
team here for recovery activities. To put all our eggs in one basket would be
foolish.”

Her allies rallied, her opponents resisted, but the neutral
parties wavered. She needed them on her side. A light went on, she knew what to
do.

“Before we break up, I want to form a committee to focus on
civic pride. It will keep the town motivated and engaged in the difficult times
ahead. Given the importance of sports to the county, I would ask Jared Wyatt to
head that team.”

His eyebrows hit the ceiling, lines of displeasure streaked
across his brow. Quickly pulling it together, he pasted a smile on his face for
the rest of the crowd, but Jocelyn noticed it never reached his eyes. She’d
worry about it later, after she made this work.

The recommendation was a hit. The nonaligned jumped on board
and the first meeting for the civic pride committee was set.

Jared stayed after the others left to clean up the house.
Kylie’s presence provided a respite from the tension that surfaced between
them.

Kylie in bed, Jocelyn addressed the strain immediately.
“What’s bothering you?”

“Why didn’t you talk to me earlier about heading a
committee? You sprung it out there where I couldn’t say no.” He leaned against
the kitchen threshold, arms folded, lips in a tight line.

“I just thought of it. A lot of groups were wavering and I
needed them on my side.” She smiled provocatively, not really sure what spurred
his anger. “Why don’t you want to work with me on this?”

“Babe, I do, but we decide together how. I’m not one of the
town chess pieces you can move around at will. Discuss it with me first next
time.”

“Unfortunately, in this town, you are one of the pieces on
the chess board. But I hear you and promise to consult you first, when I can.”