Ruining Mr. Perfect (The McCauley Brothers) (4 page)

“Where’s Big Foot?”

Maddie and Abby glanced at Vanessa.

She glared back at
him
. “Not funny, Cameron.”

He frowned. “I meant Mike.”

Flynn and Brody laughed as Vanessa scowled at her roommates.

“He’s not coming,” his father said. “We asked him not to.”

The laughter around the table faded.

Their mother joined their father, not touching, not standing too close.

Cam had a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach. “Dad?”

Their father continued. “We were going to wait until after dinner, but… Your mother and I are working through some things. We’re going to be living apart for a while.”

“
What?
Mom?” Flynn looked to their mother.

She had tears in her eyes, but none fell as she answered, “Your father thinks it best we live apart.”

“Beth,” James growled.

“And I agree. He’s moving out.”

Everyone sat in silence.

“Where will you go?” Brody asked, then nodded. “You can always stay with me.”

His father shook his head. “No, son. You’re busy, and Flynn, I know you and Maddie spend as much time at your place as you do at hers.” He cleared his throat but didn’t look at their mother.

What the hell was going on? How had his parents’ perfect marriage degenerated to this?

“I plan to continue to see my grandson,” Beth said with a firm bitterness completely alien to the woman who’d busted her ass baking cookies and chaperoning all his childhood field trips with a perpetual grin on her face. “I won’t be made to feel awkward because you need a place to stay.”

James blew out a breath. “Fine. I’ll stay with Cam.”

Everyone turned to him. He had no idea how to respond, so he said the only thing he could. “Sure, Dad. I’ve got plenty of room.”

“I must be out of my fucking mind.” Cam stared at Mike the next morning at an impromptu emergency meeting. Flynn and Brody sat with him at Mike’s table. With Colin at school, they had the place to themselves. “Mike, did you know about Mom and Dad splitting up?”

Mike sighed. “Mom told me yesterday afternoon. She came over and filled me in because she didn’t want to make the announcement with Colin there. So we stayed home.”

“Wish I would have stayed home.” Cam groaned. “Dad moved his clothes in last night. What am I going to do with him?”

“Um, I don’t know. Deal?” Flynn snorted.

“It’s not funny,” Cam snapped. “Dad and I get along like oil and water. He thinks I’m a ‘Nancy,’ and yes, I know he still calls me that.”

“Not all the time,” Mike said kindly as Brody smirked.

“Mike. Please. Dad gets along best with you and the knuckle draggers.” He nodded to Brody and Flynn.

“Fuck you.” Flynn frowned.

“Yeah? Well fuck you too. This situation sucks.” He gritted his teeth. “I’m not just talking about Dad moving in. What’s going on? What did Mom say?”

They all looked to Mike, who sighed. “Not much. Just that she and Dad have been having problems for a while. She wouldn’t go into it, and I didn’t want her to cry, so I left it at that.” His gaze narrowed on Cam. “You need to talk to her. She confides stuff to you.”

“Yeah, fine. I’ll talk to her later today. I have to get to work soon.”

“Us too,” Brody said. “I just wish I knew how to fix this. I mean, we all noticed they hadn’t been as affectionate as they used to be.”

Flynn nodded. They’d had this conversation before. “Not in years. But it’s never been like this. Like Mom and Dad don’t
like
each other.”

“Do you think it’s another woman?” Cam asked.

Three sets of angry eyes turned to him.

“Hey, I’m not saying he’s cheating, but can you imagine any other scenario that would have Mom so angry with him they’d break up? Because yesterday she made it sound like it was all his idea.”

Flynn sighed. “I heard that too. I don’t know. I hate to think that, but they’re hardly together. And he doesn’t seem to mind while Mom’s made cracks about his absence.”

“I’ve seen that too,” Brody admitted. “I’m wondering if Pop did something to Bitsy.” What Brody called their father and mother. “I don’t know, but I see sadness in Bitsy’s eyes. In his, I just see him tired or angry.”

“That’s how he always expressed his feelings,” Cam said, and not without a little hostility. Unlike his brothers, he and his father hadn’t been tight while growing up. Too much a
momma’s boy
—his father had called him. Jokingly, but Cam heard a ring of truth. No matter how much he wanted to be like his father, they just didn’t share the same interests.

And they’d be sharing the same house for the foreseeable future.

“What the hell have I gotten myself into?”

Mike patted him on the back. “Sorry, man. Hey, if he gets to be too much, I’ll break you.”

Cam stared.

“Not break, as in half.” Mike flushed. “I meant I’ll give you a break. We’ll trade. You get Mom off my ass and I’ll get Dad off yours.”

“She still on you about finding a good woman?” Brody asked.

Mike rolled his eyes. “Yeah. And now I see why. Maddie was right, Flynn. I think Mom’s transferring her loneliness to smothering Colin with hugs and kisses. It’s a grandkid thing.”

“Bummer for you.” Flynn looked relieved. “So glad I found Maddie. No need for Mom to fix
me
up.”

“Found?” Cam barked a laugh. “You lucked into that. Don’t question it.”

“Trust me, I don’t.” Flynn’s amusement faded. “I want to patch this thing with Mom and Dad. But I don’t know if we should butt in.”

“Please.” Brody snorted. “Bitsy and Pop have done their share of butting in. Time to turn the tables and fix
them
for a change.” No doubt he recalled just a short month ago when he’d been in a funk and the family had descended on him en masse to cheer him up.

“Yeah, it worked with you.” Cam ignored Brody’s frown. “So Mike, you deal with Dad today. Try to feel him out at work. I’ll swing by tonight and take Mom to dinner. I’ll talk to her then.”

“Good.” Mike nodded. “We do this together. None of us going off on our own or siccing our girlfriends on Mom to mess things up.”

“Hey.” Flynn looked offended.

“Seriously. Abby’s nice.” Brody huffed. “Lay off the ladies. Not our fault you can’t get laid. Don’t hate, Mike. Go get your own girl.”

Mike jeered, “I had one, numbnuts. I got the kid to prove it.”

“You sure he’s yours?” Flynn taunted.

When Mike just looked at him, Flynn sighed. “I know. Lame joke. Kid’s like your little clone.”

“Damn straight.” Mike puffed with pride. “I’m saying we need to be subtle. Except for me and Cam, I’m not thinking you two know the meaning of the word.”

“I know I can’t spell it. That’s why I have Abby.” Brody grinned, always proud of his girlfriend, the writer.

“Hell. Fine.” Flynn stood and glanced at his cell phone. “Come on, Brody. We have to get to work.”

“Me too.” Cam stood as well. Before he could follow the guys out, Mike stopped him. “What’s up?”

“You okay with Dad crashing at your place? I know he can be a real hammer sometimes.”

Cam shrugged. “It’s been a whole night. He hasn’t complained.” Yet. “Good thing I left the guest room the way it was.”

“Using that third room as your office?”

“Yep. It was going to be a temporary space while I tried to wrangle a better deal on my lease downtown, which fell through, by the way. My assistant has been working out of his condo, since he has a huge loft. But it seems like I need to find a new office, pronto. I can’t imagine working at home next to Dad twenty-four-seven.” Consolidating his East and West Coast businesses, he’d been planning the move for months. Something close to the condo, he hoped.

At his current rates and progress, he could well afford it.

“I feel for you, Cam.” Mike rubbed the bridge of his nose. “I just… I can’t wrap my mind around Mom and Dad not being Mom
and
Dad, you know?”

“Yeah.” He blew out a breath. “Mike, I don’t get it. I mean, if they can’t make it work, how the hell can any of us?”

Mike paused. “You have someone in mind?”

He didn’t know whether to say or not.

“Someone tall, blond, and cool? Someone hot but mean? Your type?”

Cam huffed. “Obvious, huh?”

“Uh-huh. Like at Christmas when you two were all flushed and close in Colin’s bedroom? That look of ‘I just sucked face’? Yeah, I saw that.”

“Oh. That.” Cam scrambled for some excuse and came up with nothing.

“Hey, if anyone can tame that woman, it’s you. I believe in you, bro.” Mike grinned. “Is that why you’re always working out at the gym when you have your own fitness place in the condo?”

“Not a word.”

Mike held up his hands. “Not from me. But she’s not stupid. The first time you take her home, you… Oh hell. You can’t take her home. Not with Dad in the next room.” For the first time that morning, Mike laughed with real amusement. “You’re fucked.”

“I know.” Glum and realizing his love life—that he didn’t even have yet—was already suffering, Cam swore and made his way to his real estate agent, now desperate for an office away from his father.

***

Hard at work on Wednesday afternoon, Vanessa found her thoughts wandering to Cameron and his new roommate. What must that be like, living as an adult with one’s father?

She shivered to think of her own and focused on her clients’ audits. As a senior accountant, she had a number of people working under her. Which meant the potential for a lot of mistakes. After looking over Francie’s impeccable—as always—work, she picked up her ringing phone. “Vanessa Campbell.”

“Vanessa? Can you come to my office?”

“Sure, Bill. Be right there.” She saved her work and headed down the hall. McNulty, Peterman employed two hundred and fifty people and was considered one of the top accounting firms in the city. She was proud to be a part of a company she respected, as well as working for a boss she not only trusted but also liked.

After hearing how Maddie’s boss had sexually harassed her and the many dozens of stories told by her other friends, she treasured Bill Peterman. He saw her value, of course, but he would also never ask anyone to do what he himself wasn’t prepared to do.

She knocked. When he told her to come in, she entered and halted. Dear God. Not this guy again.

John Willington, the man she’d dated a few weeks ago, the same one who’d gone on and on about how great he was, stood smiling. “Hello, Vanessa. We meet again.”

She turned to Bill with confusion. “Ah, Bill?”

Bill smiled, though the expression didn’t reach his eyes. Not good. “Vanessa, you already know John Willington, I gather. John’s representing our newest client, Bellemy Tech. He specifically requested that you work with them.”

Not one to pull punches, Vanessa flat-out rejected the idea. “I’m flattered, but as John and I previously dated, I don’t feel it would be right to blur professional lines with personal ones.”

John surprised her by smiling. “That’s why I asked for you. That driven, professional reputation you have precedes you.”

Bill started to relax. Vanessa, not so much. She had a funny feeling. “Oh?”

“Yes. A few of your clients, specifically friends of mine at Drey Dining and Anna Lee’s, all recommended you as an honest accountant who won’t steer me wrong. Our personal history aside, I’d like to hire your company to work with us.”

“What happened to your previous accountants?” Bellemy Tech had a large number of employees, and their current revenue had made the
Forbes
top twenty list of technological companies on the rise.

“I’m in charge of the accounts department, but we outsource the more detailed work with taxes. Our last cooperative didn’t work out. The breaks we’d assumed we’d get ended up putting us in some hot water with the IRS.”

“Ouch.” She nodded to her boss. “It’s up to Bill, of course. But I’m sure he’s explained how we work. If he doesn’t think our strategies will hold up with Uncle Sam, we won’t do it. We tend to be shy of aggressive but more than middle of the road.”

“Perfect.”

Damn. She still didn’t trust his wide smile, but the references he’d mentioned were legit, and really? Would a company as large as Bellemy use a lame excuse like needing an accountant to get John a second date?

Feeling foolish for her arrogance, she held out a hand and shook John’s, ignoring her discomfort when he gripped it a little too long. Bill didn’t seem to notice, all smiles.

“Well, I have to get back to work.” She subtly slid her hand away.

John nodded. “Great. I’ll set up a time for us to get started with Bill, and I’ll see you soon.”

Not him specifically. One of his people, no doubt. Well, perhaps the initial meeting would involve John, but after that, she’d work with his underlings. That she preferred.

She returned to her office, where she found Josh hovering outside. God, just what she didn’t need—another aggravating man standing around, sucking up her oxygen.

“Hey, Josh.” She’d been working on being nicer, though it went against the grain. “What can I do for you?”

He frowned. “Can we talk in your office?”

“Sure.” She swallowed a sigh and preceded him inside.

“Vanessa…”

“Josh, spit it out. I have work to do.” So much for her attempt at nice. She couldn’t even go a whole three days. She’d start again next week. Just like she had last week.

“I—I think one of the women might be, ah, harassing me. Man, this is more embarrassing than the last time I was in here.”

She blinked. Was there some kind of weird vibe in the air or what? “Say that again?”

“Forget it. I feel stupid.” He made to stand when she stopped him.

“No. Tell me.”

His cheeks had turned a blazing red. Not making this up, then.

“It’s just…sometimes when I go in to ask the others for help, a few of the ladies make comments that make me uncomfortable. I’ve tried to joke it off, and I feel like a moron for saying anything, but if I go to HR, they’ll make a big deal of it. Everyone here respects you, and if you happened to say something, they’d stop.” He paused. “You know pretty much everyone is afraid of you.”

She did sigh then. “Fine. Tell me.”

He spilled the details, and she grew furious on his behalf. The kid was barely out of school, working his tail off studying for his CPA exam, and trying to fit in with the corporate world, away from academia. He didn’t need the attitude from some of their older employees. And especially not from divorced-four-times and perpetually horny Dana Lawrence.

“Dana, Trish, and don’t tell me, Gina too, right?”

He shrugged.

“Josh?”

“Yes, all of them.”

She stared at him.

“You believe me? I’m not making this up.”

After a moment, she said, “Josh, let me ask you something unrelated to this mess.”

“Uh, okay.”

“How serious are you about working here?”

“Very.” He sounded earnest.

“You’ve been with the company for four months. We’ll expect you to take your CPA exam and get your license after two years. Are you content to be with us that long?”

“Yes. Uncle Bill explained all this. I’d also like to be certified as a fraud examiner and cash manager, like you did.”

She nodded. “Good for you.” He’d done his homework. “I’ve been working for this company for seven years. And I’ve worked my ass off to get where I am now.” She gave him a hard look. “I don’t let anyone or anything stand in my way. I don’t mean to say I’m a backstabber. I’m honest and I do my job, but I don’t tolerate bullshit. Not from the men or women in this place, not from my boss, and not from you.”

“I swear. I’m not bullshitting you.”

“Fine. I’ll go talk to the women downstairs. But know you’re going to be occasionally teased simply because you’re related to the boss.” She shook her head. “It would have helped you a ton if Bill hadn’t introduced you as his favorite nephew. But if you want that stigma to go away, work on it. Stop calling him Uncle Bill and start calling him Mr. Peterman or boss. Talk to him about it, would you? Don’t worry about the harassment. I’ll deal with them.” She paused. Dana had a thing for younger men. “Before I talk to them, tell me something. You didn’t have sex with any of them, did you? Because that might make this more complicated.”