The Executive's Decision (3 page)

“So will you be riding home with me as well?” he asked, biting down on a chip he’d taken from her bag.

“No, sorry. I have someone picking me up. He would have brought me to work, but I would have been late.”

“Had you known your boss wasn’t even going to show up…”

“I would have missed out on lunch.” She bit into her Polish sausage.

“Good thing you didn’t know, then.” He reached over with a napkin and wiped her upper lip, leaving a smudge of mustard on the napkin. The intimacy of it made her avert her eyes. He leaned back on his arms. “I suppose you’re going to get that car of yours fixed.”

“Of course.” She kept her eyes low.

“Too bad. I’ll be stuck with that old lady and her giant bag.” When she lifted her eyes to him, his danced with humor. “I guess I could stop running home in the evenings and just drive.”

If her brother couldn’t get her car running it wouldn’t be so bad. “You run home?”

“I’ve been known to. It frees my mind after a chaotic day.”

His phone rang and he pulled it from his pocket. Regan quietly sat and finished her lunch as he answered the call.

“I’ll be there.” He shook his head. “I said I would.” He sipped his soda while he continued to nod his head. “You did? How did she sound? I’m sure she’ll do a great job.” He glanced toward Regan, who desperately tried to give him his privacy. “Okay, I’ll talk to you tonight.”

Regan tucked her trash into her chip bag and finished off her soda. She noticed him glance at his watch and she realized her very nice lunch date was over.

“I suppose I should head back to my office.” He stood and helped her to her feet. “Thank you, Regan, for a very nice lunch.”

“Thank you.” She picked up the blanket and folded it neatly as he carried their trash to the can. “Thank you again for the flowers. It was very nice of you.” She handed him the blanket and pulled the bouquet to her chest.

“I’m sure I’ll see you again.” He turned and walked away with the blanket tucked beneath his arm.

Regan stood still for a moment and watched him. It seemed as though he was leaving in a hurry. She wondered who had been on the other end of his phone call that would be waiting for him tonight, and guilt weighted her innocent lunch in her belly.

Tears began to burn her eyes as she wondered if she’d been betrayed again. Was there a wife innocently calling her husband and there he sat with a woman he’d only met? No, he was

a nice, honest man, she told herself. Nothing had happened. It was lunch. The flowers were generous, and she’d set them on her desk as a gift for her first day at a new job.

Regan started toward the building that housed the offices of Benson, Benson and Hart. Perhaps her new acquaintance simply had a meeting to rush off to and everything was okay.

Then again, he’d interrupted her before she get his name and she’d forgotten to ask again.

Chapter two

Then Regan returned to the office after lunch, Mary Ellen’s fingers were flying at the keyboard. “How was your lunch?” she asked without diverting her eyes from the letter at her side.

“It was very nice.” She placed her hand on her stomach, feeling the discomfort that had surfaced. It wasn’t so much the food as the phone call and her date’s speedy departure.

“Just nice?” Finally, she looked up. “I thought maybe there would be dinner plans?”

“No.” She shook her head fiercely. “No dinner plans.”

“Let me finish this up.” Mary Ellen sent the document to the printer. She stood with her hands on her back and let out a long, uncomfortable sigh. “He brought you daisies?” she asked, but her manner was more of concern than delight.

“Yes.” Regan smiled, looking down at the bouquet in her arms. But when she looked back up, Mary Ellen’s jaw had set and there was a pulse throbbing in her neck.

“Nice.” She shook her head and pulled the letters from the printer. The daisies had set her off, and Regan hoped it was a hormonal reaction. Mary Ellen showed her the papers. “Changes in the conference call.” She noted the letter. “I just have to put these on his desk.”

“Let me. You should sit. You don’t look very comfortable.” Regan took the letter from her and headed back to the office.

The door was open, and Regan strolled in and laid the letter on the desk, atop the unread newspapers. She turned quickly to leave, still not comfortable in the space.

A man was sitting on the leather couch, his feet propped up, and an enormous grin on his face.

She screamed, recognized him, and muffled the sound with her hands. He was stalking her. The last time a man appeared out of nowhere, he’d beaten her nearly to death. Now here was this stranger who had never introduced himself, and she was paralyzed.

“God, what in the world?” Mary Ellen ran through the door as quickly as she could. “You’re not supposed to sneak up on us like that. That’s the rule. That’s your rule.” Then she reached for her stomach, and that brought him to his feet.

“Mary Ellen, I’m sorry. Sit down.” He took her by the arm and helped her to the couch.

“Well, I guess you’ve met the elusive Mr. Benson,” she said, wincing as she rubbed her stomach.

Zachary looked up at Regan and smiled. “Yes, we’ve met.”

“You!” It was all she seemed to be able to blurt out. “You!”

“I knew I recognized those daisies.” Mary Ellen struggled to get comfortable on the couch. “I assume this is your handsome mystery date?” She nodded in his direction.

He laughed. “Please, handsome? She said you thought I was a hottie.”

“You told him that?” Mary Ellen looked at Regan.

Regan stood with her mouth open. Her professional demeanor had taken a nosedive. “Well yes, but I didn’t know…”

“Really, you think I’m a hottie?” He looked back at Mary Ellen, who rubbed the side of her stomach.

“Get over yourself.” She laughed as she jabbed him in the ribs with her elbow.

Regan watched the banter. She’d seen it before, been part of it even. It was like the relationship she had with her brothers and her sister.

The two of them continued. She knew they weren’t related, but they had obviously been together long enough that there was a line between professionalism and friendliness, and it could be crossed at any time.

When silence fell between them, they both looked at her. She was still stunned into paralysis. The handsome stranger from the bus sat before her. He was her boss. He was a multi-millionaire. He was a liar.

She turned to leave the office, but he stood and reached for her arm. “Regan, please don’t be angry.”

His hand held hers, but his fingers didn’t hurt her. He wanted her attention, but he wasn’t causing her pain. She relaxed, but only slightly. “Angry? Do I look angry?”

“Yes, you do.” There was that handsome smile on his lips, and it infuriated her.

“I think I need to get my things and go.” She tried to move from him, but he blocked her way.

“It was just a misunderstanding.” His eyes were soft, and so was his voice.

She wanted to believe that he was a good man, but she couldn’t trust her judgment. She had leave. It was best to forget the job and the new beginning and just leave.

“Misunderstanding? You lied to me.”

“I didn’t lie.” He took a step back, a big concession for a man with such power. “I just didn’t tell you who I was when you confided in me who you were.” He let out a breath. “Okay, when I say it that way, it does sound pretty lousy.”

“Why were you riding a bus? Saving money?”

“How about the environment? One less car…” he offered.

“Great. I feel so much better.” She walked past him and out of the office.

She had already put on her coat and pulled the few items from her locker when Zachary Benson found her. The talking in the break room died down to a murmur the moment he walked through the door.

“Could we talk before you walk out?” He kept his voice low and leaned against the locker next to hers.

“I don’t think so.”

“Regan, I’m sorry. I should have told you who I was on the bus. Mary Ellen picked you just for me, and I need you.” Regan held up a finger to stop him, but he continued. “Professionally, that is.”

She didn’t speak right away. Instead she stared into the empty locker, willing her unease to subside. She wanted to trust him. “If I choose to stay—and I’m not saying I will—but if I do, I do it for Mary Ellen.”
And for myself.
She couldn’t be scared for the rest of her life. This was her chance to move on.

“That’s fair.”

“I’ll talk to you, but it’s strictly business.”

“From now on.”

“No more lunches under trees, no more daisies, and no more sitting on your lap on the bus, or…”

“Regan, you’re ruining my day.” A smile broke on his lips. This time it unraveled her nerves, making her hands shake and her heart flutter. She took a deep breath.

The silence of the other employees made the room uncomfortable. She looked around the room at her new colleagues, who had all averted their eyes from what had to be the latest source of juicy office gossip. She contemplated her position and looked back at Zachary. He was a powerful man who was willing to say he was sorry. That wasn’t something she’d run into in the past. Maybe Zachary Benson was different.

It was worth her new beginning to give him the benefit of the doubt. If she was wrong, she’d just walk away.

“C’mon, you have a meeting in an hour.” She closed the locker and walked out of the break room with him a few strides behind her.

Mary Ellen was standing at the door to Zach’s office, her skin pale and her breathing labored. Regan took one look at her and raced toward her.

“My water just broke. I need to get to the hospital.” She bit her lip and wrapped her arms around her stomach.

“Okay. Let’s go.” Regan took her arm.

Zach moved in on the other side of Mary Ellen. Crouching, he laced her arm around his neck. “My car is in the garage. We’ll take my elevator down.”

He stood and carried her into the office without looking back at Regan.

She realized she would soon see the secret workings of the River Front Building.

The elevator was concealed behind what she’d thought was a closet door in the corner of his office. They crowded inside; the elevator car was only big enough for the three of them.

She shifted her glance to Zach. “You have a car? Here?”

“Yeah.”

“And you were on the bus this morning why?”

“Am I not allowed public transportation?”

“You—”

Mary Ellen screamed through a contraction, cutting off her verbal bashing.

“Your conference call,” Mary Ellen blurted out.

Regan shook her head. “I’ll go back up when he gets you in the car, and I’ll reschedule it.”

“Like hell,” Zach said as the elevator slowed to a stop. “You’re going with us.”

“I need to run your office.”

“I can’t do this alone,” he argued as they helped Mary Ellen to the Lexus parked in the parking space marked with his name.

“I’ll catch a cab once I’m done, and I’ll meet you at the hospital.” Regan held tighter to Mary Ellen as he dug in his pocket for his key fob and pushed buttons.

“Just get in. I’ll call someone else to fill in.”

Mary Ellen let out a yelp and they both diverted their attention to her. “Sorry for the interruption,” she scolded as she gripped her stomach again.

Regan climbed into the backseat, and Zach helped Mary Ellen into the passenger seat, easing her down carefully. When Regan looked at Zach and realized he was as pale as Mary Ellen, she had to bite back the temptation to offer to drive. Men—what would they do if they had to bear children?

The hospital was only ten minutes away from the office, but it could have been an hour, as nervous as Zach was maneuvering through the early afternoon traffic. He had his cell phone in his hand calling another executive to cover his meeting.

Mary Ellen handed her phone to Regan as they swerved through traffic.

“Call my husband. He’s on the speed dial under two.” She winced with another contraction as Regan followed her instructions and called her husband.

“He’ll meet us there. He said he’s fifteen minutes out.” Regan closed the phone and handed it back to Mary Ellen.

“God, I hope he makes it.”

“First babies can take hours.”

Zach’s eyes met hers in the mirror. “How do you know?”

“Inside source.” Her voice cracked, and she averted her eyes out the window. She tried to focus on the world that passed beyond the car and not on the year she was trying to move on from.

Zach pulled into the unloading zone near the emergency exit. He helped Mary Ellen from the car, and Regan climbed out from the backseat. She retrieved a wheel chair from the entrance and pushed it to the car. Zach held tight to Mary Ellen and helped to ease her into the chair.

Regan spun her around and headed toward the door. “Go park the car. We’ll be on the second floor.”

“How do you know where you’ll be?” he called back to her.

“Inside source,” she said again and disappeared through the door to the hospital, hoping her slip of words would disappear in the chaos of the moment.

The process was far more streamlined than Regan remembered. When they hit the second floor, nurses jumped from their stations to get Mary Ellen into the right place and start monitoring her. Mary Ellen threw her purse at Regan, who pulled out her identification and the envelope she’d labeled DELIVERY. A laugh caught her. She wondered if she’d ever be that prepared for anything outside of work. Then she thought of the morning and her lack of an umbrella. No, Regan Keller would never be that organized in her personal life.