Chapter7
The next morning, bright and early, there was a knock at the door. Aleisha felt her heart flip once in her chest, and she smiled as she opened the door, pausing for a moment in surprise as she stood face to face with a lovely-looking woman.
Her mind had been on Kyle, and it was him she had been thinking about all morning when she’d showered, when she’d gotten dressed, and when she’d opened the front door. She’d taken extra time that morning, choosing a thin sweater dress that hugged her curvy form, and while it didn’t show much skin, except at the neck and from just above her knees downward, it did hint at what was just beneath the material, and even though she knew she had no business thinking about her boss the way that she was, she couldn’t resist dressing a bit for him.
“Good morning!” the lady greeted her brightly. “I’m Julie. I’m here from the nanny agency. I’ve been sent to watch over your little ones until your regular care provider returns.”
Aleisha blinked and emptied her mind of thoughts of Kyle. “Yes, of course. Please, come in! Thank you for coming on such short notice. Cara, my regular sitter, had to go out of town for a family emergency, and I was left unexpectedly short-handed. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate you doing this to help me.”
“I’m pleased to!” she announced, and Aleisha knew that she meant it. “I’ve brought my references with me, just so that you may have a look at them. I suspect you might not have had a chance to see them, and I wanted you to be confident about who would be looking after your children.” She handed a three-page list of references with attached letters of recommendation to Aleisha that named some of the most renowned people on the eastern seaboard: some of them billionaire business moguls, some of them celebrities, and some of them politicians. All of them had excellent things to say about her.
“This… this is quite an impressive list!” Aleisha gasped softly as she looked over it and then raised her eyes back to the woman before her. “Thank you for bringing it.”
Julie had short, cropped, golden blonde hair and round, blue eyes. She was dressed crisply in a pair of cloth pants and a knit top with a cardigan over it, buttoned just up near the neck. “Are the children up yet? I’d like to meet them while you’re here.”
“Yes, they’re in their high chairs eating breakfast. Please, come into the kitchen.” Aleisha led the lady into the kitchen, and she went right to the babies, who were wearing their bibs and making a mess of their food. Hailey smiled at her and reached her small hand up, holding up a Cheerio for Julie to eat.
“They are precious, aren’t they!” Julie exclaimed with a big smile.
“Yes, they are. This is Harry, and this is Hailey,” Aleisha told her, watching to see how they’d interact. Julie took the Cheerio from Hailey and pretended to eat it, enjoying it immensely before offering it back to her. Hailey laughed at her and took it, eating it herself with great gusto.
Aleisha breathed a little better and felt some sense of security that her babies would likely be in good hands. “I’ve left all my contact information here on the refrigerator and a page of instructions for them. They have a fairly regular routine during the day, and I’ve written it all down for you. If you have any questions about anything, please don’t hesitate to contact me.”
Julie looked at the page and nodded as she read through it. “It looks just fine. I’m sure we’ll do very well today, won’t we, children?” She gave them both a smile, and Harry clapped his hands together.
There was another knock at the door, and Aleisha’s heart skipped. She knew it was Kyle. She couldn’t stop the smile that spread over her face. “Well, that’s probably my ride to work. Kiss me,” she told the babies, leaning down to give each of them a hug and kiss before saying goodbye and heading for the door. She picked up her bag and opened it to see Kyle standing there, looking as handsome as ever.
“Good morning,” she said with a happy grin.
“Good morning. Did the new nanny show up?” he asked pointedly.
“Yes, she’s here. She seems very nice. Thank you again for helping me with that.” Aleisha gave him a grateful look.
He nodded. “You’re welcome. Do you mind if I meet her? I want to be sure that we’re both comfortable with her watching the kids. They need to be in good hands while you’re away.”
Aleisha blinked in surprise. “Uh… sure. She’s in the kitchen with them, giving them breakfast.”
He walked past her and went straight to the kitchen. Aleisha stood and waited for him by the door, staring in amazement at the space he had just disappeared into. She hadn’t expected him to be so interested in her little ones having such good care, but she guessed if he was paying for it, and he was, then perhaps he wanted to make sure that he got the best.
A few minutes later, he walked out with his hands tucked into his coat pockets and a pleasant smile on his face. “You’re right. She seems nice. I think she’ll do. Shall we go?”
He held the door for her, and they walked out together as he closed it behind him.
She thanked him once more as they got into the car and he drove them to work, but he waved it off and told her that it was his pleasure to help her and that he wanted to be sure she was able to get to work because they had a lot to do. She knew he was right about that.
It was a tremendous relief to her that she had someone looking after her babies who came with such incredible references, but more than that, it was an even bigger relief that her boss had been so understanding, helpful, and kind as to help her out when she needed it most.
It showed her a good deal of his character, and regardless of the fact that there was an undeniable physical attraction in her to him, she could easily see that there was a good deal more to him that made him exactly the kind of man she wanted to work for, and there was no doubt in her mind that she was a lucky lady to be employed by him.
When they got to the office, she went straight to her desk to work, her mind set on the cases she was working on. New York Tech and the Charleston cases were at the top of her list. Everything else she had fell in line behind those two. The other thing that was soaking up some of her workday time was the acquisition of Granger Corp. Since there were other top notch law firms in Manhattan trying to get Granger to sign on with them, they had serious competition, and Aleisha had offered to try to help find a way to sway them to Carrington, Peterson, Jansen, and Drake.
It was mid-afternoon when Kyle came into her office and sat before her desk. She looked at him with a smile.
“What can I do for you?”
“I needed to ask that you stay late, if you can. We need to rewrite the case against New York Tech and be ready to depose them as soon as we can. Then tomorrow, we’ll have to get all twenty-seven of the passengers to sign the new settlement, and the bus driver, too. Can you do it?” he asked, looking hopefully at her. “I’m sorry to ask you to stay late, I know the babies are at home with Julie, but we’ve got to get this done.”
She felt glad there was something she could do for him to help pay him back for all that he had already done for her. “No problem at all; I’ll be glad to help. If we work together, we can get it done faster.” She gave him a nod. “I’ll call Julie and see if she is able to stay later.”
He gave her a grateful smile. “Thank you.” With that, he rose and walked out of her office, and she reached for the phone. Julie said that it was fine if she stayed late, and Aleisha sent the message to Kyle.
When the rest of the office had cleared out after five, they took over one of the conference rooms and spread their work around them on the big table. Kyle and Aleisha were careful to get everything that they could into to the settlement.
“Who are we deposing?” she asked as they worked.
“We’ll be talking with their CEO, Shaun Morrison, and his lawyer, George Whitcomb. I know George. He’s a scumbag, but he knows when he’s been beat, so hopefully, he will take one look at this and advise Shaun to do what’s right.”
Kyle sighed. “We’re going to have to get them to admit that they’re guilty of negligence in the maintenance of their bus fleet and agree to a settlement, or go to court. If we have enough evidence against them and we can show them that they’ll lose bigger in court, they’ll settle out of court, but we’ve really got to have all our aces lined up.”
“What are we changing from the first settlement?” Aleisha asked curiously as she worked through the stacks of papers around them.
“Well, we’re going after them for the safety of their buses, so they’ll have to fix all of them and keep them updated by providing regular proof of that to the city and the state, and they’ll have to give Mr. Flanders his letter of recommendation, but beyond that, we’re asking for more money.” Kyle sorted through papers as well and made notes on a scratch pad beside him.
“How much more?” Aleisha asked, raising a brow.
He raised his eyes and looked at her seriously. “Ten times as much as they were just about to sign off on. It’s also ten times as much as they have ever settled for. It seems that every case on they’ve had, the insurance company settlement has been for no more than the prior amount on this one, though several of them have been settled for less.
“They never go above what our old number was. We’re forcing them to renegotiate and to pay more than they’ve ever paid. We’re also forcing them to fix the problem, and that’s going to cost them a heap of money as well because their buses aren’t just operating in Manhattan. They’re all over the entire eastern seaboard from Maine to Virginia. If what we’ve found out about them in this state alone is true, and I have no doubt that it is, this is something that they’ll have to fix company-wide.”
Aleisha gasped. “Ten times? My god… that’s a big change. You’re right. We are going to have to have everything we can get our hands on.” She looked up at him then. “Do you think they’ll do it, or do you think it will go to court?”
He shook his head. “There’s really no way to know until we get to the deposition, but I haven’t been to court in a long time, and this is definitely something they won’t want dragged through court because if it goes that far, I’m going to make it fifteen times as much money as we first asked them for.”
She shook her head and continued to work. An hour later, he stopped her and asked her if she was hungry, offering to break long enough to get something for the two of them to eat. She walked with him to the elevators and down to the street. As they strolled along in the cool night air, he turned to her and gave her a curious look.
“Do you mind if I ask you a personal question? You don’t have to answer it, but I just… would like to know, if it’s alright.” He lifted a brow.
She nodded. “Sure. Go ahead.” She couldn’t think of anything that he might ask her that she wouldn’t be fine with answering.
“You have great kids, and I can see that they’re the most important thing in your life, but I’m kind of wondering how… how it happened that you’re a single mother.” He looked away, taking in the street around them, and then turned his gaze back to her as they neared a deli.
She pushed her hands deep inside her coat pockets and sighed heavily, looking away for a moment before she answered. “I don’t mind answering that. It’s not a great story, I guess. I made law school a priority. I was determined to become a great lawyer. When I graduated, I was hired at our firm, and it was perfect; I’d done all my school work, I’d graduated at the top of my class, I’d gotten the dream job that I wanted right out of school, and things seemed perfect.
I knew that I wanted to start a family early so that I could be a younger mother. I wanted to be sure that I could spend a lot of my life with my children and grandchildren. I didn’t want to start at thirty-five or forty years old and lose out on time with whatever kids I might have.”
He nodded. “That makes sense.”
“So, I had been involved with a guy who was really into me and really into ‘us,’ but he wasn’t so interested in having a family. It was like he was commitment shy if it was anything more than me. We kept talking about having kids and getting married, and he kept waffling. He’d go back and forth – yes, he did want to start a family with me, and then no, he wanted to wait to start a family, and what was so wrong with it just being us, and wasn’t I happy with him like it was.
“He went back and forth for so long that I finally realized that I was going to have to make a hard decision. I gave him an ultimatum. We either got married and got pregnant within three months, or we were done. He left.” She frowned and looked down at the ground for a moment before she looked back up at Kyle.
“I was in my perfect world, and everything was right except my home life, and that was supposed to be the center of it all, you know… the core. I mean, what’s anything else worth if it isn’t all for your family? Why go to all the trouble to have a successful career and a great education and be the best version of yourself if you don’t have someone to share it with? I wanted to share it with children and a husband, but that just wasn’t in the cards for me.
“So, I decided to go it alone and give up on love. The traditional method just wasn’t going to happen, so I went to a fertility clinic. I got pregnant right away, and with the help of my sister and my grandma, I had the kids and got back to work, and now I have my family, even though it’s not quite what I had in mind. It’s not love, marriage, kids, and happily ever after, but it is good, and now, of course, I wouldn’t trade the babies for anything. They’re amazing.” She smiled and gave her shoulders a shrug, hoping that he wouldn’t judge her too harshly for going after what she wanted, even if it wasn’t the traditional way most people did it.
He was quiet a long moment, thinking about what she’d said. He pursed his lips a moment and then looked back at her. “Do you have any regrets about the kids not having a father in their life?”
Aleisha’s smile slipped away quietly. “Yes, actually, I do, but I am doing everything that I can do to make sure they are raised well. I wish we had been a whole family, but it didn’t work out that way, so we’ll go forward and make the best of what we have.”
Kyle nodded and gave her an encouraging smile. “I can see that you’re doing your best, and it’s clear that you are raising them well. I’m glad to know that you have the help of your sister and your grandmother. I’m sure that makes a big difference.”
She gave him a nod. “It does. I’m lucky to have them.”
“They’re great kids. Absolutely adorable. I hope that I get a chance to see them again soon.” He smiled at her, and she stopped short in surprise and delight. She hadn’t expected to hear anything of the kind from him, and she was happy to hear it, but she was even more surprised by the fact that it meant anything to her, because it did.
They got dinner from the deli and headed back to the office, working a couple more hours before they were able to finish up and call it a night. She was tired but pleased with her days’ work, and she had to admit that even though it had been long hours that day, the company was ideal, and she was pleased to have gotten to do the work with him.
As she picked up her coat and her purse in her office, she happened to glance over at her desk and noticed a folder file sitting on it. She sighed and tilted her head to the side. It was the Granger Corp file. She’d forgotten to give it back to Kyle when she’d finished up and told him good night. Thinking that he may still be in his office, she picked it up and headed out of her own office, shutting off the light.
She pulled his office door open and walked right into Kyle as he was coming out. She stopped suddenly and caught her breath as he did the same. His jacket was off, and his tie was gone. The top buttons of his shirt were undone to the middle of his chest, and his hair was slightly rumpled.
His steel blue eyes met hers, and for a moment, everything in her caught, and she could neither move nor breathe. He was so close to her. Closer than he ever had been. She could feel the heat radiating from his body, and she caught the scent of him as his gaze locked on her.
“What is it?” he asked in a quiet voice that had just a touch of gruffness to the edge of it.
Her back was planted against the door jam, and he was standing right in the doorway directly in front her, effectively stopping her from moving.
Struggling to find her voice and to not reveal her pounding heart, she tried to speak as normally as she could, but her words came out as not much more than a whisper. “I.. I forgot to give you the Granger file.”
From somewhere in the back of her mind, her brain forced her arm to move, and she lifted her hand and raised the file up between them. It only barely fit in what little space there was between his chest and hers.
Without taking his eyes from hers, he closed his fingers around the file, and she let go of it, lowering her hand slowly.
He leaned in closer to her, his face merely inches from her own. “Aleisha…” he said quietly and paused, searching her eyes and then letting his gaze fall to her mouth. His lips parted slightly, and she felt as if her heart was going to beat itself right out of her chest.
It was going to happen. He was going to kiss her. Her blood had turned to fire in her veins as she tried to steady herself, anxious for his lips to touch hers. He looked from her mouth back up to her eyes and stared hard.
“Thank you for all that you did tonight. You worked really hard. Go home and have a good night with the babies. Get some rest.” He closed his mouth and reached his hand up, setting his palm against the door frame over her head and pushing himself backward. “Goodnight. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
He turned then and walked back into his office. She stood there a moment, everything in her rushing madly as her breath came back to her and her mind began to function again. Blinking, she tried to refocus her thoughts and her feelings to where they should be.
“Goodnight, Kyle,” she replied and turned, walking away from their offices to the elevators. Once she was safe inside the silver box as it descended, she covered her face with her hands and groaned. She berated herself for being so stupid and letting herself get caught up in some kind of imagined romantic idea in her head.
He had been nothing but good to her, nothing but friendly and helpful, and just because he’d happened to be too close to her as a result of them walking into each other in his office doorway, she had assumed that he was going to kiss her. She’d imagined it, and she’d been dead wrong.
Kyle Drake was not going to kiss her, and she knew damn well that she had no business wishing that he would kiss her. He was her boss, and if she was lucky, he would stay her boss for years to come. Wanting anything more than a great working business relationship with him was much more than she had any right to ask for. She vowed to herself as she walked to her car that she would not make the mistake of falling for him, not even a little. She was there to work and to be a professional, and that was all that was going to happen.