Читать книгу When Morning Comes - Harmony Evans - Страница 10

Chapter 2

Isaac leaned back in his chair and almost smiled at the irony. He hadn’t been expecting a beautiful woman on the agenda for Monday morning. Then again, he’d never expected to be cooking breakfast every day for two children, either.

Or trying to cook. His kids were not pleased with having to settle for Pop-Tarts. Again.

He sniffed lightly wondering if the stench of burned bacon was still on him and what Autumn would think if it was.

Isaac mentally slapped himself upside the head. If he cared even a little bit about the opinions of this perfect stranger, this gorgeous stranger, the stress must be really getting to him. He had two children to think about now, not impressing a woman.

He was a father.

“Anything wrong?”

The concern in Autumn’s voice sounded so genuine, he nearly blurted out, Everything.

And it was true. His life was in a state of total upheaval right now. Sure, the chaos was the result of choices he wanted to make, but that didn’t make things any easier.

Instead Isaac opted for the answer likely echoed in countless offices across the country on any given morning. Men and women just like him who wished someone would care, but who also realized that most people were too busy just trying to make it in this crazy world to bother.

He faked a yawn. “I was running late and missed my morning coffee.”

Isaac kept his gaze trained on the boardroom window. The mid-January sky was a bleak and dirty gray, the kind that makes you wonder if the sun will ever shine again. For reasons he didn’t understand, he didn’t want to look too deeply into Autumn’s eyes. It wasn’t that he was afraid of what he would see in them, but of what he wouldn’t.

“I don’t drink coffee.”

Her voice wove through his ears, piercing the fog of his thoughts. It was throaty, insistent and knotted with just enough innate sexiness to make his groin twitch in a way that made him glad he was sitting down.

Just to be on the safe side, he rolled closer to the table and turned his head toward her.

“What mortal doesn’t drink coffee?” he said in an incredulous tone. “What gets you up in the morning? Your extremely good looks?”

No sooner were the words out of his mouth that he realized he’d overstepped the boundaries between simple curiosity and workplace etiquette. Rule number one: never acknowledge the physical attractiveness of your coworkers.

He hated the fact that his stomach clenched as he waited for her reaction, but Autumn just sat there with a blank expression on her face.

If Felicia was still in the room, she’d probably write him up. Ever since she tried to seduce him and he’d turned her down, he’d been paying for it. She watched him like a hawk circling prey.

Did she really think he was stupid enough to bed Sterling’s daughter? His working relationship with his boss was strained enough without any additional help from Felicia’s shenanigans. Although Isaac doubted Sterling knew anything about Felicia’s unwanted advances, he couldn’t be sure without actually asking him.

Still, Isaac had a nagging feeling that the partnership he’d busted his butt working for his entire career was now out of reach, and he didn’t know why.

Autumn’s voice broke in on his reverie. “No. What gets me up in the morning is,” she replied, leaning forward, as if in secret. “Pure. Adrenaline.”

Her plump lips, coated with just a hint of pale pink gloss, turned up into a very kissable half smile. She seemed amused rather than offended at his statement, which made her even more attractive.

Her perfume, the scent of a flower he recalled but at the moment couldn’t name, teased his nose. At that moment, he knew he would drive himself crazy trying to remember and wishing he could smell more of her.

Isaac whooshed out a breath of relief. “Ah, yes. I remember those days.”

The times he couldn’t wait to get to the office. He was always the first to arrive, the last to leave and the chump who didn’t mind coming in on weekends and holidays. All B.K.

Before kids.

Thank God, they’d saved him.

Autumn settled back in her chair. “So what happened?”

Isaac’s heart squeezed again at the caring in her voice and he drummed his fingers on the table under her intense gaze. Although the question was a legitimate one, he wasn’t about to tell her—or anyone else—the truth.

“The world’s financial markets collapsed one by one. Making our jobs a whole lot tougher. You need more than adrenaline to survive in this business now. You need a magic wand and the ability to predict the future.”

Autumn’s warm laugh resonated throughout the room and sank into his bones, and for a moment he felt carefree and relaxed.

Her expression quickly sobered. “That’s part of the reason why I’m here.”

He frowned, sorry to see her smile disappear but suddenly knowing why. “Another victim of downsizing?”

Autumn nodded. “We’d lost so many clients that it didn’t make sense to keep all our analysts around. Or at least that’s what they told me.”

He couldn’t imagine being jobless. In the past, it was something he’d never had to worry about. But with the way Felicia was acting toward him lately, he wasn’t so confident. Since she was Sterling’s daughter, nobody at Paxton really knew how much influence she had over him. To be ensnared in her web was one place no employee ever wanted to be.

“Their loss is our gain,” Isaac replied with what he hoped was a reassuring smile.

Her exuberant grin was infectious. “Thank you. I’m really excited to be here and to be working with you.”

Autumn tilted her head and he watched her curls skim the edge of her jawline. He wondered what that hair would feel like in his fingers. Her white, long-sleeved silk blouse did not detract his eyes from coveting what was beneath. In his mind, he saw his hands around her trim waist as she hitched up her navy blue skirt.

Isaac’s groin tightened painfully and he shifted slightly in his seat as his body involuntarily reacted to a sudden desire for Autumn that he didn’t understand. But he did know this: furtive glances at her across the cafeteria or in a meeting room would never satisfy him.

He bet that, beneath the stark corporate garb, she was as soft and fleeting as the snowflakes that were beginning to swirl outside. Yet he sensed she was tough to catch and even tougher to hold on to. That’s why he had to stay as far away from her as he could manage.

He picked up her résumé to distract himself. There was no current home address listed, but he assumed she lived in the area. As was his custom, he flipped to the last page so he could review her work experience in reverse chronological order.

Reading quickly, he learned that Autumn had a bachelor’s degree in Economics and Mathematics, and a master’s degree in Statistics. All from Yale University. She was an Ivy girl, she was smart and she loved numbers. Plus, she had a killer body. It added up to some serious trouble for a man who was trying not to be attracted to her and failing badly.

“I hope you won’t let our respective universities affect our working relationship,” she said in a teasing voice.

He glanced up from the paper in front of him. “You’re referring to the long-standing rivalry between Yale and Harvard.”

She nodded and crossed her legs, sheathed in sheer hose he yearned to rip away.

He smiled. “A little bit of competition always makes things more interesting, no?”

“Most definitely,” she responded. “But I’m glad I’m on your team, rather than fighting against it.”

Isaac raised a brow. “Because you know you would lose?” he said matter-of-factly, hoping he didn’t sound arrogant.

She shook her head. “Not at all. But winning isn’t everything.”

Isaac glanced over at the door. “Don’t let Sterling ever hear you say that.”

Autumn didn’t ask why and Isaac was glad he didn’t have to explain. If she wanted a career at Paxton, she would learn for herself soon enough.

He returned his attention to her résumé and noticed something that puzzled him.

Like Autumn, Isaac had also made the decision to pursue an advanced degree directly after college. But the difference was that when he finished graduate school, he’d gone straight to work for Paxton, which was one of the leading investment firms in the country.

On the contrary, Autumn had worked at some midlevel investment banks all around the country. Los Angeles. Phoenix. Miami. Companies whose names he’d never even heard of.

He considered pressing the issue but decided against it.

Multiple job hops might make some people nervous, but not him. Autumn was young, intelligent, and she obviously knew when a situation wasn’t working to her advantage. Ambitiousness was a quality he admired, especially in a woman.

Besides, if Sterling trusted her enough to hire her, why shouldn’t he?

Still, he couldn’t let her off the hook completely. “Your résumé is impressive,” he began slowly. “But you’ve moved around a lot. Surely that’s not because of the economy every time, is it?”

“I always leave myself open to the possibilities of a greater challenge or something new.”

He flipped back to the first page again. “Your previous place of employment was in Cleveland?”

Autumn’s lips curved into a mischievous grin. “What can I say? I love to rock and roll!”

Isaac laughed aloud, pleased by the free-spirited tone in her voice. He found her playful attitude refreshing and very appealing. Even in the overbearing atmosphere of the boardroom, not to mention the pressure of the first day in a new job, she had no problem being herself.

Most women tried everything they could to impress him. The girls in the office knew he was single, available and one of the wealthiest men in New York City. Out on the street, the women knew him as a regular guy who was hotter than the asphalt on a July afternoon. In the winter, they worshipped the ground he melted ice on.

He’d be the first to admit that sometimes he took the bodies they willingly offered and he enjoyed them. The one-night stands most of these women hoped would turn into a lifetime of ardor and passion meant absolutely nothing to him.

While the opportunity to bed a beautiful woman and run the other way the next morning was still there, now he had two good reasons to refuse their advances. His children.

Consequently, he hadn’t slept with a woman in a very long time. Whether becoming a father caused him to feel a sense a guilt or greater moral virtue, he didn’t know.

The more likely reason was that he was tired of being a pawn in a two-player game that never went anywhere. Of pretending he didn’t want a woman to love him for more than his face, his body or his money.

Isaac checked the time on his phone and stifled a yawn.

He’d been up late again helping his son, Devon, with his math homework. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d had a good night’s sleep. And tonight, he expected that thoughts of what Autumn looked like without the corporate jail suit would impede his rest even further.

“What do you say we rock and roll and get a jump on that tour?”

“Sounds great,” Autumn replied. “You can show me the cafeteria and we can finally get that cup of coffee you missed out on this morning.”

Isaac tried to swallow back another yawn. When it escaped, they both laughed.

“Yeah, you can tell I really need it, can’t you?”

His eyes caught hers again. God, she was even prettier when she laughed. Thank goodness, the analysts occupied a space on another floor in the building.

His phone beeped, bringing his attention back to business. He pulled it out of his pocket, looked at it and groaned.

“Unfortunately, the tour is going to have to be a quick one. I’ve got another meeting in ten minutes and I think I’ve used up all my Get to a Meeting Late cards for the day.”

“How do I snag one of those?” Autumn joked.

“Trust me, you do not want to be in Late Club,” he said, in all seriousness.

“Why not?”

“Because I’m the one and only member.” His gut did a little flip when she pursed her lips at him. “I didn’t used to be,” he backtracked. “I mean, it was only when I—”

He stopped abruptly at the winsome look on her face and realized he was rambling. Something that was completely out of character for him. Worst of all, he’d almost told her about his kids. No one at Paxton knew about them and he wanted to keep it that way for now.

“Just do your best to never be late to a meeting, especially one with Felicia or Sterling,” he said curtly.

“I appreciate the heads-up,” Autumn affirmed. “By the way, is there always that much tension between them? My neck was beginning to hurt watching their verbal ping-pong match.”

“Yeah,” Isaac snorted. “But you’ll get used to it. We all have. Felicia plays the Daddy’s-girl role around here to the hilt, but she’s very capable.”

And lately very dangerous.

Isaac had heard rumors of people getting terminated, supposedly because Felicia didn’t like them, but those were typically lower-level employees. They were the unfortunate ones she liked to trample on the most.

Hopefully, Felicia knew better than to mess with him. Isaac had too much stake and longevity in the company to throw it all away just because of her passive-aggressive antics.

If only he could figure out why Sterling was giving him the cold shoulder all of a sudden, then he’d be able to come clean about his kids. They meant more to him than anything in the world, and being made a partner at Paxton would secure his new family’s financial future.

He wouldn’t let anything or anyone stand in his way.

Not a bitch like Felicia.

Nor a beauty like Autumn.

Isaac felt her eyes examining his face, as if it would reveal all his secrets, so he got up and walked over to the floor-to-ceiling window.

The snarl of people far below seemed to belong to another world. He always liked to remind himself that he was one of them, especially during those times he was afraid of losing everything.

“Can I ask you a question?”

Isaac turned away and faced her. “Sure, anything.”

“What do you like best about working here?”

Isaac took a few steps and leaned against an empty console.

“That’s easy,” he replied. “I get to play with other people’s money, and make a bundle of my own. What about you? What attracted to you Paxton Investment Securities?”

She folded her arms. “The reputation of the company in the industry. Plus, the fact that I love to analyze every investment to insure we are maximizing profits and shareholder value while maintaining the highest ethical standards in every transaction.”

He was surprised that her bold confidence excited him, making him stir in all the wrong places. When a woman’s strong work ethic was a major turn-on, that’s a sign that one was severely undersexed.

“You sound like Sterling,” he said with hidden admiration. “No wonder he hired you.”

Although he truly meant it as a compliment, she brushed his comment aside.

“I just try to do the right thing, in any and all situations.”

“That’s wonderful. That’s the way it should be,” he asserted. “You are reporting to Sterling, right?”

Something flashed in her eyes. “Wh-what do you mean?”

He gave her a strange look. “He’s your boss. You’re his direct report, not mine, right?”

Autumn nodded. “Yes. Sorry, I blanked out for a bit.”

Isaac was relieved. At the moment, he worked solo and that’s the way he liked it. Having to manage Autumn would be a major distraction, one he couldn’t afford to risk right now.

“It’s kind of an odd arrangement, isn’t it? That analysts report directly to the president of a firm. Especially one of this size.”

Isaac shook his head. “Not at Paxton. Sterling wants there to be a clear division between the investment bankers and the analysts. He feels it’s easier for the analysts to remain objective and impartial, in order to avoid any conflict of interest.

“Have there ever been any issues?”

Isaac clenched his jaw. While he appreciated her curiosity, she needed to know that there were some questions that were off-limits at Paxton. But it wasn’t his place to tell her that. All he was supposed to do was give her a tour of the building and that was it.

Ignoring the question, he eyed the stack of paperwork on the table. “We’d better get a move on it. You’ll want to get those forms filled out and turned in quickly. Paxton has one of the best employee benefits package in the industry, especially if you have—” He choked back his secret. “I mean, if you’re married or have a significant other.”

Not reporting a life change, namely the adoption of his children, was another rung Felicia could hang him by. But if he reported it to her, she’d run to Sterling and tell him right away, and that would be the beginning of the end of his career at Paxton.

Even though Sterling had a daughter of his own, he was well-known for being antifamily. His priorities began and ended with Paxton, and he expected his employees to have the same love and dedication for his company that he did.

Isaac was certain that if Sterling found out about his children, he could pretty much kiss the partnership goodbye.

Needless to say, he was praying his children wouldn’t get seriously ill. Although he was already very wealthy and had private insurance coverage, depending on the injury or severity of illness, he could end up in a financial bind. After growing up poor, that was something he never wanted to experience again.

Isaac pushed himself away from the table and rose. “Let’s get this show on the road.”

He strode to the door and leaned against the wall, waiting while Autumn gathered the rest of her things. Everything she did—straightening the papers, stowing her pen in her purse and then hitching it over her thin shoulder—seemed larger than normal in his eyes.

But of course it wasn’t.

It was only him, without understanding his need, trying to soak in as much detail about her as he could, as mundane as it might be. Before he had to turn her loose and go on about his business.

Although he knew he shouldn’t, he couldn’t stop his eyes from wandering all over her slender body, from tip to toe, as she walked over to him, clasping the thick wad of paperwork in her arms like an innocent schoolgirl. Her curly mane beckoned him unknowingly, her body forcing him to bite the inside of his mouth as he stiffened once again.

“Ready to go?” she asked.

Thank God she was standing an arm’s length away, because if he could have it his way that stupid paperwork would be littering the floor and she’d be wrapped in his embrace.

At just over six feet, he was taller than her, yet he knew instinctively she’d be a perfect fit.

“Yeah,” he muttered thickly, hoping she couldn’t see or hear his desire for her.

He opened the door, bowing slightly. “After you.”

She murmured her thanks, giving him a strange smile as she walked out of the room. The sultry way Autumn’s skirt clung to her backside was almost too much for one man to bear, especially on a Monday morning.

He’d just turned off the lights in the conference room when his phone rang.

“Hi, Sterling, what can I do for you?”

As he listened to his boss and the man that was almost a father figure to him, his heart raced with excitement and dread.

He ended the call and glanced quickly at Autumn. “I’m going to need to postpone the tour. Are you going to be okay?”

Her brows knit together in confusion. “What was that about?”

“I’ll explain at lunch,” he replied, shoving the phone in his pocket. “Meet me in my office at noon.”

Without waiting for Autumn’s response, he turned and jogged down the hall, feeling her eyes on his back and her smile settling in his heart.