right. I just wasn’t expecting to see anyone in my father’s house that early. Especially someone like you, coming down the stairs at that hour. My mistake.”
Her eyes grew wide, and the color in her cheeks heightened to a deep shade of red. Her grip on the pen she held grew so tight that her knuckles turned pale. This did not bode well, he thought.
“What are you saying exactly, Mr. Hammond?” she asked through gritted teeth. Uh-oh. He’d just gone from being Justin to Mr. Hammond in the span of a few moments.
“Nothing. I mean, I’m simply trying to clear the air. To explain my reaction upon seeing you.”
“Maybe you should do that. Explain exactly what your reaction was when you first saw me this morning.”
She threw it out like a challenge. One he wasn’t foolish enough to even attempt to accept. He’d begun this apology all wrong. But the conversation he’d overheard between Carli and her assistant had thrown him off. Heck, Carli herself kept throwing him off. It was like he didn’t even know how to behave around her.
Where was it coming from?
“Never mind. It’s not important,” he said, hoping she would drop the whole matter.
Apparently, that was too much to hope for. He should have known better. She immediately shook her head. “No, please clarify. I’m very interested in what exactly it is you’re trying to say.”
The woman was relentless. “Look, it’s not important. I simply wanted to offer an apology.”
She studied him in a way that made him feel like a lab specimen under a microscope. Perhaps some sort of insect. If he wasn’t so damn uncomfortable, he would have almost laughed at her scorn at him.
“Which you still haven’t done,” she said.
“What?”
“I’ve yet to hear an apology. Or a valid explanation, for that matter.”
His mouth grew dry. Damn it, he was a successful executive, known for his cutthroat business style and ruthless negotiation skills. How was this woman cutting him off at the knees? And why was he almost enjoying it?
“Um? Explanation?”
She gave him a smirk of a smile, like he’d been caught. He supposed he had. “For why you behaved as you did. I was simply delivering a file at your father’s request. And instead of introducing yourself, you dismissed me and practically shooed me out of the house.”
Justin cringed at her description. He couldn’t believe he’d been such a boor to her. Nor could he believe the way he was botching this apology now. Not only had be managed to insult a valuable Hammond employee, he couldn’t even apologize for it in a sufficient manner. True to form, when it came to anything Hammond related, Justin was woefully lacking. He may have started his own wildly successful consulting firm and grown it from a one-man operation to a major international business. But when it came to being a Hammond, all he’d ever managed was failure. More proof that he didn’t belong here back in Boston. Or at Hammond’s Toys for that matter.
He had to pull himself together. Find a way to explain himself. But how? It’s not like he could come out and admit to jumping to the worst conclusion—suspecting Carli to be his father’s mistress. Though it was obvious she’d figured it out. If looks could kill and all that.
Nothing to do now but be completely straight. And hope the damage could be repaired somehow. He and Carli would be working together for the next several days. She was clearly a major asset to this corporation, and he had managed to insult her in a major way. He had to fix this.
“The truth is there is no excuse or explanation for the way I behaved. Please believe that it had nothing to do with you personally and everything to do with my father.”
She remained silent, not ready to give an inch.
“I can only say I’m sorry,” he added. “And that I will somehow find a way to make it up to you.”
She shrugged with derision, and though she didn’t say the words, her response was clear: as if you could.
* * *
Maybe she was being petty, but Carli wasn’t going to give him the benefit of a response. Justin Hammond had made a horribly insulting assumption about her and the older man she worked for. That’s something she would not readily forget.
Still, she couldn’t help but feel more than a little touched at his genuine apology. Even given how badly he’d botched it up. He really did seem to feel remorseful. If the circumstances were different, if he weren’t the boss’s son and instead they were somehow new friends, she might have explained to him that she’d been dealing with such impressions all her life.
But he was a Hammond. And they definitely were not friends.
She would do her best to help him while he was here and hope that his tenure at Hammond’s Toys was a short one. The events of this morning proved that Justin was walking in blind. He’d had no clue who she was or just how much she was in charge of. She didn’t have time to babysit the prodigal son on a long-term basis.
She stood up from her chair and walked around her desk. “Well, I guess the prudent thing to do would be to move on and try our best to work together as productively as possible.”
Justin stood, as well. He looked notably relieved. “I agree. And I appreciate it.”
“We can start with this staff meeting. I asked Jocelyn earlier to forward you a copy of the agenda.”
He nodded. “I got that. Thanks.”
He followed her down the corridor to the meeting room where several employees had already gathered. After a brief round of introductions, Carli began the meeting with the first item on the agenda.
The first time she stammered, she chalked it up to feeling exhausted and due to the mishaps of the morning. By the third mistake, however, she had to admit that she was off her game. She also had to admit that it had everything to do with the new face sitting at the table.
Justin leaned forward, listening attentively and frequently jotting down note after note. He preferred old-fashioned paper and pen, which surprised her. Most of the executives she dealt with couldn’t wait to purchase and show off the latest technology e-tablet or the sleekest new laptop.
Aside from an occasional question or request for clarification, he was mostly quiet. Still, his presence was jarring.
She wasn’t the only one who seemed to think so. Several furtive glances were cast in Justin’s direction. One of the younger new recruits from sales smiled at him demurely, not even pretending to pay attention to Carli’s updates. Though annoyed, she could hardly blame the other women. Justin had a presence. Add to that the mystery surrounding his arrival, and people were having trouble feigning indifference.
Herself included.
At the conclusion of the meeting an hour later, she was more than ready to be done and to get out of there. A cup of coffee would be heaven right about now. She hadn’t been able to get her usual cup due to her detour, and a dull ache was beginning to throb behind her eyes. No doubt the caffeine
