sat back and rubbed her eyes, then reached for her tall coffee with the three shots of espresso. Max was a bad influence on her in more ways than one.
What had possessed her to tell him about Aunt Jesse?
She owed him no explanations. The intimacy they’d developed was physical, not emotional. Yet, she couldn’t deny that sharing the story had lifted a little weight off her shoulders. Not much, but enough to help her get through the day. To clear her mind for how she would handle things with Brody. She simply had to find the twenty-five thousand she still owed him.
You could borrow the money from Max. If you asked, he’d help.
And have to explain to him about Brody and why she’d married him. As if his opinion of her wasn’t bad enough already, Max could add opportunist and user to her list of flaws. Besides, she didn’t want her ex-husband to come between them again. Although, at the rate she was screwing things up on her own, it wouldn’t matter what she told Max. Given the way their conversation had gone last night, he was probably done with her right now.
Rachel made notes on the file Max had asked her to look at and checked in with Devon to see if anything had come up. He was proving to be a great manager despite his reservations about taking on the responsibility. Maybe this meant she could take a long weekend for herself after everything was over. Four days with nothing to do and no worries sounded like heaven.
But was it reality? Since coming to work for Max, she’d been drifting in a fantasy world. The time for daydreams was over.
Right at eleven, Max’s conference call began with the general manager of their Williamsburg operations. While he was asking the questions she’d posed about their numbers, his second line lit up. Rachel answered the call. It was Andrea.
“How are things going?” Rachel winced in sympathy at the loud cries in the background.
“As well as can be expected with a baby who’s up all hours of the night with colic.”
“I hope things get better soon.”
“Me, too.”
“Max is on a conference call at the moment. Do you want me to have him call you?”
A long pause preceded Andrea’s response. “No. I’ll try him again later.”
Rachel picked up on the other woman’s change of tone. “Is something wrong?”
“Not wrong.” But something was up. Rachel could hear it in Andrea’s voice.
“Anything I can help you with?”
“Look, I don’t exactly know how he persuaded you to fill in for me, but you should probably find someone to take over on a permanent basis.”
“You’re not coming back?”
“Ned and I discussed it on and off since the middle of my pregnancy. Max is great, but he works such long hours.” Andrea tried for cheerful but her tone fell flat. “Now with Ben not sleeping, I’m even more exhausted than I was before he was born. We just think it would be better if I stayed home for his first year. Maybe longer if we decide to get pregnant again right away.”
“That makes sense to me.” Rachel’s mind raced. She needed to call Devon right away about possible candidates for a permanent position. “You have to make your family your priority.” If anyone understood that, she did.
Andrea’s laugh released some of her tension. When she spoke next, she sounded less like she was carrying fifty pounds of salt on her shoulders. “Thanks, Rachel. I hope Max hasn’t been too hard on you. I know what he’s like when things don’t go exactly to his plan.”
“Well, don’t worry about that anymore. You just concentrate on that baby of yours. He’s the important one.”
“Thanks.”
Rachel ended the call and dialed Devon, giving him the heads-up that they were now dealing with a permanent placement.
“What are you up to now?” a deep voice demanded from behind her.
Rachel glanced over her shoulder and spied Max standing in his doorway. Her pulse jumped as it always did when he was around. He had an annoying habit of sneaking up on her.
“I’ve got to go,” she said to Devon, and hung up. She glanced toward the phone and noticed his line was no longer lit up. “That was a short conference call.”
“After I used your notes to point out to them where their numbers still weren’t good enough, they decided to go back and reassess. We’re scheduled to talk this afternoon. Who was that on the phone?”
“Devon. Andrea called a few minutes ago. She’s not coming back. We’ve got three candidates for you to interview.”
His gaze swept her features, settled on her mouth for a moment longer than the rest, then reconnected with her eyes. “How fast can you get them here for interviews?”
“It would go faster if I could work from my office. I need access to my files. My notes. Those are at my office.”
“Then go.”
And just like that it was over. His abrupt dismissal left her floundering in dumbfounded silence.
What was it about Max that turned her from a hardheaded business woman into a sentimental fool?
A lean, muscular body made to drive a woman mad in bed.
A personality that was one-third angry bear, one-third stubborn mule and one-third cuddly tiger.
But it was the way he looked at her as if she was the only woman he’d ever desired that turned her insides to mush. How could she help but fall under his spell?
It was a short three blocks back to the building that housed Lansing Employment Agency, and Rachel used the time to gather her scattered emotions into a nice neat ball. Sharp pains began in her stomach as she swallowed the desire to cry or shout out her unhappiness. Max was done with her. What had she expected? A tearful goodbye?
Devon was on the phone as she went past his office. Knowing he would be full of questions, she took a deep breath and tucked all emotion away.
“What are you doing here?” he asked from her doorway moments after she dropped into her executive chair. “Did you quit or did we get fired?”
“Neither.” After playing assistant for Max these last four weeks, she’d forgotten how wonderful it felt to be the one in charge. “Max wants to interview potential candidates as soon as possible. It’ll go faster if I’m here.”
“You’re on the verge of netting us another big commission and yet you don’t look happy.”
“Of course I’m happy.”
But to her intense dismay, tears filled her eyes. Devon stared at her in stunned silence, before rushing in and kneeling beside her chair.
“What happened? Was it Max? Did he upset you? Do you need me to go kick his ass?”
The thought of
