in on conversations my dad and grandfather thought were relevant.”
“What if you didn’t like investing?”
“But I did.”
“It just sounds weird.” She flushed. “Sorry. Really. It’s none of my business.”
“Don’t be sorry.” Her honesty made him laugh. More comfortable than he could remember being in years, he picked up his fork and said, “I see what you’re saying. I was lucky that I loved investing. I walked into the job as if it were made for me, but when my son—”
He stopped. His chest tightened. His heart rate kicked into overdrive. He couldn’t believe that had slipped out.
“But your son what?”
“But when my son began to show artistic talent,” he said, thinking quickly because once again the conversation had inadvertently turned too personal. And this time it was his fault. “I suddenly saw that another person might not want to be CEO of our company, might not have the ability to handle the responsibility, or might have gifts and talents that steer him or her in a different direction. Then the company would have to hire someone, and hiring someone of the caliber we would require would involve paying out a huge salary and profit sharing. The family fortune would ultimately deplete.”
She studied him for a second, her gaze so intense Danny knew the mention of his son had her curious. But he wouldn’t say any more about Cory. That part of his life was so far off-limits that he didn’t even let himself think about it. It would be such a cold, frosty day in hell that he’d discuss Cory with another person that he knew that day would never come.
Finally Grace sighed. “I guess you were lucky then—” she turned her attention back to her food “—that you wanted the job.”
Danny relaxed. Once again she’d read him perfectly. She’d seen that though he’d mentioned his son, he hadn’t gone into detail about Cory, and instead had brought the discussion back to Carson Services, so she knew to let the topic go.
They finished their dinner in companionable conversation because Grace began talking about remodeling the small house she’d bought when she got her first job two years before. As they spoke about choosing hardwood and deciding on countertops, Danny acknowledged to himself that she was probably the most sensitive person he’d met. She could read a mood or a situation so well that he didn’t have to worry about what he said in front of her. A person who so easily knew not to pry would never break a confidence.
For that reason alone an intense urge to confide in her bubbled up in him, shocking him. Why the hell would he want to talk about the past? And why would he think that any woman would want to hear her boss’s marital horror stories? No woman would. No person would. Except maybe a gossip. And Grace wasn’t a gossip.
After dinner, they went inside for a drink, but Danny paused beside the stairway that led to his third-floor office suite.
“Bonuses don’t pass through our normal accounting. I write those checks myself. It’s a way to keep them completely between me and the employees who get them. The checkbook’s upstairs. Why don’t we just go up now and give you your bonus?”
Grace grinned. “Sounds good to me.”
Danny motioned for Grace to precede him up the steps. Too late, he realized that was a mistake. Her perfect bottom was directly in his line of vision. He paused, letting her get a few steps ahead of him, only to discover that from this angle he had a view of her shapely calves.
He finished the walk up the stairs with his head down, gaze firmly fixed on the Oriental carpet runner on the steps. When he reached the third floor, she was waiting for him. Moonlight came in through the three tall windows in the back wall of the semidark loft that led to his office, surrounding her with pale light, causing her to look like an angel.
Mesmerized, Danny stared at her. He knew she was a nice person. A good person. He also knew that was why he had the quick mental picture of her as an angel and such a strong sense of companionship for her. But she was an employee. He was her boss. He needed to keep his distance.
He motioned toward his office suite and again she preceded him. Inside, he sat behind the desk and she gingerly sat on the chair in front of it.
“I think Orlando Riggs is the salt of the earth,” Danny said as he pulled out the checkbook he held for the business. “You made him feel very comfortable.”
“I felt very comfortable with him.” She grimaced. “A lot of guys who had just signed a thirty-million-dollar deal with an NBA team would be a little cocky.”
“A little cocky?” Danny said with a laugh. “I’ve met people with a lot less talent than Orlando has and a lot less cash who were total jerks.”
“Orlando seems unaffected.”
“Except that he wants to make sure his family has everything they need.” Danny began writing out the check. “I didn’t even realize he was married.”
“And has two kids.”
Kids.
Danny blinked at the unexpected avalanche of memory just the word kids brought. He remembered how eager he’d been to marry Lydia and have a family. He remembered his naive idea of marital bliss, and his chest swelled from the horrible empty feeling he got every time he realized how close he’d been to fulfilling that dream and how easily it had all been snatched away.
But tonight, with beautiful, sweet-tempered, sincere Grace sitting across the desk, Danny had a surprising moment of clarity. He’d always blamed himself for the breakdown of his marriage, but what if it had been Lydia’s fault? He’d wanted to go to counseling. Lydia had simply wanted to go. Away from him. If he looked at the breakdown of his marriage from that very thin perspective, then the divorce wasn’t his fault.
That almost made him laugh. If he genuinely believed the divorce wasn’t his fault then—
Then he’d wasted years?
No. He’d wasted his life. He didn’t merely feel empty the way he’d been told most people felt when they lost a mate; he felt wholly empty. Almost nonexistent. As if he didn’t have a life. As if every day since his marriage had imploded two years ago, he hadn’t really lived. He hadn’t even really existed. He’d simply expended time.
Finished writing the check, Danny rose from his seat. It seemed odd to think about feeling empty when across the desk, eager, happy Grace radiated life and energy.
“Thank you for your help this weekend.”
As he walked toward her, Grace also rose. He handed her the check. She glanced down at the amount he’d written, then looked up at him. Her beautiful violet eyes filled with shock. Her tongue came out to moisten her lips before she said, “This is too much.”
Caught in the gaze of her hypnotic eyes, seeing the genuine appreciation, Danny could have sworn he felt some of her energy arch to him. If nothing else, he experienced a strong sense of connection. A rightness. Or maybe a purpose. As if there was a reason she was here.
The feeling of connection and intimacy could be nothing more than the result of spending every waking minute from Friday afternoon to Sunday night together, but that didn’t lessen its intensity. It was so strong that his voice softened
