each other?” she finally managed to ask.
Miranda gave Justin’s arm an affectionate squeeze. “Oh, he and I go way back. I used to babysit this little hurricane when he was no more than a mischievous toddler. When I first started out in the Hammond secretarial pool and needed some extra cash.”
She turned to Carli. “They were always looking for a sitter for this one. Couldn’t handle him without a little help. He was constantly getting into trouble.”
He still was, Carli thought. If the tabloids were to be believed.
“I just about fell over when I saw him in the hallway this afternoon,” Miranda continued. “Almost didn’t recognize him.”
Justin gave her a playful wink. “I’ve changed just a bit, huh?”
“You still look plenty mischievous.” The older woman laughed. “You should have seen some of the disasters he used to get himself into,” Miranda said Carli. “Always in trouble. His parents were at their wits’ end most days.”
The tone was lighthearted, Miranda laughing merrily. But Carli couldn’t help but notice Justin fidgeted as she spoke. He turned the watch on his wrist and pulled on the band. He was clearly uncomfortable. Probably regretted having come here now that he realized this was her party.
“I’ve since matured a bit,” he offered.
“I would certainly hope so.” Miranda laughed again. “You were quite the hellion.”
“Yes, I recall my parents not being able to wait to rush out of the house as soon as you showed up.”
Carli detected an undercurrent in his tone, a hardness. As the middle daughter in a family with five girls, she could certainly relate to growing up in a chaotic, messy household. But she couldn’t remember her parents ever trying to “rush out” to get away from any of them. Lord knew, they’d given both Mom and Dad plenty of reasons to want to.
“At least I got to leave at the end of the night. Your parents were stuck with you, weren’t they?” Miranda gave him a playful pinch on the cheek.
“I’m surprised you kept coming back.”
“There were plenty of times I was tempted not to.”
For such a playful conversation, Carli couldn’t help but feel slightly uncomfortable. All she really knew about the Hammonds was that the parents had split while the boys were ten and twelve respectively. And for some unfathomable reason, one parent stayed with one son while the other took off with the other to live on the West Coast. She knew for a fact James hadn’t seen his mother more than once or twice since the divorce. And she suspected the same of Justin and his father.
It was an incredibly sad scenario if one really thought about it. For all the turmoil and hassles of growing up with four siblings, Carli couldn’t imagine years going by without seeing any one of them. Even after what had happened last year between her and her sister Janie.
She winced at that memory before realizing that Justin had just said something to her. Also, Miranda had excused herself and walked away.
“I’m sorry, I missed what you said.”
“I was commenting on how festive your apartment is. You’ve obviously put a lot of effort into decorating for the holidays.”
It was clearly an attempt to change the subject, but she couldn’t help but feel a little flattered at the compliment.
She was about to give him a warm smile and answer that this decorative effect had taken weeks to achieve. But then she remembered what he wanted to do with the Cape Cod store.
“Thank you,” she said with a curt nod. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have other guests I should attend to.”
* * *
Justin watched Carli walk away and grabbed a glass of wine off one of the trays sitting in the corner. It was hard not to appreciate the view as she made her way across the room. The woman was shaped like sin.
Looked like his apology hadn’t quite cut it as it was clear she was still unhappy with him. He wasn’t sure why that bothered him so much. It really shouldn’t have. He’d only just met the woman this morning. They wouldn’t even be working together for that long. He’d do what was asked of him by his father and return to the West Coast in a few days. Really, the opinion of some midlevel executive at Hammond’s Toys should be the last thing on his mind.
Still, he had to admit he was vexed. His transgression toward her this morning wasn’t that bad. Was it?
He bit out a silent curse as he thought about it. Yeah, he was fooling himself. It was bad. To assume she was his father’s mistress. Simply based on the hour of the day and the way she looked. He couldn’t blame her for still being upset.
Doubtful his older brother, James, would have ever been careless enough to make such a mistake. No, James probably always displayed the utmost professionalism and leadership. Usually, Justin wouldn’t hesitate to describe himself the same way. Apparently not when he was here, however. In Boston and around Hammond Enterprises, Justin was out of his element to the point of near incompetence.
Clearly, Justin was a Hammond in name only.
The question was, what was he going to do about it as far as Carli was concerned?
Someone tapped on his shoulder as he tried to find Carli from the crowd of people in her apartment. He turned to find a petite, dark-haired woman smiling at him. It took him a minute to recognize her. Jocelyn, Carli’s assistant. She looked different without the professional ponytail she’d been wearing this morning.
“Well, hello,” Jocelyn said, loud enough and with enough enthusiasm that two people turned to see who had spoken.
“Hello.”
“I didn’t expect to see you here.”
He spread his arms and bowed slightly. “Here I am.”
“Fantastic. We were sort of sad that James was going to miss it this year. And here you are in his place.”
Justin tried not to snort with irony. As if there was any way he would ever be able to take his brother’s place in any way, shape, or form. Not as far as Hammond’s was concerned. And certainly not in his father’s eyes.
He gave Jocelyn a neutral smile. “Glad I could make it.”
“I’m glad Carli saw to it that you came,” Jocelyn said, and took a sip of her ruby red wine.
He had no intention nor desire to correct her. Actually, he had no intention of staying around much longer. There was no feasible reason he hadn’t left as soon as Carli walked away.
Other than some silly desire to see her again this evening. Funny how he’d never been a glutton for punishment until this very day. Carli didn’t want anything to do with him.
He spotted her coming out of the kitchen with more drinks. Several people stopped her along the way; she gave one woman an affectionate air kiss. Several men approached her as well, one taking part of the load off her hands. They seemed friendly but not overly familiar. These men
