vee, an expression with which Lara had become very familiar over the past week and a half. It meant Calvin had an agenda. “I got to spin first,” he said and dashed off, a streak of pure energy in a red striped shirt and denim overalls, racing down the hall, heading for Adam’s office and the whirling chair.
Bryce pushed to his feet. “Does he go everywhere at that speed?”
“No,” Lara said with a sigh. “Usually he goes faster.”
“I guess there’s a good reason he couldn’t spin right here?”
“Two seconds after we walked into Adam’s office, Calvin discovered the chair will turn in a complete circle and he’s been whirling like the Tasmanian Devil all morning.”
One corner of Bryce’s mouth tipped with a half smile. “All morning, huh? Sounds like you’ve been here since dawn. Is that your normal schedule or are you trying to impress your new boss?”
“You are not now and never will be my boss.” Lara hadn’t meant to snap, but the edginess was just there in her voice, in the thick knot of injustice in her throat, in the sudden realization that he was wearing jeans and deck shoes and a shirt better suited to weeding the garden than working in an office. “The only reason I came in at all today was to leave my resignation on your desk. But—”
“You decided not to ruin my first day on the job.”
“Nell tore it up.”
Bryce nodded. “Good work, Nell. Give yourself a raise.”
“You can’t do that,” Lara informed him, thinking he’d have the company in shambles within six months. “Not that Nell doesn’t deserve a raise, but you can’t just give her one without going through Human Resources.”
The smile reached a wry completion. “Are you telling me I have to get permission before giving my secretary a raise?”
“Of course not,” Nell said firmly…no fool, she. “You’re the boss.”
“There’s something called protocol,” Lara said, the snap continuing undaunted in her voice. “Your first day might be a good time to figure out what that means.”
“You’re my assistant. You figure it out and tell me what it means.”
“I’m not—”
“Hey! Aunt Lara’s boss!” Calvin yelled down the hall for attention. “Come in here and watch me spin!”
“I’ll go after him.” Nell turned on her heel, directing a stern glance over her shoulder at Bryce. “You convince Lara to stay.”
“Consider it done,” Bryce said as Nell walked away and around the corner at a sensible, unhurried pace.
“Not you!” Calvin’s voice was loud and commanding as he caught sight of Nell. “Aunt Lara’s boss!”
“He’s busy,” Nell said in a voice that was softer, but just as commanding. “For now, you’ve got me and I’m going to get to that chair first.” There was a momentary lull after the threat, then the muffled shuffle of Nell pretending to run and of Calvin racing to stay ahead of her and then a faint, but audible shout of childish glee. “I beat you!”
Lara frowned, feeling she had to offer some sort of explanation for Cal’s exuberance. “He likes to get everywhere first,” she said.
“Things like that are important when you’re four. Plus, it is a really cool chair. I’ve taken a few turns in it myself.” His smile turned persuasive and charming. “Stay, Lara.”
“No,” she said in succinct answer and turned away because…well, because he was persuasive and charming. “I can’t, even if I wanted to.”
“But you do want to, don’t you, Lara?”
His soft challenge stopped her, the truth of it sifting through her like a fine powder, coating all her denial. She did want to stay, if only to see him fail. “There has never been any love lost between us, Bryce. We both know that and you’re not going to trick me into saying I love my job just so you can take even greater pleasure in firing me.”
“You believe I’d fire you?”
“In a heartbeat and with great pleasure.”
His expression changed and when he spoke again, the teasing note she always heard in his voice was missing. “You know, for years now I’ve harbored the idea that you knew me perhaps better than anyone. Didn’t like me, but understood essentially, who I am. It’s a disappointment to discover you know nothing about me, at all.”
She felt ashamed, for some unimaginable reason. “I can’t think how you ever got such a ridiculous idea.”
“Maybe because of the inordinate amount of energy you expend to convince me of how smart you are.” His smile scolded her gently. “But quitting because you’re afraid to work with me isn’t smart, Lara. You’re not a coward and this isn’t what you want, so cut to the chase, vent your real feelings and let’s get past this.”
He was so wrong, so very, very wrong, she hardly knew where to begin. “You won’t convince me to stay by appealing to my fighting spirit, Bryce. Believe it or not, I don’t particularly enjoy sparring with you and working with you every day would be just too exhausting.”
“Maybe, but it won’t be boring.”
How had he known that with Adam in charge, she had experienced occasional bouts of boredom? Adam was such a solid, deliberate thinker, never hesitant to make a decision, but not rushing into one, either. Risks were analyzed, considered from every angle, incorporated into the long-range plans. Lara admired that, but she also loved the adrenaline rush of danger, the moments when the only choice was to pick one risk over another. “I’m resigning, Bryce,” she said, hating the decision but knowing it had to be this way. “Effective immediately.”
He touched her arm, kept her from walking away from him and sent an unexpected tangle of sensations coursing beneath her skin. “I won’t beg, Lara, but I will ask you for two months notice. Considering your position and the difficulty in finding someone to replace you, I think that’s only fair.”
“Fair?” she repeated. “It’s not fair that Calvin has two parents who can’t take care of him. Compared with that, I think an employee leaving without notice is merely an inconvenience.”
“What happened to his parents?”
“Nothing happened to them. They’re just…” Lara sighed, not wanting to reveal her dysfunctional family, but unable to honestly sidestep the question, either. The truth was, she was furious with the whole lot of them and didn’t much care who knew it. “Marie—I can’t bring myself to refer to her as his mother, although she did give birth to him—found motherhood and marriage unfulfilling and left before Cal was a year old. Cal wouldn’t recognize her if he saw her on the street. I’m not sure I would, either. As for my brother? Derrick won’t take responsibility for himself, much less for a child. However, from time to time he catches the this-is-my-son-damn-it syndrome and pops in to assert his paternal rights. Marie, at least, is consistent and seems to have successfully forgotten she even has a child.”
“So
