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“Okay,” he said, grinning at me, checking me out with his eyebrows up. He did everything but lick his chops.
A few tendrils had escaped from his sweep of thick blond hair that he’d slicked back wet, looking like it could be unruly once it dried. There was a rakish look about him I found appealing. Warning bells went off, and I decided I’d give Ryan Maddox a wide berth. I wasn’t interested in anything that would disrupt my plan.
Then I noticed the secretary or receptionist, a woman named Jennifer, had come into the conference room to get her breakfast and did not look happy when she heard Randy ask him to join us. She flashed me another squinty look. Oh, well, it was out of my control.
Back in Randy’s office, I waited to eat until Randy finished taking a call. He made a swirling motion toward my plate, mouthing, “Eat.”
I picked up my coffee cup just as Mr. Wonderful Ryan Maddox came in and pulled out the chair next to me with a huge smile on his face. Randy left the room and shut the door.
“We are so busy, it’s insane. But when the boss says to eat breakfast with him, you move heaven and earth to do so. You’re new in town? I honestly don’t remember Randy mentioning having a daughter, and I’ve been working with him since he took over here.”
“We just met,” I said, watching his reaction. I had to hand it to the guy. He kept it together. A stranger who walked into an office and was treated like a VIP would make people question. “I didn’t know Randy was my dad until a few days ago.”
“What a story,” Ryan said, watching me. “I figured you were born with a silver spoon in your mouth, or whatever that saying is.”
Taken aback, I didn’t reply right away, thinking of my mother working double shifts, sometimes having to take me with her while she did cases, and I would spend the night in the nurse’s lounge with the door to the outside hallway barricaded so no one could come inside to take me.
“Wow, my story is nothing like that. I was raised by a single mom who worked like a dog to support us.” I didn’t add and it appears to have been unnecessary, since my dad is loaded.
Ryan looked at me sidelong. “It seems like she did a pretty good job.”
“Why, thank you.”
“I recently found out that the man I thought was my father is not. So, I feel your pain.”
“I’m sorry, Ryan. What a shock that must have been.”
“It was mind blowing, to put it mildly.”
“This is a pretty intense conversation to have ten minutes into an introduction.”
Placing his fork back on his plate, he was clearly pondering what I had said. “I’d like to hear more later,” he replied. “But I’ve got a deadline I think your father has forgotten about.”
Something about our conversation had hit a nerve or reminded him of something, and it was clear he was distracted.
“Oh, wow,” I said, frowning.
He finished his cup of coffee and pushed his chair away from the table. “I’d better get work out of the way. I’ll come back when Randy reappears.”
“I’ll let him know,” I said, relieved he was leaving.
He left Randy’s office, and I could hear laughter from the hallway. In a minute, Randy reappeared. “Where’s young Maddox?”
“He said he needed to get back to work.”
“This is work,” he said, opening the door and calling out into the hallway, “Jennifer, ask Ryan to come back.”
In five minutes, Mr. Handsome returned, still smiling. I wondered if that grin was just his MO.
“I have an idea,” Randy said. “I was just on the phone with Peter—he’s the other partner, Laura—and he’s on board with adding you to the project.”
I noticed Ryan staring at me, nodding, sizing me up again. “Wow,” he said. “Perfect.”
“What?” I asked, anxiety growing. “I’m about to start a full-time job at the New York Medical Center.”
“Can you put that on hold?” Randy asked.
“I guess I could. It’s not my dream job, but it got me a foot in the door. I’m not sure I’m able to ask them to hold a job for me.”
