Not Strictly Business!: Prodigal Son / The Boss and Miss Baxter / The Baby Deal. Victoria Pade

“I don’t need shopping advice.”

      Samantha stiffened at the insult to her friend. “Is that what you think of her? That she’s a useless bimbo who only cares about clothes and jewelry?”

      He shrugged. “I don’t really know the woman.”

      “And why is that? She’s been a part of this family for a while now. Why weren’t you interested in even trying to get to know her?”

      “I’m familiar with the type.”

      “Helen isn’t a type. She’s a person and she’s not the person you imagine her to be. How interesting. You think your father got himself and the company in this position because he held on too tight to outdated ideas. It seems to me that you’re a lot like that, too.”

      Samantha took notes as one of her team members wrapped up his presentation. “Great job, Phil,” she said. “I really like how you’re using colors to coordinate your section. It will make navigating the site really fun.”

      “Younger kids respond to colors. They’re easier for them than instructions,” he said with a grin. “I was thinking we could use the same format for the sections for older kids, but with the colors getting darker. Light blue flowing into dark blue into navy. So clicking on anything blue will automatically pop up math-related questions.”

      “Good idea,” she told him, then looked at Arnie. “So, does that make your job harder or easier?”

      Arnie rubbed his hand on his khakis. “Once we get it programmed, it’s not a problem.”

      “Good.” She found it helpful always to include the IT guys in on the planning stages of any Internet project. Better to get their cooperation and input while the work was still easily modified.

      “You could, ah, use drop-down menus, too,” Arnie said. “After they click on the color. So it’s not just one question. It could be a series. And then based on how they answer, they can go to another place on the site. Like if they get the answer right, they get a mini game. You know, for motivation.”

      Samantha glanced at her team, who all seemed pleased with the idea.

      “Good thinking,” she said. “You have a big thumbs-up on that one, Arnie. Thanks.”

      He shrugged and blushed. His gaze never left her face.

      Samantha recognized the signs of a crush and wasn’t exactly sure what to do about it. Not only wasn’t she looking for love right now, Arnie wasn’t her type. He was a nice enough guy, but nothing about him caused her to tingle.

      Just then the conference-room door opened and Jack stepped inside. He didn’t say anything and quietly took a seat in the back.

      Instantly her body went on alert, just in case her brain hadn’t noticed his arrival. She hated that even though she was still angry with him, she reacted physically. She found herself wanting to sit up straighter and push out her chest. Of course the complete lack of significant breast-type curves made that gesture futile, but still, the urge to flaunt was there.

      Go figure, she thought. Arnie was available and pleasant and smart and probably completely uncomplicated. Nothing about him pushed any of her emotional buttons. Jack might be available and sexy, but he was also her worst-case scenario, man-wise, and totally unreasonable. He made her crazy with his assumptions about Helen.

      Which they would deal with another time, she thought as she turned her attention back to the meeting in progress.

      “The reward games should be related to the topic,” Sandy said. “At least on some level. Like a blaster game based on times tables for the math color or something scientific for the science section.”

      “The difficulty of the games could increase with each grade level,” Phil added.

      “We’re going to be spending a lot of time on content,” Samantha said. “But it will be worth it. We’ll need to take these ideas to research and get them going on questions and answers. We can do timed and non-timed quizzes. Maybe coordinate some of the questions with what’s being studied in the textbooks. Are they standardized by region? Let’s find that out. If we can emphasize what they’re already studying, we’ll reinforce the teachers’ lessons.”

      “I’m working on the time line,” Jeff said. “So a kid can type in a date and find out what’s happening all over the world at that time. We’re thinking anything date related will reference back to the time line. So if someone is working on a paper on Thomas Jefferson and they go online for information, the Web site will offer a time-line link. That way the student can see not only what was happening in this country, but everywhere. We can also cross-reference, so with the Jefferson paper, they could talk about what was happening in China and how it was the same but different.”

      “Wish I’d had that when I was in school,” Samantha said.

      “Me, too,” Jeff said. “I would have done better in history.”

      The meeting continued. Ideas were offered and discussed. They had a limited amount of time to get the Web site up and running, so there would be a final of only the best. Still, she wanted as much to choose from as possible.

      As people spoke and offered suggestions, Samantha was careful not to look at Jack. On the professional side, she knew it was important to put their argument behind them. As someone who cared about her friend, she was still really mad.

      “That should take care of it for now,” she said. “Good work, people. I’m impressed. We’ll meet again on Friday.”

      Her staff stood and headed for the door. Arnie glanced at Jack, who remained seated at the table. The smaller man hesitated, looked at her, then left. Samantha had no choice but to acknowledge her boss.

      “We’re getting there,” she said as she collected her notes.

      “Yes, you are,” he told her. “Your team works well together. I like where things are going.”

      “Good.”

      “You have an easy working style. You’re firmly in charge, but you don’t force your will on anyone.”

      “What’s the point of that?” she asked. “I already know what I think. I’m looking for their ideas.”

      “Not everyone thinks that way.”

      She didn’t know what to say to that.

      “You’re still mad at me,” he said, making it a statement not a question, so she had no reason to deny it.

      “I don’t understand why you’re determined to think the worst of Helen. From what I can tell, you barely know the woman. If you’d spent time with her and she’d been horrible, I would understand your less-than-flattering opinion. But you’re basing it all on a few casual meetings and the mythology that stepmothers are inherently evil.”

      One corner of his mouth twitched. “It’s not about her being my stepmother.”

      “Then what is it?”

      He hesitated. “She’s much younger than my father,” he began. “My father was not a kind man.”

      Samantha stood. “Oh, I see. You’re saying she married him for his money? Is that it?” Anger filled her. “I’ve known Helen for years. In fact, she used to be my babysitter. We’ve stayed close. She’s like family to me. She loved your father. Maybe you and he didn’t get along so you’re having trouble with that concept, but it’s true. She considers him the love of her life. I can’t help defending her. It’s like you’re attacking my sister.”

      Jack rose. “You seem very sincere.”

      “I am.”

      They stared at each other. His dark gaze never wavered. At last he shrugged. “Then you must be right.”

      She nearly collapsed back in her chair. “What?”

      “You’ve