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

tie. But that wasn’t enough to wipe away the sense of being trapped.

      “Come on, come on,” Samantha called as she stared at the basket and willed the ball to slide cleanly through the hoop. There was a moment of silence, followed by a swish of net.

      “Woo hoo.” She held up her hand to Patti, one of her directors. “Two more for our team. We’re up by six.”

      Patti gave her a high five, then went back into position. Perhaps playing basketball in the corridor right outside her office wasn’t standard corporate procedure, but Samantha found it really helped her people clear their heads after a long day of brainstorming.

      “Lucky shot,” Phil said as he dribbled the ball. He jogged in to take his shot. Samantha moved in front of him. When he stretched up to shoot, she batted the ball away and it bounced off the wall before rolling down the hall.

      The game went quiet as Jack rounded the corner and picked up the ball. Samantha could feel her staff looking at her. She knew Jack had endured the meeting from hell with the board and braced herself for him to take that out on her.

      He raised his eyebrows. “Who’s winning?”

      “My team,” she said quickly. “We’ve been brainstorming all day and we’re—”

      “No need to explain,” he said, then bounced the ball. “Got room for one more?”

      She glanced at Phil, who shrugged. “Sure,” she said.

      Jack tossed the ball back, then took off his jacket. After pulling off his tie, he went to work on rolling up his sleeves.

      “Who’s on the other team?” he asked.

      “I am,” Phil said, then he quickly introduced everyone else. “Any good at this?”

      Jack grinned. “Just get me the ball.”

      Ten minutes later, Samantha knew they’d been had. Jack wasn’t just good—he was terrific. He could shoot from any angle and he rarely missed. His team pulled ahead and then beat hers by six points.

      “You’re a ringer,” she said, trying to catch her breath.

      “I’ve had some practice.”

      “Where’d you play?” Phil asked, after slapping him on the back.

      “Law school. We all did, to unwind. Grad school, too, but not so much.”

      Samantha remembered that Jack had attended law school before going to Wharton. She also vaguely recalled him hanging out with friends on the basketball courts, but she’d never paid much attention.

      Now she knew she’d made the right decision. Being close to Jack while he ran, dodged, threw and scored bordered on dangerous. She liked the way his body moved and the energy he put in the game. She liked how he worked with his team and how, when his shirt came unbuttoned, she got a glimpse of some very impressive abs.

      Bad idea, she reminded herself. Lusting after the boss could only lead to trouble. Okay, so she wasn’t ready for a real relationship—maybe it was time to find rebound guy.

      “Thanks for letting me play,” Jack told Phil.

      “Any time.”

      “There’s that pub on the corner,” Jack continued. “Why don’t I buy you all drinks.” He glanced at his watch. “Say half an hour?”

      “Great.” Phil grinned. “Thanks.”

      “No problem.”

      Samantha waited until everyone else had disappeared into their respective offices. “You didn’t have to do that.”

      “Buy them drinks?” He shrugged. “I wanted to. They let me play. I needed the break.”

      “The board meeting?”

      “Yeah.” He shrugged into his jacket. “You’re coming, aren’t you?”

      She shouldn’t. It wasn’t smart. It wasn’t a lot of things. “Sure. I’ll be there.”

      “Good.”

      He smiled and her toes curled. She walked into her office. Rebound guy—absolutely. She would have to get right on that.

      Jack didn’t just order drinks, he ordered platters of appetizers, then proceeded to talk to each member of her team individually. Samantha watched him work the crowd and did her best not to react when he smiled at one of her female staffers.

      Finally he settled in the stool next to hers. “You’ve done well,” he said in a low voice. “You have good people working for you.”

      “Thanks.”

      Despite the easy conversation around them, she was aware of being watched. Some of her team were mildly interested while a few—the single women—were trying to figure out the score.

      “How did it go?” she asked.

      “About as expected. They’re more interested in protecting themselves than what really happened. We’re making an announcement first thing in the morning. I have two phone calls scheduled with investors. The first is to tell them what happened, the second will come later when I announce our specific plan to rectify the situation.”

      “Do you have a plan?”

      He sipped his drink. “Not yet, but I’m hopeful.” He glanced around. “They’re all working their butts off. I want to make sure it’s not for nothing.”

      “It won’t be. There will be some bad press, but we’ll get through it.”

      “Until the next crisis.”

      “The company is in transition,” she said. “There are always adjustments.”

      “I know. What I don’t understand is why my father never had a successor picked out. He had to know he wasn’t going to live forever.”

      “Maybe he was waiting for one of his sons to get interested in the company.”

      Jack took another drink. “Probably. I don’t see Evan and Andrew making a beeline to Chicago and, honestly, I can’t see either of them being willing to take things over.”

      She touched his arm. “You don’t have to do this if you don’t want to.”

      “I’m aware I can walk away at any point.”

      But he wouldn’t. Jack had a sense of responsibility. She respected that about him.

      Once again her body reminded her that he was nothing like Vance, but her head wasn’t so sure. On the surface her ex had been a great guy, too. Successful, a caring father. He’d said and done all the right things—right up until the wedding. Then overnight he’d changed.

      Her father had done the same thing. In a matter of weeks, he’d gone from a loving, supportive man to someone who’d walked out and had done his best not to have to support his only child.

      Powerful men often hid dark, guilty secrets. As much as she was attracted to Jack, she was determined to keep their relationship strictly professional. She couldn’t afford to take another emotional hit right now.

      “I should go,” she said, collecting her purse.

      “I’m heading out, too,” he told her. “Want a ride home?”

      Ah, the close confines of a car. So tempting and so dangerous.

      “No, thanks. I have a few errands to run on my way home. I’ll walk.”

      “Are you sure? I don’t mind.”

      She smiled. “I appreciate the offer, but I’ll be fine on my own.”

      She’d learned it was the only safe way to be.

       Chapter Five