The Executive's Decision (14 page)

He pushed back his shoulders and cleared his throat. “That’s right.”

“Curtis Keller.” He shook his hand, and Zach nodded when he heard the name the man had in common with Regan. She’d let him think the handsome doctor was her lover, but in fact he was her brother. She’d been very careful with what she wanted him to know.

Regan curled herself around Zach’s arm. “This is my other brother, Carlos.”

He was the man he’d recognized at the Nashville site. “You work for me.”

“Guilty. Thank you for the job.”

“My pleasure. John is a great man to work for.”

“He sure is.” Carlos looked around them. “Did I leave my children here?”

Carlos slapped Zach’s shoulder as he slid past them and found his kids still on the couch. Clara had found her way to them and held tight to her father. It was an exchange that tugged at him. A man that picked up his daughter and held her as if it was the last time he’d see her. Had his parents felt that way when he returned from school after months of being away?

“That’s why you brought me here,” he whispered in her ear. “Those are the men in your life.”

That flash of fear stole into her eyes again as she bit on her lip, and his chest ached at her pain. Someone had hurt her deeply, and it had her hiding and holding onto her family. It was as if she’d wanted to protect them from him in case—he didn’t know what she’d protect them from. But he was sure, by the sizing up he’d had done, they were there to protect her from him.

“I told you, they were serious, but no worries.”

“No worries? So they won’t beat me up?”

“Oh, I didn’t promise that.” She kissed him quickly as they walked to the dining room to gather for dinner.

Zach watched them all assemble. For a family they were an eclectic mix. The parents were older than he’d imagined. Both had white hair, were fair skinned, and had crystal blue eyes. Curtis looked like his father, but neither of the girls looked like either Emily or Alan. Their complexions were much darker and their eyes were brown. Carlos, he assumed, wasn’t blood related. But then again, what did he know about families beyond his own?

“Zach, where are you from?” Emily asked as she passed the plate of fried chicken.

“I’m from Nashville. But I spent most of my childhood in France.”

“Oh, my.” Emily raised a hand to her chest. “France. I haven’t been to France… well since I too was a child.”

“So Carlos is working on one of those enormous buildings downtown?” Alan interjected.

“Yes, I saw him there with my own eyes,” he said then shifted his eyes to Regan, who averted her stare to her plate.

“Pop, it’s just temporary,” Carlos assured his father. “I have applications into five more schools that haven’t gotten back to me.”

“They should call me,” Alan said with his mouth full of biscuit. “I’ll give them a reference. Then I’ll show them my checkbook.” Carlos shook his head.

Zach recognized the argument. He’d had it many times with his own father and grandfather.

“Carlos, what do you teach?” Zach tried to save him from the beating he saw coming.

“Math. Junior high.”

“That takes a very special person.” He lifted his glass to him.

“Oh, that’s my Carlos.” Emily patted his hand.

“They don’t care what my family thinks.”

“Well, you’re safely employed until then.” Zach nodded, and Regan’s hand slid to his knee beneath the table to give a gentle squeeze. He covered her hand with his and gave her a smile. He hoped she knew he’d do anything for her, including employ her entire family if needed.

When dinner was over, Emily pushed Zach and Regan from the house, sending them to the front porch. They were guests for the night and exempt from cleanup. Carlos let him know that next time things would be different. Eduardo, Christian, and even Arianna all set forth their complaints about being guests as well, but Emily would not hear them.

Regan sat down on the porch swing and pulled Zach down next to her.

He draped his arm around her shoulders and with his other hand caressed her face before he pulled her to him in a kiss intended to melt away any doubt she might have left about his feelings for her.

“I’ve waited all day to do that.” He nipped at her lips again.

“I’m still scared,” she admitted, resting her hand over his on her cheek.

“What are you scared of?”

She dropped her head. “I don’t want to be hurt again, and I don’t want my family hurt either.”

“I would never hurt you.” He lifted her face with a finger under her chin. “Why would someone hurt you and your family?”

Regan shook her head and shifted her eyes to the ground. “I’m not going to talk about it. I just don’t want to have it happen again. I don’t want this to be the catalyst for it to happen again.”

He sat back slightly. “Just because I’m your boss?”

“Yes.” She turned her head. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. Now I know that I’m the only man in your life kissing you like this.” He dipped his head down again, engaging her tongue in a dance that was sure to send her pulse racing. “Come home with me tonight.”

Regan sat up straighter, pulling from his embrace. “I’m not ready.”

He sucked in a breath to calm the anger he felt rising in him—it wasn’t geared toward her, but to the SOB who’d hurt her. “I can wait. Regan, I’m not going to rush you or hurt you.”

“I know.” She took his fingers and interlaced them with her own. “I just need some time.”

He hated the fear in her eyes and the way her body stiffened when he’d mention anything about them taking things to the next level. “I’ll give you time.” He pulled her close so that her head rested on his shoulder.

He was used to his projects taking years. He could wait out Regan’s fear. If she needed to trust him, then he’d be the man she could trust. And if she needed his protection, he’d certainly do that too. But he hoped she would fall in love with him and realize they were much more than employee and employer. They were already in a partnership.

Arianna backed out the front door, her arms loaded with plates of pie.

Zach stood quickly. “Let me help you with that.” He took two of the plates and handed one to Regan.

He sat back down on the swing and took a bite. “Oh, God, this is wonderful!”

“I told you pie makes me happy.” Regan took a bite for herself.

“Got it!” Sensing he should keep the mood light, he shoved another piece in his mouth. “How embarrassing for my mother! She bought you a pie.” He laughed as he took yet another bite.

“It was very nice of her.”

Yes, his mother could buy her a pie. She could wine and dine her like she was the one in a relationship with Regan. But he now understood that pie was so much more than dessert to Regan. It was family time and family dinners. It was her father wanting her brother to succeed. It was a hug from little girl who missed her daddy. It was the excitement everyone shared when you came home with news that you’d succeeded. Pie was what he wanted with Regan—every piece and every crumb.

He let his eyes wander from his plate to her. “I assume you bake pie like this too, then?”

“I’d say we all have some very profound pie-making experience.”

“You could say that again.” Arianna laughed at her sister’s comment.

“We all had our share of working in Mom’s bakery. Her parents started it when she was little and she inherited it. So yes, I certainly can turn out any baked good you might need.”

“Tiramisu?”

“Or a tiramisu.” She laughed.

“Lucky me.”

Arianna watched them. “So, how long have you two been together?”

“Since about two o’clock yesterday,” Zach answered and Regan jabbed him in the ribs.

“I work for Zach,” Regan said, her voice very serious and her tone threatening.

“You both will have to make a trip to New York to see me. You know, on Broadway,” she sang the word and wiggled in her seat like an anxious child waiting for a gift. “I guess you get to keep the house a bit longer. Unless Carlos has kicked you out completely.” She broke off the crust to her pie and popped it into her mouth.

Regan grinned. “He told you he’s been staying?”

“Clara.” They both laughed. “C’mon, Mama wants to open that wine you brought.” She nodded toward the house.

They opened the wine and all sat down in the living room with their glasses.

At eight thirty, the doorbell rang and Carlos moved for the door with Clara close in tow. Soon Eduardo and Christian gathered their belongings and left the room. Regan patted Zach on the knee. “I’ll be right back.”

A few minutes later Regan sat back down and Carlos sauntered back to the room, alone. “I’m gonna head out. Mama, thanks for dinner.”

Emily rose to kiss him. “I love you, Son.”

Regan and Arianna kissed him as well, and Zach shook his hand. “It was nice to meet you and your children.”

“I’ll see ya on the site.” He waved to them all and left the house.

Arianna sipped her wine. “He’ll get over it soon enough.”

“It’s been two years. It’s time,” Alan said pragmatically, still focused on the television.

“I suppose we should go.” Regan stood and took Zach’s wine glass to the kitchen. Emily followed.

Zach stood, meaning to follow too, but he heard Emily questioning Regan. He stopped just outside the door, unsure whether he would be intruding. “You’re careful?”

“Mama, I’m fine. Nothing like that has happened. Besides, I’m thirty-three years old. I’m not a teenager.”

“I know. I don’t want your heart broken again… or anything to happen to you.”

“Neither do I.”

Zach backed away from the door. They were all watching out for her, and it was his job to make sure they were satisfied that she was happy and safe. Eventually she’d need to tell him what had happened. It wasn’t just a relationship that had ended badly. There was obviously much more.

She was quiet on the way home, but he took solace in the fact that her fingers remained laced with his.

“So, while you were
around
”—he smiled—“I was looking at the pictures on the wall. Is Carlos adopted?”

She laughed and turned her head to look at him. “Huh, what would give you that idea?”

“Curtis is the only one who looks like either one of your parents. You and your sister look exactly alike, only she’s about two inches taller than you even without those shoes on.” He looked at her, and her eyes were smiling from behind the curtain of dark lashes. Even when he spoke of her family, it made her happy. “Then there’s a picture of just you and your sister when you’re really little, and other family pictures of the two of you and your parents. Then another where Arianna is holding Curtis as a baby. Then there is a family picture of you all, and Carlos is right in the middle. I don’t know, maybe he was six or seven. Spill the story.”

“Mama and Papa were married fifteen years before they had children. What they got was me and Arianna. She was two and I was three months old when we came to live with them.”

“You’re adopted?” She nodded with a smile. He shook his head and let out a quick laugh. “I should have guessed that. You are all so wonderfully different.”