The Paris Affair (7 page)

He sighed. Their brother hadn’t been home in years. He was too busy with his research on Brazilian tree frogs to come home and teach his baby sister how to drive a stick shift. Or to call their mother. “Do you hear from him much, Kelsie?”

“An email here and there. He’s on Facebook, too. I actually chatted with him for a few minutes last month when he was in Sao Paolo.” She cocked her head to one side. “Haven’t you guys made up yet?”

The waitress arrived and deposited a chipped ceramic mug and a pot of coffee on the table in front of Helmut, and he busied himself adding cream and sugar. He raised the mug to his lips and inhaled the steam. It was way too hot to sip. Unfortunately.

“I take it that’s a ‘no’?” she asked.

Helmut sighed and set the cup back down. He ran one hand through his hair, smoothing the lock by his forehead that was so often out of place. “He’s never called, no.”

“Maybe you should be the big brother here, Helmut, and call first. Maybe if he thought he was welcome, he might come back to the States once in a while.”

And maybe Brazilian tree frogs would sprout feathers. “Look, Kelsie, I appreciate your concern but this isn’t any of your business.”

“But—”

“With all due respect, butt out. Rob’s a big boy. If he wants to live his life in the Amazon jungle, it’s his decision. I’m not going to try and talk him out of it. And don’t—”

She opened her mouth to protest again.

He held up his hand to cut her off but deliberately softened his voice. “Let it go, please.”

She crossed her arms over her chest and slunk backwards into the booth seat, her pose more protesting than defeated.

Helmut took a gulp of his rapidly cooling coffee. It was too strong and tasted bitter, even with the additions. He understood his sister’s frustration. He wanted Rob home as much as Kelsie and Mom did. But after their father died ten years ago, he and Rob had a major blowup. He had accused his younger brother of skipping on family responsibilities, and his brother had accused Helmut of having a stick up his ass, and a teenaged Kelsie had cried through the whole argument. And then, in the thick of it, Rob had just left. Turned and walked out.

At least his younger brother was starting to talk to Kelsie again. Helmut drained his cup. At least his younger brother was talking to someone again.

“Helmut?”

“Yes, Kelsie?”

“Thanks, big brother. For coming to pick me up. I am glad you’re here.” Her voice was soft and shy, and Helmut spared her a glance out of the corner of his eye. She was looking at him with her wide brown eyes and a hopeful vulnerability that melted just a tiny corner of his heart.

Kelsie was almost seventeen years younger than he was. And she’d had him wrapped around her little finger since the day she’d first learned to smile. If she was spoiled, it was because she was so easy to spoil. His lips quirked into a half grin, and he slid one arm around her slim shoulders.

“That’s what family’s for, kiddo,” he said, and gave her a squeeze.

“You could pop in if you wanted to. Shake hands, kiss a few babies, do that CEO-goodwill-stuff,” Steph suggested.

Claire twirled her hat in one hand. “This is personal time. I haven’t seen you girls for months. Well, I haven’t seen Jen and Alicia for months. I’m not ditching you to crash someone else’s party.”

Steph raised one eyebrow and quirked her lips. “I wasn’t suggesting you spend the whole game up there. Five minutes should be plenty.”

“I don’t care who Helmut brought to the baseball game. He could have an entire harem up there, for all the difference it would make to me.”

“It’s almost the seventh inning stretch. If you go now, you won’t get caught in the mad rush for the bathrooms.”

One of these days, Steph is going to be wrong about something
.

Claire excused herself and squeezed over her friends toward the end of the aisle.

“Good Luck,” Alicia called as Claire climbed the stairs. Claire threw a glare over her shoulder at her friends. They had their heads together, and Steph and Jen were giggling like a couple of coeds. In the row behind them, Frank gave her a wink. She took a deep breath and mentally blocked out his smug face.

As she wound her way past the concession stands to the mezzanine, she tried to recall the names and faces of everyone she’d met in Finance this week, something she normally excelled at. But it was Helmut’s gray-green eyes that filled her mind.

Claire paused at the door to the box. The interior of the air-conditioned room had been custom-decorated with navy blue leather seats and small end tables topped in the same granite as the countertop of the built-in wet bar. Framed posters of some of S&F’s aircraft were interspersed with Cubs memorabilia on the walls. Claire recognized the baseball bat autographed by Babe Ruth that her father used to display over the fireplace in their den when she was a kid.

Neither Helmut nor the brunette were anywhere to be seen. Claire breathed a quick sigh of relief. The walk up the stairs from the infield had cooled her ire, and she realized how awkward it would be if Helmut were here with a date.

“Ms. Sheffield, what a surprise.” Helmut’s secretary crossed the room and greeted her warmly. “Helmut forgot to tell me you were coming today.”

“Oh, I’m not staying. I am sitting with some friends down by the infield. I just thought I’d stop by and say hello.” Claire smiled at the woman. Dressed in khaki capris and a baseball jersey with her long hair loose, Betty looked far different than the tight-laced persona she wore in the office.

“Did he get a hold of you last night? He called me at dinnertime asking for your phone number. It sounded urgent.”

Claire startled. He called his secretary? “Um. Yes. He did leave me a message.”

“Oh, good. I’m glad things worked out. Well, come in and let me introduce you to a few of the folks you might not have met yet.” Betty steered her toward a several family groups, where three or four kids ran circles around the legs of the relaxed, chatting adults.

Claire made small talk with the accounting staff and their families, noting the names of two men and one woman who seemed eager to get face time with their CEO. She’d have Steph check out their records next week. Ambitious workers could be a real asset, or a total pain in the ass, and Steph was an expert at ferreting out the latter.

The eighth inning was about to start when she turned to leave and caught her breath.

Helmut stood at the doorway, a beautiful young woman on his arm. She had thought he looked sexy in tailored slacks, but that was nothing compared to the way a pair of well-worn denim jeans hugged his lean hips and emphasized rock-hard thighs. The T-shirt he wore left his tanned and muscled forearms bare, and Claire’s pulse quickened as she remembered those arms tracing up her bare ribcage.

The woman stood on tiptoe and whispered something into Helmut’s ear. He chuckled. The bright glow in his eyes as he talked to his date answered all of Claire’s doubts. Clearly, they knew each other well. Claire’s stomach churned at the thought of all of the sexual fantasies she’d been nurturing the past week. He had been making a fool of her—and of his pretty little girlfriend. She stiffened her spine and raised her chin a notch. The girlfriend was none of Claire’s business, and as of now, Helmut was nothing but business to her.

Before she could rip her eyes away from the pair, Helmut spotted her. His eyes darkened as he caught her gaze. Claire’s blood boiled at the thinly veiled desire she saw in his eyes. How dare he look at her like that, here, in front of his whole office and his date. She turned sharply on one heel and stalked into the suite’s private restroom, closing the door behind her with a snap.

Fool. Wimp.
Claire stared at her own image in the bathroom mirror.
You are fearless in the face of television cameras, an auditorium full of stockholders, or a boardroom full of men twice your age. But you are a complete coward when faced with one lone man.

A speaker in the ceiling announced that the backup pitcher had just taken the mound. Time to get back to her own party. Claire flushed the empty toilet and ran the sink water briefly, for effect, and then lifted her head high and stepped out of the bathroom.

Most of the people had returned to their seats or found spots along the wall of windows overlooking the field, and no one paid any attention to Claire as she slipped out the door and back into the now-empty hallway.

Helmut leaned lazily against the wall, arms crossed over his chest and eyes narrowed at the brunette standing in front of him talking. Claire paused mid-step. There was no way to walk past him without being noticed. Maybe he would ignore her. She schooled her features into a polite mask and started to walk past.

“Claire—”

Claire startled as Helmut’s hand touched her sleeve. In his eyes, Claire saw a low simmer that sent a thrill straight to her core. She forced her lips into a polite smile.

“Helmut. You had a nice turnout,” she said, indicating the door she just stepped out of.

His lips quirked. “I would like you to meet someone.”

Claire gritted her teeth as he put one arm around the woman’s shoulder. “Claire Sheffield, this is my sister Kelsie.”

Claire’s jaw dropped at the word “sister”. Was he kidding? The brunette—Kelsie—extended a hand and cocked her head to one side as she studied Claire.

“It’s an honor, to meet you in person Mrs. Sheffield. We studied Arachnava last semester in my business strategy course. Your accomplishments there were awesome!”

Claire reeled from the unexpected fan-girl attitude. This girl was Helmut’s sister? “Um, great. Are you a, um, student then?”

“I’m majoring in English Lit at the University of Florida, minoring in finance. I’m thinking of going for an MBA. I mean, academia isn’t that exciting, and there aren’t a lot of other job opportunities in my field.”

Claire smiled and nodded, her mind racing. When Kelsie paused in her rambling monologue to catch her breath, Claire arched one eyebrow at Helmut. “You go to school in Florida. What brings you to Chicago?”

Kelsie crossed her arms across her abdomen. “I, uh, road trip,” she mumbled.

Helmut chuckled nervously. “Don’t you miss the impulsive college days when you could just drop everything and hit the road for the weekend?”

“Heh. Some days,” Claire admitted. The pair were covering up something, but she didn’t feel comfortable prying. “Speaking of which, I am here with some of my girlfriends. I should get back before they send out a scouting party. It was nice to meet you, Kelsie. Have a nice weekend, Helmut.”

Claire shook Kelsie’s hand and turned to leave.

“A word before you go?” asked Helmut. “Kelsie, I’ll be back in a minute.”

Helmut waited for Kelsie to roll her eyes and walk back into the suite. Claire’s heart fluttered and she fought the urge to twirl her hair like a coed. She shoved her hands into her jeans pockets to keep her fingers from reaching for her ponytail.

“Did you get my message last night?” Helmut asked, his voice low, eyes sparkling.

“Yes,” Claire answered carefully. She felt her cheeks flushing as she remembered seeing that same sparkle while he knelt between her knees in the steam room. She dropped her gaze from Helmut’s eyes. Big mistake. A few curls of hair peeked out of the neckline of his T-shirt, reminding her of the sight of his bare chest. Luckily her fingers were safely ensconced in her pockets or she might have reached out to touch that broad expanse of muscle.