Page 27 of In Charge

“Robbie.” She leaned forward and rested her arms on her desk. “I told you last night that you and I were fine. I meant that.”

“I know you did, but you need to understand why I did it. My full intentions. Only then can you decide if there can be a you and me.”

“I might know you better than you think I do.” Her voice was flat, and she looked like she didn’t care either way. “I don’t care why you did it. I only care that it’s never going to happen again. I’m not sure I want to know the reason anyway.”

“It won’t happen again.” I huffed. “But I need you to understand the why. It’s important to me.”

She walked around her desk and sat in the chair next to me. My breath quickened as her empty stare cut right through me. “Okay. Why did you do it?”

“To get back at my father.” I stared at the floor, unable to make eye contact with Maya while I spoke. “He’s a shitty father. He abandoned my mother days after I was born. He refuses to acknowledge he has six brilliant and successful daughters, and I hate him. If you met my sisters, you’d understand why it hurts so much to see him disregard them and their successes. My sisters had every reason to hate me. I was the only one Dad ever wanted to see. Just me. He never once exercised his visitation rights with them.

“I grew up with Dad in my life, they didn’t. To be honest with you, I’d probably have been better off if he’d disappeared from my life, too. After every weekend I spent with Dad, I’d come home sad and disappointed that we never did anything fun. All he wanted to do was teach me the business, even as early as age ten. And after every weekend, my sisters would rally around me—their moms too—and they’d take me to baseball games or the park or whatever other thing I’d wanted to do with Dad and never got too.

“They could’ve easily hated me because I got something from Dad they didn’t get, but instead they loved me unconditionally and helped me get through my young impressionable years without completely turning into Dad myself. My sisters taught me about being a family, and as dysfunctional as ours is, we love each other very much.

“When I found out Dad was considering appointing a woman as the next CEO, I’d lost it. I couldn’t believe he’d do such a thing after discarding his daughters so easily. I was pissed and I hated you before I even met you.

Once I got to know and saw how great you are at this job, I was even more pissed that Dad wanted me to take it all away from you. It pushed me over the edge. It’s petty, I know. But that’s it. Is that reason enough?”

When I lifted my eyes to hers, and her eyes welled up with tears. Her face softened and she reached over and squeezed my hand. “Robbie, I understand your reasonings, but don’t let yourself become your father. You’re a better man than that”

“I’m not my father.” I lifted her hand and kissed it. I considered it a small victory when she didn’t pull away. “But I’m not a good man. If I were, I would feel remorse for what I did, for how it impacted Dad, but I don’t. I’m sorry for what it did to you, but it brings me joy to see Dad suffer. A better man would not feel that way.”

“You judge yourself too harshly.” Maya smiled. “Don’t forget, I know your father and agree with everything you’ve said about him. What you did was risky, and could’ve hurt a lot of people. He’s not the only one effected by the success and failures of this company. You’re lucky I’m damn good at my job.”

“I know.” I dropped her hand and stood. When I decided to do this months ago, there was no Maya. I walked over to the window and stared out at the city. She complicated things, and I risked losing more than I bargained. Now my heart was on the line.

I turned to face Maya, who now stood behind me. She looked sad. Not sad that I did it, but sad for me. It was a look I hadn’t expected. “I’d pictured you as an old, grumpy woman no better than Dad. Based on what I knew about him, there was no way in hell a hot, smart woman like you would be his senior VP. It wasn’t possible—not with the way he treated women.”

I stepped close to her and cupped my hands on her cheeks. She let out the slightest whimper and leaned into my touch. “Yet here you are, and you’re everything a CEO should be. There was no way in hell I could hate you after I got to know you. Dad was willing to push you aside and make me CEO. That was why he begged me to come work under you—to learn what you know and take over. All I had to do was say yes. How stupid is that? You deserve your success, and you deserve to be the next CEO of this company. Not me.”

She placed her hands on my hips, and her touch sent a tremor through my body. I wanted to kiss her, to wrap my arms around her, and feel every inch of her body against mine. But I restrained myself and continued. “After I got to know you, I decided not to go through with it. But I went to see Dad after we had lunch the other day, and he said some things that set my temper off. I lost it. I know I should have waited until I cooled off, until I was thinking more clearly, but I didn’t. I gave the files to a friend of mine and—well, you know the rest.”

She shortened the distance between us so our chests pressed together, leaned up, and kissed me gently on the lips. My heart sang from her touch. “So that’s in the past. I fixed it with minimal damage. What I want to know is, what do you plan to do next?”

I smiled and wrapped my arms around her waist. “I hope a lot more kissing, and maybe a lot of repeats of last night, too.”

She laughed, and all the tension built up inside me faded away. Her laughter was music to my ears. “I was talking with regards to your father and PenTalent, not you and me.”

“Oh, that what next.” I laughed with her. “Honestly, that will depend on what my father does this afternoon when he meets with us. I made it clear to Dad that I had no interest in being CEO and that he’d be crazy if he didn’t step aside immediately and put you in charge. Until then, I really don’t know.”

“Okay, I guess I can wait a few more hours.”

“So.” I looked into her chestnut eyes and hesitated. She felt so good in my arms, and I didn’t want to lose this feeling. “Is there a you and me?”

She gave me the same serious, almost blank stare she gave me earlier and my gut wrenched. “Robbie, unless you tell me you plan to destroy this entire company, then yes, there’s a you and me.”

Relief washed over me, and I was dizzy with desire. “I have no intentions of destroying this entire company.”

Parting her lips, she raised herself to meet my kiss. I groaned at the sweet tenderness of her touch. Her lips were soft and gentle and for the first time since I first met her, I felt something more than desire and lust. I felt promise and hope. And despite the unknowns ahead of me, I looked forward to the future.

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