The Surrogate Husband Read online

Chapter Six

  Dex stared at the computer screen in his office Thursday morning, but instead of focusing on the Federal Assets Report for one of his small-business clients, all he could think about was Lucy. Damn woman had not only hijacked his dreams, but now she was invading every waking moment as he counted down the hours until he’d see her tomorrow morning, and get to spend the next three days and more importantly, nights with her.

  After he left her place the evening before, he’d resorted to his go-to decision-making strategy. He made a list of the benefits versus the pitfalls of engaging in a weekend-long affair with her. As long as they could keep things on the down low, the pros definitely outweighed the cons.

  More coffee would ramp up his concentration. He strode down the hall, past the exotic fish tank to the tropical-themed reception area and poured his second cup of the day. Before he took a sip, his cell buzzed. When he saw his father’s name on the display, he started back to his office for privacy, then answered. “Hey Pop. What’s up?” He shut the door behind him and sat on the edge of his oversized oak desk.

  His dad hesitated a few seconds. “I was wondering about this new bond fund I saw advertised in the financial section of today’s newspaper. Global Fidelity Priority, or something. Do you think Mom and I should speak to our new broker about it?” His father’s sigh filtered through the line. “It’s just, well, I was hoping to retire in the next five years, but we’ll have a hard time paying off the mortgage by then.”

  Dex sipped his coffee, which wasn’t quite as hot as he liked. “I have no idea about that fund, but don’t make any changes just yet. Let me do some research.” He couldn’t tell him about the merger yet, or that his dad’s stock in Bass Financial would soon be worth a whole lot more. Or that he planned to pay off his parents’ mortgage with some of his profits from the transaction, so that wouldn’t be an issue for them anymore, as long as the merger happened.

  “I’d appreciate that.”

  But he sensed worry in his father’s tone.

  “What is it, Pop?”

  His father lowered his voice. “I’m not sure. Just feels like there might be some changes about to take place here. There have been rumblings. But Johnny’s tight-lipped as usual. You and he are friendly still, right? Have you played golf with him recently? Maybe you could check in with him, make sure he isn’t planning to downsize or anything. I’d hate to be caught by surprise.”

  Dex set his cup down and rubbed the back of his neck. His father was probably noticing the preparation for the merger that few people were aware of. “I’m sure it’s nothing to worry about, but I’ll stop in to see him to make sure, okay?” He had some papers to drop off to Johnny anyway.

  Instead of finishing the report he’d been working on, Dex grabbed his jacket and the envelope that held his company’s assets report and headed to his car. Fifteen minutes later, he pushed through a set of double glass doors into the offices of Bass Financial.

  He got off the elevator on the third floor and strode to the end of the wood-paneled hallway to the last and largest office. Poking his head inside, he spotted Sue, Johnny’s assistant, a woman Dex had known for the entire twenty-five years his dad had been at the firm. The redhead’s gray roots were particularly prominent today. “Hey, Sue. How are you? Is he in?”

  She waved him inside. “Nice to see you, Dexter. He’s in a meeting. Did he know you were coming by?”

  He came around her desk to give her a quick hug and got a whiff of White Shoulders perfume. “Just hoping to catch him in. I have some reports for him, and I’d like to have a word.”

  Raised voices drifted out from under Johnny’s closed office door.

  Dex lifted an eyebrow in Sue’s direction. Maybe today wasn’t the day. “What’s going on?”

  When she crooked a finger at him, he leaned closer. “You know what a stickler he is for following protocol.” She gestured at the surface of her desk, completely empty except for her phone and computer. “Executive assistants aren’t allowed to have so much as a pen out. Because Johnny hates clutter. Clutter! All I want is a pencil cup, a message pad, and a picture of my grandson. Nope, wouldn’t allow it. But that’s not why Nelson Ying has been called to the carpet. Apparently he accepted a free dinner for his family at The Corral from a client. Now Nelson will have to find a new job, and I don’t even think the poor man realized that was on the list of Johnny’s no-nos. I mean, there are so many.”

  He wasn’t sure why Johnny was a tyrant about such things. It wasn’t as if anyone who worked for the firm was a politician or a governmental regulator that held sway over policies that affected Bass Financial clients. People in the business world gave each other gifts and freebies all the time. But not in Johnny’s company.

  “Let him know I stopped by.” He tipped his chin toward Johnny’s door. “And tell Nelson good luck for me.”

  Sue lifted her index finger, telling him to wait, then answered her phone. After she got off, she motioned toward an armchair. “Give him a few minutes. I’m sure he’ll see you.”

  Better to catch Johnny when he was in a good mood. He took a step toward the door. “No worries. I’ll come back another time.”

  But before he could make it out of the office, Johnny’s door opened and Nelson walked out, shoulders slumped, face ashen. Dex racked his brain for something to say, some encouraging words, but the other man was gone before he’d come up with anything.

  “How you doing, Dex?” Johnny called from his office. As usual, not a single salt-and-pepper hair was out of place. “What brings you here? You need something?”

  “A moment, if you have it.” He headed inside, closing the door behind him. The red flush of Johnny’s cheeks was the only sign that he’d just canned a twenty-plus-year employee.

  “How are you, my friend?” Johnny slapped Dex hard on the back then rounded the desk and lowered his imposing three-hundred-pound frame into the leather chair. The boss held up two fingers in a V. “Semper fi, huh?”

  Dex offered a half-hearted smile as he sat down. Johnny made one Marine reference or another nearly every time he saw him, which usually made no sense since Johnny had never been a Marine.

  “What’s up?” Johnny leaned back in the chair, his body language making it clear that he was the master of his domain, but Dex had always recognized the older man as the kind who used his money and position to define himself. Not that Johnny wasn’t a dynamic businessman—he was. But his people skills weren’t always admirable, and the firm occasionally suffered low employee morale, which was one of the aspects of the company Dex hoped to impact when he joined the board.

  Maybe his timing was wrong to ask about the changes his father had sensed. “How’s your day going?”

  “It’s already in the shitter.” He wiped a bead of sweat from his brow. “Why is it that people think the rules apply to everyone but them? I had to let Nelson go.”

  Dex clenched his jaw. Nelson was a good man with a big family. One who’d participated in every charity toy drive the firm had organized and had always brought the best homemade eggrolls to the yearly company picnics Dex had been attending since he was a kid. “I’m sorry to hear that. Wasn’t there any other way to handle the situation?”

  “You can’t follow the rules, you can go find yourself another job. It’s that simple.” He poked a finger at Dex. “The person in charge has to make some tough decisions sometimes. Am I right?”

  The man rarely changed his mind, but Dex had to try, for Nelson’s sake. “Can’t you give the guy another chance?”

  “Nope. Weakness isn’t in my nature. And if you’re going to be a board member here, you’re going to have to make some tough decisions, too.”

  Dex resisted rolling his eyes as he showed Johnny the envelope with the papers he’d brought.

  Johnny briefly glanced at it, then got up and paced the floor. “Let me tell you what happened last time I looked the other way when I suspected someone was breaking one of the rules. You’ve heard of PTM Microdevices,
right?”

  “Sure.” Everyone knew that one of the largest computer-parts manufacturers in the country had once been Johnny’s client. The biggest one the firm ever had.

  “Eleven years ago, the CFO of PTM was a man named Murphy Jackson. He was a real ass. Thought he knew every damn thing there was to know.”

  Takes one to know one.

  “We had an attractive young CPA named Greta Lee who was working on his account, along with several others. Hot blonde. Murphy started sniffing around under Greta’s skirt. Before long, he’s knocking the bottom out of it. Lucky bastard was at least twenty years her senior. Probably taking a Viagra IV every morning. So one day, Greta comes boo-hooing into my office. Says she can’t do it anymore. Now mind you, this is after Murphy, that dumb bastard, bought her a condo in Boca Raton and a brand new Jaguar. And now she decides she’s finished with him.”

  Dex’s stomach turned. He knew where this was going.

  “Now I’m a sensitive guy. I tell her to go with her heart. So apparently she dumped him. Kept all the expensive shit he’d given her, of course. Not twenty-four hours later, PTM pulls their account.” He rubbed his forehead. “We had a whole frigging department dedicated to this company. We almost went under over the whole fiasco.”

  “That bad, huh?”

  Johnny huffed. “From that day on, I’ve held fast to a set of rules I believe every company should adopt.”

  Dex’s father had told him how all employees had to sign a list of Johnny’s rules when they were hired, and again each time they received a raise or advancement.

  It would be even worse for him. As a partner, he’d be expected to be above reproach. And it wasn’t merely his own career that he’d be risking if he broke the rules. His father’s job could conceivably be affected as well.

  He thought about Lucy. Since she was a client, having an affair with her would be an unforgivable transgression. But the inn where the wedding was being held was more than an hour and a half away from Miami. As long as they ended it when the weekend was over, who would be the wiser?

  “I’ve got an appointment across town in half an hour,” Johnny said. “Was there something else you wanted?”

  His conversation with his father earlier came to mind. “I won’t keep you. But I was wondering, are you planning to make staffing changes after the merger goes through? Anything you’re putting into place now?”

  Johnny sat on the edge of the credenza and grinned. “So that’s what you wanted. The old man getting nervous?”

  He shrugged. “He’s been wondering. So have I.”

  “We have no immediate plans for any changes. Merely shoring things up. Nothing to worry about.”

  Vague, but it was probably all Johnny was going to give. And since he was already in a foul mood after firing Nelson, it was best to ask for a more concrete answer another time. Dex set the envelope on the desk. “Here are those assets reports on my firm that you asked for.”

  “Oh, thanks,” Johnny said. “Listen. Karen and I are having a few friends over tomorrow night. Why don’t you come by the house, bring a date?”

  He’d rather have his fingernails pulled out with a pair of pliers. Even if he’d wanted to go, he’d be at the inn tomorrow night. With Lucy. “I’ll be out of town for the weekend.”

  “Yeah? Got a hot date?”

  He swallowed. Hot didn’t even begin to describe Lucy. “Something like that.”

  “Good for you, tiger.” Johnny walked him to the door. “Maybe next time.”

  Maybe when the sun rises in the west. “Yeah, sure. Thanks for the invitation.”

  Despite their amicable relationship, he had no doubt that if Johnny learned Dex was doing anything he considered inappropriate with a client—namely Lucy—the merger could be derailed, and with it, his parents’ retirement. All he had to do was make sure he and Lucy went back to being just friends after the weekend. And that no one at Bass ever found out about them.

  He was a Marine. Anything was possible if he set his mind to it. He was ready to take charge and get what he wanted. And Lucy was what he craved.

  …

  Lucy tried not to look at Dex much after he picked her up for the hour-and-a-half drive to Lake Okeechobee Friday morning. The more she did, the more difficult it was to tamp down her attraction for him.

  All she knew was she had to keep her defenses on full alert. If it weren’t for the marriage ruse, she’d have run far away from Dexter Levian, accountant or not.

  He turned on the stereo, and soulful jazz filled the air. “Is this okay?”

  “It’s not Eminem or Lil Wayne, but it’ll do.”

  “From Lil Wayne to Mendelssohn. I love that.” He laughed, which felt way too normal. Like they were any other couple driving to the country for a weekend getaway. Terrifying because they weren’t. They were on their way to perpetrate a hoax on a very perceptive lady. Oh yeah, and spend three nights together at a romantic inn. In the same room, and bed.

  When he opened the console between them, she glanced inside. One compartment held pens and assorted small tablets, another had a roll of mints, a few wrapped cough drops, and a mini tube of ibuprofen. Way too tidy. She shuddered.

  She thought about what she kept in the same location in her car. A few tissues, some deodorant wipes, condoms, and an old granola bar she’d been meaning to throw away since last Christmas.

  So what that he was hot? She could never live with all his orderliness, any more than he could take her disorganization. They were totally mismatched. As long as Aunt Bev didn’t notice that, everything would be okay.

  When he exited the highway about halfway to their destination, she glanced at his gas gauge, which was close to the halfway mark. “Where are you going?”

  “Coffee.” He parked at a convenience store right off the Interstate. “Want anything?”

  “No thanks.” She leaned her head back and closed her eyes. Too bad she couldn’t relax. Every moment she spent with him she seemed to be in a heightened state of consciousness. As soon as the weekend was over, Bev would go back up north, everything would return to normal between her and Dex, and she’d be able to breathe easier. All they had to do was get through the next three days without messing up.

  When Dex got back into the car, he handed her a small, silver gift bag.

  She held it in front of her, afraid to open it for some reason. “What’s that?”

  He shrugged. “One way to find out.” After wiping off the base of his Styrofoam cup, he set his coffee in the holder, then got back on the road.

  Poking around in the tissue paper, she found a plastic-wrapped item—a cheapo silver chain with a heart charm and an L in the middle. “What did you do?”

  Dex shrugged. “I asked if they had any diamond jewelry, but the clerk said those necklaces were all they carried. It’s an anniversary present.”

  She took a moment to find her voice. “Anniversary?”

  “Yeah, I figure we’ve been married a couple months, at least as far as Bev’s concerned. They have those guidelines about this anniversary you get diamonds, that one you get silver. That might be aluminum-covered plastic, but I put a lot of thought into it.”

  She laughed, but strangely, she felt like crying. “Thank you. I’ll cherish it forever.” She hooked it around her neck then stared out the window, fingering the charm. If she looked at him, she was going to get all mushy, which was beyond silly. He’d merely bought the trinket as a prop in their play.

  Song after song played on the stereo as she tried to make sense of the strange emotions running through her head. It had been ages since a man had given her any sort of gift other than flowers or a Hallmark card.

  After the disc finished, Dex returned it to the case and filed it in the same spot in his console, as if he’d memorized where he’d kept it.

  Like her ex’s filing system for his movies. She recalled a particularly bad fight she’d had with Richard. It was after she’d had some girlfriends over and they’d searched through hi
s DVDs to find something to watch on TV.

  When Richard found his movie collection out of order, he’d thrown a fit—cursed, yelled. After the dust had settled, he’d apologized, said he’d been under too much stress at work, and bought her some dumb stuffed teddy bear, as if that fixed everything.

  Yet she’d forgiven him, that time. A huge mistake. She’d let her emotions trump her common sense.

  “Wow,” Dex said, pulling her back to the moment.

  At his exclamation, she glanced out the windshield at a long drive flanked by tall palms on either side. Ahead was a powder-blue three-story mansion that took her breath away. It had gingerbread-house features like gables, a turret, ornate trim, and a long porch with a gazebo on one end and a swing on the other. Flowers of every color and variety bloomed in footed pots along the walkways. Pure Victorian romance.

  “Yeah, wow,” she said. “I had a dollhouse when I was a little girl that looked a lot like this place. I loved it.” She swallowed back the bittersweet memory.

  He slowed down as they approached the building. “What happened to it?”

  “We had to leave it when Mom left my father.” Along with most of their other possessions. All the dolls and toys. Her chest tightened. “She always promised me she’d get me one just like it, but we had more important things to spend our money on. Like food and shelter.”

  Dex squeezed her hand, but she took it away. She didn’t want him to comfort her or anything else that would further endear him to her. Bad enough she already had the feelings she did.

  As she scanned the small parking area, he negotiated the circular drive. “My mom and sister are here. So is my uncle, which means Aunt Bev is already on-site. And so it begins.” She shivered.

  “Relax. We’ll be fine.”

  “We have to be.”

  He parked next to Uncle Alan’s Cadillac, then came around to Lucy’s door and offered her his hand. Did he ever stop being such a gentleman?

  She flashed on the vision of the two of them kissing, of his hands running up and down her back and cupping her breast. A shiver of arousal rolled over her skin. No, he wasn’t a gentleman all the time.