What she shared with Steven was common goals and determination to succeed. The reality show she’d just sold to a major cable network would give them both exactly what they wanted. The world would get to watch the carefully constructed fantasy they would put on for the cameras leading up to their uber-expensive, fairy-tale wedding. Steven would get promotion for his new line of nightclubs in New York and she would gain a whole new audience to help her break in to show business.
Sam was wrong. Steven wasn’t a boy like certain other people who were photographed every day with a new girl on each arm.
He was a man.
Most importantly, he was the man who’d agreed to marry her and father her child.
* * * * *
“KAY? DID YOU already bring the latest reports for the foundation youth project?”
Nicholas Alexander flinched as a loud beep followed by the sound of static came through his desk phone’s speaker.
“Oops…” There was another few seconds of fumbling and another loud beep. “Where is that stupid button? Oh, there it is. I have the reports, sir. I’ll bring them now.”
Nick smothered a laugh when the door to his office flew open and Kaylee Wilhelm, his new assistant, stumbled in carrying a stack of files.
“I have it right here!”
Kaylee was a singer in a girl group that his younger brother, a music producer, was trying to launch. She’d lost her prior job as a waitress because she couldn’t work the night shift anymore. Jackson needed her available to record and to attend industry parties in the evening. He was also worried about her being on her feet so much since she was pregnant. Nick had hired her as a favor to his brother when his usual assistant had moved away.
“I want to thank you again for hiring me full time, Mr. Alexander. I know I’m not fully up to speed yet, but I really appreciate you giving me a chance.”
She handed him the files and swiped her hands over her hair. When they’d first met she’d been wearing no makeup and her thick hair had been bound back in a messy ponytail. Today, her smooth brown skin looked perfectly clear and her eyes looked brighter, no doubt due to some sort of mystical female makeup voodoo. Her thick dark hair had been braided back into several neat twists. Jackson’s image consultants had obviously gotten their hands on her and given her a makeover.
It was too bad they hadn’t been able to give her confidence a makeover as well.
“I’ve told you a million times to call me Nick. You don’t need to thank me again, Kay. I should be thanking you. Most of the assistants I got from the temp agency didn’t fit well. I guess I was a little… unorthodox.”
Nick thought back to the days prior to hiring Kaylee. Assistants who spent the majority of their workday bringing him files he didn’t need, standing entirely too close, and finding every excuse to lean over his desk and flash their cleavage.
Things that he might have found amusing at one point, but not any longer.
Kaylee had been honest about her work experience and confessed that she had no prior experience in office administration. Something he would have known even if she hadn’t told him. She’d had no idea how to work a multiline phone system, seemed slightly afraid of the copy machine, and still looked terrified when she had to greet visitors who came to his office for meetings.
But despite all that, she had adapted quickly. Nick was used to keeping crazy hours and had never expected his assistants to get in as early as he did. But once Kaylee found out that his day started at seven a.m., she’d started showing up then, too.
He’d fallen asleep at his desk after a really late night and asked Kaylee to go pick up his dry cleaning when she got in that morning. He could shower at the gym downstairs and change into one of the suits he’d just had cleaned. Not only had Kay done it without any hysterics or unnecessary questions, but at the end of the day, she’d pointed to his lower desk drawer and said “just in case.” He’d pulled the drawer open to find a stack of neatly folded shirts, slacks, and ties. The remainder of his cleaning she’d left on the hook behind his office door.
That had been the day he’d decided he was keeping her.
“Even though I hired you as a favor to Jackson, I kept you on because you’re doing a hell of a job. You’ve earned the right to be here.”
Kay looked down at her shoes, clearly embarrassed by the praise. “Thanks. I’ve been enjoying it. This is certainly the most unusual job I’ve ever had.”
“Good. I’m a lot of things, but I hope I’m never boring. So, did we get word yet about our bid for the Alexander Foundation youth project?”
Kay was suddenly very interested in the pattern of the carpet. “Yes, sir. Unfortunately, we were outbid.”
“We were outbid? Damn it.” Nick pounded his desk in frustration. He’d started the Alexander Foundation to help kids who hadn’t been lucky enough to grow up with parents like his. He’d been searching for months for the perfect piece of land to build his retreat for troubled youth.
Not that he hadn’t always wanted to help others, but watching his little brother fall head over ass in love had made him start thinking about the future. Being a bachelor had always suited him. His brothers, Bennett and Elliott, seemed to feel the same way. They had the freedom to do what they wanted and when they needed a fix of family time, they had a blast playing uncle to Jackson’s two boys, Chris and Jase.
Marriage and parenthood were things he’d considered to be on a distant horizon. He knew he’d want them one day, but that day had never seemed particularly close.
Lately though, as he spent more time with Jackson and Ridley, he wondered if that time was finally here. Actually, if he was honest, it was spending time with his future sister-in-law, Raina Winters, that had him thinking differently.
Their one-night stand earlier in the year had rocked him down to the core. He hadn’t been able to get her out of his mind since. But she obviously hadn’t felt the same way—she’d avoided his calls and emails afterward. They’d been forced to spend more and more time together lately as Jackson and Ridley planned their wedding. He’d hoped their forced interaction would cure him of his obsession, especially since they seemed to annoy each other at every opportunity.