Not Strictly Business!. Susan Mallery

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      “You’re a ringer,” she said, trying to catch her breath.

      “I’ve had some practice.”

      “Where’d you play?” Phil asked, after slapping him on the back.

      “Law school. We all did, to unwind. Grad school, too, but not so much.”

      Samantha remembered that Jack had attended law school before going to Wharton. She also vaguely recalled him hanging out with friends on the basketball courts, but she’d never paid much attention.

      Now she knew she’d made the right decision. Being close to Jack while he ran, dodged, threw and scored bordered on dangerous. She liked the way his body moved and the energy he put in the game. She liked how he worked with his team and how, when his shirt came unbuttoned, she got a glimpse of some very impressive abs.

      Bad idea, she reminded herself. Lusting after the boss could only lead to trouble. Okay, so she wasn’t ready for a real relationship—maybe it was time to find rebound guy.

      “Thanks for letting me play,” Jack told Phil.

      “Any time.”

      “There’s that pub on the corner,” Jack continued. “Why don’t I buy you all drinks.” He glanced at his watch. “Say half an hour?”

      “Great.” Phil grinned. “Thanks.”

      “No problem.”

      Samantha waited until everyone else had disappeared into their respective offices. “You didn’t have to do that.”

      “Buy them drinks?” He shrugged. “I wanted to. They let me play. I needed the break.”

      “The board meeting?”

      “Yeah.” He shrugged into his jacket. “You’re coming, aren’t you?”

      She shouldn’t. It wasn’t smart. It wasn’t a lot of things. “Sure. I’ll be there.”

      “Good.”

      He smiled and her toes curled. She walked into her office. Rebound guy—absolutely. She would have to get right on that.

      Jack didn’t just order drinks, he ordered platters of appetizers, then proceeded to talk to each member of her team individually. Samantha watched him work the crowd and did her best not to react when he smiled at one of her female staffers.

      Finally he settled in the stool next to hers. “You’ve done well,” he said in a low voice. “You have good people working for you.”

      “Thanks.”

      Despite the easy conversation around them, she was aware of being watched. Some of her team were mildly interested while a few—the single women—were trying to figure out the score.

      “How did it go?” she asked.

      “About as expected. They’re more interested in protecting themselves than what really happened. We’re making an announcement first thing in the morning. I have two phone calls scheduled with investors. The first is to tell them what happened, the second will come later when I announce our specific plan to rectify the situation.”

      “Do you have a plan?”

      He sipped his drink. “Not yet, but I’m hopeful.” He glanced around. “They’re all working their butts off. I want to make sure it’s not for nothing.”

      “It won’t be. There will be some bad press, but we’ll get through it.”

      “Until the next crisis.”

      “The company is in transition,” she said. “There are always adjustments.”

      “I know. What I don’t understand is why my father never had a successor picked out. He had to know he wasn’t going to live forever.”

      “Maybe he was waiting for one of his sons to get interested in the company.”

      Jack took another drink. “Probably. I don’t see Evan and Andrew making a beeline to Chicago and, honestly, I can’t see either of them being willing to take things over.”

      She touched his arm. “You don’t have to do this if you don’t want to.”

      “I’m aware I can walk away at any point.”

      But he wouldn’t. Jack had a sense of responsibility. She respected that about him.

      Once again her body reminded her that he was nothing like Vance, but her head wasn’t so sure. On the surface her ex had been a great guy, too. Successful, a caring father. He’d said and done all the right things—right up until the wedding. Then overnight he’d changed.

      Her father had done the same thing. In a matter of weeks, he’d gone from a loving, supportive man to someone who’d walked out and had done his best not to have to support his only child.

      Powerful men often hid dark, guilty secrets. As much as she was attracted to Jack, she was determined to keep their relationship strictly professional. She couldn’t afford to take another emotional hit right now.

      “I should go,” she said, collecting her purse.

      “I’m heading out, too,” he told her. “Want a ride home?”

      Ah, the close confines of a car. So tempting and so dangerous.

      “No, thanks. I have a few errands to run on my way home. I’ll walk.”

      “Are you sure? I don’t mind.”

      She smiled. “I appreciate the offer, but I’ll be fine on my own.”

      She’d learned it was the only safe way to be.

       Chapter Five

      Roger Arnet was a tall, thin blond man in his mid-fifties. He shook Jack’s hand, then sat in the visitor’s chair on the other side of the desk.

      “How are you settling in?” Roger asked pleasantly. “Your father was a great man. A great man. You won’t find filling his shoes easy.”

      Jack didn’t know how to answer the question. News of the second set of books had been released to the public. The response in the press had been relatively mild since Hanson Media Group wasn’t a major player in the city, but there had been plenty of uproar in the office. He wondered if Roger had any way of reconciling his insistence that George had been a great man with the reality of a company president who lied to his entire staff.

      “I’m finding my way,” he said, going for a neutral response.

      “Good. Good.” Roger smiled. “I understand you’re a lawyer.”

      “Yes. I attended law school, then went on to business school. It was my deal with my father. I would study both and then pick.”

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