Contractual Obligation

Chapter Two

Harper kept one eye on her personal laptop screen and another on the reports she was compiling on her work laptop. From the moment the first potential candidate sat down to talk with Carmen, she kept hoping someone, anyone, would fit the bill.

My age range. Single. And not a troll. Jeez, that’s all I ask.

Finally, a little over an hour into the process, Carmen sat down with a cutie with brown hair and sweet brown eyes. She couldn’t tell how tall he was, but he didn’t look like he was in bad physical shape.

Winner, winner, chicken dinner!

She grabbed her phone and called Carmen’s cell after listening for a few minutes. He was smart, he had a degree and good grades that wouldn’t raise red flags with her dad for hiring him, and he was easy on the eyes.

Please, please let him be single and not a douche!

“Carmen, can he come over right now for an interview?” She knew her dad was out of the office until late the next afternoon. The convention center was only four blocks from the office tower where their headquarters took up three floors.

“I’ll ask him, ma’am.” She watched on the screen as he eagerly nodded, smiling as he vigorously shook hands with Carmen. She handed him a paper with a map and directions, and he practically jumped out of his seat.

Harper smiled. He was eager, practically desperate. Money wasn’t an issue. Gorden would retire with a comfortable pension even by executive standards. She could hire in his replacement for far more than the average graduate could ever hope to make and still pay the guy less than Gorden would earn in pension.

Carmen faxed the man’s résumé to Harper’s laptop. When she received it, she scanned it with a pleased smile. On paper, he would do. She closed her laptop and headed to the bathroom. After checking her blood sugar, she sighed and dosed herself with insulin. She’d have to be more careful in the future. She wouldn’t have Gorden shadowing her, making sure she ate on time and keeping her blood sugar steady. No one else on the staff besides him and her father knew about her condition, and that’s the way she planned to keep it. She worked out religiously as part of her weight-maintenance regimen. She wasn’t gym-rat thin, but she fought to keep her body fat down and her muscles toned. She’d been a solid size twelve since graduating high school, and if her doctor was happy with that, so was she.

Holy crap! Is she kidding? Do I want an interview right now? Hell yes! He took the paper with directions to Harper Wells’ office and bolted from the convention center floor. At the front door, when the muggy late-July Tampa heat slammed into him, he paused. If he ran the entire four blocks, he’d be drenched in sweat when he got there.

After taking a deep breath, he forced himself to walk the entire way. Upon arriving at the building, he ducked into the restroom in the lobby to freshen up and check himself out in the mirror.

No dark armpit stains, good! He straightened his tie again and headed for the bank of elevators to get to the twentieth floor.

The receptionist held him at her desk while she called back. Then she hung up and smiled. “Please follow me, Mr. Holt.”

She stood and led him through a maze of well-appointed hallways to an office that appeared to be located in the far corner of the building, if he wasn’t totally disoriented. She rapped on the door, opening it when a woman’s voice on the other side said, “Come.”

“Mr. Holt, ma’am.”

“Thanks, Kim.” He walked in, and the receptionist left them alone. The woman sat at her desk, her back to him. If he had to guess, it was a typical control tactic to put him off.

He tried not to let his expectations drop a notch, but he couldn’t help it. He didn’t want to be wasting time on a dead end any more than he wanted to risk losing out on a valuable opportunity.

The woman turned and smiled kindly at him as she stood. He immediately reevaluated his first impression. She was young, not much older than him, and dressed in a neat, stylish charcoal pantsuit. Her shoulder-length dark blonde hair was tucked behind her ears. Hazel eyes studied him. Maybe five six if she wasn’t wearing heels. Not chunky, but no waif, either.

“Mr. Holt? I’m Harper Wells, CEO of Wells Technology.” She extended a hand across the desk to shake, and he stepped forward and took it. Firm grip, but not like she was trying to prove something.

“Nice to meet you, Ms. Wells. Doug Holt. I really appreciate this opportunity.”

She indicated for him to take a seat across the desk from her as she retook hers. “Please, feel free to call me Harper.”

Hot damn, I’ve hit the jackpot, she thought when he walked in. He was definitely in shape, that much she could tell from the way his khaki slacks fit him and the cut of his long-sleeved dress shirt. He even had a cheap but decent-looking tie.

Style on a budget, good. She sensed more than just the normal anxiety from him.

“As you know,” she said, “I listened in on your initial interview with Carmen.” He nodded but didn’t interrupt. Good, he wasn’t overly pushy. “Now, I want to give you some background information before we start serious discussions.”

Here’s where she had to tread carefully. Carmen had told her the basics of how to phrase her questions so as not to run afoul of someone who wanted to cause trouble later. “This job, if it’s offered to you, will involve a lot of travel, including overseas. Sometimes for weeks at a time. A lot of nights, weekends, even holidays spent working, with me. Is there any situation in your life that would prevent you from being able to fulfill that obligation?”

He frowned, and she felt her gut roll. Damn, he probably has a wife or girlfriend. She looked but didn’t spot a ring on his left hand.

“I don’t have a passport, but I could apply for one. Will that be an issue, waiting for it to come through? I don’t know how long it takes.”

She relaxed a little. “That’s fine. Not a problem.” She tried to phrase the next question even more carefully. “Your position will also include you having to accompany me to social events and business functions. Sometimes overnight. Locally and out of town. Again, are there any issues in your personal life that might arise to prevent you from doing that?”

He shook his head. “No.”

She smiled again. “My current assistant, Gorden, has been with the company for twenty-five years. When I took over as CEO from my father, he was assigned to me. He’s at my beck and call, literally twenty-four-seven.” This is where it would get dicey. “He will train you on the paperwork end of things, institutional knowledge. There will be situations that come up where you’ll have to think on your feet to handle them. You’ll have three months to work alongside him until he retires. Then you get thrown into the deep end of the pool.”

She stood and rounded the desk, perching on the corner of it. “I need the person I hire to be of impeccable standards. Able to be self-sufficient, aggressive in the business world when I require it, tenacious in following orders, detail oriented, and not distracted by having to juggle any personal issues that might interfere with this position and its heavy work load. Does that sound like you?”

He nodded.

“I will also be running a very extensive background check. Not just criminal, but financial. Is there anything I need to know before I do that?”

That frown again. “What?” she asked.

He studied his hands. “How extensive?”

“Unpaid student loans?”

He laughed. “Yes, but I wish it was that simple.”

And now she suspected she had stumbled onto the source of his anxiety. She took the seat next to him, facing him. “Go ahead and tell me. I need to know anything that would be a source of distraction.”

He threw his head back and took a deep breath. “I don’t know if you want to hear the gory details.”

“You’d be surprised.” Damn, damn, dammit! She didn’t want some stupid adolescent car-hopping charge to sink the possibility of him working for her. He was neat in appearance, and he obviously had brains to graduate near the top of his class.

He looked down at his hands, which rested on the brown, imitation leather portfolio in his lap. He picked at his cuticles. “I found out yesterday that my parents are about to lose their house. My mom’s had some pretty bad health issues the last year. She’s been in and out of the hospital a lot. In fact, she just had surgery. She’s still there now, was supposed to come home yesterday, but they held her another day.”

He looked up. “I’m not trying to give you some sob story here, but you said extensive, and I’d be living with them, so it might come up. They got a certified letter yesterday from the mortgage company. They’re going to lose their house if they can’t get caught up.”

She didn’t sense a bullshit story from him. If that was the sole source of his worry, even though it was a big deal to him, she knew she could easily fix it for him.

If she hired him.

She had an idea. “How much are they behind?”

“Several months. But as hard as they worked for us kids over the years, I won’t let them lose their house.”

Bingo. Maybe it was predatory on her part, but she didn’t care. In the grand scheme of things, it would get her father off her back, it would keep this man’s family in their home, and everyone could win.

“What you’re basically telling me is you’re trying to get the best job possible so you can support your family. I think that’s very noble.” He hadn’t asked about salary yet. “So, just how flexible are you with your situation?”

Huh? “I’m sorry, I don’t understand the question,” he said.

She smiled at him. “I’m going to be quite frank. Ideally, I want the candidate to move into my house after a couple of months. You don’t have to share a bedroom with me, or even sleep with me. You see, I have a family issue of my own. If you’re willing to help me out, I will guarantee your family won’t lose their home.”

He froze, feeling a chill settle in. “Are you kidding me?”

She shook her head. “I’m dead serious, but I need assurances from you that if you walk out right now and say no to the job that there are no hard feelings, and no lawsuits about sexual harassment.”

Despite a warning in his gut, he nodded. “I’m listening.”

She leaned forward, elbows on her knees. “My father, despite being the owner and former CEO of this company, is still my father. I’m catching grief from him about not having a social life. You would, after a very short amount of time, become my cover.”

“Your beard,” he numbly said without thinking, wishing he hadn’t said it.

She laughed. “Well, I’m straight, but yes, basically. I’m too busy for a bullshit dating life. I’ve got an international business to run. That’s why all the questions about if you’d be available for travel and lots of hours. I needed a legal way to find out if you were single and unattached, so there wouldn’t be a jealous girlfriend or wife causing trouble.”

Girlfriend or wife… He wanted to laugh and cry at the same time. He pushed thoughts of Tate out of his head, hating himself for even voicing his next question. “How would you guarantee my parents wouldn’t lose their house?”

“First of all, you’d sign a contract obligating you to work for me for a minimum of a year. Your salary for that first year would be one hundred thousand dollars. I would personally buy the mortgage to your parents’ house and hold on to it. I’d have my attorney set it up in a trust so they think it’s an investment company purchasing the paper. This ‘company’ will be happy to work with them on their mortgage arrangements, including stopping any pending foreclosure actions against them and modifying the terms so they can get caught up.”

Doug swallowed hard, but he kept listening, his heart pounding in his chest.

“Additionally, upon the completion of the first contractual year, regardless of whether or not you renew your employment contract, I will hand you the mortgage and mark it paid in full.”

“Even if it’s not?” he whispered.

She nodded. “You are a quick learner. Any remaining balance will be completely forgiven. They will own their home free and clear.” She stood and returned to her seat behind the desk. “And to sweeten the pot,” she added, “I will give you two hundred thousand dollars, cash, in addition to your salary. We’ll call it a performance bonus. The first fifty thousand upon completion of three months of service to me, and fifty thousand each quarter after. I’m guessing that money would help pay some, if not all, of your mom’s medical bills?”

He numbly nodded. This had to be a dream. He could, finally, take care of his parents the way they’d always tried to take care of him and his sisters.

Except…

He closed his eyes and tried not to picture Tate’s blue eyes.

“There is one other catch,” she said.

Of course there is. She probably needs me to sell my soul to her. Screw it, I’ll open my veins and sign in blood if I have to. He opened his eyes. “What?”

“You will sign a nondisclosure agreement regarding the terms of our contract. It will be binding until the end of the first year. If you renew our contract, you will then receive two hundred thousand in salary every year. Health benefits, too, of course, from the start. 401(k). Everything. But you cannot tell anyone, not your parents or other family, friends, no one, about the true nature of our agreement. If my father finds out what I’m doing, it totally ruins things for me here. I need him off my back.”

“So, basically, I pretend to work for you while I’m playing your boyfriend?”

She vigorously shook her head. “No. You will be working, no pretending about it. Gorden will be the first to tell you I’m not easy to work for. I am very demanding. I am a perfectionist. I can be bitchy and a micromanager. But I also reward my staff for their successes. So you will absolutely be working for me. But you will be moving into my home and acting as my boyfriend after a couple of months, if not sooner. I want people to start seeing us together, let word of our after-hours socialization get back to my father. After a while, depending on how it’s looking, I’ll move you into my home. From there on, the act looks good.”

She leaned back and templed her fingers. “Obviously, as part of our agreement, you cannot date anyone else, on the sly or not. After the first year, if you still want to stay on, we can talk about this point and see if we can figure out a way for you to transfer to another office or something so you can have a social life outside of me. We have offices all over this country and in four other countries.” She smiled. “One year of celibacy, and your silence, is all I’m asking for.”

“I can’t tell anyone?”

She shook her head. “No. Not your parents, not your sisters, not any friends. No one. I cannot risk this getting back to my father. I cannot and will not be flexible on this point.”

He wanted to say no. He wanted to stand, thank her for her time, and leave.

He also knew he’d kick himself in the ass for refusing it. He couldn’t get the sound of his father’s choked sob out of his head.

“So, Harper,” he softly asked, “what do I have to do to get this job?”

Inside, she was doing jumping jacks. “I’ll get Gorden in here to take you down to HR and legal, where they’ll get the ball rolling for the background checks. You can officially start Monday as long as all that checks out. Oh, and what do you drive?”

He looked confused for a moment, like he was overwhelmed. “Um, a Honda Civic. Six years old. Bought it used.”

“Still owe on it?”

He nodded.

“Just to show you how serious I am, I’ll pay that off for you, too. Any credit card debt? Student loans?”

He nodded.

She smiled. “Consider them paid in full. Bring all the paperwork with you for all that on Monday. We’ll handle it first thing. And I’ll make sure you get a corporate card for expenses. Feel free to update your wardrobe.” She picked up her phone and called Gorden to come to her office. When she hung up, she smiled at Doug. “You have no idea how glad I am that you came to the job fair today.”

He licked his lips before finally speaking. “Me, too.”

She laughed, her heart feeling lighter than it had in a while. “Seriously, you have no idea how relieved I am. This will get my father off my back, help you and your family out—we all win.”

He nodded and smiled. “Yeah.”

Gorden walked in. “You wanted me?”

She pointed at Doug. “Gorden Smith, meet Douglas Holt. Your replacement.” She’d let Gorden in on her idea yesterday afternoon, knowing he would not reveal it to her father. He hadn’t been thrilled with the idea, but agreed that he wouldn’t tell, either.

He walked over to Doug. “Nice to meet you, son.” He shook hands with Doug. “Come with me. We’ll get everything started.”

He led Doug out of the office, shutting the door behind them. Harper sat back and laced her fingers behind her head. Now, seriously, how lucky was this? As long as his story all checked out, he was the perfect candidate. And she’d be doing a good deed for someone far less fortunate than herself.

Feeling good, she went back to work.

Doug couldn’t feel his legs. Was he really considering this? He followed Gorden to the elevator, which they took down to the next floor.

Tate.

He loved him. He’d planned on spending the rest of his life, fate willing, with him.

And now he was selling out that love…for what?

He took a deep breath as he remembered hugging his father the night before.

For my mom and dad. My sisters.

Maybe it made him a royal shit, but Tate could find someone else. His parents would never have another chance like this again. He couldn’t let them lose what they’d worked so hard for over the years.

He wouldn’t let them lose their home.