Authors: Josie Kerr
Ed Holbrook Jr. was concerned. Something was going on with Tripp. Ed had realized long ago that his only son didn’t have the fortitude to take over the company, so he kept him sequestered where he couldn’t do a lot of damage.
Oh, he knew about the Williams debacle. He had waited for his only child to admit to almost losing the client, but Tripp never did. Instead, he tried to blame little Em Davidson, of all people, for the problems encountered on that case.
Boy, did Ed miss having Em Davidson in the office. She was sharp and brash and got the job done with no drama and extreme efficiency.
When Tripp decided to start seeing Em socially, Ed was delighted, thinking that maybe, just maybe, Tripp was growing up and getting his act together. He didn’t know what had changed between the two of them, but something had.
Em had stuck with Tripp for over ten years. Ten years! That was a long time to just date someone with no ring on her finger. Ed suspected Tripp wasn’t always faithful, even before that nightmare of a Christmas party when all hell broke loose.
Bailey. He didn’t know whether to feel sorry for the girl or kick her ass, though he leaned toward the former because she continued to put up with his son, despite a somewhat difficult pregnancy and Tripp’s continued bad behavior.
When Ed had found out the girl was pregnant, he’d been appalled. Not because of their unmarried state or because of who the girl was, but because he knew deep down that Tripp couldn’t cut it as a father. In the early days, he’d seemed to be stepping up, but lately, he had reverted to his old ways: showering at the office and keeping a change of clothes there as well, not because he was working late, but because he’d roll into the office after being out all night doing who knows what. It was only a matter of time before Bailey kicked his sorry ass to the curb, and it would be a well-deserved kicking.
And now, Rory Doyle wanted a meeting with him. Doyle was one of his last criminal cases, but one of the first electronic crime cases. He was another one for whom Ed had the utmost respect. Ed had a soft spot for the son of a former bare-knuckle boxer. Ed was from old Boston stock himself, but admired the scrappy Southies he knew—and while Rory was an immigrant, he was definitely a Southie. He was another one who got the job done. If he had been able to afford him, Ed would have snapped Rory up in a heartbeat. They had a mentor relationship, but it had been months since they’d gotten together. Ed had heard good things about Doyle’s business. Maybe he should pursue some sort of partnership with the Irishman.
Gloria, Ed’s secretary, interrupted his ruminations by patching a call through.
“Holbrook,” Ed barked in greeting.
It was Bailey. “Hey, Ed…I need to talk to you about something.”
Ed braced for the inevitable. Bailey had been missing from Thanksgiving dinner and Tripp hadn’t really had a good explanation for why she wasn’t there, other than “sick with the baby.” When Ed called later in the evening, no one answered. He’d called several times in the following days, but still couldn’t connect with either of them.
“Bailey, darling, are you okay? Do you need anything? We missed you at Thanksgiving dinner.”
Bailey took a deep breath. Y
ou can do this.
“I have to leave the Firm, Ed. I...I can’t talk about it right now, but I wanted you to know that I’m not staying with the Holbrook Firm or with Tripp. It’s complicated, but it’s what I have to do right now.”
“Did Tripp do something to you, Bailey? I was going to talk to you today about my son. Something is going on with him.”
“Rory Doyle will fill you in about some of the stuff that’s going on with Tripp, Ed.” If Ed wasn’t concerned before, now he was filled with dread. Rory had tangled with Tripp in the past when Tripp had racked up substantial gambling debt. Was Tripp gambling again? Ed groaned. This was the last thing he needed.
“Ed, I need to get going, but I thought you deserved to hear from me personally that I wasn’t going to be around anymore.” Bailey sounded resolute. Good for her.
“Wait, Bailey. I just want you to know that I’ll do anything to help you, okay? Please keep in touch with me, if not for you, for the baby’s sake. Just because you’ve severed ties with Tripp, doesn’t mean you have to sever ties with the rest of us.”
Bailey’s voice quaked. “Thank you, Ed. You don’t know how much that means to me.”
“Take care, Bailey. I hope to see you soon.”
“Bye, Ed.”
Ed put his head in his hands. To use one of Em Davidson’s phrases, what the actual fuck was going on?
*****
Rory sat in the lobby of the Holbrook Firm. He couldn’t decide if he wanted to run into Tripp or not. Probably not. How Ed could have such a jackass for a son, he didn’t know. Rory sighed. He generally wasn’t the type to not face a combatant directly, but he knew that the quickest way to deal with Tripp was to sic his father on him. He only hoped Ed would understand.
Ed had a commanding presence and charismatic personality, two things his son didn’t have at all. He extended his hand to Rory, who took it in a firm handshake. “Rory, it’s been too long. What’s new? It seems things are going well with the consulting company.”
Rory’s feeling that Ed had no idea what his son was up to was confirmed with his hearty greeting. Ed Holbrook might be a lot of things, but he wasn’t one to play nice and mince words.
“Unfortunately, Ed, the consulting business might be taking a hit because I got a non-compete injunction that affects my main analyst. It’s someone you know–Ermengarde Davidson.”
Ed frowned. “Hasn’t she been working for you for over a year?”
“That’s exactly right, Ed. She accepted a preliminary offer before Christmas but, being the professional she is, wanted 90 days to wrap up her other projects. Then suddenly, she was available the next day. I called your HR department personally to make sure there wasn’t anything untoward going on, and they didn’t mention a non-compete clause. Yesterday, I got this,” Rory slid the injunction across the table, “a full 11 months after Em has been working with me. I noticed your name isn’t on the document, but the injunction claims it’s from the Holbrook Firm itself. I feel I owe you the professional courtesy to give you a heads up that I’m going to fight it, and it’s going to be ugly and most likely very expensive.”
Ed looked over the document with a scowl. “I have no idea what this about. We don’t deal with non-compete clauses because everyone knows they’re essentially unenforceable. And regardless, what Em did for us is very different than what she’s doing with Tara Security.”
Rory debated telling Ed about Bailey, but ultimately decided that it was venturing too far into personal territory. But as though the older man had read his mind, he asked, “Do you know Bailey Jenkins, Rory?”
For once, Rory Doyle looked somewhat uncomfortable, which meant that all hell was about to break loose.
“Bailey Jenkins is my new office manager.”
“Really.” It was a statement, not a question. The two men looked at each other across Ed’s huge mahogany desk. “How do you know Bailey, Rory?”
“I actually just met her, Ed.” T
he cat’s out of the bag, now, Rory. Just spill it.
“She called Em on Thanksgiving. She doesn’t feel safe with Tripp so we moved her out of the house. Em felt that she wasn’t safe here, either. I need a manager, so it works out. You need to speak with Bailey if you want more information.”
“I talked with Bailey this morning. She told me some things, including that she was leaving Tripp and the firm, but she didn’t tell me she was working for you.” Ed was thoughtful. “Please reiterate to her that I wish her the best of luck and she shouldn’t hesitate to contact me if she needs anything at all.” Rory was relieved at Ed’s reaction. He visibly relaxed.
Ed wasn’t finished. “Now, regarding that injunction: thank you for bringing it to my attention, Rory; I’ll deal with as swiftly as possible. Expect a phone call.” Ed stood up as a sign that their meeting was over. “Next time, let’s not wait so long to catch up, yeah?”
“Yeah. Thanks for everything, Ed. Everything.” Rory waved a final goodbye and left the lobby.
“Gloria, get in touch with Tripp and tell him I want to meet with him immediately.” Ed rubbed his chest, where the slow burn of indigestion, fury, and disappointment was unfurling. “And see if you can track down some antacid or something.”
Em and Mick were prepping for the cooking class at the rec center when a tall soldier named Jesse showed up looking for Mick. Mick’s face split into a wide grin as he grabbed the young man in a bear hug and pounded him on the back, whistling at the smart uniform he was wearing.
Mick introduced Em, telling her that Jesse was one of the program’s early participants. Em busied herself by making grocery lists to give the two some privacy, but kept sneaking looks at them. Mick’s obvious affection for all these young men made her heart swell, but it was especially nice to see someone whose success was the direct result of Mick’s interactions with him.
“Where are Sophie and Emily?” Em heard Mick ask.
Jesse’s wide smile vanished. “You don’t know, do you? Sophie lasted six weeks. She stayed clean while she was pregnant, but after Emily was born, she went right back. Granny came over to take them to a doctor’s appointment to get her stitches from the C-section out, and found Emily bawling in her crib and Sophie dead with a needle in her arm. The police said she had been dead about 18 hours.”
“I’m so sorry, Jesse. I really didn’t know. If I had, I would have reached out to your grandmother. Sophie never much cared for me, so I was reluctant to insert myself, you know?” Mick blew out his breath. “What can I do to help now? Is Emily with Granny while you’re deployed?”
“Yes, she is. She’s getting so big. I’m still trying to get them set up in Columbus so they’ll be closer to me.”
“You be sure to let me know if you need help moving them down there, okay? You still have my cell and home phone, right? Be sure to give them to Granny and tell her not to hesitate if she needs anything, and I mean anything, at all.”
“Thanks, Mick.”
Mick patted the young man on the back, obviously overcome with emotion.
“Jesse! You’re back!”
Trey and Andre burst into the kitchen and immediately started in with a barrage of questions, which Jesse confidently answered. When Trey let out a stream of expletives in reaction to one of Jesse’s stories, Em blurted out, “MOUTH, Trey,” and then went back to organizing the pantry.
“Miss Em, you know you cuss more than probably the four of us combined,” Trey complained.
“I know. Now do I say, not as I do, Trey,” Em replied, but a smile tugged at her lips. “You guys need to get washed up. Class is going to begin in five minutes.”
The boys grumbled but began to get ready.
“Could I stay for class, Miss Em?” Jesse asked. “I could use some pointers on cooking.”
“You’re gonna cook, Jesse?” Andre asked incredulously.
“You gotta eat, asshole. Might as well make it not taste like shit.”
“Good grief, Jesse. MOUTH!” Em said with mock irritation. “Okay, then. Suit up, soldier! Apron on and hands washed!”
Jesse winked at Mick. “She’s sassy, Mick. I like her.”
News of the handsome soldier’s participation in class spread like wildfire. Within minutes, all the workstations were filled and soon, 20 casseroles were prepared and ready to go home to be served or frozen.
After the kitchen was spotlessly clean, Em gave Jesse a tight hug. “Thanks for coming, Jesse. You’re an inspiration for all these guys, you know?”
“I couldn’t have done it without Mick, Miss Em. None of it. He saved me from myself.”
“Jesse? Is Jesse in here?” a soft voice called from the hallway.
“I’m in the kitchen, Granny,” Jesse called.
A very small, very old woman came around the corner with a baby in her arms. “Robert told me you were here. We were at the park enjoying the sunshine, isn’t that right, Emily?” The baby gurgled happily.
“Granny Sellars, come give us a hug,” Mick said with a smile.
“Oh, little Mickey! You’re still around!”
Mick cringed at the nickname but smiled nevertheless. “I’ll always be around, Granny.”
“And you have a lady friend, now? It’s about time.” Granny Sellars stared pointedly at Mick.
“Granny Sellars, this is Em. She teaches cooking lessons here and works for Rory in her spare time.” Mick winked.
“Hmph. Now that you’re taken care of, we need to get that Irishman in line,” Granny Sellars said through pursed lips.
Emily began fussing and squirming in the little woman’s arms. Mick reached out for the baby. “Let me feed her, Granny. You go sit down and taste what the boys have whipped up.”
Mick took the baby from her great-grandmother’s arms and deftly tipped the bottle into her hungry mouth. Emily looked at him seriously while she ate, her chubby hands gripping the bottle. Mick bounced as he walked around the kitchen, crooning to the little girl.
He looked very natural with the baby, Em thought wistfully. And he would never have a chance to have another child of his own as long as he was with her. Em’s eyes got hot and tears threatened to fall, which was completely unacceptable.
“Hey, Em, you okay?” Mick asked, a worried crease in his forehead and a baby on his shoulder. He patted the little girl’s back, and when she delivered a soft burp, he congratulated her on a job well done. “Seriously, Em, is everything all right?”
“Yeah, everything’s great, Mick. The class was a lot bigger than I anticipated and took a lot more mental energy.” She smiled up at him, and he bent down to give her a quick kiss on the lips.
“Let me hand this little one off to her daddy and we’ll go home. You can have a good soak in my tub and a glass of whatever you want, and then I’ll give you a rubdown, sound good?”
“Sounds fantastic,” Em said. She stretched on her toes to kiss him again.
Emily remained asleep as Mick handed her off to her father. Mick kissed her soft head and gave a knowing look at Jesse, who jerked his chin at Mick. Em was discussing recipes with Granny Sellars when Jesse indicated that they should be going. Em shook Jesse’s hand as he leaned close to her.
“Keep him around. He’s a good one,” he said with a wink.
“I plan on it,” Em replied with a wink back.
*****
“How are you holding up, love?” Mick put his arms around Em, pulling her back to nestle against his chest. He kissed the top of her head.
They had made a quick stop at Bailey’s to make sure everything was okay. When she was around Bailey, Em was all smiles, excitedly talking about the baby and accepting Bailey’s invitation to feel the baby move. When they were alone, though, Em was quiet and contemplative.
“Em, what’s wrong? You know you can tell me anything.” He turned her to face him. “In fact, I demand that tell me. You have eased so much of my pain and grief. Let me comfort you, please.” He gripped her hands tightly. “Please.”
Em sucked in a deep breath. “I haven’t been completely honest with you, Mick.”
Mick stilled. “Go on.”
“I’d always had really bad periods. Like really bad. In my twenties, I went to a specialist and they said I would probably never get pregnant, or would have to use artificial means to get pregnant. I didn’t worry about it because I was too busy trying to establish my career. Then I met Tripp. We got serious, or I guess, as serious as Tripp could ever get about a fat nerd girl.” Mick made an angry face at that and Em flapped her hands at him, brushing off his objections. “We never used protection, and Tripp wondered if I was secretly on the Pill, so I went to another specialist, because it had been 15 years since I went to the last one, and who knows what sorts of advances had been made, right? They ran a bunch of tests and found a mass.”
“Oh, sweetheart…”
Em wiped her eyes. “They were worried it might be cancer, so they scheduled surgery to remove it. There were complications during the surgery, and I lost my uterus. Also a lot of blood, so much blood that they thought I might not make it. “
Mick took her in his arms and held her close.
Em spoke against his chest. “And that fucker didn’t even stay during the surgery. They had to track him down to tell him there were serious complications. Anyway, after I came home, nothing was the same. It was like, if I couldn’t get pregnant, what was the point of having sex? I mean, sex with Tripp was never mind-blowing, but afterwards? He would stay away for days and the only time he ever attempted to be intimate was when he was completely plowed. I knew he had affairs. He had an impressive sexual appetite. It was definitely quantity over quality though.” At that, Mick grimaced, and Em smiled sadly. “But it wasn’t the same. And he never told his parents. Madeline, Tripp’s mother, dropped hints about grandchildren. I think she wished I would get pregnant so Tripp would marry me, though truthfully, I don’t know if he would have. “
Em wrenched her hands from his. She pressed the heels of her palms against her eyes. “Does it bother you that I’m never going to have your babies? That my belly is never going to grow big with our child? God, I’m so presumptuous to assume you would want to have children with me, but I need to know if you want children so I can stop this now, because I can’t deal with that particular rejection again.” She was close to hysterical, breathing hard but dry-eyed.
Mick pulled her to him again. Wrapping his arms tightly around her, he said, “Let’s sit down. We need to have a serious talk.”
He guided her to a club chair and sat down, pulling her into his lap. He held her loosely in his arms, resting his chin on her shoulder. She felt the steady rhythm of his breathing and the vibration of his words when he spoke.
“First of all, let me say that it thrills me to no end that you would want to have my children, okay?” He kissed her hair. “But Em, I don’t want any more children. I had children. They’re gone. I do believe that everything happens for a reason, and I’ve come to the conclusion that through the loss of my own children, I’ve been allowed to touch the lives of many other children that are
not
my own. If I had kids, I wouldn’t be spending as much time at the rec center as I do now. Those kids need me. And truthfully, I need them.”
Mick moved Em to look in her eyes. “I can honestly say it doesn’t bother me one bit that you won’t bear me a child. It makes me sad that it obviously bothers
you
. And it also makes me angry that someone has made you feel that your worth is tied to your fertility, but I want to make it crystal clear that that is so not my belief. You’re a caring, sweet woman who has so much love to give. Seeing you with the kids at the center, teaching them how to plan meals and cook, and then seeing you with Bailey, and the care you take with her, warms my heart and reinforces the way I feel about you.”
Em’s lip quivered as she looked at Mick’s serious face. How did she deserve this man?
“Em, you need to put every doubt about how I feel about you out of your head. And I want you to absolutely know, that I think you’re the sexiest woman I know, and I will never get tired of making love to you. And hopefully, I can supply quality
and
quantity.”
Em placed her hands on both sides of his face and kissed him deeply. Mick gripped the back of her head, holding her steady while he ravaged her mouth. They sat in the chair, Em draped over Mick, kissing each other until Em pulled away. Mick looked at her kiss-swollen mouth with hunger in his eyes.
“Love me, Michael. I need you.” Mick hooked his arms under her knees and around her back, then got up from the chair and made his way to the bedroom.
*****
Em played possum, waiting for Mick to get back to the bed from wherever he had gone. Their night had been filled with love-making and Em was deliciously sore. Her sex twinged at the memory of Mick’s reverent kisses that cascaded down her body, his cherishing touches that made her heart as well as her body soar.
Of course, it wasn’t all lights-out, sweet lovemaking when it came to Mick. He could murmur in her ear some of the filthiest things she had ever heard, and it never ceased to shock her how it riled her up.
Round one had been sweet and caring, and round two was anything but, full of possession and combustion. Round three was almost playful. Now she was waiting for round four to begin, if he would ever get back to the damn bed.
Em had drifted back to sleep by the time Mick returned. He peeked in the door, expecting Em to be awake and waiting for him. He could tell she had been awake, at least for a while, because she had uncovered herself provocatively. Mick smiled, eyes raking over her naked form while he removed his clothes. His erection jutted out as soon as he removed the gym pants he had thrown on to cover himself when he went to feed Em’s monstrous cat. Beauregard looked at Mick with disapproval, like he knew what the two of them had gotten up to. Mick chuckled silently as he slipped between the sheets.
Em must not have been deeply asleep because her breathing changed almost immediately. Mick played along, spooning against her and placing tiny kisses and nips along her exposed neck and shoulder. Em could feel his hard cock nudging her from behind as she pressed her round bottom into him. A chuckle rumbled through his chest and he breathed “Good morning, Em” into her ear, sending shivers of anticipation down her body. He slipped into her, his hips tight against her rump, slowly moving behind her while his talented fingers firmly circled her sweet spot. Mick’s breath was hot on her neck as he bit the tender flesh there. Em plucked her own nipples, causing them to peak and tighten.