Twins For The Billionaire

Sofia didn’t get the chance to ask what Heather meant by that. And did it matter, really? No. What mattered was that Eric was giving her an incredible opportunity and putting a great deal of faith in her. What mattered was that his staff loved working for him. What mattered more than anything, she decided, was that he didn’t sleep with his receptionist and he nurtured the talents of the people he hired.

She was going to make this work, she decided with renewed resolve.

So she better learn how to order the coffee.

Four (#u1834f51f-193b-5ab9-b731-81137975f699)

Normally, Eric would’ve been on the water by now. There was only one reason he was still at his desk today. Sofia. Somehow, he couldn’t leave without making sure she’d take the job.

He was supposed to be reading her contract and nondisclosure agreement, but it wasn’t going well. He was also supposed to be looking over the latest plans for the St. Louis trip, but he wasn’t doing that, either.

Instead, he was thinking about Sofia. He couldn’t remember the first time he’d seen her. She’d always been there. There hadn’t been any big formal goodbyes, either. The Cortés family had not come to his farewell party when he’d gone away to school. He hadn’t sought her out after the party. That had been that.

She’d always been a part of his life—until she wasn’t anymore. He wanted to think he’d regretted not getting the closure of a goodbye, but honestly, he wasn’t sure he had.

Now suddenly Sofia was back in his life. A mother with two little babies who depended on her.

She was taking the job, by God. That was final.

A soft knock on his door pulled him out of his messy thoughts. “Yes?”

The door opened and there she was. His breath caught in his throat as she stepped into his office. It didn’t seem possible that she got lovelier every time he saw her.

But there was no denying it—she was simply prettier than she’d been an hour ago. Especially when her eyes lit up as she looked at him, her mouth softening into a kissable smile. “You’re still here,” she said, a touch of wonder in her voice. “I thought you’d be out on the lake by now.”

He grinned. It didn’t mean anything that she remembered how much he needed the water. Everyone else thought it was part of his eccentric charm, but Sofia had always understood that he needed the water like some people needed the air. “I’m still here,” he told her. “Have a seat. I’m just going over your contract.”

He watched her carefully as she crossed the room and sat in front of him. She looked a little bashful, but not like she was on the verge of another anxiety attack. “I don’t suppose you made my salary something reasonable?”

“A hundred and twenty thousand is very reasonable, Sofia.”

She laughed. “What if I’m not worth that much money?”

He was stunned by the words—and by how much she seemed to mean them. Nervously, she glanced up at him. “I’m going to pretend you didn’t say that,” he said. “Stop acting like you don’t belong here.”

“I don’t,” she said, and he was impressed that she didn’t sound cowed when she said it. “You’re the one trying to make me fit into this world.”

“You’re the one who showed up for a job interview,” he reminded her. At that, she opened her mouth to reply and then closed it with an audible snap. “There. We agree. You want the job and I’m giving it to you.” He shoved the contract across the desk.

She reached for it, and he continued, “It’s the standard contract, details on the benefit plan, bonus schedule and nondisclosure agreement. You’re more than welcome to take it home and look it over. If you decide to accept the job, I’d like you to start next week. But Sofia?” She looked up at him again, the contract in her hand. “You’re going to accept the job.”

He braced for the worst—another panic attack—but it didn’t happen. Instead, her brows furrowed and she twisted her lips. “I’m not going to win this argument, am I?”

“Of course not. I never lose arguments when I happen to be right.”

“What are you going to tell your parents?”

He blinked once, then again. Of all the things she might have said—that wasn’t what he’d expected. “I don’t know that I need to tell them anything.” Except that was a hedge and he knew it.

Because he wanted to know why his mother hadn’t kept him up-to-date on what Sofia was doing and there was no way he could ask without revealing that Sofia now worked for him.

“I assume your parents know where you are?” he asked.

“They do.” She dropped her gaze back to the contract and flipped the page. “They were worried.”

“About?” Suddenly, he found himself hoping the Cortés family hadn’t followed all the headlines—his abandonment on his wedding day or the subsequent re-sowing of his wild oats afterward.

“They want to see me succeed but...well, they knew this job was a stretch for me. I don’t have the experience.” She looked up at him and he saw the truth in her eyes. “I shouldn’t even be telling you this,” she went on in a rush. “Because the truth is that we’re not friends anymore. We’re old acquaintances who only knew each other because my parents worked for yours. Now you’re my boss and I shouldn’t be telling you about my family’s hopes or that I suffered debilitating panic attacks after my husband died. You’re not supposed to know these things about me.”

She was almost shouting at him. The force of her emotion pushed him back in his chair.

“Oh, God,” she said, slumping down. “And I definitely shouldn’t be yelling at you. I couldn’t be screwing this up more if I tried, could I?”

If it were anyone else, he’d agree. He’d show her the door and count himself lucky to have dodged a bullet.

So why wasn’t he doing that right now?

When was the last time anyone had put him in his place? No one—with the obvious exception of his parents—talked to him like this. They all minced around him like he was a volatile chemical and they were afraid of the reaction he’d spark. Even Marcus Warren—who had no trouble telling anyone what he thought about anything—had been pulling his punches with Eric.

Sofia telling him off should have been infuriating. But...

All he could think about was how he’d missed her. And how he hoped she’d missed him, too. “You need a friend.”

She looked at him, her eyes suspiciously shiny and a quirky smile on her face. “Maybe you do, too.” Abruptly, she stood, grabbing her handbag and clutching the contract to her chest. “I’m going to take this job because you’re right, I need it. But I won’t be your object of pity. You don’t owe me a larger salary. You don’t owe me any special perks. I’m your employee. Try to remember that.”

That was, hands down, one of the most effective set-downs he’d ever received in his life. It was so good that all he could do was smile as she walked out of the office.

* * *

“Mama!” Two small voices cried in unison when Sofia came through the door that evening. She still felt that she was moving in a daze but at least here, in the sanctuary of her parents’ house, with her two children launching themselves at her, everything still felt the same.

“Babies!” she cried back, just like she did every time she had to be away from them. She opened her arms as they flung themselves at her, almost knocking her off balance in her heeled shoes. “Were you good for Abuelita today?” she asked over their heads as her mother slowly climbed to her feet from where she’d been sitting on the floor.

“Fine, fine,” Mom said, waving away this concern. “How about you? You got the job?” Then, after a moment’s hesitation, she added, “Did he remember you?”

Sofia staggered over to the couch that was possibly older than she was with the children squirming in her arms, collapsing in a heap of happy baby sounds. Addy curled up in her lap and began humming contentedly while Eddy slid down and toddled over to a small set of table and chairs, where he picked up a piece of paper he’d made some very colorful lines on. He showed it to her proudly.

“Oh,” Sofia said, touching the picture. “So pretty.” Eddy began to chatter about whatever it was he’d drawn. She grinned. The twins weren’t quite talking yet, but they sure had a lot to say.

As expected, Addy took all this attention for Eddy as a direct challenge to her artistic merits. She went to get her drawing, too. The twins were always competing like this and only occasionally did it result in tears.

After she had also complimented Addy’s colorful lines, she leaned back, settling into the ancient cushions of the couch while the twins started coloring again. Even when her father had started selling houses and they’d moved into this small ranch home, the Cortéses hadn’t wasted any money on new furniture.

Even though they were now respectably middle class, they still lived carefully and those were lessons Sofia had a hard time unlearning. It’d taken a long time to get used to the way David would decide he wanted a new phone or a new computer and just go buy it. Almost all of their fights had been about money. She’d never felt comfortable spending it but he couldn’t understand why she didn’t want a few nice things.

If anything, Eric was a million times worse than David ever could have been. The craziest thing David had ever done with money—besides spending five thousand dollars on her engagement ring—had been buying a brand-new, top-of-the-line flat screen television that took up a huge chunk of wall in their living room. But that had only been seven thousand dollars.

Eric was throwing an extra fifty thousand dollars at her. Truly, he was being an idiot about it. But wasn’t she being an idiot to try to give that cash back? It wasn’t like she couldn’t use the money. The life insurance money had run out and she’d moved back in with her parents because, well, she’d been in the grips of depression and the mother of two newborns. But it’d also been to save money.