Not Strictly Business!: Prodigal Son / The Boss and Miss Baxter / The Baby Deal

That seemed to be the consensus, he thought. “Shouldn’t you, as his board, have noticed that? Shouldn’t you have made sure the man running Hanson Media Group knew what he was doing?”

“Attacking us isn’t going to solve the problem,” Baynes said firmly.

Right. Because they were all more concerned about covering their collective asses, Jack thought grimly.

“We need to present a united front,” Mrs. Keen said. “Perhaps the board should issue a statement as well.”

“Do what you’d like,” Jack told her.

“Things would go better if we could announce that you would be taking on your father’s job permanently,” Baynes said.

Jack narrowed his gaze. “I agreed to three months and that’s all. I’m not changing my mind.”

“Be reasonable,” the older man said. “This is a crisis. The company is in real danger. We have employees, stockholders. We have a responsibility to them.”

“No, you have one.”

“You’re George Hanson’s oldest son,” Mrs. Keen said. “People will look to you for leadership.”

“I’m not his only son,” he pointed out. “I have two brothers.”

Baynes dismissed them with a wave of his hand. “Who are where? They don’t have the experience, the education or the temperament for this kind of work.”

Jack did his best not to lash out at them. Losing his temper would accomplish nothing. “Three months,” he said. “That’s all. In the meantime, I suggest you start looking for an interim president. Hire someone who knows what he or she is doing.”

“But—”

Jack stood. “There’s no point in having a conversation about me staying or going. I’m not changing my mind. Besides, we don’t even know who owns the majority of the company. My father’s shares are in limbo until the reading of the will. Who knows—maybe he’ll want them sold on the open market.”

The board members paled at the thought. While they were still taking that in, he made his escape. As he walked down the hall, he loosened his tie. But that wasn’t enough to wipe away the sense of being trapped.

“Come on, come on,” Samantha called as she stared at the basket and willed the ball to slide cleanly through the hoop. There was a moment of silence, followed by a swish of net.

“Woo hoo.” She held up her hand to Patti, one of her directors. “Two more for our team. We’re up by six.”

Patti gave her a high five, then went back into position. Perhaps playing basketball in the corridor right outside her office wasn’t standard corporate procedure, but Samantha found it really helped her people clear their heads after a long day of brainstorming.

“Lucky shot,” Phil said as he dribbled the ball. He jogged in to take his shot. Samantha moved in front of him. When he stretched up to shoot, she batted the ball away and it bounced off the wall before rolling down the hall.

The game went quiet as Jack rounded the corner and picked up the ball. Samantha could feel her staff looking at her. She knew Jack had endured the meeting from hell with the board and braced herself for him to take that out on her.

He raised his eyebrows. “Who’s winning?”

“My team,” she said quickly. “We’ve been brainstorming all day and we’re—”

“No need to explain,” he said, then bounced the ball. “Got room for one more?”

She glanced at Phil, who shrugged. “Sure,” she said.

Jack tossed the ball back, then took off his jacket. After pulling off his tie, he went to work on rolling up his sleeves.

“Who’s on the other team?” he asked.

“I am,” Phil said, then he quickly introduced everyone else. “Any good at this?”

Jack grinned. “Just get me the ball.”

Ten minutes later, Samantha knew they’d been had. Jack wasn’t just good—he was terrific. He could shoot from any angle and he rarely missed. His team pulled ahead and then beat hers by six points.

“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.