Scream For me

AARON

“I need you to call Clay and reschedule that meeting for me and mail this off,” I said to my secretary, handing her a manila folder and a list of things to tell Ronald Clay when she called him. “And make it clear to anyone who wants a piece of me this next week to wait. I’m not letting anything ruin my getaway.”

“Of course,” she said with a smile. “The break will do you good. I imagine Ben is excited.”Content held by NôvelDrama.Org.

I nodded. “Very. He’ll see some of his friends, too. I’m just glad we’ll get away, and I’ll have a chance to catch my breath.”

My secretary nodded before she walked out of the office to do my bidding. A moment later, she popped her head back in.

“Richard is here to see you.”

I groaned, and she sent him in. I couldn’t very well tell her to make my brother go away, although that was what I wanted.

“Hey, little brother,” Richard said with a smirk when he walked in.

“Hey, Dick,” I said.

Richard rolled his eyes. “That’s getting old.”

“Not to me,” I said with a grin. “What do you want?”

“You’re never happy to see me,” Richard said, dropping himself into a chair facing me.

“You’re never here for a social call,” I pointed out. “You only spend time with me if you want something from me.”

Richard clutched his chest. “I’m hurt that you think that. Can’t I just drop by to see my little brother?”

I narrowed my eyes. “I guess you can.” I was skeptical. “Are you here to see me before I go?”

“Go where?” Richard asked, confused.

“I’m going to Aspen for a week. I’m taking Ben. I told you that two weeks ago at the club.”

“Right…”

I shook my head. Richard didn’t give a shit about what was going on in my life. Since it had come out that I was not only a father but raising the child on my own, Richard had lost all respect for me. I was the scandal, the black sheep in the Steele family when Richard had done it all right from the start.

God, I hated his guts sometimes.

“You might have to postpone your getaway.”

I snorted. “Sure, let me just jump when you snap your fingers. I’m going,

Richard.”

“Dad is sick,” Richard said.

I sat up, alarmed. “What? What’s wrong?”

“It’s nothing serious, just a flu bug.” I sagged a little at the news. “But you know what Mom is likeshe has him on house arrest, feeding him chicken soup. If I know Mom, he’s not even allowed to get out of bed. That means I have to step in and run the office for him while he’s gone.” “Okay,” I said.

It was normal for Richard to take Dad’s place when something was up. He was the eldest Steele son and would probably inherit everything one day. He already had my dad’s full approval of everything he did. Richard couldn’t put a foot wrong.

“I need your help,” Richard said.

“Ah,” I said bitterly, nodding. “I knew this wasn’t a fucking social call.”

Richard shrugged. “It couldn’t be helped. Dad has that big Carlisle project going on, and I need to focus on that while Dad is out for the count.” “He’s not dying,” I said.

“I need you to take over the other shit he’s dealing with so that I can give Carlisle my full attention. If we lose him as an investor, Dad is fucked five ways to Sunday.”

I groaned and rolled my eyes. Richard was being dramatic. I doubted Carlisle would take his businessand his moneysomewhere else just because my dad had the sniffles.

“You can’t go on this holiday right now,” Richard said firmly. “Dad needs you.”

“No, you need me to do your dirty work,” I said. “Dad could have called me himself if he thought he needed me so desperately. I’m not doing it. I planned this week away months ago, and my shit is for me to take a week off. I never go away, and I want to be able to spend time with Ben.”

Richard looked apologetic. “Come on, man. I don’t like to pull rank, but with Dad on his back, I’m in charge, and I’m not Richard wasn’t the boss of mehe was my brother. We were supposed to be equals.

Who the hell was I kidding? We have never been equals. Richard had always been way above me in the family hierarchy, the good brother, who everyone hoped would fill my father’s shoes one day.

“I’m not canceling,” I said tightly.

“Then do some shit while you’re away, at least. You can do that, right?”

“You want me to make it a working holiday?” I asked, shocked. “You know that’s not a break at all, right?”

“Dad will shit his pants when he finds out you’re turning me down.”

At least, this time, Richard was straightforward and honest about it. And right.

My dad practically worshiped the ground my brother walked on, and if he heard Richard had asked for my help, and I’d said no…hell, he would throw all the support my mom gave me with Ben right back in my face. He’d done it before.

“Fine,” I said through gritted teeth. “Send me the paperwork. I’ll get it done. Make sure it’s all there because I’m not running after you to find out what I’m missing while I’m away.”

“You got it,” Richard said. He rubbed his hands together before he stood. “I’ll get that to you right away and leave you to it. Safe travels.”

“Thanks,” I said dully when Richard walked to the door. “Nice social call. Thanks for dropping by.” The sarcasm was thick in my voice.

Richard didn’t react to it. He didn’t even respond. He left my office without so much as a wave now that he had what he wanted.

Damn it!

My mind spun. I had to figure shit out with Ben now. I had to make a plan to get some work done while we were in Aspen. So much for booking the week off to spend some time with him.

I picked up the phone and dialed Jade’s number. While I waited for the dial tone, I thought about our night together. It had been a mistake to sleep with her. I was more professional than that, but I couldn’t resist her. She’d threatened to quit, but she was still here, and that counted for something, right?

I wasn’t sure what exactly it meantI couldn’t be with her. She was my nanny. I wasn’t looking for anything. Neither was she if her words were anything to go by after we’d been together. It was just one night that we could forget about.

The problem was that I couldn’t forget about it at all.

“I need you to come with me this week,” I said.

“What?”

“I know I told you we were going away without you, and you were off this week, but plans changed. Work came in I can’t ignore, and I’ll need you to watch Ben now and then. I’ll cover all expenses, of course.”

“I can’t just leave,” Jade said, and there was panic in her voice.

“Why?”

“I…” She swallowed hard, and I tried to envision what her face looked like at that moment and failed. I could only imagine her face orgasmic and full of pleasure, and I doubted that was what she looked like now. “I’ll see what I can do.”

“Get back to me before the end of the day. If you can’t make it, I’ll have to cancel the week altogether.”

“You can’t do that! Ben is so excited.”

“I know,” I said.

She was silent for a moment before she answered. “Okay, I’ll do it. I’ll figure out the rest of it.”

I grinned. “Good. Thank you. I’ll see you tomorrow morning first thing, then. Pack warm. It’s going to be cold up there.”

We ended the call, and I couldn’t help the smile that spread across my features. I’m just glad I don’t have to cancel on Ben, I told myself. My happiness didn’t have anything to do with the fact that Jade was coming along, and we would be nearby for a whole week.

It didn’t have anything to do with that at all.

The next morning, Jade arrived at the apartment bright and early with a large bag on wheels.

“Jade!” Ben cried out and ran to her. He threw his arms around her when she kneeled to hug him. “You’re coming with us! Did Dad tell you? It’s going to be so much fun. Do you know how to ski?”

“I don’t,” Jade said. “But I know how to have a lot of fun, so it’s the next best thing, right?”

“Right,” Ben said, and Jade grinned at Ben and ruffled his hair.

She was so good with him. When my mom had suggested this au pair company, I’d been against it. Having a nanny spend all her time with Ben, rather than me being there, had gone against my grain. She stood and looked at me, her smile fading, but it didn’t drain from her eyes. “Good morning.”

“Thank you for joining us,” I said. “Did you manage to work it out?” “I did,” she said.

“Good,” I said, nodding. “Let’s get the car loaded.”

I walked past Jade. Her perfume wrapped around me and pushed into my nostrils, and my body hummed with a sudden desire for her. I pushed the feeling firmly asideshe was here as Ben’s nanny, so I could work on this trip, thanks to my stupid brother. That was what I had to focus on. I couldn’t risk falling for Jade, no matter what I did or how well we fit together the other night.

My driver loaded all the bags into our car and took us to the airport. All the way, Ben babbled to Jade.

“Have you been to Aspen before?”

“I haven’t. This is my first time.”

“It’s great,” Ben said. “Dad has the biggest house, with so many rooms, and the room I sleep in has its bathroom, and I have a whole playroom there, too. My best friend also lives there. His name is Alex. We play together when we visit Aspen. He lives in Miami. Have you been to Miami?”

“I haven’t been anywhere else than here,” Jade admitted.

“Oh…well, you’ll get to see Aspen, and it’s cool. Dad can teach you how to ski, right, Dad?”

Before I could answer, Ben kept going, rattling on like he hadn’t talked in years and he was trying to catch up. It was adorable.

What was even sweeter was how Jade had all the patience in the world for him, listening to every word he said as if it were the most important conversation. She answered every question if he allowed her a chance to speak between all his ramblings, and his excitement at sharing things with her was palpable.

When I’d hired Jade, it had been because Ben had responded so well to her, but I hadn’t really seen how they were around each other until now. I realized now that it had been a good choice. Better than I’d expectedI was glad Jade hadn’t decided to quit, after all.

What would she be like as a mother?

The thought hit me so hard that it left me reeling.

How could I think that about her? She was the nanny. I couldn’t wonder if she could fill the role of Ben’s mother. That would mean she would be my wife, which was a dangerous thing to think about.

Jade was wonderful, but love wasn’t for me, and I couldn’t let myself get distracted when I knew where I was headed. Ben and I had a good thing going. The last thing I wanted was to make a crazy decision, follow my heart instead of my head, and screw it all up. I’d done it once, which hadn’t played out very well for me.

We finally arrived at the airport, and I was relieved. The fuss to get on the plane would distract me from thinking crazy things, and a glass of bourbon on the flight would set me straight.