Nicholas nodded. Leanne was his secretary. "What if I told you she wasn't a good fit?"
Paul sat down on the edge of Nicholas's desk and gazed at him pointedly. "After reading her résumé, I'd ask you this question-she wasn't a good fit for what, this company, or your bed?" A smile touched the older man's lips when he saw the deep coloring flush Nicholas's features. "In fact, I'd bet she was a very good fit for both this company and your bed, and that's what has you worried."
"I'm not worried about anything," Nicholas grumbled, pushing the envelope aside.
"Then maybe you're just a tad bit horny, son."
Nicholas couldn't keep from grinning. For as long as he had known Paul, and that had been forever, the man had been blunt, and straight to the point. It had been Paul who had taken on the chore of explaining the birds and the bees to the fourteen-year-old Nicholas when Alan Chenault had become flustered with embarrassment while attempting to do so.
"I'm glad you're finding humor in all this," Paul said, frowning. "The statement was not meant to be funny. It was said in all seriousness. I'd hate to think we're losing a prime candidate for employment because you don't think you'll be able to keep your pants zipped whenever you're around her."
Nicholas stopped grinning and sat up straight. "That's not it."
"Then what is it, exactly? Shayla Kirkland is looking for a job. Her credentials are excellent. Just imagine how her expertise could be used here. If we won't give her an opportunity to come work for us, who's to say that JT Electronics won't be her next stop? I told you I thought we'd be making a mistake by opening another company in the same city where Thomas Jordache is also doing business. We can barely tolerate the likes of him in Jacksonville."
As Nicholas studied Paul he heard the venom in his tone. It was there every time he mentioned Thomas Jordache's name. Although Jordache was their major competitor and had proved to be a pain in the butt more than a few times, Nicholas knew why there was more to Paul's immense dislike of him. It had a lot to do with Paul's sister, who had been married to Jordache for a short while. Paul had been against the marriage. But that wasn't the only reason. Over the years Nicholas had heard other rumors about why Paul disliked Jordache. He'd heard that over twenty-seven years ago Jordache, in an attempt to obtain classified information from Chenault Electronics, was said to have bought off one of Chenault's female employees, who'd been willing to give him what he wanted. It was a case of underhanded industry theft, or at least that's what they'd thought initially. It had been Paul, as head of security, who had uncovered the plot. Months later, after the woman had been fired, Paul had also discovered that the woman had been falsely accused. She had been an innocent pawn in one of Jordache's ruthless games.
Nicholas sighed, knowing Paul was right regarding Shayla Kirkland. He had been thinking with the lower part of his body rather than with his brain. Somehow and someway he would have to maintain an iron-fisted amount of sexual control around her even if it killed him…and it just might. There was only so much a man could take, especially a man who hadn't slept with a woman in over a year. He picked up the envelope and ripped it in two, knowing Paul was watching him with keen interest.
"Is she that much of a temptation, Nick?" Paul asked, cocking a curious eyebrow at him.
Shayla Kirkland's beautiful face and shapely body flashed through Nicholas's mind. "Yes, but I'll deal with it for the sake of the company. My relationship with Ms. Kirkland will be strictly professional, and nothing more."
Shayla watched her aunt take a sip of coffee, then put her cup back down on the table. As usual, she thought Callie Foster, her mother's younger sister by four years, was a beautiful woman who wore her age of forty-seven well. She could pass easily for a woman in her thirties. Shayla knew her aunt credited her good eating habits and her policy of staying in shape as the reasons for her young appearance.
"So, sweetheart," her aunt said cheerfully, interrupting Shayla' s thoughts. "What did you do today?"
Shayla sighed inwardly. Now was as good a time as any to tell her aunt about the phone call she had received an hour ago. "I had an interview earlier today, and got a call before you arrived making me a job offer."
Shayla saw the happiness that lit up her aunt's entire face. She knew Aunt Callie had been hoping that she would move back to Chicago permanently. Callie reached across the table and captured Shayla's hand in hers. "Oh, honey, that's wonderful. Now that your mother is gone, you're all the family I have." Her aunt's smile widened as she released her hand. "Did you take that job as manager of the business department at the hospital?"
Shayla sighed and deliberately watched her aunt's reaction when she answered. "No. I've taken a job as manager of international affairs with Chenault Electronics."
Callie Foster nearly choked on the piece of pie she'd just put in her mouth.
"Aunt Callie, are you all right?" Shayla asked, genuinely concerned. Her aunt' s reaction was a dead giveaway that she knew something.
"Yes, I'm fine," Callie said, trying to regain her composure. "Wh-what made you want to go to work for Chenault?"
Shayla put her coffee cup down as she decided just what she would tell her aunt. There had always been complete honesty between them in the past, and Shayla knew she would tell her the truth-all of it. "I came across Mom's diary, Aunt Callie, while packing up her things. It was in the attic." Determined to bring everything out in the open, she added, "And I know."
Shayla could tell from the way her aunt was nibbling on her lower lip that what she had read in that diary was something she was never, ever supposed to have known.
Aunt Callie cleared her throat "You know what, Shayla?"
"I know that Glenn Kirkland was not my biological father."
Her aunt said nothing for the longest time. When she did speak her voice was soft, almost weak. "You weren't supposed to find that out."
"Evidently."
Shayla watched as light tears formed in her aunt's eyes. Pushing her chair back, she stood quickly and walked over to the woman she loved so much. Reaching out, she took her aunt's hand in hers. "Come on, Aunt Callie, let's go into the living room. It's time for us to have a girls' chat, don't you think?"
Callie nodded and stood. The two of them left the kitchen and walked into the living room and sat down on the sofa.
"First of all," Shayla started off, "I want you to know that as far as I'm concerned Glenn Kirkland is, and forever will be, my dad. He was a wonderful person, and a fantastic father. I loved him so very much. If anything, finding out the truth makes me love him that much more, for giving me his love unconditionally."
Shayla felt a lump form in her throat and paused to steady her voice before continuing. "He was always there for me. He was the perfect dad, and I know he was a wonderful husband to Mom. Both Mom and I were devastated when we lost him two years ago."
Shayla took a deep cleansing breath as she remembered that time. She knew that during their entire marriage her mother and father had a close relationship. Evangeline Foster Kirkland, known to her family and friends as Eva, had taken her husband's death of lung cancer extremely hard. Shayla knew in her heart that no matter what had happened twenty-seven years ago between her mother and the man who was her biological father, in the end Eva had found true happiness with Glenn Kirkland. "Dad made Mom very happy," she said achingly, and she knew without a doubt that was true.
"Yes," Callie agreed softly as she reached over and captured Shayla's hand. "And she made him very happy, too." She understood Shayla's need to know everything, but she couldn't help but remember all the promises she, Glenn, and Eva had made to conceal the truth.
She looked into Shayla's eyes, wondering just how much of the truth she could handle. After a few emotional moments, Callie tightened her hold on Shayla's hand. "When we were kids in South Carolina, Glenn and his parents lived across the street from us. I think he'd been in love with your mom forever, and I know that she'd always loved him, too. Age was always a major factor, since he was five years older than Eva. Glenn said he was just biding