The Executive's Decision
Page 19

It was nearly six thirty when he heard drawers slamming and papers flying from beyond his office. Cautiously he stood and walked toward the door.
Regan lifted files, shifted papers, opened drawers, and started digging through her trash can.
“Hi,” he said softly.
“Shit!” She yelled the curse and grabbed for her chest. “Ya scared the hell outta me.”
Her accent had grown thicker with that one sentence, and it had Zach’s heart racing. “I could say the same thing. I thought you’d left for the day.”
“I did. Then I remembered that you hadn’t signed the contracts I was waiting for from the legal department. You were at your meeting with John. I have to get them to New York overnight.” Her skin was pale, and he knew it wasn’t the scare she’d taken. This was a different kind of panic.
“Where are they?” He kept his tone soft to calm her.
“They were right here.” She kept looking around.
“Regan, would these be them?” He looked in the basket that she kept for items he needed to see.
Color filled her cheeks and made her even more adorable. “Oh, God! I can’t believe I didn’t get them to you. I should have walked down there. I should have found you. That’s my job.”
He didn’t like the fear in her voice. Not one bit. “We’ll take care of this.” He walked over to her desk and found a pen. He signed all the areas she’d marked with red flags and sealed them in the envelope marked OVERNIGHT. He looked at the time on his Rolex watch and bit down on his lip. “The annex is only three miles from here. They’re open until eight,” he said with a smile. This wasn’t the first time he’d gone through this. “They’ll make it to New York in time,” he assured her. “But we have to go now.” He walked back through his office with the contracts in his hand.
“I’ll take them. It was my oversight.” She followed him right to the elevator.
“Fine. You take them in. I’ll drive.” He pulled her inside and hit the button for the parking garage. The papers in her hand shook, and he clasped his hand on them to steady them. “Really, Regan, this is going to be okay.”
“No. No, this is one of those costly mistakes that loses you millions of dollars and hours of time.”
He watched her intently. Perhaps the last man she’d worked for was stricter than he was. You learned from mistakes, his father and grandfather had said. He hadn’t been there. Her workday was over. It wasn’t as though she tucked them away in a mess. No, her desk was immaculate.
He opened the car door for her then walked around and stared the car. “You know. I’ll be here all night. Why don’t we get some dinner before we come back?”
“Zach…”
“C’mon. It’s the least you could do.” He played on her guilt. “Unless you have some hot date.” He raised one eyebrow.
“No. No hot date tonight.” She looked down at the papers in her lap and shook her head. “It’s been a long while since I had one of those.”
The mystery of Regan Keller had just become more intriguing.
Regan had confirmed that the contracts would arrive on time when she handed them over to the courier. She was pleased that it had worked out, but she was still disappointed in herself for having to go back to the office, and now she’d been talked into having dinner with the very man she shouldn’t be spending time with. Reluctantly she climbed back in Zach’s car.
He drove only a few more miles and pulled into the parking lot of Steve’s BBQ Pit with Beer. Even from the parking lot she could smell the familiar scent of barbeque and smoke.
She laughed when she saw the sign and the forty motorcycles parked out front next to a few BMWs and town cars. “Is this one of your hangouts?” she asked as she slid from the car.
“Oh, yeah. Best pork sandwiches this side of the Mississippi.”
The restaurant was an eclectic mix of professionals and bikers. The building looked like an old shack with its walls decorated in a myriad of garage sale items. Some still had tags on them.
It was far from the kind of place she would think Zachary Benson would frequent. Then she had to remind herself she’d met him on the bus. Perhaps she’d never completely figure him out.
The air was smoky with barbeque and the stench of stale beer made her crave one. Patsy Cline filled her ears with “Sweet Dreams” as Zach led her to a booth.
“This is great.” She found herself raising her voice over the noise.
“I thought you’d like it.”
A waitress with skintight jeans, cropped T-shirt, and full bosom, moved to the table. She chomped on a piece of gum, and Regan was sure she’d long ago crossed her fortieth birthday.
“Zach, sweetie, it’s been a while.” She smiled with a wink.
“Too long, Hilary.” Zach smiled back as though he were happy to see an old friend who’d known him his whole life.
“How ya doin’, hon?” She looked at Regan and sized her up then gave Zach an approving nod.
“I’m doin’ fine.” Regan gave her back a bit of southern hospitality in her accent.
“Whatcha up for?” She took a pen from behind her ear and her order pad from her apron pocket.
“I’ll have a beer,” he looked at Regan and she nodded. “Make that two. Oh and, Hilary, bring us some of that hot cornbread.” He raised his eyebrows and smiled.
“You havin’ your usual?”
“Yep, make it two.”
“You’re easy to please, doll,” she said with a smile as she sauntered off.
Regan felt the urge to burst with laughter. When Zach had spoken of his mother catering everything, she never would have thought he frequented a barbeque joint enough to be on a first-name basis with the wait staff. “Seems like this is a home of sorts for ya.”
He leaned back against the booth and draped his arm over the back of it. “You could say that. It was one of my dad’s favorite places. Can you imagine, next to stress, why he’s had three heart attacks?” He watched the crowd and then lifted his hand to wave at someone who walked by.
“Is that why he retired?”
“Yep. Couldn’t stand the thought of me finding him dead behind his desk. Really I just wanted his office, so I fired him.”