âWhat would you do if you were mine?â
The question caught her off guard while her brain zipped off on a disorienting, romantic tangent. To be Tuckâs. In his arms. In his life. In his bed.
âSorry?â She scrambled to bring her thoughts back to the real world.
âIf you were my confidential assistant, what would you do?â
âIâm not.â She wasnât his anything, and she had to remember that.
âBut if you were?â
If she were Tuckâs assistant, sheâd be in the middle of making one colossal mistake. Eventually, she would kiss her boss. She was thinking about it right now. And if the dusky smoke in his eyes was anything to go by, he was thinking about it, too.
* * *
A Bargain with the Boss is part of the Chicago Sons seriesâ Men who work hard, love harder and live with their fathersâ legacies â¦
One
Saturday night ended early for Lawrence âTuckâ Tucker. His date had not gone well.
Her name was Felicity. She had a bright smile, sunshine-blond hair, a body that could stop traffic and the IQ of a basset hound. But she also had a shrill, long-winded conversational style, and she was stridently against subsidized day care and team sports for children. Plus, she hated the Bulls. What self-respecting Chicagoan hated the Bulls? That was just disloyal.
By the time theyâd finished dessert, Tuck was tired of being lectured in high C. He decided life was too short, so heâd dropped her off at her apartment with a fleeting good-night kiss.
Now he let himself into the expansive foyer of the Tucker family mansion, shifting his thoughts ahead to Sunday morning. He was meeting his friend Shane Colborn for, somewhat ironically, a pickup basketball game.
âThatâs just reckless.â The angry voice of his father, Jamison Tucker, rang clearly from the library.
âIâm not saying itâll be easy,â said Tuckâs older brother, Dixon, his own voice tight with frustration.
Together the two men ran the familyâs multinational conglomerate, Tucker Transportation, and it was highly unusual for them to argue.
âNow, thatâs an understatement,â said Jamison. âWho could possibly step in? Iâm tied up. And weâre not sending some junior executive to Antwerp.â
âThe operations director is not a junior executive.â
âWe need a vice president to represent the company. We need you.â
âThen, send Tuck.â
âTuck?â Jamison scoffed.
The derision in his fatherâs voice shouldnât have bothered Tuck. But it did. Even after all these years, he still felt the sting in his fatherâs lack of faith and respect.
âHeâs a vice president,â said Dixon.
âIn name only. And barely that.â
âDadââ
âDonât you Dad me. You know your brotherâs shortcomings as well as I do. You want to take an extended vacation? Now?â
âI didnât choose the timing.â
Jamisonâs voice moderated. âShe did you wrong, son. Everybody knows that.â
âMy wife of ten years betrayed every promise we ever made to each other. Do you have any idea how that feels?â
Tuckâs sympathies went out to Dixon. It had been a terrible few months since Dixon had caught Kassandra in bed with another man. The final divorce papers had arrived earlier this week. Dixon hadnât said much about them. In fact, heâd been unusually tight-lipped.
âAnd youâre angry. And thatâs fine. But you bested her in the divorce. We held up the prenup and sheâs walking away with next to nothing.â
All emotion left Dixonâs voice. âItâs all about the money to you, isnât it?â
âIt was to her,â said Jamison.
There was a break in the conversation, and Tuck realized they could easily emerge from the library and catch him eavesdropping. He took a silent step back toward the front door.
âTuck deserves a chance,â said Dixon.
Tuck froze again to listen.
âTuck had a chance,â said Jamison, his words stinging once again.
When? Tuck wanted to shout. When had he had a chance to do anything but sit in his executive floor office and feel like an unwanted guest?
But as quickly as the emotion formed, he reminded himself that he didnât care. His only defense against his father was not to care about respect or recognition or making any meaningful contribution to the family business. Most people would kill for Tuckâs lifestyle. He needed to shut up and enjoy it.
âI knew this was a bad idea,â said Dixon.