Tymber Dalton - Contractual Obligation

I can do this. It’s for my parents. And it’s helping Harper out.

It didn’t make him feel like any less of a shit.

* * *

Harper nervously tried to keep her focus on her work while Gorden and Doug were out shopping. She trusted Gorden to bring him back looking exactly the part. Not too flashy, not too much poor college boy. Her father was an idiot when it came to fashion, but overall appearance meant a lot to him.

She hoped if he met Doug and found him acceptable on the surface that he wouldn’t do too much digging right now. Meaning he wouldn’t raise any objections to Doug’s hiring.

Not that he would overrule her on his hiring, but she had to commit to the bit, as comedians said. And she was committed to getting her father off her freaking back.

She heard a heavy knock on her office door. Before she could say anything, the door opened and her father stuck his head in.

“Anyone home?”

She felt a mix of irritation and adoration. “Hi, Daddy.”

He smiled that handsome, winning smile of his and stepped in, closing the door behind him. “Hello, sweetheart. Is it safe, or do you still want to take my head off?” He cupped his hands in front of his groin. “Or something lower?”

“Yes, it’s safe.”

He walked over, and she stood to hug him. “I’m sorry, honey. I shouldn’t have gone after you like that at the meeting.” He held her at arm’s length, his gaze intent on hers. “But I meant it. I worry about you, sweetheart. With your health—”

She rolled her eyes. “Daddy, it’s diabetes, not cancer. I’m not dying, for chrissake.”

“I just worry about you,” he said again. “I love you. I only want what’s best for you.”

“I know you do, but I’m an adult.”

He smiled as he released her. “Yes, but you’ll always be my little girl.” Then his expression turned sad. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there more for you while you were growing up. And look, fine, don’t get a boyfriend, but at least take more time off. You and I can go travelling, or at least spend some time together.”

“Julia won’t mind?”

A dark cloud seemed to pass over him. “I don’t give a shit what she thinks.”

She arched an eyebrow in surprise. Harrison Wells rarely swore in front of his little girl, even though she was almost thirty. “Wow. What happened?” Harper knew Julia Carson had her sights set on doing something no other woman since her mother had managed—becoming Mrs. Harrison Wells.

Harper had hated her upon first sight when they met six months earlier. The feeling had been completely mutual.

He waved her concern away as he turned to sit in one of the chairs in front of her desk. “I did a lot of thinking after our meeting. I called Julia up and ended it with her. I decided I needed to take my own advice. She wasn’t a long-term prospect.” He looked at her. “Don’t think I don’t know what her angle was. I know you didn’t like her. I’m sorry I let her take so much of my attention from you.”

She perched on the corner of her desk. “Daddy, I’m not a little girl anymore. You need a life as much as I need one. I didn’t hate her because she had your attention. I hated her because she was a gold-digging bitch after a chunk of your money.”

He scrubbed his face with his hands as he sat back in his chair. This was her Daddy, the man she loved and practically worshipped. Unlike the tough businessman she ran afoul of a few days earlier. “Sweetheart, I’m an old dog. Too old to learn new tricks. I loved your mother, and she always supported me and understood when I had to work long hours. I didn’t deserve someone as loving and generous as her. But you’re young enough not to make the same mistakes I did.”

Wow, Gorden nailed it on the head. She didn’t speak, just listened.

“Let’s plan a father-daughter trip,” he continued. “Remember last Christmas we talked about taking an Alaskan cruise? It’s one place neither of us have been. We can take a long vacation. I can have it booked in an hour.”

“When did you want to do this?”

“We can leave in less than a week.” He smiled.

“You’ve been researching, haven’t you?”

He nodded as he sat up. “Yep. What do you say?”

“Well, I’d love to—”

“But.” He laughed.

“No, Daddy, it’s not like that.” She only called him Mr. Wells in front of their employees. Any other time, it was always Daddy. “I just hired Gorden’s replacement.”

That piqued his interest. “Oh? I’ve only been bugging you about that for the past year.”

“I know, and so has he. You know the job fair this weekend at the convention center?”

“Yes?”

“Well, I talked to Carmen in HR. Asked her to keep a lookout for potential candidates.”

“And she found you one?”

“He seems perfect. Young, just out of school, and eager to learn and work.” And broke as shit, she thought.

“Tell me more.”

“You’ll get to meet him here shortly.” She glanced at the clock. “Gorden’s been working with him today, getting his feet wet. His first official day is Monday.”

“Young?” A smile curled his lips. “Handsome?”

“Daddy!” She hoped she portrayed the right amount of shock. Inside, she was already laughing. He fell for it.

He chuckled as he waved her objection away. “Relax, I promise not to play matchmaker.” He sighed. “You’re right, though. That does make it a little tougher to plan a trip right now.”

She felt a little guilty. “What are you doing this weekend?” It’d been four months since she’d taken off a full day, much less an entire weekend.

His grin returned. “Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”

“How about a weekend at the Boca house?” Her father owned a beautiful waterfront house on Gasparilla Island, in a little community called Boca Grande, nearly two hours south of Tampa. “Do you think the tarpon are running this weekend?”

He jumped to his feet with a huge smile. “Probably not, but who the heck cares! We can still go fishing, right?”

She loved seeing her father like this. Happy, excited. “Absolutely, Daddy.”

He rounded the desk and hugged her. “Let me go check in to make sure no one needs me this afternoon, and we’ll leave today after you go home and pack.”

“Don’t forget to come back to meet Douglas.”

He turned at the door. “Right!” He grinned playfully. “Any chance he wants to learn how to fish and—”

“Daddy!” She pointed at the door. “Go!”

He laughed. “All right, all right. Can’t blame me for trying.” He left. She sat down and let out a deep breath.

So far, so good.

Doug took a nervous breath as he followed Gorden into Harper’s office. He’d assured Doug that it was okay to call her Harper, although in front of other employees, at least in the beginning, it would be more respectful to refer to her as Ms. Wells. Inside, he found Harper talking with an older man she strongly resembled.

She stood and smiled when they entered the office. “Ah, here he is. Douglas Holt, this is my father, Harrison Wells.”

“Nice to meet you, Douglas.” He stood and offered his hand.

Doug shook with him. “Thank you, sir. Doug is fine.”

He sensed the older man sizing him up. “Since you’ll be working with Harper on such a close basis, you can call me Harrison when we’re alone like this.” He looked at Gorden. “Well, what do you think of him?”

Gorden smiled. “I think he’s going to do just fine. As long as she doesn’t chew him up and spit him out,” he added with a playful smirk in Harper’s direction.

That made Doug laugh. “I’ll do my best to hold my own with her. Or die trying.”

The two older men laughed. Harrison clapped him on the shoulder. “That’s the spirit, son. Don’t let her give you any backtalk either when—”

“Daddy!” she said, cutting him off. From the tone of her voice and look on her face, it seemed her father was about to give something away that she didn’t want told.

He stopped, looked at her, then glanced at Gorden. Doug didn’t miss the almost imperceptible shake of the head Gorden gave Harper’s father.

Harrison rolled his eyes. “Fine. I guess all women need their secrets.”

“Daaaaaddy!” she practically growled in a warning tone.

“Fine!” He turned to Doug. “I’m sure Gorden will give you a full education in everything you need to know to work with my headstrong daughter.”

“Yes, sir.”

* * *

Harper went from loving her father to wanting to strangle him. She didn’t want Doug knowing about her diabetes. She’d given Gorden strict instructions not to reveal it to him, and she knew he’d hold her confidence. It wasn’t any of Doug’s business, and the only reason Gorden knew was because he was like a second father to her. None of her employees knew it and that’s the way she wanted it.

I’ll have to have another talk with Daddy about privacy.

After twenty minutes of chatting, with her father asking Doug questions about himself, he finally headed for the door. “I’m going to go pack, Harper.” He turned, shaking a finger at her. “We’ll meet at my house at six. Right?”

She sighed. “Yes, Daddy.”

“Good. Um, any chance Doug might want to join—”

“Daddy!”

He laughed. “Can’t blame me for trying. Doug, good to meet you, and looking forward to getting to know you better. Gorden, if you and Olivia want to join us this weekend, you’re more than welcomed.”

“Thanks, Harrison. I’ll ask her. Maybe we’ll drive down for the day on Sunday, if nothing else.”

“Great! See you later.”

Harper sat and breathed out another sigh of relief as her father left. She looked at Doug. “I do believe you passed with flying colors.”

“You sure did,” Gorden added.

“But don’t be surprised if he tries to marry us off,” Harper said.

Doug let out a laugh. “Well, I guess that will make things easier for you, then.”

“In some ways, yes. I can only hold him off for so long. Fortunately, while he wants me to have a life, he also doesn’t want me to rush into the wrong relationship. My hope is that after a year, the company will be doing so well that he’ll give up pressuring me to ‘relax.’”

“Good luck with that, Harper,” Gorden chimed in. “Let me know how that works for you.”

* * *

After they finished with him for the day at a little after four, Doug sat in his car and waited for the A/C to kick in and cool it down. Monday, he’d be able to park in the private garage, in his newly assigned space. His car wouldn’t feel like an upholstered oven when he climbed into it.

That is, until his new Mercedes came in.

This still feels like a dream. Well, most of it was a dream.

Some of it was an impending nightmare.

He stared at his phone. Tate would still be at work for a little while yet. He could take the asshole way out, call him right now, leave a message, and then not answer if Tate called him back at four thirty when he left work.

What he should do was pack an overnight bag, drive up there, and face him like a man. He owed Tate that much.

Cowardice won.

His stomach twisted as he waited to see if Tate or his voice mail would pick up.

Oh, thank god.

After Tate’s voice mail message ended, Doug nearly hung up. Instead, he forced himself to talk. “Hi, it’s me. I’m sorry I haven’t been able to talk to you, but a lot’s happened in the past twenty-four hours. This job…it’s a once-in-a-lifetime chance. And it’ll allow me to help Mom and Dad keep their house. So I can’t turn it down.” Visions of the nondisclosure agreement he signed danced in his head. “I can’t come back this weekend, but I will next weekend. It’s…it’s a long story. Love you. I’ll try to call you tomorrow.”

He pressed end and took a deep breath. Then he put his phone on silent and headed home.

* * *

Harper slid behind the wheel of her Mustang and closed her eyes. What a friggin’ day.

She’d called her father after Doug and Gorden left and reminded him, once again, to not give away her personal information to everyone. Especially to new employees.

He’d apologized with that condescending tone that told her he thought he was doing what was best for her, but he agreed not to say anything about her diabetes to Doug.

Why’d he have to pick now to be a doting dad? Her life would be sooo much easier if he hadn’t.