Holiday Naughty: My Alpha Bad Boy Client by Rebecca Lee

Chapter 1--Beth
     
     
     
    “ You know I'd love to see you and uncle
Mike and all the cousins too,” I said, lying like crazy.
     
    “ You work too hard and there is more to
life,” mom said. “You know, you are a beautiful successful young
woman. But there is no man in your life. I was....”
     
    “ I know mom: “married at age twenty”,”
I said now mostly tuning her out because I'd heard it all before.
“But what does my having or not having a boyfriend have to do with
anything?”
     
    “ Having someone in your life balances
you. Work is only work. Money is only money. It's not why we are
here,” she said. “But I guess I used to think like you when I was
younger too.”
     
    “ Hey, I thought you loved dad?!” I shot
back at her playfully.”But now you are saying it was for the
money?”
     
    “ Naawwww” she responded with that
Florida panhandle drawl. “It was because of you. I'll give him
credit. He at least took care of his responsibility at that
stage.”
     
    “ Anyway, mama I have to go,” I said,
noticing the scurry of little legs through the glass under the half
drawn blinds on the windows to my office. “If I don't get going,
I'll have work next Christmas too. Billable hours. That's the legal
business.”
     
    “ Bye Bethy,” she said
cheerfully.
     
    I hung up the phone and readied myself for
what was to come. Dealing with the children was the easy part. I
should have been an elementary school teacher. Except the pay was
lousy and I didn't want to be just another woman trolling around
looking for a successful man to take care of me.
     
    Becoming a lawyer said something to the world
and the pay said even more.
     
    I sat up in my chair, grabbed my hand held
recorder, and began dictating correspondence. I didn't get the
first sentence completed when the chaos of tiny feet came
scampering into my office.
     
    Little Andy and even littler Amy came flying
into my office.
     
    “ Aunt Bethy!”
     
    “ There's my kids!”
     
    They both hugged me warmly around my legs. My
eyes quickly averted to the door and the imminent arrival of
Shawna, their mother.
     
    “ Hey Beth. What's up?” she said
entering the room behind her excited kids. “Not work anymore most
likely?”
     
    Shawna was the perfect mom. Of that I had no
doubt. She actually was a former elementary teacher herself. Hit
the jackpot when she married a powerful partner like Andrew
Kincaid.
     
    We got along great and that fact gave me a
lot of comfort. We both had the “southern girl” thing going on. She
was from Alabama just across the state line from the panhandle. She
still had the accent while mine was all but “lawyered” out of
me.
     
    “ Any big plans for the holidays?” She
asked, rounding her children up and nudging them back out the door.
“Going back home?”
     
    “ Ask your husband.”
     
    Oh. That sounded weird. Or maybe it just
sounded weird to me.
     
    “ He works all of you too much.
Especially young talented associates like you,” she responded
without hesitation.
     
    “ Talented? He said that?”
     
    “ Not just talented. The most talented,”
Shawna said like she was my proud mom.
     
    I didn't say anything, but did a lips pursed
together smile. I felt pride but at the same time the whole moment
was just not right to hear that.
     
    “ You've worked hard to get where you
are at Beth,” she said. “I have inside knowledge here. Andrew will
take care of you. He's the number one man and he has the old guy's
ear.”
     
    “ Thank you Shawna. Thank you for
putting my mind at ease. I'll have fun at Christmas. Don't worry
about that. But if Andrew needs me, how could I saw no?”
     
    When I finished I felt the air suck into my
chest abruptly. Like I was told by a doctor to hold my breath.
     
    “ Merry Christmas Beth,” she said
turning to chase down Andy and Amy who were jumping around the
secretarial area, laughing and screaming.
     
    I nodded my head and gave her a smile and