Break the Rules (The Flanagan Sisters Book 1) (9 page)

“Did
Lionel get fired?”

Bridget
laughed.
“Of course not.
He came clean.” The sarcasm
was clear in her voice. “He admitted the project was all my idea, that we were
having an affair and he’d let me run the whole project. He’d been too caught up
in our relationship to check what I was doing. He’d trusted me.”

Jack’s
mouth dropped open. “How could they believe him?”

“I’d raised
a couple of purchase requests for him. I didn’t think anything of it at the
time. He wanted the project completed quickly and if he’d raised the
requisition he would have had to wait for his supervisor to approve it. If I
did it, he could approve it and have the goods straight away.”

“The
requisitions were for the inferior materials?”

She
nodded.

“Son of a bitch.”

His
anger was a
balm
. “It was my own fault. I ignored my
instincts.”

“The
hell it’s your fault. The man used you and didn’t have the balls to admit when
he was wrong.” Jack’s eyes flashed fire and his voice was raised. He took a
breath to calm himself. “What happened to you?”

“There
was an investigation. I was basically told I could quit or they would fire me.
I quit.”

“They
had no right to do that.”

“It
turned out the company had a “no relationship” policy. Lionel and I were never
supposed to be in a relationship.” It was another reason why Lionel had wanted
to keep it a secret.

“How
hard was it for you to find a job after?”

Her
smile was grim. “If you ask anyone in the industry about the Lionel affair,
they’ll be able to tell you all about it. I was lucky Jeremy had worked with
us, knew what Lionel was like, and convinced the manager at Dionysus to take a
chance on me.”

“The
man has good sense.”

Jeremy
had been betrayed by Lionel as well.

“What
happened to the men who were injured?” Jack asked.

“They
recovered. The one who was burned the worst has scars, but he’s alive. He
couldn’t go back to working on the plant so he took my place as safety advisor.
I hear he’s dedicated.”

“And Lionel?”

“He’s
still there. I occasionally run into him at safety workshops.” She’d worked
through the betrayal and her anger, and was trying to be civil to him.

She
wasn’t working too hard at it.

Jack
placed his hand on her thigh. “I understand why you don’t want to be in a work
relationship,” he said. “But it doesn’t mean I have to like it. I would never
do that to you, you know that, right?”

Sadness
swept through her and she placed her hand over his to soften the blow. “No, I
don’t. We don’t know each other well enough, Jack. I thought I knew
Lionel … I can’t – no, I
won’t
go through that again.”

He
frowned briefly before he sighed. “I’m not going to change your mind, am I?”

She
seriously wanted him to, but she couldn’t ignore the Lionel factor. “No.”

“How about friends?”

“I’d
like that.”

He
leaned forward. “Just one last kiss,” he murmured.

“Just
one,” she agreed.

The
kiss was soft, sweet, and oh so luscious. Bridget didn’t want it to end. She
felt it right down to her toes.

When
they eventually parted, Jack cleared his throat and got to his feet. “I’d
better go.”

She
nodded. If she spoke, she’d ask him to stay.

He
grabbed Hal’s car keys from the table. “Tell Hal to give me a call if he needs to
be picked up tomorrow.”

“Sure.”
She followed him to the front door. “Drive safely.”

It
was an inane thing to say but they both knew what she meant. She closed the
door before he drove away. She couldn’t watch him do that. She went into her
bedroom and flopped on to the bed.

She’d
done the right thing. She was sure of it.

She
just wished she didn’t feel so awful.

Chapter 9

“So spill,” Carly said as she got into the car
the next morning.

Bridget
handed her the jewelry box, hoping to distract her.

It worked
for a couple of minutes as her sister oohed and
aahed
over it and then turned back to Bridget. “Why were you out with your boss
yesterday?”

She
focused on the traffic. “He’s Tanya’s boyfriend’s brother. Tanya thought it
would be good to do something together.”

“Didn’t
you say that guy you met a couple of weeks ago was named Jack?”

Carly
never forgot details. Damn it.

“Same guy.”

Carly
turned to face her. “The guy you told Mama about is your new boss?”

“Yeah.
What a coincidence, right?”

“Oh,
chiquita
.
I’m sorry. What are you going to
do?”

“Nothing.
Last night I told him about Lionel. We’re going to be friends.”

“If
you told him about Lionel he must mean something to you.”

“It
doesn’t matter, Carolina. I’m not risking myself that way.” Bridget had made her
decision. She didn’t need anyone making her doubt it now.

“What’s
Jack like?” Carly wasn’t going to let it drop.

“He’s
nice. He listens to my suggestions at work and got the financial approval for
those issues I was telling you about.”

That
distracted her sister.
“Really?
You’ve been trying to
get that approved for months.”

“I
know. He went into the management meeting, outlined the issues, and Kevin told
him to call the CFO. I don’t know what he did but he’s got a magic touch.”

Bad choice of words.

“Or he’s
male,” Carly said.

Bridget
didn’t answer. She could be right.

“Are
you sure ignoring your attraction is for the best? He’s got great taste in
antiques.” She ran her hand over the box.

Bridget
laughed. “It is. I need to be focused at work. No one would trust me if they
knew I was dating my boss.”

“Maybe
you could get a new job.”

Bridget
scowled at her and then returned her gaze to the road. “I’m not leaving my job
because of a guy. Dionysus gave me a chance when no one else would. I owe
them.”

“They’ve
been working you to the bone and ignoring your advice for the last six months.
You don’t owe them anything. I’m sure no one remembers the Lionel affair any
more.”

Bridget
shook her head. She wasn’t leaving her job for a man ever again. She would go
on her own terms when she was good and ready. Changing the subject, she asked,
“What was wrong with you yesterday? You shouldn’t have been working on a
Saturday.”

Carly
sighed. “You know how it is. No rest for the wicked.”

“You’re
hardly wicked. Besides, you’re the CEO. Shouldn’t you have minions to do the
grunt work for you?”

“Not
this stuff.” She sounded really tired.

Bridget
glanced at her. “What is it?”

“Just business.
Did you hear they might have found Jacinta and Mario’s mother?”

She
knew her sister was deliberately changing the subject, but she let her. “Zita
mentioned something about Wisconsin.”

“No,
she’s in Mississippi.”

Bridget
sat back as Carly told her the details. She would have to get to the bottom of
Carly’s worries another time.

* * *

Lunch
at Carmen’s was as loud as ever. She had six foster children at the moment and
the three new girls were fitting in well. A couple of them were helping with
lunch, the youngest, Mario, was setting the table and two of the pregnant
teenagers were sitting on the couch, resting.

The
aroma of chili drifted through the house as Bridget and Carly walked in.

“
Hola
,
Mamá
,”
Bridget said, giving her mother a hug.

“
Mi
niñita
.”
She hugged Bridget tightly. “How
are things with your Jack?”

“There
isn’t anything, Mama. It didn’t work out.”

Her mother tutted.
“That’s sad.”

“It
sure is, Mama.” Bridget scurried into the kitchen before her mother could ask
anything else.

“So what
happened with Jack?” Zita asked, kissing her cheek.

“Turns
out he’s my new boss,” she said.

“Oh.”
Zita knew all about the Lionel affair. “No chance then?”

Bridget
shook her head.

“That’s
a shame.”

Wasn’t
it just? Not wanting to dwell on Jack she asked, “So what’s new here?”

“I
think we’ve found Mario and Jacinta’s mother,” Zita said. “She’s in
Mississippi, not Wisconsin. Immigration
are
confirming
and then I’ll take them home.”

“Yeah,
Carly was telling me. That’s fantastic.”

“It is.
We’ve already been sent details of the next foster kids we’ll get.”

It
was a never-ending revolving door. More and more children were fleeing Central
America unaccompanied. Those who were allowed to stay needed someone to live
with and the farm had plenty of beds. Their mother had designed it with that in
mind.

“How’s
Alejandra? The baby must be almost due.”

“It
is. We’re in countdown mode now. Her bag is packed for the hospital and Mama’s
covered all the necessities with her. She’s going to be fine.”

Alejandra
was fifteen and had been involved with a gang member in El Salvador. She didn’t
want her baby becoming part of a gang so she’d fled the country.

Bridget
was worried for the girl. Fifteen was so young to be having a baby, but she
knew her mother and the rest of the girls at Casa Flanagan would help her. She
would be able to finish her education and make something of her life. Alejandra
already spoke about wanting to be a teacher.

“So
what’s new with you?” Zita asked.

“I’m
going to learn to scuba dive next week.”

Zita’s
mouth dropped open. “Get out!”

Bridget
grinned at her.
“Yeah.
Jack’s given me a couple of
days off in lieu and I decided to finally learn to scuba dive.”

“Sounds awesome.
You’ll have to tell me all about it.”

Feeling
comfortable and at home, Bridget proceeded to do just that.

* * *

The
Monday management meeting was Jack’s least favorite part of the week. It lasted
several hours and all they did was talk without any decisions being made.

“How
are the audit actions coming along?” Kevin asked Jack. Now he understood the
urgency of the matter, Kevin wanted full updates each meeting.

“It’s
moving quickly now we have the funds,” Jack said. “I’ve hired a couple of
contractors to help complete the actions due to the delay in approval.”

Kevin
scowled. “How much is that costing us?”

“It’s
coming from my budget,” Jack assured him.

“Bridget
obviously didn’t budget correctly. I should have guessed she wasn’t capable.”

Jack
reined in his temper. “Her budget was based on the assumption it wouldn’t take three
months to get approval. If the authorizers had signed it off immediately we
wouldn’t have this problem.” He wasn’t going to let Bridget take the blame.

“She
didn’t communicate the urgency.”

Oh,
he was pretty sure she had. He’d witnessed her passion first-hand. She wouldn’t
have pulled her punches for the management team. They just hadn’t listened. But
there was no point in making a big deal of it now. What was done was done.

Besides,
he had another issue to
raise
. “It’s come to my
attention that the technicians don’t check their email regularly. Email is one
of the only ways we can communicate with the guys who are on night shift. My
team has had to work extra hours to speak with them in person, in order to
ensure they have the information they need.”

The
production manager straightened in his chair. “Most of the guys are computer
illiterate. They wouldn’t know how to use email even if they tried.”

Jack
glanced at him. “Email is an essential part of our communication strategy. If
they don’t know how to use it, isn’t it your responsibility to ensure your team
has the skills they need?”

“They
work with tools and machinery, not computers. They’re so rarely near one,” he
argued.

“Then
I suggest you come up with a better communication strategy so my team doesn’t
have to work extra hours. They work long enough as it is.” So, he wasn’t making
any friends in today’s meeting. It didn’t matter. Jack wasn’t here to make
friends, he was here to make sure the plant’s safety was sufficient and his
team wasn’t overworked.

By
the time the meeting was over Jack had made sure the management team understood
the status quo wasn’t good enough anymore and he expected their full support.
Since safety was theoretically the company’s number one priority, it wasn’t
hard to get them to agree. Whether they actually followed through remained to
be seen.

Kevin
stopped him on the way out of the meeting and congratulated him on his
progress. “It’s nice to see you in charge.”

“Thanks.”
Jack continued to his office. The praise only depressed him further. He wasn’t
doing anything differently from Bridget. He slumped into his chair.

Bridget
ducked her head around the door. “Hey, boss, I’ve developed the new safety
topics and sent you a link to check them.” She smiled and then frowned. She
stepped into the office.
“You all right?”

The
sight of Bridget made it all worse, not better. It was the job keeping them
from exploring what they could have together.
“Rough meeting.
I’m not popular with production or maintenance at the moment.”

“Told
them how it is?”

“Yeah.”

“Well,
you should get a better response. Kevin is raving about you.”

He
frowned. “I’m not telling them anything that you didn’t.”

“But
you’re
male,
it makes it easier to take. Men expect
other men to be forceful. Old school men don’t like it in their women, and
Kevin is one of the old boys.”

Jack
didn’t argue with her.

“Need
a hand with anything?” she asked.

“No,
I’ve got it covered. Let me know by Thursday what needs to be done while you’re
away.”

“Will do.”
She smiled at him and it did lift his spirits. “It’ll get easier.”

“I
hope so.”

He
wasn’t just referring to the job. Seeing Bridget today after their talk on the weekend
was difficult. He could see her point of view, he could even understand it, but
it didn’t make it easier. If he ever met this Lionel he wasn’t sure what he’d
do. The jackass had ruined his chance with Bridget.

Jack
shook his head. He had to stop obsessing and accept that he and Bridget were
colleagues and hopefully friends. That’s all it could be at the moment.

But
he wasn’t ruling out the future.

* * *

Sunday
evening Bridget practically floated through her front door. Her dive course had
been
amazing
. She’d wanted to stay underwater for longer, but her
instructor – and the level of oxygen in her tank – made her head to the
surface.

Jack
had been right. It was like exploring another world. She couldn’t wait to go
again. The dive shop ran regular dives each weekend if the weather was good.
She’d already signed up for next Saturday.

Walking
into the living area she found Tanya reading.

“Oh good.
You’re home.” She shut her book. “Hal’s invited us around for dinner. Are you
up for it?”

Bridget
only hesitated for a moment. “Sure. I’ll take a shower before we go.”

The idea of seeing Jack outside of work set her heartbeat racing faster
than normal.
It
was something she was going to have to deal with. At work she kept her contact
with him to a minimum, which wasn’t too difficult. She was busy with her
projects and he had his own work. It was only the occasional meeting or update
where she had to see him. At those times she ignored her body’s reaction to
him, said what she needed to say, and left. It wasn’t getting easier, but at
least it was manageable.

Tonight
she wanted to see him. She wanted to talk to him about her dive. He’d
understand the elation, she was sure of it.

It
didn’t take her long to get ready and she drove them both over to Hal’s place.