Page 50 of The Fix Up

“No, not all that mumbo jumbo. I’m talking about you as the CEO.”

“What about me?”

“Folks want to see a CEO with a little more charisma. A guy who can get out there and golf with the boys, then charm all the ladies at the company party.”

Ben raised an eyebrow at his father and gripped his glass a little tighter. “Are you suggesting I hire professional escorts to pose as purveyors of my charms?”

“Oh, don’t get all pissy. I’m talking your personal life. In the business world, folks like to follow the lead of a man all the women want. Now’s the time for you to play the field a little, really show the ladies what you’ve got.”

“I see,” Ben said tightly. “And that’s the secret to your success?”

“I have the advantage of being a widower. That’s even better.”

“Being widowed is a business asset?” Good God.

“Sure. It shows I’m grounded enough to get married and have a family in the first place, but not tied down by having to spend time with them.”

Ben frowned down at his drink, more than a little annoyed to be lumped together with his dead mother as a professional advantage. Spending time with him or with Ben’s mom had never been a priority for Lyle, not even when Judy was sick as a dog with the chemo.

Part of Ben still blamed his dad for all of that. For the sadness in his mom’s eyes as she sat lonely and waiting for Lyle to come home from a business trip. For the science fairs Lyle never attended because he was off flirting with secretaries. For the missed chance at early diagnosis of the cancer that claimed Judy’s life.

For all of it and then some.

But hell, at least his dad was trying to connect with him on some level now. Maybe that’s what mattered. Maybe learning something from his father was his best shot at becoming the sort of CEO he needed to be to take the company to the next level.

Ben swirled the liquid in his glass, relieved to see there was a lot less of it now than there had been. “If we get the Kleinberger deal, the company would be well-positioned for a potential merger of?—”

“How serious are you about that Honey girl?” Lyle asked, snapping his fingers. “The one you brought to the event.”

“Holly?”

“Yeah, that’s the one. Take her, for instance.”

“Take her where?”

Lyle ignored him. “She’s a pretty girl, but not someone you’re planning to have a relationship with, right?”

Ben stared at his father, not sure if he was more annoyed by the old man’s line of questioning, or by the fact that Holly had made it clear she had no interest in a relationship with him.

Why did that bother him so much?

Because you’re starting to fall for her. Because you wouldn’t mind a relationship one bit, but that’s the last thing she wants.

“You’ve gotta play the field, boy,” Lyle said. “That Hayley?—”

“Holly.”

“That Holly girl has to be getting up there in years. What is she, thirty?”

“I have no idea. And since when is thirty considered ‘up there?’”

“Women have a clock, boy. They can’t dick around for years building a career the way you and I can. They’ve gotta start squeezing out babies, making a home, all those things women want. And that’s not whatyouwant right now. You’ve gotta sow some oats.”

Ben felt himself bristling at the notion that his father would have any idea what he wanted, much less what Holly wanted.EspeciallyHolly. He opened his mouth to protest, but his dad was still talking.

“Holly’s fine for now, but you’ve gotta think bigger picture.”

“Bigger picture,” Ben repeated, not entirely sure he and his father were speaking the same language.

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