Trading Places with the Boss by Raye Morgan

Author:Raye Morgan
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Silhouette
Published: 2005-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seven

Rafe tilted his chair back on two legs and watched the others going through the paces of their part of the skit. He had to admit it was getting more coherent each time they ran through it. He still thought his idea would have been much better, but he’d just about resigned himself to the fact that Shelley’s idea was pretty good, too.

Now he just had to come to terms with the fact that he was enjoying everything about Shelley. Everything.

Watching her now as she directed the skit, he had to grin. She was a natural leader. It was probably a good thing that this competition had given her the chance to show how good she was at organizing and motivating people working for her. How long would it have taken for the management at Allman Industries—or even he himself—to recognize the leadership qualities she possessed if she’d never gotten this opportunity to showcase them? He was definitely going to find her a more effective position when they got back on Monday.

“Hey, kiddo,” he called to her softly as she passed his way, heading for some items she planned to try out as background props. “I’ve got something to tell you.”

She turned back, her eyes bright, but then pretended to look very stern. “If this is about that kissable lips thing again I don’t want to hear it,” she claimed.

He grinned. “Naw—I’m saving that sort of talk for later, when I get you alone.”

“Rafe!”

“Nothing that exciting, actually. I just wanted to let you know that Matt called on my cell a few minutes ago. Pop’s on a tear. He’s getting all het up about this competition and he’s sending Matt to help out. He’ll be here tomorrow.”

“Oh.” She sank into the chair beside his. “Oh, Rafe, I’m sorry.”

He looked at her blankly, not sure why she was suddenly brimming with sympathy.

“You don’t have to be sorry. It’s okay. Matt can’t be on the team, but he might be able to give us some pointers. He’ll have a fresh outlook.”

She sat back. “Okay,” she said carefully. “Then you’re happy about this?”

“Why shouldn’t I be? Matt can be a big help.” He studied her curiously. “I thought you and he were such good friends.”

“We are,” she said quickly. “It’s just…well, your father is always trying to shove him into the limelight. I just thought…”

So that was it. He allowed himself a silent groan. He should have known. Shelley’s theory again—that everything he did was driven by his reaction to his father’s preference for his older brother.

And he had to admit, there was a sting involved. Did he ever let it interfere with his relationship with Matt? He let the question linger for a moment, but he didn’t want to deal with it. Wincing, he pushed it away.

“Shelley, I’m not jealous of my big brother,” he said with more bravado than conviction.

She stared at him. “Are you sure?”

He laughed a bit awkwardly. “Yeah. I took a poll. Every part of me agreed.” Reaching out he took her hand.

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