Theo sighed. “Good for you, but this doesn’t really help me. It’s not like I can create a wife and kids from thin air.”
“No, but you could settle down.” Alexander flashed him another smile. “Meet a nice woman, get married, have kids…”
“That seems like a very long-term investment.” Theo sighed again. “I need something that’ll get me a meeting with Charlesnow.Not in five or ten years.”
“A long-term investment,” Alexander repeated with a laugh. “You’re such a businessman, Theo. But even putting aside how they might help your career, don’t you want a wife and kids anyway? Coming home to Martha and Chloe gives my life so much meaning.”
“Sure, and I’m happy for you, but I don’t have the luxury of having a businessanda family,” Theo said firmly. “I only have time for one of the two, and I’ve chosen business. The last ten years have been all about making Epsilon thrive, and stepping back to — what, date? — it just wouldn’t make sense. Epsilon is my baby.”
“Fair enough.” Alexander shrugged. “But I don’t have any advice for you with Charles, other than that.”
“I don’t need a gimmick,” Theo said. “I’m going to find a way to get a meeting with him on my own merits — and the merits of my company. No cute kids or adoring wife needed.”
“And how’s that going for you?” Alexander raised his eyebrows teasingly, and Theo rolled his eyes.
“I’m going to get a meeting. Eventually. But for now, I’m going to head home. I have work to do, and without Charles, there’s no point staying here.”
“Not even to catch up with an old friend?” Alexander called after him, but Theo was already on his feet. He waved over his shoulder as he exited the ballroom, leaving the gleaming lights and high society behind. His car was waiting with the valet, along with his driver. Theo usually liked to drive himself, but since he’d been drinking, he wouldn’t today. Instead, he slid into the back seat, and the driver guided the car onto the main road that led away from the hotel.
As Theo leaned back in his seat, watching the city lights and old ivy-covered brick buildings blur past, he couldn’t help wondering if Alexander had a point. Maybe a familywouldmake people take him more seriously.
But Theo was right, too. He didn’t have time for a family. And he definitely didn’t have time to start dating now, in hopes that he’d eventually get a meeting with Charles five — or even ten — years down the road.
Theo dated plenty. At almost every event — the ones where he wasn’t trying to win Charles’s attention at least — he arrived with a new woman on his arm. It was fun. He liked taking beautiful women out to elegant restaurants. He liked having an open playing field. And best of all, he liked that briefly datingmeant he could go on a few dates before returning to work, no strings attached. Long-term relationships seemed to mean coming home for dinner most nights and spending weekends antiquing or hiking or something, instead of working.
Theo was never going to do that. He cared about his company too much.
He arrived home twenty minutes later with a new resolve. Alexander’s advice was pointless. He needed to win Charles’s attention all on his own. That night, he went straight to his home office and caught up with other work. The next day, he’d find a way to meet with Charles.
“I just needfifteen minutes of his time,” Theo explained. He was on the street in front of his office, pacing back and forth while he spoke on the phone with an Ackley Industries secretary. “Please tell him it’ll be worth his while.”
“Mr. Ackley doesn’t have any availability for the foreseeable future,” the secretary, a young-sounding man with a polite but brisk voice, replied.
Theo sighed. “I’ve tried to call here a number of times, and every time, you or someone else tells me that Mr. Ackley isn’t available. It’s been months. How is it that he never has time? Can’t you at least give me a slot in a month or two?”
He quickly regulated his tone. He’d been starting to raise his voice, and that wasn’t fair. This poor secretary was just doing what he was told.
There was a pause on the other end. Then the young secretary spoke again. “Honestly, Mr. Hillman, your values just don’t align with Mr. Ackley’s. It’s unlikely he’ll ever have time to meet with you. Have a nice day.”
Then the line went dead. Theo ran his hand across his brow in frustration. At least he had his answer — Alexander was right. Charles would never meet with him, and it was because of Theo’svalues,whatever that meant. Maybe Charles reallywouldonly meet with people who were family men.
Theo blew out a puff of air. If only he could rent a wife and kid for a few weeks — why wasn’t that a service? For the last few years, money had bought him everything he’d wanted or needed, yet his fortune couldn’t help with this.
Nothing could. The thing that had always made Theo the best in his business — his dedication to work over everything else — was now a liability, and there was nothing he could do about it.
Theo was about to head back upstairs and try a new approach, when someone ran into his legs. He stumbled, his phone flying out of his hand and bouncing against the pavement. He turned, ready to chew out whoever had been so careless, and came face-to-face with a small, brown-haired boy with huge blue eyes and a superhero T-shirt.
CHAPTER 2
NINA
Nina Thompson held out her hand to her son, Jack. He took it, and they crossed the street together, the little boy looking back and forth for approaching cars like she’d taught him. Nina held on tight. At just five years old, Jack still loved to hold hands with her, but she knew from other parents that it wasn’t going to last long. She was going to enjoy every minute of it — with so much else going so wrong in her life, Jack was the one thing that was always going right.
“How was school today?” she asked.
Jack sighed and scuffed his sneakers against the pavement. “Miss Lucy gave usanotheralphabet worksheet. I already know all the letters!”
Nina hid her smile. She’d always read to Jack every night before bed and helped him learn his letters, and she was proud he was doing so well. “Did you tell her that?”
