Read Online The Billionaire’s Tenacious Boss (The Maxfield Brothers Series Book 1) by Leslie North - Free Book Online Page B

where he’d sleep at the office. He thought it was lazy that no one else would do the same.
    “I see the way he looks at you,” Suzanne said suddenly. Angie blushed and opened her mouth to refute it, but Suzanne waved her hand. “Please. Duncan doesn’t do anything except with an ulterior motive. I know his insistence that Ben and I spend the weekend here had more to do with his needs than ours. It’s obvious that Duncan disapproves of your relationship. I guess he thought that if you knew that Stephen had baggage, you’d be less interested.”
    “You’re not wrong about Duncan. And I’m sorry that he pulled you in the middle of it. The truth is that Stephen and I aren’t anything more than business associates. And if we become anything further, it’s a decision that I’ll make without reference to Duncan,” Angie declared. She added, “A little baggage doesn’t scare me.” And it was clear to her that Duncan thought that Suzanne would intimidate her.
    “It sounds to me like you’ve already made up your mind,” Suzanne said with a smile.
    Had she already decided that she and Stephen would give it a shot? “I would be lying if I didn’t say that there was an attraction between us. But I’ve worked hard to get where I am at this company, and I’m not about to give that up over a silly crush.”
    “Well, be careful. I love Stephen, but he’s an intense man. He’ll take over your life.”
    Angie contemplated that as she drank her wine. Suzanne continued to reminisce funny stories about the boys and Stephen, but Angie was only half-listening. Suzanne’s warning stuck with her. She’d built a life that was devoid of men. If she let Stephen in, it was possible that he would ruin everything.
    But every time she closed her eyes at night, those beautiful blue eyes haunted her.

    * * *
    T he next day , Stephen pushed everything aside to spend more time with his son, but Ben didn’t seem to feel the same way. When he tried to invite his son to play some basketball, Ben shrugged it off and said no. When he offered to take Ben to the park, his son said that he wasn’t interested. It wasn’t until Gabe and Nathan showed up that Ben seemed finally to come to life.
    “Can we go swimming?” he asked excitedly. “I’ve been practicing doing back-flips off the diving board!”
    “Sure,” Gabe said with a laugh. “It’s been awhile since I’ve been in the pool.”
    Ben immediately threw the controller for the game down and raced to change into his bathing suit. Stephen looked on dejectedly. “He hates me. My own son hates me.”
    “He doesn’t hate you,” Nathan said with a shake of his head. “We’ve always been cooler than you.”
    Nathan could joke all he wanted, but Ben was simply different when he was with his uncles. He talked about school and his friends. He easily opened up about what he wanted, but whenever Stephen asked a question, the boy seemed to shut down. The feeling of rejection slowly turned to anger, and Stephen shoved it down. There was no point in bringing it up while Ben was having fun.
    They cooked out on the grill for dinner. Suzanne met with some friends, and Duncan was having dinner with Angie to discuss something about work. Stephen spoke very little about business. He didn’t want to use up what little time he had with his son on things like work. The more he listened and watched Ben, the more he realized that he’d missed so much in his son’s life.
    When had things spun out of control? There was a time where Stephen would have made the earth move to see his son, but work was always getting in the way, and soon Ben quit asking to see him. The worse part was that Stephen didn’t even realize it until now.
    Was he becoming his father?
    After dinner, Gabe and Nathan both kissed Ben goodnight before they left. Ben immediately changed clothes and slumped back in front of the television with the game controller. Alone with his son, Stephen tried his best to get Ben to talk to