“James ‘Mad Hatter’ Marks.”
She’d used her dad’s nickname on purpose, and just as she’d expected, one of Mr. Baron’s gray brows shot up. He peered at her intently. “Huh.” He seemed to relax a bit. “You look like him.”
She turned up the wattage of her smile. “Thank you, sir. My momma always said my daddy was a handsome man.”
“Your momma was Caroline Carter, then.”
She felt a familiar pang. Her mom had died when she was young, but not a day went by when she didn’t think about her or miss her. It was the same way with her dad.
“Yes, sir.”
“Good woman, Caroline.”
Touched that he remembered her, Jasmine swallowed back the knot of emotion his words had evoked. “Thank you, sir.”
“You haven’t seen Jet, have you?” Lizzie stepped forward. “We were just in his office and he wasn’t there.”
Big surprise. She didn’t say the words out loud, but she was thinking them. She had a feeling Lizzie was thinking them, too.
“No. I haven’t, but we’re supposed to meet this morning so I’m sure he’s around here somewhere.”
Listen to you making excuses for the boss’s son. Clearly, you’re a sucker for a handsome face.
“I guess we’ll keep on looking, then.”
But Jet’s sister didn’t look hopeful. Who could blame her?
The office was a bit of a maze. The conference room to her right overlooked the Dallas skyline. Opposite, in the interior, were offices, including the office of the CEO. One of her coworkers had told her that Brock’s office was up front near the reception desk. He liked to eavesdrop on the people who called his company, and he had a habit of going out to the reception area and greeting visitors, even if they weren’t there to see him. She suspected he was something of a control freak.
“If you see him, let him know we’re looking for him. Come on, Dad. Let’s get you back to your office so you can sit back down.”
Brock grumbled something about overprotective women, but he nodded at her as he passed. Lizzie Baron stood slightly behind him and so Mr. Baron didn’t see the thank-you she silently mouthed in J.C.’s direction, although why Lizzie would thank her she had no idea. She’d been late to work for goodness’ sake. She should be apologizing to Lizzie.
Her second surprise of the day sat in her office. She drew up short at the sight of a pair of dusty, worn work boots resting on the edge of her desk, a sheaf of papers in his lap, one of them held up in front of him.
“Your dad’s looking for you.”
The boots slammed down. He about came out of his chair. “What?”
“Your dad. He’s here. I bumped into him near the conference room.”
He leaned back again. “Oh, great.”
“You might want to let them know you’re here. I have a feeling they both thought you were playing hooky.”
“Of course they think that. And just because of that, I think I’ll make them wait.” He put his boots back up.
“Get your feet off my desk.”
Those eyes. Those damn green eyes. They didn’t just twinkle, they seemed to...wink at her.
“My, my, my. We’re in a bad mood.”
Yeah, she sort of was. She hadn’t expected to meet the CEO of the company this morning. The man was as sharp as a tack, and while Lizzie didn’t seem to mind her being late, she was certain Brock Baron had taken note of it. Plus, she’d been hoping to fish that damn Cheerio out of her bra once in the confines of her office.
“What’s the matter? Late night out with the boyfriend?”
She jerked her chair out from beneath her desk, although if she were honest with herself, she was almost relieved to have exchanged her twins for the overgrown child sitting across from her. He was much easier to handle. Despite having Brock Baron as a father, Jet was probably just playing at working until he could get back to his carefree life. Oh, yeah, Lizzie Baron had filled her in on the gritty details yesterday before their meeting. It seemed her brother had been ordered back to work. With Lizzie pregnant, the family hoped Jet would take over her duties. As if that would happen. She would stake her favorite pair of pj’s that he wouldn’t last two weeks. “Late night putting together that report I promised you, which I see you received in your email this morning.” She tried to pull together the ends of her frazzled nerves. First Brock, now Jet. The bitch of it was, the report she’d put together probably wouldn’t even be read by Jet for all that he appeared to be thumbing through it.
“Yeah, thanks.” He glanced up and finally let loose the wink she’d seen in his eyes. “Appreciate the hard work. Looks like we’re ready to break ground.”
Something about that wink made her want to grind her teeth. It was as if he knew how good-looking he was. As if he thought he could cram pencils up his nose and still charm the pants off her, or the panty hose as the case may be. This morning he wore a white polo shirt with the Baron Energies logo across the left breast. It made his skin, already bronzed by the sun, appear even darker. His green eyes were framed by dark lashes. He looked like his father, she realized, although the eyes were completely different.
“Not until we find a better price on the aggregate.” She flipped open her laptop. “I was told the supplier is a friend of your father, but he doesn’t seem like a friend to me.”
Maybe she should mention her concerns to Mr. Baron himself now that he was in the office. Then again, maybe she should leave well enough alone. More than likely her presence in his office had come as a shock. Well, her female presence. He probably wouldn’t welcome hearing her ideas on one of his projects. Not yet, at least. Not until she proved she was every bit as good at her job as a man.
“Yeah, I saw that. Five hundred a load seemed exorbitant.”
Her fingers froze on the keys, and she had to work to keep her mouth from dropping open. “I was going to send out an RFP.”
“No reason to do that. Let me make a few calls. Pretty sure I can get a better deal.”
Clearly, he had read the report. “I’m also not very happy with the cost of the drilling crew.”
“That I can explain.” He set the sheaf of papers down on her desk. Jasmine tried hard to keep from gawking at the new and more serious Jet. “McCoy Drilling is owned by one of my dad’s oldest friends. We all know he pads the numbers, but Dad doesn’t mind. When my dad was younger, Oscar helped him through some tough times and my dad’s been supporting him ever since.”
Not only had he read it, he’d absorbed it, too. And he knew something about costing a project if he’d noted where they could cut corners. She leaned back in surprise.
It was like discovering the high heels you’d been wearing all day were dark blue instead of black, and you’d been traipsing around town in a black dress and blue shoes. She couldn’t quite reconcile the image of Jet the dilettante with Jet the diligent.
“Yes, well, family friend or no, I would still like to send out a few RFPs to other drilling companies.”
“Sure.” His smile grew. “Never hurts to try, but my dad can be pretty stubborn.”
Based on her initial impression of the man, she wouldn’t be surprised. “Duly noted.”
His gaze slid past her to the photos on her bookcase, and Jasmine immediately tensed. She tried to move sideways to block his view. Too late.
“Are those