Man Feast (Bergen Brothers Book 2) Page 19

  “Where are we with the summer transition?” he pressed.

  A glazed look crossed Collin’s face.

  “I emailed you last night. You know that the summer is just as busy for us as the winter. I need to make sure our hiking, mountain biking, climbing, and water sports programs are ready to go at all our North American and European properties.”

  “Doesn’t our Mountain Education Department take care of that, sir?” Collin asked meekly.

  Jasper pinned the man with his gaze. “They do. My job as Chief Executive Officer is to determine if they’ve done it correctly.”

  “I’ll get on that right now,” Collin nodded but didn’t move.

  “Is there something else?” he barked.

  “Nina had asked a few days ago if you were able to get her book signed by Miss Reynolds?” the man asked, gaze trained on his shoes.

  Jasper stared at his assistant. If he didn’t have the strongest ice man game in town, he might have lost his shit.

  “Do I strike you as the kind of person who has time for that, Collin?”

  “No, sir. I’ll get you that information,” he answered and darted out of the office.

  Jasper glanced at the calendar, and a muscle ticked in his jaw.

  Twenty days.

  Twenty days since his blow out with Elle. Twenty days since his world turned upside down.

  He’d tried to contact her. He’d left messages. Sent emails. He’d even waited outside her apartment. They needed to talk. They needed a plan. Contracts. Schedules. Arrangements. Every facet of their situation needed to be addressed.

  But she’d rebuffed him at every turn. Ignored his every attempt to get in touch. And he could no longer hold her contract with Bergen Enterprises over her head. It had ended the same day she walked out of the Miami penthouse. She was no longer tethered to him except for…

  He sat down in his chair and rubbed at a kink in his neck.

  Wake up. Complete a punishing run followed by an arduous weights circuit. Work twenty hours. Sleep. Repeat.

  That’s how he’d spent the last four hundred and eighty hours.

  He’d reverted into the robotic, unrelenting, unstoppable working machine that had insulated him from pain for the last decade.

  But it wasn’t working with Eleanor Reynolds.

  Why?

  Because she was fucking everywhere—needling into the space he’d crafted to protect his scarred heart.

  He glanced at the muted big screen television in his office which was always tuned to CNBC or Bloomberg so he could stay abreast of business and financial news. And there she was, smiling and speaking with the host thanks to her former financial planner.

  The Monty Morris scandal did make headlines. But he’d miscalculated the fallout.

  Nobody blamed Elle or any of the other celebrities who had been conned by the duplicitous money manager.

  While most of Monty’s targets waved off reporters or gave no comment, Elle embraced the situation.

  She’d collaborated with a reputable financial expert, and together, they wrote a piece on how to protect one’s assets and identify the warning signs of financial fraud.

  Sympathy for Elle’s situation and gratitude for her openness to share about her financial peril only made the public love her more. All the major business networks interviewed her. It didn’t matter if he changed the channel. Those lapis blue eyes would show up sooner or later.

  But it didn’t matter. He had no choice but to put Bergen Enterprises first. He couldn’t take a step back. Couldn’t give an inch.

  Those who were entrusted to lead didn’t have that luxury.

  He loved his brothers, but neither were up to the task for what being CEO entailed—and what it meant giving up.

  Under Elle’s spell, he’d forgotten this and succumbed to her witchcraft. He’d lost sight of the vow he’d made to continue his family’s legacy.

  This was his sacrifice. This was the price he had to pay for not saving his parents’ lives.

  For a handful of days, he’d thought he could have it all. The warmth of her body in his arms. Her breath on his lips and that charge of electricity that surged through him the millisecond before they kissed.

  Everything had seemed possible with her by his side.

  But fatherhood—a baby? How the hell was he supposed to do that? And what the hell would someone like him have to offer a child? He’d had in-depth medical training as a ski patroller and all he could do was watch his mother die, inches away, right before his eyes.

  A knock pulled him back to reality.

  “Do you have a minute?” his grandfather asked, standing in the doorway.

  Jasper schooled his features. Did he have a minute? He had back-to-back meetings with his operations managers, a video conference with his VP of Hospitality, and then a string of calls to make to their suppliers overseas.

  He wasn’t even going to break for lunch today. But he couldn’t blow off his grandfather. The last thing he needed was a Harriet and Ray Bergen tête-à-tête where they counseled him on finding balance and not working himself to the bone.

  He stood and waved him in. “Is everything all right?”

  Ray Bergen kept his expression neutral. “How about we sit down.”

  His grandfather stepped aside, and Allen Parker entered the office.

  Shit! This could not be good.

  Jasper kept his CEO mask in place, shook Allen’s hand, then gestured to a table. Jaw clenched, he took a seat and joined the men.

  Despite Allen being his father’s oldest friend, he was also Elle’s attorney. Did she send him here with a list of demands? Is this how it was going to be between them?

  “What brings you here today, Allen?” he asked, keeping his tone neutral and detached.

  Allen leaned forward and steepled his fingers. “It concerns Elle Reynolds and her contract with Bergen Enterprises.”

  He held the man’s gaze. “Let me guess. She wants more money?”

  Allen frowned. “No, quite the opposite. She doesn’t want any money.”

  His grandfather sat back in his chair. “Allen came to me with this first. It seems Elle would like us to give what we owe her to charity. She doesn’t want any of it. Not even the tax write-off for the donation.”

  Jasper could feel the heat rise to his cheeks. She’d made the threat, but he didn’t think she’d follow through on it.

  He shook his head. “How is she going to survive? Everyone on the planet knows she’s lost almost everything.”

  Allen’s expression grew pensive. “You don’t need to worry about that, Jas. She’s been offered several book deals, and a movie studio has optioned another one of her novels. This will all become public knowledge in a few days. I don’t think she’d mind me sharing this with you.”

  Jasper released a tight breath. He was a damn fool.

  “She’s pregnant.”

  Ray and Allen looked at each other.

  “You didn’t know?” Jasper asked. “That’s why I thought you were here, Allen. I thought you wanted money for that.”

  “Elle Reynolds is pregnant, and the baby is yours?” his grandfather asked with a creased brow.

  He nodded. “Yes, and of course, I’ll provide financially for the—”

  “Jasper, this is wonderful news!” his grandfather said, cutting him off. “Why aren’t you with her? Why haven’t we seen her?”

  “This wasn’t planned, Grandad. This could jeopardize everything with the business.” He turned to Allen. “She must have told you.”

  The attorney shook his head. “I had no idea.”

  Concern flashed in his grandfather’s eyes. “What happened, Jas?”

  He ran a hand through his hair and sighed. “I didn’t handle the news of her pregnancy well. I was concerned about how it would impact the company.”

  He expected the men to glare at him, maybe even chastise him, but the two looked at each other and broke out into laughter.

  He frowned. “I do
n’t see anything funny about this situation.”

  “Well, you wouldn’t,” Allen said, laughing so hard, he was nearly crying.

  Ray clapped his hands. “No, he couldn’t!”

  Jasper watched the men who seemed to have lost their fucking marbles.

  “What the hell is going on here? Would somebody like to clue me in on how an unplanned pregnancy is a good thing?”

  “You sound just like your father,” Allen said.

  “My father?” he repeated.

  “You remember what he was like,” Grandad said, grinning ear to ear.

  Allen nodded. “He thought he had it all figured out. Cocky as hell and all that ego!”

  His grandfather sat back in his chair, still chuckling. “He was damn lucky Hannah didn’t kick him out of the house!”

  Jasper waved his hands. “I need you both to slow down and explain what the hell you’re talking about.”

  Allen sighed. “You know that I was one of your dad’s closest friends, Jasper. Let’s just say, when your mother told your father she was pregnant with you, his first reaction wasn’t one of jubilation.”

  Jasper’s jaw dropped, and his muted CEO mask disappeared. “Wait! I wasn’t planned?”

  Ray shook his head. “No, Jas, you weren’t. Your parents were traveling all over, going to Europe and Australia and New Zealand setting up the mountain education programs.”

  Allen nodded. “Your dad loved the freedom of being able to travel the world with your mom.”

  “But how do you know I wasn’t planned?” Jasper asked.

  This still didn’t make sense.

  Allen and his grandad looked at each other, their cheeks turning pink. “The eggs!” they said in unison and fell into another bout of giggles like a couple of preteens at a Justin Bieber concert.

  “What do you mean eggs?”

  This was getting ridiculous.

  Allen caught his breath. “Your dad told your mother he didn’t believe her. He said she couldn’t be pregnant because he wasn’t ready.”

  “Jesus!” Jasper gasped.

  Allen leaned in. “That’s not all. He told her that he wasn’t sure he even wanted children because their life was so busy and focused on expanding Bergen Enterprises international properties.”

  Holy fuck! This was not at all the loving, devoted father who had raised him. This douche bag sounded like…

  Shit! It sounded like him.

  Allen slapped his leg. “Then he asked her how it happened. Oh, Jas! From what your dad told me about that morning, your mother was livid. They were in the kitchen, and she was making scrambled eggs when this all went down. Your mom started explaining the mechanics of how one gets pregnant and when she got to the part about the egg and the sperm, she made sure the point hit home by pelting your father with all the eggs left in the carton.”

  “He was covered nearly head to toe by the time he made it out of the house,” his grandfather added.

  Jasper felt lightheaded, remembering how his parents seemed the most in love when they danced together in the kitchen while she made—scrambled eggs.

  “How do you know all this?” he asked.

  “Allen and I were there,” his grandfather answered. “We showed up to get Griff so the three of us could go mountain biking. I pulled up just as he ran out of the house! I damn near hit him with my pickup truck.”

  “He had egg in his hair,” Allen added.

  Granddad nodded, laughing. “Egg running down his face.”

  “When he told us what had happened, we couldn’t stop laughing. We called him the ultimate Denver omelet,” Allen said.

  Ray turned to Allen. “Remember, we made him ride in the bed of the truck.”

  “Oh, the smell!” Allen replied, covering his nose.

  Stunned, Jasper opened and closed his mouth like a goldfish. His father, the man who always had time for him and his brothers, was…

  Was just a man. An imperfect man.

  “What’s going on in here?”

  Jasper looked over to see his grandmother.

  Fucking fantastic!

  “The employees are worried, darling. They’ve never heard laughter come from your office before.”

  Ray stood and pulled out a chair for his wife to sit. “We were telling Jasper about when Hannah told Griff she was pregnant.”

  Gram looked between the men. “What brought on that story?”

  He might as well tell her. What was the point in holding back now?

  “Elle is pregnant, Gram, and the baby’s mine.”

  The hint of a smirk pulled at the corner of his grandmother’s lips. “Ah, so you knocked her up out of the blue just like your grandfather did with me and your father did with your mother.”

  “Jesus, Gram!” He turned to his grandad. “You didn’t plan on having dad? Are we just a family of men who haphazardly impregnate women and then act like complete morons when we hear the news?”

  Harriet tapped her chin. “Let’s see. When I told your grandfather I was pregnant, Bergen Enterprises was starting to pick up steam. We’d just bought the mountain and were swimming in debt with the store expansion.”

  Ray took Harriet’s hand. “I don’t think I’d ever been so afraid in my life. We were stretched razor thin as it was. The thought of a baby sent me reeling.”

  “What did you do?” Jasper asked.

  “I took my pack, headed to Bergen Mountain, and started walking. I hiked nonstop for two days before it hit me.”

  “What?”

  Ray smiled at Harriet. “That your gram and I were a team, and there wasn’t anything life could throw at us that we couldn’t handle. But that doesn’t mean you don’t get scared or instantly start doing everything right.”

  “The opposite, for sure,” Harriet continued. “It means that you love each other enough to work through the hard times. It means you trust in each other.”

  Jasper nodded. He’d never given a second thought to his birth or even his father’s. His dad and grandad were such caring, loving fathers. Dedicated to the company, but equally devoted to their family.

  “Well, darling, now you have to tell us. What did you do when Elle told you she was carrying your child?”

  Jasper ran his hands through his hair again. “Basically, what dad did, just on a larger scale. I told Elle she was irresponsible and that a child would interfere with my job.”

  His gram, grandad, and Allen all cringed.

  “I know. I screwed up. I just never thought I’d…”

  “What darling?”

  Jasper paused, dumbstruck.

  “I never thought I’d fall in love. I was ready to commit my life to the company. To Mom and Dad’s memory. I got scared.”

  He stopped. Elle was right. He’d thought he’d been driven by dedication, but maybe it was fear. Fear of love. Fear of not being in control. Fear of the possibility of losing someone. Fear of not being able to fix every situation. Control every outcome.

  Would Bergen Enterprises be what it was today without family? Would it have had the heart and spirit that had drawn people to their stores and their resorts—the very things that had made them so successful?

  His parents and grandparents had built Bergen Enterprises into what it was today. And they didn’t do it by shunning their family. They did it by embracing it. And they’d done it with the person they loved. The person they promised to honor and to cherish.

  For him, that person was Eleanor Reynolds.

  “How did Dad patch things up with Mom?” he asked. He needed a plan—a plan that didn’t involve contracts and cash payments.

  “First, we hosed him off,” his grandad said with a chuckle. “Then we had a long talk, very much like the one we’re having now. After that, we went to the grocery store.”

  “Why the grocery store?” Jas asked.

  “Eggs,” Allen replied.

  Jasper stared at the man. “Eggs?”

  Ray nodded. “It was your dad’s idea. He bought ten cartons of egg
s and went home. He apologized and told your mother she could pelt him with as many eggs as she liked, but that he was ready for whatever life had in store for them as long as she was by his side.”

  Jasper bit back a grin. While his mother was a kind and forgiving person, she wasn’t a pushover. Not even close. “How many eggs did mom throw at dad?”

  Harriet grinned. “Three dozen.”

  Jasper chuckled, imagining his father dripping with egg. But he understood why his dad did it. To get Elle back, he’d gladly endure being pelted by three dozen eggs. Hell, thirty dozen! Three hundred dozen!

  Jasper looked around the table at the people who had known him for his entire life. “I’m in love with Elle Reynolds.”

  Harriet patted his hand. “I had a pretty good idea you were when you told us you could marry her.”

  Jasper frowned. “When did I do that?”

  “In this very office. We were talking about Abby joining our family, and you said Elle wasn’t family because you could marry her if you wanted to.”

  “I did, didn’t I?” He shook his head. “I screwed up. I screwed up big time. What should I do?”

  “Go to her, Jasper. Talk to her,” his grandfather offered.

  “But she won’t talk to me. She hasn’t responded to any of my calls or emails.”

  “This might get her to talk to you, sir.”

  Jasper looked up to see his assistant standing in the doorway, holding a box.

  He schooled his features, switching back to CEO mode. “Have you been listening to this entire conversation, Collin?”

  His assistant gave him a sheepish smile, when Jasper caught movement behind the man, just outside the doorway.

  He leaned back in his chair, looked past Collin, and saw at least twenty of the Bergen staff standing outside his door.

  What the hell were they doing?

  Before he could ask, Collin took a few steps forward.

  His assistant gave him a hesitant grin. “After you got back from Fell’s Peak, you were like a new person. Everyone in the office noticed.”

  Jasper crossed his arms. “Was I the topic of office gossip?”

  Collin shrugged. “Usually, people talk about how scary you are. And then we all saw that video of you and Miss Reynolds dancing. You’re not half bad.”