Page 31 of Boss of Me

“I learned that you provide tech solutions and security services to corporations and governments around the world. You have sixty thousand employees and are breaking ground on a new campus next year. You’ve won numerous industry awards for innovation and technology, and you’re consistently ranked a top employer. Mrs. Calder also told me that you give out a ton of scholarships and grants, which is admirable.” I pause with my fork poised over my plate. “What I know about you personally is pretty limited.”

“I see.” He sets his own fork down and reaches for his glass. “What do you want to know?”

“Whatever you want to tell me,” I say as if I don’t care one way or the other. But I do. I care more than I’m willing to admit.

He drinks his wine as he considers his next words, sorting through what he’s willing to share and what he won’t. “I was born in Houston. My father worked at Chevron and my mother was a pampered housewife. Maverick?—”

“Your twin brother,” I interrupt. “Pantheon’s executive vice president and chief operating officer.”

Gunner smiles at me. “Youhavedone your homework.”

“I know the basics. So who’s older? You or Maverick?”

“I am, by an hour.” He chuckles. “Lazy bastard didn’t want to leave the warm comfort of the womb. As the story goes, he had to be vacuumed out, and boy did he raise holy hell over it. When the doctor pried him free, he was redder than a matador’s cape, shaking his fists and hollering to the rafters. Dad called him the world’s maddest evicted tenant.”

I burst out laughing.

Gunner smiles, watching me with a fascinated expression. “You have an amazing laugh.”

“So do you.” The words slip out before I can stop them.

The way his gaze softens makes my body feel as if it’s falling from a fifty-story building. We stare at each other, lost in the moment.

Forcing myself to break the spell, I take a sip of wine and then another, trying to find my center of gravity. “Your names—Gunner and Maverick—sound like a pair of gunslingers in an old western.”

“I know,” he agrees with a wry chuckle. “Dad is a bona fide good ol’ boy who wanted his sons to have the most cowboy-sounding names possible.”

“Mission accomplished.”

“Pretty much.” Gunner smiles. “He named us based on our personalities at birth. He says he chose Gunner for me because I came barreling out first like a sharp-shooting point guard, ready to kick ass and take names.”

“Nice,” I say with a grin. “Seems you’ve lived up to that first impression.”

“I try.” He forks up the last bite of his fish and chews absently. “Where was I?”

“I think you were telling me about where you grew up.”

“Right. Let’s see . . . we lived in River Oaks, had servants and chauffeurs, and went to the best private schools money could buy.”

“So you were born into privilege.”

A black eyebrow rises at my tone. “Is that condemnation I hear?”

“No.” I give him a sardonic look. “My mother is a high-powered attorney. I didn’t exactly grow up poor.”

“And yet you had to put yourself through college.” His eyes probe mine. “Why didn’t your mother help?”

My body goes rigid as a bowstring. “We weren’t talking about me. We were talking about you.”

He continues studying me, searching for answers. When they aren’t forthcoming, he wipes his mouth with his cloth napkin and leans back in his chair. “We moved to Dallas after my parents got divorced.”

“Your parents are divorced?”

He nods, his gaze lowering to his empty plate. “My father was a profligate womanizer who chased anything in a skirt. When he worked at Chevron, he had an affair with his secretary. When she quit, he banged the next secretary and the next one, and so on and so forth.” Gunner’s mouth twists cynically. “As you might imagine, his cheating wasn’t exactly conducive to a happy marriage.”

“I’m sorry,” I say softly.

He gives a short nod and drains his glass. I can tell there’s a lot more to the story. I remember what Mrs. Calder told me about her longtime friendship with Gunner’s father. If they loved each other, did that affect his marriage? Did he stray because his heart belonged to his childhood sweetheart? It wouldn’t justify his infidelity, but it might explain it.