Tempting the New Boss(57)

“What did your parents do, Mason?” her father asked. “Is it a family business?”

“No, it’s a billion dollar public company—I don’t have the exact figure for the shareholder value at this minute—and my mother was an actress.”

Whoa. That was a surprise. The actress part.

“My father was a sperm donor.”

Both her mom and dad dropped their mouths open, and her dad squirmed a little, saying, “Hmmph.”

“What’s a sperm?” Joey piped up with, picking the worst moment to join the conversation.

“It’s the male reproductive cell deriving from the Greek word—”

“Thank you,” her mom said loudly as her dad narrowed his eyes and blew out his cheeks. “I don’t think we need to go into that right now.”

Mason darted his eyes back to Camilla, as if for direction. Any minute now he’d be calling Marcia.

“Did I tell you, Joey, that when Mason and I were in the park, we saw a bear?”

“A bear?” Joey laughed. “Like a teddy bear?”

“You saw a bear, Cammy?” her mother said, not laughing.

“We did and Mason was going to beat it off with a big stick.”

“That probably would not have not worked,” Mason pointed out. “But it looked relatively small—”

“As far as bears go,” she added.

“—although large enough to maim us.”

“Enough of the bear,” her mother snapped at her. “I was worried sick as it was.”

“What’s a sperm?” Joey asked again, and her father shifted in his seat.

“More coffee please?” he called to the waitress who was passing by.

Brandy spoke in low tones to Joey, while Mason asked Camilla, “Am I not supposed to answer that?”

Both her parents regarded Mason as if he were making a smart-alecky joke, flashing him identical looks of thinned lips and narrowed eyes, suspicious he was making fun of Joey or Joey’s question at any rate.

Camilla said quickly, “Mason doesn’t have any siblings.”

“Hmmm,” her father said. “I think even only children know that there are certain things you don’t discuss at the breakfast table, in front of ladies.”

That last part was issued in a challenging way, staring at Mason as if daring him to suggest Jack Anderson’s wife and daughters were not ladies.

“How was it being an only child?” Brandy asked, trying to come to Mason’s rescue. “I often thought as a kid, sharing hand-me-downs—”

“With seven girls, what in heaven’s name were we supposed to do with the clothes once one grew out of something and the other was the perfect size for it?” their mother interrupted, smiling at Mason. She was often a swing vote on the boyfriend interrogation and used her power freely, going from one side to the other. Not that her parents thought he was her boyfriend of course.

“I guess it would depend on the condition of the clothing,” Mason answered, freezing the older woman’s smile. “I imagine the concept of diminishing returns starts to figure in at some point.”

“Mason actually spent a lot of time at boarding school,” Camilla jumped in, only remembering at the last minute this was a sore subject for her parents, who had been advised time and again to send Joey away to a group home and who were just as adamant about keeping him with them.

“I never understood how a parent could send their child away,” her father said quietly.

“Statistics actually support—” Mason began, and Jack Anderson didn’t wait for the end of the thought.

“I’m not talking about statistics,” he said, gesturing with his fork to Joey. “I’m talking about real life. Real people.” He added in an undertone, cutting into his hash browns, “Which some people don’t know much about, I suspect.”

The table was, for an Anderson meal, uncharacteristically silent.

“We should probably get going,” her dad said, laying his fork down. “Brandy has to get back.”

“You’re not finished with your eggs,” her mother admitted.

“We can get something on the way.” He gestured to the waitress for the bill, glanced at it, then handed over several tens with a smile and a short nod.

“We’re taking a plane, Dad, not driving. But I guess you’re right. That jet had such yummy snacks anyway.” Brandy smiled again at Mason as she started to pull Joey up with her. “Let’s go. Daddy wants to get going.”

“Well, very nice to meet you, Mr. Talbot.” Her mother started to rise as well.

“Yes,” her father said without enthusiasm.