Out-Foxed
Note: Set after Ethan and Gwen's wedding. Theresa never had a baby. No other weddings are in the making.
Chap. 1
Theresa slipped out of bed and into her robe. It had been a long night. Ethan and Gwen had been married and now they were jetting off to their honeymoon in New York. They'd be gone for a month. Theresa was still in shock, but she had made a promise to herself and to GOD that if Ethan and Gwen married, she would give up on Ethan for good. Theresa was going to keep her word this time. No more chasing after a lost dream. No. She was going to move on with her life.
Theresa stopped to look at her reflection in her mirror. She had puffy eyes and dark circles made her look half dead.
"Well…this is a new day."
Theresa walked down the stairs and out into the dinning room. Julian and Ivy were sting at the table. As Theresa walked in, Ivy looked up and smiled.
"Oh, dear. Looks like someone had a bad night." Ivy's smug smile spread like butter on a hot roll.
"Yes, well….she did watch the man she loves marry another woman, you know Ivy. I wish I could have watched YOU marry another man. Then I'd be down one more wife…." Julian sneered as he went back to his paper.
"Oh, shut up, Julian!" Ivy wasn't in the mood to be made a fool. "It's her own fault Ethan left her. I always knew he would. Gwen is the mother of his child and Ethan loves only her."
"Ivy, I really don't care what Ethan does anymore. I'm happy for him. I hope he and Gwen are happy." Theresa took a muffin from the bar and sat at the table, opposite Julian.
"Right. Like I'm going to fall for that, Theresa. We all know that you're still in love with Ethan. But you'll never have him."
"Well, Ivy….It's the truth." Theresa went back to her muffin and blocked Ivy out.
"Morning, all." A tall, blonde man with a smile that could charm a cloud out of the sky walked into the room.
"Fox. You're still here??" Julian knew that his son would be trouble with a capital "T".
"What's the matter, Pops? No love for your own son?" Fox put a mock hurt expression on his face.
"What is it you want, Fox? Money? Well, you won't get any from me." Julian sneered at the thought of parting with any more of his green paper. It was bad enough Theresa spent it all on trash he didn't want, need or know how to use, but now is son was going to add to his pocket-draining wife's money habits.
"Anyways….Sorry I made such a bad impression on you last night, step-mommy." Fox smiled his sweetest smile at his new step-mother.
"Not at all, Fox. I love it when men I don't know try to climb into bed with me." Theresa smiled bitterly at her step-son.
"This is disgusting! The two of you flirting like that!" Ivy wheeled her chair from the room.
"Flirting? I have no idea what she's talking about." Fox looked innocently at Theresa.
"Well, I've got work to do. And you," Julian stopped to glair at his son. "Get a job. No job, no money!" And with that, he swept out of the room.
"The nerve! Telling me to get a job!" Fox looked after his father and sneered.
"Well," Theresa finished her muffin and left the table. "I'm going to get ready for work. You do whatever it is you do and stay out of trouble."
Theresa walked from the room and left Fox with his thoughts.
"Oh, trouble is the last thing on my mind, step-mommy. But then again…it's the ONLY thing on my mind."
****
Theresa sat at her desk and looked through the stack of papers that needed to be done today. "I wish Ethan had taken this job. I really need the help."
"Theresa!" Alistair's voice boomed over her speaker phone, making her jump a mile in her seat.
"Yes?"
"Do you have those accounts in order yet?"
"No… I can't seem to find…"
"I don't want to hear any excuses! I want those accounts now!"
"Well, if you'd have let me hire another…" Theresa didn't get to finish her sentence.
"More help? We can't afford to add anyone to the pay roll!"
"But if you want me to get this done, I need help with the paper work."
"Fine! I'll get on it. I'll get someone to help you, and maybe it'll keep him out of Julian's hair." With that, Alistair's voice disappeared and the room fell silent.
"Julian's hair? This can't be good…"
****
"You want me to WHAT?" Fox couldn't believe his ears. His grandfather was giving him, no ORDERING him to take a job a Crane Industries. His grandfather had never given him anything his whole life, why now?
"I need you to help Theresa. She's too valuable to be wasting her time on paper work a monkey can do!"
There was the catch. He knew it was coming. I'm his monkey. "Why me?" Fox still didn't want to work for Crane Industries, bananas or not.
"You need to learn the family trade. Earn your keep. Be here in an hour." And with a click, Alistair hung up and Fox was left to wonder what his grandfather's real motive was behind his new found family values.
"Well….I'll be working with Mommy. There may be a sliver lining after all."
****
Theresa sat at her desk, drumming her fingers as she tried to imagine the person Alistair would pick to help out around the office.
Who could it be?
The door opened and a tall, handsome man walked in. "Hello, step-mommy boss lady."
"Fox! You're the one Alistair sent to help me?" Theresa couldn't believe what was happening. What the hell did Fox know about Carne Industries? He'd never even set foot in a office, let alone worked in one!
Fox stepped around Theresa's desk and placed a hand on his step-mother's shoulder. He was taken aback when his hand made contact with her bare skin. He quickly removed his hand and covered by pretending to rifle through her stack of account files setting on her desk.
"Grand-poppy thought you could use some help with the , how did he put it? Oh, yes! Monkey work." Fox smiled down at Theresa.
Why does he have to be so damn charming? It would be much easier to ignore him if he was like Julian or even Alistair. But the way he gets under your skin…
"Fox. Do you even know how to work? Have you even held a job? And no, gigolo is not considered a Crane Industry reference." Theresa pushed back her seat and got to her feet.
"I'm a fast learner." Fox closed the gap between Theresa and himself.
She's kind of short for me, but I could learn to deal.
Theresa looked up a Fox. His eyes sparkled as he gazed at her. She felt like he was looking into her vary soul. Those eyes of his! So dark and…..No! Look away!
"I'll bet you are. Well, if Alistair thinks you can handle it, then I guess I can give you a chance." Theresa smiled and walked to the bookshelves. "You can start by checking these references, and make sure you talk to the manager on the top account file." Theresa handed Fox a stack of files.
"What? No training? How do I know what to do? What do I say?" Fox looked at the stack in his hands and then at Theresa.
Theresa smiled and touched Fox's arm. "I'm sure you can charm them into giving you all the info you need. I'm willing to bet that you could charm them out of pants, if you thought they'd look better on you." Theresa walked back to her desk, leaned down and began going through the remainder of the flies.
Theresa…With a body like that, what are you doing with Julian? You could have anyone you wanted…
Fox's eyes traveled along the curves of his step-mother's body. He could fell his face growing hot.
What am I doing? She's my step-mommy. Still….she's hot.
"Are you still here? Fox…" Theresa turned and the look on Fox's face told her she had caught him off guard. Theresa smiled at the way his face tuned red. He was cute, tall and way too charming for his own good.
"Right. I'll get right on this." Fox turned and walked out the door. Two seconds later he returned.
"Yes?" Theresa smiled.
"Um…Where's my office?"
****
Fox sat at his deck and looked around. The décor leaves something to be desired, but the overall color isn't bad.
"Ethan is going to have a hairball when he returns and finds out I'm working under Theresa. The last thing he did before he left with his new wife was bust my chops about staying away from her."
Fox sneered as he relived this morning's conversation with his older step-bro.
"I don't know why you're here, Fox, but you leave Theresa alone. I don't want you anywhere near her."
"And why should you care who Theresa spends her time with? Why don't you just worry about your wife and your child on the way and leave Theresa out of this?" Fox sneered.
"Theresa is too good for you, Fox. She's not some little girl you can win over with your charm. She's too smart to fall for it." Ethan's temper had gotten the better of him.
"It kills you to think that Theresa could fall for anyone but you, doesn't it? The fact that you could come second to me for a change." Fox was losing his cool, something he didn't do very often.
"I'll never be second to you, Fox. Theresa deserves better than you."
"Right. She deserves to watch the guy she loves marry another woman after he tells her that he loves her and almost proposes…." Fox was furious with Ethan for hurting Theresa like that. A woman he didn't even know was getting to him.
"Gwen is pregnant with my child. I had to do the right thing. Something you wouldn't know anything about, Fox."
" Right. I've slept with lots of woman, Ethan, but I've never got any of them pregnant." Fox turned to walk away, but Ethan had grabbed his arm.
"You leave her alone, Fox. If I find out that you touched her in any way, I'll kill you."
"Easy, Ethan. I wouldn't think about laying a hand on Step-mommy. But who's to say she wouldn't lay a hand on me? I hear she's quite the animal in bed." Fox smiled at the thought of Theresa in his bed.
Ethan lost it and took a swing at Fox but Fox blocked his brother's fist and pushed him away. "Don't start something you know you'll never win!"
"You stay the hell away from her!" Ethan turned and left the room.
Fox knew Ethan would blow when he returned and found Fox at work under Theresa.
"Theresa is fair game. Ethan left her, and he was a fool. I can have any woman I wish, even my step-mother."