Stern

She patted his hand. “Ah, that’s sweet of you to say, but you’re my best friend so your opinion of my looks doesn’t count. I’ll get in touch with your cousin Megan for the name of her hairstylist, and it shouldn’t be hard to find a makeup artist. Then, I’ll go shopping. I’ll get some of your other cousins and sisters-in-law to go with me because they all like to shop. I’m excited.”

He took another sip of his beer. “I can tell.”

Why did her interest in a man bother him? The only reason he could come up with was that she was his best friend and he didn’t want to lose their special bond. He didn’t want to lose her. What if this guy found it strange that a man and woman were best friends? What if he pushed her to end the friendship they’d shared for years?

His gut twisted. His brothers and cousins had always said they wouldn’t want any girlfriend of theirs to have the sort of close relationship with another man that he and JoJo shared. What if this guy thought the same way?

Stern did not like problems, and he always preferred dealing with them head-on.

Stern frowned. “What’s his name, JoJo?”

She chuckled. “You don’t need his name, Stern. Besides, you’ll find out soon enough when I set my plans into motion.”

Stern took a sip of his beer. He couldn’t wait.

* * *

Later that night, JoJo lay in bed staring up at the ceiling. Things were going better than she’d planned. When she realized back in the spring that she was developing feelings for Stern, she had been horrified. How could a woman fall in love with her best friend?

Rather suddenly, it seemed. On their last trip here to the lodge in April, she had come downstairs one morning, ready for another great day of hunting, only to find Stern still in his pajamas. Or, partly in them. He had on the bottoms but not the top. And in that instant, on that day, she’d seen him not as her best friend but as a sexy man who had the ability to stir any woman’s blood. He had certainly stirred hers. She hadn’t been able to stop staring at his massive shoulders, his impressively broad chest and perfect abs. And once she’d started thinking of him as a sexy man, she couldn’t seem to stop. By the end of the day she’d been a basket case.

But it was more than just sexual chemistry messing with her mind. By the end of the trip she’d realized she had fallen in love with him. Maybe she’d always loved him, but until that day she had accepted their relationship as nothing more than a very close friendship. Now, her heart wanted her to admit what she’d been denying for years.

She’d known she had to come up with a plan or risk losing her best friend forever. She might have fallen in love with Stern, but she knew he didn’t love her. He was one of the most eligible bachelors in Denver and his weekends were filled with dates.

So one day two months ago, when she read a romance novel a customer had left behind in the break room, an idea popped into her head. She would find another man to fall in love with, someone who could take Stern’s place in her heart.

She’d been inspired by the heroine in the book, who was also in love with a man she couldn’t have. To shift her focus off of the forbidden man, the heroine began dating her next-door neighbor. Eventually she fell in love with her neighbor. At the end of the book the couple married and lived happily ever after.

Okay, so it was pure fiction—but it was still an idea that had merit. On that day, JoJo had decided to become the owner of her destiny, the creator of her own happiness.

She’d just been waiting to run into someone interesting. For the next two months, she’d waited. And just when she thought she would never meet a man who could pique her interest...in drove Walter Carmichael needing a new set of spark plugs for his Porsche.

Something about him drew her attention, and he didn’t have a ring on his finger. She quickly dismissed the notion that his good looks, impeccable style and suave manner reminded her of Stern.

When she did a routine customer-service follow-up call, she found that Walter had a nice phone voice, too. He had everything going for him. Now she had to make sure she had everything going for her. And the best person to help her was her best friend, the man she was trying not to love.

Two

Stern looked up when he heard a knock on his office door. “Come in.”

It was Dillon, his oldest brother and CEO of Blue Ridge Land Management, a firm that had been in their family for more than forty years. Dillon was the one in charge, their brother Riley was next in command and Stern and his older brother Canyon were corporate attorneys. His cousin Adrian would be starting in a couple of months as one of the company’s engineers.

Dillon entered Stern’s office then closed the door behind him and leaned against it. Stern had seen that look on Dillon’s face before. It usually meant he was in a world of trouble.

“Any reason for your bad mood today?” Dillon asked, staring him down. “Your first day back from vacation and I’d have thought you’d be in a good mood, not the opposite. I heard hunting went better for JoJo than for you, but please tell me that’s not what has you upset. You’re not a sore loser. Besides, thanks to her father, she not only knows everything there is to know about cars, she’s also an expert marksman, a karate champ and a skilled archer. She’s been showing you up for years.”

Stern tossed a paper clip onto his desk and stared at it for a long moment before glancing up and meeting his brother’s gaze. “I’m well aware of all JoJo’s skills, and that’s not what’s bothering me. She informed me while we were on our trip that she’s set her sights on another target—and it’s not an elk. It’s a man.”

Dillon raised a brow. “Excuse me?” He moved from the door to take the chair in front of Stern’s desk.

“Just what I said. So maybe I am a sore loser, Dillon. JoJo has been my best friend forever and I don’t want to lose her.”

Dillon stretched his long legs out in front of him. “I think you better start from the beginning.”

So Stern did. Dillon said nothing while he listened attentively. When Stern was finished he said, “I think you’re getting carried away and not giving JoJo credit for being the true friend that she is. I don’t think there’s a man alive who can come between you two or mess up your friendship. I think it says a lot that of all the people she could have gone to for advice, she came to you. She trusts your judgment.”

Dillon stood. “If I were you, I wouldn’t let her down. And as far as your bad mood, you know the rules, Stern. No one can bring personal garbage into the office. Canyon just got back from his honeymoon and is in a great mood, understandably so. Yet you were going at him about every idea he tossed out, just for the hell of it. You owe everyone at the meeting, especially Canyon, an apology and I expect you to give it.”

Dillon then walked to the door and opened it.

“Dil?”

Dillon stopped and turned around. “Yes?”

“Thanks for keeping me in check. I’m sorry I behaved inappropriately.”

Dillon nodded. “I accept your apology, Stern. Just make sure it doesn’t happen again.” He then walked out and closed the door behind him.

Stern rubbed his hand down his face. He could handle anybody’s disappointment but Dillon’s. When their parents, and uncle and aunt, died in a plane crash nearly twenty years ago, they’d left Dillon and his cousin Ramsey in charge. It hadn’t been easy, especially since several Westmorelands had been younger than the age of sixteen. Together, Dillon and Ramsey worked hard and made sacrifices to keep the family together. Dillon had even gone against the State of Colorado when they tried forcing him to put the youngest four kids in foster homes. Those were just a few of the reasons why Dillon deserved his utmost admiration and respect. Even now, he helped keep the family together.

Presently, there were fifteen Denver Westmorelands. Stern’s parents had had seven sons—Dillon, Micah, Jason, Riley, Canyon, Stern and Brisbane. Uncle Adam and Aunt Clarisse had had eight children: five boys—Ramsey, Zane, Derringer and the twins Aiden and Adrian—and three girls—Megan, Gemma and Bailey.

Over the past few years, everyone had gotten married except for him, the twins, Bailey and Bane. In June Megan had married Rico, a private investigator; Canyon had up and married Keisha Ashford, the mother of his two-year-old son, last month; and Riley and his fiancée, Alpha, would be getting married at the end of this month. It was still a shock to everyone that his cousin Zane, who had once sworn he would stay a bachelor for life, would marry his fiancée, Channing, over the Christmas holidays.

Stern tossed another paper clip onto the desk before picking up the phone and punching in Canyon’s extension.

“This is Canyon.”

“Can, I apologize for acting like a jerk in the meeting today.”

There was a slight pause. Then Canyon said, “It wasn’t your usual style, Stern. We haven’t argued in years. What’s going on with you? I leave to go on my honeymoon and come back and you’re not yourself. What happened on that hunting trip with JoJo?”

Instead of answering Canyon’s question, Stern said, “Let’s meet for lunch and I’ll call and ask Riley to join us. My treat.”

“What about Dillon?”

A wry smile curved Stern’s lips. “No need. He just left my office after chewing me out, so he’s straight.”

Canyon released a low whistle. “Glad it was you and not me.”

* * *

“Hey, JoJo, we need a new set of tires for a ’75 BMW and I don’t think we have the model number in stock.”

JoJo glanced up from her computer screen and smiled at the older man who’d stuck his head in her door. Willie Beeker had worked for the Golden Wrench for more than forty years, first with her father and now with her. He’d been set to retire the year after her father’s death and she knew he’d only hung around the past couple of years to give her the help and support she needed. Although he’d trained a number of good men, any of whom could step into his shoes, no one could take his place.

She’d known Beeker all of her life. He and her father had become best friends while working together as mechanics in the army. Her father had gotten out of the military, returned home to Denver and married. Years later, the two friends hooked back up when Beeker had divorced and moved to Denver. While growing up, she’d seen Beeker as more than one of her father’s outstanding employees. She’d considered him an honorary uncle.