The Pint-Sized Secret

“No more than the average person,” she retorted. “I just know when to cut my losses.” She gave him a hard once-over. “This seems like a good time to do that tonight.”

The suddenness and depth of her anger took him by surprise. She moved before he could stop her. Jeb watched her cross the terrace, spine stiff, shoulders square. The effect was lost a little when his gaze drifted lower and he saw the sway of slim hips encased in bronze. Damn, but she was something.

He followed her inside at a leisurely pace, so leisurely that he might have risked losing her in the throng if Max Coleman hadn’t chosen that moment to put in an appearance. Brianna was frozen in place, her face pale.

“You okay?” Jeb asked, moving up beside her.

Apparently she counted Jeb as the lesser of two evils, because she linked her arm through his and plastered a smile on her face. “Just peachy,” she announced. “I’ve been waiting for this chance for a long time. Since it’s the only reason I’m here tonight, let’s make the most of it.”

Jeb could have chosen to be insulted by the role he’d been cast in—second fiddle to revenge—but if it brought her back to his side, he was more than willing to go along with her. He wanted to see how she interacted with her old boss, see if he could glean any relevant information from their exchange.

Max Coleman had scrambled his way to the presidency of a small Houston-based oil conglomerate. He’d started in the fields, studied hard and been driven by blind ambition to reach the top. He wasn’t as polished as Bryce Delacourt, nor as handsome, but he presented a commanding figure, especially in a well-tailored tuxedo. His gaze settled on Brianna, then moved to Jeb.

If seeing her made Max uncomfortable, spotting his rival’s son made him downright nervous, but he covered both reactions quickly with a smile that only a close observer would recognize as fake.

“Brianna, my dear, you’re looking lovely tonight. How nice to see you here. Things must be going well for you.” He glanced pointedly at Jeb, as if to imply that he now knew why she was succeeding in the aftermath of his dismissal. “I had no idea that you and Jeb were so close.”

“First date,” Jeb retorted. “I needed the most beautiful woman in Houston on my arm tonight, so naturally I thought of Brianna. She’s become a very valuable asset to Delacourt Oil.” He hesitated ever so slightly. “And to me.”

Her startled gaze shot to his, as if she couldn’t believe the audacity of the remark. He winked at her, drawing her into the game.

“Yes, Brianna was always as interested in corporate benefits as she was in the challenges of her work,” Max said, then gave them both a curt nod and walked away.

Jeb stared after him, puzzling over the comment. It sounded like the embittered response of a man who’d been wronged in some way, but how? Had he made advances toward her and been spurned? Was her firing as simple as that, a sexual harassment case that she hadn’t had the will to fight?

Glancing down, he caught the bright red patches of color in her cheeks and realized that, whatever the man had meant, his comment had hit its mark.

“What was that all about?” Jeb asked.

“Just Max getting in the last blow,” she said. “I’d like to leave now, if you don’t mind.”

“I do mind,” he said, catching her off guard. “You can’t walk away in defeat. You need to show the man he can’t get to you.”

“How am I supposed to do that? Being here with you certainly backfired.”

“Darlin’, that was just the first volley.” He beckoned her toward the dance floor. “Now let’s show the man what you’re made of.”

A fast tune had just started, and Brianna stared at Jeb as if she’d never been on a dance floor before in her life. “I can’t.”

“You don’t know how? You don’t want to? Or what?”

“Dancing is not going to prove anything to Max Coleman,” she said, as if she pitied Jeb for being foolish enough to think otherwise.

For the moment Jeb forgot all about his secret mission for the evening and concentrated on hers. She looked vulnerable and defeated, and he was too much of a gentlemen to let that continue.

“Then you’re not doing it right,” he assured her, sweeping her into a dip that clearly left her dizzy. She was laughing by the time he brought her upright.

“Okay,” she said, the sparkle returning to her eyes. “Let’s do it.”

For the next three dances, they ruled the floor. The crowd parted to observe, cheering the intricate steps, applauding and begging for an encore when each song ended. Jeb caught Max’s expression as they whirled by him in one tempestuous sweep of the room. He looked as if he’d swallowed something particularly nasty.

Brianna caught his expression, too, then gazed up at Jeb. “Thank you,” she whispered. “I think our job here is done.”

Jeb nodded his agreement. “Let’s blow this place.”

She giggled like a schoolgirl and in that instant, Jeb felt himself falling for her. She tantalized him. He didn’t know her. He didn’t understand her secrets. He had no idea what made her tick.

Which meant he was going to have to keep seeing her, he concluded. Not that it was a hardship. She fit a little too neatly into his embrace. She smelled of some exotic scent that drove him a little bit crazy. He found himself wanting to kiss that graceful curve of her exposed neck.

None of that was supposed to happen, of course. Getting turned on by the subject of an investigation tended to cloud objectivity. He might not be the professional P.I. his brother was, but he knew that his current state of arousal was big trouble.

Still, he had no choice. Not if he was to save Delacourt Oil.

And maybe not even if he was to save himself.

After their triumph on the dance floor, the evening had gone downhill. Jeb couldn’t coax more than a one-word response from Brianna all the way home. At her house, she fled from his car. She barely uttered goodbye, much less an invitation to come inside. He had sat in the driveway for fully ten minutes trying to decide whether to follow her. At midnight, he’d finally concluded that he needed to give her the space she so obviously craved. He figured eight to ten hours ought to be enough.

He was up at dawn on Saturday and on the phone to Dylan.

“Some of us actually like to sleep in on the weekends,” his big brother protested when Jeb awakened him. “Especially when there’s a beautiful woman in bed beside us.”

“Stop bragging,” Jeb retorted. “Besides, this is important.”

“And my plans for the morning weren’t?”

“You can get back to them in a minute.”

Dylan sighed heavily. “Afraid not. I can hear the patter of little feet running toward the kitchen right now. Soon I’ll be blessed with the sound of cartoons at top volume. Then my bride will desert me.”

“Okay, okay, you have my pity and my apology. Now will you listen for a minute?”

“Why not? Looks like I don’t have anything better to do.”

“I went out with Brianna last night.”

Dylan whistled. “The lovely spy?”

“We don’t know she’s a spy,” Jeb said defensively.

“Hey, you’re the one who pinned the label on her, not me. What’s changed?”

Jeb ran his fingers through his hair. “She’s…I don’t know. She’s not what I expected.”

“Holy mackerel, you’ve gone and fallen for her, haven’t you?”

“Don’t be ridiculous. It was one date. Nobody falls for a woman in one date. Besides, I’m investigating her. How stupid do you think I am?”

His brother laughed. “Not stupid. Just male.”