Good Girls Don't

“Ah …” Tessa’s mouth wanted to say something about Kendall’s daughter not being able to keep her pants on, either, but she took a deep breath instead of slapping him in the face with that. “As a young businessperson myself, I’ve seen how work and social lives can so often intersect—”

“Unwise,” he repeated as if Tessa hadn’t spoken. “What kind of idiot risks a business deal over sex?”

Your daughter? her mind screamed. But she smothered her anger with a solemn nod. “Mr. Kendall, I’m sorry. It’s—”

“Your brother should be the one apologizing.”

“Oh, of course. He wants to. That’s why I’ve been calling. Absolutely. To schedule a meeting between you two.”

He seemed to buy that hook, line and sinker, probably because he assumed Tessa took care of phone duties around the office. The man was archaic.

“Screw it,” he growled. “It doesn’t matter. The deal is off.”

“No,” Tessa breathed. “No. This is business, Mr. Kendall, just like you said. Jamie and Monica are adults who let things get out of hand while they were discussing business—”

“He put his hands on my daughter!” Kendall shouted. “Do you really think I’m going to do business with the man now?”

“You won’t have to! Eric and I will take care of everything. If you never want to see Jamie again, I understand. I’ll keep him away from your daughter, too. I promise.” Okay, she had no idea how she’d keep that promise, but panic bubbled through her like she was a shaken soda can. Every single criticism Eric had ever thrown in Jamie’s face was about to turn into solid stone. A giant boulder of scorn and anger and frustration between the two of them. And where would that leave her? Her brothers were all she had.

Kendall paced away from her to stare out the window that overlooked the whole front range from Pike’s Peak to Long’s Peak. He glared at the mountains as if he could crumble them with his eyes.

Tessa crossed her fingers until she lost all sensation in her hands. Please, please, please.

“No,” he finally said.

“Mr. Kendall, don’t make a final decision now. You’re angry. Of course you are. So just give it a couple of days. We’re a family business like the Kendall Group is. It gives us our strength, but it makes things complicated, too, doesn’t it?”

His eye twitched. Just his left eye, and she took that as a good sign.

“My father started Donovan Brothers twenty-five years ago, and he named it in honor of the brother he lost in Vietnam. Both our parents died when Eric was only twenty-four. Just a kid. He could’ve sold the brewery. Anyone else would have. But he took over and built it up to what it is today. It’s a strong company, but it’s strong because of family, just like your companies are. Please. Take a few days. Look at the numbers Eric gave you. This deal would be good for both our families, I promise.”

He looked up at the ceiling and took a deep breath. “The answer is still going to be no. But I’m going to New York for a few days, so I’ll sit on it until I get back. A week. That’s the best I can do.”

“Thank you so much, Mr. Kendall. That’s all I ask. Just a few days.” She rushed forward and grabbed his hand. “Thank you,” she said again, shaking his hand too hard.

He finally extricated himself and waved her toward the door, and Tessa walked out surrounded by a bubble of hope. She didn’t even sneer at the receptionist as she passed. A few days. A few days of not panicking, and she just might pull off the impossible. If only she could get all the men in her life to cooperate at the exact same time….

LUKE LOOKED OVER the pile of files to see Simone grab her jacket and walk out of the station without a backward glance. Sure, it was quitting time, but she could’ve at least waved on her way out. Or given him the finger. She was clearly still pissed about him following her. Well, that was fine. He was still pissed about everything else, so his self-righteousness was safe.

Closing the manila folder in front of him, he transferred it to the short stack of files, and grabbed another from the tall stack. He and Simone were going through every commercial break-in from the past two years to see if they could link any of them to the newer robberies. Five hours later, and they hadn’t found a damn thing.

He was thankful for the quiet of the glassed-in conference room, but the stark fluorescents were giving him a headache on top of the headache he’d had when he came in. Luke closed his eyes and laid his head against the seat back. The tight muscles of his neck stretched. His spine popped. But his mind still twitched like a dying fish. He’d come back to Boulder to simplify his life. Yet another failure to chalk up on his list.

When his cell rang, he ignored the first few chirps before he stretched and looked down at it. He couldn’t have been more surprised by the name on the screen than if it had been Santa Claus.

“What the hell?” he muttered. He hit the call button and put the phone tentatively to his ear.

“Luke?” a sweet voice said.

“Yes.”

“It’s Tessa. How are you?”

“I’m … Yeah, I’ve been better. I wasn’t expecting you to call.”

“Oh. Did Jamie talk to you?”

“Yes,” he said, his muscles tightening anew. “He did.”

Silence drew between them for a moment, and then he heard Tessa inhale on the other end of the line. “Is it true? About your partner?”

He closed his eyes. “No.”

“Does everyone think it’s true?”

“Yes.”

She sighed and Luke waited for the next question. “Why?” she finally asked.

And Luke found himself telling the truth about it for the first time. “Everyone thinks it’s me because Simone and I are close. We were best friends. But we were never lovers.”

“So who’s the father?”

It was Luke’s turn to sigh. “I don’t know. It’s a long story.”

“You sound sad.”

Sad. Yeah. That actually made him smile. “I guess that’s one word for it.”

“Pissed?”

He smiled wider. “Maybe.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

Luke frowned at the pen he was pushing around the table. “I don’t think that’s—”

“Come on. Just come over. Bring me dinner.”

“I …” Okay, this was awkward. Given any other circumstances, he would put up his hands and back slowly away from a hot virgin with two protective older brothers. Why the heck did she have to be the only person who managed to make him smile these days? Damn it, he said silently, rubbing a hand over his eyes.

“All right,” she said, her voice pulling down in disappointment. “I understand. I guess I’m the definition of complicated.”

Her? Good God. “Don’t be stupid, Tessa. I’ll be there in half an hour. Burgers okay?”

“I assume you mean burgers from the Sink?”

He grinned at the table. “I do.”