Vested Interest Box Set Books 1-3

by Moreland, Melanie

  “Okay, I’ll come over later.”

  She reached for another carrot. “Great.”

  * * *

  Dee nodded in satisfaction. “That one, Emmy. You look great.”

  I studied myself in the mirror. I was wearing a brown skirt of mine, and a pretty green blouse from Dee. It was frilly and girly, and I loved it. Cami had added a thick shawl to keep me warm in tones of green and taupe. It was pretty and feminine.

  “Wear your ankle boots, and put your hair up,” Cami advised.

  “Okay.”

  I slipped out of the outfit, putting my school clothes back on, minus the tie. It was safe at home in a drawer. I looked up the name of the tie maker, and Cami was right. It cost more than the rent on my apartment. I would give it back to Bentley on Friday.

  I sat down, sipping the tea Dee slid in front of me.

  “I put your stuff in the dryer and threw in the second load.”

  “Thank you.”

  Dee and Cami had the luxury of a small stacking washer and dryer in their apartment. The previous tenant was moving into a house and sold them at a low price. They let me use them; although, I took the big stuff like sheets and towels to the laundromat. I could sit and study while my laundry went through the cycles.

  Cami took a seat, placing a bowl of grapes on the table. “They had these on special as I went through the market. I couldn’t resist.”

  We all reached for some of the red fruit. They were crisp and sweet on my tongue and a rare treat. The budget I lived on didn’t include many luxuries like grapes. Apples were my regular go-to most of the time.

  “Delicious,” Dee murmured.

  I beamed fondly at her. She was eight years older than Cami and me, but a great deal more mature than her years. When their mother died, she had looked after Cami. Their father had walked away when Cami was still young, remarried, and never bothered with them again. When we became friends, she took me under her wing. She was a sister, a friend, and pseudo-mother to us both. She worked in a large law firm as a paralegal and was the exact opposite of Cami. They both had green eyes and similar features, but while Cami had long, dark brown hair, Dee’s was a strawberry blonde color, straight, and she kept it chin-length. Cami was like the energizer bunny, never sitting still, and free-spirited, while Dee was quiet, serious, and in a constant state of worry. Cami loved designs and mixing fabrics and styles, while Dee was simple. Smart suits for work, and jeans and tees outside. But they were my family, and I loved them.

  “Are you nervous?” Dee asked, studying me.

  “A little. He’s . . . different.”

  She frowned. “Different, how?”

  I huffed out a breath. “He’s very serious. Formal. Then suddenly he says or does something sweet or funny. It’s as if he isn’t sure how to act around me.”

  “He’s extremely wealthy, and young, to have so much responsibility. Maybe he doesn’t know how to act—maybe he’s been too busy working to do much socially.”

  Cami snorted. “He dates a lot.”

  “What?”

  She turned her laptop around so I could see the screen. I stared at the images of him with other women. Lots of other women. They were all beautiful and dressed in expensive clothes. My gaze drifted over to the outfit hanging on the back of the door I would wear to dinner on Friday.

  I pushed the laptop back to Cami. “I’m in over my head here, aren’t I? I should cancel and go to the gallery with you. I can’t compete with his extravagant lifestyle.”

  Dee shot Cami a glare and patted my hand. “Maybe you’re exactly what he needs. Someone real. Dating and being in a relationship are two different things.”

  “It’s just a date,” I insisted.

  She smiled. “For now.”

  I finished my tea and left. I still had a couple more things to add before I handed in my project, and my old laptop made everything take longer, but it was all I could afford. I was scouring Kijiji and the internet, hoping to find a cheaper one to upgrade to, but so far, no luck.

  When I got home, I hung up the outfit, grabbed a glass of water, and sat down to finish my work. The apartment felt chilly, and I pulled a blanket around my shoulders to stay warm. I worked for a while until I was satisfied, saved everything, and put it on the memory stick. I would send it tomorrow. Unable to help myself, I googled Bentley’s name and looked at the same images as earlier. He was incredibly handsome, but as I studied the pictures, I noticed the same thing. His expression. Always serious, stern, and unsmiling. There were a few older ones I presumed were taken when he was in university, but even then, a smile was rare. In group pictures, he always stood a little separately, as if he were there, but not really part of them. I understood that—I rarely felt part of groups.

  I thought of his words earlier. “You make me laugh.”

  Maybe he needed to laugh. Maybe what he needed wasn’t glitz and glamour, but someone to make him happy.

  I was surprised how much I wanted to be that person for him. Usually, I was one not to trust people very fast, but I found myself trusting him. I wanted to know more about Bentley. Not the businessman I saw in those photos, but the man who slipped his tie over my head and looked almost shy when he stepped back, pleased with his handiwork. I remembered his mischievous grin when he told me he had ditched his bodyguard to come and see me.

  I glanced at my phone, picked it up, and tapped out a text.

  I hoped you survived today. Was Tree Trunk very mad?

  He answered immediately.

  We worked it out. How was your day?

  Good. I finished my project. Picked an outfit for Friday. You promised casual, right?

  My heart warmed at his retort.

  Casual, yes. You’ll be beautiful. Why are you worried?

  I sucked in a deep breath and decided to be truthful.

  I might have checked the internet. You go out with a lot of beautiful, elegant women.

  I was startled when my phone rang. “Hello?”

  “Emmy.” His deep voice greeted me. “Don’t look on the internet.”

  “I was curious.”

  “Ask me anything. I’ll answer you honestly. Pictures are simply that—pictures. I have a lot of friends and business associates who happen to be women. They accompany me to those God-awful dinners, so I’m not as bored. Simple. We do each other favors.”

  “You haven’t been in relationships with any of them?”

  “Not for a very long time, no.”

  “They all look so lovely,” I admitted, letting my insecurity show.

  “They aren’t who I want to spend an evening with. You are.”

  His tone was so adamant that I knew he was telling the truth. “Okay.”

  “I ate my scones tonight for dinner.”

  “Not much of a dinner.”

  “I had some cheese and grapes with them.”

  “Oh, I had grapes, too! Cami got them on sale. They were such a treat!”

  “Cami?”

  “My best friend. I’ll tell you about her on Friday if you want.”

  He chuckled. “I would like to know all about you, Emaline Harris. I look forward to discovering all your likes.”

  “Tree Trunk checked me out, didn’t he?”

  “He did.”

  “And I’m clean?”

  “As a whistle. At least so far.”

  “The whole Russian spy thing hasn’t shown up?”

  “Not yet.”

  “Tell him to keep digging.”

  He began to laugh, and I liked the sound. It was carefree and warm.

  “I’ll tell him tomorrow.”

  “Oh, I have to give you your tie back.”

  “I don’t want my tie. I gave it to you.”

  “Bentley, I looked the maker up on the net, too.”

  “What did I tell you? Stay off the internet when it comes to me.”

  “I can’t accept the tie. It cost more than my rent!”

  “I want you to have it. Please. Accept it. I a
ccepted your scones.”

  “That’s different.”

  “How?” he questioned. “You gave those to me freely, and I gave you my tie. Because of you, I had a thoroughly delicious dinner. You fortified me. All I did was drape a piece of cloth around your neck.”

  “Fortified, Rigid? Overkill—even for you.”

  “It’s true.”

  “It’s more than that, and you know it.”

  His voice became gentle, quiet. “Please, accept the tie. Keep it. Wear it and think of me.”

  He was too good at this. “Fine. But you don’t play fair.”

  He sounded amused. “But I won.”

  I grinned into the phone, because he had. And, really, I liked the tie—it reminded me of his eyes. “Okay. I’ll see you on Friday.”

  “It will be the best day of the week for me, Emmy.” He paused. “Goodnight. Sleep well.”

  “Night.”

  Bentley

  I should have told her what was happening in my life. It was the perfect opportunity to inform her what dating me could consist of if she chose to continue.

  Yet, I couldn’t because I wanted to see her again. To listen to her voice tease me, and hear her laughter. There was something so easy about being in her presence. I didn’t have to be anything except me with her, and selfishly, I wanted more of that.

  I would have to tell her on Friday. It was only fair she knew someone was keeping tabs on me, and therefore, perhaps her. Once the bid on the property was complete, I was sure whoever was behind it would disappear. They would realize I owned the far more valuable piece of land and would arrange to sell to me. I would never know who it was, but I didn’t care. I would get the land, and start developing it. It would be hugely successful, and make me even richer. More importantly, it would be my mark. All of it created and designed by my company. BAM.

  I grinned every time I thought of the name.

  Not long after Aiden and I agreed to share a place, we met Maddox Riley. He was just seventeen, two years younger than we were, but more mature than we ever hoped to be. He was a whiz kid at Math and everything else, but he was also awkward and alone having entered university earlier than most kids did.

  He was standing in front of us in line at the student union, waiting to pay for his lunch. He turned when Aiden made some complaint about the high cost of the food compared to the quality and nutritional level of the selections. Maddox was in total agreement, and began a discussion on the benefits of both healthy choices and cost efficiency, by having other options on campus. Soon after, the three of us were at a table in full planning mode. The shy boy persona fell away as Maddox talked numbers and ideas. He became animated, refusing to back down when he was certain about a fact or figure, earning him the nickname Mad Dog by Aiden.

  We had been friends ever since.

  Together, we’d worked with the university and a willing vendor, and set up a small grocery mart right on campus. Fresh fruits and vegetables, satisfying sandwiches, and healthy premade meals were available; easy to heat up in the microwave, and economical. Tastier in most cases, if you cooked like me. It took a lot of work, some well-placed donations on my part, but we got it started. It was still there, but bigger, and better stocked.

  When we had started discussing it, sketching out ideas, listening to Maddox crunch numbers, and finally agreeing on a final plan, Aiden had jumped up, fist punched the air, and yelled, “That’s how we do it! BAM!”

  It stuck. Our initials, our ideas, our brand. My brothers.

  I had named my company the same name and brought them on board with me.

  There was no one in the world I trusted more than them. Our relationship, which started out as young men, had grown as we matured over the years.

  Aiden and I had looked at a lot of houses, dismissing them all. However, one day, we saw a worn-down Victorian house. It was a longer walk from the school, but doable. The owner was moving into a small condo, and the place was big enough we could all live there, and not run over each other. When discussing rent, I made the owner a deal. We would do the various repairs, and he would knock it off the rent. I enjoyed fixing things, and Aiden and Maddox, who had joined in the house hunt, were willing to help. The proprietor was agreeable to my request, and the condition I added that when he was ready to sell, I got first dibs on the property.

  We’d moved in the next month, lived there for two years, and I used a part of my inheritance to buy it. I moved us into the smaller place next door I’d had my eye on, and we fixed up the old house, and I flipped it, for a huge profit. I did the same with the next three houses. I quit university and started my own company. BAM Corporation became a reality, and when they graduated, Aiden and Maddox came on board.

  Maddox was a brilliant numbers man and handled all the finances and planning. Aiden not only had his business degree but also became a personal trainer. He constantly took courses on computers, security, and physical training. He headed up the security area and was my right-hand man. He had a quirk that allowed him to remember details most people would forget, which often gave us an advantage. We worked extremely well as a team, and the business had made us all very wealthy.

  Still, something was missing from my life. I had everything money could buy. I loved my job and the constant challenge it presented. I enjoyed the push and pull of doing deals, and creating new landscapes. I thrived on the challenge of finding the right investors for a project and watching it flourish. However, once the door shut behind me at night, I was alone. I filled in the hours with more work, and I used the gym and pool in the house daily, but aside from business dinners, I hadn’t been out on a date in a long time.

  My last relationship was three years ago. It ended badly. Since then, I had been on a couple of dates, but they hadn’t gone overly well. I was dull, set in my ways, and at times, my temper got the best of me. It wasn’t the best of combinations, and as one woman told me, no amount of money could make up for my lack of personality.

  I glanced back at my phone and the texts to Emmy. She seemed to bring something else out in me. She made me want to smile and to make her smile. Not one given to gestures, or buying gifts, sliding a five-hundred-dollar tie around Emmy’s neck had shocked me as much as it had Aiden.

  It made me wonder what other things I would do to surprise myself.

  * * *

  From the back seat of the car, I scowled at the staircase leading up to Emmy’s apartment. Was it safe? It looked rickety to me. I scanned the deserted parking lot. The building was about average for the neighborhood. Somewhat run down, but doing well for the area. The back end faced a derelict garage, with husks of rusted cars scattered on the dead ground. There was one lone light in the corner of the parking lot, its dimness barely covering the small area. I knew Aiden would notice all the details, as well. There was no light by the stairs or over the doors of the three apartments which all faced the empty parking lot. The thought of Emmy walking to her door, at night, alone and defenseless, made me shudder.

  The whole thing made me shudder.

  “Show up with that look on your face, she’ll slam the door on you,” Aiden informed me in a quiet drawl.

  “This isn’t safe.”

  “Nothing I can do about it right this second. We’ll discuss it later. After you see how your date goes.”

  “Shut it, Tree Trunk.” I smirked. “Eyes straight ahead, and mouth on silent when we get in the car, you got me?”

  Aiden chuckled from the front seat. He had insisted he come with me, promising to remain in the background. I still thought he was overreacting, but I agreed in order to keep the peace.

  He turned his massive body in the seat, meeting my gaze. “This is her home. No matter what you think, be respectful.”

  “I will.”

  “Do you want me to go get her?”

  “No,” I snapped. “She’s not a package for you to pick up.” I grasped the small bouquet of lilies I had stopped to get, and opened the door. “I’ll be back.”

/>   Climbing the steps, I was anxious to see Emmy. She opened the door, taking my breath away with her simple beauty. Her skirt flared out from her knees, and the emerald-colored blouse set off her creamy complexion. She had her hair swept up, showing off the delicate column of her neck. Her multi-pierced ears glinted in the light. However, it was her expression that did it for me. Open and honest, she was as happy to see me, as I was to see her. I held out the small offering.

  “You look lovely.”

  She took the flowers, and rewarded me with one of her soft kisses on my cheek. I resisted the urge to turn my head and feel her lips on mine. I followed her into the tiny apartment and waited while she put the flowers in water.

  It was a one-room place. A futon served as a bed and couch. A minute kitchen with a waist-high fridge and the smallest stove I’d ever seen were against the opposite wall. Emmy’s desk and bookcase were piled high with books, papers, and her old laptop was sitting on top of a mountain of documents. A makeshift closet and laundry baskets were in the corner. The walls were blue, and she had lots of posters and pictures on them, making it cheerful. It was chaotic and small. The entire place was smaller than my closet at my house. Still, it was clean and inviting, and when I inhaled deeply, I smiled. It smelled like her.

  She placed the flowers on the small table beside her futon. She stroked the petals; the tender gesture so her, I had to smile once more. She picked up a shawl, and I hurried forward, taking it from her hands and sliding it around her shoulders.

  “Will you be warm enough?”

  “Yes.”

  “I made sure our table wasn’t under an air conditioning vent.”

  Her eyes glistened, and she reached up to cup my cheek. “Thank you,” she breathed out. “You are incredibly thoughtful.” Unexpectedly, she stood on her toes and brushed her mouth against mine. As soon as our lips touched, I lost control.