Forbidden: a Contemporary Romance Anthology

by J. L. Beck

  Trevor let out a breath that he hadn’t realized he was holding. “I guess I can add loyalty to the ever-growing list of things to love about you.” She giggled at his compliment, and he basked in the sound of it. He pictured her relaxed and casual look of sweatpants, fluffy hair, and bare feet with their surprise pop of color, and silently vowed to figure this out.

  After saying goodbye to Millie, Trevor made a decision. It was time to go pay his brother a visit.

  7

  The ostentatious, long, black limo was completely out of place in the quaint town where his brother was hiding. Trevor had to assume that Trey looked just as misplaced as his gaudy car. What his shark of a businessman brother was doing in this one-stoplight town was beyond him.

  It felt a little like tucking tail and admitting defeat to come here to seek his brother’s counsel, but he would rather do that than risk losing it all. He had learned long ago that it was better to admit a little bit of weakness early in the game than to hide it and let it snowball into something uncontrollable. His brother would never forgive him if he lost the mall deal, and he would never forgive himself if he lost Millie.

  The limo slid smoothly to a stop in front of a tiny bakery that seemed to be booming with business. Trevor chuckled at the sign, which proclaimed the name of the establishment in curvy, pastel letters which almost looked like a child’s writing––Snickerdoodles. It was cute, almost too cute. He couldn’t believe his brother had even set foot in the place, let alone completely set up shop here.

  Trevor got in line and secretly watched the two women behind the counter. It didn’t take more than a few seconds to discern which one of them was Trey’s love interest. They were both attractive, but the one with red hair was too bold, loud, and flirtatious for his brother’s taste. The neon green shirt she wore under her apron was so bright it almost hurt his eyes.

  The understated elegance of the beautiful, blonde one was much more Trey’s style. She gave each of her customers a friendly smile, asked a personalized question that displayed her attention to details about them while she filled their order, then efficiently checked them out and moved to the next patron. She had a natural way about her that made each of her customers feel important and like they were the only person that mattered to her, even as she shuffled them along and out the door. It was truly a rare gift.

  He enjoyed watching her so much that he was almost disappointed when he made his way to the front of the line. His disappointment increased when the red-haired woman with the coral lipstick that had been applied with a heavy-hand beamed at him. “Hi!” the woman practically shouted, leaning in to give him a long view of her ample cleavage. “What can I get you?” she breathed out flirtatiously.

  He had been planning to order something, just see how the blonde would engage with him; but since Red was waiting on him, he jumped straight to the reason for his visit. “I need to see Trey,” he told her simply.

  The blonde darted her gaze in his direction. The concerned look in her eyes let him know that she was a protective mama bear when it came to his brother’s privacy.

  The redhead looked to the other woman for guidance. She was clearly uncertain if she should give out any details about Trey. The blonde handed her customer a white paper bag filled with soft-baked goodies, gave him a warm smile, and wished him luck with his car repair.

  The man responded, “Yeah, I hope Rusty doesn’t try to take me to the cleaners… again.”

  She laughed, waved goodbye, and then turned to Trevor––suddenly all business. “Is there something I can help you with?” The cool shift in her demeanor was unmistakable. There was suddenly no doubt in Trevor’s mind that the woman, whose name tag proclaimed her name to be Ellie, was in Trey’s corner, watching his back. He liked knowing that Trey had found someone that he could trust completely. It was a rare gift for someone with so much money and power.

  Extending his hand over the counter to shake hers, he introduced himself. “Trevor Donovan.”

  The transformation of Ellie’s face from leery suspicion to open friendliness was almost immediate. She ignored his offered hand, opting instead to run around the counter for a warm embrace. “Trevor, it’s wonderful to put a face to the brother that Trey speaks so highly of.”

  Trevor felt an unsettling bubble of anxiety at the realization that Trey would not be at all pleased when he found out that Trevor was on the verge of losing the mall deal––to Selena Chase of all people. And that was the good news. He was certain that his feelings for Millie would not be a welcome announcement, but he needed to fess up to Trey before things went too far.

  Oblivious to his inner turmoil, Ellie pulled back and grasped his hand to lead him behind the counter. “Trey is going to be so excited to see you!” she enthused.

  Doubting that, but seeing no alternative but to go with her, Trevor followed Ellie as she practically skipped back to the bakery’s kitchen.

  The sight of his brother practically floored Trevor. He was used to seeing Trey in perfectly tailored suits, so the vision of him in jeans, a gray tee-shirt, and the flour-dusted red apron that proclaimed “Real men bake,” was shocking. Trevor bugged his eyes out drinking in the sight before him, not quite able to believe what he was seeing.

  Trey’s eyes lit up when he spotted his brother. “Trevor!” He opened his arms, hugging his brother for the first time since they had been forced to make up after fighting as children.

  Trevor discreetly swiped the flour from his suit after his brother’s embrace as Trey gushed, “It’s so great to see you.” Without pausing for a breath, he added, “You have to taste my latest cupcake recipe.”

  “Cupcake recipe?” Trevor asked numbly, unable to equate the man before him with the business mogul brother he had been expecting to see. While he was still trying to process, Trey shoved an admittedly delicious looking cupcake under his nose.

  Seeing no alternative except to taste the blasted thing, Trevor took a bite, even though he only wanted to share the reasons for his visit with his brother. Distracted by the warm, delicious flavor assaulting his taste buds, he said, “That’s wonderful!”

  “You sound surprised.” His brother gave him a playful shove to the shoulder before biting into a cupcake of his own.

  Enjoying this new, playful side of Trey, Trevor ventured, “You’re eating a lot of baked goods, aren’t you? Someone might start to go soft around the middle.”

  As soon as he said it, he wondered if he had gone too far. Trey eased his worries by grabbing Ellie, assuring Trevor that he had plenty of ways to work off the extra calories, then dipping her back for a passionate kiss.

  Trevor felt uneasy at the open display of affection. Trey had never been one to go crazy over a woman––until now, apparently. When they didn’t come up for air, Trevor finally cleared his throat to let them know it was becoming awkward to stand there watching them make out.

  Trey finally––and rather reluctantly––pulled back and settled Ellie back on her feet. She at least had the decency to blush over their loss of control. His brother just beamed at him, looking giddily happy and having no shame.

  “We need to talk business,” Trevor informed him, shooting a dismissive glance at Ellie.

  Trey caught the look and said sternly, “Ellie can hear anything you have to say.”

  Ellie smoothed things over by saying, “I need to get back up front anyway.”

  “I’ll fill you in later,” Trey promised her, before pulling the back of her hand up to press his lips against it. “I’ll miss you,” he added sappily as she sauntered dreamily back to the storefront.

  Trevor caught himself just before rolling his eyes. It was so odd to see his brother madly in love. Wanting to get down to business, he asked, “You want the bad news or the worse news first?”

  Sitting down at the card table that served as a break room and ushering Trevor to the other chair, Trey answered, “Start with the bad, I guess.”

  “I am falling for Millie,” Trevor told him without
further preamble.

  If Trey was surprised by the announcement, he hid it quickly. “And that’s a bad thing because…?”

  “Because she’s your assistant, well, my assistant,” he amended. “She works for us, and she does a damn good job, but relationships between someone with a position of power and an employee are strictly forbidden. It’s in the company handbook. I looked it up,” he gushed.

  “You looked it up in the handbook?” Trey raised one thick, dark eyebrow in his brother’s direction. Seeing Trevor’s affirmative nod and the pathetic look on his face, made Trey turn serious. “Is Millie open to a relationship?” he asked.

  “She would be, but she doesn’t want to lose her job.” Trevor tried to keep the whiny tone out of his voice. It was an impossible situation, so he wasn’t sure what he expected his older brother to do about it.

  “If the two of you have a fling and things don’t work out, will you fire her?” Trey’s piercing, hawk-like gaze rested on his brother. He looked more like the imposing man Trevor was used to dealing with than the happy baker he had first encountered in the kitchen.

  “Of course not!” Trevor was insulted by the insinuation.

  “Would you demote her?” Trey continued along those lines, even though his brother was obviously becoming agitated.

  “No,” Trevor answered firmly. Deciding to stop this conversation in its tracks, he added, “Millie and I are both professionals. We would continue to work together, despite any awkward feelings over our personal relationship.”

  “Then I’m not seeing what the problem is,” Trey stated matter-of-factly over his folded hands.

  “Human resources… the handbook… rules,” Trevor spluttered.

  “YOU are in charge now. YOU make the rules.” Trey sat forward in his chair and pointed a finger at his brother as he spoke. “So, change them if you want to,” he added as if it were the simplest thing in the world.

  “I’m sure the rules are there for a reason,” Trevor responded logically. “What if we get sued?”

  “What if we do?” Trey raised his shoulders. “We’ll deal with it. Next issue?” He almost sounded bored by these problems that had been eating away at Trevor.

  Trevor blinked several times, in an attempt to comprehend that Trey had just given him permission to date Millie. Scratch that… he didn’t actually need permission from anyone to see her because he could make the rules now. The fact that he was the one in charge finally began to sink in, and his chest puffed up involuntarily.

  The realization was both liberating and enlightening. He had assumed that his brother would keep tight reins on everything important, even during this sabbatical. The proof that he was truly trusting Trevor and stepping back was exhilarating, if a little frightening.

  This next revelation would be a true test. He doubted his brother would be able to keep his fingers out of this one, and to be honest, he wouldn’t mind having Trey rescue him just this once. Taking a deep breath, he admitted, “We are losing the mall deal to Selena Chase.”

  His brother narrowed a dark-eyed stare at him, taking a few deep breaths of his own. When he finally spoke, his words were not at all what Trevor had expected to hear. “Let’s go for a walk,” Trey suggested.

  8

  Stunned, Trevor saw no alternative except to follow his brother outside. It was a gorgeous, sunny day and Trey seemed perfectly content to stroll along at a snail’s pace basking in the warm rays beaming down on his face and completely ignoring the bombshell his brother had just dropped on him.

  Frustrated with Trey’s level of calmness, Trevor spluttered, “Did you hear me? We are getting ready to lose the mall deal…to Selena Chase!” He added the last words for emphasis, trying to get some type of reaction out of this stranger that looked vaguely like his power-hungry, business-mogul brother.

  “Here is the town’s library.” Trey completely ignored his brother’s tantrum. “It used to be a bank, but I bought the building and had it refurbished. The books are from a brick-and-mortar bookstore that closed down thanks to Amazon’s domination of the book market. It’s really a gem, isn’t it?”

  Trevor couldn’t get over the look of pride in his brother’s eyes as he talked about this Podunk little library. It was hard to believe that this was the same man known for forging multi-million dollar deals over lunch. “Yeah, I guess,” Trevor finally responded, since his brother seemed to be waiting for an answer.

  Not seeming to sense Trevor’s lack of enthusiasm about the town improvements he was implementing, Trey continued on his meandering walk. “See this ice cream shop? It was an abandoned gas station until I got ahold of it,” he beamed with pride. “They have the best gelato this side of the Mississippi,” he bragged. “Come on!”

  Trevor allowed himself to be dragged inside the rustic ice cream shop, even though he couldn’t help muttering under his breath, “Didn’t you just eat a cupcake?”

  Trey must have heard the dig because he said, “Life is short. You might as well enjoy it.” With a naughty grin, he added, “Besides, Ellie will help me work it off later.”

  Trevor inwardly cringed at his brother’s insinuation, but didn’t comment about how out of character it was for him to share such details. Since Trey insisted, Trevor sat down with a large cup of Italian chocolate chip gelato. He did have to admit it was rather tasty, but it wasn’t something he would have ever dreamed his brother would focus his attention on.

  “So, back to the mall project…” he started, hoping to force his brother to concentrate on what mattered.

  Seeming to completely ignore the nudge, Trey stared out towards the ornamental, antique gas pumps in front of the shop as he said, “Do you know why this town improvement project is going so well?” He pretended not to hear his brother’s frustrated sigh, instead opting to answer his own question. “It’s because I’m focusing on one piece at a time. I don’t look at it as one big project. Rather, I spend all of my energy on getting one piece right before moving on to the next, like a puzzle.”

  Trey seemed lost in thought as he prattled on. “The owner of this property,” he waved his arms around encompassing the gas station-turned-ice cream shop, “didn’t want to sell to me. I just had to find something that he DID want… Turned out that was my Porsche.”

  “You sold your Porsche?!?” Trevor bugged his eyes out at the man sitting across from him. That classic, refurbished, pristine car had been his brother’s baby.

  Trey simply shrugged his shoulders. “I did what it took to make the deal.” He turned a more familiar, steely gaze toward his brother then. “Does that make sense?”

  And suddenly it did.

  9

  Trevor called Millie from his limo on the way back to Donovan Enterprises. His visit with his brother had been more uplifting, surprising, and helpful than he ever would have imagined, and now he had a plan.

  Millie crisply agreed to all of his instructions, even though she was still at home recuperating from her goose attack. Promising to handle all of his requests, she signed off the phone to get busy.

  Trevor’s first stop upon returning to the office was the Human Resources floor. The workers in the hallway gawked at him as he walked through on his way to the Vice President of People Services’ corner office.

  Even though the woman had a meeting in progress in her office, she excused the others and smiled warmly at Trevor. It was an odd, heady feeling to know that he was the most powerful person in the building.

  The V.P. bugged her eyes out at Trevor’s request, but nodded her head in acknowledgement. If she had any concerns about his proposed changes, she kept them to herself.

  Feeling on top of the world, Trevor went home to pack. He figured he would be gone for several weeks because he wasn’t coming home until he had the mall deal finalized.

  His first meeting was with a slick-looking developer in Los Angeles. It was a tough sell. Selena Chase had already been to see him, and the money she was offering for the land they needed was already a hefty
sum. Trevor sat back assessing the other man. He had spent the evening talking to him and watching him schmooze and flirt with every attractive person––male or female––who walked past their table.

  Trevor had already tried hardball negotiation, sweet-talking, and just about every other tactic he could think of, but the man wasn’t budging. Trevor refused to flirt with him because he was concerned about where the other man might want that to lead. Finally, he just asked him straight up, “What is it that you want?”

  The man paused with his glass of scotch halfway to his mouth. At first he seemed taken aback by the brash question, but then he beamed a too-bright, white smile at Trevor. Leaning in, he said, “Rumor has it that your brother has a Picasso.”

  “Now we’re talking…” Trevor had no trouble negotiating the deal after that, and the two men shook hands on it.

  Later that night, Trevor reflected on the win. It was fun being a wheeler and dealer. He hoped that his brother wouldn’t be angry that he had traded his painting, but the lesson he had gleaned from his visit to Trey was that his brother wanted him to do whatever it took to make the deal. That is exactly what he was doing, and he had to admit, it was a blast.

  He spent the next several weeks flying around the country, making deals one by one. He focused on really listening to the people on the other side of the contract to find out what they wanted and then figuring out a way to get it for them.

  One of the most challenging deals was for some farmland just outside of Kansas City. The farmer, Mark, wanted to increase his land size, not sell it. Trevor proceeded to meet with all of the local farmers to work deals for their plots. He ended up finding several that were willing to sell. When he presented Mark with the package that nearly doubled his current acreage, the man actually had tears in his eyes. When Trevor went to shake his hand, the farmer pulled him into a bear hug, slapping him on the back and insisting that he come home with him for dinner.