Time to end this…whatever this was.
“Okay, let’s just cut to the chase…I’m not interested in playing this silly game. We are not destined to be friends or lovers so we should just go on our merry way, forgetting about this awkward encounter. I am not interested in anything you have to offer. “
He looked adorably affronted. “How do you know? I haven’t yet offered anything but friendly conversation over dinner. Honestly, you’re getting ahead of yourself. You’re not even my type, if you must know.”
Tana tried not to let his comment sting. It wasn’t the first time she’d been judged and found wanting in the looks department.
Most men saw her no-nonsense, casual attire, her less-than-fashionable hairstyle, and aversion to make-up and kept walking.
And she preferred it that way. Heaven help her, she had no interest in someone so superficial.
“Let me guess, you prefer a bubbly blonde without an independent thought in her head. A bobble-head with boobs.”
“Hey, bobble-heads are very cute with the way they….well, bobble. And even if I did enjoy a certain type of woman, where’s the harm in that?”
Tana sighed, annoyed that she was having a conversation, much less this conversation, with Reece. “No harm. You can do what you wish. I’m just saying…I choose not to be a part of it. Now, if you please, good day. If you insist on following me, I will Tase you and watch as you piss your pants right here on the sidewalk. And then I’ll take a picture and upload it onto the web. Let the gossip rags have a field day with it.”
“That’s a bit extreme.”
“Exactly.”
And then she left him behind.
She was only mildly surprised that he didn’t follow.
But then the threat of pissing oneself in the middle of a busy sidewalk wasn’t very appealing.
Tana smiled again.
And if she happened to glance back one single time, it wasn’t because she found Reece surprisingly intriguing, it was because she’d wanted to make sure he stayed put.
Truly.
A Buchanan was synonymous with trouble.
And trouble was something she didn’t need.
bookmark: 2
Chapter 2
z
“What can I say? It didn’t go our way. That’s the way these things shake out sometimes,” Reece said to Dillon later that week, back in the California office.
His time in New York had been dissatisfying to say the least. Sure, he’d gotten laid but for some reason, his thoughts had kept wandering to that disagreeable, yet oddly fascinating woman.
Which was aggravating because he hadn’t been coy when he’d told her she wasn’t his type.
He preferred his women…easy.
Easy on the eyes and easy on the brain.
Less talk, more action.
He liked a woman who excelled in the art of sucking a cock, not arguing the merits of a particular business decision.
And while he’d likely never know if Tana could suck the chrome from a Bentley, he definitely knew the woman liked to argue.
“We need that property,” Dillon said as if Reece were an idiot and it’d been his fault the deal had soured. “What happened?”
“The granddaughter got Power of Attorney and killed the deal. End of story. The lawyers said there was nothing that could be done.”
“And what did you do to try and change her mind?”
Dillon, the biggest dick of the cousins, in Reece’s opinion, pinned him with his gaze, not letting Reece slide an inch. Well, fuck him. Reece couldn’t force a deal to happen.
“I bought her a hot dog. Spent a hundred bucks, too. And I didn’t even get her number. Cute, in a bookish sort of way, but totally hostile.”
Dillon wasn’t amused. “What are you going to do to change her mind?”
Reece lost his flippant smile, his gaze hardening. “What do you mean? She isn’t interested and she doesn’t like the Buchanans. Case closed. Jesus, Dillon, what do you want me to do, kidnap her and force her to sign over the deed?”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Dillon said but Reece wasn’t so sure. “Persuasion is an art but it can be learned. Everyone has a price, a trigger.”
Reece didn’t like where this was going. “And?”
“And you’re going to find hers. You need to start thinking about how you’re going to persuade her to see things our way.”
“I don’t know how to magically make something happen that’s not in the cards. She’s not interested in anything I have to offer and she said exactly that.”
Dillon Buchanan, often called the shark of the family, looked ready to rip Reece’s head off. “Here’s what’s going to happen. You’re going to return to New York and you’re going to persuade this woman to change her mind.”
“And just how am I supposed to do that?”
“By any means necessary,” Dillon said flatly, adding with a shrug. “Put that pretty face of yours to work.”
Reece made a disgusted noise. “That’s your M.O. Not mine. What am I supposed to do? Fuck her into submission? Get real, cuz. Not everyone can be swayed by a fat cock and a shit ton of money.”
Especially Tana Brooks. He didn’t imagine Tana would bend her morals or beliefs for anything or anyone.
He rather liked that about her. Seemed a nice change from the people he usually hung around.
His crowd was fun but morally ambiguous at best.
“Bullshit. I find that those two things can persuade almost any woman.”
“A feminist at heart,” he quipped, irritated by the whole scene. He hated business shit.
He’d never planned to work for Buchanan Enterprises and if it weren’t for the fact that his ACL was fucked, he’d be playing professional lacrosse.
He missed the field, the thrill of playing. Fuck, he missed it all. He even missed the smell of a sweaty lockerroom.
Yeah, hanging out in the past is a great idea.
“Do it yourself, if you think I’m doing a shit job. I have better things to do than play your errand boy.”
“Need I remind you of a few details? I purchased your father’s shares of Buchanan Enterprises. I own the majority in this company. I hate to be a dick but you work for me, whether you like it or not, and right now, your job is to secure that property.”
Reece glared. Yeah, dick move. “How nice of you to remind me that we are permanently under your thumb.”
Dillon shrugged. “I hate to be an ass—“
“No you don’t. You love being an ass. Twisting the knife a little deeper is what gets you off.”
Dillon smiled coldly. “The thrill of the hunt, cuz. Now, back to business. You are going to fly back to New York and you’re going to make that deal happen. No excuses, no failures.”
“And if I don’t?” Reece affected a bored expression. “If I can’t wave my magic cock wand and make a miracle happen?”
“Then you’re going to discover the hard way that you’re not made for poverty.”
That got his attention. “What are you talking about?”
“I will cut you off.”
“Fuck you, you can’t do that. I have a trust.”
“True. But I can tie it up in a knot so tight you’d be sleeping on the streets and chewing on your own hair before that money could ever help you. And if you managed to get to the money, that’s all you’d ever get and you burn through money like the second coming. You’d be broke within a month. And then what?”
“Sutton will never let you do that.”
His older brother would have to step in, right?
Except Sutton was head over heels in love with his new wife and likely not interested in dealing with Reece’s problems.
And his sister Whitney? Hell, he didn’t know what was going on with her but she certainly wouldn’t be much help either.
“Won’t he? The thing is…we’re tired of your shit. You’re the laziest of the bunch and it looks bad. Besides, we’re tired of carrying you.
Either pull your weight or get the fuck out.”
Reece stared, unable to believe what his cousin was saying. Cut him off? But even as the angry protests jumped to his mouth, he knew Dillon had him by the short hairs. It was true they were wealthy. They had yachts and exotic homes, penthouse suites in the best cities, private jets, etc.
But the money was tied to Buchanan Enterprises, a move his father and uncle had done as a way to protect assets.
But then his fucking father had sold his shares to Dillon before kicking the bucket to pay off gambling debts and fuck it all, had screwed his kids.
Now the east coast cousins had to work for the west coast cousins or face getting a real job in the private sector.
Working.
For real.
No more fancy parties, or exotic homes.
No more spending without looking at a price tag.
No more embracing that which made him a Buchanan.
Dillon sensed Reece’s surrender and pushed the airline ticket toward him.
“What’s this?” Reece opened the ticket and stared. “Fucking coach?”
“To give you an idea of what the other side is like. I find with the right motivation, all things are possible.”
“Fuck you, Dillon,” he muttered and stuffed the ticket into his pocket. “You’re an asshole.”
The insult bounced off Dillon without effect. “You have two weeks to make this happen. Good luck.”
Reece gave Dillon the middle finger.
No wonder everyone hated the Buchanans — right about now, he wasn’t much of a fan either.
***
Tana let herself into her grandfather’s small brownstone and smiled at the in-home nurse she’d hired for the time being.
“Everything okay, Nora?” she asked, unwinding her scarf and removing her jacket. The tail end of autumn was rapidly turning chilly, which was not surprising for New York and Tana was more than ready to say goodbye to the humidity of summer. “Did he give you any trouble?”
“No trouble at all but he’s an incredible flirt,” Nora teased as she gathered her things. “Would you like me to stay a little longer or are you good?”
“I’m good. I’m not going anywhere for the rest of the day.”
Victory was still fresh in her thoughts even though her mother had been harassing her day and night.
She didn’t trust that woman further than she could throw her and fully expected Donna to pull some kind of stunt before too long.
Tana just had to be ready for it. “Thank you, Nora. See you tomorrow.”
Nora let herself out and Tana went to find her grandfather. She found him in his favorite chair, looking out the window, watching the people walk by.
“Hey Papa, how are you doing today? Nora said you were flirting with her again. You know she’s married, you crafty old dog,” she reminded him with a grin.
Her papa grinned as if he knew as much but didn’t mind in the least and Tana breathed a sigh of relief.
Today was going to be a good day. Times like this she could almost pretend he wasn’t slowly losing his mind — a secret she was desperate to hide from her mother.
“I went to the store and picked up some fresh cucumbers and tomatoes for a salad. Does that sound good?”
“You’re too good to me, Tana-banana.”
Tana blinked back sudden tears. That was his nickname for her.
It’d been a long time since he was lucid enough to remember it. She choked back the wave of sadness to force a bright smile.
“Great! Because if I make you something, you know I’m expecting you to eat it. I’m not like Grams. I don’t love being in the kitchen.”
“Ahh, Grams…she could bake. Did you ever have her Upsy-Daisy cake? Mmmmmm, my favorite.” He paused a moment and his vision clouded a little as he asked, “Do you know when your Grams is coming home? I can’t remember what she said.”
And there it was. Her hope crashed and she swallowed the lump of sadness that always clogged her throat when Papa’s dementia showed its ugly face. “Um, Grams died five years ago, Papa. She’s in heaven with Uncle Bobby.”
Bobby, her mother’s older brother, died in a car accident when he was seventeen.
Papa’s bottom lip quivered and she cursed herself for being honest. She should’ve just told him a nice lie to preserve whatever reality he was living at the moment.
“Papa, can you help me in the kitchen?” she asked, desperate to switch tracks.
“I’m cold.”
“Oh, I’m sorry, let me get a blanket.” Tana rushed to get a light blanket and tuck it around him. “There you go. All better?”
He nodded and returned his gaze to the window.
“Papa…I…” But she didn’t finish. He was lost in his own world.
She turned away so he wouldn’t see her tears. His lucid moments were becoming further apart. It was going to be impossible to hide that fact from her mother for much longer.
As soon as Donna figured out that Papa wasn’t of sound mind, she’d have that Power of Attorney ripped to shreds, claiming that Tana had coerced Papa into signing it when, in fact, it was the last thing Papa had been adamant about doing.
He’d known his own daughter wasn’t going to look out for his interests.
Donna had never been a mother to Tana, dumping off her daughter with Grams and Papa so she could flit around the city, living it up with whoever would foot the bill.
Thus, Tana had been close to her grandparents and couldn’t give two figs about her own mother.
And it absolutely killed Tana to think of Donna getting her greedy mitts on anything belonging to Grams and Papa.
Which meant she had to figure out a way to secure their property.
Darren Isaacs, owner of Revitalize Inc., a company that specialized in the restoration of old buildings, had expressed an interest in Papa’s building but there were so many hoops to jump in order to make it happen.
Tana tried not to get down but sometimes the odds seemed stacked against her.
She was a few credits shy of her degree in structural engineering, which meant she suffered the torture of knowing what could be done with the building but couldn’t do anything about it without help.
Not to mention, without that degree, she couldn’t get the job she needed.
In the meantime, she was forced to bartend to make the bills.
A headache began to pulse behind her temple.
Inexplicably, Reece Buchanan jumped to mind, which made her wonder if a brain aneurysm was imminent.
She’d likely never see him again — which was fine by her — but she couldn’t help but wonder the tiniest bit what it’d be like to spend time with a man like him.
Oh, that’s productive, a snarky voice chided her. Why don’t you go play in traffic if you’re into self-destructive behavior.
Ugh. Yeah, that was enough to snap her out of whatever weird funk was happening.
She had to focus on finding a good buyer for the building, not someone whose sole interest was to tear it down.
And she needed to start chopping up the cucumbers for the salad.
Yep. Focus girl.
But whatever you do, don’t focus on the fact that you haven’t had a date in over a year and that you’re practically revirginized.
As in her hymen had probably grown back at this rate.
A forlorn sigh escaped her lips.
Tana hated to admit something so embarrassing but…she missed sex.
Okay, so if she were being honest, it wasn’t as if she’d been a promiscuous college kid, getting railed at every keg party, but she’d gotten it frequently enough to miss it now that it was gone.
Taking care of Papa, warding off her piranha mother, and working a dead-end job was a full-time gig, which left no time for extra curricular activities.
But she wanted to moan, at twenty-four, she was too young to become celibate!
And once again, Reece jumped to mind.
Those lips…those
green eyes…and that ass…
Heat immediately warmed her insides and she pressed her thighs together as she suppressed a groan.
Good grief.
If she was thinking about Reece in any manner that was remotely sexual, she needed electro-shock therapy because she’d rather open a Tinder account and meet up with a random stranger than mess around with that man.
Well, thank God she never had reason to meet up with him again.
Her abbreviated association with Reece Buchanan was about all she could handle.
bookmark: 3
Chapter 3
z
Reece Buchanan, stood in front of the upscale apartment complex with distaste.
He couldn’t believe Dillon was bullying him into doing this. Right now his bitch-ass cousin was cramming a shit sandwich into his mouth and he had no choice but to open wide.
But Reece was nothing if not resourceful and if his future rested on delivering that building with a red shiny bow to his cousin then that was exactly what he was going to do through any means possible.
And seeing as Tana Brooks was the one person standing in the way, he had to get to know the woman better.
Which brought him to the doorstep of Tana’s mother.
Donna Morris rang him in and ushered Reece into her apartment with nervous energy as she tried to impress him with flattery.
“Mr. Buchanan, I knew you would come around. There’s no way a Buchanan would let a business deal like this go down the drain after everything we’ve done to make it happen.”
Reece shelved his dislike for the woman and forced an amiable smile as he glanced around.
Someone had expensive tastes, but as far as he knew, Donna was unemployed. “I’m hoping we can work together in some capacity for a workable solution.”
“Oh yes! I’m so glad you’ve come to discuss this terrible situation about my daughter. I just know she’s done something sneaky in order to get that power of attorney. Trust me when I say, my father has talked of nothing else when it comes to this deal.”
“It does seem curious that the deal soured so quickly,” he said, allowing her to fuss over him as he took a seat. “Why do you think Tana is so opposed to the deal?”
Pushed (Billionaire romance): Pursued By The Billionaire (Buchanan Romance Book 2) Page 2
