by Lisa Suzanne
The steak is chewy and the potatoes are cold. The wine is bitter. At least the company is first rate, I think to myself as I eye the empty chair across from me.
What would Viv have ordered? She seems less like a red meat kind of girl and more like a chicken eater. Red wine for sure, though I almost wonder if she’d skip the alcohol altogether at a business dinner. She didn’t at the gala, but that was different—and she only had one. Before I ditched her, at least.
I hate that I’m thinking of her as I cut into my steak. I hate that I feel guilty for leaving her in the room we’re sharing as I came down here to eat alone.
I especially hate that she’s not down here eating with me. That’s on me, though.
I have got to get this chick out of my head, and the perfect distraction comes through just when I need it to in the form of a text message.
Tess: You free this weekend for some more fun?
Me: I knew you’d come crawling back for more. They always do.
Tess: That’s because you’re good in bed. No other reason.
Me: I can’t deny that. And to answer your question, I’m free late Friday.
Tess: Perfect.
Me: Should we plan on ten, naked, whiskey, your place again?
Tess: You bring the whiskey. I’ll take care of the rest.
Me: Deal.
I set my phone down and glance up just as dark, wavy hair catches my eye as the host leads her to a table. A rush of emotion pings through my chest when our eyes meet, mine still twinkling from my conversation with Tess. A little smile tips Viv’s lips as she thinks the twinkle is directed at her.
I blow out a breath. That tiny smile on her face brightens the entire room. How can I keep being the guy that wipes it away?
I can’t. Not anymore. Not after her vulnerability at the airport and not after she confessed she hates me. Not after she offered up the spare bed in her toad-free hotel room and not after I saw the long lashes framing the blue eyes I want to keep seeing look upon me with something other than disapproval.
I nod toward the empty chair across from me, and she pauses.
“I thought you wanted to eat alone,” she says, her tone full of surprise.
“I do. Did. I’ve eaten half my steak alone, so this is my way of compromising.”
“I don’t want to bother you. I’ll just get my own table,” she says.
“Stop,” I say. My tone is firm, and I don’t want it to be. I want her to have the option, so I soften my next words. “I’d like for you to join me.”
She predictably orders grilled chicken and steamed vegetables with a glass of red wine, and once I’m finished with my meal and she’s waiting quietly for her food, I think it’s time to get to know her a little better. I’m not sure if that’s a good idea or a bad one, but suddenly I want to know everything.
I start with what I know we have in common. “So how did you meet my brother?”
“I’ve actually known him for a long time. My cousin is Vick,” she says, naming my brother’s band’s assistant. “She invited me backstage ten or so years ago after a show in LA and we got to talking.”
“You didn’t sleep with him, did you?” The question blurts out before I can stop it. It wouldn’t bother me, exactly, if she did, but I’d force myself to lose interest if she had some flame burning for him. I can’t go through that shit again.
Her eyes widen and her cheeks grow red. “No!” she exclaims, as if she’s offended I’d even think that. She averts her eyes to the table. “But I almost had a thing with Ethan.”
I laugh and shake my head. Both men have historically been known as womanizers in the press, and they didn’t earn their reputations because they’re virgins. “It’s always either the singer or the drummer.”
She lifts both shoulders. “It’s not that I wasn’t attracted to Mark, but Ethan got to me first.”
My chest tightens at the mention of her attraction to my brother.
“One of their bets?” I ask.
She rolls her eyes. “Vick filled me in later. Ethan got fifty bucks for getting me in his dressing room before Mark did.”
“And you still decided to work with him?” I definitely didn’t peg her as the type to let something like that go, let alone get involved in a professional relationship with someone who did that to her. More proof I really don’t know anything about her, I guess.
“It’s ancient history, and a little embarrassing if I’m honest. But nothing happened with either one of them, and I’ve met them lots of times since then. They’ve both apologized to me, and we’ve all moved on. Besides, Mark’s offer was one I couldn’t refuse.”
“How much is he paying you?” I realize it’s not my business, but the question is out before I can stop it.
She looks uncomfortable for a minute as she takes a sip of her wine, but she answers anyway. “Sixty.”
“Thousand?” I ask as I try to hide my surprise.
She nods. “Plus expenses. He said he gave you that fifty you asked for plus ten extra, and he wanted to match that. He said it would be the last money he ever put into FDB.”
I press my lips together as I think how nice it would’ve been if he’d have discussed this with me first rather than tossing Viv on me and my company.
“Sixty thousand for ninety days of work,” I say. “Not too shabby.”
“Not the least I’ve made, but not the most.” She says it confidently, and for as demure as she paints herself sometimes, she’s also a fierce businesswoman. Yet another question for the what’s-that-like-beneath-the-sheets list.
“Do you have other projects you’re working on while you’re in Vegas?”
She nods. “You’re my nine-to-five, sometimes six. I have to do something to keep myself occupied after that.”
“What are your other projects?”
“They’re confidential,” she says, and of course they are. I feel a little stupid for asking, but I’m suddenly curious about what her life is like when she’s not sitting in my office.
“You just work at your hotel?” I ask.
“You’re full of questions tonight.” She eyes me suspiciously.
“Just making conversation.” I say it like I’m defending myself, but I shouldn’t have to. I wish I would’ve come across a little differently from the start if she feels like I might have ulterior motives in a simple conversation. It forces me into the realization that maybe I was the one who made the bad first impression—not her. I was so blinded by my anger she was even here in the first place that I never gave her a fair chance.
“Let’s talk about something other than work, then,” she says.
“That’s pretty much my go to topic since I’ve dedicated my entire life to it.”
“Do you ever wish you hadn’t?” Her voice is soft when she asks the question, and I run my finger around the rim of my glass as I try to imagine what life might be like if hadn’t gone headfirst into growing FDB after my last real relationship.
I shake my head to answer Viv’s question. “No. I love my job. I love FDB. I love calling the shots. And that’s why I’ve been such an asshole to you.”
She looks surprised by my admission. She opens her mouth to say something, but I charge ahead before she can with more truths I never imagined myself admitting to her.
“My friends and I started FDB so we wouldn’t have to answer to anybody else. It’s a fuck ton of work to own your own business, but it’s been beyond worth it to have something that’s mine.”
“And then I came along,” she says softly.
“It was stupid of me to let it get as far off track as I did. If Mark hadn’t given me that money, I’m not sure what my next step would have been.” It’s something I haven’t admitted to a single soul—something I’ve barely come to terms with myself. I never thought it was something I had to worry about since my brother always took care things for me, but I’ve spent it all and now I’m cut off.
“You know this already, though, since you’ve studie
d the reports,” I say. “I made the situation seem like no big deal to Mark, but it’s actually been pretty dire.”
She nods. “I didn’t want to overstep, but if you need help budgeting your personal finances, too, I’m at your disposal. It’s all part of my contract with Mark.”
My brows shoot up. “My personal finances are part of your contract?”
“Not in so many words, but anything that could affect the finances of FDB is under my jurisdiction, and if you’ve been pumping your own money into the company, I can help you figure out how to make it back.”
“You just wave your magic wand and fix it all?” I ask.
“Not exactly, but...yeah. Pretty much.”
I laugh and shake my head as the waiter drops Viv’s grilled chicken in front of her.
“Okay,” I finally say. “Let’s do it.”
She takes a sip of wine, and I swear I hear her mutter, “That isn’t part of the contract” before she digs into her chicken.
My phone notifies me of a new text, and when I pick it up, I find it’s one of my Miami friends replying to a text I sent earlier.
Dan Shipley: Does The Cork tonight at 9 work?
I weigh my options. Nights out with Danny used to be fairly epic, but he’s settled down quite a bit since he got married and started a family. It might not be as wild as the old days, and that might not be a terrible thing since I have an early morning.
Me: I’ll be there.
“Who’s that?” Viv asks after she swallows a bite of carrot.
“My buddy Danny,” I say, surprised she asked but feeling a little closer to her after our conversation. “He lives just outside Miami in a little suburb called Coconut Grove.”
“Doesn’t that sound kind of magical?” she asks, her eyes suddenly turning a little dreamy. I look away from her, but not before the image burns itself into my memory. “You going to see him while you’re here?”
“Tonight at nine. Want to come?” I ask. The question is out before I can stop myself, but I suddenly want to spend time with her. Maybe I’m just finally getting used to her being around all the time.
“Oh, no,” she says, waving her hand. “I wouldn’t want to impose on your boys’ time.”
I shake my head. “It’s not like that. He’s bringing his wife along. A night away from the kids and all that.”
“Okay,” she says, nodding. “It could be fun. Better than a night alone in my hotel room, anyway.”
“Our hotel room,” I correct her.
She laughs, and I wonder if I’ll ever get used to the rush of emotion I feel when I hear that sound.
chapter nineteen
We Uber our way over to The Cork since it’s right next to the Ritz. I didn’t have the balls to confess the truth to Danny about the Roach Motel, so I let him think I’m staying where I usually do.
I didn’t realize when I asked Viv if she wanted to come that this would feel sort of like a date. I don’t want it to. I don’t even like this woman, yet she seems just a little more human to me. She took sedatives for a plane ride. She nearly hooked up with Ethan, the drummer in my brother’s band. She’s not perfect. She’s a workaholic like me, but from everything I gather, she’s savvy enough to have some money in the bank—not so much like me.
She didn’t do anything different, really—just freshened up while I waited in the lobby for her—but she looks gorgeous. I can’t exactly pinpoint what changed, but something did.
She hates me.
She told me when she was hopped up on her sedatives, and maybe that’s what changed. I don’t want her to feel that way about me because even though I should hate her for what she’s doing, she’s only doing it because she was hired to. She’s just fulfilling the contract she signed so she can collect her paycheck. This isn’t her fault. It’s my brother’s. Maybe his own way of getting back at me—putting this ridiculous temptation in front of me.
We’re twenty minutes early, but I did that on purpose. “Want to take a quick walk?” I ask after we’re out of the car and standing on the sidewalk.
“Sure,” she says.
I remind myself this is nothing more than two colleagues on a work trip together going for a romantic walk by the marina.
Oh shit. I’m fucked, aren’t I?
I fall into step beside her, that floral scent drifting up toward my nose. Her heels click on the sidewalk, and I can’t help but glance at her shapely legs. They’re all sorts of calf muscle gorgeousness, probably because she works out or runs and wears heels all day every day, and now I can’t get the image out of my head of her legs wrapped around my neck with her feet planted firmly in those heels.
We get to the dock, and the first row of boats are the yachts for sale. The fence in front of them holds paperwork showing pictures of the interiors along with their price tags.
“Four million?” she says, eyeing the Sterling hundred-thirty-eight-footer in front of us. “Looks more like a three and a half.”
I laugh, and we walk to the next one. “I’ll take two of these,” she says. This one is bigger, newer, and about eight times the price.
“My brother has one sort of like this down in Mexico,” I say wryly. “I think he’s selling it if you’re interested.”
“Why’s he selling it?”
“Same reason he won’t continue to fund FDB,” I mutter.
“The baby?” she asks.
I look over at her with a furrowed brow. “He told you that?”
She shakes her head. “My brother-in-law did the same thing when they got pregnant. He put a halt on all spending. I think it’s just the typical man response, you know? Women start nesting, men start saving.”
I shrug. “Mark has more money than he knows what to do with,” I mutter.
She glances up at me. “That doesn’t mean it’s smart to throw it away.”
I look away from her before our eyes have a chance to lock, because once they do, I’m pretty sure I’ll be done with the whole pretending I don’t want her ruse. I start a lazy stroll toward the next boat. “You have to defend him. You’re working for him.”
We both look at the price tag, and when she looks up at the boat and starts talking, her voice is soft and gentle. “I think what you don’t realize, Brian, is that I’m also working for you. I may technically be your boss, but once this contract is up after ninety days and I’m gone because I’ve waved my magic wand, as you put it, it’s up to you to keep everything afloat. Mark won’t hire me back again. He’ll just shut down FDB if you run out of money, and then your best friends will certainly learn your secret.”
She says the last part like she doesn’t approve of me keeping information from my partners, but it’s not up to her to judge. It’s how I’ve decided to run my portion of the business, and I have a contract saying she agrees to keep my secrets...provided I keep up my end of the bargain. I’m off to a better start playing nice since dinner, but that’s also the time I can best pinpoint when things started to change for me.
When I started seeing her as someone more human even though I don’t want to.
When the ache in my chest and subsequently in my cock started becoming unbearable.
When I realized I want her in my bed tonight. Or, given our situation, I want to be in her bed tonight.
“We should probably get over to the bar,” I finally say, choosing not to acknowledge her words about my company.
She nods and I fight the urge to grab her hand and clutch it in mine as we walk toward The Cork.
I glance around the bar when we walk in. It’s crowded, but I spot Danny as he waves me over.
“You’re my girlfriend and you came with me on this business trip,” I murmur in Viv’s ear as we make our way toward my friends. She nods to indicate she heard me but doesn’t otherwise respond—except I swear I hear a little gasp as I set my palm on the small of her back and guide her to my buddy’s table.
“Fox!” Danny exclaims when we’re close.
“Shipley!” I yell back i
n the same tone, and he stands and smacks my back in a bro hug. I hug his wife, Carrie. I was in their wedding several years ago, back when Danny and I both still lived in Chicago.
A lot has changed since the good old days.
“This is Vivian,” I say, nodding toward the woman standing beside me. “We just started seeing each other.”
Carrie’s eyebrows shoot up and Dan’s jaw gets stuck open.
I narrow my eyes at both of them. “Don’t say anything stupid.”
Dan’s jaw snaps shut in an attempt to ward off the words on the tip of his tongue, but Carrie manages to find her voice. “It’s lovely to meet you,” she says. She leans in conspiratorially. “Brian’s just bounced around so much over the past few years that it’s sort of hard to believe.”
“That’s exactly the sort of thing I just told you not to say.” I roll my eyes, and Viv laughs.
“I’ll tell you all my secrets about how I got him to commit, but I’m gonna need some wine first,” Viv says.
Carrie nods. “Yep. I like her already.”
We sit and a waitress comes over to take our drink order.
“So how did you two meet?” Carrie asks Viv just as Danny turns to me and asks, “How’s business?”
I want to hear Viv’s answer, but I have to play the part. I’m here to catch up with Danny, so I’m going to allow her to handle it.
“Everything’s great,” I lie, because that’s what we all do when we’re catching up with an old friend, isn’t it? “I acquired four new contracts just this week. Beck’s off on his honeymoon and Jason has been busy with the IT team developing even more innovative ways of tracking data.” I leave out the part about suddenly finding myself in debt up to my ears. I glance over at Viv as I try to catch the end of what she’s saying, but I miss it as Danny asks me another question.
“How long has this been going on?” he asks. My chest tightens. Shit. Does he know about the debt?
