Last Tailored Suit

by Pierce, Nicolette

“I . . .um . . . I,” Jenna floundered.

  “It means she doesn’t like it,” Mark said.

  They all looked at the motley page. Anything Goes looked more like a mosaic gone horribly wrong.

  “Why is there a bride with a beard and a groom with a bra?” Jenna asked.

  “Tacky, right?” Mark tsked. “Everyone knows you have to wax if you’re going to wear a bra.”

  “I was going to ask why there’s a half-person half-goat,” Greyson said.

  “That’s a satyr,” Frankie said. “I’m just trying to convey that we don’t discriminate. We cater to everyone.”

  “Yes, but you don’t have to spell it out for people,” Mark said. “Anything goes implies we’ll cater to whoever walks through the door. And, contrary to your belief, I doubt we’ll get many satyrs . . . since they don’t exist.”

  Frankie crossed his arms. “I didn’t say they existed. I’m just saying that if someone wants to dress up like one, we’ll let him in the door with no questions asked.”

  “Except for ‘how’s it hanging?’” Mark tittered.

  Frankie snorted. “Well, you’d have to ask that.”

  They were both reduced to giggles.

  Jenna glanced between the couple, wondering if she’d missed something. She understood the reference but didn’t know why they were now silently shaking with laughter.

  “Don’t bother trying to understand,” Greyson leaned down to whisper. “It’s easier on the nerves.”

  “How do you and Mya know them?”

  “Nadia worked for Frankie, and they each had apartments above the chapel.”

  There was the name again. Jenna was starting to tire of Nadia’s invisible presence. She watched for a change in Greyson, but once again, he didn’t seem any different. Jenna didn’t know what to make of it.

  “So, you met him when you stayed over at Nadia’s place?” Jenna asked. Why did she ask that? She didn’t want to know the answer, and she certainly didn’t want to know if he’d slept with Nadia, although she was pretty sure she knew the answer to that.

  Greyson’s curious stare made her have to concentrate on not fidgeting in her chair. “No. I never stayed at her place.”

  “Oh.”

  “That’s right,” Frankie said, wiping tears from his laughing eyes. “She was conked on the head and had to stay with Greyson at his penthouse. I never did get to see it. I bet it was all sexified.”

  Mark groaned. “I keep telling you that sexified isn’t a real word.”

  “It should be.”

  Jenna felt the prickle of heat score her body. Don’t be jealous, she repeated in her head like a mantra. She shouldn’t feel jealous, she knew. But there was an unreasonable sensation wrapping around her.

  Enough of that! It’s not as if she never had boyfriends. The quantity was few, and the quality was . . . not so great. But she had no reason to be jealous of a woman who was engaged to someone else.

  Jenna had to get a grip.

  She looked over at Greyson, who was still staring at her with that curious expression, as if he wanted to see something inside her. And when his lips turned into a secretive smile, she knew she was lost.

  A complete goner.

  * * *

  Jenna worked the rest of the day under a shade tree. Greyson decided that if she was truly going to open the business, the landscaping had to be finished. And if he was outside, then Jenna had to be as well.

  She didn’t mind. It was a warm, sunny day and the Internet signal reached her spot, which was snug up against a tree with pillows all around her. She didn’t know what room the pillows came from. Greyson hauled them from the house, arranged them on ground, and then sat her on top of them.

  It was pleasant. Although, she wished he would’ve picked a tree farther away or even let her sit on the patio. He was too close and too distracting.

  Jenna looked over at Greyson for the tenth time in ten minutes.

  Ridiculous.

  Greyson’s phone vibrated among the pillows. He had lent it to her so she could make calls since her phone was reduced to shards.

  “Remy’s on the phone,” Jenna said, reading the caller ID. “Do you want me to answer it?”

  “Yes.” Greyson wiped his hands on jeans.

  “Hello?” she answered, a little nervous to talk to Remy, who seemed like an overwhelmingly large and military-type man. She knew she was being silly. She had talked to him before, but he had a very dominant presence that radiated around him and even through the phone.

  “Is this Jenna?” Remy asked.

  “Yes. Would you like to speak with Greyson? He’s in the garden.”

  “No. Just tell him we’ve tracked the men. We also found Sergio. If he’s back in town, I can guarantee something’s about to go down. I’m keeping tabs on him, but he’s on the move.”

  “Who’s Sergio? Does he have anything to do with my brother’s disappearance?”

  Greyson stopped in mid-planting. He trekked the short distance, taking the phone from Jenna.

  “It’s Greyson,” he said, his brow furrowed. “Are you sure?”

  “What’s going on?” Jenna asked.

  “Yeah. Keep me in the loop,” Greyson said, disconnecting. He handed the phone back to Jenna.

  “Well?” she asked. “Who’s Sergio? Do you know him?”

  “A little,” Greyson said. “Long story, but he’s head of a drug family. But, he’s a good guy. I think.”

  “You think?”

  He shrugged. “Would you trust a drug lord?”

  “Is he the one that keeps coming after me?”

  Greyson shook his head. “I don’t think so. Although, if Remy can talk to him, I’m sure we’ll answer that question.”

  Jenna scrambled to stand. “Then let’s go find him.”

  Greyson stopped her. “Let Remy track him for a while. If Sergio is in town, there’s a reason. Let’s figure out what it is before we beat down his door.”

  “Why? Why can’t we go now?”

  “Listen, I don’t know the whole story. From what David told me before, we don’t want to go storming over to wherever he is. He’s in the middle of a family uprising. While he’s trying to destroy the business, his cousin is trying to take it over. There will be a war. You don’t want to be caught in the middle.”

  “What about my brother?” Her insides turned.

  “Think this through, Jenna. Adam might’ve been mixed up with a drug seller. Maybe he was one himself. Sergio might be able to shed some light once we talk to him.”

  “Not if he winds up dead.”

  “And you won’t be around to ask questions if you go charging in and wind up dead either.”

  Fair point, she grudgingly admitted.

  “How do you all know Sergio?”

  “Caleb had sent Nadia his trophy from his tournament win in Panama. It contained a memory card with Sergio’s brother’s DNA. They thought he was dead. Turns out he was alive and in French Guiana undergoing cosmetic reconstruction. I’m not sure what happened to him. I can thankfully say it’s the one time my family or I didn’t put Nadia in danger. Although, David did play a roll in it as well. Damn it!” Greyson arms dropped, his head fell back, glaring at the sky. “We did put Nadia in danger. Again!”

  Jenna flinched.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked.

  Jenna shook her head. “Nothing. I’m just a little stressed out.” It wasn’t a lie. She was pushing the walls of her limits. But it wasn’t why she flinched. It was that name again. She felt overshadowed.

  “What are you working on?” he asked, thankfully switching the subject.

  “I was looking into web designs, but I wasn’t sure about a business name yet, so I don’t want to move forward.”

  “Did you have any in mind?”

  “Yes.”

  “Well?”

  Jenna contemplated until Greyson’s brow arched. “You might think this is dumb, but when I first arrived I felt I had reached a safe haven, somepla
ce I could stay and never be found. An escape. It was like a dream. You have a beautiful house and garden. The landscape is impressive. It’s wonderful.”

  “And?”

  “I thought we could call it Dreamscape Inn.” When Greyson didn’t say anything, Jenna blurted, “Kind of a cross between dream, landscape, and escape. I have other ideas as well, but they sounded so bland and generic.”

  “No,” Greyson said, shaking his head. “It’s perfect. Go ahead.”

  “Are you sure? I can come up with a list for you to choose from.”

  “Jenna, it’s perfect.”

  “I . . .”

  “If you say another word, I’ll fire you.”

  Jenna snapped her mouth closed in shock, only to find him laughing. “You can fire me if you want. But I’m still going to open the business, so you’re stuck with me.”

  His only answer was a smile.

  Chapter 19

  Greyson felt a crick growing in his neck as he spread the dirt around the last hedge. Finally, he was done with the maze and could move on to a different section of the garden. He straightened, stretching his arms and back. Damn, it felt good.

  As he picked up his tools, he surveyed the creation that took weeks of back-breaking labor. Right now it looked like a pretty design on the lawn, but in a few years, when the hedges grew tall, it’d become a place a person could lose themselves in, however briefly that might be. He had designed it for Nadia, but it was Jenna who he wanted to chase through it, losing himself with her.

  Crazy how she’d shifted from adversary to someone who was scarily close to stealing his heart. Jenna could claim it if she wanted to, simply by being so near and looking up at him with those soft brandy eyes that narrowed when he exasperated her. He enjoyed that. She could steal it, but he wouldn’t ever allow the bad luck that dogged him and made Nadia’s life hell shift to Jenna. It was bad enough that her brother put her in such a predicament.

  Greyson would make sure she stayed safe, even if that meant keeping his distance. He had already given up any plans to conquer his little sergeant.

  He looked over to find Jenna in the same spot he’d left her, mumbling to herself as she had the entire afternoon.

  “What are you working on?” he called. “I can hear you grumbling from over here.”

  “What?” she asked, not paying attention.

  Greyson wandered over and sat near her, his back resting against the tree trunk. “I said, what are you working on? You’ve been talking to yourself the last couple of hours.”

  “Have I? I’m sorry. I didn’t realize I was doing that,” she said, never taking her eyes off her laptop.

  Greyson reached over and plucked it off her lap.

  “Hey! Give it back.”

  “Not until I figure out what has you so absorbed that you can’t even pay attention to your boss.”

  Jenna rolled her eyes. “Just give it back. The battery is about to die, and I need to save my work.”

  “What’s this for?” Greyson looked at the black screen with a neon-green scroll bar running across.

  “I’m playing around with web designs, but I think I’ll hire someone.”

  “You probably should. The way this thing is turning out, it’d be worse than Frankie’s.”

  Jenna huffed and snatched the laptop. “I have better taste than that, which is why I’m calling a web designer first-thing tomorrow.”

  “Good idea.”

  Jenna absentmindedly swatted his arm as she saved her work and powered down the computer. It felt more like a tap and amused him since she probably didn’t even know she did it. She was becoming comfortable with him.

  “How long do you think it’ll take to get a website up and running?” Jenna asked. “I’ve never had to do this before. I want it up tomorrow.”

  “Why tomorrow?”

  “So I can start marketing.”

  “If you want it tomorrow, you’re going to have to give the designers a big incentive.”

  “Like money.”

  “They’d take other forms of bribes too. But let’s stick with money for now.”

  Jenna’s confusion made Greyson grin. At her indignant huff when she realized what he had implied, she reached over and pinched his arm.

  “You have a tendency to become physical when you’re mad,” Greyson said.

  “Sorry,” she said, not sounding at all sorry. “Bad habits of a smaller sibling.”

  “Did you assault your previous bosses?”

  “No, just you get that honor.”

  “You know it doesn’t hurt, right?”

  “I never mean for it to hurt. And if you smile at me in that dopey way again, I’ll do worse.”

  “Yeah? Like what?”

  Jenna looked at him, her eyes lingering around his beard. “I’ll shave that thing off while you’re sleeping.”

  “Perhaps I’ll shave it off tonight before you can exact your revenge.”

  She smiled. “I’d win either way, because then I won’t have to see it anymore.” She reached over to playfully tug it, bringing his face closer to her.

  “Are you sure you want to win this round?” Greyson teased. All he had to do was move forward a scant inch or two and their lips would touch, but he wouldn’t.

  Jenna immediately let go of his beard and floundered in the pillows, trying to stand. “Dinner.”

  “What?”

  “I’ll go make dinner,” she said, crawling from the pillows. She stood and gathered her laptop.

  “I thought we could go out to dinner,” Greyson said.

  Jenna hugged the laptop. “There’s no need.”

  There was a need for Greyson. If he had to see her bounce around the kitchen in her tiny outfits again, he’d lose it. A restaurant with a table between them would be much safer.

  “Be ready to go in thirty minutes,” Greyson said, brushing past Jenna as he headed inside.

  “But there’s —”

  “Who’s the boss?” Greyson tossed back. A smile twitched on his lips when he heard her indignant huff.

  * * *

  Jenna marched into Greyson’s bedroom. She had given him a few minutes head start to jump into the shower as she stewed downstairs. Must he be so provoking? She knew he did it on purpose. Well, now he did it on purpose.

  She could hear the water running as she raced into the closet where some of her new clothes were hanging. The rest were still in a pile.

  Her fingers drifted over the selections thinking the hanger would provide more cover than these tiny things. Well, if he could be provoking in his I’m-the-boss way, she could be provoking in her own way. Not that this would be her normal provoking way, but she didn’t have much of a choice anyway.

  And Greyson deserved it.

  She slipped a slinky black number off a hanger and closed the closet door in case Greyson chose that moment to come out of the bathroom. It was bad enough having so much exposed skin; she didn’t want him to see her “unmentionables” too, which were rather uncomfortable. Mya must have bought every lacy, bum-showing contraption the boutique had.

  Jenna stripped off her clothes, discarding them in a corner. She’d have to remember to buy a hamper. Greyson had one, but she didn’t feel comfortable mingling their clothes.

  And where was the laundry room? She had yet to discover it. It made her wonder what other rooms and discoveries she had yet to find.

  Jenna struggled with her dress. It hugged a little too tightly. She pulled at the hem, tugging it down. The full-length mirror showed it didn’t look overly tight, but it felt like a bear hug. It’d have to do, she thought as the sound of running water stopped. Greyson would be ready in a few minutes.

  Shoes?

  Jenna hurried from the closet and over to the stacked shoeboxes, dragging her fingers through her hair to comb it as best as she could.

  She kneeled in front of the boxes, trying to read the labels. She didn’t want to open every box if she didn’t have to. Scanning the labels, she found one o
n the bottom that looked promising. Jenna bent over to get a better look.

  “Jesus,” Greyson breathed.

  Jenna popped up, peeking behind her to find Greyson near the bathroom door.

  “Oh, I didn’t hear you,” Jenna said, attempting to stand. Every time she moved one way, her dress shimmied the other. Greyson watched in fascinated horror. “Can you turn around? I seem to be having issues.”

  Greyson quickly turned. A little too quickly. The least he could do is be a normal man and leer for a few seconds.

  Jenna stood and rearranged her dress. It wasn’t too far out of place, but it was a little too close to exposing her lacy frills.

  “You can turn around now,” Jenna said. “I’m decent.”

  Greyson slowly turned as if he was afraid. And by the way he let out a gusting breath, he must have been holding it for some time.

  “I’ll be ready to go in a minute,” Greyson said, moving to his closet to blindly grab a pair of shoes. “But take your time. I’ll meet you by the front door.” He hurried out the door with bare feet and shoes in his hand.

  In his rush to flee, he forgot his socks, Jenna mused.

  She wandered over to his dresser and pulled out a pair that would match his steel-gray dress shirt that he wore with jeans. She then dug out a pair of her shoes that she had spied earlier and slipped on the silvery, high-heeled sandals.

  Before she left, she took a good long look at herself in the mirror and was happy to find she looked more put together than she felt.

  Jenna switched off the lights and made her way down to Greyson, who was exactly where he said he’d be. He paced in front of the door in his shoes and no socks.

  “Missing something?” she asked.

  Greyson looked over at the socks in her hands, then down at his feet. “I guess I am.” He took the socks and quickly put them on. “My mind must be somewhere else. You look beautiful, by the way,” he said, right before he ran out the door.

  Jenna followed him to the garage, wondering why he was acting so strangely. Had her dress hitched funny when she bent over, exposing her barely covered derriere? That’d be embarrassing. She vowed not to ask. She didn’t want to know.