Harlequin Superromance August 2013 - Bundle 1 of 2: What Happens Between FriendsStaying at Joe'sHer Road Home

by Beth Andrews

  CHAPTER NINE

  JAMES LOOKED AT Sadie, then to Elvis, who’d gotten to his feet and come over to have his ears scratched, then back to Sadie. She looked real enough in a red floral skirt that ended well above the knee, a red checked top with puffy sleeves, ankle socks and silver high heels with an open toe.

  No one threw together an outfit like Sadie.

  And, unfortunately, he couldn’t dream up that getup on his own. Besides, most of his dreams of her started off with her clothed, but then quickly progressed so that those clothes magically disappeared. And ever since their night together, ever since he’d felt her skin, tasted her, those dreams had become frequent, more torturous and way more erotic.

  This was real. Sadie was real and so beautiful it hurt just to look at her.

  “Your Jeep’s not here,” James said.

  She stared at him as if he was the one who’d lost his mind. “It’s at the shop getting that dent fixed. Will dropped me off.”

  “How did you get in here?” he asked, the only question he could think of.

  She went behind the desk and sat, putting the scone onto a napkin. “My key, of course.”

  “You don’t have a key.”

  “Yes, I do.”

  He opened his mouth, realized he was about to say, “No, you don’t,” and snapped it shut again. Inhaled deeply. Unfortunately, all he could smell was the coffee and her damned perfume, which only made him crave them both.

  “Why do you have a key?” he asked, once again in control.

  “That’s easy. Because your dad gave me one.”

  As if sensing James was at the end of his rope, and ready to use it to strangle the sexy blonde in front of him, Elvis slunk over to sit by Sadie’s chair.

  “Why—” James ground the words out “—did my father give you a key?”

  But before she even could swallow her mouthful, he knew what his father had done.

  “Because he hired me as your new office manager.”

  The words, the truth he saw before his very eyes, rang in his head. “Like hell he did.”

  She broke off another piece of scone. “Wait a minute...he didn’t tell you?”

  “No.”

  If his father had run this by James first, Sadie wouldn’t be sitting here.

  Blushing clear to the roots of her hair, she stood, wiped her fingers on that skirt. “Jamie, I’m sorry. I thought you knew.”

  “Yeah, well, I didn’t.” And he didn’t care that he sounded like an ass. Didn’t care that she seemed sincere and almost as upset about this as he was. Hearing the shop door open, he jabbed a finger at her. “Don’t move.”

  “Can I at least sit down?”

  “No.” He didn’t want her to sit. He wanted her gone.

  “Sadie,” Frank said as he walked into the office. “You’re here bright and early.”

  Sadie slid James an anxious look then circled the desk to give his father a hug. “Just eager to get started, I guess. Or at least, I was.”

  Frank sniffed the air appreciatively. “Is that coffee I smell? And—” another sniff as if he was a bloodhound, able to discern between jelly and cream-filled “—doughnuts?”

  She began twirling her hair around her finger. “I...uh...stopped at the bakery on my way here.”

  “Looks like we got ourselves a real find, huh, James?” Frank asked.

  “Yeah. She’s a peach.”

  At his flat tone, Sadie flinched. Shit. James pinched the bridge of his nose. He hadn’t meant to hurt her.

  Didn’t you?

  No, he told his snide inner voice. He just wanted her gone. Out of his life for good. It was the only way he’d ever get over her.

  “Let me get you some coffee,” Sadie said, practically running into the kitchenette.

  While she poured, Frank took his time searching through the two glossy white bakery boxes for the perfect doughnut.

  “Can I speak with you?” James asked his dad when Frank had a cup of coffee in one hand, a doughnut in the other. James jerked his head toward the shop. “Alone?”

  Without waiting for an answer, James walked into the shop, crossed to the far end by the windows.

  “Is there a problem?” Frank asked, breaking his cake doughnut in half so he could dunk it in his coffee.

  “Fire her.”

  Frank raised his bushy eyebrows. “Excuse me?”

  “I want you to fire Sadie. Tell her you made a mistake, that she can’t work here.”

  “Why would I do that?”

  Because it was bad enough knowing she was in town, a mere few miles away, without talking to her, without seeing her. When she was half a country away, he could put her out of his mind, pretend she wasn’t always in his heart. But seeing her every day?

  It would be pure hell.

  But he didn’t want to tell his father that, couldn’t admit how deep in over his head he’d always been for her. Though his father probably knew—everyone else seemed to.

  “Why the hell did you hire her in the first place?” James asked. “We don’t need her.”

  “I hired her so your mother could cut back her hours, concentrate on her classes.” He looked confused. And implacable. “I hadn’t realized it would be a problem.”

  “It is. Sadie won’t stay,” James said as the door opened and Maddie came in. “She’ll take off, leaving us in a bind. It might be next week or next month, but she will leave.”

  Frank finished off his doughnut then sipped his coffee. James grimaced, thinking of all those crumbs in there. “She already told me she’d only be able to fill in temporarily, which works out for all of us. Now we can take our time, find the perfect person to take over the job from your mother.”

  “Does Mom even know about this?”

  “Not yet. I wanted it to be a surprise.”

  “It’s a surprise, all right.”

  “What is?” Maddie asked, joining them.

  “Dad hired Sadie to be our new temporary office manager so Mom can focus on her classes.”

  “Oh, Dad, you didn’t. How could you?”

  “Sadie mentioned you and she had a falling-out,” Frank told James. “But that’s no reason to let a lifetime of friendship go. Think of it this way, not only does this help your mother out, but it also gives you and Sadie a chance to work through your differences.”

  “I don’t want to work through our differences. I want her gone.” Out of his shop, out of Shady Grove, out of his life for good. “Fire her. Now.”

  Frank bristled. “I think you’ve forgotten who you’re talking to, son.” His voice was deadly soft. “This is my company. I make the decisions. Not you.” He nodded as if that was the end of it. “Sadie’s hired and she’s staying hired.”

  As Frank walked away, fury colored James’s vision, vibrated through his body. He wanted to rail, to punch the wall, grab his dad and shake him. Curse him out for doing this to him, for not giving him a say in the matter.

  His father’s company. His father’s decisions. James was just another employee.

  “He didn’t mean that the way it came out,” Maddie said quietly. “You know how he gets when he thinks someone is questioning his authority. You push him, he pushes back to let you know he’s still in charge—as our father and our boss. That’s all it was.”

  But James wasn’t so sure. “You ever think about what you’re doing here?”

  Her eyebrows drew together. “Here as in the shop?”

  “Here as in working for Dad. Being stuck in the same place you’ve been—the same place we’ve both been—since we graduated high school.”

  “We’re not stuck, James. This is our job.”

  “Yeah? Well, maybe I’m tired of my job.” Tired of busting his ass every day, of keepi
ng the company running smoothly. Of his thoughts, his feelings being brushed aside.

  “What are you going to do?” Maddie asked sardonically. “Quit?”

  He could.

  The realization shot through him like an electric bolt, had the tips of his fingers tingling, the hair at the nape of his neck standing on end.

  He could quit. Nothing was forcing him to stay. He’d never thought of it before, had never considered the possibilities that were out there. But now that he had...

  Since it wasn’t his company, his business, he didn’t have to take on all the stress and responsibilities, the endless customer complaints or employee frustrations. There was no need for him to work twelve-hour days and spend his weekends putting out fires or trying to get ahead of the game, to stay on top of the jobs. Trying to make Montesano Construction an even bigger success.

  He could walk away.

  The breath left his lungs on a soft whoosh. He could walk away.

  Holy shit.

  “James,” Maddie prompted, “I was kidding.”

  “I know,” he murmured distractedly.

  But now that the idea had taken hold, he couldn’t shake it. Didn’t want to. He wanted to explore it, turn it over in his head and weigh all of his options.

  And then, after careful deliberation, after he’d listed the pros and the cons, he’d decide if he wanted to stay with his father’s company.

  Or start one of his own.

  * * *

  WELL, SO FAR her first day on the job had completely and totally sucked.

  Sadie glanced at the clock on the computer. And she’d only been working for Montesano Construction for twenty minutes. Twenty minutes of Maddie glaring at her hard enough to incinerate her on the spot. Of Eddie barely speaking to her and, the worst, James not even glancing her way, as if he couldn’t stand to look at her.

  Finally, thankfully, their little meeting broke up. Sadie stood as the carpenters started filing out, James having given them their work orders for the day.

  “James,” she called from the office doorway, not meaning to sound quite so...desperate. She toned it down and tried again. “Could I speak with you?”

  Everyone—Frank, Eddie, Maddie and their six employees, every last damn one—stopped in midstride.

  Everyone, that was, except James, who kept right on walking toward the door. “I’m busy.”

  Sadie’s face flamed, got so hot she was surprised steam didn’t rise up and cause her hair to curl. “Jamie,” she managed to say through the mortification tightening her throat. “Please.”

  He stopped, his shoulders ramrod straight. She could practically see his internal debate, sensed how much he wanted to ignore her. To brush her aside when he’d never, not once before, treated her with anything less than the utmost respect.

  She’d lost his respect, his kindness. Her own fault, yes, she thought as irritation rose, but surely he carried some of the blame.

  The workers left, the last one—a super slow-moving Maddie—hesitating at the door while James crossed the shop to Sadie. “Yes?”

  She opened her mouth. Shut it. Okay, so he wasn’t going to apologize for embarrassing her. That was fine. She could handle this new James.

  But, man, she hoped the old James came back soon.

  “I’m sorry,” she said.

  “What for this time?”

  That flicker of irritation grew, threatened to become a full flame. She smothered it. “I thought you knew your father had hired me.”

  “You expect me to believe that?”

  She narrowed her eyes. “It’s the truth.”

  He smirked—James Montesano actually smirked at her. She wished it wasn’t so damned sexy on him.

  “And you always tell the truth, don’t you, Sadie?” His voice was a low, husky purr, a tone she’d never heard from James. Intimate. Knowing.

  Arrogant.

  “I do when it’s important.”

  He nodded. Grudging acceptance. If that was the best she could get, she’d take it.

  “I thought you knew,” she repeated. “In fact I’d hoped...”

  “What?”

  She met his eyes. “I’d hoped it was your idea. That you wanted me here.”

  A stupid assumption on her part. But she’d been so excited about the job that she hadn’t asked too many questions. She never would have guessed that Frank would make a decision like this without getting James’s input first.

  “Look,” she continued, “I don’t want to make things difficult for you, and I certainly don’t want to be the cause of any trouble between you and Frank—”

  “Who said there was trouble between us?”

  “Voices carry in here, James. I heard you two arguing.”

  I don’t want to work through our differences. I want her gone.

  She wiped her damp palms down the sides of her skirt. “I think it’d be better, for everyone, if I just quit.”

  His phone buzzed. He checked it, read whatever the text message said.

  And answered it.

  She wanted to slap the stupid thing out of his hand. Or better yet, shove it down his throat. There she was, willing to give up a job that was the answer to her prayers, and he couldn’t give her his full attention.

  Whirling around, she stormed over to the desk, all high indignation, and grabbed her purse. “Come on, Elvis.”

  “Don’t bother with the theatrics or going through with this grand gesture,” James said, putting his phone in his pocket as he stepped farther into the office. “They’re not necessary.”

  “You want me to stay?” she asked, raising her eyebrows.

  His mouth thinned. “It’s recently come to my attention that what I want doesn’t matter, so you might as well keep the job. Besides, the sooner you earn enough money, the sooner you can take off to California.”

  “Well,” she breathed. “Ouch.”

  He dropped his gaze. Sighed. “Go. Or stay. It’s up to you.”

  “And I suppose if I stay, I’ll have to deal with the new you—”

  “New me?”

  “This—” she waved vaguely at him “—new...different...version of you. Who, by the way, is sort of an ass.”

  “Sort of?”

  “Keep working on it,” she muttered. “I’m sure you’ll be a whole ass in no time.”

  His eyes gleamed, but she wasn’t sure if it was from humor or anger. She couldn’t read him, not anymore. She used to think she knew him better than anyone.

  Now she wondered if she’d known the real him at all.

  “If you stay,” he said, as if they were discussing what type of dry dog food was best, as if their entire friendship ending didn’t bother him in the least, “I’ll do my best to keep any and all versions of myself out of your way. I’d appreciate it if you’d do the same for me.”

  She carefully set her purse on the desk—instead of winging it at his stubborn head. “Believe me, I will.”

  Jerk. And that was one thing she’d never, ever thought she’d call James.

  Yes, she’d hurt him, but she hadn’t meant to. Didn’t that count for anything? Did it give him an excuse to treat her this way? To stay so angry?

  He was the one who’d kept a secret from her. He’d made the choice to hide his feelings for her all these years. She may not have handled it well when he’d admitted those feelings to her, but he had his share in the blame for this.

  Didn’t he?

  “If we’re done here,” James said, “I need to get to work.”

  “Please,” she said from behind a fake, toothy smile, “don’t let me stop you.”

  He turned, only to stop and face her again. “If you do decide to keep the job, you might want to leave the dog at home.”

&nb
sp; She checked on Elvis to make sure he wasn’t chewing—or peeing on—anything, but he was sound asleep next to the wall. “I don’t like to leave him by himself.”

  “You’re getting pretty attached to him.”

  Did he have to sound so shocked?

  You’re not keeping him. James had sounded so certain of that, as if the idea of her taking care of Elvis—long-term care, forever and ever, amen—was implausible. “Elvis gets anxious when I leave him. Whether he ran away, got lost or was left on the side of the road somewhere, his entire life changed,” she said, her voice shaking. “Everything he knew and understood and liked—loved—suddenly just...disappeared. It’s frightening.”

  “Was that how you felt when you moved here?” James asked after a moment. “Afraid?”

  Her mouth wobbled. She firmed it. He shouldn’t be able to read her thoughts, to see her so clearly when he’d completely cut himself off from her.

  “The situations aren’t quite the same.” But she couldn’t meet his eyes. She had been afraid. She’d been terrified. Not because they’d moved, but because they’d stayed.

  And the longer they stayed in Shady Grove, the more they got sucked into a provincial, pedestrian life. The more it seemed as if they’d lost her dad all over again.

  “It’s a lot to process. For Elvis,” she stressed, in case James wanted to try to psychoanalyze her. “Besides, your dad said I could bring him along.”

  Yes, she sounded like a bratty ten-year-old, but that was only because he was bringing out the worst in her.

  James frowned, almost as if he was disappointed she hadn’t opened up to him, as if he hadn’t been the one to put up these new barriers between them. Barriers she could be thankful for in this instance.

  “If Elvis is anything like Zoe,” James said, “he’ll go nuts when the machines run, and Eddie’s going to be starting the kitchen cabinets for Bradford House on Monday.”

  “Oh.” She hadn’t thought of that. Elvis hadn’t seemed bothered by the thunder the night she’d found him, but that may have been only because he’d been so traumatized from being wet and cold and lost. “I’ll see how he does. If it bothers him, I’ll take him home.”