Texas Pride

by Gerry Bartlett

  Cover Copy

  A fight for her rights. A job she can’t quit. And a man who makes her burn . . .

  It’s not Shannon Calhoun’s first rodeo. She’s supposed to be running the show. But since her father’s will landed her in a wretched cubicle, typing out press releases for her own family’s company, she’s been trapped in a job with no prospects, no control—and barely any cash.

  When her old flame Billy Pagan turns up with a hundred rude questions and a thousand-dollar suit, Shannon isn’t sure if the heat she feels is from humiliation, fury, or desire. But whatever else has happened, the chemistry between them has only intensified.

  Long before he became Houston’s best defense attorney, Billy had a thing for the spoiled rich girl who got away. But now that Shannon is hustling to save the family business, she’s more irresistible than ever. Too bad about the murder investigation and the fraud that’s going to bring the company crashing down around her.

  Unless, of course, his Texas princess actually pulls off the save of a lifetime. With Billy’s negotiating skills and Shannon’s determination, the hardest part might be keeping the business away from the pleasure . . .

  Books by Gerry Bartlett

  Texas Fire

  Texas Heat

  Published by Kensington Publishing Corporation

  Texas Pride

  The Texas Heat Series

  Gerry Bartlett

  LYRICAL PRESS

  Kensington Publishing Corp.

  www.kensingtonbooks.com

  Copyright

  Lyrical Press books are published by

  Kensington Publishing Corp. 119 West 40th Street New York, NY 10018

  Copyright © 2017 by Gerry Bartlett

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the Publisher, excepting brief quotes used in reviews.

  All Kensington titles, imprints, and distributed lines are available at special quantity discounts for bulk purchases for sales promotion, premiums, fund- raising, and educational or institutional use.

  To the extent that the image or images on the cover of this book depict a person or persons, such person or persons are merely models, and are not intended to portray any character or characters featured in the book.

  Special book excerpts or customized printings can also be created to fit specific needs. For details, write or phone the office of the Kensington Special Sales Manager:

  Kensington Publishing Corp.

  119 West 40th Street

  New York, NY 10018

  Attn. Special Sales Department. Phone: 1-800-221-2647.

  Kensington and the K logo Reg. U.S. Pat. & TM Off.

  LYRICAL PRESS Reg. U.S. Pat. & TM Off.

  Lyrical Press and the L logo are trademarks of Kensington Publishing Corp.

  First Electronic Edition: October 2017

  eISBN-13: 978-1-60183-986-2

  eISBN-10: 1-60183-986-3

  First Electronic Edition: October 2017

  eISBN-13: 978-1-60183-987-9

  eISBN-10: 1-60183-987-1

  Printed in the United States of America

  Dedication

  This book is dedicated to Jackolyn Landry, a strong Texas woman.

  Love you, Aunt Jackie!

  Note From the Author

  Dear Reader,

  Yes, I’m from Texas, born and raised. I still live here and love to write about the Lone Star State. The oil industry is a big part of it. Many native Texans have their own stories to share about big oil. If only my father-in-law hadn’t left the oil fields back in the day to become a plumber…

  Houston, in particular, rises and falls on the price of oil. I drive past pumping oil wells and refineries all the time on my way to the big city to shop. Fortunes are won and lost daily here and the social scene thrives because of the oil rich. Of course, the closest I get to the business is when I fill my tank at the gas pump. I hope you enjoy this peek inside Calhoun Petroleum. (You know it’s my own creation, don’t you?)

  Another figment of my imagination is the Indian tribe in Texas Pride. I based it very loosely on the Alabama-Coushatta Indians who live in the piney woods near Lake Livingston, Texas. The reservation is beautiful and the tribe recently opened a casino. No, they don’t serve alcohol--I added that bit to fit my story. Everything about my hero Billy Pagan is fictional and my writer’s mind added details about the Tribe as well. Apologies in advance if I accidentally offended anyone.

  I hope you enjoy the third book in the Texas Heat series. Shannon is the eldest of the three Calhoun sisters. As a romance writer, I took a vow to always give my characters a happily ever after, even though how they get there may not be easy. I hope you enjoy Shannon’s journey.

  Gerry Bartlett

  Chapter 1

  “This is my desk? In this cubicle? You have got to be kidding.” Shannon Calhoun threw her purse on top of the scarred wood. “My family’s name is on this company. Honey, I didn’t put on my Prada pumps for this.”

  The woman who’d walked her here from personnel didn’t bother to hide her smirk.

  “They’re such lovely Prada pumps too.” A middle-aged woman in a fashionable black suit leaned over the partition that supposedly gave the cube some privacy. “Run along, Marge. I’ve got this.”

  “Are you sure, Ms. Wilson?” The woman from personnel, Marge, seemed reluctant to leave.

  “She said to run along. You afraid to miss the fireworks?” Shannon smiled and apparently she still had what it took to make underlings like Marge get the message. She ran.

  “Look around the room, Ms. Calhoun.” Ms. Wilson gestured with a well-manicured hand. “See anyone else here?”

  Shannon stepped out into the aisle. Her footsteps echoed as she walked between the rows of cubes. Clean desktops, neatly shoved in rolling chairs. The whole place had the air of a ghost town.

  “Where is everybody?” Shannon faced the dragon in good shoes.

  “Laid off. It seems public relations isn’t exactly a top priority in a company that’s foundering. I’ve been told your father left a will that puts you to work—hopefully you will earn your keep since Calhoun Petroleum can’t afford any dead wood. Follow me.” Wilson turned and strode toward the end of the aisle and a closed office door.

  Shannon swallowed. Reality? It had been hitting her hard ever since her daddy had died. First there’d been the reading of his will and a surprise half-sister. On top of that, the price of oil had taken a plunge that had the entire industry in a tailspin. Their family’s personal issues piled on to make it seem like Calhoun Petroleum was destined for bankruptcy unless she and her siblings could work a miracle.

  She followed the stylish woman rocking her own designer outfit and straightened her shoulders. She had to make good in this job. Wilson threw open the door just as Shannon noticed that it read Caroline Wilson, Vice President of Public Relations on the nameplate. Huh.

  “Time to get to work. I read your resume. Thank God you have a degree in marketing and seem to have been quite active in local charity work.” She handed Shannon a stapled pack of papers.

  “Yes. I’ve been on the board of several worthwhile causes.” Shannon noticed that while Wilson sat behind her desk, she didn’t offer her a chair. “I’m really involved with the rodeo committees, for the scholarships they give. And then there’s the ballet and the medical center—”

  “Fine, fine. So you have contacts. That will help when you start making phone calls. Because here’s what I need for you to do.” Wilson nodded toward the papers Shannon now held. “Calhoun Petroleum has been very
generous over the years with various charities.”

  “I know. It’s good for our image.” Shannon glanced at the top page and actually got excited. The gala for the Cancer Society. That was one of her favorites. Of course she’d be glad to go and represent the company. Maybe a new ball gown could go on an expense account.

  “Your job today is to call every one of those organizations and regretfully decline their invitations to buy a table or sponsor the event. We can’t afford to give generously this year, as much as we’d love to participate. Blah, blah, blah.” Wilson sat behind her desk, her smile fixed as she leaned back. The window wall behind her had a breathtaking view of the city. “The Ballet Ball is coming up soon. Get right on that one. They’ll have to scramble to find another underwriter.”

  Shannon struggled for breath. This couldn’t be. It was so humiliating. Her entire social life existed because she was on charity boards, helped raise funds, wrote checks.

  “Is there a problem, Ms. Calhoun? I put the contact person’s name and telephone number right there on the list. Your background should help you smooth the waters, so to speak. The social season is about to start. Time’s a wasting. As I said, it’s very late for us to notify that we are pulling out.” Wilson leaned forward. “And we are pulling out.”

  “No! You can’t be serious. Everyone will know Calhoun is in trouble. It’s a PR nightmare.” Shannon glanced at the first name on the list. “Reconsider the Ballet Ball! If we cut funding, they might not be able to bring in their guest dancer, a soloist for Swan Lake this year.”

  “The PR nightmare would be if our check bounced.” Wilson picked up her phone. “Now I suggest you hop to it. If you have any more concerns about the funding, take it up with your sister, the new CFO—I believe her office is two floors up.”

  Shannon clutched the papers and stalked off to her assigned hole. Impossible. It had been bad enough going through human resources. She may have made a scene when she’d realized what her pay was going to be. But it was ridiculous.

  She sat in the chair and stared at the list. She knew some of these contact people personally and just couldn’t do it.

  Two floors up.

  Her newly discovered half-sister Cassidy had proved to be a valuable ally and was a whiz with numbers. Surely she would understand that this was the wrong move. Bad publicity. Shannon grabbed her cell and her list and headed for the elevator.

  * * * *

  Cassidy’s floor was certainly not a ghost town. It bustled with activity. Of course. This was where they figured out the money. Her sister even had an assistant who guarded her door.

  “Holly, I have to see her. This is very important company business.” Shannon’s feet were starting to hurt. She’d never given these beautiful shoes this much of a workout.

  “She’s in a meeting, Shannon.” Holly Rogers gestured to a couch then smiled. “They should be done soon. If you wait, I’ll let her know you need to see her. First day on the job?”

  “Yes.” Shannon sat. She was tempted to ease out of the right shoe but toughed it out. Her right foot had always been slightly bigger than her left. “I don’t seem to have a secretary or assistant or anyone to help me.”

  “I remember seeing the memo. Public relations took a hard hit in the layoffs.” Holly held up a hand when her phone buzzed. “Excuse me.” She answered the phone.

  Shannon studied Cassidy’s layout. Big office, name on the door. But she couldn’t be too jealous. Cass had a business degree and banking experience. She’d already impressed the board of directors with the way she’d started work early and jumped in with some solutions when they’d found out Calhoun Petroleum was on shaky ground for a number of reasons. She was bucking to be named CEO in their father’s place. Since no one with sense would want to board this sinking ship, Shannon bet she got the job. Then she’d be moved up another two floors to Daddy’s office.

  Shannon hadn’t even known about her father’s first marriage and daughter until that crazy will had been read a few weeks ago. Now she was glad Cass had turned out to be smart and was doing what she could to save the company that was their inheritance. She was nice too. In her place, Shannon wasn’t sure she wouldn’t be bitter if she’d been left to grow up poor when the rest of the Calhouns had lived in luxury just a few miles away.

  And then there was what had happened once Cass had started working at Calhoun’s headquarters. She’d been attacked in the parking garage. More than once. Then finally in her office here.

  Shannon shuddered. When they’d found out who wanted Cass out of the way, it had been the worst shock ever. All the chaos had led to Shannon starting work weeks late. But she was here now. She wanted to make it up to Cass. Show her that she was behind her and wanted to help the company turn around. But dropping the charities was not the way. Hopefully she’d listen.

  “Shannon?” Holly stood in front of her. “Cass says to come on in. She’s meeting with the lawyer and wants you to hear what they’re discussing. Family business.”

  “Oh, right.” Shannon jumped up. That “family business” concerned her father and his shady dealings when he’d started Calhoun Petroleum. It was an even bigger problem than the low price of oil these days.

  Holly opened Cassidy’s office door. “Here she is, Cass.”

  Shannon stepped inside, assuming it would be the same lawyer who’d taken care of her father’s will. But no. Instead, it was the man who was best known in Houston as the one to call when you were in trouble with the law. Criminal law.

  “Billy Pagan? Well, hell. We must really be in deep shit if Cass called you to help us.” Shannon ignored his hand, which he’d held out to her, and collapsed into a chair.

  “You are. In deep shit.” William P. Pagan took the chair next to her. “Nice to see you again, Shannon. You look very”—he swept his gaze over her, starting at her feet and lingering at various spots until he got to her newly highlighted hair—“professional.”

  “Why, thank you, Billy. That’s very polite of you to notice.” Shannon looked him over too. Custom-tailored suit in black that matched his hair and brows. He was in great shape, his broad shoulders set off by the way that jacket fit so perfectly. He had a silk tie in red that looked perfect against a white shirt that made his bronze skin glow. She wondered if a salesman had helped him put the outfit together or a new girlfriend. Not that she cared.

  “Cassidy, are we thinking that what Daddy did was criminal behavior? Is that why you called in Billy?” Shannon tore her gaze away from Billy when she realized he was smiling at her.

  Cassidy moved out from behind her desk and pulled up a chair. It still gave Shannon a start that her new sister with her dark hair and stubborn chin looked so much like their late father. “I wasn’t sure. I wanted an opinion and Mason thought Billy might be a little more comfortable with this type of case than his brother.”

  Dylan MacKenzie was the lawyer handling their father’s estate and the will. He was also an expert in oil and gas issues. His brother Mason was their evaluator who had to make sure they followed the terms laid out in that will as they worked in the company for the next year, or lose their inheritance. Shannon hated how complicated it had all become. Cassidy had fallen hard for Mason so she seemed to be in her element, running the company and living with Mason now. The way things were shaking out made Shannon wonder if she was going to find herself left out when the year was over.

  “Dylan and I go way back. Went to law school together. But Shannon knows that.” Billy leaned toward Cass which meant his shoulder brushed Shannon’s. “He’s perfect for the kind of paper pushing he does day in and day out, like your daddy’s will. But if you need to get down and dirty, I’m your man.” He actually winked at Shannon. “Shan knows what I mean.”

  “Back off, Billy.” Shannon could smell his cologne. It was so damned subtle. She knew he’d never actually spray on something. He used a special soap. Oh, shit,
she should not be remembering him in the shower. He had a masculine body, solid, strong and with moves…

  “Shannon, I’ve told him what we’re up against. Shown him the papers my mother gave me.” Cassidy touched Shannon’s arm. “I know it’s upsetting, but the amount of money it will take to make this right is staggering.”

  “Daddy forged signatures, tricked little old ladies out of their oil rights. Maybe we should suffer now because of what he did.” Shannon blinked as tears filled her eyes. The idea that her father, who she’d put on something of a pedestal, had been a crook was still hard to take.

  “It’s not only your family who will suffer, Shannon. There are stockholders who will too. Me among them. We owe it to them to keep the damage to the company to a minimum.” Billy was taking this seriously now. “Some of the people Cassidy notified have already hired lawyers of their own. What we don’t want is this turning into a class action suit.” Billy patted her hand. “Hiring me puts them on notice that Calhoun isn’t going to lay down and roll over. I have a reputation…”

  “You sure do.” Shannon frowned when he took her hand. She wrestled it away from him. “You represent criminals. So hiring you is almost like we’re admitting we’re just as dirty as the motorcycle gang that shot up that diner in East Texas or that creep who killed his mother and put her in the freezer.”

  “Not true. I won those cases because the boy who put his mother in the freezer had suffered decades of abuse at her hands. And the gang thing was provoked. By stereotyping. Or I guess we should call it profiling. The police overreacted when they saw the Harleys in the parking lot and went in guns drawn. The whole thing got out of hand. But that’s not why I’m here.” Billy glanced at her hand. “Calhoun Petroleum spent decades earning money legally. With an unblemished record. Just because your daddy cut a few corners early in his career doesn’t mean we should give up everything he worked for after that.”