Texas Pride

by Gerry Bartlett

  “A few corners?” Shannon poked him in his expensive tie. “You sound like you’re talking to a jury. I saw those papers. Daddy, with help from my mama, started this company based on theft and deception. How are you going to spin that, lawyer man?”

  “He’s not the only one who’s going to be spinning the truth.” Cassidy had been observing their interaction and frowned. “I hope you can get along with each other because the public relations aspect of this is going to be your responsibility, Shannon. I don’t want Caroline Wilson involved.”

  “It’ll be a nightmare. I just hope we can settle things quietly.” Shannon turned her back on Billy. “As for PR, that’s why I’m here.” Shannon handed her sister the papers. “Look at this. Ms. Wilson told me I’m supposed to cancel all these charitable obligations that Calhoun has always honored. Pull our sponsorships. Talk about bad public relations! It’s a mistake.”

  “Wilson’s doing what I told her to do, Shannon. We can’t be generous with others when we’re barely staying afloat.” Cass shook her head. “Sorry, but you’ll have to make these calls if that’s what she told you to do. It’s your new job.”’

  “Let me see that list.” Billy tugged it from her hand before Shannon had a chance to stop him. “The ballet? Not really my thing but I remember you loved it. Cancer Society, definitely. You remember my mother died of ovarian cancer, Shan.”

  This time Shannon touched him. She did remember. “What are you saying, Billy?”

  “Let me go through this list with you. I can pick up some or most of these sponsorships.” He smiled, that rakish twist of his lips that always pulled her in, before she realized they were so not right for each other.

  “Really? You’d take over the financial obligations?” Shannon thought for a moment. “That’s a lot of money.”

  “Honey, I’ve made a butt load of money.” He flipped the page then glanced at her, his bright blue eyes twinkling. “Since you’ve obviously been following my career, I guess you know that.”

  “I’ve not, I mean…” Shannon glanced at Cassidy, but she’d moved back to her chair and was intent on her computer, meeting over.

  “I have a condition, though. If I take over these things., especially the symphony and the ballet thing.” He stood and pulled her to her feet.

  “What?” Shannon backed up a step. Typical Billy, in her space. Not letting her breathe.

  “You have to be my date for these events. On my arm, looking beautiful. I can talk to the press, have for years. But it’s not my favorite thing. You can be the mouthpiece.” His eyes lingered on her mouth.

  “That’s ridiculous.” Shannon licked her lips and he grinned.

  “No, it’s not. You can play up the PR angle for Calhoun. Explain that it’s a joint effort, the Pagan and Calhoun sponsorship. Obviously, my image needs polishing since I’ve had some negative press lately. This will help, giving to charities. We’ll be partners. My money, but Calhoun gets half the credit. You can spin it any way you want when you make your calls.”

  “Seriously? It will be all your money?” Shannon realized Cass had stopped working long enough to listen. “Calhoun can’t afford to kick in.”

  “That’s okay.” He stroked a hand down her arm. “Nothing adds polish like a beautiful woman on your arm, especially one of those Calhoun women. You can tell the press what a good guy I am, Shan. So…giving.”

  “Strictly business, Billy, or it’s no deal.” Shannon stepped out of reach. Why, oh why did his touch bring back so many memories? Nights in his bed. The way he could make her feel. They always had chemistry, but that wasn’t enough.

  “We’ll see.” He smiled. “See you, Cassidy. Let me know when you have those figures ready. And be sure Holly sends me the names of any lawyers hired by the people suing Calhoun.” He grabbed Shannon’s elbow. “Now it’s lunchtime. I’m thinking sushi. You like stuff like that. There’s a place just a block from here. We can go over the list of charities and I’ll put the dates of those events on my calendar. Strictly a business lunch. Are you game?”

  Shannon glanced at her phone. It wasn’t quite eleven o’clock. Lunchtime? But he’d thrown her a lifeline. Now she wouldn’t have to call those people. She nodded then waved at her sister before she let him guide her out to the elevators. She had just time to wish for her purse and lipstick before the doors opened. Oh boy, was she going down.

  * * * *

  William P. Pagan sat across from Shannon Calhoun and figured he had to be the dumbest son of a bitch on the planet. This whole move was going to cost him over a million dollars when all was said and done. For what? To have a half dozen dates with a woman who didn’t want him? Goddamn it.

  The truth? He wanted her. This was all about proving to her once and for all that they belonged together. He’d come up hard, poor, and working angles all his life. God had blessed him with a brain that saw everything, and he knew how to use what he saw to his advantage. This charity thing? An opportunity he could not resist. A scholarship to college got him where he needed to be to make the right connections, and he’d quickly figured out who those were. Dylan MacKenzie had been one of them. He and Dylan had become fast friends and that son of an important family in Houston had opened many doors for him after law school. Dylan chose the paper pushing; Billy had always known that his flair for the dramatic needed to play out in a courtroom. Lucky for him, unlucky for his clients, the rich also needed a good criminal lawyer. Dylan had come through for him with referrals when he was getting started. Now he was sitting pretty. He could afford to blow a cool million on a strategy to get Shannon back in his bed and into his life.

  He didn’t know why he still wanted her. God knows, she’d hurt him when she’d dumped him on his ass the first time. Yet they kept circling each other. Had tried again over the years, three or four times. It seemed like whenever they got close to making it work, she’d run. Because he couldn’t keep his mouth shut about her drinking. Yeah, he’d fallen for a party girl, the last thing he should want with his family history. And yet the beautiful, fascinating Shannon Calhoun kept pulling him in. He’d go along for the ride until he couldn’t stand it and would ask her to give up the booze. She called it controlling. And, boy, did she hate anyone who tried to control her.

  He’d known as soon as he’d heard about the Calhoun crisis that she would be taking it hard. She had worshiped her daddy. So far they’d been successful in keeping it quiet. Dylan had asked Billy to look into it or he wouldn’t know a thing about it. But if they didn’t get this problem under control, Shannon and her family could lose everything. Maybe once, when the pain of losing her had been fresh, Billy had wanted her to suffer. But he’d gotten over it. Grown up. Now, he just wanted to help. And to see if maybe she was finally ready to make it work between them. Was it too late for them to reconnect?

  “If you’re going to polish up that image, Billy, you need to quit taking on clients like Rupert Billingsley.” Shannon ate the olive out of her martini.

  “He didn’t kill his wife, Shan. I’ll prove it.” Billy shook his head when the waiter hovered.

  “But he could have hired it done. I saw the story online. And everyone who knew the couple heard them fighting. I almost felt sorry for him. Evelyn was a bitch.” Shannon looked around. “I could use another drink.”

  “Nope. You have to go back to work. As for my case? Can’t talk about it. But it doesn’t matter if Evelyn was a bitch or not. Rupert is innocent. I don’t take on clients I don’t believe in.” He called for the check. “You’re a working girl. I think you have a boss now, right?”

  Shannon made a face. “Ms. Wilson. Dragon Lady. You think they’ll dock my tiny pay if I’m late getting back from lunch?” She sighed. “You should see my desk, Billy. I don’t even have an office. And my paycheck? I spend more than that a week on cocktails and manicures.”

  “Cassidy said your father wanted you to work for a year in the co
mpany. To prove you could stick with something to gain your inheritance. Surely you can put up with anything for a year.” Billy handed the waiter cash to cover the bill.

  “A year is a long time.” She rested her head on her hand. “I have to live at home too. Which I’ve figured out is actually a good thing. Free room and board. And a car and gas are provided, along with housekeeping.”

  “There you go then.” Billy stood. “We’d better get you back.”

  Shannon got up, holding onto the table when she wobbled on those high heels of hers. “Why are you doing this, Billy? Helping Calhoun? I know you have a busy law practice.”

  He looked her over. She had a natural grace and he remembered she’d done ballet for years before going off to college. Her blonde hair had a bunch of colors in it that seemed to catch the light when she ran her hands carelessly through it before she picked up her papers and her phone. She looked up at him through her lashes, her gray blue eyes gleaming. Shannon worked the angles too and he admired the way she usually saw right through him. Yep, just like she was seeing right through him now.

  “You know why.” He pulled her in, ignoring the chatter and clatter of the lunch crowd around them. “How long are we going to pretend there’s still not this thing between us?”

  “Ah, Billy.” She ran her fingernails over his jaw. “This thing is bad for both of us. That’s why we don’t need to start up again.” She let her thumb drift over his lips and he got so hard he ached.

  “No other woman does it for me like you, Shannon.” He felt the bump of a waiter at his back and came to his senses. “We need to get out of here.”

  “Back to work.” She smiled and led the way through the tangle of tables to the glass door then out to the sidewalk. “Thanks for lunch.”

  “I’ll walk you.” Billy really wanted to pull her in, kiss that mouth that had lost its lipstick when she’d devoured her lunch. Shannon had always had a healthy appetite. For everything.

  “No, you go do your lawyerly thing. I have phone calls to make. And you don’t need to show up in my office and meet my boss. She’ll think I was out on a date.” Shannon touched his chest. “You should wear a blue tie, to match your eyes.” And with that she was on her way.

  Billy watched the sway of her hips in a narrow black skirt that hugged her butt. Her legs in those high heels made him remember the way they’d wrapped around him, holding him in. She was stronger than she looked. He needed to remember that.

  Chapter 2

  “I guess you saw his noisy motorcycle out front.” Mai Murakami, Billy’s paralegal and invaluable assistant, greeted him at the door with her hands on her hips as soon as he hit the office. “Of course, Albert just barged in without an appointment. One of his ‘emergencies.’”

  “That’s not good news.” Billy glanced at his watch while she reached for her purse which matched the designer suit she wore. Mai always looked professional but today even Billy could tell she was going all out. She had a perfect figure, though she didn’t come up to the middle of his chest.

  “I’m late for lunch, but I wasn’t about to leave him here by himself.” She glanced back at Billy’s open office door. “But if you need me…”

  “Go. I’ll take care of this.” Billy patted her shoulder. “Sorry I’m so late. You look great. Hot date?”

  “No. Just my great aunt Iku.” Mai gave him a pained smile. “I’d have cancelled if I could. The closer I get to thirty, the more hell-bent she is on finding me a husband. I’m afraid a candidate may be waiting at the restaurant.”

  “Tell her you and I are destined to be together, baby doll. And that you’ll never love another man.” The booming voice made her jump. “Also promise her that any man she tries to fix you up with will never live to make it down the aisle. I’ll see to that.”

  Billy turned and bumped fists with the giant of a man in black leathers who stood in the doorway to his office. “Slash, talk like that is what gets you in trouble. I just heard you threaten some poor sap.”

  “Albert, it is that kind of conversation that makes me afraid to date you.” Mai stalked to the door. She turned and gave the giant a tiny smile. “Eight o’clock. And you pick me up in a car, not on the back of that loud motorcycle. Are we clear this time?”

  “Yes, ma’am.” Albert Madison, also known as Slash to the members of his motorcycle gang, grinned like he’d won the lottery. “I have tickets to that acrobatic thing you like.”

  “Good. And wear a suit.” She looked him up and down. “Made of cloth.” She swished out the door.

  “God, I love that woman.” Albert followed Billy into his office. “By the time she gets through with me, you won’t know me, Billy.”

  “You’re changing for her.” Billy settled behind his desk. He had a thick file with Albert’s name on it. Because of his motorcycle gang. He was a good guy behind his gruff exterior. None of the charges had stuck. Because Albert had a lot of money and had hired Billy, the best criminal lawyer in town. Billy wouldn’t have taken him on as a client if it was dirty money. No, Slash had invested in local real estate. The man had a nose for areas of Houston that were due for restoration and trendy upscale development. His motorcycle “club” was a group of men, many of them veterans with anger issues, who loved their loud motorcycles and long rides. They’d organized when it became obvious that law enforcement didn’t like to see them coming.

  “I’m trying to change, but it ain’t easy. Had a run-in with the law last weekend.” He held up a hand when Billy started to speak. “No, I didn’t call you because it didn’t go that far. Just wanted to give you a heads-up now. We were on the road going east. Drove through a little town. You know the kind. Speed slows from seventy to thirty-five so quick you have to hit the brakes. So we all slowed down. Not one of us was doing over the speed limit. Patrol stopped us anyway.”

  “Anything happen?” Billy leaned forward. “You have some guys that like to carry things they shouldn’t.”

  “You think I don’t know that? I’ve told them to ditch the drugs they don’t have legitimate prescriptions for. Get the fucking permits for the guns. I’m getting some pushback on my ‘rules’ for the rides.” He stood and walked around to examine the bookcases lining one wall. “PTSD is a bitch. A few need weed to chill. I get it. Still, we gave the cop no reason to search anyone. None. But he made every one of us show our driver’s licenses. Wouldn’t you know that dumb ass Jaime Reyes had let his expire? Then the law starts looking at him funny. Because he’s Latino. Well, what do you know? Cop asks to see his green card.” Albert picked up a trophy Billy had won in a golf tournament and held it in one fist. “Why the hell should he have a green card when he was born in Pasadena fucking Texas?”

  “I have a feeling I know where this is going.” Billy got up and wrenched his trophy from Albert’s fist. “Don’t bend that. I suck at golf. I only got that because I was in a foursome with friends who can putt.” He put it back on the shelf. “So what happened?”

  “We moved in, surrounded the asshole cop and Jaime. Let the fucker know that when you’re born American and have served your country, you sure as hell don’t carry no green card.” Albert’s English was getting rougher and his face redder. He was six-five, red-haired, and his face flushed easily.

  “I have a feeling the cop was calling for backup about then.” Billy eased Albert into a chair. He pulled a bottle of water out of his mini-fridge and tossed it to him. “Calm down. Obviously, it ended all right or I’d have spent the weekend dealing with this.”

  Albert drained the bottle then handed the empty back to Billy. He took a steadying breath and pulled the tie from his hair to shake it out. “It still makes me so damned mad, Bill. The prejudice. You know?”

  “Yeah. I know.” Billy sat in the chair next to him. The gang Albert ran was diverse and the stronger for it. He’d always liked Albert for his world view on racial matters.

  “Any
way, backup came and who should show up but a Latino cop.” Albert chuckled. “I tell you, it did my heart good to see that white cop’s face. He picked up his walkie, like he was going to call in someone else and that other cop gave him such a look. He just strolled up to Jaime and they started jabbering in Spanish. Seems a few questions about parents and grandparents and everything was cool. Both cops backed off and we were free to go on our way. Jaime got a warning to get that license taken care of, that’s all.”

  “Good. So why are you here?” Billy sat back and relaxed.

  “To see Mai, of course.” Albert laughed. “I made up an excuse, but I really just wanted to ask her out. She’s been playing hard or next to impossible to get. Her family wants her to marry a man with a Japanese background.” He looked around the office. “You got something stronger than water in that fridge?”

  “Sure. Beer?” Billy got up and opened the mini-fridge built into the bookcase. “Corona okay?”

  “That’ll hit the spot. Join me.” Albert took a cold bottle gratefully and popped the top. “You know Mai’s family would shit a brick before they’d accept me. But she’s enough of a rebel that it just might suit her to bring me into the fold, so to speak.” He took a deep swallow.

  “Don’t steal my assistant, Albert. She keeps this place running.” Billy sipped his beer. Not a good idea since he had a lot of work ahead of him today. But maybe it was a good idea to talk to Albert about this. “How did you get her to give you a shot? You two are very different.”

  “I’ve been wearing her down. I had to find out what she liked. That acrobatic troop. Cirque de whatever. Heard her on the phone with her sister. So I bought the tickets. Then there’s the fact that her auntie’s fixing her up with guys who are bound to be, no offense, lawyers, doctors, straight arrows. I’m different. You may not know it, but women like Mai get sick of the same old, same old.” Albert grinned and finished his beer. “Women all secretly want a bad boy.” He unzipped his jacket sleeve and stretched out his arm covered in tattoos. “I’ve literally got danger written all over me.”