Want You

by Stacy Finz

  Win came over, smelling like guacamole breath, and squeezed onto the chair with Deb. TJ’s chest constricted and he joined Colt, Josh, and now Foster at the island.

  “Talk her out of those boutonnieres,” Colt told Foster. Christ, wedding talk; the last thing TJ wanted to hear.

  “I picked out those boutonnieres,” Foster argued. “You’ll see, they’ll be fabulous.”

  Josh socked Colt in the shoulder. “Suck it up, dude. You’re outnumbered.”

  Colt glanced up at the ceiling, like he was praying for patience. “This wedding is gonna kill me.” He cocked his head at the breakfast nook and poked TJ in the chest. “You say hello?” The man was about as subtle as a hand grenade.

  “Yep.”

  “Why aren’t you over there talking to her?” Josh asked. The whole family wanted to set him up and all TJ wanted was a home-cooked meal.

  He reached for a chip and dipped it in the guac. “Because I’m hungry. You invite me for dinner and then you don’t feed me.” He eyed their full pilsner glasses. “Or offer me a beer, for that matter.”

  Josh walked over to the fridge and pulled out a microbrew—presumably Colt’s contribution—and got a glass down from the cupboard. “Here you go, Prince TJ. Supper should be ready soon, Your Majesty.”

  Someone in the nook let out a loud laugh and they all turned to see what was so funny.

  “There goes Win, working the room,” Josh said and shoved TJ. “Go over there before he starts working Karen.”

  Because everyone knew if he did, who she’d choose. The aptly named Win, that’s who. TJ wasn’t interested in Karen. And he certainly wasn’t in the mood to lose.

  “Something’s not right with him,” he said and watched Win check his phone, which seemed to have become his latest obsession.

  “Something’s never been right with him.” Josh laughed and took a swig of his beer.

  “No, seriously. He’s not himself.” The whole asking-for-a-raise thing had been a red flag to TJ. Win had never shown much interest in money before. Garner Adventure covered the cost of his addiction to extreme sports and his apartment was dirt cheap, just like most of his women.

  “I’ve noticed it, too,” Colt said. “He’s going through the motions, phoning in the charm.”

  “Should we talk to him?” Josh asked.

  Colt contemplated it. “Let’s see if he can work it out on his own. Otherwise, he’ll accuse us of big-brothering him to death. You agree, TJ?”

  “For now.” He continued to watch Win, who had his arm around Deb and was whispering something in her ear. TJ felt his heart fold in half.

  * * *

  There were many things you could say about the Garners. One of them was that they were loud and a little hyperactive. Okay, more than a little. Everyone talking at the same time and a lot of affectionate shoving. As an only child, Deb had never completely grown used to it.

  Halfway through dinner, Josh let out a shrill whistle to get everyone’s attention. Colt’s response was to bean him with a dinner roll. Because no one would shut up, Foster tapped his wineglass a few times with a spoon. And finally, the room quieted enough to actually carry on a conversation at normal decibel levels.

  “I’ve got an idea for a snowboard that’ll blow Colorado Adventure out of the water.” Josh went on to describe his plan for the perfect freestyle board. The Garners were too daredevilish for a straight-up all-mountain board, like the one Deb used.

  “Come up with a prototype,” TJ urged and turned to Deb. “You test it and decide if it’s something we can sell.”

  TJ winked at her, something Win did all the time. But with TJ it made her a little light-headed. She chalked that up to the fact that Hannah had the heat turned up to seventy degrees. Right; who was she kidding?

  “I’ll test it,” Karen volunteered.

  “The more, the merrier.” TJ flashed her a courteous smile, then gazed across the table at Deb and Win, who had wound up sitting next to each other for no other reason than there were two empty seats available.

  Undeterred, Karen put her hand on TJ’s sleeve. “I hope we don’t have to wait for Josh to finish the board before we ski together. Delaney says you’re amazing on the slopes.” She stretched out the word amazing because TJ wasn’t just amazing; he was amaaaaaaaaaaazing.

  “Anytime,” he said, as if he didn’t work a hundred hours a week.

  All night it had been: “TJ, let me refill your glass,” “TJ, when it warms up we should go kayaking,” “TJ, you’re so big and strong.”

  All right, Deb had made up that last one. But one more TJ . . . Just like Jillian, Karen was lapping him up like a feral cat with a bowl of cream. To TJ’s credit, he didn’t seem all that in to her, responding to her attempts at flirtation with polite smiles.

  “Deb has an idea for something, too,” TJ said. Everyone stopped talking and trained their attention on her. Ugh. She didn’t want to describe her half-baked tent proposal in front of an audience.

  “Uh, I’m not ready to talk about it yet.” She shot TJ a dirty look.

  “I showed you mine; you have to show us yours,” Josh insisted.

  She cleared her throat. “I’m still fleshing out the details.”

  “Come on, Little Debbie, tell us what you’ve got.” Colt smirked. The nickname he’d given her when they were kids was wearing thin. And to think, he was her favorite.

  “Fine,” she said, knowing the futility of trying to hold out on this crowd. Garner men never took no for an answer. “It’s a jacket that turns into a tent.” She left out the part that it was Delaney’s jacket. “For backpackers, extreme skiers, and rock climbers who want to go light.” She scanned the room and, so far, no one was laughing. “I don’t have a design or anything yet; it’s just a loose idea I’m playing with.”

  “Anything like that already out on the market?” Josh seemed genuinely interested.

  Deb grimaced because she hadn’t researched it, just pulled it out of her butt where most of her good ideas came from. Knowing that innovators had already given the world Chia Pets, Squatty Pottys, and Snuggies, it seemed impossible that there wasn’t a tent jacket out there already. “I haven’t really explored it that deeply. It was just something I was brainstorming with your brother.” She shot TJ another scathing look.

  “I think it’s definitely worth checking into,” Colt said around a mouthful of food. Most of the supper dishes had been cleared away, but he was still eating.

  “We having pie?” Win asked.

  All night he’d been distracted, like he was trying to work out a complicated puzzle in his head. Which was totally uncharacteristic for Win. He didn’t do complicated. Deb got the impression he was champing at the bit to leave.

  Foster leaned over and whispered in Deb’s ear, “What’s up with Win? He’s acting weird.”

  “I don’t know,” she said. “But something’s up.” Ordinarily, he turned it on and off like a switchboard operator. But lately he’d seemed particularly detached. Not in a mean way. There wasn’t a mean bone in Win’s body. He was just absolutely oblivious sometimes.

  Karen laughed again. Nails on a chalkboard, though no one seemed effected but Deb. Hannah got up to get the pie and Deb volunteered to help.

  Alone in the kitchen, Hannah said, “I think TJ likes her, don’t you?”

  “She’s a little aggressive, don’t you think?”

  “No.” Hannah paused and studied Deb. “What’s aggressive? She seems really nice to me. Delaney says nothing but good things about her.”

  “She just seems . . . I don’t know.”

  Hannah got down plates and started slicing the pie. “There’s ice cream in the freezer.”

  Deb got out a carton of French vanilla and found an ice cream scooper in the drawer.

  “If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were jealous,” Hannah said and began plating.

  “Of TJ and Karen?” She let out a laugh that sounded fake even to her own ears. “What have you been drinking?�
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  “He’s better than Win. I love Win to death, but TJ’s at least got his act together.” Hannah slid Deb a glance and Deb made a face. “What’s wrong with TJ? He’s smart, gorgeous, funny—available.”

  “He’s my boss.” Deb started a pot of coffee. She’d been in this kitchen so many times, she knew exactly where everything was.

  “He’s only been your boss for a few days. Before . . . how come you never considered dating TJ?”

  If Hannah only knew how many times she’d lain awake at night considering what it would be like to date TJ Garner. “A little out of my league, don’t you think?”

  “Out of your league?” Hannah shook her head in disbelief. “Since when is any man out of your league?”

  Ah, only a best friend would think she was equal to a man whose sole focus in life was getting ahead when all she’d ever done was stand still. “Win’s more my level.” And she hadn’t even been able to hold him.

  “So you’re saying your type is a guy who changes women as often as he does his underwear.” Hannah pierced her with a look. “What about Boden? He’s made it clear he’s interested.”

  “Um, not feeling the chemistry.” Not like she did with TJ.

  “Chip and I had a lot of chemistry and look how well that turned out.” Chip had been a drunk.

  “But it worked with Josh. No one has more chemistry than you and Josh.”

  Hannah had to concede that. They were so freaking in love it was sickening. The only couple equally sickening was Colt and Delaney.

  “Garner men make the best partners when you pick the right one.” To drive home the point, Hannah playfully bumped Deb’s hip with her own on the way to the dining room.

  Deb gathered up as many plates of pie as she could carry—her waitress training coming in handy—and followed. Delaney and Colt helped with the coffee. Karen continued to ply TJ with flattery and Win was somewhere else altogether.

  After dessert, the guests started to call it a night. Foster helped with the dishes and was the first to leave. He had to be up before the sun came out for a flower delivery. Win took off a short time later and Deb started gathering up her stuff.

  “We should go, too,” Delaney said. “We’ll walk you out.”

  Karen’s face grew long. She’d come with Colt and Delaney and God forbid she should be pried away from TJ.

  “Isn’t Karen on your way?” Delaney said to TJ, angling to throw those two together come hell or high water.

  TJ turned to Karen. “You live in the Aspens, right?” When she nodded, he said, “Sure, I’ll give her a ride.”

  Disappointment punched Deb in the gut. As long as TJ was single, people were going to try to fix him up. And one of these days, he was going to fall in love. Who knew, Karen might be the one.

  Everyone said good-bye and thanked Hannah and Josh for a lovely evening. They walked out into the cold night—at least it had stopped snowing. Colt, who’d parked in the driveway and was a cop down to his bones, waited for Deb to get safely in her car, even though this was Glory Junction. It turned out to be fortuitous because when she started her engine and shifted into reverse, her car wouldn’t move. She put the Honda in drive and it made a high-pitched screeching noise. And still didn’t budge.

  Uh-oh; the transmission was officially dead.

  There was a knock on her window and TJ motioned for her to roll it down.

  “It won’t go,” she said.

  “I can see that. Why did you drive when you knew you had a bad transmission?”

  Because she was an idiot. “It was such a short distance, I thought I could make it.”

  He just stood there looking at her disapprovingly. Screw you, TJ; not everyone can afford a brand-new Range Rover. “Come on. I’ll take you home.”

  “What about my car?”

  “It’ll be fine here until you can get a tow.”

  She didn’t have money for a tow. He opened the door, held his hand out for her, and tugged her out of the car. Not knowing his own strength, she wound up hauled against his chest. He felt so warm and solid, she wanted to stay nestled there, his strong arms securely around her.

  “What’s wrong with your car?” Colt came up beside them and they quickly jerked apart.

  “Bad transmission. I’ll take her home.”

  Karen had gotten out of TJ’s truck. “I’ll go with Colt and Delaney because my place is out of the way,” she said reluctantly, sounding as if she hoped TJ would argue with her. He didn’t.

  It appeared Deb had ruined Delaney’s well-laid matchmaking plans. Call her a bitch, but she couldn’t seem to work up any remorse over it.

  Chapter Eleven

  TJ had a breakfast meeting with Nate Breyer on Saturday. The hotelier owned and operated Gold Mountain, a cabin resort fifteen miles from Glory Junction. He also had a B&B in the neighboring town of Nugget and a fleet of high-end hotels in the Bay Area. He lived part time in Nugget and was up for the weekend. TJ thought they could do business together.

  His phone got an incoming text. Nate was running ten minutes late, which worked out fine because TJ still wanted to drop by the office and get his tablet. He was moving slower than usual this morning.

  The driveway was a slushy mess but easy enough to get out of without having to shovel. According to the weather, no more snow until next week. If he got a chance later today, he planned to do some skiing and take advantage of the champagne powder. He parked in front of GA and rushed inside to find Darcy bent over a calendar.

  “Hey, Darce. What are you doing here on a Saturday?”

  Startled, she jumped up and knocked her headphones off in the process. “You scared me.” She turned off her iPod.

  “Darce, the door’s glass. Didn’t you see me coming?”

  “I wasn’t paying attention.”

  He looked down at her desk to see what she was working on so intently.

  “I’m trying to reschedule the canceled tours.” She tugged her dress down and took her seat again.

  “I told Win to do that.” The asshole had dumped his work on her.

  “He did do it. But some of the groups can’t make the new dates work. I’m trying to rejuggle. But TJ, this is a screwed system.” It was the most assertive he’d ever seen her. Of course, she had to go ruin it by saying, “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.”

  “If it’s true, you should tell me. Otherwise, I can’t fix it. I still don’t understand why you’re doing this and not Win.”

  “I have time to kill before I pick up my grandmother.”

  Well, he didn’t have time to argue about it. Nate was due to meet him at the diner in a few minutes.

  “All right, but put in for overtime,” TJ said. “And if you figure out a way to make the system better, let me know.” There were always going to be cancellations due to weather, and reorganizing these trips had become a major pain in the ass.

  He hurried to his office to get his tablet. On the way out, he called, “Don’t work too hard.”

  She was so absorbed in what she was doing, she didn’t hear him.

  He walked to the Morning Glory, hoping to get a quiet table before Nate arrived. Deb saw him as soon as he came in, collected a menu from the box at the cash register, and started to show him to a booth.

  “There are two of us.” He nudged his head at the menus. “I need two.”

  Perhaps it was his imagination, but he thought he saw disappointment streak across her face. Deb grabbed another menu and led him to a seat.

  “This okay?”

  “Perfect.” He took off his jacket and hung it on a hook on the wall, then slid into the banquette. “A cup of coffee would be great.”

  She ran off to get it and he checked his phone. Nothing more from Nate, so TJ presumed he’d be here any second. Deb came back with his coffee, a second cup, and a carafe.

  “You want to order or wait for the rest of your party?”

  “I’ll wait,” he said. She started to walk away and he grabbed her arm. “We
need to figure out how to get a story in an adventure magazine like Outside.” Colorado Adventure’s head start was keeping him up at night.

  “I don’t have contacts like that.”

  Lauren would have. Then again, Lauren’s smiles didn’t wrap around his heart the way Deb’s did. And that was an issue because where Deb was concerned he was all emotion, not business. “It would help if you could put more hours in next week, maybe assist with some of the administrative work so I can focus on getting some buzz on the retail end.”

  “I’ll try, but I promised Felix two weeks.” Someone at another table waved to get her attention and she had to run off.

  Nate walked in the door and TJ stood up to shake his hand. “Good to see you.”

  Breyer was a few years older than TJ and a hell of a businessman, building the Breyer Hotel chain from the ground up. TJ could learn a lot from Nate. Even though they were in different industries, they were both selling luxury experiences.

  They spent time exchanging pleasantries and talking about Gold Mountain. The summer resort had been run down when Nate and his sister bought it. But they’d completely renovated the place, including winterizing the cabins. Now it was as busy in winter as it was in spring and summer.

  Deb came back to take their orders and hung around to eavesdrop.

  “You know her?” Nate asked when she left to go to the kitchen.

  “She’s actually heading up our new retail operation at GA.” He may as well have said, We’re amateur night here in Glory Junction. Instead, he hastily added, “This is her last week at the diner.”

  “Watch out. Pretty woman like that and the next thing you know, you’re marrying her.” He grinned. “That’s what happened with my wife. Luckiest day of my life when she walked into the Lumber Baron.”

  “Yeah. Not gonna happen.”

  Nate threw his head back and laughed. “That’s what I said.”

  They talked business until their pancakes came, then talked some more. Nate had all kinds of ideas of how they could cross-promote. By the time TJ picked up the bill, his head was swimming with possibilities. After Nate left, TJ returned to GA to get his skis. Darcy was still there, her shoes off and a pencil through her hair.