Bliss Brothers: The Complete Series Boxed Set, page 8
Huck, the youngest and blondest of us all, rubs his hands over his face. “Why am I here again? Are you taking over my senior seminar, because I could really use—”
“I’m not taking over your classes.”
He purses his lips, looking just like our mother. “You made me drive two hours in the middle of the night to tell me that nothing’s going on?” Huck crosses his arms dejectedly over his chest and leans back in his seat. It’s wedged too close to my desk in order to fit everyone into my office.
“Please,” Charlie chimes in. “It was nine o’clock on a Monday night. Don’t act like you’re ever asleep before dawn.”
It’s Huck’s last semester in college, and it will be over in two weeks, so I don’t doubt that Charlie has a point.
“It’s none of your business what time I go to bed, you old woman,” Huck shoots back. “Beau’s up all night, too, and I don’t see you busting his chops.”
Beau laughs out loud. “I’m working. You’re partying.”
“I saw you spike your coffee on the way in.” Huck raises his eyebrows at me when he says it.
“Well, aren’t you just a little detective.” Beau raises his coffee cup in a sarcastic toast that Huck doesn’t see at all. “In my opinion, you should use your detective skills on something that matters, like the whereabouts of our missing brother.”
“Let’s not speculate on Asher’s whereabouts.” I’m getting testy, and it’s not entirely their fault. After the way things went with Jenny last night, I think I’ll be permanently blue-balled. “He couldn’t make it to the meeting this morning.”
“Again, I drove two hours—”
“Shut it, Huck,” Driver says mildly. He’s sitting in the other seat in front of my desk, his feet up on the corner of it, hands resting idly behind his head. “The longer you talk, the longer it takes me to get back on the road.” Driver, true to his name, has taken it upon himself to take the Bliss name out of Ruby Bay and get it plastered on billboards and racecars and any number of other items across the country. He calls himself the Head of Sponsorship and Development, but he’s the only one in his so-called department.
“Glad you brought that up. Because I meant what I said two minutes ago.”
Driver considers the skylight above his head. The light is kind on his hair, which is tinged with a hint of auburn. “You’re going out on the road for me?”
“No.” They always think I’m going to step in and do their jobs for them. Honestly, it might make it easier for me in the long run to do everything myself, but even in my wildest fantasies I can’t do the jobs of six people and have enough time left over to eat and sleep. “I’m implementing a new approval process.”
Beau drops his head back against the wall and groans. “Roman, don’t do this to us.”
“I’m not doing this to you. I’m doing it for you.” I take a deep breath. “Things have been slipping since Dad...” I let my voice trail off. I don’t want to blame the gaps in my management skills on his death. My brothers shift uncomfortably. “...since I took over. If we’re going to keep this place profitable, I need to become more hands-on.”
“More hands-on than you were with your new social media girl last night?”
That brings me up short.
Charlie doesn’t seem to notice that everyone in the office is staring at him. Even Driver has lifted his sunglasses from his eyes. Oblivious Charlie keeps scrolling through his phone, squinting at the screen.
Beau lets out a short ha of a laugh. “Is that all you’re going to give us?”
Charlie looks up at me for the first time, and what he sees on my face makes him clam up. “Yep.”
“I don’t fucking think so,” Huck says. “This is the first interesting thing anyone’s said since I got here.” He turns back to me. “What do you have going on behind closed doors, Roman?”
“None of your damned business.” My skin feels like it’s on fire, like I’ve been caught doing something wrong. Worse than wrong—illegal. Not only that, but Jenny’s office is thirty feet down the hall. If she’s not in there already, she will be soon, and the last thing I’m going to tolerate is a raucous discussion of whatever Charlie thinks he knows about last night. “What happens behind closed doors is—”
“I wouldn’t have called the open balcony of our Emperor Suite closed doors,” Charlie says wryly.
I stare daggers at him. “Are you kidding me right now?”
Beau claps him on the back. “Tell us more. It’s obviously business-related if Jenny—”
At the mention of her name, I slam my hands palms open down onto the surface of the desk. “New agenda item,” I bark into the ringing silence. “Charlie, stop lurking on the fucking beach.” He opens his mouth to protest, then thinks better of it. “The rest of you—you need to run your plans by me first for approval.”
“Does that mean—?”
“Yes, Beau. All of your plans. I need a list of the events for the next month, and anything else you plan to set up around the resort. I had a careful look at Charlie’s financials, and he’s right. We have to find places to trim costs. I’m going to need itemized lists of every outlay you have in mind so I can go line by line—”
“Itemized lists?” Beau’s face is the picture of horror. “Roman, I’m busy planning events. Making an itemized list of everything I need to make those run smoothly would take up—”
“Yeah, Beau. You’ll have to reduce the time you spend sleeping during the day.”
“Do you know what that does to a man?” he sputters. “Losing sleep is like walking around drunk. Impaired.” He puts an indignant hand to his chest. “Do you want me to get in an accident?”
“Aren’t you already walking around drunk?” Driver takes his feet off the desk and sits up. “If what Huck says is true—”
“Am I being put on trial here?” Beau runs a flustered hand through his hair. “Because if I am, I want legal representation.” A grin breaks through his serious expression, and he struggles to keep it hidden.
I let out an exasperated sigh. “You’re all impossible. And I want plans, Beau. Before you host another event.”
He frowns. “My next event starts tonight at seven. There’s no possible way—”
“Find a way.” I stand up from my seat like I’m at the head of the table in a boardroom. “Driver, I need a plan from you before you head out again.” Driver checks his watch, then opens his mouth. “If that means leaving later, then leave later. Charlie—” Charlie perks up. “We need to have another discussion. Are you free in an hour?” He nods crisply, the satisfaction evident on his face. “And Huck....” His slouch is petulant, and now that I’m looking at him, I don’t remember quite why I wanted him in this meeting in the first place. Mostly, I wanted to feel like I was in control of something, which isn’t easy to admit. “No more stalling on graduation. Finish the senior seminar so we can work out whether you want to be part of this or not.”
“Great.” Huck stands up from his chair and sticks his hand out for me to shake. “Thanks, boss.”
I don’t take him up on the offer. Instead, I wave them all out. “Back to work, everybody.”
As my brothers file out, I catch Driver whispering to Charlie—something to the effect of on the balcony? Some nerve.… Charlie laughs.
I sink back into my chair with a scowl. I don’t feel much better than before the meeting, and it’s all because of Jenny.
Not that she did anything wrong, per se. It was only that once her steak was gone, she stood up like a princess at a public appearance, gathered up her camera, and said that she was sorry, but she just couldn’t stay another moment.
“Jenny,” I hear from the hallway. When I look up, she’s standing right in the center of all my brothers. “What do you think about the luau idea?” Beau has a five-second rebound.
“It was a good one,” she says, then catches sight of me over his shoulder.
She gives me a tentative wave, biting her lip.
She looks regretful.
And just like that, I feel a hell of a lot better.
15
Jenny
I couldn’t do it. I just couldn’t do it.
I tried to be the femme fatale, but when push came to steak, I couldn’t take dinner from Roman and sleep with him in the Emperor Suite. Color me shocked. Leaving abruptly after the dessert course wasn’t the plan when I stepped into the room, but it turns out there’s no manual for what to do after your carefully designed femme fatale act actually works.
Out in the courtyard on my lunch break, I sit in the sun and flip between the apps on my phone, my thumbs unsteady on the screen.
Last night revealed something to me, or maybe it was something I knew all along: I can’t do this with Roman. Not under false pretenses. Heat coils between my legs thinking of how utterly forbidden and hot it is to be wanted so badly by my boss, but my conscience is being a real Jiminy Cricket.
He was willing to cross that line for me. When Connor first offered me the job, I was sure I could do it—I could take that dark, evil part of me and get some mild revenge for all the times Roman failed to look past my frankly weird exterior in high school.
But that’s all bullshit, and I can’t deny the truth any longer.
That’s why it’s time to quit being a double agent. Working at the Bliss Resort is what I’ve wanted to be doing since I quit Global. Not exactly what I wanted. I wanted to make it on my own in New York, but if I can’t be doing that....
I shake that thought right out of my head. This is needless stalling. I know what I need to do, and there’s no way I’m ever going to be able to phrase it in a text message. Before I can lose my nerve, I bring up Connor’s number in my contacts and stab at the button to call him.
It rings once, then twice, and hope flares in my heart….
“Jenny!” His voice echoes jovially over the line, and I scowl down at my feet. The tilework underneath the umbrellaed tables out here is nicely detailed, but even good tile can’t make me thrilled that he answered. I was hoping for a voicemail. “Calling in to report good news? I saw the Bliss Instagram feed, by the way. Excellent work. If you keep this up, we’ll be in a great position to discuss regular contracts.”
Ugh. The last thing I want is to have a regular contract with Connor. “Actually....” I clear my throat and sit up straight. Connor can’t see me, but from my research I know that body language sends as many signals to you as it does to the other party in the conversation. I’d strike a power pose, but there’s a couple making their way through the courtyard and I don’t want to draw their attention. “I’m calling about ending the contract.”
“Really?” I almost believe the disappointment in his tone. “That would be a real shame. I’d be sad to see you go.”
“I just don’t think it’s the right—”
“I’d also be very sad to have to confiscate your signing bonus. I’d be willing to let you keep a week’s worth of payment, since you’ve already done that much of the job, but the other seventy-five percent will have to be returned to Global.”
I have to snap my mouth shut to keep from looking like a gaping fish. “What are you talking about? You can’t take the money back. You already paid me.”
Connor laughs. “Are you pulling my leg?” My soul recoils from the dad-joke vibe of it all. Connor’s younger than I am. It’s gross. “You know perfectly well that under the terms of your contract, you forfeit the bonus and the remainder of payment if you don’t complete the project.”
I grit my teeth. “That’s not—that can’t be right.” I say the words even though, deep down, I know it can be right. Connor would know the contract better than I would, but I can’t admit that to him. I cannot admit that I didn’t read the terms carefully before I signed on the dotted line. There were creatures living in the ceiling of my apartment. All I wanted was to get out of there.
“I can send you a fresh copy of the contract, if you want. What’s the best email address to send it to?” There’s a faint tapping sound on the other end of the line, like Connor’s getting ready to send that fuck-you email right now.
I let out the world’s fakest laugh. “You got me. I just wanted to inject a little humor into your lunch hour. Everything’s going great.”
Connor guffaws, deep and loud. “Glad to hear it, Jenny, because—”
I hang up the phone.
There are three weeks left in the contract. I can survive until then. In the cool air conditioned lobby, I roll my shoulders back and down, trying to exhale the dirty feeling from my lungs. This is only a matter of survival.
That’s what I manage to tell myself right up until I see Roman, leaning against the doorframe to my office, obviously waiting, a glint in his eye. “Did you enjoy your lunch break?”
“As far as lunch breaks go....” I breeze past him into my office. I saw him looking at me when I got in this morning. It only took me twenty minutes to stop blushing. “It could have been worse.” A bird could have shat on me right at the end of my phone conversation, for example.
Roman follows me into the office, and I try to calm the heat low in my belly by going around my desk and sitting down. Out of habit, I pull up the social media account manager I use, the pictures flickering to life on the screen. Read the room, I think. Read it.…
Maybe he does read the room, but he bulldozes right past my vibe, coming around behind my chair.
Instantly, I want him there. I’m so attuned to him that the heat from his body warms me up, even though we’re not touching. Roman leans over my chair, pointing at the computer screen. “Talk to me about this account.” It’s a cover, and I know it. He just wants to be close to me.
“People can see us,” I say out of the corner of my mouth.
“No one is watching.” His voice is low, his breath is on my ear, and I am melting into my chair. “You practically sprinted out of the suite last night. I hope I didn’t do anything to...offend you.”
I want to lean my neck into his lips just to feel them on my skin, but I don’t. The act of resistance takes up almost every bit of my willpower. I have to engage my core to fight it. At least I’ve done a ton of planks. “I didn’t want to take advantage. I didn’t want to be...shady.”
I still don’t want to be shady. “This is my resort. It’s not shady unless I say it is.”
“That’s not true.” Now his lips do brush the side of my neck, and I wish I had a spare pair of panties in my purse. Why didn’t I plan for this? “There are...moral standards.”
“Go out with me.”
There it is, right in the open. A waterfall of sheer excitement washes down my spine. “Don’t joke.”
“Do I sound like I’m joking to you?” He nips my earlobe. Oh, God, he actually does it.
“No. You don’t. I just don’t quite believe it.” The words come out on a gasp, the opposite of what a cool, sexy, confident woman would do.
Roman’s laugh is a low rumble that lights me on fire. “We can talk about what you believe or don’t believe at dinner.” He pauses. “Though if you don’t want this, you can tell me.”
“I do.” I say it too quickly, and it earns me another laugh. “I—never thought I’d admit it, but I do want....” Another brush of a kiss lands on the pulse in my neck. “I want this. Just not here.”
“Not in your office?”
“Not at your resort.” Is there enough oxygen going to my brain? I’m beginning to doubt it. “It’s too—” Tainted with my own attempts at sabotage. That’s what I should say. I should tell him right now, but when I’m breathing him in like this it’s impossible to think. It’s impossible to gather the courage. I can’t put aside my own desire. “I want to do this right.” It’s not totally accurate, and it’s a bit of a lie, but it’s the best I can do in this moment. “Whatever this is.”
“Jenny.” He says my name so quietly that I almost ask him to speak up. I want everyone to hear the way he says it.
“Yes?” My own voice trembles.
“Are you free on Friday night?”
Exhale. Remember to breathe. Breathe.... “Yes.”
Roman straightens up, and I feel the loss of him as keenly as my excitement. “I’ll pick you up at eight.”
16
Roman
By the time Friday night arrives, pure adrenaline has replaced all the blood in my veins. She’s been meticulous about keeping office hours free of flirtation. Well...nearly free. Sometimes she comes into my office with a sway in her hips that’s so inviting I almost order everyone else to take the rest of the day off. That same sway is in attendance as she walks up to my car. The employee bungalows are set back from the road leading into the resort, so I’m treated to almost a minute of the view.
Jenny wears red, and with her dark hair and green eyes, it’s a total power color. Her hair is swept back to the nape of her neck as usual, but as she gets closer to the passenger side, it’s her makeup that catches my eye. I’m not sure what exactly she’s added, but it looks stunning.
I straighten up from where I’ve been leaning against the hood and open the door for her. “Hi,” she says, pausing with her hands on the top of the frame. “It’s nice to see you outside of work.”
Being this close to her without touching her at all is a non-starter, so I indulge the both of us by leaning down to kiss her cheek. We are still on Bliss property, so this is skirting her new set of rules, but so be it.
“You look beautiful. Did you have Melanie stop by?”
Jenny wrinkles her forehead. “Who’s Melanie?”
I laugh, but only because I’ve made an ass of myself. “She’s the makeup artist at Lavish.” We have an in-house salon, like every good resort.
