by Inara Scott
Zoe batted him away but smiled as she did. “Hey, don’t freak out, Dad. I’m fine, I swear.”
“Zoe,” he said sternly, “you are wearing a sling. That is not fine.”
Connor felt a familiar flash of jealousy at their easy, close relationship. Then he reminded himself that he knew the truth about what had happened. Even if it had just been circumstantial, he was the one she’d confided in and spent the night with, not Luke.
“I had a bit of an incident while riding a scooter,” she said. Could everyone tell she seemed to be deliberately not looking at him when she spoke? “You know how some people hate scooters more than life itself? I think they’re trying to cause accidents by putting things in bike lanes. Rocks and whatnot.”
Connor noticed she’d avoided lying about the nature of her accident. Just let the listener draw their own conclusion.
“That’s awful—where were you?” Luke asked.
“On Embarcadero. Don’t worry, the doctor said I’m fine. Just a little hairline fracture. I’ll only be in a cast for a few weeks. It’s not a big deal.”
He figured, based on the succinct explanation, that his role in the entire incident was going to be glossed over. Or perhaps erased entirely.
Fine by him.
He tried to look shocked and concerned. But not too concerned.
Rafe leaned in for a closer look. “It is painful?”
“She broke her wrist,” Luke replied, before turning back to Zoe. “Of course it’s painful. Shouldn’t you be in bed? Why in the world are you here?”
She ignored him and turned to Hugh. “Sorry,” she said pleasantly, “I’d offer to shake your hand, but it’s not really an option right now.”
“Of course,” he replied. “Hugh Wright.”
“Hugh’s new to town,” Luke offered. “An advance rep for Precore Technologies. We took pity on him and let him join our game because he’s been lonely.”
“Really?” Hugh said mildly, brushing back his hair from his face. “I seem to remember you begging me to step in because all your subs were busy.” He smiled at Zoe. “Actually, Luke’s been selling me on your firm. He said something about the best deals happening on the basketball court. I figured I’d have to check it out.”
“How interesting,” Zoe said. “I can’t say that I’ve ever been part of those deals. Probably because no one’s ever invited me to play.”
Connor had a lightning flash of understanding. Zoe’s reluctance to let the men know how she’d been injured suddenly made much more sense. She was already excluded from part of their business—she didn’t need more jokes about her clumsiness keeping her even more in the dark. And no, a basketball game wasn’t technically business, but like Hugh had said, deals got made on the court all the time. He’d just never really noticed it before.
Luke’s laugh betrayed a hint of shame. “Zoe, you’re five foot nothing and I’m pretty sure your sneakers have never been in an actual gym before. Otherwise we’d definitely ask you to play.”
“Any time you want to join us, you’re welcome,” Mason offered. “I mean, after you get that sling off. How long will you be out for?”
“Oh, I’ll be at work Monday. I just need to wear a cast for a few weeks.”
Rafe gave her a quizzical look. “You sure you don’t want to take a few days off? I mean, we always love to see you, but you do look a little rough.”
Her mouth tightened in annoyance. “No way. I’m actually here because I just heard some big news—Southcycle is looking for a new firm to handle their patent work. Aims wants bids by the end of the week, and I’d like to get started on it right away. I just wanted to check in and make sure you’re game for it.”
“Southcycle?” Connor jerked up in surprise. Southcycle was a relatively new company that had gained almost instant cult status when they released a prototype of the world’s fastest-accelerating fully electric motorcycle. They were only producing a limited number while they continued to test their technology, which helped build the hype.
“You’ve heard of them?” Zoe asked.
Connor shrugged. “I’ve been trying to get my hands on one of their bikes for over a year. Their waiting list is a mile long.”
Mason gave him a quizzical look. “You want to buy a motorcycle?”
“I’ve been keeping an eye on the technology to see if it pans out,” he said with just a hint of defensiveness. “Could end up in a lot of other applications. Aims is the CEO, right?”
Mason nodded. “Yep, that’s him—Chuck Aims. He started the company in his basement with some friends tinkering on their bikes. I’ve been following them pretty closely this year. They could be looking for fresh financing to make another expansion. Do you know why they’re looking for new attorneys, Zoe?”
“They’ve been using Altman Rice,” Zoe said with a shrug that indicated that should say it all. Turning toward Hugh, she explained, “They’re one of the biggest patent firms in the Bay Area. But they deliver a lousy product. Their partners are overpaid, and the associates, who do all the work, aren’t given enough support. They work people until they drop, and it’s the clients that pay the price. I heard a rumor Aims was pissed when one of the partners on his account billed him for work the partner had never done and then tried to blame an associate for it.”
“How do you know all that?” Hugh asked.
“I used to work there,” Zoe said. “I know some of the people involved. I guarantee we can beat them.”
“Wow.” Hugh sounded impressed.
Luke sighed. “Zoe, you think it’s a good idea? You really want Aims for a client?”
Connor watched, fascinated, as her jaw set in a stubborn line.
“It would be a huge deal,” she replied. “Why in the world wouldn’t I go for it?”
Luke spread his hands in a gesture of helplessness. “Because…Aims, Zoe. And you’d be the primary point of contact, since it’s mainly patent work. You sure you want that?”
“Would you ask Austin if he wanted to represent Aims?” she said tightly.
Hugh cleared his throat. “Is there something I’m missing here? What’s wrong with this Aims guy?”
Rafe shrugged. “The company is known for having a sort of bro culture. I met Aims once, and the only thing he could talk about was sports and motorcycles and how they were putting a bar into the company’s break room. He isn’t exactly…enlightened, I guess you could say?”
Mason nodded. “I don’t know him personally, but the company does have a bit of a reputation. Apologies, Zoe”—he inclined his head in her direction—“but I don’t think he’s ever hired a woman for his executive team.”
“So basically, he’s like two-thirds of the men in this town,” Zoe said. “You understand that if I made ‘treats women like fully competent members of the workforce’ a requirement for me to represent someone, I’d cut off half of Silicon Valley?”
Luke rubbed his face and sighed. “If you want to compete for the work, it’s your choice. But we all need to agree before bringing them in as a client.”
She inclined her head toward Hugh and gave a pleasant smile. “Like you were planning to consult with me about bringing in Precore Technologies?”
Connor winced on Luke’s behalf.
“Zoe…” Luke trailed off when she pinned him with that familiar checkmate gleam in her eyes.
She turned to Hugh with an apologetic smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. “Sorry to drag you in on this family business. Luke occasionally forgets how our partnership works when he’s on the basketball court.”
“We hadn’t…I mean…” Luke stumbled, shamefaced.
“If it helps, I hadn’t actually made any decisions yet,” Hugh said. “Should I rethink things?” He addressed his question to Zoe, for which Connor had to give him props. Though to be fair, the guy was probably hoping she would say yes, so he could then ask her out while looking like a hero.
“No,” she said decisively. “We’re the best at what we do, and yo
u’d regret walking away. But sometimes this guy”—she turned her gaze on Luke—“needs a little reminding that he isn’t the king of the universe.”
She spun on her heel—as gracefully as one could while wearing a sling and not being entirely steady on one’s feet—and marched back the way she’d come. The men all watched in admiration as she walked away.
Hugh finally broke the silence. “I really like that woman.”
“Join the club.” Nate grabbed the ball and tossed it at Hugh. “Now, let’s finish this game.”
Chapter Seven
Zoe paced in front of Connor’s apartment building. A cool breeze played with the long strands of hair that fell around her shoulders, which she’d been unable to corral into a ponytail, thanks to her bum arm. In retrospect, marching out of the gym in a righteous fury had been satisfying at the time, but it also meant she hadn’t had a chance to find out when they would be done with their game. Which meant that she’d had to wait out here for more than thirty minutes, still vibrating with fury over the scene in the gym, because Connor had hidden her phone the day before and left that morning without telling her where it was, and she was totally, completely, helpless without it.
Luckily, the air was clear and crisp, a gorgeous fall day now that she was a few hundred feet above the fog bank covering the Outer Sunset—including her apartment.
She hadn’t really been surprised to find Luke locking down a new client on the basketball court. It wasn’t as if her partners tried to exclude her from decision-making or tried to go behind her back when they wooed new clients. Luke and Rafe weren’t like that—they were the opposite, really, and she never doubted that they thought of her as any less a member of the team because she was a woman.
No, it was more subtle than that. The men talked sports and worked out together. They went on outdoor adventure trips where they did ridiculous things like hang gliding and rock climbing. Luke and Rafe met and landed clients like Hugh on the basketball court, or by inviting them to Warriors games, or watching the 49ers in a company box.
She was lucky they were all good friends, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t aware that she was the lone woman on a team full of men. She joked with them about her dates because they did the same, and she loved how comfortable they were together. But in the back of her mind, she always knew that comfort and respect didn’t mean there weren’t divisions between them.
Usually, she could shake it off. But today felt different, and not just because she was tired and sore and frustrated that she felt like she was always moving backward while everyone else was getting ahead.
Today, unlike most days, she actually had an idea. A way to finally move forward.
But first, she needed to convince Connor to help her.
“Zoe?” Connor waved, looking surprised, as he walked up the sidewalk. He must have showered at the gym before walking home, because his hair was still damp and he was wearing black joggers and a snug gray T-shirt.
As much as she tried to stop it, her insides quivered, just a little, at the sight of him.
“What’s going on?” he asked. “Are you okay?”
“Hey.” She tried for a relaxed smile. “Any chance you know where my phone might be?”
He stopped and closed his eyes, then hit his forehead. “Shit, I’m so sorry. I never got it back out for you yesterday. It’s in the kitchen.”
“No worries,” she said lightly. “I was going to try to ask you about it at the gym, but I couldn’t figure out how to do it without drawing attention to the whole thing. Besides, I sort of lost my cool a little.”
He nodded. “Understandably. Where did you park?” When she pointed to her arm, he winced. “Oh right, sorry. No driving for you for a little while, I imagine.”
“I probably could do it, but to be honest, I’m not really desperate to get behind the wheel with my hand in a sling. It won’t kill me to ride share for a while.”
They rode the elevator back to his apartment. Connor headed into the kitchen. “Can I get you anything while you’re here? I feel terrible that you had to come all the way back into town.”
“That’s okay, but I did, er, have a question I wanted to ask you.” She cleared her throat, trying to maintain at least a veneer of normalcy.
He looked up from the drawer he was searching in to give her a quizzical look. “A question?”
“Yeah.” She stood by the counter, shifting awkwardly from one foot to the other, suddenly questioning her own judgment. This was a huge request. Could she really ask it of him? “Or maybe I should say, a favor.”
And if he said yes, what might happen next? What if she inadvertently started something in motion—something that she couldn’t control?
“A favor? Whatever you need, just let me know.”
She bit her lip. “You might want to hear the whole thing first.”
His brows knit together, and he gave her one of his long, searching looks. Zoe realized if she were going to spend more time with him, she would have to get used to those gray-blue eyes examining her, pulling out all her secrets with nothing more than silence. Finally, he turned away, pulled her phone from the drawer and extended it toward her, then turned toward the fridge. “In that case, would you mind if I made us something to eat? Maybe just some cheese and crackers? It is lunchtime.”
As her stomach rumbled, Zoe realized that she hadn’t eaten since breakfast. Plus, having something to focus on other than Connor’s eyes—or his chest—would be helpful. “You know what, cheese sounds wonderful. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever met a moment cheese didn’t improve.”
That, at least, was entirely true.
“Sounds about right to me.” Connor grabbed a few things from the fridge, pulled out a knife, and started slicing the cheese. Zoe perched on the edge of a stool and watched as he added the cheese and a few handfuls of crackers, along with some olives and nuts, to a platter.
“So before we get to this mysterious favor, how about you tell me exactly what happened today?” Connor asked. “Is everything okay with you and Luke?”
“Yeah, it’s not a big deal. We blow up at each other every now and then. Luke started the firm, and as much as we’ve structured it so we are all equal partners, he forgets sometimes that he isn’t the boss.”
Connor took the platter and headed for the living room. He sat on the couch and set the platter on the coffee table. Zoe sat next to him, remembering what it felt like last night when they’d been side by side in the dark. The memory was a little too intense, so she leaned forward took a handful of crackers and cheese and told herself to focus on that instead.
“And he leaves you out?”
“Deals get done over sports. Sometimes it’s a new client; sometimes it’s a new project with an existing one.” She lingered over a slice of sharp cheddar. “There’s not really time to run everything past me. It’s shitty, but it’s how things go. I just need to remind him to think about it before he starts trying to critique the clients I want to pursue.”
“Mason and Nate fight all the time.” He threw her a sideways smile. “I just sit back and watch the fun.”
“You’re not much of a fighter?” Zoe asked, thinking back on the many meetings she’d sat through with the Livend Capital trio. She could only remember one time, a few months ago, when Connor and Mason had disagreed about something. But then again, she had assumed they disagreed more in private, like she did with Luke.
“I don’t see the need,” he said. “I just tell them what I think, and most of the time, that’s what we do.”
Zoe shook her head. “Wish I could pull that off. How’d you manage such a feat?”
“Dunno.” He shrugged.
Zoe had an idea. Connor was brilliant, for one, and as far as she could tell, he didn’t open his mouth unless he was 100 percent sure of what he intended to say. Unlike her, he didn’t spout off about things just for the sake of arguing, either. As a result, when Connor talked, everyone listened.
“When Luke and
Rafe and I first started out, we disagreed quite a bit. Basically, I had to prove that I knew what the hell I was talking about. Once they got to know me better, things got much easier. It helps that we all really like each other. They’re sort of like family now. Luke’s like a brother you fight with, but appreciate in the long run.”
“But you think Southcycle would be a good client, and he doesn’t,” Connor observed.
“Southcycle wouldn’t just be a good client, they could be the perfect client for me.” She felt her muscles tensing as she said it, her frustration with Luke’s attempt to manage her decision coming back in a rush. “And I hate the suggestion that I should back away from them because I’m a woman.”
“Why are they so perfect? The CEO sounds tough.”
“Lots of clients are hard to work with. That doesn’t mean you give up. I’ve got a background in electrical engineering and patent law, and my specialty is litigation. Based on rumors I’ve heard, Southcycle is likely to be facing some patent claims in exactly my areas of expertise. From what I can gather, that’s why they’re on the hunt for a new firm. It also helps that they’re not big enough yet that they need one of the big firms, but they are growing fast enough to want the best. All of which points to me. Most importantly, I need a big name client to help me secure my reputation. Southcycle would be that client.
“Makes sense.” Connor inclined his head in agreement. “But what about the CEO? If he’s got women issues, won’t that make things hard for you?”
“Probably.” Zoe shrugged. “That just means I’ll have to be that much better than everyone else. And when I’m successful, it will be an even better sort of advertisement for my work.” She grabbed a few more crackers and steeled herself for what she was about to ask. “Which sort of brings me to that favor.”
“I was wondering about that.”
She took a deep breath. “I need your help, Connor, to win over Aims. You heard what they were saying about him—he’s got a pretty limited range for socializing and getting to know people, and none of it is in my area of expertise.”
“And socializing with him matters?”