Tectonic (Double Blind Study Book 3)

by Heidi Hutchinson

  What a mess.

  So Greta did what Greta did best, and she owned her mess.

  “Yes, Clarke, I got a tattoo on my butt.” She turned her back while unzipping her jeans and yanked the gauze down with the waistband, showing the fresh and tender ink. “And out of all the things I shared with you, my best friend, that was what you chose to focus on first.” She righted herself, zipped her pants and turned around.

  Clarke had one arm across her middle, the other arm up, her hand covering the smile she was desperately trying to fight.

  “What about this is so funny?” Greta yelled. She swore that in the distance she heard deep, manly chuckles from downstairs.

  Balls again.

  “Oh, my sweet Greta girl, you are the funniest chick I know.” Clarke lost her fight with her smile and it spread across her face. At the same time, Clarke closed the distance between them and put both hands on Greta's upper arms, giving her a squeeze. “Let's get you sorted. Do we need to call Tate?”

  Greta shrugged halfheartedly. “I'm thinking I don't have time, Shane is coming over after work. You're my only hope, Clarke.” She took a deep breath and straightened her shoulders. “Sort me out.”

  So that's what they did. Well, that's what they tried to do, as best they could in the limited time-frame with Greta getting distracted and asking questions about Clarke and Mike's time spent in San Francisco.

  Clarke's plans to go surfing with Mike had to be tabled, but Mike didn't seem to mind. Greta knew this because the boys came upstairs and convinced the girls to let them in and impart their own wisdom.

  They sat around her room, the boys taking places along the wall while the girls sat on the edge of Greta's bed. Harrison, Mike and Steve were to Greta's left, while Bo sat more towards the right of the room, by the closet door. Brady wasn't home. Which Greta was thankful for, seeing as there was discussion about his “intentions” and it would have been awkward to have him there. None of the guys were surprised by Brady's interest. Clarke was, but she moved past it quickly.

  It was decided that the co-workers meddling was a non-issue, everyone was put on Harmony-alert, the tattoo was discussed but not shown to anyone this time, though Harrison warned he would be holding that in his arsenal if he needed leverage over Greta with Ma.

  They did not, however, discuss Shane. Harrison declared the subject off-limits.

  “They need to sort that on their own. I have seen people who are made for each other waste a helluva lot of time not being together because they were too busy talking to everyone around them, and not talking to the one person they needed to talk to. And furthermore, I've seen too many well-intentioned friends give straight-up bad advice about a situation they know nothing about. Greta, you're a smart girl. I may not agree with your employment choices, or your lack of interest in finishing school, but I think you know your way around your heart better than any of us clowns.”

  It was very sweet and made a little space in Greta's chest swell with warmth. Things like this were what made brothers like Harrison the greatest guys in the whole world. She suddenly forgave him for telling Ma about Shane.

  “Just be open and honest with the guy. You can't go wrong.”

  Murmurs of agreement echoed around the room as they took in Harrison's words. Even if they disagreed and wanted to impart some sort of hapless wisdom, there wasn't any time left. Because her bedroom door pushed open and Shane leaned against the doorjamb.

  Greta tried to swallow, but her mouth had gone cotton dry.

  “What's goin' on, guys?” Shane asked, his voice vibrating with what sounded like amusement.

  “House meeting. You weren't invited,” Steve responded flatly.

  Shane's mouth twitched, his eyes didn't leave Greta's. “You think I could steal Greta for a bit?”

  Greta's stomach did a little flip. She cleared her throat, trying to work some moisture back into it.

  “As long as you promise to have her home by curfew,” Steve replied, one eyebrow cocked warningly.

  Greta rolled her eyes and stood, letting her eyes sweep through her friends and settle on her brother. He gave her an encouraging smile, and she hoped she communicated her thanks to him with her eyes. Then she joined Shane in the hallway.

  “Where we going?” she asked, following him down the stairs to the front door.

  “Someplace we can talk,” he replied easily, holding the door open for her. “And maybe make out a little bit.”

  Greta grinned at her feet as she walked to the waiting Mercedes.

  ***

  Harmony Jeffords narrowed her eyes behind her sunglasses as she watched Shane Brookings open the door to his Mercedes and Greta O'Neil folded into the passenger seat.

  Greta effing O'Neil.

  Harmony had followed Shane from work to see if it was true and he really was dating that cheap trollop. She had the gate access code since her friend CeCe was banging a CEO in the neighborhood and she'd moved in over the weekend and had her girls over for drinks.

  Harmony parked in a driveway a few houses down and waited. She didn't have to wait long before Shane left with his latest piece.

  Normally, Harmony didn't care where he was sticking it, but her life had recently taken an unexpected turn and she was starting to get worried. About herself.

  While things had been going along swimmingly with the good doctor, he just would not leave his stupid wife. In fact, they'd reconciled that week and he'd ended it with Harmony entirely. This was the third doctor she'd failed to hook and she was running out of time. She was going to be twenty-eight in a little under a year.

  Harmony Jeffords and her sisters had been raised with one goal in life. To get a rich husband and pop out a couple kids, thereby solidifying their place and future financial stability. It's what their mom had done, it's what their aunts had done, it's what their grandmother had done. It's what the Jeffords women excelled at. Getting their hooks into wealthy men who wanted offspring.

  But she had to get her ass in gear if she was going to make it happen. Her little sister had landed her very own pharmaceutical CFO just two months ago, her older sister had married a film producer three years ago and was getting ready to push out the first kid. And Harmony's mother, Ivy, had started to make it very clear what was expected of her middle daughter.

  “You have your father's connections and my bone structure, we've done all we can for you.”

  Harmony knew that if she didn't get engaged soon, she would be SOL. Because at twenty-eight, her credit cards would get cut off and they would stop paying for her condo.

  She needed a husband to take over by then.

  Shane's Mercedes backed out of the driveway and Harmony waited a few minutes before she left as well.

  Shane Brookings was her safety pick. He had money, but he didn't come from money. And his circle of friends left something to be desired. He was always supposed to be the backup plan, she'd never imagined she would have to use it. She further had never imagined that Greta effing O'Neil would get there first.

  She hated Greta. Even more after today. That bitch was a pain in Harmony's perfectly Pilates-toned ass.

  She'd had her first run-in with her when Harmony was banging that doctor at the sports rehab clinic. What a waste of time that was. But Greta had actually walked in on them, and then had the audacity to act like it was the worst thing in the world. Please, like she was Little Miss Perfect.

  Greta O'Neil was of the Boston O'Neils. While Harmony didn't know Greta personally, the Jeffords had had a long-standing hatred going against the O'Neils that involved land, love and money. Mostly they avoided them and the circles they traveled it. But, like all decent feuds, it was important to keep up on the information available to you about your enemy.

  Harmony had clocked Greta's arrival to California the second she crossed the border. A cousin in Boston had called to inform her that Greta had tried, and failed, to get in with Cole Parker. He was wealthy, hot and ambitious. He had also married Jackie LaMonte a couple y
ears ago. She was from a power family as well. They were a match made in rich-people heaven.

  Apparently, Greta had thought she was going to score herself the top dog. Foolish girl, she aimed too high. Cole Parker was way out of her league and he wasn't stupid enough to divorce his wife. Rumor had it, they had signed an airtight pre-nup, and he'd lose most of his assets if she left him. Guess Greta hadn't really done her homework. She ended up leaving Boston, humiliated, and ended up in Harmony's territory.

  Now she was dating Shane Brookings. That was just effing peachy.

  Harmony pulled into the drive of her condo complex and reached for her cell phone. She scrolled through her contacts, found the right number and hit Send.

  “Yeah.”

  “It's Harmony.”

  Silence.

  “Jerry?” she snapped impatiently.

  “Miz Jeffords,” he replied, not hiding his sigh, “what can I do for you?”

  “I need you to dig up all you can on Shane Brookings and his business. I want to know everything. Who works for him, who he trusts, everything.”

  “Miz Jeffords, your father has already said—” Jerry Stone started to speak, but she cut him off.

  “I'm paying for this myself, I don't want my father to know about it.”

  Another heavy sigh. “Okay, I'll call you in a few days once I have something.”

  Harmony didn't bother saying goodbye before she disconnected.

  ***

  Shane watched Greta's face as she laughed. Hard. It was probably one of his favorite things about her. One of her arms was pressing on her stomach as her other hand pushed her hair out of her face.

  And then she snorted.

  Seriously, too cute for her own good.

  He'd taken her out to dinner at a little restaurant where the food was good but he knew they'd have a decent amount of privacy.

  They agreed upon arrival that they would be honest and open about what they were thinking and feeling. A couple of beers later and she was laughing hysterically as he told her about his trip to New Zealand with Serge last year.

  Whatever the rush had been to “talk” about important stuff, it seemed to disintegrate as they simply enjoyed being with each other.

  She finally calmed her laughter, but her smile stayed put as she reached across the table and snagged one of his fries. He liked that about her. She wasn't afraid to steal his food. She'd done it nearly every time they were together. It told him that she was comfortable being herself around him. And he liked that a whole lot.

  “Will you tell me why you fix guys?” Shane asked softly. Her smile faded slightly but it didn't leave her eyes.

  “I told you, I'm good at it,” she answered gently, sitting back in her seat slowly.

  Shane studied her face, wanting to get to the part where he knew her well enough to read her thoughts by her facial expressions.

  “Tell me the rest,” he prodded quietly, nudging her foot under the table.

  She rolled her eyes up to the ceiling and then leaned forward on the table with her elbows. Taking a deep breath, her eyes got serious. “When I met Cole, I was working at a sports bar. He was a regular. After I had served him a couple of times, he started asking to be seated in my section. We became friendly, then we became friendly-er and he asked if he could make dinner for me sometime.” She closed her eyes and tipped her head down slightly. “I really should have been smarter, but he was good looking and he was nice to me, so like any hopeful girl, I ignored the obvious. We only saw each other at his apartment. He never took me out and he never came to my place. Then, one night, a woman came into the bar and asked for me.”

  Shane's stomach tightened. He knew where this was going, but the extra details and her soft explanation were making him feel anger on her behalf.

  “She wanted to thank me for helping her husband get through their separation.”

  Shane's face must've registered the shock he felt ripple through him because Greta gave him a humorless smirk and nodded.

  “Yeah, can you believe that shit?” She shook her head and looked at a point past his shoulder. “I guess, while I was busy falling for him and thinking he was falling for me, he was just taking what he needed from me to heal whatever emotional crisis he'd talked himself into. She credited me with saving their marriage.”

  “So you packed your humiliated broken heart and headed for Cali.” Shane picked up her story where she left off. “You have radar for guys who are sad, 'cause he left that imprint on you. And for some reason, you think that's all you have to offer.”

  Her blue eyes started to gloss over as she stared at him. Clearly his conclusion caught her by surprise. But it made so much sense to him now. He pushed out of his side of the booth and slid in beside her, twisting so they were face to face. He cupped her cheek with one hand and ran his thumb across her cheekbone.

  “Thank you for telling me that,” he said quietly, watching his thumb's movement for a second before going back to her eyes, which were staring at him in shocked wonder. “I'm not hung up on Lucy and you need to know that.”

  She drew in a sharp breath of air but didn't say anything.

  “I let her go that night I talked to you about her. I don't want you to think that I'm thinking about anyone else when I'm with you.” His smiled at her gently. “I get why you want to go slow with this. Be as cautious as you need to be, babe. But I gotta tell you, you're safe with me.”

  Then he lowered his head at a slant and kissed her long, slow and sweet.

  By the time he pulled away, their waitress had returned with their ticket, and neither of them had even noticed.

  Shane paid and then her grabbed Greta's hand. They went back to the car, then drove back to her house where they spent a few minutes kissing in the driveway before he left, promising to call her the next day.

  He smiled all the way home.

  Chapter 11

  Gimme Stitches

  Shane turned the key in the lock, securing his office door. A single light shone from the ceiling at the center of the store, keeping the open area slightly lit as he gave a sweeping glance around the silent floor before heading to the front door. The staff had long since gone home and Shane had stayed later than usual.

  For the second time this week he'd been poring over faxes sent to him from Byron, his head guy in New York. Something was happening with the shipping. Or perhaps the manufacturing. Shane hadn't narrowed down the problem yet. But neither had Byron, so that was why he'd started faxing Shane the daily shipping logs and equipment orders. More was getting ordered than was getting shipped. Then sometimes things would ship that inventory claimed they were out of. It was weird. And it made Shane uncomfortable.

  Byron was positive they'd get it sorted and soon, it was probably just a computer glitch, or user error. But Shane knew, in the back of his mind, that wasn't it. Something bigger was at play. He just had no idea what it could be.

  This really couldn't come at a worse time for him. It had been a week since he and Greta had decided to forgo being friends and became very good friends. He was keeping it low-key, but they still talked or saw each other every day. And they were flying to Tahoe tomorrow for vacation for a few days. He was still planning on teaching her to snowboard, but now he could kiss her whenever he wanted and he didn't have to worry about her thinking he was an ass. Well, not for that reason, anyhow.

  Shane checked the safe to make sure it was locked, then the computers to make sure they were properly shut down, and then he did one more final walk-through to be sure no one was in the store and everything was secure.

  This was something new for him as well, he never did walk-throughs. He believed his staff when they said everything was shut down and put away. But that sense of foreboding in the back of his mind was persistent. “Trust but verify,” his dad used to say. Shane totally understood that now.

  His cell phone buzzed in his back pocket and he slid it out, looking at the display. It was Greta.

  “Hey, gorgeous,�
� he greeted her.

  “Hey, are you coming over tonight or will I just see you in the morning?” she asked quickly. She hated calling him when he was at work, even though he told her she didn't have to worry about that. She got right to the point so she wouldn't keep him needlessly busy. If she only understood how much he enjoyed her small interruptions in his day. But they were still figuring out the dynamics of the new relationship they found themselves in.

  “I'm completely packed so I can come over tonight unless you would prefer I stay away,” he answered.

  “Um...” Greta's voice trailed off. Shane waited, sensing she had something she was debating whether or not to say, so he didn't push. “Okay,” she sighed, having decided to just be out with it. “Clarke basically packed for me, so I'm all set to go. But I was thinking it would be a huge waste of time for you to have to drive over and get me, then pick up Harrison in the morning and then drive the opposite direction to the airport. Wouldn't it make more sense for me to just come over to your house tonight and then neither one of us has to get up as early in the morning? We could load the car tonight, you live super close to Harrison, and it would take an hour or more off the morning. An hour that I could be sleeping.”

  Shane grinned and held back a chuckle. “You've been thinking a lot about this?”

  “Maybe.” She let out a little sigh and added quietly, “I've been pretty tired this week and I wanted to get as much sleep as possible so you wouldn't have to deal with grumpy Greta.”

  He didn't stop his chuckle this time and stopped what he was doing, planting his free hand on his hip and looking down at the floor. “Yeah,” he said softly. “If she's as adorable as feisty Greta, I think I could handle grumpy Greta.”