Tectonic (Double Blind Study Book 3)

by Heidi Hutchinson

  Shane had finally retreated to his room, but his thoughts stayed constant. His parents had been happy. Not merely content and comfortable, but truly, remarkably, undeniably happy with one another.

  He didn't know why these thoughts had started to bombard him occasionally. Sometimes Greta would make him laugh and he'd connect that to a memory of something in his youth. His dad laughing so hard at his mom at the dinner table one night that he had to wipe tears from his face. Shane hadn't understood the joke at the time, but it was clear his dad did. And he thought it was frickin' funny.

  Shane's arm did a sweep of the empty side of the bed and he ground his teeth together. He didn't want to sleep alone anymore. He wanted to be able to reach across the bed and pull Greta's soft body against his. Bury his face in her neck and silky hair and go back to sleep.

  How long before he told her that?

  His cell phone rang from the table beside the bed and his other arm reached out blindly to pick it up.

  “Yo,” he mumbled once he'd brought it to his ear, eyes still closed.

  “Hey, boss,” Clarke greeted him. Shane rolled onto his back and came more fully awake.

  “What's shakin'?” he asked casually even as his gut twisted.

  “I got an email from Trippy today saying there were some discrepancies on the last invoice, and they won't be processing our order until it's cleared up.”

  Shane's gut twisted again. This was not good.

  Trippy was the company that manufactured his snowboards. They were a small start-up company that Shane had a lot of faith in. He'd signed a fairly major contract for them to exclusively make boards for his company. Since snowboards were still primarily handmade, it was an expensive and time-consuming process. Getting a decent builder was kind of a big deal.

  “I called over there to see what was wrong, and no one can give me any straight answers. I wouldn't bother you about this, since I can usually fix it myself, but something isn't right over there. And we need them to fulfill that order or else... well, we're screwed.”

  “Shit,” Shane muttered, rubbing his forehead with his fingertips. “I'll call over there in a bit and then call you back.”

  “I'm sorry about this, Shane,” Clarke's voice got soft.

  “It's not your fault, honey,” he reassured her. “It's all part of the experience.”

  “Still.”

  “I know,” Shane responded.

  Clarke was just as invested in this business as he was. She felt the darkness on the horizon even though neither one of them was talking about it. He sighed into the phone, letting her know they were indeed on the same page. “I'll call you when I know something.”

  He disconnected and sat up, swinging his legs over the side of the bed. So much for sleeping in.

  Scrolling through his contacts he found the head guy, Ted Trippy himself, and pressed Send.

  It rang several times and then went to voicemail.

  “Ted, this is Shane Brookings. Seems we have some sort of problem. Call me back.”

  He disconnected again and tossed his phone back on the table in frustration. This was not good. Very, very, very not good.

  First with shipping and now manufacturing. Something was up, and try as hard as he could, Shane didn't think this was a coincidence.

  He grabbed his jeans off the floor and slid them on while standing up. He'd just gotten them buttoned when his cell rang and he answered it without looking at the screen.

  “Yeah?”

  “Hey,” Luke greeted, “get down to the lobby. Blake and I are starving and Harrison is nearly catatonic. The women aren't back yet, and you and Lenny are the only ones who know your way around this place.”

  Shane chuckled despite his dark mood. “Right. Let me get dressed, I'll be right down.”

  When he entered the lobby he saw Harrison first. He was slumped back in a plush chair, his head lolling on the armrest, long legs stretched out in front of him, shades on and pointed to the ceiling.

  Luke and Blake were sitting nearby on a couch, both leaning forward with elbows to knees, similar grins on their faces as they conversed with one another. Luke spotted him and he stood with a smile for a greeting.

  “Finally!” Harrison groaned loudly.

  “They have complimentary muffins in the common room,” Shane jerked his thumb over his shoulder.

  “He already got those,” Blake said, now standing as well.

  “All of them?” Shane asked.

  “Stop making me sound like a bear, there were only four muffins left,” Harrison said as he shoved his hands in his pockets and stood to follow the group.

  “Maybe that would mean something if we were talking about those mini-muffins that hardly count as anything at all. But we're not. Harry, you ate four muffins that were roughly the size of cantaloupes.”

  “Whatever,” came Harrison's muttered reply.

  Shane tried not to laugh and almost failed. Almost.

  “Well, lucky for you, it's Friday. And that means that Auld Dubliner is serving breakfast.” Shane slid his arms into his heavy coat, zipped it up and waited for the guys to do likewise.

  “That sounds Irish. Is it Irish?” Harrison asked, his eyes starting to light.

  “Where the heck are you going to put it?” Blake asked, shaking his head in disbelief.

  “Oh, I have a place to put it,” Harrison replied knowingly.

  Shane and Luke exchanged a grin and they both chuckled as Shane led the way to his favorite restaurant at Squaw Valley.

  ***

  Breakfast had always been one of Shane's favorite meals. He liked eggs, bacon, and pancakes. Especially pancakes. For some reason maple syrup reminded him of snowboarding. And winning gold medals.

  He and the rest of the guys were strolling leisurely back to the hotel, perfectly stuffed with fantastic food, when Luke got a text from Lenny saying that they were back in for a recharge and some hot chocolate. Shane got a similar text from Greta and he quickened his pace. He needed her grounding presence.

  While conversation at breakfast had been easy and he'd tried to keep it low-key, he was still checking his phone to be sure he hadn't missed any calls. Luke noticed and finally said something. Shane apologized for being distracted, mumbled an excuse about work being frustrating, and the subject was dropped. But it was still heavy in the front of Shane's mind.

  Seeing Greta always helped to ease that pressure.

  They came back into the lobby and Shane was already shedding his coat and heading toward the hall that led to Greta's room.

  “Shane?”

  He turned around to see Lucy stepping towards him from a corner of the lobby. She'd obviously been waiting for them to return.

  Luke and Harrison paused by the elevators, watching with closed expressions. Blake's arm rounded the shoulders of his woman and he pressed a kiss to her temple.

  Shane had stopped moving but remained silent.

  “I was wondering if we could talk?” Lucy's soft voice tugged on a part of his heart he'd soldered shut.

  He took a breath in as he felt his eyes narrow slightly on her hands. The fingers of her right one were tangling in the bracelets on her left wrist.

  She was nervous.

  Damn.

  Shane raised his eyes to Blake. He had no way of knowing if Blake had ever shared with Lucy his reasons for walking away from her so abruptly and so painfully months ago. He had made peace with the fact that she would see him as a villain and a jerk of the highest order, regardless of the ultimate outcome.

  Her, standing before him, asking if they could talk... it was the least he could do.

  Shane jerked his chin up and Blake nodded, stepping away from Lucy.

  “I'll meet you in our room,” Blake told her. She smiled at him and Shane felt that hit him in his gut. She'd never smiled at him like that. Like he was the only man in the world. He'd been fooling himself all those months ago. He had never even gotten close to the heart of her.

  Lucy waited for Bl
ake to move to the elevators with Luke and Harrison before she motioned with a slight tilt of her head for Shane to join her in the seating area.

  He followed, and when she settled on one end of a long couch he took a seat in a lounge chair nearby. The same one Harrison had been draped over so dramatically just hours before.

  “So, you and Greta, huh?” Lucy asked, her voice forcibly light.

  “Yeah,” Shane confirmed. He hoped she wrapped this up quickly, because he really wanted to see his girl. But at the same time, he'd been a huge dick to Lucy and she deserved to have her say now.

  Lucy's dark brown eyes scanned their surroundings before they settled on him and her back straightened.

  “Blake told me what you did,” she said so softly he almost didn't hear her. “That you didn't really mean what you said to me that day, but you had to make it so you couldn't take it back.”

  Shane took a slow breath. Good, so Blake had fixed that.

  “I just...” Lucy continued, her voice breaking as she looked down at her twisting fingers in her bracelets. He watched their movement and felt his gut tighten when he recognized the bracelet that he had given her during their time together. “I wanted to apologize.”

  Shane's eyes snapped up to hers. He couldn't have heard her right.

  “Don't frown at me like that, Shane Brookings,” Lucy chided gently.

  “What in the hell are you apologizing for?” Shane asked gruffly.

  She gave him a small smile. “You saw what was still between Blake and me more clearly than I did. I shouldn't have even begun things with you at all. I had no business playing such a dangerous game with your good heart.”

  Shane leaned forward and his hands closed around hers. “Stop it, Lucy.”

  Lucy's brown eyes began to gloss over. She took a breath and licked her lower lip. “I'm really sorry I put you in that position,” she whispered.

  Shane shook his head to disagree. “I'm not.” Her brows creased in confusion and he went on to explain. “I do not regret one second I spent with you. Yeah, it sucked how things ended, but I'm not sorry you wound up with someone who makes your face light up like the frickin' sun when you smile at him. And I think, because I got to experience just a slice of that with you, I'll recognize it when that kind of a look is aimed in my direction.”

  Lucy gave him a half-grin. “Pretty sure I saw that on Greta O'Neil's face last night.”

  Shane grinned and looked down at the floor. “Yeah.”

  “She makes you happy?” Lucy asked cautiously.

  Shane gave her his full attention, his grin gone. “Yeah.”

  “Good. I'm glad you have that,” she said sincerely, and Shane thought again what a good woman Lucy Newton was. She really was happy for him. Good women like her were a rarity.

  “I am too.”

  “I like her.”

  “Most people do,” Shane confirmed with a head nod. “Not Harmony so much.”

  He laughed at Lucy's eyes got wide and she scrunched up her nose.

  “Don't worry, Greta already laid down the law there. Told Harmony to stay away from her man.”

  Lucy's laugh lit up her whole face. “Oh geez, I wish I could have been there for that. Now I really like Greta.”

  “Speaking of,” Shane raised his eyebrows, let go of Lucy's hands and stood up. “I really need to see her.”

  “Sorry, I didn't mean to keep you. I just wanted to make sure we were all right.” She stood and craned her neck to look up at him. “Are we all right?”

  Shane smiled at her softly. “Better than ever, babe.” He reached a hand to the back of her head and pressed her face into his chest. He kissed the top of her head and released her.

  “Gotta get to my girl. Let's all have dinner again tonight, yeah?” Shane said while backing toward the hallway.

  “Yeah, I'll arrange it.”

  “Cool. Later.”

  He gave a low wave.

  ***

  Greta heard the knock on her door and knew it was Shane. She wasn't ready to answer it yet, not that she really had a choice.

  When Shane hadn't come to her room after she'd received his text that he was on his way, she'd gone in search of him. It didn't take long. She'd found him in the lobby.

  Holding Lucy's hands.

  Greta had turned and gone straight back to her room where she pressed her back to the wall just inside the door and sank to the floor.

  She wasn't thinking because she had no idea what to think. None at all.

  Her mind was a vacuum.

  Pushing up to her feet from her seated place on the floor, she went to the door and turned the knob.

  Shane's bright smile hit her first, then his arm circling her waist hit her second, his lips to her lips were third.

  “Hey,” he murmured against her mouth as he backed her into her room and let the door slam behind him.

  Greta took a breath and pushed against his chest with both hands. He released her but she saw the frown darken his features. So she decided to just jump right into it.

  “I'm not trying to play games. I feel weird right now and I haven't decided exactly how to proceed, so I'm just going to be straight with you.”

  “Okay...” Shane responded slowly.

  Greta paced away and then spun back quickly. “I saw you just now in the lobby with Lucy. You were obviously having a serious conversation, and you were holding her hands, and I guess I'm partially wondering what the hell, and also are you guys gonna give it another go, and on the heels of that is another what the hell.” That was probably the biggest run-on sentence of her life, she noted.

  Shane sucked in his bottom lip and bit down to try to hide his smile, which Greta didn't understand. She put both hands on her hips to show him that he should be taking this more seriously.

  “I see by your stance that you think we're gonna fight about this,” Shane pointed out, his voice vibrating with amusement.

  “I just want you take me seriously,” Greta explained.

  “That would be a lot easier to do if you weren't so damn cute right now.”

  “Okay, now you're pissing me off.”

  “Damn.” Shane shook his head and looked up to the ceiling then back to her. “You're so adorable and you have not one clue.”

  Then he came right at her, putting his arms around her, pinning her to his front. She tried to shove against his shoulders but that didn't work. That never worked.

  “Look at me, gorgeous,” Shane commanded gently.

  “I am,” Greta snapped. But she wasn't. Not really. She was looking at his immovable shoulder.

  “In the eye, sweetness.”

  Finally she met his amber-colored gaze and she felt her body relax against his.

  “Lucy wanted to apologize to me for what happened between her and me way back when. I told her that wasn't necessary. She wanted to make sure I was happy. I confirmed that I was, and we ended things in a good way. I told you yesterday that I had hope that Lucy and I could be friends because she was a really good person and yeah, she means something to me. But none of that should indicate that I'm thinking of 'giving it another go.' Especially not when the only thing I was really thinking about during our conversation was seeing you as soon as possible.”

  Greta considered this. It all made sense. His face had lit up the moment she opened the door. She hadn't seen him looking at Lucy like that at all.

  Well, crap.

  “I may have overreacted. Again,” she muttered.

  Shane threw his head back and laughed loudly. When his laughter subsided to chuckles but his smile was still apparent, he touched his forehead to hers. “You can overreact all you want as long as you always do what you just did, and you talk to me about it. I really appreciate your honesty, Greta.”

  Greta smiled then and wrapped her arms around his neck. He held her closer as she pushed her face into his chest.

  “I missed you,” he growled into the top of her head.

  “Just saw you last night, big
guy,” she reminded him, but still allowed the thrill to race down her spine at his declaration.

  “I know. But you ground me.”

  Greta pulled back slightly and studied his face. There were tension lines around his mouth and eyes that she hadn't noticed before. Okay, she was done waiting for him to bring it up.

  “It's work, isn't it?”

  His eyes flashed and his arms tightened reflexively, answering her question.

  “Just tell me what's going on,” she prodded gently.

  He looked past her and over her shoulder, his focus elsewhere. “You wouldn't understand.”

  But he didn't say it in a way that was insulting. It was more forlorn than that. Like, he really felt trapped and couldn't explain why.

  “Okay, maybe not. But sometimes when you talk through things out loud, it starts to make sense to you. Even if I don't understand a damn thing. Please, let me help you carry that burden. I want to.”

  His eyes came back to her and she saw him studying her now.

  “Something is going on with the business and I can't figure out what.”

  Greta didn't move. She stood perfectly still in his arms and listened as he laid it out for her.

  “Shipping of our apparel in New York is out of whack. The orders don't make any sense and customers are starting to get pissed off. Then Clarke called this morning to say that the manufacturer for our snowboards is not going to fulfill our order until some 'discrepancies' on the last invoice are taken care of. I called the head guy and he won't return my call. I've called him three times today with no answer. It's not good. It's very not good. Without any boards, I don't have a business. And this is not the ideal time to start shopping around for a new builder. What really sucks is that I liked Ted Trippy, so I don't understand this bullshit. Besides that, there is no frickin' way there are any issues with our payment to them. Clarke has been militant about that and Lia is even worse. Something else is at play here, but I cannot figure it out. Especially not from Squaw Valley where my woman is. And I hate having this distraction looming over my head while at the same time I'm very much falling for the most kick-ass chick I've ever met.”

  Greta let all that penetrate and she gave Shane a second to catch his breath.