Hot and Bothered

by Jennifer Bernard

  “Sandy.”

  “Sandy, the main character? Olivia Newton-John?”

  “Yes, Gretchen from the hardware store strained her vocal cords. It’s a demanding part. I rented the movie last night so I could learn the audition song, and wow. It’s a lot to learn.”

  “You can do it.” He smiled over at her. “With my help, of course. Know how I know?”

  “How?”

  He threw back his head and channeled John Travolta. “Cuz’ I got chills, and they’re multiplyin’.”

  14

  “You hired Julie? Are you nuts?” In the hangar, Tobias sorted through the drill bits, searching for the right size for the shelf he was putting up. “Last week you were afraid to talk to her. Now she’s going to be doing our QuickBooks?”

  “I wasn’t afraid. I just wasn’t ready.”

  “So what changed?”

  “Everything, essentially.” Ben filled Tobias in on Julie’s story, or at least the parts of it that weren’t too private. Tobias listened with a dark frown gathering on his forehead. When he was finished, Tobias pressed the trigger of the drill with an ominous whine.

  “So, Dad’s murderer scared her off, that’s the theory?”

  “It’s possible. Someone did, and there’s a good chance it was the killer. That would really be something if she helps us catch him after all this time.”

  Tobias fitted the bit into the drill. “After all this time. Key phrase there.”

  Ben stiffened. “He threatened her. She took a chance even coming back here.”

  “She could have called someone. The police. Us.”

  “She did call the police, I told you. She called that night. It went nowhere, and then the guy followed her the next day. The police weren’t an option.”

  “Well, what about us? You? Why didn’t she tell you?”

  A soft voice answered the question for him. “I thought about it a lot, Tobias.”

  Julie stood just inside the side door of the hangar, holding a big cardboard box.

  “I wasn’t sure what to do. I didn’t have any real evidence. I didn’t see the man. It wasn’t even the same night that the murder happened. Maybe he had nothing to do with that. And I was dealing with Savannah and getting us set up in LA, and finding work, and then Felix and…” She trailed off, shaking her head ruefully. “I know it sounds like a bunch of excuses. I’m sorry. I really am. Looking back, I could have done so many things differently. But I’m here now and I told everything to Will, and someone just dropped off all these flyers, and what do you guys want me to do with them? Do you have a storeroom somewhere?”

  The uncertainty in her eyes ripped at Ben’s heart. “Julie, don’t worry about Tobias. He’s just being an asshole.”

  Tobias swiveled his head toward him. “I am?”

  He strode forward, shouldering Tobias aside on the way to Julie, then took the box from her. “Tobias has that ‘don’t mess with my family’ thing down. He actually pestered poor Aiden at college when he thought an older woman was conning him. Turned out to be Carolyn, the best thing that ever happened to him. So that just shows what he knows.”

  Tobias shrugged his big shoulders and pressed the drill to the piece of wood he was working on. “I look out for my brothers, I know that much.”

  Julie cut him off before he could start drilling. “Hang on, Tobias. I’m not done.”

  He glanced back at her with lifted eyebrows.

  “I did the best I could. I was seventeen. I didn’t have anyone to stand up for me except for Ben, and we got sabotaged.”

  Tobias listened without expression, keeping his thoughts to himself. Ben knew that he’d seen Julie’s fiery side when she was young; he’d witnessed the lawn mower incident. But it was even more impressive now that she was a full-grown, confident woman.

  “I know you worry about your brothers, but honestly, I think Ben came out of it okay. Look at him. He’s a reserve Air Force pilot, which basically means he’s a dashing chick magnet in a flight jacket.”

  Tobias shot Ben an amused look. “She called you ‘dashing.’”

  “Yeah, I caught that. Julie, listen, we get it. No one’s blaming you, including Tobias. We want you to stay and work with us. Tobias wants you to stay.” He elbowed his brother in return. “Right, Tobias?”

  “Absolutely. I don’t even know what QuickBooks is.”

  She still didn’t look convinced. Color burned in her cheeks, her chest rose and fell with her breaths. His body responded to her the way it always had, with an instant and eager erection. He hid it behind the box of flyers.

  “Please, Julie. Do you want Tobias to get down on one knee too?”

  “Excuse me, what?” Tobias swung his head around with a glare.

  “Because this is a concrete floor saturated with motor oil. Whole different experience than the beach.”

  Slowly, Julie’s expression softened. To Ben, it was like watching a flower unfurl. She smiled impishly. “I really would like to see that, but sadly, I don’t have my camera with me. So I guess it’ll have to wait.”

  Tobias extracted himself from the workbench and rose to his feet. He stepped toward Julie and put out his hand. “Welcome to Knight and Day, Julie. I’m glad you’re here, I really am. I just have one request.”

  Even though she took his hand, she looked wary. “What’s that?”

  “If anything doesn’t seem right, if anyone shows up who seems suspicious, if there’s any hint of a threat of any kind—you tell us. If Ben isn’t here, you tell me. If you aren’t here, you call one of us. I’ll give you my number. You can call at any time, day or night. I’m serious, Julie. If there’s a chance whoever threatened you back then is still here, we need to be watchful.”

  Color flooded her face. “That man might have had nothing to do with your dad’s murder, you know. That happened later.”

  “I know. This isn’t about that, it’s about you. Someone didn’t want you to come back to Jupiter Point, but here you are. That takes guts, and I just want you to know we have your back. All the Knight brothers do, not just your ex-boyfriend.”

  Julie pressed her lips together in a way that told Ben she was holding back tears.

  “That thing you said about not having anyone to stand up for you? That’s not true, not anymore. You have all of us.” He dropped a kiss on the back of her hand.

  That sweet gesture must have put Julie over the edge, because as soon as he released her, she gave them both a misty, confused smile and murmured something about checking on the software she’d been downloading. She hurried out of the hangar; it instantly felt empty and dull without her presence.

  “Thanks, T.” Ben turned to his over-protective older brother. “That was cool. A lot better than ranting at her.”

  “I didn’t rant. I never rant.”

  “Okay then, scold. Lecture. Jesus, I don’t happen to have my dictionary with me. You know what I’m talking about.”

  Tobias planted a hand on his shoulder. “Ben, you’re going to stay away from her, right? She works for us now. Don’t we have rules about dating employees?”

  Shit. He hadn’t thought of it that way. “I don’t know, do we?”

  “We should probably make some.” Tobias looked like he was trying not to laugh.

  “Forget it. We’re working on our friendship. That’s it.”

  “Friendship. Gotcha,” Tobias said dryly. He squeezed Ben’s shoulder, then went back to the workbench.

  Crap. Tobias was right. There was a good chance Ben had played this all wrong. Workplace romances were always trouble.

  Not that he wanted romance, anyway. Because that would be foolish. They were friends, trying for a fresh start. That was all they were and all they would be. He’d just have to make the most of it. Knowing she was in the reception office right this minute, and that she’d be there every morning for the foreseeable future—that was enough.

  For now.

  Getting to know Ben again—as an adult—was both wonderful and tortur
ous. Every morning, he greeted her with a big smile and a mug of hazelnut coffee from the Keurig. And every morning, that smile was made of pure, one-hundred percent friendship. No hint of anything beyond that. Hence the “torturous.”

  The hazelnut coffee was part of Project Friendship, as he’d named it. On her second morning of work, after she’d settled in, he pulled out a notebook.

  “This is a quiz,” he told her. “A friendship quiz. To speed up the ‘getting to know you again’ process.” The first question was how she liked her coffee. Hence the morning ritual of hazelnut with about half a cup of cream added.

  Every day, he asked her a few more questions on the list, and they compared their answers about everything from whether she still liked butterscotch sundaes to what time they liked to wake up in the morning.

  “I usually show up around seven, so I’m used to making the coffee,” he told her.

  “Seven? What about your late nights partying at Barstow’s?”

  “They explain why I live on coffee.” He grinned. “Black with lots of sugar, by the way. In case it comes up.”

  The phone rang, and she took a moment to book a reservation for a wildlife tour. She jotted the booking down in the ledger they used to keep track of the schedule—for now. She intended to put all their schedules online as soon as she had a chance.

  When she finished, she looked up to see Ben smiling at her nostalgically. “What?”

  “I was just remembering how nervous I used to get when I called to see if you wanted to hang out. Cassie used to laugh her ass off at me.”

  “Cassie! How is she? I miss her. Gosh, she must be, what, twenty-seven or so?”

  “Yes, about that.” In his usual jeans and cotton shirt, freshly shaven, his gray eyes sparkled. “They’re planning to come back at least for a visit, maybe in a couple weeks.”

  “They? Who do you mean?”

  He tilted his head at her quizzically. “You didn’t know? Mom and Cassie left right after Dad died and they haven’t been back since. Mom couldn’t handle being here anymore.”

  He made that last comment casually—too casually. Obviously, it bothered him that Janine was gone. Her heart went out to him. She knew how close he’d been to his mother, and how much he’d worried about her. “I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t be, it’s all good.” He shrugged.

  Oh yes. It definitely bothered him. “I had no idea they left. No one told me about any of that. I feel like I’m the last to know anything.”

  “You need to spend more time with Mrs. Murphy so you can catch up.”

  She laughed. “I’m afraid to. I’ll have no secrets left if I do that. She’s the master interrogator, not me.” She made a mental note to look up Cassie on Facebook. They’d been pretty good friends when she was dating Ben.

  “Okay, so what else is on that list?”

  Propped against the wall in a casual but mouthwatering pose, he consulted his notebook again. “What’s your favorite TV show from the last ten years?”

  “Grey’s Anatomy. Scandal. Anything involving Shonda Rhimes. You?”

  “Don’t get much chance to watch TV, but I read a lot. Suzanne Brockmann and George R. R. Martin.”

  “Wait, I know that name. Doesn’t she write romance novels?”

  “Yes, but they have a lot of action too. Military action, not the other kind. Well, that too.” He winked at her. “Guess I never lost my belief in happy ever afters, at least the fictional kind. In real life, happy for now is about all I can handle.” He checked the old-school round-faced watch he wore. “I’m going to get Lancelot ready to go.”

  “Lancelot? I hope that’s a nickname for a plane, not something else,” she murmured, hopefully too softly for him to hear. Not exactly an appropriate comment for a workplace. Then again, this wasn’t really a workplace. It was more of a fun place where she was temporarily earning a wage and answering questions about coffee and TV.

  He straightened, eyes alert and filled with laughter. “What did you just say?”

  “I was just commenting on what a great nickname that is for a Knight and Day plane.” She blinked at him innocently, folding her lips to hold back the laughter. “Knight. Lancelot. What are you going to call the new one?”

  They’d just sold the Piper Matrix to Hunter and Starly, and purchased a second Cessna.

  “Haven’t decided. Maybe Guinevere. Planes are generally considered female, you know. Like boats.”

  “That explains why you like them so much, I suppose,” she murmured. She turned back to the computer and the fuel receipts she was entering.

  He took his flight jacket from the pegboard on the wall and slung it over one shoulder. “It’s a good thing to have an employee who relentlessly mocks you, right?”

  “I wasn’t mocking. I was flattering. You’re very popular. I know, because I answer the phone. But if you really want an employee who mocks you, I promise I’ll work on that.”

  “You’re perfect as you are. Never change.” With that breathtaking comment, he disappeared out the door. She was still trying to get her heartbeat under control when he stuck his head back in the room. “Nearly forgot the next item on the list. Favorite lunch food?”

  “Does lunch come with this job?”

  “Sometimes, if Tobias remembers to stop at the sandwich place before he comes in. Are you still a grilled cheese fanatic?”

  “No, that’s kid stuff. Now I like tuna melts.”

  He smiled at her so warmly it was a good thing she was sitting down. “Let me guess. On gluten-free bread?”

  Right, the dreaded gluten-free phase, when Mrs. Reinhard had insisted that the entire kitchen be purged of anything with a speck of gluten. Julie always got stuck with the leftovers, which were basically inedible. Once, she and Ben had taken an entire loaf of gluten-free bread to the duck pond. When even the ducks ignored it, they laughed until they cried.

  “If you ever want me to quit for real, bring me a tuna melt on gluten-free bread. I’ll get the hint.”

  Soberly, he pretended to write that down in his notebook, then took off.

  She sighed deeply. God, he was so cute. A thousand times cuter than he’d been as a boy. And he’d been the king of her entire world back then. Oh, this was trouble.

  15

  As time went by, Ben’s “friendship” questions got more intimate. Any boyfriends? What about breakups? Any pets? What about her singing? Did she ever write songs anymore?

  When she’d had enough of his questions, she shooed him away so she could focus on getting Knight and Day in order. It was fun work, a nice change from cleaning. She organized their paperwork, commissioned a better website, got Knight and Day added to TripAdvisor.

  The brothers began trusting her with the check-in process as well. Every passenger had to write down their weight and next of kin, and sign a liability waiver. She educated herself about the regulations governing the remote airstrip, the specs of the planes, the history of the airstrip—because tourists asked about that kind of thing.

  In the afternoon, she’d pick up Felix from school. Sometimes she brought him back to Knight and Day, which he loved. He still hadn’t gone back in the air, but Tobias was teaching him about plane mechanics. He soaked in every speck of information, and at least it didn’t make him throw up.

  On the weekends, she took him to the Reinhards’.

  She still hadn’t completely forgiven them.

  The first time she saw them after Ben’s revelation, she told Felix to wait in the car while she confronted them inside. She cornered them in the foyer, between the Ming dynasty vase and the Louis Quatorze sideboard.

  “I need the truth from you both. That message I gave you to pass to Ben. It was really important to me. But he says you told him something completely different.”

  “It was a difficult time for all of us, have you forgotten?” Mrs. Reinhard adjusted the Hermes scarf tucked around her neck. She didn’t like being challenged by anyone—especially by someone the same age as her daugh
ter.

  “Of course not.” A wave of anger surfed through her. Were they really going to try to bury the whole thing? “All I want is the truth.”

  “It was all so long ago, Julie—” Adam began.

  Julie cut him off. “I don’t care how long ago it was. I stayed with Savannah when you asked, and I brought Felix here when you asked. The least you can do is be honest with me. What did you tell Ben? Why didn’t you give him my message?”

  The couple shared a long look. Julie made her hands into fists, her fingernails digging into her palms, forcing herself to stand her ground. Ben was right; standing up to them wasn’t easy for her. They were so powerful, so used to getting their way.

  “We were worried about Savannah. And we were concerned for you as well. You were grieving so intensely, clinging to Ben. We were afraid you were going to sacrifice your future. You had talent and smarts. We didn’t want it wasted.” Priscilla smoothed her perfectly angled bob.

  “You expect me to believe you cared about me?” The thought was so ridiculous she snorted.

  “We’re not monsters,” Priscilla said, almost indignantly, reminding Julie of her own comment to Felix. “We cared about you, and still do.”

  Julie stared at her in disbelief. Did manipulating and deceiving mean “caring,” in the Reinhards’ world?

  Adam turned to his wife with a frown. “Didn’t we intend to tell Ben eventually, Priscilla? After Savannah found a place?”

  “Yes, we did. And in fact, I tried. I called Janine Knight.” She shrugged. “But she was gone and so was Ben. Will Knight told me Ben had joined the Air Force, which I thought was a fine and patriotic thing to do. Good for him.”

  “Ah, right. There you go.” Mr. Reinhard nodded at Julie, as if that solved everything. He checked his phone, which was vibrating. “Excuse me.” He stepped away, leaving Julie with Priscilla, who looked as if she’d rather be anywhere else than alone with her.

  “Okay, I can maybe almost wrap my mind around the idea that you thought I’d be better off away from Jupiter Point. But why didn’t you tell me that you hadn’t given Ben my message? All that time, he thought I’d dumped him and never looked back.”