Romancing My Love (Love in Bloom: The Bradens) Contemporary Romance

by Melissa Foster

  “You tell me.”

  “Because your suit costs more than the entire building.”

  “So you’re embarrassed that I’m successful?”

  “No, I don’t want him to get the wrong impression. He knows me, Pierce. I mean, he’s seen me at my most desperate, and I don’t want him thinking that…Damn it. This is so hard to explain. Boyfriend implies…Well, it implies our relationship, but I want to pay him on my terms, and I don’t want you to feel like you need to help. I don’t need you to fix it, and I don’t need you to protect me when I go there. I just need you to support my need to do what I feel is right.”

  He felt like she was cutting off his balls.

  But the truth was, he respected the hell out of her for it. As painful as it was—and it was goddamn torturous—he shoved his ego aside. “Okay, but a compromise means two-way street, not bulldozing. I would rather you didn’t go there alone.” Pierce felt like he was taking a walk down Rebecca Lane, learning more about who she was, what it really meant to care for her mother and live paycheck to paycheck, and how strong and resilient she really was.

  She narrowed her eyes. “You’re impossible.”

  “Maybe so, but you’ve got me so hamstrung that you don’t let me be half the man you deserve.”

  “Fine. It’s a deal.” She climbed over the console and kissed him. “Trust me, baby. You are every bit of a man in all the ways it counts.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  DAPHNE AND HENRY’S house was a modest brick rambler. It reminded Pierce of many of the smaller homes in Trusty, Colorado. It was built on a quiet street, and inside, the house was clean and smelled of home cooking. It had a calm, pleasant vibe, and as he followed Rebecca down a narrow hall to her bedroom, it brought back memories of his teen years. It had been a very, very long time since he’d followed a woman into a shared living situation.

  Her bedroom was small, and it had a distinctly different feel from the rest of the house. This bedroom, with the photographs on her dresser, books beside the bed, and her clothes hanging in the closet, felt very much like Rebecca and smelled like the perfume she was wearing the first time they’d met. The titles on the bedside table caught his eye. Marketing and Branding. The Hidden Entrepreneur. Understanding Acquisitions and Mergers. The Art of Business. He wondered where the romance and women’s fiction titles were. Didn’t all women prefer light reading to business? Rebecca didn’t fall into any other typical womanly trends. Why would her literary interests be any different?

  He picked up one of the photographs of her mother. There was no question about it being anyone else. She and Rebecca had the same beautiful, expressive eyes and high cheekbones.

  “Your mom was beautiful.”

  Rebecca came out of the closet with an armful of dresses, skirts, and blouses. Pierce wrapped his arm around her and pulled her in close.

  “Yeah, she was.” She set her clothes on the bed and Pierce took her hand in his.

  “And you were about the cutest little girl I’ve ever seen.” He kissed her temple and lifted her left hand, the one with the ring she ran her thumb over every time she spoke of her mother. “Was this ring your mom’s?”

  “How’d you know?”

  “Every time you talk about her, you rub it with your thumb.”

  “Yeah, she said my father gave it to her. It was too big, so she always wore it on her index finger. After she died, I liked having it on. I can’t believe you noticed that.”

  “I notice a lot.” He settled his lips over hers.

  “Oh, excuse me.”

  Pierce turned toward the man’s voice.

  “Sorry, Henry.” Rebecca’s cheeks flushed, but when she looked up at Pierce, there was no embarrassment, only love. “This is my boyfriend, Pierce. Pierce, this is Daphne’s husband, Henry.”

  Henry looked like the kind of man who would be right at home with a grandchild on each knee, with short gray hair and a friendly smile. He looked at Rebecca with a caring, fatherly gaze, and it warmed Pierce to know she had another person who seemed to care about her. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Henry.” Pierce shook his hand.

  “Nice to meet you, too, Pierce, and I’m sorry to interrupt.”

  “We weren’t…” Rebecca stumbled over her words.

  “We were just getting a few of Rebecca’s things for the weekend,” Pierce explained.

  “Oh, are you two going away?” he asked.

  “No. In fact, I have to work Sunday,” Rebecca said. “But I’ll be staying at Pierce’s.”

  “Ah, right. Rebecca, I wanted to let you know that after our talk the other night, I got a little creative and put a few more feelers out in a different direction. You never know.” He winked.

  “I’m so happy to hear that, Henry.” Rebecca embraced him. “I know everything will work out for you.”

  “Well, you kids have fun.” With a nod, Henry disappeared down the hall.

  “Creative?” Pierce asked.

  Rebecca peered out of the bedroom and then whispered, “He was laid off from his accounting job and hasn’t been able to find anything for months.”

  “Maybe I can hook him up. I’ll give him my number on the way out.”

  “Pierce, you don’t have to save everyone.” She wrapped her arms around his waist. “But it’s very nice of you to try to help him. I know they would appreciate any opportunity you can find. Thank you.”

  “I’ll connect him with Chiara and we’ll see where it goes. Oh, before I forget, I need to shop for Luke and Daisy’s engagement gift. I know you said you have to work Sunday, but would you like to go shopping with me Saturday?”

  “Sounds fun.”

  He picked up one of the pictures of her mother. “Would you like to bring a few pictures over? Maybe put one on the mantel and one in the bedroom?”

  “You wouldn’t mind? I do love having them near me.”

  “This room feels like you, babe. Bring as many pictures and as much stuff as you’d like. I want my place to feel like you, too.”

  Chapter Twenty

  THE CHTEAU RESTAURANT was another one of the restaurants at the Astral, and it was a world away from any restaurant Rebecca had ever been to. Dimly lit, with waiters donning bow ties and black vests and patrons that smelled of money, it should have been intimidating, but thankfully, Rebecca drew upon her belief that people were people and money was like clothing—strip it away and the wealthy were just like everyone else.

  She hadn’t been nervous about meeting Pierce’s cousin Treat or his wife, Max, until the second she saw them crossing the restaurant lobby. They were a handsome couple, both with thick dark hair, Max’s long and wavy, Treat’s cropped short and neat. Treat was well over six feet tall and dwarfed Max’s petite frame. He had one hand protectively around her shoulder, and his dark eyes locked on Pierce. The family resemblance—and the realization that she was meeting a member of Pierce’s family—hit her like a brick.

  Gulp.

  Pierce looked amazing in his dark suit and light blue dress shirt. He’d told Rebecca a million times how great she looked in her little black dress, and still there was something nerve-racking about meeting his family. She had no family to speak of. Her mother had been an only child, and her grandmother had died when Rebecca was a toddler. Rebecca’s mother hadn’t seen her own father since she was an infant. Pierce had become, she realized, the closest thing to family she’d ever had besides her mother.

  “Pierce.” Treat opened his arms and embraced him.

  “It’s good to see you.” Treat turned a sincere smile her way. “And you must be Rebecca. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

  He kissed Rebecca’s cheek while Pierce hugged Max, who was simply stunning. Her dress was similar to Rebecca’s, a simple black, above-the-knee number. She was wearing it with heels that weren’t low enough to be dowdy and weren’t high enough to be slutty. She, like Rebecca, wore very little makeup, which made Rebecca feel at ease.

  “Hi, Rebecca. I’m Max.” Max leaned in
close and hugged her.

  “Hi, Max, Treat. It’s nice to meet you both.”

  Pierce slid his arm around Rebecca, and her nerves calmed a little more.

  “I hope you brought pictures of Adriana,” Pierce said as they followed the hostess to their table.

  “Treat has a thousand pictures of her on his phone.” Max laughed.

  “There’s nothing wrong with being proud of our daughter.” Treat pressed a kiss to the back of Max’s hand.

  That was something Pierce had done so often that Rebecca wondered if all the Braden men were as charming as Pierce, and apparently, Treat.

  Once they settled into the intimate corner booth, Rebecca took a moment to drink in the surroundings and remembered what Chiara had said about the owner decorating the restaurants to honor his family members. The restaurant featured enormous scenes from motion pictures, which Rebecca guessed featured the movies that Pierce’s brother Jake had been in. It warmed her insides anew, that family was so important to Pierce. And as Treat shared some of his favorite pictures of his daughter, she realized again the magnitude of what it meant for Pierce to introduce her to Treat and Max.

  “She does look like your mother, Treat.” Pierce leaned close to Rebecca as he scrolled through the pictures. He pointed out Treat’s brothers and sister in some of the pictures and told her a little about each of them.

  They ordered dinner, and Treat and Pierce caught up on siblings and cousins.

  Max leaned across the table. “Are you still nervous?”

  “Is it that obvious?”

  “Oh, no, not at all. But I’ve been where you are. I remember how overwhelming it was to meet Treat’s family. At least it’s just the two of us. We’re the easy ones.”

  “Easy ones?” Are there hard ones?

  “Well, you know, big families tease a lot, but Pierce and Treat are the oldest siblings, so they’re more reserved, I think.”

  Treat leaned down and kissed Max’s cheek. “Is she telling tales about me?”

  “I’m telling truths.”

  The waiter took their order, and Treat filled their wineglasses. “Pierce, tell me about the Grand.”

  Rebecca’s ears perked up. She hadn’t wanted to ask about the acquisition, because Pierce seemed like he didn’t want to talk about it when she’d brought it up to him before work that morning.

  All hints of Pierce’s smile disappeared, replaced with hooded eyes and a deep, serious voice. “It’s a mess, Treat. They’ve got liens on the property for unpaid payroll taxes, and it appears that the records we were shown weren’t accurate. Based on those books, the company should have a net worth of twenty-seven million, but with the new information my team turned up, it looks more like twenty-two million.”

  “Are you going to walk away or offer him less?” Treat asked.

  “I think it’s got potential, but he’s not interested in anything less than the original offer, and I’m not going there.” The muscle in Pierce’s jaw bunched.

  “Pierce, there are plenty of other properties, and if you let this one sit, if he really wants to sell, he’ll come down. You know how this works.” Treat reached into his jacket pocket and took out his phone. “I received notice today about a casino over in Vegas that’s having trouble. Maybe it’s time to switch gears.”

  “I want this location. I know I can turn it around, and Jeff—he heads up the due diligence team—thinks that there are several areas where we can achieve higher profits. I just need to wear Benson down.”

  “Excuse me, Pierce.” Rebecca touched his leg.

  “Yeah, babe.” There was an edge in his voice. He was in work mode. Uptight work mode, in fact.

  “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to interrupt, and I don’t claim to know much about any of this, but wouldn’t an earn out be an option in this situation?” She held her breath. She had learned about earn outs in one of her finance courses during a practical application study.

  Pierce and Treat shared another look, one Rebecca couldn’t read.

  “An earn out,” Pierce said.

  “Yes.” Her heart beat faster as she recalled all that she had learned. “For example, the business was worth twenty-seven million dollars with your original estimate, and you believe that based on the net present value of the next five years’ projected earnings, the present value is twenty-two million. Couldn’t you offer twenty-two million with a two-year earn out? If the property exceeds the projected income on which the offer was based say, in two years, then you commit to pay them a percentage of the income earned over that projected amount. Maybe ten percent? Not to exceed the original offer of twenty-seven million?”

  Pierce blinked several times. “Rebecca, how do you know about earn outs?”

  “Well, I don’t really. We had a practical application project in one of my classes. I love the way business and finance work hand in hand, so I came up with an idea. When I brought it up to my professor, he said that it’s called an earn out.” She shrugged. “It seems like a great option, but from what he said, most business owners don’t like earn outs. They want to sell and be done with it, but with a business that’s in debt, well, that owner might be willing to agree to an earn out so he can get the liens paid off with the proceeds of the sale. And now that the liens are out in the open, it’s not like they can hide them from the next potential buyer. So really, it’s in his best interest to take it.”

  “Rebecca, would you like a job?” Treat smiled.

  “Seriously, woman. What are you doing waiting tables?” Max asked.

  “Oh, I love my job.” Treat couldn’t be serious. Could he? He looked serious. No, he’s just being nice instead of telling me that I have no idea what I’m talking about. I should shut up.

  Pierce was strangely quiet.

  Rebecca moved her hand from his lap. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said anything.”

  He reached for her hand, and as he spoke, he had the same calculating look in his eye that he’d had when he was reviewing his files.

  “Bec, it’s a brilliant idea. I was so locked into trying to make the return on investment for the current offering price work for us that I didn’t even bother to think outside the box.” Pierce shifted his eyes to Treat. “Genius, right? Win-win?”

  “Absolutely, if your team’s sure you can make the business sustain itself and turn a profit,” Treat answered. “And, of course, if they’ll go for it.”

  “Pierce, did you have any idea that Rebecca knew this much about acquisitions?” Max asked.

  “No, but if there’s one thing I’m learning about Rebecca, it’s that there’s a lot more to her than she lets on.” He gazed into Rebecca’s eyes. “I don’t think there’s a damn thing she can’t do.”

  No one but her mother had ever had that much confidence in her abilities. She hoped he wasn’t just being nice. “It was just an idea. I mean, I know it’s not that big of a deal.”

  “That’s where you’re wrong, Rebecca.” Treat locked eyes with Pierce. “Pierce and I have more than thirty years in the business between us and neither of us came up with that option. It’s a very, very big deal.”

  Chapter Twenty-One

  PIERCE LAY IN bed Saturday morning with his eyes closed, thinking about dinner with Treat and Max Thursday night. After dinner that night, while Pierce reviewed the documents for the acquisition again and called Jeff and his attorney, Rebecca had fallen asleep. Pierce crawled into bed behind her and he’d lain awake most of the night thinking about how she’d pulled the earn-out option out of thin air, and he’d thought about it all day Friday, too. Then again, she had been handling her mother’s medical bills, her mother’s tax issues, and had been going to school for business. Maybe it shouldn’t have surprised him, but he’d known plenty of business school graduates, and very few, if any, would have picked up on the rarely accepted earn-out option as a consideration for the Grand.

  He felt Rebecca stir beside him, and he kept his eyes closed, unwilling to let go of the peaceful moment and face
the day. He could lie there with Rebecca all day.

  Her breath whispered across his cheek. “It’s Saturday, and neither of us has to work.”

  He opened his eyes, and she was smiling down at him with heavy lids. “What’s our plan for today?”

  He rolled her onto her back, slid his thigh over hers and his hand beneath her camisole, brushing the underside of her breast with his thumb.

  “We have to buy Luke and Daisy a gift, remember?”

  He kissed her softly. “Right. Good thing you remembered. I was thinking about staying in bed all day.” He lifted her camisole and as he kissed his way up her belly, he remembered that he was going out of town on Sunday.

  “Bec, I have to go to LA to hammer out the deal with the Grand. I’ll probably only be gone a few days, leaving Sunday night and coming back Tuesday, if all goes well.”

  She ran her fingers through his hair and frowned. “See? You’ve ruined me.”

  He arched a brow.

  “Before you, I never worried about spending my days alone. Now? The first thing that went through my mind was, Two whole days? And after my heart went a little crazy, my next thought was, How will I sleep without you?”

  He grinned. “My evil plan is working. Let me sweeten the deal. After I come back, the next weekend is Luke and Daisy’s engagement party—will you come with me and meet my family?”

  She drew in a sharp breath. “Pierce, I’d go anywhere with you, but are you sure? That’s more serious than meeting your cousin. Don’t feel pressured to—”

  “Babe, the only pressure I feel right now is between my legs.” He reached down and slipped out of his skivvies, then drew her panties off and moved over her. “Will you come home with me?”

  “Of course.” She eyed the condoms on the bedside table.

  “Don’t worry. I would never do something you didn’t want.”

  “Oh, I want, Pierce Braden. I want big-time, but it’s just a few more weeks.”

  “Weeks? I can handle that. I’ve waited for you my whole life.”