Seducing Bran

by Jules Barnard

  Bran gave Jaeg a stiff smile. “I always have time for a beer.”

  Ireland stood still while Cali slipped what she called a wine yoke over her head, the contraption sitting around Ireland’s neck and resting against her boobs. Cali inserted a glass of red wine into the yoke.

  Ireland glanced down. “Really?”

  “Hell yes.” Cali repositioned the glass so it fit snugly. “Just wait; you’ll come to love this thing.” She twirled her fingers near her head, her own wineglass dangling from a souped-up yoke she must have bedazzled, because that shit sparkled like a Dancing with the Stars costume. “You can’t beat ‘no hands.’”

  Cali gave Ireland a side-eye and reached across the island for a cracker. “Note—I didn’t need to set my wineglass on the counter to grab food.” She lifted her wine from her Victoria’s Secret-enhanced cleavage and sipped.

  “You have two hands, Cali. You only need one to grab food.”

  Cali shot her an annoyed look. “Not if you’re carrying a plate.”

  Ireland laughed and shook her head. There was no arguing with her cousin. Besides, it was cumbersome to drink wine and hold an hors d’oeuvres plate. Still, there was no way Ireland would wear this thing in public. She was about to tell Cali as much, when the sounds of male voices floated through the open window.

  Familiar male voices.

  Son of a bitch.

  Ireland ran around the island and ducked. Because Bran Cade was about to walk in the house. What in the hell was he doing here?

  After what happened on the booze cruise, she thought he’d keep an extra-long distance from her. But she’d recognized his deep, sexually charged voice anywhere. Okay, she only imagined Bran’s voice was sexually charged because images of his hot mouth on hers came to mind when she heard it, but was that her fault? No, it was his fault. She’d been trying to get away from him in the lake. He was the one to jump in after her.

  The voices grew louder and Cali cocked her head to the side. “What’re you doing?”

  “Shhh! Isn’t it obvious?” Ireland whispered. “I’m hiding.”

  Before Cali could say another word, the sound of the door opening interrupted them.

  This was stupid. What if Bran saw her hiding? He’d realize he affected her, and that was annoying.

  She frowned. Better not get discovered.

  Ireland considered the layout of the kitchen-living room combination, and whether she could crawl her way to the hallway without detection.

  Definitely not.

  Cali looked toward the front door. “Hi, Bran. How are you doing?”

  Jaeg came around the island and kissed Cali on the cheek. He raised an eyebrow at Ireland.

  Busted. No way could she escape now.

  Ireland stood and fluffed her hair. “Oh, hey. I was just, uh…doing squats.” She bent her knees with her hands held out, and rose slowly.

  Stupidest lie ever.

  Bran glanced at Jaeg, accepted the beer he’d handed him, then looked back at Ireland. His gaze dropped to her wine yoke. “You’re exercising…and drinking wine?”

  “Yeah.” She elbowed Cali. “Doesn’t everyone?”

  Cali did a squat. “We have wine yokes,” she said lamely, and Ireland mentally rolled her eyes. “You want one for your beer, Bran? They’re super handy, right, Jaeg?”

  Jaeg shot her a look. “What? No.” He moved toward Bran, urging him out of the kitchen. “Have you seen the place? How about a quick tour?”

  When they were out of the room, Cali winked. “Jaeg uses his yoke when it’s just the two of us.”

  Ireland cringed.

  “Not in a sleazy way. When we’re watching TV.”

  Somehow Ireland couldn’t envision tall, manly Jaeg using a wine yoke, but she took Cali’s word for it.

  “Now, tell me what’s going on,” Cali said. “The wine yokes aren’t that embarrassing. Why were you hiding?”

  Ireland let out a heavy sigh. “I didn’t want to see Bran.”

  “You said you thought he was cute at the pizza joint. He’s not as friendly as Hunt, but…”

  “Are you sure I said that?” Ireland gulped her wine, swallowing past the burn. “Either way, it doesn’t matter, because he’s a jerk.”

  Cali’s nose wrinkled. “Bran?” She angled her head, as though mentally searching. “I never took him for a jerk, but he better not be. Do I need to unleash a whoop-ass on him?”

  Ireland grabbed Cali’s shoulders. “Hell no. Keep your tiny butt where it is. I don’t care about Bran or what he did.” Not entirely true, but Ireland was working on convincing herself of it.

  Cali looked exasperated. “What did he do? Tell me, or I’ll find out.”

  “Do not go asking questions.”

  She crossed her arms. “I might if I think some guy hurt my baby cousin.”

  Ireland pinched the bridge of her nose. “I’m twenty-six—one year younger than you—and I’ll deal with this.”

  “But why do you have to deal with it at all? What the hell happened? And when did it happen? I’m always with you, and I haven’t seen you two argue.”

  “It wasn’t the arguing that was the problem. Well, it was, but… Shit, he kissed me, all right?”

  Chapter 7

  Silence filled the room, sending Ireland’s heart into overdrive. Maybe she shouldn’t have said anything. And then a smile slowly spread across Cali’s face.

  “Excuse me?” Cali said. “He kissed you? When did this lip-lock take place?”

  Ireland looked heavenward. “You’re ridiculous.” But she filled Cali in on what transpired on the booze cruise.

  “You go, girl!” Cali said. “I had no idea you were sneaking around hooking up behind my back. I fully approve.”

  “How can you approve? I don’t even approve.”

  “That’s because you’re rusty. The bickering is what we more experienced daters call ‘foreplay.’”

  Ireland shoved Cali in the shoulder. “You don’t date anymore, you’re engaged! And I know what foreplay is. That wasn’t it. That was…I’m going to kill you, but first I’ll kiss you.”

  Cali looked at her as though she were slow. “Yeah, also known as foreplay. Whatever.” She quirked her eyebrows and leaned on the counter. “So you enjoyed it, huh?”

  Ireland squirmed. “Maybe. And I’m really angry about it. Have I ever dated a nice guy?”

  “Not really, no.”

  “Exactly. And I refuse to continue this unhealthy pattern. Bran is not nice. Well, maybe he’s nice to others, but he’s not nice to me. Regular men demean me. I refuse—refuse—to take that shit ever again from someone who’s supposed to care about me.”

  Cali’s eyes narrowed. “What are you talking about? Who are all these asshats demeaning you?”

  Ireland waved her hand. “You know why I left my old job.”

  “Because it was boring as hell and you worked with dipshits?”

  “And because of the harassment.”

  Cali grabbed Ireland’s arm and pulled her toward the dining table, pushing her into a chair. “What harassment? You said the men you worked with were jerks. You didn’t say anything about your boss sexually harassing you.”

  Ireland swallowed. “That’s because he wasn’t the one who harassed me.”

  Cali shook her head. “I’m not following.”

  “My boss didn’t sexually harass me… It was the other men I worked with who did. My subordinates,” she mumbled.

  Bad enough to be harassed by a boss, the person in power. It was a twisted form of humiliation to be sexually harassed by subordinates who were supposed to look up to her. Ireland had never felt more powerless in her life.

  “Say again? It sounded like you said your lackeys harassed you.”

  “They weren’t lackeys, they were professionals. But yeah, not quite as professional as I would have liked.” Ireland wrung her hands. “The men I was in charge of made subtle passes at me. They’d touch me inappropriately while feigning to reach for someth
ing. They were jerks and they made my working life a living hell.”

  “What the fuck!”

  Ireland glanced at the hallway where the guys had disappeared. Who knew when they’d come back? “Keep it down.”

  “Why didn’t you tell your boss?”

  Ireland pulled her wine out of the yoke and set it on the table. “How was I supposed to tell my boss—a man—that I couldn’t keep the men who worked for me in line?”

  “You worried it would make you look bad?”

  “It did make me look bad. I was supposed to lead them, not be run out of town by them.” Ireland dropped her head and rubbed her temples. “I tried once. To tell my boss that one of the guys I was in charge of grabbed my ass.” She looked up. “He brushed it off and said to take it up with HR.”

  “And?”

  “HR spoke to the man, and he told them it was an accident. Then word got out I was high-maintenance, and I never lived the reputation down. From then on, everything got worse. The men working for me didn’t touch me, but when I spoke to them, they pretended they couldn’t hear me. When I walked into a room, they’d snicker and laugh. They got their work done, so I had nothing to go to HR with, only a shady level of immaturity that wouldn’t get them fired or suspended. It was…miserable. Humiliating. They didn’t respect me. Not even a little. And I didn’t blame them, because you know how I am. As soon as I realize I’ve lost someone’s respect, I get all tongue-tied. I sounded like a moron whenever I was supposed to be keeping them in line.”

  Cali reached across the table and squeezed her wrist. “You said it yourself, those guys were jerks. I knew you needed to get out of that place, but I didn’t realize how bad it was.”

  Ireland gave her a weak smile. “It could have been worse. In any case, I’m here now and much happier.”

  “Except with Bran.”

  “What’s that?” Jaeg said as he and Bran took that moment to enter the room.

  Cali stood and refilled the snack tray she’d laid out. “Bran ended up running the booze cruise the other day,” she told Jaeg.

  Ireland shot her cousin a look.

  Cali glanced over and shrugged as if to say, “I had to tell him something.”

  Bran glanced at Ireland, and her neck warmed. The look he sent her was hot and intimate, as though he was thinking about their kiss in the water. “Hunt was sick, so I took over for a couple of hours.” Bran rubbed his chin. “I’m not the best boat host.”

  “Actually, you were very hands-on.” Ireland didn’t know where that snarky comment came from. Maybe it was thinking about how she was over guys treating her like crap. Either way, she wanted to let Bran know that she hadn’t forgotten what he’d done to her. Stupid life-altering kiss.

  Bran’s eyes turned half-lidded. And then they narrowed. “Hunt had better find another backup. I don’t have time for boat tours. Got too much on my plate with the restaurants.”

  Jaeg grabbed a handful of cheese crackers. “Levi mentioned something about new restaurant technology. How’s that going?”

  “The entire system is shut down until their supposed specialist figures out why it’s malfunctioning.”

  “And that’s taking long?” Cali asked, then sipped her wine through a straw while she ate crackers with Jaeg.

  “Too long,” Bran said. “And apparently, they’ve sent in their best. I’m not impressed. It’s been days, and they’re still trying to figure out what the problem is.”

  Cali glanced at Ireland and bit her lip.

  Oh no, she wouldn’t…

  “You know, Bran,” Cali said, “Ireland is a computer genius.”

  Bran’s shoulders stiffened, mimicking the frozen panic that had rushed through Ireland’s body.

  “No I’m not,” Ireland said quickly. What the hell was Cali doing?

  Cali’s mouth twisted. “Don’t be modest. Do you have any idea how hard it was to get you a job at Blue?”

  “I thought you said it took minutes after you sent in my résumé?” Ireland said, before she could consider her words.

  “Exactly! They saw your credentials and hired you within a half-hour, because they knew they’d struck gold.”

  Ireland didn’t like where this was headed. “What’s your point?”

  “You’ve got student loans to pay off, and Bran needs help. Why not freelance for Club Tahoe and help Bran with his little tech problem?”

  “Not so little,” Bran grumbled.

  No question Ireland could help Bran with his software issues. She was an expert in half a dozen programming languages. The problem was, did she want to suffer the pain of working with him?

  Bran glanced skeptically at Ireland as though reading her thoughts. “Thanks, but we’re good. I’m sure this guy will work it out.”

  “No, seriously,” Cali continued, and Ireland shot her a look of annoyance that Cali ignored. “If it’s been days and this guy hasn’t figured it out, it will probably take Ireland a few hours to solve the problem. She’s that good.”

  Ireland stared at Cali. Hadn’t Ireland made it clear she wasn’t interested in spending time with guys who were jerks? Why was Cali pushing her into Bran’s crosshairs?

  But then, Ireland had mentioned the kiss, and Cali had gotten that look in her eye…as though she saw a match in the making.

  Shit.

  Bran shook his head. “This is specialized software. She won’t be able to accomplish more than the employee who helped design it.”

  Ireland squeezed her hand into a fist. Did he doubt her skills? Like the men she worked with before? Oh, hell no.

  At least the tech crew at Blue gave her respect. Sure, she’d had to come in and prove she was good, but they weren’t arrogant like the people she’d worked with at her previous employer. It would be great if she earned as much at Blue as she did at her old job, but a nice work environment was huge. Which meant Cali had made a valid point about money and student loans. Dammit.

  “I can do it,” Ireland said, her gaze not leaving Bran’s.

  “Yay!” Cali said. “It’s settled. Ireland will stop by Club Tahoe this week.”

  A muscle in Bran’s jaw ticked. “It’s not that simple. I’d have to clear it with Levi. And the software is proprietary. I doubt the company would want a subcontractor coming in.”

  “They will if she can fix the problem,” Cali said. “Ireland could sign one of those”—she snapped her fingers—“non-disclosure things—an NDA.”

  Bran shoved a hand into the front pocket of his jeans—dark wash with just the right fit that showed off his muscular ass and thighs from the side.

  Ireland stood and moved toward Cali, where she couldn’t see his butt from her vantage point. “Bran has a point.” No matter how much Ireland wanted to prove Bran wrong, the thrumming of her heart told her that spending time with him might not be wise. “I doubt I could find the time with my work schedule.”

  Cali rolled her eyes. “You’re gone forty hours a week—that’s, like, half what you used to work. And it’s not as though you go out—” Ireland slyly pinched her cousin, and Cali cleared her throat. “I mean, it’s not like you don’t have spare time.” Cali grinned. “You might need to cut back on your Fixer Upper marathons, though.”

  Ireland closed her eyes. Would there be no end to this conversation? “Cali,” she said.

  Her cousin laughed. “I’m just kidding. But you have time, admit it.”

  A pleased look crossed Bran’s face. Was it that obvious she didn’t want to work with him?

  Ireland straightened her shoulders. “You know what? You’re right, Cali. I can work Club Tahoe into my schedule.”

  Take that, Bran Cade! Thinks he’s won? Not this time.

  Bran frowned. “I still need to check with the software company.”

  Cali waved him off. “Send them Ireland’s résumé. They’ll hire her.”

  Ireland could use the extra cash, and this was a solid freelance lead. But that wasn’t the only reason she’d reconsidered the job…
or working with Bran. When it came to programming and computers, Ireland was an expert.

  And Ireland wanted to prove to Bran that she was his equal, once and for all.

  Chapter 8

  Bran returned to the club to find James still working on the software issue. In the back of his mind, he’d hoped to walk in and find everything miraculously resolved. “Any progress?”

  “Some,” James said. “Just need a little more time.”

  Uh-huh. Right.

  “You sure there isn’t someone else you can pull in on the project?” Bran had lost all confidence in James.

  “I built the program. I know it inside and out.”

  Which raised the question of why the guy hadn’t fixed it yet.

  The supposed “tech expert” sat back and stretched his arms over his head. He’d been at Prime since seven in the morning, and it was well past nine in the evening. “Besides, the other techs are on other jobs right now. But don’t worry,” James said, and hunched back over his computer, “I’ll get it fixed in no time. I’m close.”

  Bran scratched the side of his neck. There was something about this guy… It wasn’t only that James came across as a preppy douche—which was annoying, yet tolerable—but also that Bran had caught discrepancies in the total income from the online ordering since the system had been up. Something James had brushed off as taxes and currency fluctuations.

  What currency fluctuations? This was Lake Tahoe. They didn’t sell takeout to Uganda.

  James claimed their company was based in Europe and that currency shifts occurred during the credit card transactions. Which sounded like the equivalent of taking a flight from Seattle to Los Angeles with a detour through Chicago. Why would the money need to travel to Europe for the club to get paid?

  If there was anyone else Bran could have working on the problem, he’d insist Tech Banquet replace James. But the CEO had confirmed yesterday that James was their best, and that everyone else was tied up.

  Bran left Prime and entered the club reception area. He took a sharp right and passed through a door to the corporate offices. Walking down a long hallway, he paused in front of the double mahogany doors to Levi’s office.