All worked up with wanting her. That fucking kiss wasn’t the kind a man could forget. It was almost as powerful as seeing her naked. One was visual, the other physical. Both deadly and enough to make me forget the oh-so-very-important promise I made to my father.
No sleeping with his clients. I was thirty-two years old. Not a child and not the jovial guy I used to get away with being. Life had happened to me. I’d lost my brother, and my eyes were opened to the real world and the consequences of my behavior. This should have been a no-brainer for me, yet I wanted her.
I wanted her last night as I kissed her against the wall, and I wanted her now as I walked into the meeting room with Peter and saw she was already in here, waiting.
I tried my best not to want her as those large brown eyes met mine and gave me a cold, hard stare.
It was only a second, but it was enough. In her eyes was the same mixture of emotion I’d seen last night.
She looked away from me and focused on her paperwork. This was the social media presentation I’d spoken to her about last week. I hadn’t looked at the plans she’d made for it yet, but I was sure it would have the same problem I kept finding.
I was starting to think that maybe I needed to work another angle because truth be told, they could afford it. I wasn’t brought in to save them money. I was brought in to assess her work and make a judgement based on that. It just wouldn’t have been right for me to see areas where they could have made savings and not highlight it.
I feared now that what I’d done was turn Peter’s sight to something I felt he should focus on, but in the same breath it was damaging to her.
That two million in expenses that could have been saved was no mere thing. It was what got his attention in the first place. A man like him with all his entrepreneurial expertise and ambition wouldn’t have taken such a thing too lightly. It got his attention, impressed him that I’d spotted it, and it also called Taylor’s work into question in a big way.
Peter took his seat near where she stood, and I sat next to him with my notebook.
Taylor switched on the overhead projector, and the first slide that came up showed the budget for the campaign. It was two million.
“I have gone over the campaign for the next three months as we prep for the new NFL season,” she began. I noticed how she just went in for it. Straight to business, and Peter didn’t say anything to her. Not even good morning. “I felt that as we’ve been focusing on cutting cost, I looked at the areas where we could make some adjustments.”
“Such as?” Peter asked, his brows lowered.
“The masquerade ball, for a start, is perhaps the most extravagant event. I thought we could charge for tickets. We could charge for tickets and still have the option to allow them to make donations to our charity if they want.”
I actually thought that was a good idea, but Peter looked like he did not. He frowned and stared at her.
“Charge for entry? Taylor, we’ve never charged for any event I’ve hosted for the last twenty years. People look forward to that ball every year, and the donations received are well in abundance of what we could charge for a ticket.” He furrowed his brows and snapped his gaze to me. “Dylan, any thoughts?”
Now was not the time for me to talk, especially when she was looking at me like that. Like I should step in and save her because this was exactly the kind of thing I would have suggested. She’d clearly taken my advice and was implementing it too.
“Taylor, do you really believe anything should be done to the ball?” I asked her. I felt I should put it like that because I knew she would have left everything the same.
“No, I don’t, but somehow, we’ve taken a turn for cutting costs, so naturally, I looked at the thing that would cost us the most in the next three months.”
“We haven’t taken a turn for cutting costs,” Peter snapped, clearly not liking the comment. “This is business, and in business you have to know what works and what doesn’t. The events we host are all part of the image, and I don’t want those touched. They stay. Think of something else.”
Now she looked nervous, and it made me feel like shit. She reminded me of myself. Me over the last year trying to convince my father that I was ready to represent the company. The only difference was, I had something to prove, and I was the one who’d created this situation here.
“Do you have anything else?” Peter snapped. He reminded me of Bruce Willis, but with hair. He had that hard man presence that said ‘Don’t fuck with me,’ and that prideful self-confidence I’d seen a lot amongst the seriously wealthy tycoon types.
On Sunday night, I’d looked up his net worth and nearly choked on my burger. As of today, Peter Cartwright’s net worth was eighty billion dollars. His siblings, who formed the rest of the empire, came in real close, but he was worth more because he was boss. It all started with him because he was the eldest and most entrepreneurial. He was boss and showing it right now as he looked at Taylor.
“No, I don’t,” she replied in a meek voice.
“Well, I won’t sign anything off until it gets a full review,” he told Taylor. “This consultation was arranged to give me an idea of what you do. Now I see you actually need help. Dylan’s ideas so far have the prospect of saving millions. PR is image, but it isn’t everything. You are wasting money. I warned you the other day, and it looks like you’ve done nothing. I won’t stand for this shit, Taylor. Last chance.”
That… was harsh.
“You make it sound like I’m doing such a terrible job,” Taylor challenged.
“My dear girl, just because you spend your time making these ideas of yours work and create results doesn’t class it as a good job. I need the full package. If one area is failing, the whole plan fails. Go over everything and come back to me next week with better. Understood?”
I thought my father was bad when he specifically laid down the law and told me explicitly that he didn’t want me sleeping with any more of his clients. Peter, however, was ruthless. He spoke to her like a child. I got that she was his child, but she was years away from being the age you would speak to your daughter like that. And, in front of people.
“Understood.” She nodded. She looked like she agreed too, but I sensed different.
She looked like she’d reached the end of the line, and I was the one who’d pushed her there. In my pursuit to make myself look good, I’d taken it all too far. Guilt weighed heavily on my mind for the rest of the day. I felt even worse when she didn’t turn up for work the next day.
Chapter 8
Taylor
* * *
I switched off my phone as it rang again.
Of the ten times that my phone rang today, two times were Dad. The other eight were—surprise, massive surprise—Brody.
He’d left two messages too. One asking if we could talk, and the other explaining why he hadn’t called before.
It was over a week and a half since we last saw each other, and the asshole said he thought he would give me time to cool off before trying to speak to me.
Maybe something was truly wrong with me. In my warped brain, I didn’t think we had anything left to say to each other. If I’d just caught him cheating and he was trying to apologize, then maybe there would be more for him to discuss. However, I caught him cheating with a woman who claimed to be his girlfriend, and she looked like she knew about me. It made no sense. I wanted nothing more to do with him, and when I switched my phone on again, I’d block his number.
As for Dad, well…
Today, I just didn’t know. Yesterday had been bad. He’d never spoken to me like that before.
It was a new experience and I needed today for some downtime. The whole treatment and the manner in which he spoke to me told me he really was looking for some reason to stop me from running the company.
He treated me like everything I did was so bad.
I woke up today with all the shit on my mind and decided to hang out with the wild child, Abby.
She
was bunking off work today too because she had a big date planned tonight with a super hot guy, and she wanted to make sure she looked amazing. We would have invited Mia to join us too if she’d come home last night. She’d spent the night with her new guy again. Since this was night number three, we’d given him the title of her guy and placed bets on how long we thought until this guy had to go back on duty. This one was a sailor. We weren’t given any names.
Abby and I had spent the day shopping, getting our hair and nails done, and now we were dressed in our bikinis, lazing by the pool, lying on the deck chairs while we drank virgin cocktails she’d made from her new Juice Master Recipe Book.
“Was that Brody again?” Abby frowned when I tossed the phone on to the towel on the ground.
“Yes, I just wish he’d leave me alone,” I answered with a deep sigh of frustration. “Every time he calls, it’s like a reminder of what happened.”
She turned onto her side and offered me a sympathetic look. “You sure you don’t want me to do anything? I can pour soap in his car or get Gilly to wreck it for you. Or we could post his details on some porn site advertising his services.”
I burst out laughing. “Services as what?”
“A gigolo or something. I can think on my feet, so that shouldn’t be a problem.” She looked like she was actually considering it.
“Abby, you are crazy.”
“I know, but as you rightly pointed out the other day, you are my sister, and it doesn’t sit well with me that this guy has treated you this way.”
“I just want to forget.” I wanted to forget everything.
“Taylor.” Concern filled her beautiful face. “If you need to talk, I’m here. I am. There is no need to keep things to yourself and suffer.”
“I don’t think Dad wants to give me the company. I think he’s looking for a reason he can hold against me. The worst thing you can do to a person is make them doubt themselves. That’s how I feel. I’m starting to doubt myself and everything I’m doing. That’s not good.” I’d told her everything that was going on last night. That included everything about Dylan too. The whole story from start to finish.
“I think from what you’re saying, it feels to me like Dad’s scared,” she surmised.
I widened my eyes at her. “Scared? Dad? Oh, please. You should have seen him. Abby, I accept and have accepted that I was stubborn in the beginning of this consultation, but yesterday, I got the feeling he’d lost faith in me.” There was very little anyone could do when that happened. Loss of faith and loss of trust.
Abby shook her head. “I don’t think it’s that. Surely, it’s not.”
“You haven’t seen this side of Dad, and I’ve unfortunately seen it too many times. He’ll probably fire me for not coming in today.” Maybe that was what he was calling about.
She shook her head. “Taylor, please. That is absurd.”
“It really is looking that way, Abby, and I don’t think I’m wrong in saying he doesn’t trust me. I deal with millions on a weekly basis. I’ve dealt with million-dollar campaigns hundreds of times, and Dylan instilled the idea in Dad’s mind that I’m wasting money.”
“Okay, here’s what you’re going to do…” She got a really mischievous look on her face as she leaned forward.
“What?”
“Forget. You’re going to forget because… a seriously gorgeous guy just pulled up on the drive.” She giggled and pointed. I looked out beyond the pool gates and frowned when I saw Dylan locking his car door. “He’s not one of mine and doesn’t look like the military type, so I figured he must be yours. Is that Dylan?”
“Ugh. What the hell is he doing here?” I scowled.
“Well, I really doubt it’s about work. I love how you conveniently forgot to mention how hot that man is. Jesus.”
“He’s just the package. What’s inside is the devil.”
“Only one thing can bring a man like that back to your house, and it’s not work.” She grinned. “That must have been some kiss.”
That damn stupid kiss. I couldn’t believe I’d actually kissed him, and the way I did too. I was so mad at myself for letting my guard down.
“It was a moment of weakness.” It was a moment of temporary insanity.
She frowned. “Taylor, you listen to me. He’s here, and you and I both know you wouldn’t be kissing some guy if you didn’t want to. You weren’t drunk; your head was clear.”
“My head was not clear,” I hissed under my breath because he was coming up the path to the poolside.
“Just hear him out. You know I’m right. Clear the work shit from your mind. You aren’t at work right now. Think… He’s clearly here to see why you weren’t at work today.”
My frown deepened when she sat up as he reached us. The bright afternoon sun beamed down on him, highlighting his finest assets, which was everything.
While I straightened up and looked at him, Abby assumed goddess mode and looked at Dylan like she could own him if she wanted to.
“Ladies, good afternoon.” He smiled, looking from me to Abby.
“Yes, it is good.” Abby beamed, taking charge. “To what do we owe the pleasure of this visit?”
“I just… came to see Taylor. I had a few things I wanted to talk about.”
“If it’s about work, it can wait until tomorrow, if she wishes to return to the office that is. She’s relaxing.”
Sometimes I really, really loved my sister. This was one of those times because Dylan looked shocked by that comment of hers.
Shocked, but he chuckled. “It’s not all about work, I swear. But that’s where she knows me from, so I may have a thing or two to say about work.”
“That wasn’t how I heard it happened, but call it whatever you want, I suppose.” Abby stood up and walked right up to him, showing off her perfect gym body. “I’m Abby Cartwright, Taylor’s older sister. Like I said, she’s relaxing, so keep the work talk to a limit. The other stuff’s fine.”
Damn. Why couldn’t I be like that?
To add to the vision of her, she sauntered away from us like she was some badass boss lady, glanced over her shoulder once, and went into the house.
“Wow, does your sister always talk like that?” he asked.
I didn’t answer. I simply continued to stare. “Why are you here? Did my father send you?”
“No, he didn’t. I came of my own free will to check on you.”
I narrowed my gaze at him. “Why would you do that?”
“Yesterday was kind of a disaster, and you weren’t at work today.”
‘Disaster’ wasn’t the word I would use. It felt like I was ambushed. “I didn’t feel like going in.”
He lowered his body to sit on the deck chair opposite me. Concern filled his eyes.
“Are you coming in tomorrow?” he asked with a tentative expression.
I thought for a moment. “I don’t know.”
“Are you coming back?”
“I don’t know.”
“You should.”
“Why?” I brushed my hair over my shoulder but kept my gaze trained on him. This was my attempt to cut the shit from my mind like Abby suggested and hear him out.
“I was hoping we could start over. Start over fresh. I owe you an apology for the way things have turned out. My job was to help you, not tear you down, and that’s what happened. I promise I’m going to fix it.”
Now he really had my attention. “Fix? Dylan, I’m confused because you came to work finding fault with every single thing I did. You didn’t have a good thing to say about me.”
“I know, and it was the wrong way to go about it.”
“Wrong way to go about it, but you still disagree with my process?”
He chuckled. “I don’t think it’s actually for me to agree or disagree. It’s more the case of working with what’s best for Cartwright PR. The only person who knows that is you, so if you allow me, I’d like to find a different way to work with you and restore the faith your father should h
ave in you. I think he’s nervous about you taking over, and I made the situation worse. I promise you tomorrow will be heaps better.”
I sighed and nodded. “Okay… but if you turn into a prick, I’m gone. I mean for good, and I won’t care. Cartwright PR may be where my heart wants to be, and it may be the best, but it’s not the only place. I don’t want to go to work every day dreading what the day will be like. Or being made to feel stupid.”
“I hear you, and I assure you that won’t happen,” he promised. “We started off on the wrong foot, completely.”
“Which time?” I bit back a smile.
“Every time, but maybe this time can be a better start, and I’ll start by clarifying that I definitely didn’t follow you to the bar last week. I just saw you, and yes, I recognized you, but that wasn’t why I helped you. I was genuinely concerned and wanted you to get home safe.”
I looked at him, taking a real good look, and decided to believe him, and maybe this was the wrong thing to do, but I opened my mind too. It was because he was here. Abby had pointed it out, and I recognized it for myself too, much as I didn’t want to acknowledge it, but he was here. He came to see me, apologized, and offered to fix things.
It was admirable. Didn’t mean I would jump onto the ‘We love Dylan train’, but it would take the tension off a little.
“Okay… I believe you.”
He looked relieved and straightened. “In the spirit of starting over, I was thinking it would be nice to go for a walk on the beach.” He smiled.
“To talk about work?” I raised my brows.
“Nope. I don’t want to talk about work anymore. But… there was that wild, crazy kiss that neither of us is talking about.”
The wild, crazy kiss…damn.
My cheeks burned from the memory. “I’m not sure what to say about that.”
His smile turned up a notch. “Well, that was some off-the-charts chemistry I’m not sure I can ignore. Maybe that part of you that wanted to kiss me would consider giving me a chance.”
I held his gaze, and I couldn’t help but smile. “And what about the part of you that wanted to kiss me?”
One Last Time ?: Bad Boy Bachelors of Orange County BK 1 Page 6