by Cross, Daryn
She told him about the signatures. “So you see, the sig on the sales were false.”
“Maybe, maybe not.” He drummed his fingers on the table. “I told you Xavier Washington shouldn’t play poker, but nobody amasses his kind of money without being smart. Trusting one assistant to run things from the inside wouldn’t be his style. I’d be careful.”
She smiled and shook her head. “No one would give Jenny that kind of sapphire unless it was someone like Xavier. Not only that, but the guy has tricked her into sex and all he wants are blow jobs.”
He stared around the restaurant and leaned forward. “Would you lower your voice?”
She chuckled. “You don’t mind raking my back up against a silk wall but talking about blow jobs sends you on red alert?”
“Lower your voice!” he said in a raspy whisper. “You never know who’s listening in on you, business rule number one.”
She laughed again. “Whatever. Don’t worry about the CFO. He was positively horrified. There’s no way he’s part of a Washington scheme.”
“Watch him.” Zack shook his head as their dinner arrived. “Smells great. Love clams choppino. Sourdough bread, yes! I need to come to San Francisco more often.”
“The offer’s open,” she told him in a husky voice as she picked up her spoon.
****
Two hours later the offer was definitely open as he sucked on a nipple.
“Oh, god, Zack, how do you manage to do this to me?”
He swirled his tongue and grinned to himself. “I have only just begun.”
“Hold on.”
“I’ll get there, no worries.”
“No I mean, hold on, All of it. We need to talk.”
Oh shit, how he hated those words. “Crandall, Carly, whatever you want me to call you, can we finish having sex before we talk?”
“You just said it,” she said. “Sex. That’s what we need to talk about.” She turned on one side, unseating him and rolled off the bed, grabbing for her panties and bra.
He lay there rethinking what just happened and couldn’t figure it out. “What did I do wrong?”
She grabbed for her dress. “Why do I have to explain?”
It was times like this he was well aware of women being from Venus, because he was most assuredly on the cold side of Mars. “Maybe because I don’t understand.”
“Put on your clothes and I’ll make you a cup of coffee.”
“I don’t drink coffee after nine in the morning. Have any wine?”
“Stop trying to be funny.”
Okay, now he knew he just had to shut up and do what she asked. Otherwise he’d never find out what this was all about. “I’m getting dressed.”
“I guess you finally got it.”
Oh boy, if this were an answer on Jeopardy, he’d lose all his points. “Mmhhm,” he mumbled, afraid of doing more.
Minutes later, he sat at the kitchen table feeling like a condemned man having his last cup of coffee before sentencing.
“No cream?” she asked.
He sat there, afraid to say no. Finally he braved it. “No thank you. I like it black.”
She nodded and poured an ample amount in her cup then had the audacity to put in artificial sweetener. What was the point? After a sip, she stared into his eyes. “I can’t have sex with you anymore.”
“What do you mean?” he asked, his voice emerging as a raspy, desperate screech.
“I want more. Love, not just sex. This jumping into bed thing we do isn’t right.”
Like hell, it was the rightest thing he’d ever done. “You don’t like making love with me?”
“There you go mixing everything up again.” She gulped down another swig of what had to be molten lava.
How could she do that and keep her voice and her swallow reflex? He took a small sip. “I’m sorry, but I think I need an interpreter.”
“I’m speaking in plain English.” She glared at him.
“In code.” He winced when he said the words out loud. At her screwed up face, he bungled forward. “Okay, just say it slowly and in one syllable words. What did I do to piss you off?”
“I need someone who loves me, someone who wants to make love to me, someone who doesn’t just come home and fall into bed with me and have sex. You can’t decide what you’re doing.”
Wasn’t that what she was also doing? How did he ask her that? At her anguished face, Zack got a grip and realized he didn’t. He’d admitted to Mike he was in love. Why couldn’t he say it to her? Because it isn’t the right time. Not while she’s sitting there inhaling fire and breathing out smoke. “Look, I can see you’re worked up and we need a breather for tonight. I’ll call you tomorrow. Right now, I can’t say the right things. I’ll leave and we’ll regroup when calmer minds prevail.”
He got up, and before he closed the door behind him he heard her crying.
Chapter Eighteen
Mike sat up in bed as Zack slunk into the room. Turning on the light he looked at him. “I thought you told me not to wait up for you.”
“Yeah, well, tonight definitely took an exit, stage right.”
Mike jumped out of the covers. “I just turned the light out less than a half hour ago. Let me get you a glass of wine. I corked a half bottle and you look like you need at least part of it.”
“Don’t call you my cousin for nothing.” Zack fell down on his bed. “Why do women all of a sudden turn you off and launch into incomprehensible open monologues with a lot of phrases meaning you, the man, just made a serious blunder? Not that I’ve ever been subject to one. Believe me, after tonight I don’t want to be again.”
“Oh, now I know the problem. It was time for the old ‘you’re just interested in the sex not in loving me speech.’” Mike handed him a glass of wine.
“How did you know?”
“Been there, bought the slamming door.” He laughed. “I have to admit, though champ, you got there in record time. It took me more than a year. Their timing is always priceless. With me we’d already stripped off all our clothes and I’d already gotten on top of her.”
Zack stared at him. “You’re kidding? Me too. They must be twins. Either that or one’s worn off on the other one.”
Mike shook his head as Zack took a sip from his glass. “No, I think it’s built into the female wiring system. Sort of like a carbon dioxide detector. When you get there, it sends the female warning signals.”
He leaned back against his pillows and put the glass down on the table. “Sounds like it’s a false alarm to me.”
Mike nodded as he sat back down on the bed across from Zack. “To you and me, yes. To them, no way. It means you don’t care enough. In other words, you’re not ready to commit.”
“To what? An insane asylum?” he chuckled and took another sip.
Mike laughed as he sprawled out on his bed. “You told me you were in love. You didn’t tell her you loved her, did you?”
“Not when she was staring at me with fire coming out of her eyeballs. She looked like she could turn into a dragon.”
Mike convulsed in laughter. “This is rich, I never thought I’d see the day.”
“That I went crazy?” Zack grabbed for his wine glass.
“That we’d have this conversation.” Mike sat back up. “Look, all you have to do when you see her again is bring her flowers and something that’ll remind her of your relationship.”
Zack laughed. “All I can think of is a mouse.”
“Not the right thing. Sleep on it.”
“It’s going to be a long night.”
****
Crandall sat at her kitchen table the next morning feeling like her skin was shrink wrapped over her face. After crying into the middle of the night, she could barely see out of slitted eyes and spent almost an hour in the shower before even having coffee. Now, as she sat here with her cup, she couldn’t believe how she’d attacked Zack, even to such an extent as criticizing how he took his java.
I’ve lost it.
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What it all boiled down to was now that she once again had faith he hadn’t betrayed her, she wanted some kind of assurance he wasn’t going to disappear out of her life. As if anything could do that. She chastised herself for her naïve view of how life should be. What gave her the right to think she could have a happily ever after when some women, take Jenny for instance, were having to put up with performing what had to be disgusting sex, considering the source, on a man, wealthy or not, who never looked fully bathed?
She finally got herself together and dragged herself in to get dressed. The beautiful thing about work was it helped you get away from your personal problems. Maybe that’s why she’d been a workaholic for so long. How come she didn’t want to be anymore?
Minutes later, she was at the jobsite. As she entered, she saw a vase of roses on Jenny’s desk, one dark red one in the middle of yellow ones. “Your beau?”
Jenny shook her head. “No, I think he’s yours. Florist was here right at seven-thirty when I got here. Even told me he got paid extra to deliver early.”
“But how does anyone get flowers here that early?”
“Money, honey.” Jenny grinned. “He must have called someone at home.”
Crandall shook her head. “I don’t get it.”
“How about reading the card?” Jenny laughed. “Then you’ll know why.”
She nodded and pulled it from its prime position. Opening it up, she read, In a sea of many likes you’re the only one I love. Her heart pounded in her chest and a tear threatened to escape her eye. She took a deep breath. “Yep, definitely my beau.”
“Not going to share?” Jenny stared up in her eyes.
“Nope, not now.” She grabbed the flowers and escaped to her office. Closing the door, she put the roses down on her desk and started to cry. Then, her crying had been tears of worry and sadness, but these were from joy. They felt, oh so much better than the other kind. She wanted to take his head between her hands and kiss him silly.
Just then, Smith knocked and poked his head in her office. “Do you have a minute?”
She nodded, grabbing a tissue. “Aren’t these flowers the most beautiful things you’ve ever seen?”
He chuckled. “Women are so easy.”
“What do you mean?” Her eyes narrowed.
“Well, a guy can make a mistake and get bailed out by shelling out a C note. Pretty ingenious of a florist to think the whole thing up.”
“You’re just cynical,” she told him. “It’s the note that came with them that’s so dear to me. Never mind, what’s up?”
He sat down and scooted the chair forward. “Look, I’ve been digging deeper on this stock sale thing. Although I see nothing wrong with the people who snatched up blocks soon afterwards, I do see something we need to remedy. We need to appoint one of them to the empty board seat. I’ve checked them out thoroughly and the most solid choice and least suspicious, in my opinion, is Grant Tolbert.”
Her eyes flew open. “Grant Tolbert? Really?”
He nodded. “The guy’s a well-known humanist and great benefactor for many causes. He has been known to bail out ailing companies, not take them over. In fact, most of the time he has to be begged to buy one because he doesn’t want to look like it’s a takeover. He usually sells them later after they’ve stabilized, but makes sure of the well-being of the employees. I don’t think he’d have any interest in Pretzelicious other than making sure it was on sound footing.”
“Do you have any idea who he’s sold those other companies to?” she asked, bracing her hands against the desk.
“Well, no, not really.” He smiled. “I do know he didn’t sell anything to Xavier Washington.”
“Are you sure?” She stared into his eyes, looking for a sign of a lie but saw none there.
He nodded. “Absolutely. I wouldn’t suggest anyone unless I vetted them first.”
“Hold off a few days,” she said. “I need to think about it.”
He shrugged. “Okay, but I wouldn’t wait too long. Washington will have somebody clamoring for the seat on his behalf.”
“It won’t be too long, but long enough to make sure I’m okay with it. Keep noodling around.”
“Got it.” He stood and nodded toward the flowers. “Did the note say anything about being surrounded by friends but there was only one he loved?”
A spark traveled her spine. “Why do you think it would?”
He grinned. “It’s just such a famous line. See you later.”
As he strode out the door, she fell back into her chair. Some people could be such killjoys. But one thing she knew for sure, if someone took the time to send a note warning her about a guy named Tolbert, was Smith really on her side? She stared at the flowers again. Or had Zack fooled her again by trying to buy her with flowers and sending the messenger himself?
****
Zack stared down at the information Mike just gave him in shock. “Where did you get this?”
“I had it faxed to me from the office. We’d discovered Tolbert bought the company, and he brokered a sale for Washington, but we didn’t know someone bought it from him before Washington got it and the deal went down with the company in France.”
“But Washington had to be the one who bought it!”
Mike shook his head. “The facts don’t lie. A woman named Laura Appleby did. Sound familiar?”
“Did you ever find the woman?” he asked.
“Nope.” Mike sighed. “Here’s the rotten part. No one can figure out what Appleby did with the company because no one can find any trace of her.”
“Is she dead?”
He shook his head. “Not under the name Appleby, anyway.”
Zack threw the paper down on the table. “This is getting to be a nightmare.”
“Tell me about it.”
“Keep on it. Someone in this town should know something about her or know where Tolbert is or know who this mysterious biological father is and where he may be. I swear to God, I know Washington’s had his hand in all this subterfuge.”
“You can’t exactly blame the guy for being born.”
Zack smirked. “That’s not what I meant. In the cover-up, he messed up the trail. I guarantee it.”
“Maybe someone helped.”
“Who’d help that creep?” Zack stood up. “See what else you can dig up. I’m going over to Pretzelicious and see if I managed to get out of the doghouse.”
“Before you do, better take a back-up gift with you.”
He stared in disbelief at Mike. “I just sent her a huge arrangement. Why should I have a back-up gift?”
“Experience tells me women don’t always react as we expect them to. Call it an insurance policy.”
“I’ll take your comments under advisement.”
“Better just do what I said.”
****
Zack arrived at Crandall’s office an hour later with a stuffed mouse in a wrapped box. The fact was he didn’t have any idea what a back-up gift was supposed to look like. He knew his choice was better than a pressure cooker. Arriving at Crandall’s office, he saw a petite blonde outside her door. That must be the infamous Jenny, and he could see why Washington had singled her out. At her startled look, he turned on his charm. “If I’d known you were here, I’d have brought another gift.”
She blushed. The woman was obviously green when it came to men. Most women he knew would arch an eyebrow and cross their arms at his remark, waiting to see what his next line was. “My name’s Zack. I’m a … friend of Crandall’s.” He winced at his comment. Who knew if that would get repeated? He felt like he was still walking through the minefield of the female mystique. “Is she in?”
The door opened at that very moment and a young blond man came out, almost running into him. He stared into Zack’s eyes, and his own brown ones widened with shock at his presence. “You’re Zack Graham,” he said, his voice low in hushed tones of awe.
Zack nodded. “That’s me.”
“Scrumbles CEO.”
“Also true.”
The guy regrouped, cleared his throat and stuck out his hand. “Smith York. Never thought I’d see you here.”
“Never thought I would be.” He grinned as he shook hands. As his hand connected with York’s, a sudden wave of nausea enveloped him, thick as a black cloud of misery. It was all he could do not to withdraw his hand as of he’d been burned. “Nice to meet you Smith,” he said. “Excuse me, but I’m here to see Crandall.”
He looked up startled and jumped out of his way. “Yes, sir.”
As Zack entered, he puzzled over the disconnect between the man’s words and his own reaction. He’d have to think on it. For now, he needed to make sure he’d cleared the air with Crandall.
He saw her at the desk, and his heart jumped in his chest. She looked better than she had last night, pre-demon morphing. Didn’t want to think of the devil she could become. “Am I safe in here?” he asked. “Or should I order cream in my coffee before I enter?”
She smiled. “Thank you for the flowers.”
Whew! At least she wasn’t going to blast him. He walked in and sat down in the chair opposite her desk. “I didn’t mean to upset you last night,” he told her. “Whatever I did, I’m sorry.”
She nodded. “I know. I overreacted. It’s just that we seem to always be in bed together.”
And the problem with that is? He managed to keep from saying it out loud. He knew instinctively it would send things spiraling out of control. “Well, I don’t think you’re a sex object, although I do find you very desirable.”
“I find you desirable as well.” She laced her fingers together. “Thankfully our saner minds prevailed.”
There she went talking in code again. “Right.” Just go along with it. “I just wanted you to know I cared about you in a deeper way than just someone to have sex with.”
Crandall smiled. “I thank you for that. You know, one of my employees said that note on the card…”
He nodded. “Yeah?”
“He said it was a well-known line.”
His smile disappeared. “It wasn’t a line.”
“Okay.” She crossed her legs and sat back in her chair. “This is the way I see it, and I’m sure you agree.”