by Nina Lane
“Yeah.” Luke dragged a hand through his hair. “Savannah’s father agreed not to press charges if Tyler makes regular payments for the boat damage. My father won’t let him take the money from his trust fund, so he has to earn it legitimately. He misses a payment, and Sam Corrigan will prosecute.”
“At least he gave him a chance,” Kate ventured.
Luke nodded. “Even as a kid, Tyler thought life was one big game. He never took anything seriously. Not even school. He’d do stupid things to get attention, but always managed to charm his way out of punishment. Never changed.”
Kate could easily see the rakish boy still in Tyler, but surely there was a reason he’d been like that. She hadn’t been born efficient and methodical; she’d become that way at a young age because it had been the only way she could help her father. She supposed she hadn’t changed much either.
“After our mother died, he got worse,” Luke continued. “We’ve let him run wild for too long. Totally our fault.”
Regret tightened his mouth. His eyes were creased with fatigue. He needed a green smoothie with extra protein and perhaps some mixed raw nuts.
“You did the right thing,” Kate assured him, not just to humor him but because she believed it. Luke was right—Sugar Rush and the Stone family had endured a lot in recent years, and they couldn’t let their young and impulse-challenged brother screw things up for them.
Not that Tyler had seemed the least bit interested in fixing his colossal mistake by organizing the library. He probably wouldn’t even show up for work, much less find any useful books or articles for her. He was hardly the librarian type anyway, with his big body that had felt like a solid wall of muscle when she’d fallen against him, her breasts crushing against his powerful chest and his arms closing around her like steel bands—
She cleared her throat. “So the library is his punishment?”
“In part. My father also froze his trust fund and assets.” Luke turned back to his computer. “Time for him to grow up and live on what he makes from actually working.”
“Excuse me for saying this, sir, but it doesn’t appear that Tyler quite knows what he’s supposed to do in the library.”
“No one expects much from him,” Luke admitted. “He just needs to make an effort and straighten things up. I’ve already sent out a call for applications for a new librarian. As soon as we hire one, he or she will take over the actual organization, and Tyler will have more direction.”
“How long does he have to work there, then?”
“Until he pays off the boat damage. And proves he can get his shit together.”
His voice had the implacable CEO quality Kate had come to recognize over the past two years—the one that laid down the law at board meetings and had fired uncooperative employees—but this time it was softened by a distinctly troubled older brother tone.
“As always, let me know if there’s anything I can do to help,” she said.
Luke nodded. “Thanks. Right now I need the latest budget reports, please.”
“Of course.”
She left his office and returned to her desk. Over the past two years, she’d invariably become involved in Luke’s personal life by sheer virtue of being his assistant. She knew about their family history—the death of their mother in a car accident twelve years ago, the subsequent hospitalization of their younger sister, the scandal of Luke’s paternity suit that had been proven false, the corporate vultures who had circled Sugar Rush before Luke pulled the company out of a hole and launched its global success.
The fact that he trusted her so much, to the point of confiding in her about family troubles, only strengthened her loyalty to both him and Sugar Rush.
Kate brought him the reports, then called down to the kitchen for the green protein smoothie and bowl of nuts—reiterating that there should be no hazelnuts since Mr. Stone didn’t care for them.
The elevator at the end of the corridor swished open. A man strode toward her, his attention focused on a clipboard he held in one hand. Kate’s pulse leapt into a nervous, happy rhythm.
Dressed in a tan, off-the-rack suit that fit his lean, slender body well, if not to tailored perfection, Miles Norwood was like a harvest—thick, curly, wheat-colored hair brushed away from his high forehead, bronzed skin, and beautiful brown eyes that Kate longed to see fix on her with warm pleasure. But in the few months since he’d been contracted as an independent data consultant at Sugar Rush, Miles had never looked at her with anything more than vague indifference.
“Hello, Kate.”
She loved the sound of her name in his voice, soft and yet crisply professional. It was totally different from the way Tyler Stone had said her name. Tyler’s “Kate” had been short and abrupt, like he was crunching into a piece of hard peppermint candy.
She shook her head, irritated at the unexpected thought of the youngest Stone brother.
“How may I help you, Miles?” she asked.
He scratched his chin and looked at the clipboard again. “I was running some new predictive analytics during my lunch break. I think they might help with operational efficiency of the gumdrop sector.”
“Efficiency, hmm?” Kate smiled, even though Miles still wasn’t looking at her. “Now you’re speaking my language.”
He frowned at his clipboard. She suppressed a sigh. She’d always attributed his indifference to the fact that his brilliant mind was filled with data crunching and analytics—of course, a man like him couldn’t be bothered with the trivialities of small talk—but even the nerdiest of nerds at Sugar Rush made an effort to carry on a polite conversation with her while they waited to see Luke.
Still, it was a flaw she could overlook, given what she knew of him. An MIT graduate, Miles had started his own consulting company shortly after graduating and was now a highly in-demand data analyst who’d worked with numerous companies. Kate had been the one to scrutinize his track record and check his references before Luke hired him for a six-month contract at Sugar Rush.
She’d also harbored a crush on him for all the months he’d been working there, which had led to exactly nothing since he was dating a pretty girl named Melanie. Kate had seen the two of them from afar when Melanie came to Sugar Rush to join Miles for lunch. His sun-streaked hair glowed as he bent his head close to hers, wholly attentive and focused on her between bites of his salad.
In addition to her knowledge of his work and high regard at Sugar Rush, those personal glimpses had told Kate everything she needed to know about Miles Norwood. He was the type of man who concentrated his undivided attention on whatever task he needed to complete…or on whichever woman held his heart.
She let her gaze roam over his straight nose, beautiful mouth, and high cheekbones that put Adonis to shame. In appearance Miles was also the opposite of Tyler, who was big like his brothers and had strong, hard features that were more suited to an outdoorsman than a spoiled rich boy.
Tyler also had a tousled mess of dark hair that probably hadn’t been trimmed in months. And that dusting of stubble on his jaw was a clear sign of disrespect to his family’s company, not to mention that he wore faded jeans and a worn T-shirt to work.
And why the freaking frack was she thinking about Tyler again?
“…appointment?” Miles said.
Kate broke out of her daydream. Her cheeks grew hot. “I beg your pardon?”
Miles tilted his head toward Luke’s closed door. “Is he available for a short appointment?”
“Er, let me find out.” Kate hastened to bring up Luke’s calendar on her computer, scanning his schedule which had uncharacteristically slipped from her steel-trap memory. “He has a call at eleven thirty, but…” she dropped her voice to a conspiratorial whisper, “…let me see if I can fit you in for a few minutes.”
“Thank you, Kate.”
Oh, he had such beautiful manners.
She hurried to check with Luke, who agreed to meet with Miles before his call with the head of the chocolate division in
Switzerland. Kate relayed the information to Miles.
“Excellent.” He pulled out his phone. “I expect my explanation to take about fifteen minutes.”
“That will be fine.” Kate waited while he typed something on his phone. She liked his hands—they were long and well-shaped with clean, neatly trimmed fingernails. The hands of a pianist or a…well, a data analyst.
She searched her brain frantically for something to say. “Er…so how is Melanie these days?”
Miles blinked, as if he were trying to traverse the jump in subjects. “Melanie? I assume she’s well. I haven’t seen her in a few weeks. She and I are no longer dating.”
No longer dating? No longer dating!
“I see.” Kate retained her bland expression while her heart did a spinning cartwheel. “I’m sorry.”
Miles shrugged and took a step back. He didn’t look terribly heartbroken by his admission, not that Kate would be able to tell if he was.
Would it be a breach of etiquette if she were to ask him out for coffee right now? Would that make her look desperate and overeager? Was it too soon after his breakup to make a move or was he fair game?
Kate bit her lip in frustration. Most women seemed to know this sort of stuff instinctively, but she had no romantic instincts where men were concerned. She could organize a fantasy football spreadsheet and prepare any kind of income tax form, but she’d always failed miserably at the dating game.
Before she could work up her courage to say something else, Luke stepped out of the office.
“Good to see you, Miles.” He extended his hand. “Come on in.”
Miles gave Kate another nod of thanks and went into the office with Luke.
Kate sighed. Not for the first time, she wished she’d been raised with some sort of female influence that could have at least provided her with a map for the dating maze.
Much as she loved her father and his fellow quarry workers, they hadn’t exactly been able to guide her through the specific intricacies of being a girl. Heck, most of the time they hadn’t even seemed to know she was a girl—she was cute, odd little Katie who organized her father’s taxes, kept the house clean, and packed him a healthy lunch every day. She created spreadsheets for their poker matches, taught several of them how to use QuickBooks to streamline their personal accounts, and maintained a 4.2 high school GPA.
By the time she got to college, where all the other young women already knew about hair, clothes, makeup, and boys, Kate had fallen easily into her established role as the smart but plain mascot—well-liked, highly resourceful, and a definite peculiarity.
All of which was fine with her…until three successive relationships had crashed and burned with spectacular unexpectedness, shocking her into the realization that all her organizational skills and administrative proficiency were useless when it came to romance.
She pulled out her phone and did a search on the etiquette of asking a man out shortly after a breakup, ignoring a pang of guilt that she was doing personal research on company time. Her quick scan yielded few definitive answers and a bunch of “it depends” responses. But since Miles didn’t appear, on the surface at least, to be too terribly heartbroken about the breakup, Kate decided it was okay to ask him out for coffee.
She glanced at the closed door of Luke’s office. Her palms grew clammy at the thought of making a move. Unable to focus on work, she fidgeted with her old-fashioned Rolodex, reorganized her supply drawer, and ate two Whipped Creams and a Chocolate Crunchie.
Miles finally emerged at eleven twenty. Kate gauged his expression, relieved that he didn’t appear to look disgruntled or stressed out.
“Do you need to schedule a follow-up?” she asked.
“No need. I’ll be giving a report at the next board meeting.”
“That’s wonderful.” Kate smiled, buoyed by Luke’s positive response. Surely that would make Miles more receptive to her. “I’ll add you to the agenda. Will you be working on your report this afternoon?”
“Yes.”
“I’m sure you’ll need to take a break at some point,” she remarked as casually as she could.
“Probably.” Miles brushed a piece of lint off his sleeve.
“Like a coffee break,” she added, fixing her gaze on his left shoulder.
“I usually drink coffee at my desk. As long as it’s from a sustainable source, of course. I find Ecuadorian coffee especially smooth.”
“Have you tried the café au laits from the Chocolate Café?” Kate asked, trying to think of the specialties at the other restaurants and cafés on the Sugar Rush campus. “Or the fruit smoothies at the Gumdrop Bistro? I’m rather a smoothie expert, if I do say so myself. I can direct you to the best combinations.”
Miles started checking his phone. “Luke said the next board meeting is on Monday. What time?”
“Ten.” She gripped a pencil with growing frustration. “Look, um, you wouldn’t want to have a coffee, would you?”
“Don’t they usually serve snacks and coffee at the meetings?” Miles gave her a distracted smile and typed something into his phone.
“I meant—”
“Thank you, Kate. You can send the agenda to my email. M Norwood at Data Analytics and Information Technology Consulting Services Incorporated dot com.”
He turned and headed toward the elevators. Kate’s heart plummeted. She sank down on her chair again.
A low whistle sounded behind her before a deep male voice remarked, “Lady, you have a terrible lack of game.”
Chapter
THREE
Kate whirled around. Tyler Stone approached her desk, shaking his head in apparent dismay. Her cheeks burned.
“It’s very rude to eavesdrop,” she muttered.
“Hey, you made a move in a public place.” He came to a stop beside the desk. “Couldn’t help overhearing. You have chocolate on your mouth.”
She shot him a startled look. “What?”
“Here.”
He flicked his finger over her lips, the touch inappropriately intimate in the middle of the office. Kate ignored a sudden rush of awareness, a memory of the way she’d felt locked in his arms. He held up his finger to display the large flake of chocolate that had apparently been clinging to her lip the whole time she’d been talking to Miles.
Perfect. She groaned and reached for a tissue to pat her mouth.
“Hey, if Norwood were the kind of guy who grabbed a chance when he saw one,” Tyler remarked, “he’d have said, ‘Chocolate on your lips? That means your kisses are extra sweet.’”
Kate restrained herself from smiling. She didn’t want to encourage his flirty attitude in the workplace, but she appreciated his attempt to make her feel better. She further consoled herself with the fact that Miles hadn’t even really looked at her, so he probably hadn’t noticed she couldn’t eat a piece of chocolate neatly.
Tyler leaned his hip against the side of her desk, knocking over her leather pen holder with his arm. Kate threw him a look and straightened the pens.
“May I help you?” she asked, infusing the question with her executive assistant to the CEO tone.
“Yeah.” Amusement rose to his eyes. “You can direct me to the best fruit smoothie combination at the Gumdrop Bistro.”
Kate flushed with new embarrassment. Now she was the girl with chocolate on her lips who couldn’t ask a guy out without looking like a bumbling fool.
A teasing smile tugged at Tyler’s mouth, lighting his brown eyes to the color of roasted chestnuts.
“I’m partial to the Tropical Twist myself,” Kate admitted, her embarrassment shifting to the conspiratorial feeling of sharing a secret. “Though the Peachy Keen runs a close second.”
“Old Miles doesn’t seem like much of a smoothie guy.” Tyler leaned closer to her. “Try asking him to dinner. You can gaze at each other over the candlelight and whisper sweet nothings about data analysis.”
Had he read her mind? She recalled her daydream about having lunch with Miles in
the courtyard. She’d imagined him leaning toward her exactly the way Tyler was doing right now, except that Tyler was quite a bit bigger than Miles and smelled like spice and peppermint rather than the floral-yet-masculine aftershave Miles wore. His body was also effectively boxing her into the L-shape of her desk, making her nervously claustrophobic rather than warm and cozy.
“What is it you need, Mr. Stone?” She pushed her chair as far away from him as she could get. “If you want to see your brother, he’s on the phone with Switzerland.”
“Poor Switzerland. But actually, I’m here for you.” Tyler pulled a crumpled newspaper clipping from the pocket of his jeans. “Here’s something I found in the library for the website.”
Faintly surprised that he’d actually made an effort, Kate took the clipping from him. Dating to 1926, it was an ad featuring a new lollipop from Stone Confectioners, the name of the company before Luke changed it to Sugar Rush twelve years ago in a corporate overhaul and rebranding.
“This is an incredible piece of history.” She gestured to the photo on the ad, which showed a man standing beside a truck labeled Stone Confectioners: San Francisco. “That’s an old Ford Model T pickup, too. Classic vehicle.”
“How do you know about classic cars?” He sounded faintly baffled.
“My father and his friends are into working on old cars.” She shook her head with fond amusement. “Though sometimes instead of actually working, they stand around drinking beer and talking about the cars they had as teenagers.”
“Kate?” The door to Luke’s office opened, and he came out with a sheaf of papers. “All-company email about the annual report.”
“Yes, sir.” Kate rose to take the papers, which only put her in closer proximity to Tyler.
Luke paused, glancing from her to his brother lounging on her desk.
“Hey, bro,” Tyler said. “How’s Switzerland?”
“Swiss.” Luke’s eyes narrowed slightly. “What are you doing here?”
“Tyler just brought me some library materials I asked for,” Kate explained quickly. “They’re for the revamp of the website.”