by Liz Talley
“You shouldn’t get her hopes up,” Monique said.
“Why not shoot for the stars? Right, Em?” Graham patted his daughter’s back and gave Monique a sharp look.
“Yeah, you should have seen us practice. We’re good,” Emily said, nodding at Tess. Tess smiled back, affirming the girl, though she wasn’t so sure they could win a game, much less the championship.
“Time to go, Emily. Tell your father bye. Tess, too,” Monique said, suspicion tight around her mouth. Maybe she didn’t suspect a physical thing with Graham as much as she suspected he might try to mine tidbits about Upstart. Tess hadn’t thought how it might look from a business standpoint to be coaching soccer with Graham...Upstart’s rival.
Jeez. They were a Maury Povich show waiting to happen.
Emily gave each of them a hug and even jogged over to Jim and bestowed one on him. Seemed like Graham was right—a little fresh air and exercise brought out the best in his daughter.
Seconds later, Tess stood with Graham, watching Emily and Monique stride ahead of Jim who hobbled behind them toward the parking lot.
Graham lifted the cooler off the bleacher and tucked it under his arm, looping the plastic garbage bag over his arm. “Sorry about Monique. She’s good at popping bubbles. I’m trying to get her to look at the bright side with Emily, let the kid dream a little.”
“You don’t have to apologize for Monique,” Tess said, picking up her clipboard, falling into step beside him.
He cocked his head. “You’re right. I’m sure you’ve learned quickly who she is.”
Yeah, she had. Tess respected Monique’s drive and business smarts, but she would have likely never been friends with the woman. There was something hard about Monique, something that told Tess when push came to shove she couldn’t rely on her boss to have her back. Very different from the way she’d felt at Ullo. Of course, maybe that’s because her daddy was her boss and she’d always known she was safe. She didn’t want to talk about Monique with Graham, so she changed the subject. “Are you going to the Oedipus thing tomorrow night?”
He slid blue eyes over to hers. “Of course. They’re one of our biggest accounts.”
Tess lifted her eyebrows. “Oh, you sure about that?”
“As sure as it gets.”
“Mmm,” came Tess’s response.
Graham stopped. “You love this, don’t you?”
“What?” she asked turning around. “I’m making conversation. It’s what friends do.”
“No, you’re protecting yourself by playing a little game between Ullo and Upstart. Keeps you from feeling anything, keeps you from wanting me.”
“Why, you egotistical—” Tess whipped her head around to find him grinning at her. “I’m not playing games, Graham, merely giving you a heads-up in regards to Miles. Monique had drinks with him Tuesday night—that’s why I brought Emily to soccer. So don’t accuse me of games when I’m being more than nice to warn you.”
“And why would you do that?” His face grew serious.
“Huh?”
“Warn me?”
Tess stopped midstride. She spun toward him, mouth open. But...she didn’t know what to say. Why was she warning him? She had no business saying anything about Upstart’s plans for Oedipus, or the fact Monique had pulled out all the stops to tear the lucrative account from the hands of the new Ullo CEO. Was he right? Was she needling him to keep herself from falling prey to the attraction between them, or did she subconsciously want to help the company she’d loved for so long? Or maybe she felt like she should rub his nose in Upstart’s success, proving she was loyal to Monique. Her actions and emotions mystified her. It was as if she were in a house of mirrors, her image stretched and distorted at every turn.
Graham studied her, his expression not what she was accustomed to. No soft blue eyes full of sympathy or alight with passion. Instead he looked intrigued. It was a good look on him—made him intense and somehow even more desirable. This man who had hurt her now stood ready to protect her father and the company he’d built with sweat and tears. It should have pissed her off, but instead, something inside stilled at the thought.
“Just wanted you to know what you’re up against,” she muttered, moving toward her Prius, wanting to escape Graham examining her every motive.
“I thought at first this was about inserting something between us so you didn’t jump my bones and have your wicked way with me in the parking lot,” Graham said, trailing behind her, seemingly unwilling to let the conversation die.
She wrinkled her nose. “As if.”
“But that’s not it. You can’t help it, can you?”
“Help what?” She faced him, chin up. No way she backed down, even if she longed to get in her car and escape...just the way she had two nights ago. Sticking her head in the sand had become a strategy. Ask her father. She couldn’t seem to dial the number and return his two phone calls. Not like she hadn’t tried. She just didn’t know what to say to him yet.
She needed time, but that had been her excuse all along. Time. Maybe it would run out before she was ready.
“You left your heart at Ullo.”
No shit, Sherlock. Of course she had left her heart at Ullo, but that didn’t mean she hadn’t tried to move on. She’d spent the past weeks since she’d signed the contract with Monique putting her all into designing brilliant floats for Upstart. She had stuff that was going to blow Miles Barrow’s mind for the Oedipus floats...if Monique submitted it. Anger and hurt tied to her pride were good motivators and she’d created some of her best work over the past few weeks.
And it should have been for the company that carries your name.
At that thought, anger flooded her. He didn’t have to be so smug, questioning her loyalty to her new job...even if it was partly true. “My allegiance is to the person writing my paycheck. When Upstart does well, I do well. Tomorrow night I’ll prove to Miles and Oedipus that Upstart can and will build their floats in 2016. And they will be the most stunning, beautiful and cost-effective floats in the history of parading.”
“So you think Upstart will replace Ullo as their go-to floatmaker?” Graham said, his eyes flashing beneath the parking lot light blinking on. No more smiles. Game on.
“Every dog has its day. Upstart has been whittling away Ullo’s business for the past two years. I’ve already brought in the captain of Thor, and Stacy Reynolds just gave us all of the floats for Rhea. We’re almost too busy...but not for Oedipus, of course. That parade would be icing on the very large cake we’ll be serving.” Tess turned and unlocked her car, the beep-beep punctuating her declaration.
And then Graham smiled at her. Not the sexy smile he’d used that beautiful night under the stars, or the sad one he’d given her in the park last Sunday. No, this one was sharky and slightly amused. Like he toyed with her. “Well, do your damnedest, sweetheart.”
She bristled. “Oh, you can bet I will.”
His smile got larger. “And why don’t you warn your boss—tell Monique she’ll stay a small potato. I don’t care if she went down on Miles under the table at Brigstons, she’s not getting that account.”
“You sexist pig,” Tess growled, disappointment flooding her at his presumption of how Monique...or any woman did business. “You think women earn business by getting on their knees? We don’t have to give sexual favors to get accounts. Our work speaks for itself. How dare you imply such a thing?”
His expression shuttered. “That’s not what I meant and you know it.”
“You used the words.”
“Don’t slant the intent. I wasn’t implying Monique offered sexual favors for Oedipus’s business. My point was no matter how good the offer from Upstart, you aren’t getting the account. Period. I’ll do whatever it takes, but the long-standing agreement between Ullo and Oedipus will stand. I’ll bet my job o
n it.”
Tess lifted her eyebrows. “We’ll see. And it might literally be your job on the line. You forget how well I know my father. He won’t suffer you to lose Miles’s business. Paired with the other losses...” She trailed off with a shrug, feeling a little ugly, but a lot powerful.
But she didn’t want to see Ullo lose business, even if she herself was making moves toward accomplishing just that. Why did Graham and Ullo have to lose in order for Tess to win?
“I’ll see you tomorrow night, Tess,” Graham said, his tone detached. A pang of regret flickered inside her at his coldness. This was what she wanted, right? They were on the opposite sides of a river with no bridge in sight. It was Ullo versus Upstart. Graham versus Tess. With no real winners.
She nodded and lowered herself into her car. “Yeah, I’ll see you.”
Graham walked away and Tess told herself she was glad. But she wasn’t. Her heart hurt for what had been between them...and what would never be again.
The other side, a place where hope lay, felt very far away.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
TESS WALKED INTO the Oedipus May Madcap Mixer with Nick on her arm...or rather she was on Nick’s arm. Either way, she’d conceded to a date with her ex and had selfishly used this annual fete hosted by the Oedipus Social Club as the one-more-shot merely so she wouldn’t have to attend alone.
It had nothing to do with Graham and everything to do with looking confident and successful.
And for all of ten minutes she’d convinced herself Nick deserved another chance...until he’d shown up all tanned from a week of golf on the Gulf Coast, dressed in an Armani suit, smelling like new money, and she’d felt zero attraction. In fact, seeing him so loose, smiling and making flirty jokes made her somewhat disdainful. He kept trying with little brushes of his arm and casting meaningful glances, but the effect fell flat.
Graham had ruined her for all men...or maybe what little she and Nick had once had together had dried up like Granny B’s estrogen.
“Get you something to drink, babe?” Nick said, wrapping an arm around her waist. She waited to feel warmth, some flicker of something at Nick’s touch, but there was nothing.
Pulling away, she smiled. “I’ll take my usual.”
Nick brushed back his golden hair. “Aye-aye, Captain.”
“Hey, I’m the captain around these here parts,” Miles Barrow said from behind her.
Tess spun with a grin—how could she not? The man was hard to dislike. “Miles.”
“Ah, Tess of the Ullos,” the captain of Oedipus joked, kissing her cheek and giving her a brief squeeze. “You’re looking ravishing, as usual.”
“You flatterer,” she murmured with a smile. Miles Barrow had been the captain and art director for Oedipus for as long as she could remember. Flamboyant, loud and slightly annoying, he loved his position of power within the super krewe, but there was something decidedly lovable about the overweight man with a gray-streaked beard.
“Of course I am, but I ain’t no liar, neither, darlin’,” he said, his New Orleans East accent thick as gumbo.
Nick stuck out his hand. “Miles.”
“How ya been, friend?”
“Good. I’m here with Tess, aren’t I?”
Miles nodded. “Damn straight. Go get you some food. We got everythin’ you want. Have a ball.”
Nick slipped away and headed to the bar. Tess nodded at Miles, knowing Monique expected her to help bring in his business. But he wouldn’t be easy to pull away from Ullo because he was the kind of guy who respected tradition. Frank Ullo had been a friend as much as he’d been the guy building spectacular, elaborate floats with all the intricate posterboard flowers the krewe was known for. “I want to talk to you about the 2016 floats...after I snag some of those smoked oysters and do the wobble with Margaret Ann.”
Miles’s guffaw filled the foyer. “Ah, damn, chérie. My wife’s been practicin’ that dumb thing all week. You go dance with her. Will tickle her fancy, for sure. Business can wait.” He waved at someone across the room and was gone in a blink just as Nick returned with a vodka tonic with a wedge of lime and offered it to her, clinking it with his own scotch and soda.
“I’m glad to be here with you, babe,” he said, brushing a lock of hair off her shoulder. “It’s been too long since I spent time with my Tess. I can’t even remember what we fought over.”
She lifted her eyebrows. “Really?”
Nick played dumb which unfortunately suited him. “Naw. What was it over? A silly Christmas present? Drinking too much at the Ullo holiday bash?”
“Merrill Wynn?”
“Merri?”
“You took her home and screwed her right after giving me that bracelet and talking about forever. Remember?” Tess said.
“Oh, yeah. I forgot. But you know she didn’t mean anything. I was drunk and she was all over me.”
“You don’t really believe that.”
“So I screwed up. I know that now. I’m ready to be the man you need.” He looked down at her, so earnest, so sincere, so...freaking lying between his teeth.
“We’re here as friends, Nick. That’s it.”
Nick smiled. “Sure. We’re totally friends. And if we hook up, we hook up.”
She pulled his hand from her waist and surveyed the room, wishing now she’d just come solo. Monique had urged her to bring a date, even going so far as to suggest a double date, but for some reason Tess held her off, declaring she had an appointment earlier that day. She hated lying but the thought of sitting at a table with her boss and Nick made her feel itchy.
Monique and Josh should be here by now.
Graham, too.
Her stomach did a loop-the-loop. She’d taken extra care with her appearance that evening, donning a short gold cocktail dress that clung to her hips and showed off her toned legs. The blousey crepe top showed her equally toned arms by gathering at her shoulders and dipping low to show the tops of her breasts. She wore diamond hoop earrings and her hair pulled back soft against the nape of her neck. Killer high-heeled sandals completed her look.
She’d told herself the outfit had nothing to do with Graham and everything to do with feeling confident and together—the same reason she’d brought Nick. But she lied to herself. Rubbing the satiny lotion over her body and sliding into her lacy underwear, her thoughts had been of Graham. Of the way he’d loved her, made her feel like forever was something within her grasp.
Damn it. Why couldn’t she have all she wanted, including Graham? Why was everything so hard now?
“Tess, you look lovely,” Monique said, sweeping alongside her.
“Oh.” Tess jumped at the unexpected greeting, sloshing her drink on her hand. “And you look gorgeous as always, Monique.”
Monique, clad in something short, slithery and magenta, smiled. “I see you’ve brought a date. Your taste is exquisite as always.”
Tess made introductions for her “friend” Nick, who applied his charm with a light hand. Tess’s earlier reminder about his indiscretion must have taken the wind from his sails. Wouldn’t last long. Nick was anything if not impervious to “no.”
Josh bumbled up, carrying two glasses of champagne. He handed one to his wife and turned a goofy smile on Tess. “You clean up good, girl.”
Josh wore a jaunty hat that should have looked ridiculous but somehow went perfectly with his atypically dark, somber suit. Monique rolled her eyes at her husband’s trademark joviality and got down to her trademark sharkiness. “Graham will be here looking to get chummy with Miles. I think I’ve got him in our corner, but I want you to do a little hustling. I sent him our sketches a few days ago.”
Tess smiled. “So you liked the sketches?”
Something in Monique’s eyes glittered. “I sent him the best sketches. You did well, Tess.”
Pleasure bloomed inside Tess at her boss’s vote of confidence. She’d had to work to earn the Oedipus account and obviously it had paid off. “Float sketches are like Christmas morning to Miles. He’ll get back to us soon.”
“But as added insurance, don’t be afraid to kiss his ass a little bit. Where is Miles, by the way?” Monique perused the room like a pro. Tess did the same and that’s when she caught sight of Graham.
Her heart leaped so hard in her rib cage she pressed a hand to her chest. He looked so damn good she wanted to run and throw herself on him, maybe dropping various pieces of clothing along the way.
Tall, dark and so good-looking it should have been against the law, Graham had heads turning. The sudden feminine interest caught Monique’s attention too, and she spun toward the entrance.
“Ah, the wonder boy himself. Speeding up heartbeats,” Monique said under her breath.
Josh peered around Tess and gave a shrug. “Don’t know why you think he would change now.”
Monique patted Josh’s hand as if she worried about his insecurity. “Now, Josh, being devastatingly handsome is not all it’s cracked up to be.”
“Bite your tongue, woman,” Nick piped up, finally, turning to his good side and giving Monique one of his charming grins. Yeah, he was over the “just friends” speed bump.
Graham caught sight of them and moved their way. His stride was purposeful and naturally elegant. The same navy suit he’d worn for his interview—that had lain in her polka-dotted chair—stretched the breadth of his torso, the same classic tie lay against snowy pressed white. Same wing tips, same icy blue eyes, same response inside Tess. Shivers.
“Evening,” he said, with a nod to Monique, his eye snagging on Nick who still grinned like a jackanapes. “How is Upstart this fine evening?”
Monique looked nonchalant. “We’re just dandy, Mr. Naquin.”
“I’m not dandy,” Josh said, with a secret smile. “I’m thirsty. Grab you a beer, Graham?”
“Sure.”
“I know what you like.” Josh headed to the bar, looking relieved to escape.