by Jae
Elbow-deep in financial reports, Annie nearly bit off the rubber eraser on the end of her pencil when the phone rang.
The ringing sounded overly loud in the otherwise silent office. Everyone else had gone home hours before.
One eye still on her reports, she snatched up the receiver. “Cargill & Jones. Annie Prideaux speaking.”
“Annie, you’ve got to come!” her brother Jake’s breathless voice came through the other end of the line.
She threw down her pencil. “What are you talking about? I’m still at work and can’t—”
“Please,” Jake said. “It’s really urgent. I need you here.”
Annie’s heart started racing. The last time he had sounded so desperate, he’d called her after crashing their father’s car. She shut down the computer and locked her notes in her desk. “What happened?” she asked. “Are you hurt? In trouble? Did you—?”
“Please, just get here as quick as you can.”
“Where are you?”
“At home.”
“I’m on my way.” Annie hung up the phone, grabbed her keys, and rushed out of the door to find her car.
For the first time in her life, she broke the speed limit in her hurry to get to Jake. In front of his house, she brought her car to a screeching halt and jumped out.
The building wasn’t on fire. No ambulance in the driveway either. Instead, a few sports cars and SUVs were parked out front.
Not sure whether that was a good sign or if something even worse awaited her, Annie raced to the front door. Blood rushed in her ears. She rang the doorbell several times in succession, hoping Jake was well enough to open the door since she had left his spare key in her apartment.
When the door swung open, she froze.
Rob stood before her, with two ample-busted women hanging on to his muscular arms. Music and laughter came from inside the house.
“R-Rob?” Annie stared at her brother’s best friend and business partner. “Where’s Jake?”
After letting go of one woman, Rob pointed over his shoulder. “In the living room.” He stepped forward and wrapped one arm around Annie. “Come on in and celebrate with us. There are a lot of guys here who’d love to meet you.”
Celebrate? Annie dug in her heels and shook off Rob’s grip. He tricked me. Again. Her heart hammered against her ribs, this time in anger—anger not just at Jake, but at herself too. I should have known better. The last time he’d tricked her, she had sworn she would never fall for one of her brother’s pranks again. But how was she supposed to know that he would stoop so low as to imply there was an emergency and scare her half to death? She whirled around to stride back to her car.
“Hey! Where are you going?” Rob called.
When he grabbed her arm, only years of self-control prevented Annie from slugging him. “Home.”
“Oh, no, come on, you can’t go home just yet. You’ve got to celebrate with us.” Rob pulled her around and gave her his most charming smile. “It’s not every day I come back from conquering Mount Everest.”
Annie pressed her lips together. Now she remembered that Jake had invited her to the party weeks before. She’d declined, knowing she would stick out among the climbers, jocks, and adrenaline junkies like a mule at the Kentucky Derby. But for Jake, a “no” was never a no—just an invitation to get what he wanted in a more creative way.
“Congratulations,” she said, trying not to take her irritation out on Rob, “but you’ll have to celebrate without me.”
“You know you could really give a man a complex,” Rob said. “Why come over when you don’t even want to have one drink with me?”
Annie suppressed a snort. None of Jake’s friends had ever suffered from lack of confidence. “It’s got nothing to do with you. Jake has ...” She let her voice trail off. If she told him how Jake had lured her to the party, she would humiliate herself even more. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and when she opened her eyes again, she gave Rob a nod. “Okay. One drink, but then I go home.”
She regretted her decision the second she stepped into the living room. The screeching of electric guitars and the deafening crash of drums made conversation nearly impossible. But apparently, Jake’s guests weren’t there for the conversation anyway. Most of them were too busy drinking and gyrating to the beat even though it was too fast to really dance to.
The two women on Rob’s arms pulled him toward the improvised dance floor. He followed them, walking backward for a few steps so he faced Annie, and said with a broad grin, “Duty calls. Get yourself a drink and toast my success. Your brother is paying.” He turned around before Annie could answer.
That was typical of Rob and Jake’s other friends. They could charm the socks off a nun, but their attention was fleeting. The women at Jake’s parties weren’t any better either.
Just decoration hanging on the arm of the next best guy. What a waste. Annie shook her head and looked around. Her eyes narrowed when she spotted Jake. He was holding court in a corner of the room, lounging on his black designer couch and impressing a gaggle of women with his stories.
Maybe stories of how he had tricked his stupid sister.
Annie clenched her teeth. Her first impulse was to storm over and give him a piece of her mind, but she didn’t want to cause a scene in front of his friends and employees from the gym. Besides, if she shouted at him, it would let him know how much he had gotten to her, and she didn’t want to give him that satisfaction. She turned away and made her way toward the bar Jake had set up. One drink and she’d be gone.
Empty glasses, crumpled paper napkins, and abandoned plates littered the bar. Apparently, the party had lasted for some time already, and the catering staff struggled to keep up with Jake’s hard-drinking friends.
Automatically, Annie reached for an empty tray and began gathering glasses. She paused. Why are you cleaning up his mess after what he did to you? But at least this way, she would escape the party and avoid a confrontation with Jake. She would have a glass of wine in the kitchen, just because she had promised Rob, and then leave through the backdoor.
* * *
Drew leaned against the wall, a glass of red wine in her hand, and watched the other guests mingling in Jake’s spacious living room.
The bulky coffee table that converted into a pool table had been pushed against the wall, and now a group of guests played some kind of spin-the-bottle game on it. A burly blond man she didn’t know by name decorated his girlfriend’s hair with little cocktail umbrellas. Another guy whipped off his shirt to show off a scar that crisscrossed his chest. Others encouraged their friends with a chorus of shouts and cheers to drink as many shots as they could. No one was paying much attention to the photos of Mount Everest flashing on Jake’s giant flat-screen TV.
Drew shook her head. These people need to grow up. I haven’t acted so brainless since college. Jake and his friends hadn’t changed since then, though, and now she found she had little in common with them anymore. She knew she would keel over if she tried to keep up with their drinking.
Boy, I’m getting old. She smiled ruefully. Come on. Drink up, say hello to Jake, and get out of here. She took a big sip of red wine. Flinching, she spat it out and frowned at the glass. Ugh! What’s this? Wine or vinegar? She shook herself. Buying the cheap stuff again, Jake, my friend? She craned her neck, searching for a member of the catering staff weaving around the party guests. Ah, there.
A woman in black slacks and a white blouse gathered empty and abandoned glasses from the bar.
Drew headed toward her to get rid of the swill masquerading as wine. When the woman turned around with a tray full of glasses, Drew’s steps faltered. She stopped a few yards away. Oh, wow. She’s cute. Still watching the woman, she moved closer.
The server wasn’t the type of stunning beauty Drew was usually attracted to, but something about her captured her attention. Maybe it was the strange mix of strength and vulnerability in the woman’s features and her posture. She moved like a mouse
—quietly, but efficiently, as if she didn’t want to draw anyone’s attention.
Even from a few steps away, Drew could tell that the woman was tall, but despite her height, she didn’t appear imposing. Her gaze was too shy for that. A cute nose and the gentle curve of her lips contrasted with a stubborn chin. Golden hair—the color of a fine, mature white wine—brushed against her slender shoulders. The woman took a hand off the tray to sweep an unruly strand behind her ear.
The tray tilted to one side.
Drew set down her glass and jumped forward in full knight-in-shining-armor mode to rescue the tray and the damsel in distress. She reached out just as the woman realized what was happening and straightened the tray.
Unable to stop her forward momentum, Drew collided with the tray, which catapulted one of the half-filled glasses through the air.
Cold liquid hit her in the chest. Reflexively, she caught the now empty glass before it could fall to the floor and shatter.
She froze. So did the woman.
Wide green eyes stared down at her from behind horn-rimmed glasses.
Drew realized that her damsel was at least four or five inches taller than her own five foot six.
“Oh, my God! I’m so sorry!” With trembling fingers, the woman balanced the tray in one hand and picked up a napkin.
For a moment, Drew imagined the woman’s hands on her, dabbing at her drenched shirt, but instead, the woman handed her the napkin. She tried to soak up the worst of the spill but realized her shirt was ruined. Guess I’m more of a knight in wine-stained armor now.
“Are you okay?” the woman asked.
“I’m fine. No harm done.” Drew wiped a drop of red wine off her chin. “Well, almost none.”
A blush crept up the woman’s slender neck and brought color to her cheeks. “I’ll pay for the dry cleaning, of course.”
Drew smiled. How cute. She couldn’t remember ever seeing any of her worldly, confident girlfriends blush, which lent a hint of vulnerability that softened the stranger’s earnest features. “Don’t worry about it.”
Laughter from the people around them made Drew tear her gaze away from the woman.
A few of Jake’s friends pointed out Drew’s stained shirt to one another and seemed to find it hysterically funny.
The woman’s cheeks went from pink to a dark rosé.
The swift surge of protectiveness rising in her chest surprised Drew. She made eye contact with the worst offenders. “What?” She pulled the wet shirt away from her skin and grinned. “Haven’t you ever seen a woman wearing a glass of wine? It’s all the rage, really.”
A few of the guests laughed and finally directed their gazes away from Drew and her damsel.
“Your shirt looks expensive,” the blond woman said. “I could pay for—”
“No, you don’t need to do that. I was the one who hit the tray, so if anyone needs to apologize, it’s me. I saw the glasses sliding to the edge of the tray and thought I could help, but instead I gave you quite a scare, plowing into you like that.” She gasped, only then realizing she hadn’t taken a breath between sentences. “I’m really sorry. Maybe I could invite you for coffee to make up for it.” She had casually asked out many women in her life, but now she found herself rambling.
The woman glanced at her. Drew thought she saw puzzlement in her eyes, which, at this distance, were the color of vine leaves in spring. Then the woman frowned and shook her head. “And risk spilling hot beverages on you too? Better not.”
When the woman moved to walk around her, Drew quickly stepped forward and blocked her way, not ready to give up yet. “That’s a risk worth taking. So how about it? Will you have coffee with me?”
“It’s nice of you to offer, but it’s not necessary. It was just an accident, and I really need to go now.” The woman turned her wrist to glance at her watch, making the tray tilt again.
Ignoring the possibility of further damage to her clothes, Drew grabbed for the tray. Her fingers wrapped around the woman’s, her tanned hands contrasting sharply with the ivory of the woman’s skin.
“Sorry.” Another blush stained the woman’s cheeks. “I’m not usually such a klutz.”
“Don’t worry about it.” Drew relinquished her hold on the tray, but not without letting her index finger linger against the woman’s hand for a moment. “Being a bit clumsy has a certain charm,” she said with a wink.
The woman lifted an eyebrow but didn’t return the flirtatious smile.
Damn, she’s straight. Drew suppressed a sigh.
“I need to go,” the woman said. “Again, I’m sorry. Maybe you can borrow one of Jake’s shirts for the evening.”
She’s on a first-name basis with Jake? For a moment, Drew wondered whether the blonde was one of Jake’s many lovers, but then she shook her head. With her horn-rimmed glasses, stubborn chin, and make-up-free face, this woman wasn’t Jake’s type.
She glanced down at the wet shirt plastered against her full breasts. “I’m afraid Jake and I are not quite the same ... um ... size.”
The woman blushed for the fourth time, and Drew caught her glancing at her chest.
Maybe she’s not so straight after all. Drew grinned and decided to help her cover the awkward silence. “It’s okay. I was just about to go say hello to Jake and then head home anyway.” She nodded toward the tray. “You need any help with that?”
“No, thanks, I can manage.”
“All right.” Drew was running out of reasons to keep talking for a while longer, so she reluctantly stepped out of the way.
Her damsel said good-bye and walked away.
Drew stood watching the gentle sway of her hips. Nice. She pinched the wet shirt between two fingers and pulled it away from her skin. After a final glance at the stranger, she went in search of Jake.
“What the hell happened to you?” Jake asked when she found him. “I go to the bathroom for a minute, and when I come back, you look like a murder victim.”
Drew glanced at her wine-drenched shirt and shrugged. “I met a woman.”
A teasing grin formed on Jake’s lips. “Don’t they normally wait until after dessert to throw their drinks at you?”
“They? One woman, okay? It was just one woman who threw her drink at me, and that was ages ago.”
“And you deserved it. Dude, you were a dog back in the day!”
Not those old war stories again! Okay, she had dated a lot of women in college, but she had left that part of her life behind when she had taken over her family’s vineyard. “That was in college, and you slept with more women in a week than I did during my entire freshman year!”
“Yeah, the good ol’ times.” Jake’s dreamy sigh ruffled the shaggy blond hair falling into his face. “So, what have you been up to? I haven’t seen you since the AIDS fundraiser we did at the gym. And that was what? Two months ago?”
“Three,” Drew said. “I just finished bringing in my first harvest. I’ve been out in the vineyards every day since we started harvesting the grapes for the sparkling wines back in August.” She rubbed her eyes. The past weeks had left her exhausted but also filled with a sense of accomplishment. She hoped her parents would have been proud of her.
“Ah, work, work, work.” Jake wagged his finger at her. “You’re beginning to remind me of my sister.”
When they had gone to college together, Drew had heard stories about Jake’s sister, Annie—or rather about the practical jokes Jake had played on her when they’d been children. She had never met her, though. “Are you ever going to introduce me to your mysterious sister?”
“I would have introduced you years ago, but convincing Annie to come to one of my parties is harder than getting an audience with the pope.”
Good for her. Drew bit back a grin.
“And you,” Jake slapped her shoulder, “never had the time in all these years to meet my folks during spring break.”
Drew hit him back, but her slap bounced off the wiry muscles he had developed as a climber. “Yeah
, because I had to help in the vineyard while you, the slacker, partied the whole time.”
“Okay, okay, I’ll introduce you. I saw her talking to Rob earlier, so she has to be around here somewhere.” Jake turned and looked around, then pivoted to face Drew. “But remember: no flirting. She’s straight.”
Drew lifted her hands. “I’m not interested in your baby sister. In fact, I just saw a woman at the buffet. For some reason, she really caught my attention. I think she’s working for the catering service.”
“The brunette with the killer legs?”
“No. This one is a blonde, and if her legs kill you, it’s probably because she’s a bit clumsy.” At the memory of the woman almost dropping the tray of glasses a second time, Drew had to smile.
A frown carved a deep line between Jake’s brows. “I don’t think I hired a blonde.”
“Yes, you did. She knows you by name.”
“The only clumsy blonde I know at this party is ...” Jake paused and laughed. “Is she tall, green-eyed, and serious as a heart attack?”
Drew suppressed the urge to defend her clumsy damsel. “Sounds about right.” Belatedly, she realized she had never found out the woman’s name.
“Ah, that blonde.”
“So you do know her?” Drew asked. “Could you introduce us?”
“Sure, no problem.” A sound almost like a giggle escaped Jake’s mouth.
Someone should tell him that straight men don’t giggle. But for now, Drew was more interested in finding out more about the woman. “Do you know if she’s family?”
The giggles turned into a belly laugh. Jake slapped his thighs, nearly spilling his drink all over himself. “Oh, yeah. She’s family.”
“Really? She is?” When the woman hadn’t flirted back and hadn’t even seemed to notice her interest, she had given up hope. “Are you sure?”
“One hundred percent,” Jake said, still grinning madly.
“And she’s single?”
Jake rolled his eyes. “Has been for ages.”
Drew couldn’t believe her good fortune. “Sounds like you’ve known her for a long time.”
“Yeah, you could say that.” Jake turned. “Wait here. I’ll go get her.”