“Things didn’t end that badly,” she said, lifting the roses to give them an exploratory sniff. Flowers were such an extravagance — one she rarely indulged for herself — and she was ashamed to admit that Reece had hit a particularly vulnerable spot with his offering. “They smell beautiful,” she allowed with the smallest hint of a smile.
“Excellent. Then at least I’ve done something right so far. Now, please let me help you figure out this situation with your grandfather. It’s the least I can do.”
Tana furrowed her brow. It was an innocent statement but there was something that’d sent a warning tingle up her back. Why would an offer of kindness make her suspicious? Good grief, she was becoming a bitter bitch with each passing day.
“Do you really think you can help me?”
“If having lots of money can’t find you a good fit for your grandfather, nothing can. But I feel confident that the right person will come along for the right amount of cash.”
“You don’t have to do that. In fact, if I weren’t in such a bind, I would refuse but I don’t have a lot of options. There’s a waiting list six months long for the next qualified nurse through the care network and I can’t take a six month leave of absence from my job.”
“Hey, anything that helps dispel that stubborn belief of me that you have lodged in your brain is worth doing.”
Tana smiled coyly. “And what belief would that be?”
Reece closed the distance and pulled her to him. “The belief that all Buchanans are the same. That being an asshole is part of our DNA.”
“Is that so?”
“Very much. If you give me half a chance, I might just surprise you.”
“I don’t like surprises.”
He chuckled. “You need to loosen up, sweetheart.”
And then he kissed her right there on the stoop in front of the whole neighborhood.
Lord in heaven, the neighbors were going to have a field day.
Maybe Reece was exactly as he seemed — funny, charming, a great kisser.
Good heavens, a good kisser.
Or maybe he was playing her just as she was trying to play him.
A painful zing scored her heart at the idea but she let it pass without examining the feeling too keenly.
Somethings…she just didn’t want to know.
***
Several hours later Reece returned — and once again Tana kept him on the front stoop — to see how things had gone with the replacement nurse he’d managed to rustle up.
Sure, he could’ve called but it seemed a good excuse to reasonably see her again and that was the point of this venture, right? Gaining her trust by playing the good guy.
“I don’t know how you did it but…you saved my ass.”
“To be fair, it’s probably the finest ass I’ve ever had the pleasure of touching.”
Tana blushed to her crown and shushed him with a nervous glance at the closed front window. “My grandfather, remember?”
“Ah, right. My bad. As you were saying?”
“Too late, Mr. Smitten With Himself, the moment has passed. Suffice to say…you did a good thing and I’m very grateful.”
“Exactly how grateful?” he prompted with a lascivious grin.
“You’re incorrigible.”
“Yep.”
It was entirely fucked up that he felt like crowing for saving the day for Tana — particularly when he’d been the one to create the crisis — but her relieved expression made him selfishly aware of how much he liked putting that smile on her face.
“See? All’s well that ends well.” He tapped his cheek expectantly. “I’ll take a down payment for my services.”
Tana laughed and lifted up on her toes to place a quick peck on his proffered cheek, which gave him a secret thrill when her soft lips touched his skin but she should’ve known that a kiss on the cheek was just a ruse to get her close. His arm snaked out to wrap around her waist and pull her to him.
“Now for the real payment,” he murmured, sealing his mouth to hers, delighting in the little involuntary noises of pleasure that escaped her lips as he tangled with her tongue with the tease of his. Reece broke the kiss, loving the way her eyelids fluttered at half-mast as she slowly came to her senses and her vision cleared. “Now that was a down a payment.”
Tana pushed at him with a flustered blush, trying to quell the happy smile that kept creeping at the corners of her well-kissed lips. “I really appreciate the help,” she said in earnest. “I’ll pay you back as soon as I can. Frannie seems very nice. Papa is already enamored with her.”
“Well, that’s all that matters, right? And don’t worry about paying me back. I’m sure I need the karma points.”
At that she openly laughed. “Something tells me you’d need to save a village of starving children before that Buchanan karmic debt is turned around.”
He acted wounded. “Ouch. A village of starving children? I’m not Hitler, you know.”
Tana sobered and nodded, seemingly contrite. “You’re right. That was mean, especially after you’ve really helped me out of a bind. I’m truly grateful. However, I have to wonder why you’re doing all this. I mean…what’s happening between us?”
“Labels bore me, darling,” he said with practiced charm but her question struck too close to home.
What was he doing?
When he was with her, everything felt real but when he was left alone to contemplate his next move, he felt like pond scum because none of it was real.
As soon as he could convince her that it was the best decision to sign over the building…he’d be gone.
He forced an easy smile.
“Let’s just take it day by day and see where it takes us.”
If Tana was disappointed by his answer, she covered with a derisive chuckle, saying, “Fine by me. The last thing I need is to be tied to a Buchanan. I mean, let’s face it, your family isn’t known for being monogamous and I’m not interested in a boyfriend who can’t keep his pants zipped.”
Ironically, since meeting Tana, he’d thought of little else but he chalked that up to the novelty of the chase and nothing more.
“Not that I’m championing a lifestyle choice that seems deadly dull in the long haul, but you’re wrong. My cousins seem very taken with their wives. In fact, one could almost call them obsessive about making their wives happy. Hell, even my own brother seems to have been snared, happily I might add, which honestly would baffle anyone who’d known him before.”
“Your brother? How many of you are there?”
“I have an older brother and a younger sister, but my brother is the only east coast Buchanan to have been collared.”
“You make it sound like a death sentence.”
“I wouldn’t go that far but I’ll be truthful I find the whole concept of monogamy primed to fail. It’s human nature to crave variety, to push beyond the limits, to wander. So why would one person conceivably believe that it was possible to remain wholly faithful for your entire life to one person? When you break it down without emotion, logic tells us that it’s not.”
She scowled. “That’s not very romantic.”
He shrugged. “Maybe not but it’s realistic.”
“So you’re saying that at some point, couples will always tire of one another?”
Reece shook his finger at her. “No, you’re not going to lure me into this debate. This is a lose-lose proposition for me. If I say yes, I’m a jerk; if I say no, I’m a liar. Again, as I said…lose-lose and I never play games I have no chance of winning.”
Tana digested his answer. “I guess it’s understandable for someone who has never known great love to disbelieve it’s possible,” she allowed with a sigh as if she pitied him.
“I’ve met your mother,” he reminded her. “There’s no way that woman is true to anyone let alone a husband.”
“True. My mother is selfish, shallow and vain. All she’s ever cared about is what someone can do for her. Are you saying you’re like m
y mother?”
“God, I hope not,” he muttered, suffering a pang of discomfort. The fact that he was doing business with the vile woman behind Tana’s back made Reece feel as if he needed to shower.
When Tana found out…he hated the idea but he knew she’d find out eventually. He’d deal with the fall out when it happened.
For the time being, he needed to focus on the goal.
Tana continued, her tone warming as she said, “But if you’d met my grandmother and seen the way she and Papa were together…you’d not only believe in love but you’d want that kind of love for yourself. They’re the gold standard; not that woman that somehow got it all wrong and doesn’t care to figure it out.”
Reece paused. Tana had a point. He’d never seen a couple actually weather out the storm of a long marriage and come out the other side intact.
Divorce was common and almost expected at a certain point within the circles he ran with.
Had that jaded his view on life and how to live?
Reece didn’t want to delve too deeply into that pond. If he started examining every little crack and crevice of his life and how it might be irrevocably damaged, he’d end up in a fetal position, sucking his thumb, afraid of his shadow.
Shaking off his rapidly morose mood, he tried a grin, saying, “Enough of this serious talk. You’ve just been given the night off and I think we should go to dinner.”
“I don’ t have the night off,” Tana corrected him with a slight frown. “I still have to work tonight. That was the whole point of getting a night nurse. In fact, my shift starts in four hours, which isn’t enough time to call off.”
“You need a break,” he said, ignoring her protests. “You need someone to pamper you and show you a good time. C’mon, just for tonight…play hooky with me.”
“I…” She shook her head but he could tell she was wavering even as she said, “I don’t have anyone who can cover for me.”
Reece continued as if she hadn’t told him it wasn’t possible.
“I have a friend with a little boat anchored in the North Cove Marina. It wouldn’t take much to give him a call and see if we could borrow it for a little private dinner.”
Tana barked a laugh. “A little boat? Something tells me it’s no dinghy.”
“No,” he admitted with an impish smile. “It’s not exactly.”
“It’s a yacht, isn’t it?” she guessed correctly.
“And if I say that it is? Will that work for me or against because I’ll be honest, I’ll do anything to get you to agree.”
“You’re unstoppable, aren’t you?” It was a rhetorical question. If only Tana knew the full depth of her statement.
“When it comes to you…guilty as charged.”
Tana’s eyes widened at his admission and she looked adorably perplexed. He wanted to kiss that tiny spot where her brows furrowed and make her squeal with laughter…and moan with pleasure. A private boat was the perfect place for what he had planned.
But first he had to get her to agree.
“C’mon girl, the suspense is killing me.”
Tana broke a reluctant smile as she worried her bottom lip with her teeth. “I might be able to call Gypsy to cover for me…but I don’t know on such short notice.”
“Call her up,” he instructed, gesturing. “Let’s get this figured out. I have arrangements to make.”
“She hasn’t said yes,” Tana reminded him, shaking her head at his insistence. “In fact, you shouldn't get your hopes up in case she’s busy tonight. Unlike me, Gypsy has a busy social life.”
“With a name like Gypsy, I can only imagine.”
She frowned. “Hey, that’s my best friend.”
“I’m kidding. Time’s wasting.”
Tana pulled her cell from her back pocket and dialed her friend, giving Reece her back — and a teasing view of her ass — as she waited for her friend to pick up.
“Hey Gypsy, can you cover for me tonight?” she asked, waiting a beat before answering Gypsy’s next question. “Um, yeah, same guy. He wants to take me to dinner. On a boat. Yeah, it’s a yacht.”
Reece grinned, loving how uncomfortable Tana was relaying her plans to her friend. But when she seemed relieved in the next moment, saying, “I understand…it’s no big deal…it’s short notice…” he grabbed the phone from her hands, ignoring her shocked screech of protest.
“Hello Gypsy,” he held Tana back, talking smoothly to the friend on the other line. “Can I be frank with you? Here’s the thing…Tana needs some time off. She’s been busting her ass for too long without a break, I know you know this, because you’re her best friend. All I want to do is pamper her, feed her, and then, well, I’ll be honest…I want to do things to your friend that will leave her dick-drunk by morning. Does that sound like something you could help us out with?”
Gypsy stammered on the other line, “G-good God, I wish I could! But I promised my cousin I would take her clubbing tonight for her 21st birthday or else I totally would. I mean, if anyone needs to get dick-drunk, it’s Tana.”
Reece wasn’t going to be deterred, even as Tana kept reaching for the phone, giving him the darkest, most exasperated glares possible.
“I’ll give you a thousand bucks to take her shift tonight,” he said, not messing around.
Tana gasped. “What are you doing?”
He grinned deliberately at Tana and said, “Make that two thousand.”
“Should I hold out for five?” Gypsy asked, half-joking but Reece didn’t care how much money it took to make the night happen.
“Done.”
“You’re shitting me.”
“Nope. Will you take the shift?”
“Hell yes! My cousin can wait another day. Her birthday was last week anyway.”
“Excellent. Thanks for your help.” And then he returned the phone to Tana who was gaping at him as if he’d lost his mind. He brushed a quick kiss across her lips and said, “I’ll see pick you up at seven” before leaving her on the stoop, dumbfounded.
And that, boys, is how it’s done.
Mic. Drop.
bookmark: 11
Chapter 11
z
Tana took one final look at herself in the mirror.
Slinky black dress, stiletto heels, and underneath the sexy dress, a push up bra with matching panties that she’d splurged on months ago but had never worn.
What was she doing?
Okay, focus. Stick to the plan. Get him on your side. Use your boobs.
Tana glanced down at her breasts and shook her head ruefully, “Girls, according to Gypsy, you have magical powers so do your thing. I need Reece to help me turn the tide my way.”
Why was she talking to her breasts?
Cheeks heating at her own ridiculousness, she grabbed her clutch, keys and phone just as a knock at the door followed.
Frannie, the new night nurse, came hustling with a bright, polite smile to peek out the window, exclaiming with appreciation, “Is that your ride? Talk about going in style.”
Tana nodded and took a deep breath.
“You have my cell phone. If you need anything, please don’t hesitate to call.” She might welcome the interruption. It seemed Reece was the one with magical powers — a power that caused her panties to melt off — and she needed to remain focused on her mission. “Do you have any questions?”
“No. Stop fretting. I’ve been a nurse for the past twenty years. There’s nothing I haven’t seen or handled. Now, go on. Have fun. You look beautiful, by the way.”
Tana blushed, fidgeting with her clutch. “You think so? You don’t think it’s too much?”
“Not at all. He’s a lucky man.”
Tana was tempted to correct Frannie, to disabuse her of any notion that what was happening between she and Reece was anything but romantic but what was the point?
She couldn’t exactly say what she was doing and besides, just thinking about it privately made her feel as if she needed another shower.
&
nbsp; So instead, she just smiled with a brief “Thank you” thrown over her shoulder and opened the door to see Reece, smiling like the devil, looking like a million bucks, and immediately making her knees weak.
Oh goodness. Stay strong.
Remember the whole point of cozying up to Reece wasn’t to end up with a ring on her finger…it was to get him to help her to save the Tamarack.
But as his eyes lit up with genuine pleasure, as his gaze roved her body, and that mouth teased with a hungry smile, Tana knew she was in trouble.
“You look good enough to eat,” he said, opening the car door for her. As she dipped her head with a bashful smile, he ducked down and whispered for her ears only, “And I intend to do just that.”
Good Lord, she was only human! How was she supposed to remain on track if he kept looking at her like that and dishing out dirty compliments that made her want to faint?
“Thank you,” she managed as she slid into the sleek limousine, silently gulping at the decadence of the black leather and polished chrome fixtures. “What happened to the Towncar?” she asked, trying not to betray the fact that she was awestruck by the sheer opulence of the fine vehicle.
“Tonight deserved an upgrade,” he answered as the car started rolling. Reece grabbed the chilling champagne bottle and wasted no time in pouring. “Time to celebrate.”
Tana accepted the glass with a quizzical expression. “What are we celebrating?”
“That I finally got you to accept a date from me. A real date.”
She blushed and suppressed the tiny flutter in her belly, forcing a smile that she hoped was flirty and clinked glasses, saying, “Well, better make it a good one or it’ll be the only date you get.”
Reece laughed and downed his glass in one gulp. “I love a girl with high standards.” His gaze fastened on her mouth as she finished her glass and then he took the glass from her hands and moved in for the kill.
“I’m going to be honest…it’ll be a miracle if we make it to the marina before I strip that dress from your body. You are killing me right now.”
“Is that so?” she returned coyly, loving the thrill of immediate arousal. There was no denying their chemistry.
Pushed (Billionaire romance): Pursued By The Billionaire (Buchanan Romance Book 2) Page 8