Secrets & Chance (The Sterlings Book 1)

by Lynn Hastings

  “Hell yes, I’m right. Now”—Halo smashed her hands on her hips—“you guys want to go into town and grab a drink? I’m going to need to be buzzed by the time my mom gets here.”

  Chance and Rosalie looked at each other with wide eyes.

  She giggled in that naughty way of hers. “I promise to not leave the two of you unchaperoned.”

  Chance tugged at his collar. “Huh? No. I mean I’m okay with drinks.”

  “So am I,” Rosalie said.

  “Alrighty then.” Halo shot her finger at Chance. “You drive. I’m zapped from my Passenger First ride from SFO. The guy was a horrible driver. He shot my blood pressure through the roof.”

  CHANCE WAS thankful Halo had shown up. She did most of the talking on their way to a bar. For some reason, she insisted on Rosalie sitting up front with him, while she sat in the back. Rosalie tried to pass on the option, but Halo was determined.

  Halo was halfway through an account of why she preferred working in a corporate environment rather than jet-setting to the same old cities around the world season after season.

  “Spring collection, winter collection, fall and summer—same cities, same people. Everyone thinks they’re”—she drew air quotes—“fabulous, but they’re all fake. No one’s real. And if you’re not like them, then they would exclude you like mean high schoolers. I got tired of dumbing myself down just to be accepted. As you know, Chance, I was always smarter than I was pretty.”

  “But you’re very beautiful,” Rosalie said.

  “No, I’m way smarter. Tell her, Chance.”

  “She has an IQ of one hundred forty-one,” he said.

  “Wow, that’s high.”

  “Right,” Halo said with a sigh.

  “So what do you like about your new job?” Rosalie asked.

  Chance cut a tiny smile. He could hear intrigue in Rosalie’s tone. It was her chance to learn something new and experience someone who had something that less than two percent of the population had. He admired an intellectually curious woman. More and more, he was beginning to see why Rosalie and his grandmother had grown so close. They were much alike.

  “First, I like the fact that I can eat as many cheeseburgers as I want and not have to worry about my ass expanding past the size of the samples, which were way too small for any adult woman.”

  The sound of Rosalie’s laugh expanded the size of Chance’s smile.

  Halo sat back again. “But what I like most are the projects. Currently, I’m working on a waste reduction program, wherein we’re testing chemicals that eat all types of solid waste but have no damaging effect on the environment.”

  “Wow, that sounds interesting.”

  “Yes, it is. However, what I don’t like about my new career is that my colleagues are more apt to be hindrances than help.” She sighed wearily. “Egos and ambition will always be a barrier to progress. I’m this close to giving up.” She grunted facetiously. “And oh boy, would Grandmother like that.”

  Chance turned in to the parking lot of Dave’s Bar. Since it was still early, there weren’t a lot of cars parked in it. However, Halo’s last statement burned a frown on Chance’s mouth. Why would Grandmother want Halo to give up on her new gig? His grandmother had called him as soon as she’d heard Halo got a job with Reed Corporation.

  “She’s finally using her God-given gift to move on in this world,” Grandmother had said.

  He’d always felt that Grandmother lived vicariously through other smart women. It wasn’t until Grandfather died in 1997 that she spread her wings and morphed into the shrewd businesswoman she was today.

  “1997,” he whispered as he threw the gear into park.

  “What did you say?” Rosalie asked.

  Chance glanced at Halo in the rearview mirror. She was watching him expectantly.

  “It’s nothing,” he said.

  “1997 is the year Grandfather died,” Halo said.

  “Yes, it was.”

  Her curious gaze went from his eyes to Rosalie’s profile. He knew Halo was reading their reactions.

  Chance quickly opened his door. “Let’s get a drink. All of a sudden, I could use one.”

  Halo scooted across the backseat and opened her door. “Stay away from the hard stuff, though. Your tolerance has never been high enough for anything above fifty proof.”

  Chance laughed because she was right. There was something in his body that had an aversion to alcohol. He usually stuck to one or two glasses of wine, which was easy to do because Chance never succumbed to peer pressure. If his friends or colleagues got shit-faced, that was their personal choice. He chose to remain sober since it was the frame of mind in which he was at his sharpest.

  As Chance opened the door of the tavern to let Halo and Rosalie pass, he was overcome by the sound of loud and bad rock instrumentals coming from inside.

  Halo rubbed his cheek on her way in. “I’ll handle that God-awful noise.”

  His frown intensified as Rosalie passed—not because Halo had once again eerily read his mind, but he felt something like tiny wings fluttering in his stomach. His head spun as Rosalie smiled gently then quickly averted her eyes from his. Maybe she was feeling something more for him than contempt for him being such a dick yesterday.

  Halo pointed to a tall, round cocktail table near the window. “Over there,” she said before heading to the bar.

  Rosalie and Chance communicated with a look before going over to the table that Halo had picked from across the room. As soon as they sat, he could see why she had chosen it. The sky was cloudy, and a soft billow of lukewarm light flowed in through the window, which made the cold, dreary place feel warmer. As Chance took off his coat, he noticed that, other than two barmaids, the only other people in the room were guys, and they couldn’t figure out whether to gawk at Rosalie or Halo.

  Rosalie leaned across the table after taking her seat. “You said 1997,” she whispered.

  The music changed into something resembling eighties soft rock then, after a few beats, changed again.

  Chance moved his face closer to Rosalie’s. Her skin smelled like sweet flowers and citrus. It would’ve been nice to plant a soft kiss on her lips, but the idea frightened him just as fast as it invaded him.

  “It’s the year my grandfather died.”

  She sat up straight. “I know, I heard.”

  Now a smoother rock instrumental was playing, and Halo was heading toward the table.

  Rosalie gazed into Chance’s eyes with focus. He suspected she was trying to figure out the missing pieces to a complex puzzle. He tried to do the same but couldn’t get past being distracted by how sexy she looked when she appeared to be deeply contemplating something.

  “Now we can hear ourselves think,” Halo said as she took a seat. “So do either of you have any idea where Gran went this morning?”

  EIGHT

  ROSALIE STETSON

  Goodness gracious, was Chance Sterling an enigma. She guessed he knew more about the clues on the note that Edna had left for them than he had let on. But he wasn’t going to say much, because he didn’t trust her, and heck, he probably never would. A few minutes ago, when she’d passed him on her way into the bar, Rosalie felt butterflies in her stomach. But she had quickly talked herself out of having any relationship with sour Chance Sterling.

  It wasn’t as though he was interested in her in the first place, and more importantly, she probably had to watch her back. She hadn’t met a Sterling man who hadn’t wanted the fortune all for himself. She wanted to tell Chance that he could relax. Edna may have had uncertainties about leaving her fortune to her direct descendants, but she would never betray her family. So Chance, nor any other Sterling, had to worry about her taking what was theirs.

  “I have no idea where she went,” Chance said, answering Halo’s question.

  Halo looked at Rosalie. “And you don’t know anything, either?”

  Rosalie shook her head. “Nope.” She made sure her tone was adamant enough to convince C
hance, which made her disappointed in herself. Why did she care what he thought about her? But the fact that she did just proved one thing—she was not yet ready to be in a relationship.

  She used to always care what Peter thought about her, which had once upon a time cost Rosalie her self-esteem. Peter had never made her feel smart or pretty enough. As soon as she’d divorced him, she regained all of her confidence and more. However, she would never forget how she had been made to feel two feet tall by someone who was supposed to have loved her.

  Perhaps that was why she was cautious when it came to entering new relationships. And for certain, that was why it bothered her that she cared to convince Chance Sterling she was trustworthy. Screw him. If he didn’t believe he could trust her, then it was his issue, not hers.

  “But it’s such a mystery, you know. Gran has been full of secrets lately. If my instincts serve me right, then I’d say a man’s involved.”

  “A man?” Chance asked.

  “A boyfriend,” Halo said.

  “I’m pretty sure that’s not the case,” Rosalie said. If Edna was seeing a gentleman, then Rosalie was certain she wouldn’t have kept it secret from her.

  Halo tilted her head to study Rosalie. “Grandmother and you are close, aren’t you?”

  “Very.”

  “She talks about you a lot, you know.”

  “She does?” Chance asked.

  His remark was so unexpected that Rosalie and Halo looked at him.

  He shrugged. “It’s just that Grandmother never said anything about Rosalie to me.”

  Halo grunted thoughtfully.

  “What are you thinking?” Chance asked.

  “Well, she mentioned Rosalie to me a number of times.” Halo turned to Rosalie. “You’re a lawyer, right?”

  “Right.”

  “Public defender?”

  “Yep.”

  “You hate your boss because he’s a lazy ass, and you can do his job ten times better than him.”

  Rosalie laughed. “Edna said that?”

  Halo raised her right hand. “I swear it.” She put her hand down. “She really believes in your talent. I’m surprised she never recruited you to work for the company.”

  “I always thought it was because she saw Sterling Enterprises as a human-eating universe.”

  Halo scoffed. “No, that’s not it. Maybe she doesn’t think you’re ready.”

  “Ready for what?”

  “To fight with the big boys.”

  Chance shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “You’re saying Grandmother wants to hire Rosalie?”

  Rosalie studied the look on Chance’s face. It was quite clear that he respected Halo’s opinion.

  “And me. And you too, Chance.”

  “No way. She’s the one that landed me the job with Lord and Lord Enterprises.”

  Halo shrugged indifferently. “Yeah, well, what a complex web we weave when first we practice to deceive.”

  Rosalie was confused by everything Halo had said. “First of all, Edna doesn’t deceive.”

  “Don’t worry. Grandmother uses her power mostly for good and rarely for evil. At least that’s what I know.”

  “Rarely?” Rosalie asked.

  The waitress showed up to take their drink orders. Realizing that she had leaned toward Halo, Rosalie sat back in her seat. Both Halo and Chance waited for her to order first. Her mind was still reeling from Halo’s last statement about Edna. To her, Edna was the angel who had saved her life. Without Edna Sterling, where would she be? Probably married to the wrong guy and completely miserable and dissatisfied with every aspect of her life.

  “After you, Rosalie,” Halo said.

  Rosalie blinked her mind back into the moment. They were treating her like the guest, and she didn’t know if she liked it or not. Deep down, they felt more like family to her because she still saw Edna as family.

  Regardless, she shifted in her seat. “Do you serve Bloody Marys?”

  “Yes, we do,” the waitress said to her, although she was looking at Chance.

  “Then I’ll have one of those.”

  Halo drummed her fingers on the tabletop to get the waitress’s attention. “Scotch straight up for me.”

  Chance studied Halo with wrinkled eyebrows before saying, “I’ll also have a Bloody Mary.”

  “We also have our favorite morning appetizers of tater-tots, steak skewers, sunshine sliders…”

  “Woo-hoo,” Halo sang to get the waitress’s attention.

  The woman ripped her eyes off Chance and looked at Halo.

  “Do you still have a basket of french fries?”

  “Um, yeah. We have garlic fries, cheese fries—”

  “Just regular steak fries,” Halo said.

  “Your drinks and steak fries are coming up.” The waitress sauntered away from the table, seemingly happy to have effortlessly taken their order.

  “It’s kind of early for Scotch,” Chance said with his eyebrows drawn together.

  “I told you, I need an effective buzz for when Penelope shows up.”

  Chance grunted skeptically.

  “What?”

  He shook his head. “Forget it.”

  Halo looked down at the table, tapping her fingers. Gosh, she was gorgeous. Her cropped sandy-brown hair showed off her swan’s neck and creamy caramel skin. She had an elegance about her that commanded all the attention when she walked into a room. She was also pretty tall, probably about six feet. If she was more smart than beautiful, then she must have been a modern-day Einstein. However, all of her physical perfection couldn’t hide what was glaringly obvious to Rosalie, who had represented enough alcoholics in court to know when someone was trying to hide the shakes.

  Halo slid her hands under the table. “So, Chance, what’s the update on your love life?”

  He shifted in his seat, apparently taken aback by her question. “There’s nothing going on with my love life.”

  “Still working too much?”

  He shrugged. “What’s too much?”

  “Every day, more than sixteen hours a day, seven days a week.”

  He grunted.

  “Then I guess you’re still working too much.”

  “I guess.”

  Halo turned her curious gaze to Rosalie. “And why haven’t you ever remarried?”

  Rosalie jerked her head back. She still had questions about Halo’s strong drink order and shaky hands. If Halo were her client, she would call her out on it. But she wasn’t, and Rosalie didn’t want to rock the boat.

  “I’m looking more for a new job than a new husband,” she muttered while thinking about having to face her boss on Monday.

  “Is that so?” Chance asked, to Rosalie’s surprise.

  She went on to explain how tough it was doing her job in such a politically charged environment. She was almost done explaining how she’d won her last case, which everyone had wanted her to lose, when the drinks and fries arrived.

  “Was he innocent?” Halo asked before taking a healthy swig of her drink.

  “I can’t answer that.”

  “Sure, you can. I won’t tell. Will you, Chance?”

  “No, but it doesn’t matter if her client was innocent or not.” He set his sexy eyes on her, and Rosalie forgot to breathe. “You did your job and defended him to the fullest. I could use a person like you on my team. But why did you choose white-collar crimes?”

  Rosalie watched him scoot to the edge of his seat as her heart thumped hopefully. Had he seriously just offered her a job when he’d said he could use a person like her on his team? Or was he speaking in general?

  “Um…” Her skin ran hot. “I focused on corporate in law school. Edna’s suggestion.”

  “I figured,” he said.

  Halo signaled the waitress, who was three tables away. “One more Scotch.”

  The waitress glanced at Rosalie’s and Chance’s barely touched Blood Marys. “One Scotch coming up!”

  Halo’s request seemed to trouble Cha
nce. Rosalie could tell he wanted to say something about Halo’s second drink but chose not to.

  “Okay, well.” He sighed. “My offer still stands. I’d be happy to look at your résumé.”

  So it was an offer. Rosalie fought the urge to smile from ear to ear. “Thanks. I just might take you up on that.” Feeling good, she finally took a sip of her drink.

  “I hope you do.”

  She avoided looking into his eyes. One second too long, and she would pass on his offer. A chance to work for Lord and Lord Enterprises was a beautiful temptation, but falling for Chance Sterling scared the daylights out of her. She didn’t know why exactly, but it did.

  “Well, that would be interesting,” Halo said, downing the rest of her drink.

  Neither Rosalie nor Chance asked what she meant by that. As far as Rosalie was concerned, he was offering her the chance of a lifetime. She continued sipping on her drink as if she hadn’t a care in the world, but inside, she was turning cartwheels and doing a victory dance. Come Tuesday, she would send her résumé to Chance Sterling. Then she had a thought.

  “Oh yeah, I probably will need your email address.”

  Halo tossed her head back and let out a laugh. “Hot damn, it’s going to happen. I can’t wait to see how this turns out.”

  The waitress brought her second drink, and once again, Rosalie and Chance decided not to ask her what she meant by that.

  ON THE DRIVE back to the estate, Halo remained quiet in the backseat as she answered emails on her cell phone. Rosalie noticed that as soon as she’d finished her second drink, her shakes calmed. The last thing she wanted to admit was that Halo was an alcoholic. How was that possible? She was a beautiful chemist who appeared to have her life together.

  Of course, Rosalie had had clients that looked as if they had their lives together as well, and some of them had been cocaine, heroine, crack, food and even sex addicts. Most of them had more than one addiction to contend with. Nearly all of them abused alcohol. One huge life lesson she’d learned was to absolutely, positively never judge a book by its cover.

  Chance asked her about other cases she had worked on, and she recited two cases that led up to her last. They were almost back at the estate by the time she’d given him a rundown of what he could expect to see on her résumé.