Seven-Night Stand

by Nicole Helm

  She could make this work. As much as she had to make this show idea a reality, she was more and more positive she could. This place, Nate, it could all be solid TV gold.

  It was impossible to keep the grin off of her face as she walked toward the office building. Sunny day, hot guy inside who had very sufficiently satisfied her not that long ago, work she loved to do. What more could a girl ask for?

  This time when she tried the knob of the office door, it was open, and she let herself in to the cold concrete building. If the show got made, the drab building would need a makeover. Nothing too frilly or fancy for a guy like Nate, a place like Harrington, but something with bolder colors, a few more pictures to break up the monotony of the gray concrete walls for when they did one-on-one interviews or inside filming.

  “Good morning.”

  His deep, smooth voice had her thinking about sex. He had changed back into the worn jeans, white T-shirt, and cowboy boots ensemble from the day before. If they did the show, he would definitely have to keep that uniform.

  She was going to have to get a grip. Maybe start carrying ice water to douse herself with. “Good morning.”

  He glanced at the laptop bag on her shoulder. “You really think you’re going to find a show out here, and then get me agree to do it?”

  “I really do.”

  “Vivvy…”

  She ignored the wariness in his tone. She was too determined and this was too important. “I’d like to see what a day around Harrington would look like. Yesterday we focused on background and layout. Today, I’d like to see what an average day consists of. What they’d be filming if they decide to do the show.”

  “That’s going to be pretty boring.” He crossed his arms over his broad chest and smiled. “Way too boring to do a show about.”

  If he thought boring was going to scare her off when he had a smile like that, he was sorely mistaken. “Not possible.”

  Nate rubbed a palm to his forehead. “How can I make you see this isn’t going to happen?”

  She refused to let the doubts poke through. This was a good idea, he could be a star, and she wouldn’t let him scare her off. Not when so much was at stake. “You can’t.”

  He was silent for a few beats and then he shook his head, apparently giving up the fight for at least a while. “Fair enough. I’ll go grab my shop keys, then you can watch me work.” He flashed that wicked grin and lust curled in her belly.

  She didn’t crack, though. No, they’d get through the workday before she jumped him. After that? All bets were off.

  Nate disappeared into his office just as the front door pushed open and a shuffling elderly man moved inside. He looked around the room, ignoring her, and then began shuffling past the front desk.

  Vivvy frowned, surprised when he didn’t offer a greeting. She was pretty sure the man was Nate’s grandfather, both because they had the same green eyes and because the man moved behind the front desk and riffled through some papers with the ease of routine.

  She took a step toward him as he skirted behind the counter. “Mr. Harrington?”

  He turned his head toward her and smiled blandly. “Ma’am.”

  Her frown burrowed deeper. There was something off about this. Yes, he might know who she was by process of elimination, but the way he didn’t offer any kind of greeting made her feel awkward.

  “Grandpa.” Nate didn’t just seem surprised as he walked back into the room. He froze, but only for a second before he moved, placing himself firmly in front of Vivvy’s line of sight as if shielding the frail man from her. “I thought you weren’t feeling good.”

  The words weren’t so much a question as a gentle reminder. Too gentle for his not feeling well to be something innocuous. Nate looked back over his shoulder at Vivvy with an expression she couldn’t read. It wasn’t pleasant, though.

  “Fit as a fiddle, boy. Now, who’s this pretty little thing behind ya? Got yourself a girl, Nathan?”

  “Grandpa, this is Vivvy Marsh. The woman Dad talked to about the TV show.”

  “TV show?”

  Vivvy couldn’t see the older man’s face around Nate’s broad frame, but his voice spoke of utter confusion. Her stomach sunk. She’d talked to Millard on the phone a few weeks ago, introduced herself, set up a meeting with him when she hadn’t been able to reach Jed after her initial talks with him.

  The man should know her name and what TV show they were referring to.

  “Where’s Mom? Did she bring you up here?” Nate moved closer to his grandfather, but Millard waved Nate away, and moved farther behind the counter.

  “A mile walk is good for the heart. Dr. Collins says so.”

  Nate’s jaw clenched and his grip on the counter tightened before he moved between Millard and Vivvy again. His voice lowered so Vivvy barely heard his question. “Does Mom know you’re up here?”

  “My mother’s been dead thirty years,” Millard snapped. “Now I got work to do, son. Let me get to it.”

  Millard stomped off. Nate didn’t turn to face Vivvy. His head fell forward, his shoulders hunched, like Atlas holding the world between his shoulder blades. “I have a phone call to make.”

  Before she could respond, he disappeared into his office, the door slamming behind him. STAY OUT might as well have been painted in big red letters across the rough wood.

  Vivvy had come across a lot of strange things in her time with Tyson Media. Strange, sickening, ridiculous, and downright incomprehensible things. Still, nothing struck her quite as sad as Nate’s quiet desperation with his obviously ailing grandfather.

  It was an uncomfortable realization. Sympathy wasn’t an emotion Vivvy had a lot of experience with. Sympathy usually meant caring about someone enough to be concerned when they were hurting. A little warning popped up in her brain. The same warning she got whenever she started to get too close to someone.

  She shook her head. Ridiculous. She’d been at Harrington one day. Perhaps the warning bells had gotten a little oversensitive lately. It was human to feel sorry for a sick elderly man and the people who cared for him. Vivvy lifted her chin. It wasn’t connection. It was human nature.

  …

  “Mom?”

  “Not now, Nate,” Annie’s gravelly smoker’s voice snapped through the office phone’s receiver.

  Nate’s grip tightened and he resisted the urge to yell. If he yelled, Vivvy would hear, and there’d be even more questions than she probably already had. “If you’re looking for Grandpa, he’s up here.”

  “Oh.”

  She didn’t say anything else. No explanation, no offer to come get him. Nate sighed and rubbed his forehead with his palm. “Mom, I can’t bring him back right now. You have to come get him.”

  “Can’t you do something for him for a change? It’s always gotta be me. Why? Because I’m the only damn woman in this family?”

  Nate ground his teeth together, fighting back the angry, bitter retort that threatened to explode. “I’ve got someone up here. I can’t just leave them alone. It’s business.”

  “That TV person? Pawn her off on your dad. I’m sure the SOB would be all over that. Probably all dolled up, too. Just his type.”

  Not a chance in hell he was going to pawn Vivvy off on his father. Even if Nate had any idea where Jed was. Even if he hadn’t slept with Vivvy last night. He was doing his damnedest to keep his dad out of the picture. “Mom.”

  She let out a gusty sigh into the receiver. “All right. I’ll be up.”

  Nate took in a breath and let it out, but the band of pressure still squeezed his chest. He should go outside right now and tell Vivvy to leave. Humoring her wasn’t worth it when he had real things to deal with.

  Another deep breath in and out. Hell. What was six more days? No matter what Vivvy witnessed, he wasn’t going to change his mind about this show getting made. Jed might want to exploit a sick old man and the business Nate had slaved over and made into something marketable, but Nate wasn’t going to let that happen.

/>   Vivvy wanted to waste her time; that was her prerogative.

  A knock sounded. He opened the door to Vivvy.

  “Are you done with your phone call?” She asked it as if he said no she would walk out and let him finish. He couldn’t figure her out at all.

  “Yes.”

  “Then we need to discuss this.” She strode over to his office chair and sat.

  “Discuss what?”

  She cocked her head in a don’t-give-me-that-shit look. “Your grandfather’s illness.”

  “So you can report back to your bosses?” He hoped the scathing note to his voice would put her back up a little. Hoped she jumped on the comment so he could have a reason to nip this thing in the bud right here, right now.

  She didn’t bite. “So I can accurately assess the consequences of involving him.”

  “Consequences? Don’t you mean how best to exploit him?”

  Still no flood of anger, still no snap. “You don’t know me that well, Nate. So I’m not going to be offended. I’m simply going to tell you I would never be a part of manipulating a sick old man.”

  How was he supposed to believe a woman he’d known for not much more than twenty-four hours? A woman whose job it was to decide if a TV show was marketable? A woman who owed him and his family nothing? Who was looking at him with a cool, inscrutable expression?

  But there was something so unfailingly honest about the way Vivvy cut through all the bullshit, didn’t jump to the bait. It was impossible for him not to believe her.

  “He had a stroke last year.” Nate stared at the wall past her head, not sure why he didn’t want to meet her eyes. He was too afraid there’d be pity or, even worse, understanding on her face. “There was minimal outward physical damage, but his mind... It doesn’t always function right.”

  She nodded. “He won’t be involved then.”

  He frowned. “Just like that?”

  “I told you, Nate, Tyson isn’t out for some big spectacle. Our viewers might enjoy people making fools out of themselves, but I don’t know many people who enjoy watching a sick elderly man struggle. It doesn’t work that way.”

  It shouldn’t bother him that she was looking at his grandfather through the eyes of whether or not he was TV show material, but for some reason it did.

  “If the show comes to fruition, we’d focus on your parents and you. Now, if that’s your only concern about the show—”

  “Definitely not my only concern,” he muttered, turning his back on her and staring out the window. Outside was the parking lot, Vivvy’s rental car, and then empty space as far as the eye could see.

  Why did he love this place? It was what he’d spent his life dreaming about and making a reality. He’d gone beyond making Harrington enough to get by. He’d made it into something lucrative.

  But he’d gone as far as he could as it was. Bob wasn’t getting any younger and he constituted a hefty chunk of Harrington’s income. Nate needed to diversify, to broaden his horizons. The show she was talking about could do that.

  He ran a hand through his hair. But if he went with this idea, he’d give up the right to live his life as he wanted. He’d give up the reputation he’d worked so hard to build in spite of his father. And with Jed and Annie Harrington anywhere near the picture, this show would make asses out of all of them.

  So, of course it made total sense to sleep with the woman trying to do just that. If Ryan were here, Nate would be on the receiving end of a “you’re an idiot” speech. And he’d deserve it.

  “Nate.” She waited until he turned before she continued to speak. “Tell me what your concerns are. I’m sure I can alleviate them. If you’re worried about the family dynamic, let’s discuss this. I need—”

  “Millard.” The low growl was punctuated by the slam of a door. “Nate!”

  “You’re about to see some family dynamic in action.” Nate trudged out of his office toward his mother’s voice.

  Mom stood in the entryway of the office smoking a cigarette. Her dark blond hair was a haphazard mess and the Mickey Mouse T-shirt she wore was stained with who knew what. Her jeans were worn down to the fraying edges.

  It was impossible not to feel embarrassment when Vivvy was such a complete opposite to the disaster before him.

  “Grandpa’s out back.”

  Annie took a long drag of the cigarette, but her eyes weren’t on Nate—they focused behind him. He looked back and saw Vivvy standing right there.

  “This the TV lady?”

  Vivvy stepped forward, all smiles as if the woman in front of her couldn’t be an ad for why you shouldn’t drop out of high school. “You must be Nate’s mother. I’m Vivvy Marsh.” She held out a hand to shake and Nate winced as their palms met.

  “Annie Harrington.” She gave Vivvy the once-over. “So, if we decide to do this, how much money we talking?”

  “Mom, go get Grandpa. Take him home.”

  She waved him off. “Jed got us into this mess. I want to know what we’re gonna get out of it. I’m part of Harrington. I ought to know. Nothing wrong with asking a question.” She turned her attention back to Vivvy and blew some smoke in her face.

  Nate stepped between them, jamming his hands in his pockets so his mother wouldn’t see they’d curled into fists. “I’m handling this, Mom. Me. You go handle Grandpa. You got questions, you tell me and I’ll ask Vivvy.”

  Annie clucked her tongue. “You got a thing for this one already? You did inherit your dad’s can’t-keep-your-dick-in-your-pants gene.”

  “For fuck’s sake, Mom.”

  Annie moved around Nate and closer to Vivvy. “Don’t fall for a Harrington, honey. Bad news.”

  “You’re married to one, aren’t you?”

  Nate turned. He and his mother stared at Vivvy with slightly gaping mouths. Nate knew he shouldn’t be so surprised she’d be straightforward and unafraid of his mother’s crazy ramblings. And yet, here he was, feeling surprised.

  Annie took a long drag from her cigarette and studied Vivvy. Nate hated the frankness in the study. Didn’t want Vivvy sullied with all the Harrington grime. Maybe that was why he liked polish on a woman; there was no excess of it in his life.

  “Yes. Most miserable twenty-eight years a woman could stand. Don’t let this one sweet-talk you or you’ll wind up knocked up and married to a no-good, cheating, lying, son of a—”

  “Mom. Get Grandpa and leave.” The words were ground out through a clenched jaw.

  Annie flounced out, smoke trailing behind her.

  “You’ve got all kinds of secrets, don’t you?” Vivvy’s expression was unreadable. There was no disgust or shock on her face, no pity or condescension, either. She seemed completely unaffected. Like a verbal shrug of the shoulders.

  “You’re not going to convince me putting her on TV is a good idea. Or that your viewers won’t eat that crazy up.”

  Vivvy stared at him, but no matter how hard he tried to find it, he still couldn’t see an ounce of disgust or contempt on her face. “She’d make good TV, yes. But why do you think that would be so bad for you?”

  “Right. Nothing like seeing your embarrassing family on TV. I’m sure that’ll really build our customers’ confidence.” Nate sighed. “I’ve got too much at stake, Vivvy. You’re not going to change my mind on this. Maybe you should…”

  Annie returned with Millard on her arm. “Come on now, Mill. You haven’t had your lunch yet.”

  “I’m not hungry.”

  “Not even for macaroni and cheese?” Her tone was no longer harsh or disgusted. Instead, with Grandpa, Mom’s tone was gentle. Nate could remember a time when she’d been that way with him, but that had been long ago.

  Millard’s lips pursed. “Not that box crap?”

  “Who do you take me for, Mill?” Annie said, shuffling him toward the door. “Homemade. In the oven right now. Let’s head on home. We’ll come back up tomorrow when you’re feeling more yourself.”

  “All right,” Millard agreed, stepping ou
tside. “Guess I am feeling a little out of sorts.”

  For all her bluster about the horrible Harrington men, Annie had a soft spot for Millard. In turn, Nate had to feel grateful to his mother for stepping up as caretaker. Especially considering she was taking care of the father of the husband she hated.

  Without her, they would have had to put Grandpa in a nursing home last year. So even when his mother’s words had him seeing red, had him dreaming of kicking her off and out of everything with the name Harrington on it…

  He’d never do it.

  “She’s good with him,” Vivvy offered. “Gentle. I never would have guessed it, considering how awful she was to you.”

  Nate felt as though he’d just come out of a fight. He was tired and his whole body hurt from the tension of the last thirty minutes. “Vivvy, I think it’s best if you just go.” He was too tired to pretend today. “I can’t do this thing you want me to do. It’s not ever going to be a risk I can take.”

  She didn’t go, though. Instead, she touched his arm and moved to kiss him. The gentlest brush of lips, a simple offer of comfort. “Give me a chance to prove you wrong.”

  That was the absolute last thing he wanted to do, but her comfort—comfort from a near stranger—offered him something he hadn’t had in a long time.

  “I’ve known them too long for a week with you to change my mind, Vivvy.” Maybe a little harsh, but one hundred percent the truth.

  “You were going to let me watch you work. You do your job, and I’ll do mine, and we’ll see if we can’t meet in the middle.”

  Nate stared down at her, very much afraid of what he saw. A unique woman, strong and straightforward, easy to talk to, smart, sexy. But she wanted something he wasn’t about to give her. Letting her stick around and think she was going to change his mind was stupid.

  Maybe it was his turn to be the stupid one. What would it hurt if she spent the next few days and left without a show? She’d just go scout another one and they’d both have a little fun in the meantime.