Not only was it a romantic gesture, it suggested that he had been extremely observant when he’d been at her house on Saturday. He’d apparently noticed the small collection of such boxes she had displayed on a bookshelf. They were the only remotely frivolous possessions she had. Maybe he’d just remembered them because he’d been the one who had to dust them. She frequently cursed the delicate collection when she had to clean.
At any rate, she might be able to ignore flowers and candy, but she couldn’t let the box’s arrival go by without calling to thank him. His secretary put her straight through.
“I thought I might hear from you,” he admitted. “What did it? The roses, the chocolate or the little box?”
“The box, of course. You could have sent the other two to just anybody, but that little picnic hamper was special.”
“I saw you collected little boxes.”
“Not many men would be that observant.”
“Not many have the incentive I do.”
“Which is?”
“I want to charm you into saying yes to dinner.”
Brianna paused. “I can’t. Dinners are tough for me. I usually leave the office late, and I have things to do after that.”
Her visits to Emma topped the list, but she refused to tell him about those. It wasn’t just because of work, either. She suspected he would immediately show an interest in her daughter as he already had in other things that mattered to her. He would ask to go along sooner or later, and she didn’t want to set Emma up for more heartbreak when another man came and went in her life. She could take the hurt, but her daughter shouldn’t have to. Sunday’s visit had proved just how deeply her father’s desertion had hurt Emma.
“Sorry,” she added to take the sting out of the rejection.
“Are you telling me there isn’t one single night in the week when you’re free?”
“Not a one.”
“You pick the time, then.” He hesitated, then added lightly, “Or should I just walk away now and nurse my bruised ego?”
She should tell him yes, she thought, but the idea of telling him to back off held little appeal. Despite all the risks, a part of her—the part that had responded to his kiss—wanted to see him again.
“Saturday,” she said at last. “I could make time on Saturday.”
“Afternoon?”
She chuckled. “Unless you want to do the vacuuming again.”
“I’ll be there at ten,” he said. “Have the dust mop and that vacuum waiting.”
Brianna laughed. “Jeb, you really don’t have to do my cleaning.”
“If it means a couple more hours around you, I do. I’m bringing my own furniture polish, though.”
“Why on earth would you do that?”
“Because yours doesn’t have lemon in it. I’m a sucker for lemon-scented polish. Our housekeeper used so much of the stuff, the place always smelled like a citrus grove.”
“Do you have any other little idiosyncrasies I should know about?”
“Quite a few, actually, but you’ll just have to take my word for it until I know you better. Discovering all of them could take a very long time.”
This time there was no mistaking the promise in his voice.
“Jeb.” It began as a protest, but she fell silent before she could complete the thought. What could she say, anyway? Don’t think too far ahead? Don’t expect too much? Don’t make promises you don’t intend to keep? The sad truth was that she was the one opening a door she didn’t intend to leave open for long. She was the one looking for an interlude, not a commitment. He was the one who ought to be warned to take care.
“Hey, are you okay?” he asked, after the silence had dragged on for fully a minute.
“Just peachy,” she assured him. “I’ll see you Saturday morning.”
“Don’t be surprised if I can’t wait that long,” he warned. “I’ll probably pop up in your office with coffee and pastries before that.”
“Then you should know that chocolate croissants are a favorite of mine,” she teased. “You can win a lot of points with one of those.”
He laughed. “I’ll remember that, Brianna. In fact, I just may leave for the bakery right now.”
“Don’t. I’m on my way to a meeting and I’ll be tied up for the rest of the day,” she said, glad to have a legitimate excuse for postponing their next encounter. She touched a finger to the tiny porcelain picnic hamper on her desk. She was too vulnerable to him right now. No gift she’d received in years had touched her heart like this one.
“If you insist on putting business before pleasure, I suppose there’s nothing I can do about it,” he grumbled.
“You should be grateful. It’s your business.”
“Michael and Tyler would be grateful. My father would probably be ecstatic. All I am is disappointed.”
“You’ll survive.”
“Don’t be so sure of that.”
“Goodbye, Jeb,” she said pointedly.
“Bye, Brianna.”
She slowly returned the receiver to its cradle, then swiveled her chair to stare out the window at the Houston skyline, which was glittering in the bright sunlight. What was she getting herself into? she wondered. What in heaven’s name was she getting herself into?
She just knew that in the past few days she’d remembered what it was like to feel like a desirable woman. She wasn’t quite ready to let that feeling go.
Chapter Seven
The chocolate croissant turned up on Brianna’s desk on Tuesday morning, but Jeb wasn’t with it. Nor did he show up on Wednesday or Thursday. He considered it a tactical retreat. Not only did he want to keep her guessing, he needed time to assess his own shifting motives for seeing her.
Although he’d promised his father that he would back off in his investigation, he still had his doubts about her integrity. He didn’t want to, but suspicion and cynicism were second nature to him. How could he not be suspicious, with her mysterious after-work disappearances that kept her from accepting dinner dates, that locked room in her home, the contradictions in her lifestyle?
But maybe none of that mattered. Maybe it wasn’t up to him to worry so much about the company. If his father wasn’t concerned, why should he be? There was a certain amount of irony in the fact that he was fighting so hard to protect a company he claimed to care nothing about.
The truth was, he really felt attracted to Brianna, contradictions and all. Maybe he should just go with that and the rest be damned. Obviously clearer heads needed to be consulted. Since Saturday was a long way off and he was restless, he called his brothers.
Michael and Tyler were always eager for an evening out. Michael was the button-down type, who had perfected the art of the business lunch. He owned more suits than any man Jeb had ever known. Tyler, by contrast, would have lived in jeans and T-shirts if he could have gotten away with it in the office. He wanted badly to work in the oil fields, but his ploy to learn the business literally from the ground up hadn’t persuaded their father to let him out from behind a desk.
Jeb chose a favorite Tex-Mex restaurant for their meeting. He had cold beers waiting when his brothers arrived. Tyler showed up first, grabbed the beer bottle by its long neck and took a deep drink before turning his attention to Jeb.
“What’s up with you? Dad on your case again?”
“Not exactly.”
“Woman trouble?”
Jeb laughed ruefully. “Am I that predictable?”
Tyler grinned. “It’s usually one or the other with you. Face it, big brother, you’re a babe magnet. Some of them are bound to be trouble. Who is it this time?”
Normally he didn’t talk about the women in his life. Most of them weren’t likely to be around long enough to matter. But since he had a feeling that Brianna would be—and this was exactly the reason he’d wanted to see his brothers—he saw no point in hedging.
“Brianna O’Ryan,” he confessed.
His brother, who was younger only by ten months, whis
tled. “Dad’s pet geologist. You are asking for trouble.”
Jeb jumped all over the description. “Why do you say that? Why do you think she’s Dad’s pet?”
“Because he brought her in over everyone in the department. He practically glows when he talks about her outstanding credentials. You’d think the woman was going to single-handedly save the company from ruin by finding oil where no man has gone before.”
“Must be talking about Brianna,” Michael guessed, slipping into the unoccupied seat at the table.
“So you’ve seen it, too?” Jeb asked.
“Seen what?”
“How enamored Dad is of Brianna,” Jeb explained.
Tyler leaned closer to Michael, the youngest male in the family but the one most likely to inherit the kingdom because of his total fascination with and dedication to the oil business. Of all of them, he was the one with the head and the heart for it.
“Careful,” Tyler warned in a stage whisper. “Our big brother here seems to have a thing for the beautiful Brianna.”
“Forget about her,” Michael cautioned without hesitation.
“Why?” Jeb demanded, unhappy about being warned off so emphatically.
“Face it, bro, you don’t have a sterling track record when it comes to women. If you do anything to upset Brianna, anything that might cause her to bolt from Delacourt Oil, Dad will have your hide.”
Jeb sighed. “Yeah, he said as much.”
“You and Dad have discussed this?” Michael asked, clearly amazed. “When? I haven’t heard any loud explosions at corporate headquarters recently, and my office is right next door to his.”
“You were probably too busy wheeling and dealing,” Tyler suggested. “You are the only man I know who conducts contract negotiations while walking on the treadmill so you don’t waste time. I believe the category of type A personality was created just for you.”
Michael shot him a disparaging look. “You, on the other hand, are so laid-back, it’s a wonder you get anything done.”
“But I do,” Tyler assured him. “And I won’t be the one dying at forty of a heart attack.”
Jeb chuckled despite himself. He’d heard this particular discussion a hundred times. Neither of them was ever going to change, and despite the sibling barbs, they loved each other.
“Could we stick to the point here?” he pleaded.
“Which is?” Michael asked, feigning confusion.
“Brianna.”
“I say go for it,” Tyler said. “If you know the score and are interested anyway, maybe she’ll be the one who has staying power. Goodness knows, the types you usually choose don’t.”
“I say go for it at your own peril,” Michael added.
“What do you think of her, though? Honestly.”
“Beautiful,” Tyler said at once.
“Smart,” Michael added.
“Sexy,” Tyler contributed.
Jeb scowled at him. “Okay, I catch your drift.” He glanced at Michael, phrasing his next question very carefully. “Do you trust her?”
Both of his brothers stared at him as if he’d lost it. “What the heck does that have to do with anything?” Tyler wanted to know. “You’re dating her, not handing over classified information.”
“That’s not entirely true,” Michael said slowly. His gaze clashed with Jeb’s. “Is it? What are you afraid of?”
Jeb decided to bite the bullet. He might not entirely trust Brianna, but he would trust these two men with his life. He could say what was on his mind and know that it would go no further than the three of them. His father would never learn from them that he was still asking questions.
“Do you think there’s any connection between Brianna and the deals that went bad?”
“Are you crazy?” Tyler blurted. “If there were, Dad would have fired her.”
“You’re the one who said it earlier,” Jeb reminded him. “Dad is very protective of her.”
“You’re not just engaging in idle speculation, are you?” Michael asked, his expression thoughtful. “Is there anything, anything at all, to back up your suspicions?”
“Not much,” Jeb admitted. “Certainly not much concrete. Just timing and coincidence.”
“Then forget it. If Dad’s not worried, there’s no reason for you to be,” Michael reassured him. “Dad can be blind to a good many things, but not when it comes to business. He would have been all over this like white on rice if there were anything remotely suspicious going on.”
“And you don’t think those deals that fell through were anything more than coincidence?” Jeb asked, trusting Michael’s instincts as much as his father’s.
“Absolutely not,” Michael insisted. “You’ve been spending too much time with Dylan. He’s made you suspicious of everything. I was involved in those negotiations myself. It made me mad as hell to lose out at the last minute, but it happens. There’s no point in crying over it. Competition these days is tough. There’s certainly no point in trying to lay the blame on an insider.”
“You’re absolutely certain?” Jeb asked.
“As certain as I can be.”
Jeb sighed. “You have no idea how badly I was hoping you’d say that.”
His brother had just cleared the way for him to date Brianna O’Ryan with a clear conscience.
Friday morning when Jeb walked into Brianna’s office with coffee and yet another chocolate croissant, she greeted him with a groan.
“Not another one,” she pleaded, staring at the bag in his hand.
His smile faltered. “I thought you loved these.”
“I do, but I’m going to be as big as a house if you keep feeding them to me. And Carly has flatly refused to eat them when I’ve tried to foist them off on her.”
He pointedly surveyed as much of her as was visible. “Maybe a small toolshed,” he countered with a grin. “Never a house. As I recall, Carly doesn’t have anything to worry about either. She could probably work off the calories just running that smart mouth of hers.”
“Don’t knock my assistant. She may be chatty, but she’s pure gold when it comes to details. In fact, she’s the one who recited the precise number of calories in one of those things. I think my arteries clogged just hearing her.”
“Which is why you need to start running with me,” he said. “Then you could eat all you want and not worry about it.”
She shook her head at his logic. “We’ve been over this. I couldn’t run far enough or fast enough to work these off.”
“Every run starts with just one step. I’ll come over at nine tomorrow instead of ten and show you.”
“Sorry. No can do. I have an early meeting.”
He perched on the corner of her desk, which put him way too close. Then he leaned down and whispered conspiratorially, “Tell the truth, Brianna. Are you sure you’re not just making excuses to get out of starting a new fitness regimen?”
“Of course not,” she insisted, crossing her heart with an exaggerated gesture. Impulsively she touched his cheek. “Thanks for tempting me, anyway.”
“We’re not talking about the invitation to exercise, are we?”
“No way. This is all about the chocolate croissants. You can pass this one along to Mrs. Hanover when you leave. You will make her a very happy woman. Carly hasn’t given her the calorie lecture yet.”
“And if your secretary is happy, I will never have a problem getting a call put through, will I?” he mused. “I can see the benefit in that.”
“As if anyone in this company would refuse to put your calls through,” Brianna said.
“I don’t like to use my clout,” he said. “Especially when the call is strictly personal.”
“But you have no qualms about using a bribe?”
“Nope,” he said unrepentantly. “Absolutely none.” He headed for the door. “See you in the morning.”
Brianna stared at the door for a long time after he’d closed it behind him. It had only been a little over a week since the first
time he’d popped into her office, and already she was starting to look forward to the unexpected treats, the surprise visits. She was in over her head, all right. Way over her head.
For the next few weeks, Jeb wormed his way into Brianna’s life. Quite simply, he wore her down. He could tell that she quickly tired of saying no, so he gave her dozens of opportunities to say yes. He popped into her office for midmorning coffee breaks, lured her out for lunches. He even managed to get her to go for a long walk, though she stubbornly refused to lace up sneakers and run with him.
He tried his darnedest to get inside her head, to figure out what made her tick, but there was always a part of herself she held aloof. It remained as mysterious as that locked room, and kept him from ever fully trusting that what they had was real in any way that mattered. Being on the receiving end of the same kind of treatment he was known for doling out was darned frustrating. Now he knew why women hated it.
It also made him more determined than ever to break down the barriers between them. Getting her to agree to go to dinner seemed like a good place to start. What kind of relationship could be built on stolen moments? He wanted a whole evening, just for the two of them. It became as much a cause as the investigation that had started all this.
Four weeks after he’d started seeing Brianna, Jeb finally saw his chance. She was going out of town on business, a four-day trip that would take her away from Houston and whatever demands there were on her time. Jeb decided to tag along, though he didn’t mention the fact to her until they were at the airport, where she had assumed he intended only to drop her off. When he headed instead for a parking lot, she stared at him.
“You’re going in?”
“Actually, I’m going with you,” he said cheerfully, keeping his attention riveted on the road.
“Excuse me?”
“I haven’t been to London in ages. I thought we could see a couple of plays while we’re there, maybe even take an extra day or two and drive to Cornwall. Have you ever been?”
The Pint-Sized Secret Page 8