by Natalie Ann
“Brock,” she said. “What are you doing here?”
Garrett laughed. “I’m sorry, Jade. Brock is our client. He has a special project he is trying to get off the ground and needed our help.”
“You could have told me it was him rather than just have James down on the calendar invite you pushed to me this morning.”
“Sorry,” Grant said. “You know we always use last names here. I guess it slipped our mind.”
She narrowed her eyes at her father but then moved closer and Brock stood up to shake her hand. She laughed at him and shook it and he tried not to pull his hand back when the heat hit it. “I think we are past handshakes after you tried to get me drunk.”
“What?” Garrett asked. Just great, that was all he needed.
“Relax you,” he argued and held his grin in place. “You had all that pressure as the maid of honor and were wound up tight. It should have been about fun. Besides, I said one drink. I stopped you when you reached for the third before we even got to the reception.”
This time she frowned at him and he understood it when her father said, “Jade. I can’t believe you were trying to get drunk.”
“I wasn’t,” she said. “The wine was really good and you know how much Ella likes everything to be in control. I just wanted her to have the perfect day and relax herself.”
Grant laughed. “Don’t blame that on Ella. Thank you, Brock, for not letting my niece embarrass herself.”
“What?!” she said. This was going from bad to worse in his eyes. He’d just been trying to loosen her up again and get that pretty smile on her face and now she looked like she wanted to strangle everyone in this room.
“Sorry,” he said, trying to bring everything back on track. “I was just making a joke. I wouldn’t have let Jade get drunk. That would mean I thought she needed it to be in my presence and we know I’m not that intimidating of a person to be around. It might hurt my feelings.”
This time Jade laughed. “You’re doing it again. Trying to make me laugh or relax everyone in this room. That’s a good talent you’ve got. So, does someone want to fill me in on what this meeting is about? I thought you went back to wherever you were in the service.”
“No,” he said. “I left. I’m starting a job next week in Durham.”
“He’s the new Director of Security at Duke,” Garrett said.
Jade’s mouth opened and closed. Looked to be the day of shocks for her. “Ella never said a word.”
“Why would she?” he asked.
“No reason, I suppose,” she said.
“Well, if you two have this handled,” Garrett said, “Grant and I have another deadline we’ve got to meet.”
“I don’t even know what is going on,” she said again.
“I’ll fill you in,” Brock said, watching the two older men walk out.
“This is a bizarre day. I didn’t find out until a few hours ago about this project and read over what I’ve got, but I have a feeling I’m missing a lot.”
He turned his laptop toward her. “I want to develop a box to send to servicemen. Sounds silly I know, but one that has compartments for cold too or at least so things don’t melt. Many are sent packages, food, and other treats in countries where it’s so hot, by the time it gets to us, things are melted or ruined. I can’t tell you how bummed we get when that happens.”
“Bummed?” she asked, turning her head from the pictures on his laptop to look at him. Her hair had moved and fallen over her shoulder and he had the urge to reach for it but held it back and started to click on his laptop.
“Yeah,” he said. “I want to say I’m sure you know we don’t have a lot of luxuries when at work or on missions, but you probably aren’t aware. We rely on care packages and when family members or friends send us stuff, it’s those things that cheer us up. Anything from home. Hopes are high and then when they come damaged, we are still happy, but it’s a little disappointing. I’m putting my own money into this to develop. What I do from there, I’m not sure yet.”
He knew what he wanted. He wanted to turn this into some kind of not for profit. Or get some company or business to buy it. He’d need to develop and patent it first. Either way, those men and women put their lives on the line daily and they deserved to get some care packages that weren’t damaged or melted. He was going to find a way to do that.
The little things got many through, he knew that, and he was going to do his part even if he was no longer serving.
“Okay. One step at a time. It looks like you’ve got a good idea of what you want, but you need it built to sustain. Materials will need to be tested and durable, weight limits, sizes and so on. That is what you need us to do here?”
“Us?” he asked. “Or you?”
“Looks like it’s me. We’ll be working together on this for a bit. Can you handle that?”
“As long as I don’t have to stop you from getting drunk to do it.”
She laughed again. “Thanks for that. I’m used to my brother Wyatt doing things like that and it threw me to have the words said by you. I appreciate you clarifying it though with my father.”
“Not a problem. I hadn’t expected them to react that way. Guess I should have, but being an only child, I didn’t realize how that might come off to hear it about his daughter.”
“Only child?” she said. “Lucky you.”
“It sounds like you can hold your own in your family.”
“I can,” she said. “But the peace and quiet would have been nice at times too. Anyway, time to get to work.”
He started to flip around some more on his computer, the two of them getting down to business. Too bad it wasn’t the business he’d like to do when he was around her and then wondered where those thoughts were coming from.
“Did you see her face?” Garrett said to Grant once they were in his office with the door shut. “Jade is hardly ever stunned speechless.”
“I know. I wasn’t positive this was going to work. Or there was even anything there, but Jolene insisted and we know how well she did with her own kids,” Grant said.
“I’d call Carolyn now but she is in class. I’ll fill her in tonight. Brock looked just as stunned as Jade when she walked in the door. I wonder what that was about.”
“I think it was her,” Grant said. “I know Jade is your daughter, but it looked a lot like attraction to me.”
Garrett didn’t want to think of those things about his baby girl, but the truth was she was far from a baby and the fact they were trying to set her up meant he had to let go a bit and accept those things.
“Easy for you to say,” he said. “You’ve got boys. This might be harder for me than I thought. I might have to have a talk with Gavin on how he handled it with Ella.”
“I think it was easy since he picked Travis out for Ella. You would have never agreed to this if you didn’t think Brock was a good guy. You trust Gavin and his instincts, right?”
“I do. Always. Damn,” he said, running his hand through his silver hair. “I’m going to have to talk to Carolyn about this. It all sounded good until I saw the guy’s eyes on my daughter and then heard he tried to get her drunk.”
Grant started to laugh. “He was kidding. Think of it as something Wyatt would have said. Good lord, you are more rattled than Jade. This is going to be entertaining for me too.”
“One word for you,” he told his twin. “Ryder. We are all going to laugh our asses off when you are working on that.”
Grant frowned. “Thanks for raining on my parade.”
“Let’s get to work now before Jade suspects something. You know she’ll be in here as soon as Brock leaves.”
Grant walked to the door. “Call me for backup if you need it.”
“Will do,” he said, wondering how much skin was going to be peeled off of him when Jade asked why she was kept in the dark on Brock being here. She wasn’t stupid and he’d have to lie about it, which he hated doing.
But he still felt like he’d do anythi
ng to get his kids settled and they were on a roll and a little white lie never hurt anyone.
5
Military Brat
Being shocked speechless was something Jade was going to have to get control of when she saw Brock again. Especially since she was assigned to work with him on this project.
A project that was obviously dear to his heart and pulled at her own.
And to find out he was not only working with her on this but that he also moved here… had a job here.
A damn good job at that. One the no one in her family told her about. Not her brothers or her cousins.
After a few minutes of taking notes and asking him to email everything he had to her, she sat back and said, “Congratulations on your new job.”
“Thanks,” he said, his brown eyes looking her over. Almost reading her at this point.
He still had his military cut and she wondered if it was for convenience or habit now. It wasn’t completely buzzed but extremely short on the sides and a bit longer on the top, combed to the side slightly.
He was smaller in build from when she’d first met him at Ella’s wedding but still plenty imposing. She’d noticed that almost two months ago when she saw him at the summer party. She suspected it had to do with him not being able to work out as much but sure the hell wouldn’t ask something that personal.
In her eyes, he was still built, but he was never as big as Travis. Nobody was, not even her cousin Brody who had more muscles than the rest of the men in the family.
“Why Durham?” she asked, figuring that wasn’t too personal.
“Curious again?”
Guess maybe it was in his eyes. She sat back. “Yes. Some call me nosy. I’m just the cat that likes to know. Or maybe one that feels I can get a better idea of my client if I understand some more.”
He squinted one eye at her and she knew he wasn’t buying it, but then laughed and shrugged. “I’ve never had a house to really call my own. Not a place. Not my entire life. It was a hard decision to leave the service and when it came down to planting roots, I figured I might as well try to stay by my best friend. Besides, I really liked the area.”
“You said you’re an only child. Where are your parents?”
“Right now my parents are living in Annapolis on the water. Great place too, but not for me.”
“You said you never had a home growing up. I guess I find that odd.”
“My father was in the Navy. Admiral, to be exact. We moved a lot.”
“Pretty high ranking,” she said, understanding now how he might have been able to get moved to the US so fast when he was injured. “So you’re a military brat.”
“Something like that.”
“And now you are going to be overseeing the security of a pretty big facility. My brother and cousins work there.”
“I’m aware,” he said. “And before you ask, they don’t know. It hasn’t been announced officially and I’m not sure there would be any reason for them to be involved in a position like that. Travis knows, obviously, now your father and uncle and you. I don’t have too many more I would have told.”
“I’m glad you’re here. It’s a little different than Charlotte, but close enough to visit with Travis when you want.”
“Yep,” he said. “Now it’s more about getting settled before I start work.”
“How did you find a place so quickly?” she asked. She knew it took her a lot of time to find her first apartment and then later on the perfect townhouse. It suited her needs now but she wouldn’t stay there forever.
“I grabbed one of the first apartments I could find. I didn’t want to risk not having a place to live. I’m doing it month to month while I look for a house.”
“Putting those roots down,” she said, her pulse throbbing. Why the hell was her body reacting like this?
Who was she kidding? She knew. She was attracted to him more than she’d been to any other man in a long time but she’d told herself to get over it because she’d never see him again.
Now here he was, not only in her town, but someone she’d be working with for a while.
What she was trying to figure out was why her father didn’t tell her until this morning, and once Brock was gone she planned on marching to his office to grill him faster than her mother did shrimp for dinner.
“You could say that. Not that I think house shopping is going to be much fun when I’m not sure exactly what I want, though I don’t want to get too settled where I am either.”
“Shopping happens to be one of my favorite things.”
He smirked at her. “Why doesn’t that surprise me?”
“There is nothing wrong with wanting to look good or have nice things.”
His eyes moved over her. “I’d say every time I’ve seen you, you’ve looked more than nice.”
“Thank you. I do try,” she said, flipping her hair over her shoulder, then laughing.
“You’re something else,” he said.
She wasn’t sure what he meant by that and her smile dropped. She wasn’t used to flirting and didn’t really consider that move one. It was what she always did around her family when they picked on her about her shopping.
“Meaning what?” she asked. “That I’m too much for someone?” Here she goes being judged.
“Wow. Where did that come from and why? Your eyes just narrowed to little points.”
“Sorry. I’ve always been told I was a pretty package with a sharp tongue.”
“That bothers you to be told that?” he asked. “And I can understand the description with the hisses you just made. I was kind of waiting for the bite with venom.”
“Yeah,” she said. It was the first time she’d said it to anyone and she wondered why he was the one she admitted it to. Maybe because he just smiled when he pretty much called her a snake.
She hated to be looked at as a pretty little doll with no substance. Or a robot with no emotions or heart even if she did bring that on herself at times.
She wanted to look good. She liked it. There was nothing wrong with that, but damn it all, she was smart and she was capable and she didn’t need to be arm candy.
She had a brain and she was successful and if she tried to let people know that in life—men and women—they considered her bitchy.
There seemed to be no in between for her and she’d struggled her whole life. Ella did too and it was one of those conversations and bonds they’d always shared.
Ella found her man that accepted her for who she was without judging her and it gave Jade hope she could too. Maybe she was wrong though. Here she was getting defensive and now she probably turned Brock off. If he was even turned on to begin with.
She had to get all these ideas and notions out of her head.
Brock stood up, letting her know he was done. Yep, she most likely ticked him off or put him off. “Don’t be afraid to be who you are,” he said. “Life’s too short to pretend for anyone.”
Her jaw opened and she wanted to ask why he said that, but found herself only saying, “Thank you.”
The minute Brock was gone, she started to march to her father’s office and then stopped herself. No reason to go in there guns a-blazing like she wanted. That’d just clue him to what was going on and she didn’t want anyone to suspect her attraction for Brock.
Nor did she want her father to know she was ruffled. He’d try to calm her, or placate her, and she just wanted to be treated like an equal rather than the baby or little girl of the family.
She knocked on her father’s doorframe, “Do you have a minute?”
“Always for my princess.”
She wanted to narrow her eyes at him but remembered Brock’s words or shocked reaction when she did it minutes ago. “I’m more than a princess,” she said back.
“Of course you are. There is a lot more to you than pretty clothes and a great personality that only a few ever get to witness. But the one thing you’ll have to remember is you’re always going to be my little girl even if
you hate when I say that.”
“I know,” she said, having to remind herself to calm down. Her father never meant any harm and she had a great relationship with him. He never treated her differently at work in front of people. If he did it in his office, she had to get over it. She suspected Drake and Ryder were treated differently behind closed doors too.
“So you want to talk about Brock and why I didn’t tell you he was coming in today?” he asked.
“Right on the first guess.”
“The truth is, I forgot,” he said. “You know we normally just put last names down on appointments and that is all I did. He made it last week and I was running around with deadlines. We only talked briefly, he told me his plans, and I met with Grant, as Brock wasn’t sure which one of us would be best suited to call. Grant and I decided, due to his connection to the family, that we were going to give him our best mechanical engineer. That’s you.”
She knew her father wasn’t just blowing smoke up her butt. She was damn good at her job and worked hard to prove it. She had some high-priced clients and brought in even more. She worked hard to market the business and got a reputation for products that needed patents and companies working on designs that didn’t have in-house engineers.
“I guess you get a pass on this,” she said. Then she tilted her head and stared at him, giving him the steady look that normally made him squirm in his chair. Kind of like he was doing now. “This has nothing to do with any kind of setup?”
Her father laughed. “Are you kidding me? Brock is a hard military man and you are...well, you’re you. You don’t have anything in common nor do I think you could spend more time together than it takes for this project without driving each other crazy.”
“Not that I’m interested in him,” she lied. “But what makes you think we’d drive each other crazy?”
“Jade, sweetie. Look in the mirror. I know you hate when we say you are high maintenance, but you are. Not always in a bad way. Brock is a man that probably can fit all his possessions in one bag. He’s never even had a home to really call his own. You spent six months looking for the right apartment that you only were going to have for a year. He must have walked in and signed on the first place in less than a week. He had jeans and sneakers on with a T-shirt and your outfit probably cost a few hundred dollars. I’m just grazing the surface here.”