Risa shrugged, thankful the waitress had re-appeared with her drink and two plates of appetizers, saving her from having to comment. Dana rearranged the table to accommodate the food, shoving her and Rachel’s empty drink glasses over next to Risa’s Bloody Mary and moving the big appetizer plates into the center, then passing out the smaller plates so they could fill them with what they wanted.
Risa sucked on the straw of her drink, savoring the salty taste and welcoming the alcohol. With a start she realized this made two nights in a row that she’d had a drink; she normally didn’t drink much at all. This whole acquisition thing must be getting to her.
“…right, Risa?"
She looked up from her reverie to find Dana looking her way, eyebrows raised.
“Sorry…what?”
“We were discussing how Connor is cute, rich, and eligible, but with all the models we hear about him dating he probably won’t give any of us a second look.”
Risa snickered. “I wouldn’t want to get involved with someone like him anyway. According to the papers he has a different girl for every event he attends. He must be a real playboy. Probably one of those types that doesn’t care to make a commitment. Just uses women then throws them away.”
Risa furrowed her brow at the tight feeling in her chest when she thought of Connor’s harem of supermodels. If she didn’t know better, she’d think she was feeling jealous, but that was ridiculous, she and Connor had nothing in common. She didn’t even like him let alone have romantic feelings for him.
“Here--dig in.” Risa looked up to see Rachel passing her a plate of nachos. The spicy smell was intoxicating. She shoveled a big clump onto her plate.
Picking up a chip, she scooped refried beans, cheese, and a jalapeno onto it, then dipped it in sour cream and shoved it in her mouth. The heat of the jalapeno combined with the cooling sour cream exploded in her mouth. She chewed slowly, her eyes closed, letting a little moan of satisfaction escape her lips.
“I guess Risa is having a foodgasm,” Dana said, causing everyone at the table to erupt in a fit of giggles, including Risa.
“Seriously, Risa, when’s the last time you let loose and had some fun? You’re like a hermit,” Dana said.
Risa scrunched up her face. “I know, but since Ethan… I just haven’t wanted to go out. I prefer sitting at home with Bailey to male company.”
“You don’t have to get into a big relationship to have some fun. You’re young - you should be living it up!"
Risa turned to study Dana. “Living it up” was her motto. She was always up for a good party and a fun time. She never let relationships get her down and always had a cute guy on her arm. Risa felt a pang of envy at her friend’s care-free style.
“You don’t have to have a man to have fun, you know,” Cara said.
“That’s right,” Rachel added. “You just need to get out more, even if it’s just with us girls. You know, let loose. A big night out will do wonders to relieve your stress.”
Risa reached for more nachos.
“In fact, I have just the thing,” Dana said.
“Oh?” Risa cocked an eyebrow at her friend, feeling a little afraid and excited at the same time.
“You remember Bobbie Shore, from high school?"
Risa nodded; Rachel and Deb both chimed in that they knew him too.
“Well, he just bought a big house over on Hilltop and he’s having a huge house-warming party on Saturday. I heard he has a gigantic pool and has hired someone to cater a big barbecue. It’s an open invitation - kind of like the parties we used to have back in high school.”
Risa rolled her eyes thinking back to some of the things they did at those parties. She was too old for that stuff now, but a grown-up version of those big high school parties might be fun.
“He invited me too,” Rachel said. “What do you say we all go together. Maybe meet for drinks first and then head over?"
“Yes! It will be like old times,” Deb said.
“Risa, Cara, you guys are in, right?”
Risa glanced over at Cara, who was nodding her head enthusiastically. She nodded too, even though she had a feeling it might not be a good idea. Dana was right, though, she did need to get out more, and what could possibly go wrong when she had her four best friends by her side?
Risa saw Dana’s eyes narrow from the other side of the table. She was focused on something behind her left shoulder. Risa turned to see what it was just as Dana said “Speak of the devil.”
She felt her stomach do a somersault when she saw the object of Dana’s attention. Leaning up against the bar on the other side of the room was none other than Connor Dunn.
###
“Hey, isn’t that Connor Dunn?" Deb asked.
“Yep. And he’s with Kenny Graves and Bill…ughh… I forget his last name but you’ll probably remember him from high school.” Dana said.
Risa’s heart gave a jolt when she noticed Dana waving frantically, trying to catch their attention.
“What are you doing?” she hissed.
“Inviting them over so we can say hi, silly.” Dana’s eyebrows shot up to her hairline as she looked at Risa.
Risa closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Why was she overreacting? After all, Connor was a childhood friend of almost everyone at the table, and she hadn’t seen any of the other men in years. She cast a glance over her shoulder, realizing with a start that they were on their way over.
“Hey Dana, long time no see. Risa…Rach…Debbie." Kenny stood beside the table greeting them all in turn. He nodded at Cara. Risa remembered that Cara hadn’t gone to school with the rest of them, so she didn’t know the guys.
“Hi, Kenny. This is my friend Cara…Cara, this is Kenny, Bill and Connor.” Deb made the appropriate hand motions to indicate each of the guys. “Geez, Connor, it’s been a long time…I think we were about thirteen the last time I saw you.”
Connor chuckled. “I guess so. I’m back in town on business and decided to look up some of my old friends.” He tipped his beer bottle toward the two other men. “Now I wish I’d made the effort sooner.”
Risa noticed the wistful look in his eye.
Bill clapped Connor on the back. “Me too. Turns out you’re not the stuck-up snob we all thought you’d turned out to be.”
Everyone laughed. The crowded bar forced the men to stand close to the table, and Connor was standing near Risa’s elbow. Too near.
She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. He wasn’t wearing his usual business suit. Instead, a plain black T-shirt fit him just closely enough to reveal broad shoulders and muscular arms. She noticed that the slightly faded jeans fit him perfectly and hinted at muscular thighs.
Risa felt her body temperature going up a few notches. Wasn’t she too young for hot flashes? It must be too hot in the bar, she thought.
Turning her attention back to the table, she drained her drink, focused on shoveling more nachos into her mouth, and prayed that the men wouldn’t linger too long at the table.
###
Connor took a sip from his beer, enjoying the crisp taste. He had been apprehensive about calling Kenny out of the blue after so many years, but now he was glad he did. It felt good to connect with his old boyhood friends. He felt like he belonged. Like he was home.
“It must seem boring in our little corner to you, Connor. I hear you’ve been all over the world to the most exclusive watering holes,” Rachel said.
“Not at all. I actually prefer small towns. I’m not really a socialite, even though it might appear that way in the papers,” Connor said.
“Oh, come on. I see you all the time with a different model on your arm. Don’t tell me you don’t enjoy that,” Kenny joked.
Connor shrugged. Laughing along with everyone else, he felt his cheeks growing warm. The truth was he hated being the center of attention and didn’t care much for the shallow, self-involved models he was usually photographed with.
To him, the crowded small-town bar was a b
reath of fresh air in comparison to the high-society parties he was forced to attend for his company. The people here were more down to earth, more interesting. People he’d like to get to know better.
“Will you be in town long?” Dana asked.
“Only for about a week…unless things here require more of my attention." He glanced down at Risa, watching her shovel nachos into her mouth, trying to ignore the conversation.
Connor noticed she was still strikingly beautiful, even with the string of cheese dribbling down her chin. He marveled at how her body filled out the plain gray T-shirt, making it look just as sexy as a couture dress.
But then his thoughts took a darker turn as he noticed the empty drink glasses next to her. He remembered how he had watched her wobble to the bathroom the night before. Did she have a drinking problem?
That might explain some of her odd behavior at work. Connor thought about the message he had received from Jim Abernake earlier that evening. Apparently the accounting system at Healthy-Pet was all messed up. Was Risa’s drinking problem wreaking havoc with the company?
Connor took out his phone and made a note to call Jason Anders to see if the private detective had found out anything else about Risa Kennedy. Her behavior of late did not reflect the information about her that Jason’s initial report had portrayed. Something must have happened to cause her to act out of character.
Connor wondered if that “something” meant Healthy-Pet was in trouble. If that were the case, he needed to know so he could put the brakes on the acquisition before his father got stuck with a bad investment.
Risa’s melodic laugh caught his attention. His heart squeezed as he looked down to see her swiping at her chin with a napkin while Dana pointed out where cheese had fallen. She certainly didn’t seem like a con artist who was trying to cash in by selling a dying company. But maybe that was part of her charade. A skilled and well-thought-out disguise to fool him into thinking Healthy-Pet was a good investment.
He was momentarily startled when she suddenly looked up at him. Her wide eyes looked more green than he remembered from the night before. A captivating, mossy color
He looked away quickly before the warm feeling at the pit of his stomach had a chance to spread. He didn’t need another sneaky, green-eyed trickster in his life. He’d had enough of that with Francesca, and he never intended to make himself so vulnerable to anyone ever again.
Chapter Six
“We formulate the foods using ingredients that mimic their natural diet. For example, a dog food would typically have about 25% protein, 5% fiber, a good amount of healthy fats as well as vitamins and minerals.” Risa stood back, silently watching Dana explain the workings of the product lab to Connor Dunn.
Risa was glad the men had left the bar early the night before. She didn’t stay much longer herself and was able to avoid being talked into ordering a second drink. As it was, she’d gotten home before nine and had spent the rest of the night tossing and turning in her bed while sleep eluded her.
Trailing behind Connor and Dana, Risa noticed Connor seemed to be acting a bit strangely today. Standoffish. Not that she minded. The last thing she wanted was to be friendly with Connor Dunn.
“I use this equipment to put together prototype samples of new foods,” Dana said, pointing to an array of electronic gizmos that resembled kitchen appliances.
“Why do you do that? I mean, don’t you just have a couple of formulas that you’ve perfected and use all the time?” Connor asked.
“One would think so, but we’re always testing new recipes. The premium pet food market is competitive and there are new standards coming out all the time. Plus we have many different foods: foods for health issues like kidney problems or joint stiffness plus foods for puppies, overweight dogs, senior dogs, and so on." Dana pointed to all the different food containers scattered around the lab. “There’s so many, it’s hard to keep track of the recipes sometimes.”
Connor’s gaze followed her finger. His face creased in a frown. “Do you always keep the lab in such disarray?”
“Well, we are quite busy and there’s not enough time to keep it organized,” she said, cutting her eyes over toward Risa when Connor wasn’t looking.
“Hardly seems like a good way to work efficiently,” he said, glancing at Risa himself.
Risa just looked around the lab and shrugged.
“When you source your ingredients, do you look at cost first?” Connor looked between Risa and Dana, as if he was not sure who would have the answer.
Dana answered, “No, we go for quality first. Then cost. It’s all about the quality for us.”
“And how do you determine quality?”
“Lab analysis, source, reputation. It’s actually pretty straightforward when you know who you’re buying from,” Dana said.
Risa saw Connor purse his lips as he thought about Dana’s answer. Probably trying to figure out how to make the cheapest dog food possible.
“Have you even tried to cut costs on ingredients? Use fillers or buy in bulk?”
“We do buy in bulk, but we would never use fillers or substandard ingredients. Never. Our main concern is pet health and longevity,” Risa cut in.
“How about a line of less expensive foods - something of medium quality and expense?”
Risa bit the inside of her cheek. That actually wasn’t a bad idea. “I’m not sure we could do that with the staff we have now. Could we Dana?”
“No, we’d probably need to hire more people to research the formulas. As you can see, I’m flat out here myself.” Dana spread her hands to indicate the messy lab.
“And extra people would add an additional expense,” Connor said, frowning. He turned to Risa. “I wonder what your profit margins are for these products and if there is a way to improve on them.”
Risa shrugged. “Accounting should have the actual numbers-”
Connor cut her off. “Yes, too bad Jim was unable to get what he needed yesterday.”
Risa tried to keep from squirming as his blue eyes drilled into hers. Plastering a wide-eyed look of innocence on her face, Risa raised her eyebrows. “Oh?”
“Yes, it seems your accounting system was on the fritz or something. He’s arranged to come back this afternoon. Hopefully he can get what he needs, otherwise it will take us longer to do the evaluation.” Connor sighed. “As it is, it looks like I may have to be here into next week.”
Risa felt her breath hitch. She had been hoping to drive them away sooner, not keep them there longer.
“Oh, but I thought the evaluation was only until Friday,” she said struggling to keep the disappointment out of her voice.
“That was the original plan, but I want to be certain I do a thorough investigation before I give my father the final go ahead to buy Healthy-Pet, so I’ll have to stay for as long as that takes,” Connor said. Then, fixing Risa with a glare, he added, “Anything less would be negligence on my part.”
###
Risa stood by the window, arms folded across her chest, watching Connor drive off in his black SUV. He’s not going to just throw up his hands, declare us a bad investment, and walk away. Risa was starting to realize that her initial plan wasn’t going to work. She needed to come up with something different, and fast.
Turning away with a sigh, she headed toward Caitlyn Barnes’s office.
She found Caitlyn staring at her computer screen. Caitlyn looked up slightly startled when she noticed Risa at her door.
“Oh, hi Risa. Come in." She motioned to the chair on the other side of her desk.
“How did things go yesterday?” Risa lowered her voice even though she was sure no one could hear through the thick office walls.
Caitlyn made a face. “Pretty good. I’m not sure Jim bought into our computer glitch story though. He seemed pretty frustrated.” She glanced at the watch on her wrist. “He’s coming back this afternoon and I’m not too sure I can keep hiding the files from him like this. Sooner or later he’s going to get suspicio
us.”
Risa nodded. “I know. I don’t want him to think we’re doing something sneaky. I guess I just thought that if they couldn’t crunch the numbers they would assume the worst and call off the acquisition. It’s pretty clear now that’s not going to happen.”
Caitlyn raised her eyebrows. “What should we do?”
Risa’s heart felt heavy. “Just let him see the files, I guess. They’re not going to leave until they do.”
“But, what abou-“
The sound of Caitlyn’s phone interrupted her. She gave Risa a questioning look.
“Go ahead and get that, I need to get going anyway.” Risa stood up.
“Hello? Oh, hi, Jim…" Caitlyn glanced at up Risa who had frozen in her spot. “Oh dear, I’m so sorry to hear that….yes, take your time….okay bye." Caitlyn hung up the phone and looked up at Risa with relief in her eyes.
“Bad news?”
“Jim Abernake has a family emergency. He won’t be able to get back here for a few days.”
Risa felt the tension in her shoulders ease up. “Oh, good. Well, I mean not good for him, but it gives me time to think." She turned to leave, then, remembering Caitlyn was about to ask her something before Jim called, she looked back at the other woman. “What was it you were going to ask before the phone rang?”
Caitlyn’s smile faded and she took a deep breath. “If you want me to show Jim all the files, then what about… you know…” Caitlyn trailed off, her eyebrows lifting up to her hairline.
Risa knew exactly what she was talking about. “Don’t worry about it,” She reassured her. “I’ll figure out something so they don’t find out the real truth about that.”
###
Risa stared at the blank page on her computer screen. She sighed and readjusted herself in her chair, hoping it would get her in the mood for working.
Reluctant Romance Page 4