Tall, Dark & Reckless

by Heather MacAllister

  “Did you dress up for me?” Dancie’s father leaned forward and lowered his voice. “Or have you got a boyfriend? Maybe you’re meeting him for lunch?”

  “Dad…” Looking embarrassed, Dancie pulled her hands away.

  “Who is he? Do I know him? Maybe I’ll just come along with you to lunch, eh?”

  “No boyfriend,” Dancie rallied. “But you can take me to lunch!” She ducked her head and a wheedling note entered her voice. “Please?” Daddy’s little princess was wrapping him around her finger again.

  This was not going as well as Piper had hoped.

  “Aw, baby, sure, I’ll take you to lunch. But what’s wrong with the boys in this town? Piper—” BT addressed her for the first time “—that’s your field. Tell me what’s wrong with the boys in this town.”

  Oh, don’t get me started. “Nothing, Mr. Pollard. Dancie just hasn’t met the right one yet.”

  He gestured. “And how is she going to meet the right one when she spends all her time cooped up in front of the computer?”

  Fell into that trap, didn’t you, Piper?

  “And her best friend is a matchmaker!” He shook his head as Dancie and Piper exchanged looks. “What kind of friend are you not to find a nice boy for my Dancie?”

  “I’m not a matchmaker, Mr. Pollard. I’m a compatibility expert. I tell women what to do after they’ve found a man.” Which he’d know if he ever read her column.

  “Psh.” He waved her away with both hands. “What’s to tell? Act like a lady and let a man be a man. Let him know you appreciate the fact that he’s a man—but not too much.”

  “Dad!”

  He held up a thumb and finger. “A little sample,” he instructed a pink-cheeked Dancie. “Leave him hungry for more and let nature take its course.”

  Piper was pretty sure she heard a muffled snort from behind her. “That’s a good strategy for some types of men, though not—”

  “But first she’s gotta find a man! And I’m not talking about someone like you!” BT pointed at Mark. “She needs somebody who’ll be around to take care of her.”

  “Yes, sir.” Mark spoke with complete seriousness, but beside him, Travis was about to lose it.

  “Dad, I’m fine.” Miraculously, Dancie had regained her composure. “I don’t need help finding a man.”

  BT turned back to Dancie. “You’re right. They should be finding you. Look at you. So pretty. You shouldn’t be here. You should go to lunch with your mother. Play tennis. Let her take you around so the boys can see you.”

  Dancie smiled. “I’ll do that.”

  She would?

  “I’ll call Mom after the meeting. Let’s get started, or it’ll be too late.”

  Way to go, Dancie. Piper sat at the table, knowing the gentlemen in the room would, too.

  They did, with BT at the head, a twin on either side and Mark and Piper facing each other across the table.

  Mark had moved a little slowly, nothing anyone would have noticed unless they were watching for it, which Piper was. He leaned back in the cushioned chair and they locked gazes.

  Let the games begin.

  3

  Step three: Demonstrate kindness. The perception that a woman is a kind person is the one trait that appeals to all personality types.

  “OKAY.” BT SLAPPED both hands on the tabletop. “Let’s see what we got here.”

  As he bent over to reach inside the battered leather satchel resting on the floor next to his chair, both Dancie and Travis emphatically mimed keeping quiet. “Don’t say anything,” Travis mouthed at Mark and included Piper with a look. She glanced at Dancie, who had her finger to her mouth.

  Okay. Got the message. Piper mimed zipping her lips.

  BT tossed an old-fashioned manila folder onto the table where it skidded a few inches across the shiny surface. The tab was labeled in pencil Twins Biz.

  Seriously? No state-of-the art electronic tablets or laptops for him, which was ironic, when Piper thought about it.

  BT settled his glasses in place and opened the folder. The next few minutes passed in silence as he read and the twins tried to decipher his expressions. An eyebrow raised here, a head nod there, pursed lips, both eyebrows up—what a performance. As if he hadn’t already read and analyzed every word of the quarterly stats before the meeting.

  Typical beta-alpha. Petty power games to make himself feel important. Piper amused herself by watching the others’ reactions. Travis, the alpha-beta, simmered with impatience, but tried to hide it in deference to his father to whom he owed respect. Otherwise, he would have made a point of showing his contempt for those who wasted his time.

  People might assume, including Piper at first, that Dancie didn’t have a drop of alpha in her, but Piper suspected she might be more alpha than Travis. If Dancie wasn’t so obviously desperate for validation from her father, her alpha side would be more noticeable.

  And then there was Mr. Alpha-Alpha, himself.

  Mark leaned back in the chair, swiveled slightly to the side, his lips curved as though amused. He probably was. Clearly, he recognized BT’s posturing and was entertained by it, not annoyed. And that was the difference between Travis’s type and Mark’s type. Travis was irritated because he felt he had no choice but to play his father’s game. If Mark no longer wanted to play the game, he simply wouldn’t. He knew he could always find another boardroom in which to play and to hell—heck—with the consequences.

  “So.” BT sat back and removed his glasses. Tapping the folder, he said, “Travis, your sister has got some impressive numbers—even better than last quarter. Which is a good thing since your numbers are even worse than last quarter.”

  “Yeah.” Travis gave a little chin nod toward Dancie. “Thanks for having my back while Mark’s leg heals.”

  “I wasn’t just having your back. The Women’s Guide to Living Fabulous division is one-third of the company. Our company,” Dancie emphasized. “And this year, it was the most profitable third.”

  Go, Dancie! She looked great, she sounded great and the stats were on her side.

  Before Dancie could bring up being named a partner, Travis made his case to BT. “Back-to-college and football season always gets us a lot of hits, and then we segue right into the Super Bowl. Another popular time. By then, Mark will be back on assignment and posting his columns. If you average the phenomenal number of hits his page got during his rescue with the last few quarters, we come out ahead.”

  “The stats show a big drop-off in his page visitors,” BT said. “What is it—eighty—ninety percent?” He threw a glance Mark’s way. “How quickly they forget, eh, Mark?”

  It was only as a slight color bloomed across Mark’s face that Piper realized his skin had been growing paler as the meeting progressed.

  He’s in pain. She felt slightly sick knowing she’d contributed to it. She also noted that BT’s words had made Mark angry. Really angry, judging by that gritted jaw and unblinking stare. Maybe his anger would distract him from the pain in his leg.

  Before Piper could figure out what had triggered Mark’s anger, Travis spoke. “His fans will come back when there’s new content. And have we ever got content, right, Mark?” He gestured for Mark to speak.

  Nodding, Mark rested his forearms on the table. “There’s an ongoing dispute between brothers over oil rights on tribal lands in the Middle East and it appears the U.S. may be dealing with the wrong brother.”

  He liked to use his hands to emphasize key words when he spoke. Piper guessed it was a habit from the videos he posted online.

  She heard the growing intensity in his voice as he sketched out his plans for the story. He clearly loved what he did and Piper caught herself wishing she felt the same passion about her work. It wasn’t that she disliked what she was doing—she enjoyed helping people identify personality issues and quirks and how they affected them and those around them. Or as one of her corporate clients said, “You show us the hot buttons so we won’t push them.” But these day
s she had way more of the why-can’t-I-get-a-second-date women clients than corporate consultations.

  Maybe once the online Piper Plan was established, women could figure out their man problems on their own and Piper could…could… She was unable to complete the thought. And that was her problem.

  Later. She’d puzzle it out after the meeting. For now, she’d focus on that.

  Mark was finishing up his pitch. “I’m going to head over to El Bahar to investigate. If my information is true, and I think it is, then this will be huge.” He sat back.

  Piper believed him. How could anyone not? Negligent good looks coupled with the contained, focused intensity he’d learned speaking into webcameras equaled sincerity. People would believe anything he said. And if they were aware they were being manipulated; they wouldn’t care. Piper didn’t and she recognized it. Mark made people want to believe him. The man had charisma and an agenda, which made him dangerous.

  And he was barely trying. Piper kind of wanted to see him when he was operating at full power. Maybe she’d access the OMG archives and watch a few podcasts.

  “And OMG will have the exclusive,” Travis was saying.

  See? Mark had even distracted Piper from her objective today and she was letting them make their case for the budget dollars without a fight.

  “To get the excitement started,” Travis continued, “we’ll be promoting the heck out of Mark’s return during our Guys Annual Super Bowl Party.”

  Piper nudged Dancie’s foot, alerting her that she shouldn’t let Travis control so much of the meeting.

  Dancie took the hint. “To fill the gap until Travis and Mark’s numbers are up, I have a proposal to build on Piper’s dating column popularity.” She reached for the green folder. “There’s an added advantage because it opens up a new revenue stream so my division won’t be wholly dependent on ad money.”

  Dancie slid the green folder toward her father. “Expanding on what I said in the quarterly report, we’ll have an interactive website with a software program called The Piper Plan to go along with the book—”

  “Fluff,” BT pronounced. “You got lucky with some female fluff.” Without looking at the folder, he tossed it back at Dancie.

  Fluff? BT had dismissed hundreds of hours of research as fluff? Without even looking at it? Suddenly, Mark wasn’t the only one doing a slow burn. Yeah. Nothing like having your work insulted to get the juices flowing. “Mr. Pollard, my work—”

  “The matchmaking business?” He raised an eyebrow. “The one that can’t find my Dancie a man?”

  Piper was not going to let him get to her. “It’s not a dating service. I counsel clients about compatibility, particularly when management teams have to decide between equally qualified job candidates. I analyze personalities. Certain types always get along and certain types always clash. And not just romantically. My theory applies to work relationships, roommates, sports teams, careers—”

  “You write a dating column for us,” BT interrupted.

  She wished he wouldn’t keep doing that. “I— Yes.” Piper exhaled. He just wouldn’t let that go. “But my theory is based on extensive research.”

  “Your research is based on fluff.”

  Travis snickered, but Travis would. And Mark’s reaction? Piper wasn’t about to look at him because appearing to care what he thought would show weakness and she was already in a battle to be taken seriously here.

  “But it’s profitable fluff,” Dancie said, not helping.

  “Thanks a lot,” Piper muttered.

  “And we can make it more profitable.”

  “Profitable until all the air goes out of it,” Travis said. “Then you’ve got nothing. That’s why I build on the standards—your beer, your football, your barbecue—so when my fluff collapses, I’ve still got a safety net.”

  “Did you just call Mark fluff?” Piper asked. Probably unwisely. “Since you had to depend on your beer, your football and your barbecue this year.”

  She felt Mark’s gaze laser in on her and she glanced at him. How could those blue eyes look hot and cold at the same time? She suppressed a shiver.

  “Of course not.” Chuckling, Travis looked at Mark, and then quickly away. “But he gives the meat, if you will, to the OMG news division and gives us…the, uh…”

  “Fluff?” Piper supplied, living dangerously. She heard Dancie’s breath hiss between her teeth.

  A beat went by. “I give the Guys of Texas readers a look behind the scenes.” Mark kept his gaze fastened on her. “A lot of groundwork goes into my news stories.” His voice grew stronger. “News stories that change people’s lives. News stories that change the world.”

  Implying that her work did not.

  “That’s a great tagline,” Travis said in a fake hearty voice. “Isn’t that a great tagline?” He turned to his father. “We’ll have Mark at the Super Bowl with us—”

  “You said he would already be overseas,” Dancie added.

  “Video conferencing, Dancie.” Travis gave an impatient wave. “With hi-def, it’s almost the same as being there in person.”

  “I’m glad you feel that way,” BT told him. “Because you’re going to be watching the next Super Bowl on that giant big-screen TV you’ve got downstairs.”

  * * *

  TRAVIS WENT STILL. “What do you mean?”

  This is going to get ugly, Mark thought. Travis did love his Super Bowl parties.

  BT leaned forward. “I mean that the salary for Mark’s new partner is coming out of your Super Bowl budget.”

  Partner? Mark didn’t like where this was going.

  “What new partner?” Travis turned to Mark. “You didn’t say anything about—”

  “Thanks,” Mark said to BT. “But I don’t need a partner. I’ll be fine.”

  “Good to hear. But you’re still going to be working with a partner.”

  Never. “I work alone.”

  BT shook his head. “Not anymore. You take too many risks, Mark.”

  So he’d heard. “That’s how I get stories nobody else does. They hesitate. Hang back. Or they have to wait for authorization. I go for it.”

  “Sometimes you shouldn’t.”

  “Sometimes I don’t. You never hear about those times.”

  “I sure did last year.” BT drew a long breath.

  Here it comes. The man was entitled to a lecture, Mark supposed. BT hadn’t said a whole lot at the time Mark had been rescued. Then again, he’d been injured and, as Travis had pointed out, getting a lot of media attention. But that was last year and BT clearly wanted to assert his authority before sending Mark back into the field.

  So be it. Mark would take the verbal spanking, apologize, and then they could get back to business, although he’d prefer not to have this conversation in front of Travis’s sister’s and Piper’s assessing gaze.

  Mark sensed that she wasn’t impressed by him. That bothered him some and being bothered annoyed him. Usually, Mark didn’t care what strangers thought of him. Maybe it’s because you hope she won’t stay a stranger.

  Where did that come from? She wasn’t his usual type and Mark would bet he wasn’t hers, either. He couldn’t imagine a reason for them to see each other again after today. He wasn’t going to seek her out. What would be the point, when he’d be half a world away in a couple of months?

  “On your last assignment, you ignored State Department warnings,” BT said, starting his lecture, and Mark refocused his attention. “You ignored my direct order to break off contact with Mendoza.”

  Because I do not take orders from someone who has no idea of the situation. Not too fond of orders, period. “You weren’t there. If you’d seen what I—”

  “It doesn’t matter what you saw,” BT interrupted. “You were taken hostage and as far as the government was concerned, you’d ignored their warning, so it was tough luck.”

  This was old ground and they didn’t need to cover it again. “Meeting with Mendoza was a risk I was willing to take,” M
ark said.

  BT jabbed a finger to his chest. “But I wasn’t!”

  “Dad,” Travis interrupted. “He gets it. Let’s move on.”

  BT silenced his son with a look. “Mark, your decision cost me hours of my life dealing with petty bureaucrats and not so petty bureaucrats. You’re only here now because Travis raised money from the Guys of Texas readers to hire mercenaries to go into those mountains and get you.”

  Yeah, and the No Guy Left Behind project got a huge amount of news coverage in the process. It was a brilliant strategy that resulted in soaring ad revenue. Not only that, it had succeeded, for which Mark was grateful. “And I appreciate that.”

  “We’re good, Dad,” Travis said.

  “But I’m not good,” BT retorted. “I’m not good at all. Mark’s reckless—the kind of reckless I can’t afford.” Pointing at Mark, he continued, “If you had a wife or a girlfriend, we wouldn’t be having this conversation. They wouldn’t let you get away with the crazy risks you take.” He gave a short laugh and nodded toward Piper. “Maybe you should talk to this one about finding you a girlfriend.”

  Mark flicked a glance her way.

  “Not a matchmaker,” Piper said.

  “Whatever you call yourself.” BT was insultingly dismissive.

  Mark could understand why the man was angry at him, but from what Travis had told him, Piper Scott had been responsible for a nice uptick in OMG’s bottom line.

  “Mark, the point is, if you had a partner to answer to, you’d think twice.”

  That didn’t sound like a partner; that sounded like a babysitter. “Thinking twice is how reporters miss stories.” He shifted, deliberately softening his body language. “I chose to work at OMG because you gave me a freedom other journalists envy. In return, my reporting has enhanced OMG’s reputation—and profits.”

  Mark hated playing the money card, but it always came down to money.

  “And he’s ready to do it again, too.” Travis slapped the arms of his chair, mimicking one of his father’s gestures. “I say we stick with what works for him.”