The elevator doors slid open, and Shane took over from the nurse, pushing her over the sill.
“Do you think we could stop for a burger?” she asked. “Benny’s on Ponderosa has a drive through.”
“We’re not going anywhere near Ponderosa,” said Shane.
“We can go past Ponderosa,” said Darci.
“We’re going downtown,” said Shane. “There’s a deli, a pizza place, or steak and seafood all on the same block as the penthouse.”
“I’ll take anything on rye,” said Kalissa, “with Dijon and tomatoes. Maybe some fries.”
“That sounds pretty heavy,” said Darci. “Would you rather have soup?”
“I hit my head, not my stomach. And I’m starving.”
“We’ll get you anything you want,” said Shane. For the first time since Kalissa had woken up, his voice was sympathetic.
They descended to the admitting area, waiting while Garrison retrieved an SUV. She and Darci took the back seat, while Shane sat up front. Garrison drove.
She dozed off in the car, and it seemed like only seconds later that Shane was helping her to the penthouse.
Garrison did the sandwich run, and Darci lent her a pair of pajamas. Soon she was tucked in their penthouse guest bedroom in a comfy, king sized, four poster bed.
Darci arrived in the dim room with bags of sandwiches.
“Does Megan know what happened?” Kalissa asked.
Her purse and phone were on the other side of the room, and she really didn’t feel like getting up again.
“Riley called her from the hospital.”
“That was nice of him.”
“You smile when you say that.” Darci took a seat at the foot of the bed, leaning back against one of the posts.
“Did I?”
“You smiled when you saw him at the hospital too.”
“I like him,” said Kalissa.
Darci dug into the bags, extracting a wrapped sandwich. She leaned forward to hand it to Kalissa.
“Thank you,” said Kalissa. “I’m really hungry.”
Darci opened a second bag, this one brown instead of white. And Kalissa noticed two different logos on the outsides.
“He went to two places?” she asked.
“They don’t have fries at the deli.”
Kalissa was embarrassed. “He didn’t have to hunt down fries for me.”
“You wanted fries, Garrison got you fries.”
“I can see I’m going to have to be careful what I ask for around here.”
“You had a bad night. It’s the least we could do.”
“No,” Kalissa disagreed, even as she accepted a carton of fries. “This is the most you could do. You’re treating me like a princess.”
“You are a princess.”
Kalissa smiled, remembering Riley’s comment.
“What?” asked Darci.
“Something Riley said.”
Darci waited.
“He said he didn’t want me to turn into a princess.”
Darci munched down a fry. “Is he worried about that?”
“I told him you wanted to get me an apartment. I’m sorry. I know I promised I wouldn’t talk to him about you. But that seemed innocuous. And I was rattled by the offer.”
“You can talk to him about us,” said Darci. “It seems overly complicated not to.”
“I don’t want to give anything away.”
Darci’s expression was serious. “Do you trust him?”
“I don’t know. I like him. I’m attracted to him. I want to trust him. But I really don’t know him.”
Darci nodded. “It could still be a con. He’s got a lot of motivation to get into your good graces.” She took a bite of her sandwich.
“It doesn’t seem like a con. At least, not when I’m with him. I was going to sleep with him again tonight.”
Darci appeared at ease with the revelation. “You’re over twenty-one.”
Kalissa bit down on the stack of ham and turkey. It was tasty and supremely satisfying.
“What are you going to do now?” asked Darci.
“Eat then sleep.”
“We should invite him over here.”
“Him?”
“Riley.”
Kalissa didn’t think she could be hearing right. “We?”
“Shane and me. And you, of course.”
Kalissa shook her head. “Bad idea. Very bad idea. I didn’t take you for an idealist.”
“I’m not,” said Darci. “But it’s pretty obvious there’s something building between the two of you, and—”
“And it might die a quick death. Maybe my memory of the sex is skewed. He might not be that good.”
“Did you drink a lot that night?”
“Some wine, nothing out of the ordinary.”
“Then he was probably that good.”
“I was about to find out.” Kalissa grinned self-consciously. “If not for that stupid semi.”
Fear came over Darci’s expression. “When Garrison called, I was so scared. I thought I’d found you only to lose you.”
Kalissa’s heart contracted. She leaned forward and reached for her sister.
Darci’s hand met hers halfway, and they held tight.
“You’re not going to lose me,” Kalissa promised.
“And you’re not going to lose me. Not over Riley or Colborn Aerospace or anything else. Shane will come around.”
“You are an idealist.”
“Maybe.” Darci’s eyes twinkled with mischief as she smiled. “But I can pretty much get Shane to do whatever I want.”
Ten
“I nearly killed her,” Riley said to Ashton.
“The truck driver nearly killed her,” Ashton responded. “You got her out of the way.”
It was after five, but the afternoon shift was humming outside Riley’s office at Ellis Aviation. They’d just won another European contract, and Riley was in talks with a Canadian airline for ten E-22s. The prospect of the Canadian contract should have been a relief. But it would only exacerbate the problem with the engine mounting bracket shortage.
“I’m not going to stay away from her,” he told Ashton.
“Who’s saying you should?”
The door suddenly opened, startling them both.
Shane stood there, his shoulders stiff, jaw clenched.
Riley came to his feet.
Shane spared a fleeting glance at Ashton.
“I wanted to tell you man to man,” said Shane.
“I’ve said everything I’m going to say to you about Kalissa. Do your worst.” Riley narrowed his gaze. “And then I’ll do mine.”
Shane took three paces into the room. “This isn’t about Kalissa.”
The statement took Riley by surprise.
Shane kept talking. “It’s about the engine mounting brackets.”
Riley narrowed in on Shane’s expression. “What about them?”
“You were right.”
“I know.” Riley hadn’t guessed about Shane’s involvement, he knew it for certain.
“One of my department heads,” said Shane. “He thought he was helping.”
“He was helping. Helping you, at least.”
Shane shook his head. “It wasn’t on my orders.”
Riley didn’t believe it for a second. “Are you here to throw him under the bus?”
“I had no idea.”
“You got caught, Shane. Own up to it.”
“Are you calling me a liar?”
“Yes.”
Shane’s complexion turned ruddy.
Ashton stood.
Shane looked Ashton
up and down. “I don’t want any trouble.”
“You look like you do,” said Ashton.
“It’s fine,” said Riley. He wasn’t afraid of Shane.
“I fired him for it,” said Shane. “But you go ahead and believe whatever you want.”
“I generally do.”
“I don’t do business that way. I don’t have to.”
Riley hated to admit it, but Shane’s words had a ring of sincerity to them. Shane might resent the hell out of Riley but, aside from that ludicrous tell-all book by the ex-girlfriend, Riley had never heard talk of Shane being dishonest.
Then again, there was one way to find out for sure.
“Then I guess you’d be willing to walk it back?” Riley asked. “Sell them to me at wholesale?”
It was clear Shane hadn’t anticipated the request. “You haven’t found another source?” Then he gave a harsh laugh. “You obviously haven’t found another source, or else you’d force me to keep my capital tied up.”
“I found another source,” said Riley. “But at a higher cost.”
“So you’re suggesting we help each other?”
“I’m suggesting we don’t harm each other.”
“That’ll be novel,” said Shane.
“Won’t it just?”
They both stood their ground, until Shane gave a sharp nod.
Riley’s opinion of him went up the smallest of notches. “You actually fired him?”
Shane’s nod was grim. “There are lines you don’t cross.”
Riley tried to square Shane’s apparent moral framework with a man who continued to shun him as a half-brother. He couldn’t.
Shane stared out the office window to the plant floor. “It’s bigger than I expected.”
“We’re growing,” said Riley.
“Tetralast robotics?” asked Shane.
“Maybe.”
Shane turned and gave him a knowing smirk. “We’ve got them too.”
“You going to give me a tour of Colborn?”
“Nope.”
“Then stop checking out my shop.”
Shane put his back to the window. “You can talk to David Gorman about the engine mounting brackets.”
“And Kalissa?” asked Riley, hoping this might be an opportunity to clear the air.
“She says she’s going home tomorrow.”
“I know.”
“Garrison’s staying with her.”
“I know that too. For the record, I don’t disagree.”
“That’s such a relief,” Shane drawled.
Riley considered his brother. “I think it’s our destiny to duke it out. And I wouldn’t care about that, except neither of us can stay away from Kalissa.”
“You can stay away from her.”
“No.” Riley shook his head. “I can’t.”
Shane seemed to think for a minute. “We could ignore each other,” he offered.
The suggestion struck Riley as elegantly ironic. “I guess it’s worked well enough for the last thirty years.”
Shane’s gaze narrowed in what looked like puzzlement but had to be irritation. He was obviously intent on keeping up the façade through thick and thin.
Fine with Riley. Right now, he was only interested in Kalissa.
* * *
A hurricane lamp flickered in the center of the hewn, polished table, and the perimeter lighting glowed orange against rustic walls of the steakhouse. Kalissa’s big, leather chair was soft and comfortable, the music was pleasant and the conversation from the other diners was muted in the distance.
“I’m not trying to be clever this time,” said Riley from across the table. “I’m not trying to be richer or poorer than I really am.”
“Were you trying to be clever before?” she asked.
“I thought the garden show was clever. And I thought the pier would prove to you that I was a regular guy.”
“And when you slapped down your credit card for a one-use, designer dress?”
“I was trying to impress you.”
“And now?”
“Now.” He reached across the table and took her hands in his. He had sexy hands, square, strong, smooth to the touch.
“Now I only want you to be comfortable.”
“I am comfortable. These chairs are great.”
“You’re not sore?”
“I’m back to normal.” She was at the job site most of the day with Megan, and she still felt fine. “I suppose I’m a little spoiled from staying at the penthouse. There’s a chance I’ve turned into a princess.”
He gave her hands a squeeze. “Whatever will we do about that?”
“My single bed and the bare light bulb above the Mosaic shop should cure me.”
“Is that where you’re planning to sleep?”
“Did you think I’d go back to Darci’s?” She was surprised that he’d assume that about her.
“No.” He drew out the word, putting a wealth of meaning into his tone as he smoothed the pad of his finger across her knuckles.
“Ahhh, you have a third option.”
“I have a third option.”
Kalissa had a feeling she was going to like the third option.
“You two ought to be ashamed of yourselves!” The strident voice of a woman interrupted them.
Kalissa’s glance shot up to see a rotund, neatly dressed, fifty something woman bearing down on their table.
“Excuse me?” she asked in surprise.
“Ma’am, this is a private dinner,” said Riley.
“Shameless,” said the woman, smacking their joined hands. “Utterly shameless.”
Riley jumped to his feet. “I’m going to ask you politely to—”
“What do you think you’re doing?” a male voice boomed.
This time it was a man, likely in his thirties. He was tall, burley, wearing an expensive suit with a silk tie encircling his thick neck. He grasped Riley’s arm.
Riley wrenched away. “Back off.”
“Don’t touch my mother,” boomed the man.
“Tell your mother this is a private dinner.”
“I’m telling your husband,” the woman barked at Kalissa.
“I don’t have a husband,” Kalissa responded.
Another large man joined the first, boxing Riley against the table.
A waiter rushed over. “Is there a problem here?”
“Shane Colborn is a good man,” said the woman. “He donated to the animal shelter.” She suddenly grabbed Kalissa’s wine glass, tossing the merlot, splashing Kalissa in the chest.
Riley jerked forward, and the two men lunged, one of them hitting him square in the stomach.
“Riley,” Kalissa yelled.
Next thing she knew, a strong arm was around her shoulders.
“Take her,” Riley yelled above her head. “Get her out of here.” He returned the man’s punch, then he ducked as the second man aimed a shot at his head.
Kalissa struggled against the arm.
“It’s me,” Garrison rumbled in her ear. “Come on.”
“No.” She wasn’t abandoning Riley.
“I need you safe.”
“No!”
“Then I can help him.”
Reality hit Kalissa, and she started to move willingly away from the table. “Go,” she said to Garrison. “Go back.”
He banged open a black, swinging door that led to the kitchen.
“Keep her in here,” he ordered a man in a chef’s uniform.
The man nodded, and Garrison disappeared back through the door.
Kalissa couldn’t believe it. How could it be happening? This was a classy place. How could a misunderstand
ing degenerate into a fist fight?
Shouts came through the door. Glass broke and something thudded against a wall.
The chef was on the phone, talking to the police, asking for immediate assistance. Kalissa was terrified for Riley and Garrison. She was desperate to see what was going on, but she was afraid the sight of her would only make things worse.
Then the two of them all but exploded through the doorway. Sweaty and disheveled, they each grasped one of her arms.
“Nearest exit?” Riley shouted to the chef.
“Fire exit.” He pointed with his thumb. “But you’ll set off the alarm.”
“Okay by me,” said Garrison, and the two of them pulled Kalissa along, her feet barely touching the floor.
“Are you guys okay?” she asked breathlessly as they wound their way around counters, grills and produce bins.
The entire staff had stopped working and gaped at them as they passed.
“We’re fine,” said Riley. “Keep going.”
“Here,” said Garrison, pointing to a door.
Riley pushed on the crash bar and shoved it open. An alarm sounded, and a light flashed above.
They rushed down a flight of wooden stairs, ending up in an alleyway.
“My car’s right there,” said Garrison.
“You parked in the alley?” Kalissa asked.
“I always park in the alley. It makes for a quick exit.”
“This has happened before?” She had a hard time wrapping her head around that.
“Mostly with rock stars,” said Garrison.
He opened a back door, and Riley pushed Kalissa inside. He followed her.
Garrison jumped in up front.
Riley turned to her, while Garrison started the engine.
“Are you hurt?” he asked.
“I’m fine. But I don’t think my dress survived.” The pale blue fabric was stained with red wine.
Riley cracked a smile, while Garrison glanced in the rear view mirror, a sparkle in his eyes.
“That woman was nasty,” said Kalissa. “Not to mention judgmental.”
Then both men coughed out a laugh.
“It wasn’t funny,” said Kalissa. “That was embarrassing.”
“You didn’t do anything to be embarrassed about,” said Riley.
“Do we need to talk to the police?” she asked.
It felt as if they were fleeing the scene of a crime.
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