by Jae
Her damsel said good-bye and walked away.
Drew stood watching the gentle sway of her hips. Nice. She pinched the wet shirt between two fingers and pulled it away from her skin. After a final glance at the stranger, she went in search of Jake.
“What the hell happened to you?” Jake asked when she found him. “I go to the bathroom for a minute, and when I come back, you look like a murder victim.”
Drew glanced at her wine-drenched shirt and shrugged. “I met a woman.”
A teasing grin formed on Jake’s lips. “Don’t they normally wait until after dessert to throw their drinks at you?”
“They? One woman, okay? It was just one woman who threw her drink at me, and that was ages ago.”
“And you deserved it. Dude, you were a dog back in the day!”
Not those old war stories again! Okay, she had dated a lot of women in college, but she had left that part of her life behind when she had taken over her family’s vineyard. “That was in college, and you slept with more women in a week than I did during my entire freshman year!”
“Yeah, the good ol’ times.” Jake’s dreamy sigh ruffled the shaggy blond hair falling into his face. “So, what have you been up to? I haven’t seen you since the AIDS fundraiser we did at the gym. And that was what? Two months ago?”
“Three,” Drew said. “I just finished bringing in my first harvest. I’ve been out in the vineyards every day since we started harvesting the grapes for the sparkling wines back in August.” She rubbed her eyes. The past weeks had left her exhausted but also filled with a sense of accomplishment. She hoped her parents would have been proud of her.
“Ah, work, work, work.” Jake wagged his finger at her. “You’re beginning to remind me of my sister.”
When they had gone to college together, Drew had heard stories about Jake’s sister, Annie—or rather about the practical jokes Jake had played on her when they’d been children. She had never met her, though. “Are you ever going to introduce me to your mysterious sister?”
“I would have introduced you years ago, but convincing Annie to come to one of my parties is harder than getting an audience with the pope.”
Good for her. Drew bit back a grin.
“And you,” Jake slapped her shoulder, “never had the time in all these years to meet my folks during spring break.”
Drew hit him back, but her slap bounced off the wiry muscles he had developed as a climber. “Yeah, because I had to help in the vineyard while you, the slacker, partied the whole time.”
“Okay, okay, I’ll introduce you. I saw her talking to Rob earlier, so she has to be around here somewhere.” Jake turned and looked around, then pivoted to face Drew. “But remember: no flirting. She’s straight.”
Drew lifted her hands. “I’m not interested in your baby sister. In fact, I just saw a woman at the buffet. For some reason, she really caught my attention. I think she’s working for the catering service.”
“The brunette with the killer legs?”
“No. This one is a blonde, and if her legs kill you, it’s probably because she’s a bit clumsy.” At the memory of the woman almost dropping the tray of glasses a second time, Drew had to smile.
A frown carved a deep line between Jake’s brows. “I don’t think I hired a blonde.”
“Yes, you did. She knows you by name.”
“The only clumsy blonde I know at this party is ...” Jake paused and laughed. “Is she tall, green-eyed, and serious as a heart attack?”
Drew suppressed the urge to defend her clumsy damsel. “Sounds about right.” Belatedly, she realized she had never found out the woman’s name.
“Ah, that blonde.”
“So you do know her?” Drew asked. “Could you introduce us?”
“Sure, no problem.” A sound almost like a giggle escaped Jake’s mouth.
Someone should tell him that straight men don’t giggle. But for now, Drew was more interested in finding out more about the woman. “Do you know if she’s family?”
The giggles turned into a belly laugh. Jake slapped his thighs, nearly spilling his drink all over himself. “Oh, yeah. She’s family.”
“Really? She is?” When the woman hadn’t flirted back and hadn’t even seemed to notice her interest, she had given up hope. “Are you sure?”
“One hundred percent,” Jake said, still grinning madly.
“And she’s single?”
Jake rolled his eyes. “Has been for ages.”
Drew couldn’t believe her good fortune. “Sounds like you’ve known her for a long time.”
“Yeah, you could say that.” Jake turned. “Wait here. I’ll go get her.”
* * *
Annie carefully weaved around the busy catering staff in the kitchen to avoid spilling wine on anyone else. Once had been embarrassing enough. Make that almost twice. She breathed a sigh of relief when she set down the tray on the kitchen counter. Okay, get out of here before Jake—
“There you are!” Jake’s voice wrecked her escape plan. When she turned, her brother squinted up at her, looking annoyed—as always—that his younger sister had outgrown him. “Great party, isn’t it? I bet you’re glad you came.”
Glad? Annie pierced him with a disbelieving stare. Glad?
“What are you doing in here?” He pointed at the tray. “I hired a catering service to take care of that.”
Annie glared at him. “You called me over for help, so that’s what I’m doing,” she said in the coldest, most controlled tone she was capable of mustering. “If you ever pull a stunt like that again, I’ll—”
“Oh, come on. Don’t sulk. Lighten up. Would you have come over if I said we’re having a party?”
“No,” Annie said, “I—”
“See?” Jake wrapped one arm around her. “You would have missed out on all the fun.”
Annie resisted the urge to shove him away. “Our ideas of fun couldn’t be more different, and you know it. If I’d wanted to come to your stupid party, I would have said yes when you asked me. You scared me half to death with your call, you jerk!”
“It’s not a stupid party,” Jake said.
God. Annie wanted to hit him. Discussions with Jake were like trying to reason with a three-year-old. Even if she got him to apologize, his regret wouldn’t be sincere. At the next best opportunity, he would do the same thing again. This is useless. “Forget it. I have to go.”
“Now? It’s not even nine!”
“I’m meeting with a client early tomorrow morning.” Annie shook off her brother’s arm. Besides, an excellent book awaited her at home, but she wasn’t about to tell Jake that. Her brother already thought her life was boring.
“Oh, come on! All work and no play makes Annie a very dull girl.”
That joke was getting old. “And all play and no work makes Jake a very bankrupt boy,” Annie said. “Don’t you have to work tomorrow?”
Jake waved his hand through the air as if chasing away an irritating fly. He gulped his drink and grinned. “Sasha can open the gym for me. What are employees good for if not for covering for me after a party like this? Come on.” He nudged her. “Stay. Just a little longer. Let me introduce you to a friend of mine.”
One more reason to leave. Jake’s friends tended to be adrenaline junkies who talked about nothing but their sports cars, partying, and their latest free-climbing adventure. Annie drove an electric car, hated parties, and hanging from a rock without a safety net was not her idea of a fun vacation. If she said yes to meeting Jake’s friend, she would be bored within seconds.
“No, thanks.” She tried to push past him.
Jake shoved his arm out, blocking her way. “I’ll let you leave on one condition.”
“Let me?” Annie’s voice rose. “I’m no longer the little girl you can boss around.”
“Me?” Hand on his chest, Jake laughed. “Boss you around? You told me what to do from the moment you learned to talk!”
“Because you needed it.” Even as a c
hild, Jake had constantly gotten himself into trouble. She still remembered the chaos twelve-year-old Jake had produced at their cousin’s christening when he poured ink into the basin with the holy water.
When he made no move to withdraw his arm and let her leave, she sighed. “So what’s the condition?”
“My friend Drew wants a date with you.” His eyes twinkled, and his lips twitched in a way that told Annie he was trying to hide a mischievous grin.
Was this another one of his pranks? But even Jake wouldn’t try to play a second practical joke on her on the same evening, would he? “Drew?” She had heard that name before. Maybe one of his college buddies? Every spring break, Jake had come home and boasted about the pranks he had pulled on his friends, but at one point, she had stopped listening. Or was Drew that weird guy Jake had introduced her to when she had helped him paint his house? “Isn’t that the one with the BDMS fetish?”
“That’s BDSM, sis.” Jake laughed at her blush. “And no, that’s Dave. Drew doesn’t have any fetishes as far as I know.”
“Still,” Annie said, “I told you I’m not going out with another one of your friends.”
“Oh, but Drew is not like any of my other friends.” His lips twitched again. “In fact, you have a lot in common.”
Now that would be a first. She eyed her brother, but he looked completely serious now. “Okay, if it’ll get you off my back, I’ll go out with him sometime.” She waved and hurried past him. With any luck, Jake would have forgotten all about it by tomorrow.
Chapter 2
“You’re a miracle worker, Ms. Prideaux,” Mr. Alvarez said and grinned at Annie from across her desk. “I never thought we would make it through the jungle of my tax chaos in just one afternoon.”
Annie stood and followed her client to the door. “It wasn’t that bad.” In fact, his bookkeeping was awful, but he was a client, so diplomacy was the better part of valor. “Just remember to use the software I showed you. It’ll keep track of all the expenses and earnings for you.”
“Will do.” Mr. Alvarez shook her hand, moving it up and down as if it were a pump handle. “Thank you again.” After one last pump of her hand, he let go and nearly skipped out of her office.
With an amused shake of her head, Annie returned to her desk. It was half past five already, so her workday had officially ended thirty minutes before. Most days, Annie was one of the last accountants to leave the office, but today she wanted to get home at a reasonable time and pamper herself a little. Images of a bubble bath, the newest Tana French novel, and a glass of Merlot danced in her head.
She made a few more notes in Mr. Alvarez’s file, saved and shut the open documents, and was just about to power down her computer when a knock on the open office door made her look up.
Mr. Cargill, one of her bosses, stood in the doorway, a large pile of folders balanced in his thin arms. “Do you have a minute?”
The images of bath, novel, and wine wavered and collapsed. Annie suppressed a sigh. “Sure.”
The office’s fluorescent lights bounced off Mr. Cargill’s bald head as he folded his long, slim frame into the visitor’s chair and set the folders on Annie’s desk. “I’m sure you heard that we were able to win Paul Dettman as a client for our firm.”
Annie nodded. Dettman was one of the biggest landowners in the area, so of course everyone at Cargill & Jones had talked of nothing else for days.
“I need you to take over his account,” Mr. Cargill said.
Me? Annie stared at her boss, caught between elation and panic.
“I know you’re up to the task.”
Annie sucked in a breath and squared her shoulders. She had never worked on an account of that size, but she knew she could handle it. Even if it meant a bigger workload, she was determined to show Mr. Cargill that his trust in her had been justified. “Yes, of course. I won’t disappoint you or the firm.”
“I know you won’t. You always do a good job.” Mr. Cargill leaned forward and gave her arm a grandfatherly pat. “Dettman’s bookkeeper dropped off his files this morning. We need an overview of what we’re dealing with as soon as possible, so you should start reviewing them tonight. Do you think you can stay a few hours longer?”
Annie eyed the stack of files he had placed on her desk. A few hours wouldn’t be enough to work through them all. She inwardly sighed and added sleep to the list of things she wouldn’t get tonight. But now that she had agreed to taking over Mr. Dettman’s account, she wouldn’t back down. “Sure,” she said.
A satisfied smile spread over Mr. Cargill’s face. “Good. I knew I could count on you. Make sure to give me a quick report tomorrow, and if you need any help, ask Sarah or Virgil to lend a hand.”
Annie nodded but already knew she would try to manage on her own.
As soon as her boss had left the office, she reached over and pulled the stack of files to her side of the desk. Sighing, she opened the first folder and began to read.
* * *
“Don’t you ever go home?”
A voice from the door made Annie jump. Her head jerked up. When her vision blurred for a moment, she realized she had skipped dinner.
The figure in the doorway swam back into focus. Her colleague Sarah stared at her with a disapproving frown.
Annie took off her glasses, rubbed her tired eyes, and searched her desk drawer for a chocolate bar. That would have to do for dinner tonight. “You’re still here too.”
Sarah’s red curls bounced when she shook her head. “I left two hours ago and only came back because I forgot my cell phone.” She crossed the room and dropped into the visitor’s chair. Her feet dangled like that of a first grader before she adjusted the chair’s height for her shorter frame. She straightened the hem of her knee-length skirt, leaned forward, and ran a red-painted nail over the files on Annie’s desk. “Don’t tell me the boss gave you Dettman’s account.”
Annie gave up the search for a chocolate bar and put her glasses back on to study her colleague. Did Sarah think she wasn’t up for the job? “Yes, he did.”
“Girl, you really need to learn to say no.”
Annie stiffened. “Why should I?”
“Oh, Annie, the boss didn’t ask you because you’re the best accountant he has.” Sarah lifted her manicured hands. “Don’t get me wrong. You are the best. Everyone knows that, including Mr. Cargill. But he asked you because he knows you’re the only one who will stay late and work her ass off to meet his spur-of-the-moment deadlines.” She blew a red curl out of her eyes and looked at Annie. “If you don’t start standing up for yourself, you’ll end up overworked and lonely.”
Annie fiddled with the edge of a folder. “It’s not that bad.”
“Really? You missed spinning class yesterday,” Sarah said. “And I bet it wasn’t because you were out on a date.”
Of course it wasn’t. Time had gotten away from her while she prepared monthly accounting reports for a client, and by the time she had checked her watch, spinning class had already been halfway over.
The ringing of Annie’s cell phone interrupted the silence.
Phew. Saved by the bell. Annie dug in her messenger bag and lifted the cell phone to her ear.
Sarah waved and pointed at the door. When Annie nodded, Sarah stood and left.
“Yes?” Annie said into her cell phone.
“Hey, how is my favorite sister today?” Jake’s cheerful voice came through the receiver.
Annie frowned. The last time he had greeted her like this, she had to come get him out of jail because he had partied a little too hard and ended up in a fistfight. “Well,” she said, “that depends. Do I have to sell a kidney to pay for your bail?”
Jake’s belly laugh resonated through the phone. “No bail. Your kidney is safe. I’m calling to tell you you’ve got a date.”
“Date?”
“Yep. At the party last Saturday, you promised you would go out with my friend Drew sometime, remember?”
Sarah’s words echoed t
hrough her mind: you really need to learn to say no. “I don’t have the time to date right now.”
“Oh, come on. You have to eat sometime, so you might as well do it with Drew.”
Annie hesitated. She had never broken a promise. Once she committed to something, she went through with it, even if she was cursing herself the entire time. And saying no to Jake was even harder than saying no to her boss. She sighed. When Jake used his boyish charm on her, she forgot about the tricks he played on her.
“It’s not like I’m asking you to marry Drew. One date, that’s all.”
Annie blew out a breath. “One date. Then you never bother me about dating one of your friends again.”
“Deal,” Jake said. “So when and where should Drew meet you?”
“How about next year,” Annie mumbled with a glance at her stack of files.
“What?”
“Nothing.” Annie thumbed through her calendar. “How about ...” She turned another page. “... Saturday at seven? No, make that eight.”
“Sounds great. How about Fettuccine’s? That’s your favorite restaurant, right?”
Annie grimaced. No one in her family ever remembered her favorite places. “It’s good, but it’s not my favorite. And the name is Francucci’s.”
“Right. Saturday, eight o’clock, Francucci’s.” A pen scratched over a piece of paper as Jake wrote it down. “I’m sure Drew will be over the moon.”
That makes one of us. “Jake, I need to go back to work now.”
“Work?” Jake echoed. “You’re still at work? Damn, Annie, no wonder you’re single. How are you supposed to meet someone if all you do is sit in the office and work? I’ll arrange—”
“Oh, no, you’re not arranging anything else.” Annie gritted her teeth. Why couldn’t he accept that she was perfectly happy on her own? “One date, that’s our deal. If you don’t stick to it, I’ll tell Mom who put the vinegar into the perfume bottle she gave Aunt Edith for her birthday last year.”
“Um, one date sounds great, sis. Don’t work too late, okay?”
Annie looked at the files. She wasn’t even halfway through. “Don’t worry. I won’t,” she said, even knowing it was a lie. Her brother wouldn’t understand. She finished the call and opened the next folder. “Once more unto the breach.”