by Carmen Cook
“Not when they already have other services through that company.” Gavin fought to keep his voice even, but it was the same argument. Jason’s refusal to see the writing on the wall was going to drag them under. He ignored the ball of lead sitting in his gut at his next words.
“Then I think it’s time.”
Jason let out an impatient sound. “Time for what?”
“Time for us to go our separate ways.”
The statement dropped like an anvil between them. Once again, Jason didn’t move, so Gavin plowed forward. “I’ll buy out your share.”
“You’d buy out my share just to turn around to be bought out by someone else?”
“It’s not a buyout. They’re offering a merger. We would hold our current contracts, be able to head up a division of property security under Skyhawk’s capital and with their manpower and support. I can’t figure out why you’re so opposed to this.”
Jason stared at Gavin. “I know what’s going on here,” he sneered. “This is because of your sister.”
Gavin’s jaw dropped. “What about her?”
Jason launched himself to his feet and began to pace the small office, side-stepping the debris they hadn’t cleaned up yet. “She went running to you when I made a pass at her, so that new boyfriend of hers came up with this plan to ruin me.”
Gavin tried to keep his voice even as he stared at Jason. “This has nothing to do with Gwen. This is business. We need this merger.”
“What,” Jason began through gritted teeth, “gives you the right to make this decision?”
“I already own sixty percent,” Gavin reminded him. “My vote outweighs yours. That’s the way it’s always been. The way you wanted it when you signed on to be minority partner.”
Jason jerked as though Gavin had delivered a sucker punch rather than a hefty dose of the truth. “It’s not how I wanted it and you know it. It’s all I could afford at the time. My family didn’t have the means to assist me. I am a self-made man.”
Anger and a stronger emotion he didn’t dare try to identify threatened to take Gavin over his desk, but he shoved it back. “Are you implying,” he said, his voice deceptively calm as he struggled to remain in check, “that I’m somehow not?”
“Who needs to imply it when it’s so obvious?” Jason spat, slamming his mug down on the desk, hot coffee splashing over. “You needed my money for the startup of Peaks, but you never considered me a true partner. I was always lesser to you. You the boss and me the jackass to do your bidding.”
The rage Gavin had been keeping a tight lid on boiled over as he surged to his feet to face his friend. Former friend. Fuck. “Is that really what you’ve been thinking these past six years? That I’ve been lording it over you? If that’s the case, then fuck you. I’ll call the lawyer and accountant and get you a check. We’re through.” He strode around the desk, heading for the door. He had to get out of the office before he did something he’d regret.
Opening the door, Gavin strode straight into his brother. Staggering, Connor shoved him back. Jason pushed his way between them and marched out the door.
Gavin blew out a breath, feeling like he’d taken a blind side hit. What the hell had just happened?
“You okay?” Connor asked as he walked past Gavin and into the office. He’d made himself right at home behind Gavin’s desk and was digging in the right drawer for the bag of M&Ms he kept there.
“That sucked,” Gavin replied, dropping into the chair Jason had vacated.
“I imagine it did,” Connor said around a mouthful of candy. “Your receptionist had her phone in her hand and was about to call me when I showed up. I guess you guys were getting pretty loud.”
Gavin closed his eyes at the thought of what he was going to tell Deanna. “Why are you here?” he asked. He’d deal with the staff later. Right now, he just needed a distraction.
“I came to check on Julian and I need a favor. I need to borrow your cabin.”
“Okay.” The request wasn’t all that unusual, but the way Connor said it this time had Gavin pausing. “What’s going on?”
At first, he didn’t think Connor was going to answer him, but then he let out a breath and dragged his hand over his face. “There’s something going on with Bethany.”
Gavin frowned at the thought. “For real? I thought that was just your imagination. What’s up?”
“I don’t know.” Connor looked worried. It was a look he didn’t wear. Ever. Even when told he was going to become a father at the age of eighteen he had greeted the news with a stoicism of a much older man. The fact he was worried now said more than anything else. “She’s been acting strange for the past couple weeks. Nothing major, just distracted, off somehow. But over the past week or so she’s become even more withdrawn. Emotional. I’m pretty sure she’s planning on leaving.”
Gavin blinked at the words. Bethany and Connor were a unit. They always had been. He simply couldn’t believe that Bethany was going to leave or do anything even remotely close to that. “Of course you can use the cabin, man, but I think you’re wrong.”
Connor ignored Gavin’s comment. “I need to plan a weekend for just the two of us. It’s been too long since we’ve done anything like that.”
Connor was wrong about Bethany. Had to be. “When do you want to use the cabin? Thanksgiving is coming up, so you’re going to want to go before then, right?”
“Yeah. Shit, I forgot about Thanksgiving.” Connor was once again rubbing his hand down his face and Gavin felt like an ass for not being more supportive. “I just can’t think straight. Everything’s always been about Bethany and Andy. I mean, even with the way it all happened, there was never any question that we’d be together, you know?”
“You need to talk to her, man. Tell her all that and find out what’s really going on.”
“I’m going to talk to her. At the cabin.”
Gavin shook his head. “Before then. Unless you can manage to sneak her away today, you shouldn’t wait.”
This time Connor shook his head. “Every time we try to have a conversation there’s an interruption. We went to the Bitterroot and all of you showed up. I took her into town for a fancy dinner and Erin and Mitch wound up at our table.”
Gavin rolled his eyes. That was the trouble with a small town.
“She’s got too much going on with her mom and dealing with Andy and that band of jerks he’s been hanging around with. She’s terrified he’s going to wind up on drugs or OD like one of those other kids.”
“Okay, so I get why the cabin, but why wait? You’re planning on having this conversation. Why not just grab her and go for a drive and lay it all out?”
“I want it to be perfect for her.” Connor pulled a little black box from his pocket and put it on the desk between them. “I want to ask her to marry me again.”
Gavin blinked, unable to believe what he’d heard. “Pardon?”
Connor nodded. “We rushed into it the first time because we were expecting Andy and getting married provided her with a bunch of benefits she wouldn’t have had otherwise. The Army took care of her medical and everything, so it was important to just do it. But I want her to want to marry me. To spend the rest of her life with me because she wants to.”
Gavin shook his head, trying to understand. “She’s still married to you, despite the fact that you’ve turned soft. Dealt with a bucketload of bullshit to get to this point. You guys have beaten all the odds. You’re solid, Connor. More than any other couple I know.”
“That’s just it. We did it because we had to. But now? Now it’s time to ask her and have her want to.”
“Have you been reading Cosmo? What does that even mean?”
“You’ll get it when you finally find someone you’ll fight to keep rather than let them walk away.” Connor sounded smug, the prick. He always thought he knew better than anyone else. It would be damn annoying if he wasn’t right half the time.
“Fine,” Gavin said. “We’ll drive up there and mak
e the cabin proposal-ready whenever you want. It’s not being used right now anyway. Just be sure not to tell me any of the details. I don’t want to know.”
Connor laughed and slapped him on the back. “You’re going to want to pick up,” he said, waving to the debris strewn around the room as he turned to leave. “If Gwen or Regan sees this they’re bound to be upset.”
Gavin looked around the office again and shook his head. “When did things start getting so complicated? Used to be that no one would have dropped in when I was working.”
Connor was laughing again as he walked out the door, the prick. He could hear him assure Deanna that everything was fine. When had everything gotten so complicated?
Chapter Sixteen
The outing took on a life of its own before they even left Sapphire Creek. Instead of it just being Regan and Bethany, Gwen and Erin arrived and piled into Bethany’s SUV. Full of teasing and laughter, they all headed out, arguing about where to start their shopping adventure. There wasn’t a suitable shop nearby—or whatever Bethany considered a suitable shop to be—so they drove the winding roads into the closest city.
Regan’s hands were clammy and her stomach was doing somersaults. If she didn’t know better, she would have thought she’d eaten something funky rather than just stepping out of her comfort zone. Her very boring, bland comfort zone. Who knew that was the case? She’d thought herself a woman of the world, but this little field trip to a sex shop was proving her wrong.
Straightening her shoulders, she followed the others into the store, only to stop dead in her tracks once she caught sight of a display that featured a drawing of a very intimate moment.
“This is insane,” Regan whispered to Erin as Bethany and Gwen both dove into the racks of frilly and frothy teddies and what could only be described as outfits worn by exotic dancers. “I’ve never understood the point of lingerie. None of it looks comfortable and the whole goal is to have it removed as soon as possible. Why spend the money when being naked will do the same thing?”
Erin laughed before picking up a black gauze handkerchief draped over a hanger and holding it against herself. “It’s not so bad. And the point is to entice,” she said, wiggling her hips in a slow roll. “To tease. To highlight your best parts and the mystery that makes you a woman. It’s meant to drive your guy wild with the desire to unwrap you.”
Regan made a face at her friend, even though her insides quivered at the thought of Gavin being overcome with the desire to unwrap her. She tried to feign disinterest and continued to peek through the hangers of brightly colored panties. “And that piece of gauze is going to do that?”
Erin snorted back another laugh and threw the hanger to Regan, who caught it with one hand. “You should get that.”
Regan looked at the black bit of froth she was holding. “What is it? And how do you wear it?” This was more complicated than she’d anticipated. What was wrong with wearing yoga pants and a nice T-shirt?
Her sister’s voice rang in her memory—Chloe was truly fearless—and she scrunched up her nose. “I’m not a prude,” she muttered.
“Of course you aren’t,” Bethany agreed, pulling a royal blue bra and panty set off the rack and tossing them in her basket.
“When did I start acting like one?” Whatever it was that was happening between her and Gavin was happening fast. She didn’t know him all that well, not really. He seemed like a wonderful father from what she’d seen, was obviously a caring brother, but what else? She’d lost herself in her relationship with Todd the Jackass. The thought of doing that again made her cold.
But that was up to her, not him. And the way Gavin made her feel wasn’t the same as when she’d been with Todd. She wasn’t losing pieces of herself. Gavin was actually helping her find the pieces she hadn’t even remembered she had.
She let out a little sigh and felt her face warm. This little shopping trip wasn’t about her, and she needed to divert everyone’s attention before they noticed her blushing. “I just don’t understand how being wrapped up in transparent lace is going to give you the confidence to have the conversation with Connor.”
“It gives me the confidence in me. That I still have the power to distract him,” Bethany admitted with a smile. “That I’ve still got it.”
“I’m sorry,” Regan said, grabbing a bottle of lotion from the shelf and giving it a sniff before passing it to Erin to smell. “I don’t mean to be unsupportive.”
Bethany smiled her reassurance and gave her a quick hug. “I know this isn’t your thing. You’ve always been confident in your own skin. But some of us need a little extra to feel a bit boosted, to have a little extra ammunition to feel sexy.”
Regan looked at Bethany and shook her head. “You don’t need this stuff to be sexy. You are sexy.”
Bethany smiled a small smile. “It’s nice of you to say so, but I’m not the same girl I was when Connor fell in love with me.”
“I should hope not,” Erin said as she put the lotion back on the shelf. “You were sixteen when he fell for you. None of us are the same as we were at sixteen.”
Gwen bounded up to them holding a huge box. “I’m going to get this!”
Regan tried to see the front, horrified by the thought of what could possibly come in a box that size in a store like this. “What is it?”
“A massager.” Gwen turned the box so Regan could see a huge…thing. It was two feet long with a bend in the middle. “It bends and twists so I can put it over my shoulder like this.” She pointed to a picture.
“Or you can sit on it,” Erin laughed, pointing to another picture.
“Tomato, to-mat-o. It’ll get the job done.” Gwen grinned and shifted the box to her hip, holding it there with one arm like she would a baby.
“Holy hell.” Regan’s face was on fire. She’d seen crazy things when she did her ER rotation, but this was unlike anything she’d ever imagined. What was wrong with her that she couldn’t embrace this part as easily as they did?
“There’s nothing wrong with you,” Gwen said, reading her mind and slinging her free arm around Regan’s shoulders. “It’s perfectly okay for you not to be into any of this stuff.”
Another thought hit Regan from out of nowhere. “It doesn’t bother you, does it? That I’m spending time with your brother? And we’re doing…whatever it is that we’re doing.”
Gwen smiled and gave her another squeeze as she steered her back toward some of the less alarming displays. “No. It doesn’t bother me. He’s happier than I’ve seen him in a long time. And you are back, which I’m ecstatic about even if we haven’t been able to spend much time together yet. Once school lets out and I’m not tutoring every night, you and I are going to have a girls’ weekend.” Gwen was a special education teacher at the local elementary school and went above and beyond in her duties. No child left behind wasn’t just a pithy political phrase for her. It was a personal mission.
“That sounds great. But for now, I think I want to step out of my comfort zone a little.” She held up the black teddy Erin had tossed her way. “Do you think he’ll like it?”
Gwen smiled what Regan used to think of as her victory smile. “I think you’ll like it. And he likes you so that’ll be enough. Now, I’m going to tell you that his favorite color is red and pretend I know nothing at all about the fact that you’re shopping to entice my brother.”
As Gwen moved away, Erin slid next to Regan, taking the black bit of lace from her hands and replacing it with a red one. “You really think this will work?” Regan asked her.
“It depends on what you’re trying to do. If you’re putting that on only to seduce Gavin, then sure, it’ll work. But like you said before, you could show up nude and it’ll do just as well.”
Erin paused, “But if you’re doing it for you, you have to like how you feel in it, how you look to a degree. You can do it if you think it’ll make him happy and that’s what you want to do. But you need to remember, the end goal of this isn’t the sex. It’s the
snapshot.”
With Erin having left for California when they were young, she’d always seemed more worldly somehow. Regan was amused to realize she still felt like Erin had all the answers. “What snapshot? I’m barely onboard with the idea of getting myself into this thing. I’m certainly not going to let any pictures be taken.”
Glancing over to make sure Gwen and Bethany were still occupied in another area of the store, Erin lowered her voice, as though she was imparting a secret. “Not a real snapshot, but a moment. You’re creating a special moment for you both, just one heartbeat of a memory that’s only for the two of you. It’s private, which is what gives us the courage to wrap ourselves up in these things in the attempt to create a live version of our men’s fantasies.”
Regan was swept up by what Erin was saying. What did it say that about her past experiences that, at the age of twenty-eight, she still had no idea about the art of seduction? “You make it sounds so easy.”
“Not easy, but it can be fun if it’s with the right person.”
Some of the excitement that Gwen and Bethany had been feeling started to creep into Regan too and she felt the edges of her lips pull upward. “And have you found the right person?” she asked Erin. “You seem to know an awful lot about this.”
“Aw.” Erin shook her head, a rueful smile on her lips. “No right person for me. Instead, my job is to do this on a less personal degree. I’ve had to figure out how to create these snapshots with a huge audience, not just one on one.”
Something in Erin’s tone gave Regan pause and had her looking hard at one of her oldest friends. “But you love it, right? It’s what you’ve worked so hard for, for so many years.”
“Yes, of course. But being back here always reminds me of the life I had before.”
“Do you miss it?” it had never occurred to her that the sacrifices Erin had made while chasing her dreams could have cut that deeply. What type of friend had she been all these years to not even suspect such a thing?
“At times. I think I miss the idea of it more than the reality,” Erin confided in a low voice, continuing to play with the colorful bottles of lotions and lube. “I wouldn’t trade what I have for anything. It’s just one of those things. We always seem to want something we don’t have, you know?”