Tempting the Negotiator

by Zana Bell

  “The stupid thing is,” she said, “he’s all wrong for me, but I just can’t stop thinking about him.”

  “Are you sure he’s so wrong for you? He sounds pretty good to me.”

  Sass shook her head. “He hates me, Mom.” She tried to smile. “Sorry for the scene.”

  Alicia’s own smile was blinding. “Sasha, I’m glad—not of your pain, not at all—but that you let me be a mother again. You shut yourself away when you were twelve.” She touched Sass on the cheek. “You were the cutest but most headstrong little thing I ever did see—all long skinny legs and uncompromising beliefs. I’ve never met any other living being with as much boneheaded determination as you.”

  Sass laughed. “That’s because you haven’t met Jake Finlayson.”

  At that moment, a nurse popped her head around the door. “Morning, Mrs. Walker. Time for your shower.”

  Sass kissed her mom’s cheek. “I’ll get coffee.”

  She prowled down the corridors until she came to the cafeteria. It was a bright room, but sterile and cheerless. She stood in front of the glass cabinets staring at the plastic-looking doughnuts, polystyrene sandwiches and Frisbee-size cookies. In the end, she settled for a diet Dr Pepper. Funny that, they didn’t have Dr Pepper in New Zealand.

  Sass put her elbows on the table, buried her face in her hands and dug her fingers into her scalp. Oh God, she had to stop this obsession with New Zealand. Talking about Jake hadn’t helped at all. It had brought him back too vividly and she was driving herself crazy. She pressed the heels of her hands hard into her eye sockets, determined to stop more damned tears from spilling down her face.

  Behind her she heard the purposeful footsteps of someone on a mission. Lucky person. Intellectually, she knew she was on the right path—only, her heart seemed to have lost the way. As the footsteps came close, they slowed.

  “This seat taken?”

  The voice was deep. The accent was Kiwi. She really was going crazy if she was beginning to hallucinate. She slowly dropped her hands and stared up in disbelief.

  “Jake?”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  HIS SMILE WAS UNCERTAIN

  —not a trace of the cocky surfer there. “Can I sit with you?” He seemed…almost humble. Surely not. Not Jake. “Of course.” She gestured to the chair.

  His eyes were as green as she remembered, the hair as wild. He was dressed in worn jeans, a jersey and a beat-up bomber jacket. She’d never seen him wearing so many clothes. But it was his expression that was most unfamiliar. For the first time ever, he seemed unsure of himself.

  “I’ve had one hell of a runaround trying to track you down,” he told her. “You’ve changed your phone number.”

  Despite feeling dazed, she couldn’t help smiling at the severity in his voice. “Yeah, I handed my phone in when I quit the company. I’ve got this now.”

  She fished in her pocket and pulled out a cell phone that was the very humble cousin of her BlackBerry. She liked it. Its pared-down functionality suited her new pared-down life.

  Jake shook his head. “Well, that certainly made my job a lot harder. Do you have any idea how many Walkers live in this city? I decided to visit the hospitals rather than start ringing every Walker listed. Problem was, I don’t know your mother’s first name. The accent didn’t help. One hospital even called Security.”

  Sass laughed, unable to believe this was really happening. “So how did you find me here?”

  “I finally lucked out. Just as I got to the information desk, this dangerous-looking guy carrying a motorbike helmet walks past, flips a hand at the nurses and says, ‘Bye, y’all, see you tonight. Have a nice day now.’ They all giggled and called back, ‘Bye now, Mr. Walker.’ I knew it had to be Adam. His smile is just like yours. The lovely woman at the desk sent me to your mother’s room.”

  “You didn’t go in!”

  “I knocked first,” he assured her.

  “What did Mom say?”

  He smiled. “She looks like you. She has your eyes. She took one look and said, ‘Why, it’s Jake, I do believe. How very nice to meet you, but don’t stop now. Sass is in the cafeteria.’ And so—” he spread his hands “—here I am.”

  “What about the boys? Where are they?”

  His eyes held that glint of mischief she’d thought she’d never see again. “Mum and Dad have moved in for the time being.”

  “No!” Sass couldn’t help answering his grin with one of her own. “How’s that going?”

  “Judging by the number of aggrieved texts I’ve received from the kids, I gather the old man is having a fine time inducting them into the Finlayson world of pull-your-socks-up-and-just-bloody-get-on-with-it.”

  There were so many thoughts, so many feelings, but all she could do was sit with a stupid smile spread over her face.

  “It’s good to see you,” Jake said, then stopped. “Oh, as I was leaving, Moana told me that as soon as I said, ‘It’s good to see you,’ I had to remind you of Kiwispeak. I told her that I wouldn’t be saying anything so lame to the woman I loved, but there, I just did.”

  Something very close to happiness fizzed deep inside Sass as she said, “You love me?”

  “Of course. I’ve come to take you back.”

  It took all her strength not to throw herself at him crying, yes yes yes. There was a lot of stuff they needed to sort out between them. “First I need to know why you didn’t play the pā card.” Seeing his quizzical expression, she added, “Yeah, I know the resort is going ahead unopposed. I saw it on the ABORD site.” Feeling suddenly shy, she confessed, “I check Whangarimu out on the net, most nights.”

  Jake’s tone was mock-severe as he said, “Before I answer your question, I want to know why you sent the text in the first place. You tried sabotaging your own company.”

  “No, I didn’t,” Sass assured him. “I’d already resigned. Although I did use their phone one last time. I felt bad about that but I didn’t have my new phone and knew you’d be getting the report any minute. Did it arrive in time?”

  “It did, but why did you send it? Remorse?”

  “No!” She tucked her hair behind her ear. “I will always believe I made the right call, but it only seemed fair for you guys to have the option of blocking the resort if, after everything, you still didn’t want it. So did Rob talk you out of it?”

  He leaned back in his chair. “It was the other way around, actually. Initially I was mad as hell, but once I’d read your report properly, I could see it made sense—especially for the community. Rob tried to persuade me we could win. Said you wanted us to or you wouldn’t have sent the text. He twisted all my arguments, but once I’d decided, I remained adamant.”

  “But why would Rob…?”

  “Well, at first I thought the Finlayson need to win was clouding his judgment, but later I realized he was just playing me. I think he learned about reverse psychology from his wife. By making me defend and rationalize all your decisions, I could become entirely sure of what I thought should happen.”

  “And what is that?” She searched his eyes.

  “You were right. The report was separate from the two of us. Taking egos out, I think you made the right call. There’s tremendous excitement in Whangarimu about it. Your company has also been loud in its assurances that it will be the most eco-friendly resort ever built. It’s to be their flagship for good relations. They are even more hell-bent than us on saving the tern now.”

  He shot her a wicked smile. “Actually, your text meant we could accept the report with the proviso that some profits also go toward the pā excavation. Your company loved that idea and is now talking about a recreation of a Māori village, too. Win-win.”

  He exuded the smug satisfaction of a warrior well pleased with the outcome of a battle. Sass laughed and Jake stretched out his hands to catch hers. “Come home with me. We need you. Your company would love someone like you on that end, and the boys miss you. Moana is furious that you left without saying goodbye, though
she understands. Manu said to tell you he wants you to run for mayor. You’ve got to come.”

  Sass couldn’t speak for the emotion overwhelming her. But then she pulled her hands away. “I can’t. There’s Mom, and Adam and Cole. We’re trying to be a family again.”

  “I guessed as much when I heard you’d quit your job.” He leaned forward. “Was it a hard decision?”

  She felt herself blush under his intent scrutiny. It felt so good to be the object of his fierce attention again.

  “A no-brainer,” she assured him. His head tipped, a silent invitation for her to elaborate. “Flying home, I started questioning my priorities. Being likened to my father hurt.” She grimaced. “All the more because there was some truth in it. Having all those hours in the air gave me time to think about what I wanted in the future. Fearing for Mom, being so grateful to Adam for being there for her, hating myself for not—” Sass broke off.

  “So?” Jake prompted.

  This guy never gave her a break. “So,” she said, looking directly at him, “I figured if some surf champ could throw away his whole career in search of something more meaningful, I could do the same.”

  Jake grabbed one of her hands. “Really? Because of me?”

  His grip was strong, his palm warm. “Yeah, because of you.” Sass felt strangely shy, but realized she was finally learning to do deep-and-meaningfuls, and smiled. “I missed you guys so much. The kids and the place had me on day one.”

  He laughed. “Then come back.”

  “I can’t, I’ve got ties here.”

  “Bring them with you.”

  The absurdity of that statement made her laugh, but Jake seized her other hand and held both tight as he leaned over the table. “It doesn’t have to be immediately, Sass. You can stay until your mum is well again, then bring her to New Zealand temporarily. Adam can come out for a holiday, too. You know us…” His grin regained the cockiness she remembered so well. “we’ll wow them with the scenery and charm. It’s happened before.”

  “Yeah, but maybe they won’t be quite the pushover I was.” More seriously she added, “It’s crazy. I can’t just drop my mom and brother on you, even if I could persuade them to come down to New Zealand. You guys might not get along.”

  She didn’t really believe that. Jake and Adam would hit it off well. And everyone loved Alicia. But still…

  Jake shook his head at what he clearly saw as silliness. “They’re family, Sass. They can’t drive me any crazier than my father does. If you guys want to be together, great. If not, that’s fine, too. Nothing has to be tied down. Life is messy and we’ll work it out as we go along.” He smiled, but his expression was sincere. “I just want you, whatever.”

  Her heart tripped into the tattoo it beat only around him. Are you sure you don’t just want a family of your own?

  With that, Jake shoved his chair back and jerked Sass up and into a hard embrace, kissing her not at all gently, but very thoroughly. Suddenly he broke off the kiss.

  “What the—?”

  His fingers were at the top of her arm, under the sleeve of her loose jersey. He looked at her, laughter in his eyes. “Is that a patch I’ve just found, Miss Pain-in-the?”

  “It is,” she said primly. “Mother and I are going to kick our addictions together.”

  He threw back his head and laughed. “You, Sass, are my addiction. But I have every intention of overdosing every day for the rest of my life.”

  And that, she concluded, was the closest she’d ever get in Kiwispeak to a declaration of undying, deep and passionate love.

  “Good enough,” she replied.

  ISBN: 978-1-4268-5049-3

  TEMPTING THE NEGOTIATOR

  Copyright © 2010 by Susan Zana Bell.

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