“I would love to have had a vice presidency dropped in my lap. What’s wrong with you?”
“Nothing wrong with this.” He swept both hands down his body with a cocky grin.
“Just when I thought you were a real person.” She shook her head and picked up her drink.
The pizza arrived at that moment.
“Thank you, darling,” Zeke said to Mabel. “Saved by the pizza,” he thought to himself. Why couldn’t Sophie understand that he was joking? She was too serious. He wasn’t going to change himself for her. She’d just have to figure it out on her own.
“I am a real person. I happen to be a person who has no desire to work for his old man. A person who has not one drop of interest in the construction business. A person who has never been able to live up to family expectations. Hell. I don’t know why I’m telling you this. You don’t care.” He put a slice of pizza on his plate as he breathed in the delicious aroma. A string of cheese followed him. Sophie reached across the table and swiped at it.
“You don’t want to be Vice President of Sales?” She looked so puzzled that he almost laughed.
“Never did. I’m only doing this to keep Tucker off my back. You know how he is. He gets an idea in his head, and by golly, he’s going to see it through. Stand back, because if you get in his way, you’ll be steamrollered flat as a pancake.” He bit into the pizza and groaned with pleasure.
“I can’t relate. Pops always told me to follow my dreams. If I’d wanted to be a mountain climber living in Katmandu, he’d have started a Go Fund Me campaign to send me there.
“Count yourself lucky.”
“What is it that you’d rather do?” She bit down on the little slice of heaven.
“I’m going to have a fishing expedition company one day. I figure I’ll work for Tucker long enough to get him off my back and save some more money. Then, when I quit, you can get the promotion you deserve, and I’ll ride off into the sunset with nothing but wake behind me.”
“You think I deserve a promotion?” This was a revelation. “I’ve always thought you talked your father into that position.” She sat back in her seat and stared at him. After watching him continue to eat and shake his head at her, she mumbled.
“I’ve always wanted that window office.”
“You can have it. It’s like torture. I sit and watch that river rolling by outside my window. I know fish are out there for the catching. I imagine the sun on my face and the wind in my hair. It’s the worst thing that’s happened to me in my adult life.”
She had been so wrong about Zeke all this time. She felt a twinge of guilt over her earlier comments.
“Life is not fair.”
“Not even a little bit,” he said.
That evening, as Sophie wrote in her journal, she ran the lunch conversation over in her mind. Zeke Hart was having a hard time. She’d had no idea. Was she that judgmental? The honest answer was yes. For years she’d let Pop’s opinion color her view. She’d harbored anger at those Hart boys since they were all in high school. The work debacle had kicked it up a couple of notches until she’d begun spewing vitriol all over them, especially Zeke. She tapped her lips with her pen. He had ideas about a completely different life. No wonder she’d caught him staring out the window so many times. She jotted her next thoughts down.
“Show Zeke how to get new clients. He’ll understand if you go at it from his point of view.” She leaned back in her chair. She had some things to learn from him, too. Life never ceased to bring new ideas to her. She wasn’t ready to concede that Zeke was a good guy. He was still cocky and a womanizer. But dang if he wasn’t good-looking. She remembered how he’d said, “Ain’t nothing wrong with this.” He was right on that count. The man was every woman’s wet dream.
She slept soundly that night for the first time in weeks. When she awoke, she had no recollection of dreams. She felt refreshed. Maybe letting go of a little of the anger she’d been harboring was a good thing. She was surprised to find herself looking forward to her day at the office.
Chapter Eight
Zeke geared himself up for the day. Today, he and Sophie would drive into Dallas, together; have lunch, together; speak to the potential client, together; drive back, together. That was a lot of together for one day. He thought of their lunch yesterday and how he’d opened up to her. He’d surprised himself with how easy it was to tell her about his dreams. She wasn’t abrasive.
On the contrary, she’d been supportive and sympathetic. She was more like the girl he remembered when they’d been kids. Back then, he’d been the protector. She’d sported those awful braces, and the other kids had teased her relentlessly. He’d blackened more than one eye in an effort to protect her. All these years later, he’d thought that girl was lost to him. Not only had she grown into a beautiful woman, but she was capable and self-assured. No need for a protector for that one anymore. He finished shaving and wiped his face with a towel that he needed to throw into the washing machine soon. He’d let his night of drunken debauchery make him behind in his weekend chores, and now he was kicking himself for it.
He made it into the office before Sophie. He wanted her to know he was taking this job seriously. When he heard her footsteps in the hallway, he got up to greet her.
“Morning, Soph,” he said, then corrected himself, “I mean Sophie.” She looked amazing. Was that a new suit she wore? The short, tight skirt fit her like a glove. He glanced down to those long legs and tried to keep his tongue from wagging. She was smiling. That was a rare occurrence between them.
“Hey. Ready for a big day?” she asked as she balanced her morning pastry and a hot mug of coffee while trying to open her office door.
“Let me help you.”
She stood back.
“Thanks. Come on in.” She smiled again. A record for the books, he thought. He followed her inside and took a seat.
“You look great,” he said. “New outfit?”
“Yeah. I’m surprised you noticed. I always get a new suit when I’m going on an important call like this one. It boosts my confidence.” She bit into the croissant and used her right hand to turn on the computer in the middle of her desk. Zeke took a good look at the items she had placed on the bookshelf behind her. She had a picture of her family from a couple of years earlier. They had their arms over each other’s shoulders and happy expressions. Sophie was wearing a conical birthday hat, and there were mariachi band members in the background. He couldn’t remember a time when his family had celebrated his birthday with so much enthusiasm. He moved his gaze back to her. She was punching her keyboard and had a deliberate look.
“Am I in the way?” he asked.
“Oh, no. Sorry. I’m so used to reviewing my to-do list every morning, I just automatically pulled it up. I wanted to go over a few things with you before we get going. I was thinking about a couple of your ideas yesterday.”
Zeke moved self-consciously. He was afraid of what she’d say.
“They were great. Innovative. I wanted to tell you that, since I failed to do it yesterday. And last night, I thought about how some of the sales principles we’ll be using today could be useful in your future business venture. You know, the fishing expeditions you told me about?” She was concentrating on his face. So shocked by her pronouncements, he forgot to school his features into his usual smirking mask.
He cleared his throat and straightened the tie that was threatening to choke him.
“Thanks, Soph. I mean, Sophie.”
She raised her left hand while sipping coffee from the mug in the other hand.
“Can we forget what I said yesterday? I was mean, and you didn’t deserve it. You can call me Soph. I kind of like it. I just didn’t want you to know. No one’s ever had a nickname for me before.” She looked down at her lap. He thought she looked sad. He’d been called so many names over the years. He couldn’t quite imagine what her life had been like if what she said was true.
“OK. I was wondering, will we be taking
Walsh to lunch?” They had talked strategy, but not lunch plans.
“We’ll play it by ear.” She’d finished her coffee, but the pastry lay half-eaten on her plate. Zeke thought about the big breakfast of eggs, toast, bacon, and three cups of coffee he’d had earlier. No wonder the woman was thin and fit.
“I was thinking. Well, since we’ll be in Dallas, maybe…”
“What?”
“If we don’t have Walsh with us, I thought you might let me take you out to lunch. We’ll be working all day. It might be nice just to be two people at a good restaurant for an hour or so. What do you say?” He’d rather take her out at night, see her by candlelight, but that would have to wait for later.
“That’s,” she cast her eyes around the room. “That’s an idea we could consider,” she finally said. She followed that with a loud swallow.
“Only if you want to,” he said. This being civil was so new to him, he wasn’t sure where to push, where to pull, and when to stand back.
“It would be nice. We’ll see if it works out.” She shuffled some papers around on her desk without looking up. Her face had turned pink. She was nervous, he realized. Imagine that.
“Well. Shall we leave at nine?” he asked to break the tension in the room.
“Sounds good. Want to go over anything?”
“I’ll follow your lead.” He started to stand, hesitated, and sat back down. “Soph?” he asked. When she finally looked at him, he told her thank you for the compliments. She simply nodded and shuffled some more paper. He left her moving a folder she’d moved four times already.
“What do you know,” he thought, “I make her nervous?” He wasn’t sure what to think of that.
At nine, he stood in her doorway, waiting for her to close her computer. She was so capable, he thought. I am learning something from her, after all.
“I want you to know that I’m all in on this project with you,” he said as they walked together down the hallway. He waved at Robin but missed the frown his action elicited from Sophie. It was an innocent gesture on his part. Robin had asked him a couple of questions about office supplies and had been worried about what font to use in her memos. She seemed a good enough kid to him. He hoped to help her ease her way into the world of work. Her mother was friends with his mother. Junior League, he thought.
Sophie drove into Dallas. Zeke felt trapped inside the tiny car and squirmed uncomfortably. Sophie mistook it for impatience.
“You’ll do fine,” she said to encourage him. “All you have to do is turn on that Hart charm, and you’ll have Walsh eating out of your hand.”
“I’m not so sure about that,” he said. He tried to stretch one leg, but there was nowhere to go. His head hit the headliner anytime she hit a bump in the road.
“I always thought you were sure about everything,” she said.
He looked to see if she was serious.
“Why are you shaking your head?” she asked.
“We don’t know each other at all. Do we?”
“What do you mean? We’ve known each other forever.” She wrinkled her brow, a look he found endearing on her usually flawless face.
“I mean, we’ve been around each other for years. Both of us had some mistaken ideas about the other. I thought you were abrasive and angry, that you hated me.”
“I thought you were entitled and spoiled. I had no idea the things your family handed to you were unwanted. Never would have entered my mind to think that.”
He wasn’t sure why he did it, but he reached over and took her chin in his hand. She turned her cat green eyes on him with puzzlement. Without thinking, he leaned over and kissed her lips softly. She never closed her eyes as he pulled away.
“Sorry.” He’d interpreted her silent stare as disapproval.
“I’m not.”
He was starting to wonder if he should tell her to get her eyes back on the road, but her reply was such a surprise, he wasn’t sure of anything.
“You’re not?”
“I’ve been dreaming about that for a long, long time, Mr. Hart. Even if you are my boss.”
“Wonders never cease,” he said. “And, you know, I’m only your boss on paper. Every person that knows anything knows you run the show.” His smile would have lit up a ballroom. She grinned and turned back to watch the road. He could hear her humming a tune but couldn’t make it out.
“What are you singing?”
“I don’t want to tell you.” Her face and neck turned bright red.
“Come on.” He had to know now.
“Don’t laugh.” Her eyes twinkled with merriment.
“I won’t.” He crossed his heart with mock sincerity like they’d done when they were kids.
“My Boy Lollypop.” She turned to find him guffawing.
“You said you wouldn’t laugh.” Her eyes bugged, and her mouth turned into a pretty pout. She couldn’t believe she’d told him that. She shook her head, thinking she needed to watch her step because she was heading into a danger zone. She shouldn’t let her guard down after one kiss. Even if she’d been wondering what his lips would feel like on hers for years and years.
“It was just so unexpected.” He smiled the rest of the way into Dallas. Afraid she’d be angry if he let his mirth show, he took out his phone and scrolled through some pictures he’d taken at his favorite fishing hole. He didn’t know they’d arrived at Walsh Industries until she parked the car.
“Ready?” she asked.
“As I’ll ever be. Let’s go get ‘em, boss lady.”
She grinned. He liked this new Sophie Malloy; thought he could get used to her.
Chapter Nine
Zeke walked behind Sophie as she pushed through the glass doors of Walsh Industries and into the sunshine. Her excitement was contagious. Energy washed off her in waves. The meeting had gone well, in his opinion, but no papers were signed. He thought her enthusiasm was great, but a little early and said so.
“Oh, no.” She stopped in her tracks and turned to him with all sincerity shining in her eyes. “We hooked him. Did you see how he lit up when we mentioned the ad valorem tax break? And that was after he’d loved the idea of a discounted price on the land. Barry came through on that one. Didn’t he?”
“But he didn’t sign.”
“He will. Oh, yeah. He will. We’ve got him, hook, line, and sinker.”
“I love it when you talk fishing. It’s better than dirty talking.” He watched as she spun around on those ridiculously high heels. He wondered if the energy she emanated would transfer to him if he touched her. It was too hard to resist, so he lifted his hand for a high-five. She jumped and slapped his palm, then closed her fingers around his.
“We did it! I feel like celebrating!”
He pulled her close and wrapped his arm around her waist. When she didn’t resist, he leaned in and kissed her. She hummed with energy, and when she opened her mouth, he deepened the kiss automatically. She dropped his hand and ran fingers through his hair, then put both arms around his neck and moved closer. A deep growl rumbled from his throat as he felt her tongue exploring his mouth.
A young man in a black business suit and yellow power tie bounced down the steps beside them. He muttered, “Get a room.”
Zeke broke the kiss and leaned his forehead against Sophie’s. They were breathless and stood like that for a while before she spoke.
“You said something about lunch together?”
“Yep. I’ve got a mighty hunger,” he said. The lust in his eyes matched that of her own.
“Success makes me hungry,” she said. “I want a cheeseburger, onion rings, and a big chocolate shake. Are you in?”
“I had something more refined in mind, but why not?” He took her hand, and they walked to her car, swinging their arms like school kids.
“Let’s hit a drive-through.” Her eyes sparkled as she said it. She unlocked the doors and slid into the driver’s seat, immediately positioning the rearview mirror to check out her look.
> “You look sexy as hell,” he said. He was folding himself into the car with effort. A laugh bubbled out of Sophie’s mouth.
“You look uncomfortable as hell,” she said. “Next time, we’ll take your truck.” He sighed with relief and nodded gratefully.
At the drive-through, he handed his credit card over, and she used it to pay without arguing. She handed the card back and passed the drinks to him. Then she set the food between them and drove off. He reached into the bag, pulled out a piping hot onion ring, and popped it into his mouth. She looked aghast.
“You can’t do that.” She swatted at his arm to try to make him stop. He pulled away and started chewing. When he’d swallowed, he asked, “Why not?”
“It’s against the rules. You can’t eat until you get home, or wherever we’re going to eat.”
“Not in my rule book.” He took another out of the bag just to prove his point.
“Cretin.” Her smile gave her away.
“You need to loosen up, lady.” He finished the second onion ring and took a long drag off the straw that was too small for the thickness of his strawberry shake.
“I don’t want to loosen up. You’re too loose. I’m so excited about this sale, I feel like a wound-up top. I could spin off the face of the earth!” She had the windows down, and the sun shone on her wild hair, making it fly around her shoulders and into her eyes. She didn’t bother to push it back but seemed to relish the breeze. Zeke had never seen this side of her, but he liked what he saw.
“Let’s go to the Arboretum to eat.” She cast her eyes over and frowned. “That is if we have any food left by the time we get there.”
“Want one?” He held an onion ring out to her and laughed when she shook her head vehemently.
“Absolutely not.”
“Ah, come on, Soph. We’re celebrating here.” His pout was too cute. She relented by opening her mouth wide. He popped the crispy vegetable in, and she chewed enthusiastically. After she finished, she shook her head again.
“You’re bad news, Hart.”
Hook, Line, and Sinker Page 5