Not her.
Them.
Her cheeks burned as she knocked back the rest of her champagne, draining the half-full glass. She could let them have their day. She should let them have their day. Her dad probably wanted to talk to her privately before he made the announcement.
Of course. He wouldn’t just announce her promotion without preparing her first.
Today was a day to celebrate Kenneth and Barbara. In fact, she was proud of her dad for not making today all about business. It took a lot of restraint on his part, since he was always all business, all the time. Plus, something so important as her stepping into her father’s shoes needed to be discussed. Even though they had already discussed it—in broad terms. But now that his retirement had a fixed date, they would need to discuss her salary. They needed to talk about his expectations. She needed to make sure he understood she wanted complete control. His role would be as support system to her.
Or better yet, he’d stay out of Fortunado Real Estate altogether and enjoy his retirement as she implemented her vision for the company.
Her gaze found Zach again. Like her, he stood just outside of the knot of people clustered around her parents, wishing them well.
Once she took over, she would offer Zach a lovely promotion. It was the least she could do if she couldn’t offer him her body—Stop that. To date, she’d never offered him her body and now she never would. And that was not the way a boss should think about an employee. Even if said employee was drop-dead gorgeous and flirted outrageously with her. He flirted outrageously with all women. He had a different girl with him every time she saw him. And that’s why she needed to focus on what would come next: her promotion. It was a chance to give her all to something bigger than herself—something that would never let her down. That was the way to go.
She would always love Zach, but he would never know it.
That was the price she would pay to secure her future. A future so close she could taste it.
* * *
Zach McCarter was honored to be invited to hear his boss’s big announcement. From the first minute Zach had joined the Fortunado Real Estate team five years ago, Kenneth Fortunado had made him feel like part of the family. Even so, he felt a little out of place here today. Like a fish out of water among Kenneth’s adult children and close friends. However, when his boss welcomed him as part of the family, it would be rude—hell, it would be downright ungrateful—to second-guess the invitation.
His gaze landed on Maddie Fortunado, who was standing apart from her sisters and the others who were clustered around their parents. Only he and Maddie, with her long blond hair and perfect skin, hung back.
She stood with her arms folded, wearing a Mona Lisa smile that didn’t quite reach her blue eyes. Zach knew she would wait until the scrum had dissipated before going in. He knew this because it’s what he’d do. He and Maddie were a lot alike when it came to things like this—and in their approach to business. But their backgrounds were polar opposite.
With her Ivy League education and continental upbringing, Maddie Fortunado was not your standard Texas debutante. She was smart—too smart to concern herself with inconsequential things that didn’t matter. She put her Harvard Business School education to good use at Fortunado Real Estate and seemed to live, eat, breathe and sleep her career.
While he and Maddie were philosophically alike, Zach hadn’t been born into money. He wasn’t implying that Maddie didn’t work hard. In fact, he had to hand it to her, she never coasted on the privilege of being the boss’s daughter. She was good at her job as vice president of sales. She was always in the office. Every time he was there, so was she. No one could accuse her of not pulling her weight. But at the end of the day, she was the boss’s daughter. That’s why he had to check any feelings that might have remotely resembled attraction.
And there had been a few.
Zach had worked double time just to get to the starting gate of his career, so that a man like Kenneth Fortunado not only knew his name, but respected him enough to invite him into his home and include him in an occasion like this.
Maddie glanced his way again and he made a face at her. She smiled—as he knew she would. She shook her head and rolled her eyes good-naturedly.
Zach closed the distance between them, walking across the marble back porch, past the koi pond to stand next to her.
“Hey,” he said.
“Hey, yourself.” She cocked a brow. “I guess they let anyone in here these days.”
“Surprised by the announcement?” he asked.
She shrugged. “In some ways, yes, but it’s been a long time coming. So, in that regard, no.”
“What happens next?” he asked.
“What do you mean?” She raised her chin a fraction of an inch, a tell that she knew something she wasn’t sharing.
“If anyone knows what’s going to happen with the business after your father retires, it would be you.”
She opened her blue eyes wide, obviously feigning cluelessness, but she wasn’t very good at it.
“I don’t know, Zach. I guess you’ll just have to wait for another Fortunado family announcement.”
She fisted her hands on her hips and the movement showed off her sleek tanned arms beneath her crisp white sleeveless blouse. She had great arms that were toned and feminine. And long, long legs that could drive a man to distraction if he allowed it. Zach wouldn’t allow it. He couldn’t allow it, he thought, forbidding himself to glance down.
It was likely that Maddie would be named her father’s successor. That meant she would go from being the boss’s daughter to being the boss. No matter how alluring he found those long legs, they weren’t worth compromising his job. He’d worked too hard to get to where he was today to risk losing it all.
“Everyone, lunch is ready,” said Barbara. The crowd around her and Kenneth thinned. “Please help yourselves. We have pulled pork, barbecued brisket, and chicken. I hope you brought your appetites. Because there’s plenty of food and I don’t want any leftovers.”
Schuyler and Carlo were the first ones to approach the buffet. Zach and Maddie continued to hang back and let the other guests and Fortunado siblings go first. No matter how many family functions or Sunday lunches like this one that he’d attended, he always tried to err on the side of politeness. He was thirty-two years old and had been in the business since he was eighteen, but at times like this, he still felt out of place. If he thought about it too hard, the fifteen-year-old boy who was on the outside looking in beckoned him farther back into the periphery, where he would feel more comfortable watching than diving into the middle of everything. He’d outgrown his insecurities, of course. He’d like to think he’d gotten as strong as he was to spite them. Because confidence had been a must to succeed in the real estate business. In fact, in this industry, confidence was everything. But being in the Fortunado home like this, he preferred to stand back and watch the family dynamics. Watch and learn. The natural family rhythm fascinated him. Especially families like this that were so different from what he was used to.
“The food doesn’t get any warmer,” said Maddie. “You better get it while it’s hot. Or at least before my cousin Dale goes through the line.”
Maddie nodded toward a tall skinny guy who was still talking to Kenneth.
“He didn’t earn the name the closer because he’s good at sales,” Maddie said. “He eats a lot.”
“The closer, huh?” Zach said. “That sounds formidable.”
“Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
Maddie motioned for him to join her as she approached the buffet line. He followed. She picked up two plates and offered him one. Her hand brushed his as he accepted it.
“Are you happy at Fortunado, Zach?” she asked.
The non sequitur made him do a mental double take. “Happy?” he repeated. “Of course I’m happy.”
“Good to know.” Her gaze searched his eyes. There was something in them he didn’t understand. Especiall
y when they dipped to his lips for the briefest of seconds. She bit her bottom lip, a hint of color blossoming in her cheeks, before lifting her eyes to hold his gaze again.
There was something understatedly sexy about her and the realization caught him off guard. He could test these mixed signals she was sending—these cracks in her buttoned-up, businesslike armor that kept him guessing, making him wonder if he was reading her right. And he was usually very good at reading people. He prided himself on it.
But these flirty looks of Maddie’s sometimes morphed into stare-downs that became games of chicken to see who would look away first. The accidental brush of hands, and now asking him if he was happy at Fortunado? What was that all about?
“Why?” he asked. “If I was, say, restless, would you be willing to make it worth my while to stay?”
“And how would you propose I make it worth your while?”
She watched him, waiting for his answer as she held out the white china plate for the server to dish up a piece of chicken and a portion of brisket.
He arched a brow, and his gut clenched at the thoughts swirling around his head. He felt as if he were contemplating taking something that didn’t belong to him. Like finding a twenty-dollar bill on the sidewalk—you could stuff it in your pocket and walk away...or you could do the right thing and try to find the owner.
She must’ve read it in his expression.
“You’re full of yourself, McCarter.” He watched her walk to an empty table off to the side, rather than joining her sisters and Carlo at the one in the middle of the patio.
Zach took his plate of barbecue and followed her, claiming the seat next to her. “Full of myself? That wasn’t a very nice thing to say.”
Her eyes widened. “You’re so sensitive.”
“That’s me. I’m just a sensitive kind of guy. Isn’t that what the ladies want? A sensitive guy?”
She cut a piece of chicken off the bone. Raising the fork to her lips, she stopped short of putting the bite into her mouth, a mischievous smile tipping up the corners of her lips.
“Is that what you tell all the ladies?” Maddie asked. “That you’re a sensitive kind of guy?”
Zach flashed his best smile. “Whatever works.”
“Whatever works,” she repeated. “Is that your philosophy?”
“Nope. Sensitivity is my philosophy. How could you forget?” He made a stabbing gesture in the center of his chest. “I thought we’d finally found something in common. You know, you liking sensitive men and me being sensitive.”
She laughed and her cheeks colored. He liked the thought of rattling calm, cool, collected, perfect Madeleine Fortunado. He wanted to get under her skin. Because it was the closest he’d come to ever getting under anything of hers.
* * *
Maddie took a sip of her margarita, willing herself to calm down. She was grateful when Schuyler and Carlo moved from their original spot and joined them.
“What’s wrong?” Schuyler asked Maddie when they sat down. “What did I miss?”
Zach snared Maddie’s gaze and he raised his eyebrow, issuing a challenge for her to explain the conversation.
“Zach will explain.” She turned to him and smiled.
“Whatever works.” He winked at her and her cheeks colored again.
He cleared his throat. “I was just asking Maddie what she did for fun. You know, I’m starting to get the feeling that all she does is work. She doesn’t always work, does she?”
“Pretty much,” Schuyler said.
“There has to be something else,” he said. “I’m curious about what she likes to do for fun.”
Schuyler looked as if she wasn’t buying it. “Oh, really? I know my sister works a lot, but you two get together every Friday night at the Thirsty Ox, don’t you?”
“Of course we do,” Maddie said.
“But that’s still work-related,” Zach qualified.
“And Zach usually brings a date,” Maddie added. “Or he stops by and rushes out to meet a date.”
“I didn’t realize you noticed,” Zach said.
Carlo and Schuyler watched them banter back and forth as if they were the lunchtime entertainment, and Maddie wanted to bolt.
“Even so,” he said. “How is it that I don’t know much about you? What are your interests outside of the office? When you’re not thinking about real estate, what do you think about?”
Maddie felt herself blanch. “That’s a little personal, don’t you think?”
“No, it’s not,” Zach said. “Is it? I don’t mean to make you uncomfortable. I just want to know you better. I was hoping you would tell me one thing I didn’t know.” He held up his hands. “But if you’d rather not, it’s okay.”
Before Maddie could reply, he turned his attention to Carlo and Schuyler.
“Where will you live after you’re married?” he asked.
“I’m helping them find a house in Austin,” Maddie cut in before her sister could answer. “And I have a dog.”
“What?” Zach looked puzzled.
“You asked me to tell you one thing about myself that you didn’t know. I have a dog. So, there you go. That’s one thing.”
Zach nodded. “I didn’t know that. Thank you for sharing it with me. What kind of dog?”
Maddie shook her head. “Nope. You said one thing. Now it’s your turn. One thing. Start talking, McCarter.”
He blinked. “Fair enough. I lived in San Antonio for five years and before that I traveled around a lot.”
“I know that about you,” Maddie said. “Tell me something I don’t know.”
“Really?” He wrinkled his brow. “How do you know that?”
Maddie bit the insides of her cheeks. She had to be careful not to tip her hand. A lot of her Zach information had come from perusing his social media accounts, which were usually pretty generic and real estate–oriented, but occasionally a friend of his would post a personal morsel and Maddie would gobble it up like cake. Of course, she’d be mortified if he ever found out that she stalked him on Facebook and Instagram. But, hey, it was a free country, and his social media pages were open to the public. It wasn’t as if she’d hacked in or was doing anything devious. It was all completely aboveboard.
Sort of.
Social media was a secret crush resource. It was fair game.
Even so, she would be mortified if he found out.
“I’m sure you mentioned it before,” she said nonchalantly. “How else would I know?”
“Is that a tactic to get me to divulge two things about myself to your one?” He looked smug, as if he’d uncovered her diabolical plan.
“Okay. Whatever.” Maddie shrugged him off, wanting to quit while she was ahead. “It’s not that important.”
She immediately regretted how cold her words sounded. If she was good at flirting, she could’ve gotten some mileage out of their banter. But the truth was, flirting sort of freaked her out. She could do it up to a point, but when he got too close, she choked. When she choked, her defense mechanisms kicked in and she came across as prickly. Because it was so much easier to pretend like she didn’t care. It was just as well, she supposed. Because she shouldn’t care.
But then Zach was sitting there pretending to look wounded and her stomach flipped.
“Ouch!” he said. “I have been put in my place.”
No! That’s not what I meant. I didn’t know what else to say.
Then he smiled and those dimples winked at her. If her mind had been spinning before, she was at a total loss for words now.
She was glad when his phone rang.
He took it out of his pocket and glanced at the screen. “Sorry, I need to take this call. Excuse me, please?”
She watched him unfold his long body from his place at the table. He answered the call while he was still close enough for Maddie to hear him say, “Hey, how are you?” His voice sounded low and sexy, qualities that suggested he wasn’t talking to a client. Her heart fluttered and then sank. She
’d heard him on the phone with clients before. This was definitely a girlfriend. Zach had a lot of girlfriends because he was a flirt. He had an easy appeal, especially with women. He flirted with any woman who would flirt back... Not so unlike the way he was flirting with her.
You’re not special. He flirts with everyone.
That thought was like a cold glass of water, a reality check to remind herself that she really should stop this nonsense before she embarrassed herself. She was already way out of her element carrying on like she had been.
He was good at what he did. And because he was good at what he did, Maddie needed him on her team at Fortunado Real Estate when she took over for her father.
Priorities. Do not muddy the waters. Remember what’s important.
“Speaking of house hunting,” Maddie said, looking at her sister.
Schuyler looked puzzled. “We weren’t.”
“I mentioned it a few minutes ago,” Maddie said. “I have a house to show you. It’s not even on the market yet. One of my clients gave me the heads-up. It’s a dream house so it’ll go fast. When can we go look?”
Schuyler clapped her hands. “Let’s go this week. As soon as you can come to Austin.” She turned and looked at her husband-to-be. “Carlo, can you take some time off next week?”
“Anything for you, my love.” Carlo leaned in and planted a kiss on Schuyler’s cheek.
“Okay, then,” Maddie said. “I’ll call my client and check her availability.”
She started to excuse herself from the table, but Zach was already making his way back.
On second thought, maybe the call to the client could wait until after lunch.
Zach caught her eye as he walked back to the table. His long stride was loose and comfortable. Her mind raced, searching for something witty to say after he sat down. She thought about quipping about the call being personal, maybe teasing him about showing his sensitive side. But they’d worn out that joke. Instead, she resorted to the traditional and polite.
“Is everything okay?”
“Sure,” he said. “But I do need to go.”
Maddie Fortune's Perfect Man Page 2