A Little Wild (9 page)

“Okay. Well, I don’t feel passionate about grocery stores, I can tell you that much. I don’t feel passionate about dry cleaners or car dealerships or strip malls. Don’t get me wrong. Halliday Enterprises has been good to me. As a teenager, I never had to look for a summer job. My father expected me to work for the company in whatever manner he deemed appropriate at the time, and I did. Thanks to Halliday, I earned enough to finance my university degree and travel. But I’ve never felt satisfied working for my father, and that’s what needs to change.”

And it would change, regardless of his father’s eventual reaction. Zach might have slack-assed his way through his twenties, but his thirties would be different. It was time to stand up for what he believed in, live his life rather than continually trying to placate his father.

Tess’s eyes widened. “You’re serious about this.”

“Damn straight.” Her head was probably spinning from information overload. He had to pace himself before he turned her off the idea of working for him and his hollow threats to seek out Renfrew lost their charm.

As if on cue, his stomach grumbled. He glanced at his watch. “I’m starving. What say we continue this over lunch?”

“I think the meeting went well, don’t you?” Ethan’s father asked, sinking into an armchair in Lawrence Greenburg’s office and snipping the end off the fat cigar Lawrence had offered. Ethan had declined his own cigar, happy to cite an early afternoon appointment in the trendy downtown neighborhood of Yaletown as an excuse. Whole Latte Lovin’ sat a block from the marketing specialist he was meeting. Hopefully, he’d have time to pop in for a macchiato.

Lawrence parked his massive frame in the second armchair. A sofa and two marble-topped coffee tables complemented the dark furniture in the executive office suite, but restlessness stirred within Ethan. He preferred to stand.

“I don’t know, Dad.” He toyed with the money clip in his trouser pocket. “Zach might get ticked when he finds out what you have planned.” A gross understatement. His brother would be pissed off to the extreme when he learned their father’s intentions.

“You won’t tell him.”

“It’s not my place.” Dad had requested secrecy for the next few weeks, and Ethan didn’t want to cross his father when they were both working like dogs lately.

Besides, once Graham Halliday reached a decision, a steamroller couldn’t deter him. Hell, maybe Dad’s announcement would finally persuade Zach to get off his ass and behave like a responsible adult.

“Good,” Dad said. “Don’t worry. Zach participated in the meeting, asked pertinent questions, provided excellent insight. He’s studying the projections with Teresa now. Since when has your brother expressed an interest in projections?”

“Never.” Which should tell their father something. Like maybe Zach had a personal interest in the woman.

“You see? Give the boy a chance. He might surprise us.” Dad accepted a light from Lawrence then drew on the cigar before resting his hand on his knee, where the cigar would remain. Since Ethan and Zach’s mom had died of ovarian cancer sixteen years ago, the cigar shtick was for show—an old habit symbolizing respect between two long-standing business associates and friends.

Lawrence cleared his throat. “I must say, Graham, I agree with Ethan. Let me call Teresa’s office again, invite Zachary up here. We’ll explain what you have in mind.”

Ethan’s father shook his head. “No. If we do that, my son won’t give the project a chance. Zach doesn’t know what’s good for him. If he did, he would have taken action by now.”

“It’s our responsibility to show him what’s good for him?” Ethan asked.

“I’m his father, aren’t I? And you’re his big brother.” Cigar smoke curled from his father’s knee. The rich scent filled the office. “I realize you don’t approve of how I’m handling this, Ethan, but Zach needs a swift kick in the behind. He can’t laze about forever.” Waving a hand, Dad glanced at Lawrence. “Let’s discuss something else. I’ve been thinking about the Christmas fundraiser for Floretta House. How does a black-and-white dinner at five hundred a plate sound? We’ll target the elite, scrounge deep in their pockets for a worthy cause.”

Lawrence nodded. “I like my chicken at five hundred a plate.”

“At five hundred, we’d better serve lobster.” Dad laughed.

Ethan nodded. “I’ll contact the event planner from last year.” The charity established in their mother’s name was a favorite of his and Zach’s. Despite Ethan’s multiple commitments, he wouldn’t forfeit his involvement. “I’ll dig up some numbers and present them to the Floretta House board.”

His father lifted a hand. “Let Zach contact the event planner, son. The busy work will distract him from the Crockett’s deal.”

“Until you spring it on him?”

“If that’s how you want to look at it. However, you may present Zach’s findings to the board. We’ll proceed from there.”

Chapter Six

Zach Halliday was a persuasive guy, Tess decided as she bit into the second half of her turkey sandwich. This morning, as she’d squirmed her way through the Crockett’s meeting, then later, when her inner nympho had commandeered control of her body beneath her desk, she never would have predicted that she and Graham Halliday’s allegedly shiftless youngest son would share a meal on a backless bench in a downtown square with a view of Burrard Inlet.

Yet here they were.

The ocean breeze ruffled his dark brown hair as he enjoyed his own roast beef concoction. Behind him, the double-peaked white sails of Canada Place swooped in graceful arcs like open hands cradling the Pacific sky, and the SeaBus commuter ferry skated steadily toward the mountainous North Shore.

Tess brushed a breeze-strewn hair off her face and wondered how Zach Halliday had broken through her defenses so easily.

Logically, she realized he’d recognized her hot buttons—number one her need to prove herself to Mr. Greenburg. Then, following Sammi’s timely phone call, he’d picked up on her desperation to shove their relationship back into the business arena. However, his uncanny ability to detect her rivalry with Phil Renfrew without her uttering one word about the pea-brain amazed her. And for someone who professed disinterest in the Crockett’s acquisition, Zach’s comments during the meeting had been remarkably perceptive. No wonder Graham had wanted him present.

Like Zach had said in her office, there was more to him than met the eye.

What met the eye was none too shabby, either.

She sidled her gaze over his handsome features then lower, to the ivory polo shirt accentuating his broad chest and muscular biceps. Dark hair swept his tanned forearms, and his large hands with their sturdy fingers and square-tipped nails looked…talented.

Images of those big hands caressing her panties flooded her mind, and her clit buzzed. She squeezed her thighs together to decrease the tension, but the pressure aroused her further.

Damn it, she should have insisted that they eat in a crowded restaurant instead of agreeing to enjoy the beautiful day outside. After the scene under her desk, she’d thought the public setting would feel less intimate than sharing a table for two indoors, but it didn’t. If anything, the sounds and movements of the passing shoppers, tourists and business people cocooned their bench in a fantasy-inspiring bubble.

She needed to work on stifling her physical response to the man if she hoped to take him on as a client. Given the circumstances of their meeting, would becoming his lawyer be wise? To look at him, he had everything. A father and brother who cared for him, and the chance to rocket to the top at the most successful corporation in the city. Yet Zach claimed he didn’t want any part of the opportunities available to him at Halliday Enterprises. That alone fascinated her.

Even with the due diligence for the Crockett’s acquisition swamping her for the next several weeks, how could she turn down this chance to expand her client list? Just one new client of the caliber Zach had mentioned would impress the senior partners. Luring more could secure her a junior partnership eons ahead of that weasel, Phil.

She chewed her sandwich. Juicy tomato slices layered the crunchy bean sprouts and slices of roast turkey breast. The sandwich was so filling, she wouldn’t need dinner.

“Good?” Zach asked as his knee knocked hers.

Swallowing, she nodded. “How’s yours?”

“Fantastic. I love the food from Sandie’s Deli. I drop in every chance I get.”

“Same here.” Tess sipped her strawberry smoothie.
Relax
. “I eat at Sandie’s twice a week, usually when I’m working late. I’m surprised I haven’t run into you there.”

“I don’t work late.”

She studied him. “That will have to change, you know.” She set her smoothie cup on the bench. “If you want the climbing center to succeed, you’ll need to work day and night to get it off the ground. Most new business owners log horrendous hours. I’m talking sixty- or seventy-hour workweeks, Zach.”

“Kind of like a backroom lawyer.”

Touché.
However, with his money and connections, he had several options. “I’m serious. Unless you plan on hiring a manager right away, running this business will consume your time and energy. Don’t kid yourself that it won’t.”

“I’m not. I know it’ll be rough, Tess, and I’m fully prepared to follow through. I don’t want to hire a manager until I have to. Even then, I’d like to remain in charge of the gym and juice bar, just find someone to run the equipment store. I’m not about to leave my father’s company to fade into the background with my own business. I want to be there every day, interacting with my customers. Climbing The Walls is my baby. If anyone needs to feed her and change her dirty diapers, it’s gonna be me.”

Tess smiled at the odd but accurate analogy. Zach Halliday was one creative guy—both on the phone and off it. “Climbing The Walls. Great name.”

“I figure it’ll accurately reflect my state of mind by the time I open.”

“What’s your time frame?”

“Three or four months from now—the middle of November or December. Rock-climbing addicts will be screaming for a dry indoor haven. It’s perfect.”

“You can capitalize on Christmas by advertising annual memberships as gifts.”

“Good idea.” He finished his sandwich and stuffed the wrapping in the take-out bag. “Does this input mean you’ve decided to represent me?”

Tess tried to stop grinning at him like an idiot, but his enthusiasm for his plans was contagious.
Yeah, that’s it.

“I don’t know,” she responded in a light tone matching his. “You still haven’t answered one of my many questions.”

He closed an eye against the bright noon sunshine. “Which one is that?”

“About why you came to me. Like you said, Zach, I’m stuck in the back rooms a lot. Until today, I hadn’t even met your father. How did you hear about me?”

His coffee-brown gaze traveled over her face, warming her from the inside out. He rested a hand on his thigh, close to her hip. “Like a dog with a bone,” he murmured.

“Like a detail-oriented lawyer.”

“Well, detail-oriented lawyer, I did consult a couple of others before you, but they backfired.”

“At Greenburg & Associates?”

He shook his head. “At first I didn’t want to hire someone from L.G.’s firm, in case word leaked to my father before I was ready.”

“That wouldn’t happen at Greenburg.”

“There’s always a chance talk will happen. The trick is preventing it as long as you can.”

“True.” Done eating, she wiped sandwich crumbs from her lips and hands with a napkin.

Zach glanced at his watch. “Should we keep talking here or walk?”

“Walk and talk. I need to get back.”

He collected their garbage and deposited it in a trash can before they joined the flow of pedestrians. When they reached Cordova, they turned toward the Greenburg offices on Howe Street. As one of the city’s electric trolley buses chugged by, Zach resumed their conversation. “One of the drawbacks to having a lot of money is that nearly everyone you meet wants a piece. Until a friend recommended you, every lawyer I contacted was more interested in how my Halliday connections might benefit them rather than how they could help me.”

Tess’s heart pinched. A passerby jostled her arm, and she repositioned her purse strap on her shoulder. “Is that why you offered me client referrals, because you thought I’d want something from you?” She hated to think she came across so shallow.

“No. However, considering how upset you were to find out who I really am, I figured I should ply you with an extra something.”

Well, he could consider her plied. Because the more she learned about Zach Halliday, the more she wanted to help him.

And no,
she chastised her horny inner nympho, who longingly wished she only knew him as Jack,
my desire to help him has nothing to do with fantasizing about dragging him to bed.

“How many lawyers did you consult?” she asked in an effort to banish the inner nympho.

“Enough to realize I needed to hire someone I could trust. That meant seeking the advice of a friend.”

“Who recommended me?”

“Rob Tanaka. Of the restaurant and sushi bar by the same name on Thurlow.”

“You know Rob?” Tess represented Rob as well as his parents, Yosh and Emiko. The senior Tanakas operated a souvenir shop in Gastown, Vancouver’s history-rich tourist district.

Zach nodded. “We met my first year at UBC.”

“Small world. I wandered into Rob’s parents’ store one day after work, oh, it must have been two years ago. I was looking for postcards, started talking to Yosh—”

“And learned about their landlord hassles. Rob told me. They couldn’t afford to hire a lawyer, so you represented them free of charge. That was nice.”

Ridiculously pleased with the compliment, she smiled again. “Most lawyers handle pro bono cases.”

“Yeah, but not all of them are into helping small-business owners. The Tanakas’ case was a blip on the radar screen, but you took it on.”

“I love representing small businesses.” She’d miss the work when she made partner and needed to quadruple her efforts on billable hours. “Helping Rob’s parents paid off when he opened his restaurant. He hired me as a result.” Rob had asked her out to dinner, too, but she’d said no. Besides being a client, he was too good looking. Then, as now, she hadn’t wanted to risk the distraction.