Blown Away (11 page)

“Just out of
curiosity, do you think I have any redeeming qualities?”

“Oh, you have
plenty,” she said, her eyes raking over him. “You just have to dig
a little deeper to get to them.”

He stood
upright, knowing his reaction to her perusal was evident. “Good to
know you think so.” If he stayed there any longer, he would blow
his cover. She’d know he was after her and not some woman who
looked good on paper. “So, I guess I’ll wait to hear from you
regarding that date?”

The humor left
her eyes immediately. “Right. The date. I’ll be in touch.”

“I still can’t believe
you were crazy enough to agree to this,” Tara said, wrinkling her
nose when Ava pointed to another woman’s profile.

Ava didn’t
trust her own judgement to select the right partner for Brent. Her
best friend knew their clients almost as well as she did, so she’d
asked for Tara’s help. “It’ll be great for business. Whenever the
press asks him how he met the love of his life, he’ll give us the
credit.” That should make her happy, not miserable. What was wrong
with her? Her business was the most important thing in her
life.

Oreo jumped
into her lap and Ava stroked Oreo’s silky fur mindlessly. She
clicked from one gorgeous headshot to the next. Any of these woman
could be a suitable partner for Brent, but she hadn’t tried to make
a single connection for him. He’d asked her to start the process
three days earlier. She knew she couldn’t continue to drag her
feet, so that day was her self-imposed deadline. She would set
Brent up with the woman who could become his wife, the mother of
his children.

Ava winced when
Oreo whimpered. Apparently just that thought made her more
aggressive. Poor Oreo had had to live with her mood swings ever
since Brent walked back in to her life.

Tara reached
for her mocha latte. “Still, setting your ex up with a new woman?
That’s just weird.”

“He’s not my
ex… exactly.” Her ex-lover maybe. He’d never technically been her
boyfriend.

“Keep telling
yourself that,” Tara said, rolling her eyes. “See if it makes it
any easier when you interview him about his dates. I can’t wait
until you get to the question about their sexual
compatibility.”

Ava’s dating
service delved deeper than most, especially during the follow-up.
She guaranteed success. If her efforts weren’t successful within
the first year, her clients could remain on, free of charge, until
she found them a suitable partner. That guarantee meant she
couldn’t be shy when it came to asking questions about why pairings
weren’t working.

“God, don’t
remind me,” she muttered, scowling at her screen.

“If you don’t
want to do it, don’t do it,” Tara said.

“If I tell him
no, he’ll want to know why. What am I supposed to say?”

“Tell him the
truth: you have feelings for him.”

“Don’t be
ridiculous.”

Tara shrugged.
“You can deny it all you want, but I know you. You wouldn’t have
slept with him back in college unless you had a thing for him.”

“Everyone had a
thing for him back in college, you included.” At least that much
was true.

“Yeah, but that
doesn’t explain why you slept with him again. You don’t do casual
sex, Ava. Never have.”

Damn Tara for
knowing her so well. “I haven’t had a boyfriend in a while. Maybe I
just wanted to have sex, and he happened to be willing and
available. A familiar stranger.”

“A crazy-hot
familiar stranger who rocked your world once before. You can’t tell
me you weren’t curious about whether he’d live up to your
expectations after the first time.” Tara giggled. “You’ve had a few
lovers since college. Was Brent as good as you remembered?”

Ava sighed.
Tara wouldn’t let it go until she had her answers. “He was even
better. Are you happy now?”

“So how the
hell can you just hand him off to someone else? I don’t have to
tell you how hard it is to find a good guy in this city. Brent’s
smart, sexy, handsome, rich--”

“Enough,” Ava
said, raising her hand. “You’re not supposed to sell me on his
attributes. We’re supposed to sell one of these girls on him.” She
gestured to her laptop.

“Please, like
that’s gonna be a hard sell. Any one of these women would give
their right arm for a date with him.”

“That’s true.”
Ava bit her lip as she glanced at one of the women they’d narrowed
it down to.

“Tell me the
truth,” Tara said, nudging her arm. “Why are you really doing this?
Is it so you won’t be tempted to go back for more?”

“That’s just
insulting.”
But true.

“Come on, hon,
this is me. Remember? You can tell me anything, you know that.”
Tara smiled. “Why won’t you just give the guy a chance? What are
you so afraid of?”

“I told you
about the stunt he pulled when I was at dinner with Steven. I
couldn’t let him get away with that!”

“You could have
let him off with a warning. He went to a lot of trouble to
apologize. I have to believe this nonsense about hiring you to fix
him up is just his way of getting close to you.”

“I thought so
too, at first. But when we talked, I realized he was serious about
looking for a partner.”

“Yeah, but
maybe he wants that to be you.”

“Never!” Just
the thought of being in a committed relationship with a man like
Brent made her nervous. He would take over every area of her life…
if she let him.

Tara placed a
hand on her friend’s shoulder. “I just want you to be sure you’re
making the right call. Once we set this in motion, there’s no
turning back. Think about how bad it would be for business if you
stole the boyfriend of one your clients.”

Tara was right.
That would be a public relations nightmare. “I know what I’m
doing.” At least, she hoped she did.

***

Keith walked
into Brent’s office without waiting for an invitation. “So tell me,
am I brilliant or what?”

Brent couldn’t
tear his eyes away from his computer. “Get out, I’m busy.”

“You always say
that.”

“That’s because
I’m always busy. What do you think I do, sit here and twiddle my
goddamn thumbs all day waiting for money and opportunities to fall
out of the sky?”

“Somebody’s in
a mood.” Keith chuckled as he walked to the bar. He poured water
into a crystal glass. “Things didn’t go as planned with Ava?”

“I don’t know
what the hell to think.” Brent knew trying to convince his brother
Ava wasn’t the reason for his foul mood was pointless. Keith knew
him too well. “I went to her office, convinced her to take me on as
a client, gave her a blank check, and I haven’t heard from her
since. That was three days ago.” He’d felt as though he made
headway with her. They’d started to re-connect, as friends, and he
thought it was only a matter of time before she stopped seeing him
as a control freak and started to see him as a man she’d like to
get to know better.

“You’re too
impatient. It’s only been a few days.”

“It feels like
a lifetime.” He wasn’t used to just waiting. He believed in making
things happen.

“Trust me,
it’ll work. You’ve got to give it time. Go out with the girls she
sets you up with, keep it platonic, and give her a list of reasons
why it’ll never work.”

“What if I
can’t come up with any? What if they’re perfect?”

“If they are,
you won’t even consider keeping it platonic,” Keith said, grinning.
“I know you.”

“Man, this
isn’t funny.” If the shoe were on the other foot, he’d be cracking
jokes at his brother’s expense too, but he couldn’t find humor in
putting his heart on the line.

“It is pretty
damn funny, if you think about. Your whole life women have been
killing themselves trying to nail you down. Then the one woman who
does it for you won’t give you the time of day.”

That wasn’t
entirely true. She’d given him her body… twice. But he wouldn’t be
satisfied until he’d captured her heart. “I suggest you get back to
work unless you--” A soft tap on the door interrupted him. He
glanced at his watch. His gatekeeper was probably out for lunch.
“Come in.”

When Brent’s
visitor entered, Brent and Keith exchanged a stunned look. Not
trusting himself to speak, Brent hoped his brother would be the one
to demand answers.

“It’s been so
long,” she whispered, looking from Brent to Keith.

“Not long
enough,” Brent finally said.

“Please, I just
need a few moments of your time,” his mother said, her blue eyes
welling with tears. She turned to her younger son. “This is
important.”

Brent leaned
back and kicked his feet up on a desk that cost more than most
people earned in a year. He was glad she’d come to see him in his
posh office in the high-rise office building he’d built on the
corner he owned. He felt like the king of his world, and she was a
lowly peasant.

“I don’t have
time for you.” He bared his teeth, knowing the expression didn’t
remotely resemble a smile. “I have businesses to take over, lives
to ruin.” He chuckled at her look of shock. “That’s what you came
here to see me about, isn’t it? To beg for mercy on behalf of your
pathetic husband and worthless son?”

“Brent,
please…” She stepped forward as Keith thrust his hands in his
pocket, looking to his brother for direction.

“They did this
to themselves. They overextended, made bad decisions, got sloppy.”
Brent laced his hands behind his head, as though he didn’t have a
care in the world. They all knew he held all the cards. “I take
people like them out all the time. It’s what I do.” He gestured to
his opulent office. “Take a look around you. This doesn’t come
easily. It doesn’t happen by accident, without making sacrifices
and taking risks.”

“I’m proud of
you,” she said quietly. She looked regal in a Chanel suit, her
silver blond bob flawlessly styled, her smooth face meticulously
polished.

But her mask of
perfection didn’t fool Brent. She was still the same woman who’d
walked out on the husband who loved her and the children who needed
her. Beauty was only skin deep.

“You don’t have
the right to be proud of me. You didn’t do a goddamn thing to
contribute to my success.”

She winced and
stole a glance at her younger son. “I know, but-”

“No, you don’t
know.” Brent leaned forward, slamming his hand on the burled walnut
desktop. “You haven’t got a clue. Where were you when I needed help
with homework or one of us was sick or…” He wouldn’t get into it
with her. It was ancient history, long forgotten. “Forget it. I
said I don’t have time for you and I meant it. Get out, or I’ll
call security.”

She gasped, a
manicured hand adorned with diamonds pressed to her chest. “You
would do that to your own mother?”

“You’re not my
mother. You haven’t been for twenty-seven years. You’re just some
woman who shares my D.N.A.”

“I know you may
never forgive me for walking out on you, but using my family to get
back at me is just cruel.”

He stared at
her, trying to process her words. Her family. She was in his office
to defend the people who meant everything to her against the people
who meant nothing. It shouldn’t sting, but it did. “I’ll destroy
your husband and son. I’ll take everything that ever meant anything
to you and them. You’d better plan to sell the fancy house and cars
before they come to foreclose.” He flashed a quick grin. He was
enjoying himself, and he wanted her to know it. “Imagine what the
neighbors will say. Oh, and the country club membership? Cancel
it.”

Her lower lip
trembled, her wide eyes shining with unshed tears. “When did you
become so hateful?”

“When you gave
me good reason to hate you.” He picked up his phone. “Calling
security. Ten, nine, eight…”

“I’m
leaving.”

Keith waited
until the door closed before sinking into the seat across from his
brother. “I can’t believe she came here to plead their case.”

“Don’t kid
yourself, kid. She wasn’t here for them, she was here for herself.
She sees everything she loves slipping away, and it’s killing her.”
Underneath the woman raising money and chairing her causes, she was
just the daughter of an out-of-work janitor who drank himself to
death in a cardboard box under a bridge. No amount of money would
change that.

“How many times
have you seen her at events over the years?” Keith asked, glancing
at the closed door.

“Plenty of
times. I pretend I don’t know her. She does the same.”

“I’ve run into
her a few times too. She tried to talk to me once, but I just cut
her off.”

“Don’t feel
guilty about that. She’s not worth your time.” Brent reached into
his drawer for his car keys. He needed to escape. Thankfully, he’d
driven his Mercedes. He needed to put the top down, find an old
back road, and escape life for a while. “I’ll be back in a few
hours. Or not.”

***

Ava was on her
way out for lunch when the elevator revealed Brent. He looked
incredible in faded jeans, a tight grey T-shirt, and cowboy boots.
“What are you doing here?” she asked.

“I needed to
get out of the office for a while. My housekeeper packed some lunch
when I went home to change.” He smiled. “Care to play hooky with me
for a few hours?”

Ava remembered
that look. She’d seen it when they were in college. He was upset or
stressed about something and needed to talk, but he wouldn’t admit
he needed to vent until she pried it out of him. She should keep
her distance since he was technically her client, but she’d never
been able to turn her back on someone in need.

“Sounds good.”
She looked down at her fitted blue dress and high heels. “I feel a
little over-dressed.”

“No problem. We
can swing by your place so you can change.”