His to Keep (Beauty and the Brit) (31 page)

“I’ll see if we can have a family dinner or something,” she said. “I’ll have to call my dad and tell him, too.”

“What’s he like, your father?”

“Nice. Normal.”

“Are you close?”

“I talk to my dad and his wife, Karen, every couple of weeks. He used to fix refrigerators, but now he gets to fish every day, so he’s happy.”

“If you tell your sisters, they’re going to give you hell, you know.”

“I do know. I’ve had a lifetime of it. But it was worth it. Our wedding was perfect, Iain. You totally outdid yourself.”

“Tacky enough for you, then?”

“Romantic too.”

When she gazed up at him with a wistful smile gracing her lips and a hopeful gleam in her eyes, Iain vowed to become the man she believed him to be. Good. Decent.

But you’ll never be an honest man, mate. You’ve already fucked that up for good.

* * *

On Friday morning, Iain did something unusual—he grinned. On the ride to work. On the way into the office building. At every person he passed.

He may have even whistled. Iain Chapman was one lucky tosser.

Although hesitant to leave Brynn’s arms, Iain had been up by four, looking at the financial news. He’d wanted nothing more than to stay in bed with her, but they’d had three days of fucking, sucking, and spooning. No one told him marriage could be so bloody wonderful. After he told her about his father, they didn’t speak of it again. She didn’t push him either. Instead, they fell back into their pattern. Iain took control and Brynn followed his lead. Things were on an even keel, and Iain felt…peaceful.

At six thirty, he’d brought her a cup of coffee and kissed her awake. No time for a lazy round of sex—they both needed to get back to work. But she was incredibly tempting, lying there with her hair spread over the pillow, her lips swollen from his kisses.

After Brynn woke, she shadowed him into the bathroom and, sitting cross-legged on the counter, sipped her coffee as she watched him shave. It was distracting.

“What have you got on for today?” he asked.

“Hopefully, Cass has talked to Trevor’s financial people. I’ll get my new computer and all of the software I need.”

She set down her mug and swiveled to look at him, except her eyes were fixated on his earlobe. A sure sign that she was working herself up to say something she thought he wouldn’t want to hear. “Maybe tonight, we can discuss our living arrangements.”

“Meaning?”

“Meaning that we have two homes. I know you’re comfortable here. But I’m comfortable in my own house. If we work together, we can find a compromise that will satisfy us both.”

He took one last swipe at his cheek, dropped the razor, and picked up a towel. “You’re parsing your words again. You don’t have to do that with me, pet. You hate it here, but your house comes with a crazed Russian and no office. What do you suggest?”

“Maybe we can find a home that suits us both.”

Iain stepped in front of her and, bracing her jaw, kissed her. “Sounds like a plan. In the meantime, if you can stand it, I’d like to stay here during the week, yeah? That way, I can work in the early hours. Weekends, we’ll continue to stay at yours. How’s that for a compromise?”

“It’ll do for now.” She raked her hand down his bare chest. “You know, I think I have just enough time for a quickie.” She wiggled her eyebrows at him. “How about you?”

He didn’t, not really. He’d made time anyway. How could he have possibly refused his wife’s request?

Now, as Iain walked into his office, he was forty minutes late, but he didn’t give a monkey’s. The quickie had turned into a longer session, and he wasn’t a bit sorry.

He strode into his suite. “Morning, Ames. Everything’s still standing, I see.”

Amelia’s red lipsticked mouth formed an
O
and then quickly turned into a frown. “What the hell happened to you?”

“What do you mean?”

“I get one lousy text saying you’re taking three days off. You never take time off, and when I called, you didn’t answer. I was about to send out a search party.”

“No need for dramatics. I was a little tied up.” Actually Brynn had been tied up. He’d bound her to one of the decorative columns that separated the living and dining room, and then he’d taken her from behind. It had been a lovely afternoon.

He realized Ames had spoken. “What was that?”

She sighed. “Marc hasn’t come in either. Melanie’s gone. She packed up and left Tuesday night, and I haven’t heard from him since. Neither one of you could bother to pick up your damned phone.”

Iain rubbed his forehead. “Shit.” While he’d been in a sexual marathon with Brynn, Marc had been having a rough time of it. Made him feel guilty as hell. And fuck all, Iain hated that feeling. “I’d better go check on him.”

Amelia stood and grabbed her purse from the bottom drawer. “I’m coming with you.”

“No,” Iain said. “Stay here. Hold it down.”

As he left the office, he hadn’t realized he’d taken the dice from his pocket, but now, as he stared into his palm, there they were. He rubbed them together like worry beads and hoped Marc was all right. Anxiety ate at him, forcing him to hasten his steps. If Marc wasn’t answering his phone or showing up for work, he could be in serious trouble.

* * *

Brynn strode into her office and expected the worst. Tuesday morning, she’d texted Cass, saying she was taking three days’ personal time, but offered no other explanation. Of course, Cass had called—several times—but Brynn hadn’t even bothered to answer, letting everything go to voice mail. Now, she had to face the music.

Friday mornings were reserved for sales staff meetings, so she wanted to catch Cassandra before it started but was running a little late. The quickie with Iain had taken longer than she’d anticipated.

During the last three days, Brynn and Iain had done nothing but eat, sleep, and oh yeah, fuck like rabbits. Lots of scorching hot, raunchy sex. It was the best time of Brynn’s life.

She felt buoyed by it. By love. By being around Iain and his no-nonsense ways, which were rubbing off on her. When Brynn had awoken that morning, she had known she’d have to tackle the Cassandra situation head-on. Hopefully Cass would use the life preserver Trevor had provided, but if not, Brynn was going to need to look at all of her options—including making good on her threat to quit. At that terrifying thought, her steps faltered right before she opened the office door.

When Paige spotted Brynn, she hopped out of her seat and grabbed Brynn’s arm, dragging her into the alcove. “Where the hell have you been? Cass has been going insane—more so than usual. Strangers took over her office on Tuesday and she’s been spazzing ever since.”

“Good. Not good that she’s freaking out, but good that somebody’s taking control of this place. If she follows their advice, the business might just make it.”

“What if she doesn’t?” Paige’s blue eyes filled with worry.

“Then we may have to leave Cass and find better jobs.”

“What the hell is going on with you, Brynn Campbell? You’re all…decisive.”

Brynn held up her left hand. “It’s Brynn Chapman, and I think I might have grown a spine.”

Paige snatched Brynn’s hand and inspected the ring. “Oh my God. You got
married
? To the Blue Moon dude?”

“Iain. He’s…awesome.”

“You thought he was a jerk. You didn’t even want to work with him.”

“He’s reformed. Sort of. And he makes me smile.”

Paige’s eyes traveled over Brynn. “You’ve got it bad, girl, and while I’m still pissed that you didn’t tell me about how much trouble the business is in, I’m happy for you.” She pulled Brynn into a hug. “Congratulations.”

“Thanks, and again, I’m really sorry for not telling you sooner. Now, I’d better go see how Cass is doing.” Brynn stepped away from the alcove and headed for Cassandra’s office. But the woman herself emerged from her office. Her pale hair resembled fuzzy dandelion seeds. Purple, puffy half-moons circling her eyes contrasted with her pale skin.

“Brynn, grab Paige and get in here. Right now.” Then she sailed into the conference room and slammed the door.

The entire sales team eyed Brynn with varying degrees of curiosity.

Paige crept up behind her. “This is bad. What do you think she wants?”

“Let’s go find out.” Brynn wove through the desks. Easing open the door, she slipped inside with Paige on her heels.

Cass paced back and forth in front of the windows. With one hand on her hip and the other clutching her head, she mumbled to herself.

“Cass,” Brynn said, “are you all right?”

She stopped talking and drew to a halt. “No! Of course I’m not all right,” she snapped. “There are people pawing through my files, snooping into my finances. It’s all very invasive. And where were you, Brynn? If you didn’t show up today, I was going to call the FBI. It’s your fault they’re here in the first place.”

Brynn exchanged a glance with Paige. Cass was in full meltdown mode. “I texted and said I was taking a few days off. Besides, I didn’t have a computer, so I couldn’t do my job anyway.”

Paige raised her hand. “Um, on that note, the IT guy called. The computer is shot. He wasn’t able to get it up and running. He said unless you hire the manufacturer to retrieve the bits off the hard drive, it’s gone. That’s a really expensive procedure, by the way, and it may not work.”

Just as Brynn had feared. Months’ worth of work—vanished. “Since the old software won’t be compatible with a new PC, I’ll have to redo everything, dating back weeks. There’s no possible way I can do that alone.”

Cassandra shoved her hands into her curls and fell into a chair. “I know that, Brynn, but what do you want me to do about it? My life is shit, girls. The financial guy says I need to take a seventy-five percent pay cut, consolidate all the business loans, possibly declare personal bankruptcy, and fire half the sales team. I can’t
live
like this.”

Brynn approached her slowly. “Cass. What else can you do? I hate that you have to get rid of half the sales team, but if you don’t, we’re all out in the cold.”

Cass’s head snapped up. “Did you not hear me, Brynn? I may have to declare bankruptcy. That means I’m going to lose my house, probably my car. Where are Nef and I going to stay? We’ll be homeless.” She broke down on the last word and began sobbing.

Brynn patted her shoulder, and Paige sighed before walking toward them. “I’ll help you find an apartment.”

Cass sniffed. “They need to allow pets.” She pulled a Kleenex from her bra.

“We’ll figure it out,” Brynn said. “We’ll put our heads together and come up with a plan—scale back, get rid of the office. The important thing is that you follow the financial guys’ advice. This is a setback. Not a life sentence.”

Cass said nothing. She stared out the window and sniffed.

“Cass?” Brynn asked. “Are you on board?”

Still, she remained silent.

Paige took a deep breath. “I can take over the day-to-day operations. I’ll help you get organized.”

“I’ll help too,” Brynn said. “But before we go any further, I need a computer and updated software. That has to be the priority.”

Cass leaped from the chair. “Your computer, Brynn? What about my
life
?” She began pacing once more.

When Brynn glanced at Paige, she saw her own frustration reflected in the other woman’s eyes. As usual, they weren’t getting through to Cass, who dramatically thumped her fist on her chest. “I worked for years to make this business a success, and now those bastards come in here and start ordering me around. I had to sell my soul to the devil. If I didn’t agree to give them veto power over every dime the business spends, they wouldn’t help me. So now I have to get their approval for everything. If you want a computer, you’ll have to ask your new bosses. That’s not my prerogative anymore.” Fat tears rolled down her cheeks. “I have no say over my own damned company.”

Brynn stepped forward, standing in front of Cass, blocking her path. “But the business isn’t a success. It’s a failure. That’s the hard, cold truth.” Brynn hated confrontation, but sometimes it was necessary. She didn’t like being so blunt with Cass. Her boss was very fragile right now. But she was also eye deep in denial. “And if you don’t do what they tell you, you’re not going to have a business at all.”

Like a child, Cass’s face crumpled. “This isn’t fair. My life wasn’t supposed to be this way.” She began crying in earnest. Though Brynn was sympathetic, she wasn’t going to comfort Cass with a hug and reassurances. Not this time.

“Listen to me. You need to get yourself together because everybody in this office is looking to you, Cassandra. You need to lead by example, and if you can’t handle it, then tell us now. Let us go and shut down the company.”

Paige and Cass both ogled her. Brynn had never sounded so forceful—Iain’s influence at work once again.

Paige nodded. “I agree. And for God’s sake, enough with the waterworks.”

Cass sniffed. “Why are both of you being so mean to me?” Did Cass even care that every member of the team was about to lose their job? She was still making it all about
her
.