Lucky 7 Bad Boys Contemporary Romance Boxed Set (67 page)

“Am I? Look at how you gamble. You toss everything on the table and hope it works. Just like you bet on me keeping the
Perfect Passion
account from your sister. You put one hundred percent into something, which is great. But when it doesn’t pan out, you don’t look at what’s left of the pieces. You just let it all go.”

She stood and ran a hand over her hip to smooth her skirt. Then she met his eyes. And Drew knew it was pointless to offer any explanation, any argument. She wasn’t going to listen. Talk about all or nothing. She’d already made up her mind.

“Before you can do it again, I’m going to be the one to leave. Goodnight, Drew.”

“What about the stolen bra design?” he asked. Somehow he was going to have to come up with a way to make that up to her. “I won’t let Audra’s idiocy ruin your plans. Your business.”

Natasha shot him a look that made him feel like he’d stepped in something

“Unlike you, I don’t think your sister stole my design.”

Drew snorted and rolled his eyes.

“I don’t. Audra is hardly the type to sneak around. If she wants something, she might grab it out from under your nose, but she isn’t going to skulk around to get it. And somehow, I doubt she’s going to run away if she doesn’t get her way.”

“What? You think Randall’s fairy tale is true?”

“Hardly. But I’m willing to look beyond my personal feelings and his little smokescreen. There has to be a much simpler explanation. Why don’t you try it?”

The solid snap of the door as it closed behind her held an air of finality.

Drew sank to the bed, wondering how the hell a weekend in the wildest of cities had ended up blowing life as he knew it all to hell.

How ironic was it that it had taken Natasha walking away for him to realize he did have a dream. Something he wanted deep in his heart of hearts. He wanted her. Damn. He was going to have to do something about this mess. Because he’d just realized she was one dream he wasn’t going to let go.

* * *

Natasha sat in the softly lit hotel bar and nursed her third drink. She was teetering on the wrong side of buzzed, but the rum hadn’t made a dent in her depression.

“I’m sorry, Tash,” Lanie said for the fourth time that hour. Natasha had left Audra’s room to find Lanie, then insisted they hide in the bar since she didn’t want to go near her room in case Drew tried to track her down.

“I just can’t believe I wasted the week chasing that scummy cheating thief’s account.”

“Well, how were you to know? Your aunt wanted it. You were helping her business survive.”

“Sure. Except now, it’s my business and it’s in the toilet. I can’t pitch to C.C. and Company with a questionable design. Unless Ruf owns up to being a scum sucking underwear thief and gives up his evil plan, I’m screwed.” Natasha drained her rum and coke, and signaled the server for another round.

She’d had such big plans for tonight.

She’d figured she’d be on top of the world, sporting offers left and right to launch her big entry into the lingerie business. She’d planned on celebrating by having countless sexual adventures with Drew, possibly ending in propositioning him to see her back in California, even if she had to proposition him while he was passed out between rounds of sex.

Instead, this night totally sucked.

Especially since she’d called her parents and tendered her resignation, officially burning that bridge.

Brilliant.

“’Scuse me?”

“Audra?”

“Yeah, um, hi.” The expression on the younger woman’s face was one Natasha had never seen before. Vulnerability.

“Hi.” Natasha gestured to the server, and asked, “Want to join us?”

“You’re kidding, right?” She clearly didn’t expect to be welcomed. What? She thought Natasha would rip her to shreds? Wasn’t one unfair attack a day enough?

“No, please, do join us.”

“Yeah, c’mon.” Lanie grabbed a chair from the empty table next to them and pulled it over, then gestured to Audra to sit.

Once she’d tentatively joined them and Natasha had made formal introductions, the server took her order. Lanie stared, not even trying to hide her curiosity.

After a confused look at the redhead, Audra took a deep breath and angled her body toward Natasha.

“Look, I’m not trying to make excuses for working to get that account, you know? I’m not all nicey-nice. If I could have got that account, I’d have taken it and not looked back. But I wouldn’t steal to get it. I didn’t swipe your design.”

Natasha smiled to the server as the woman set their drinks on the table and slipped her enough to cover all three plus a tip. Then she took a sip of her sugar-laced booze and gave Audra her coolest look.

“And I don’t regret winning the account. I’d say it was good for both of us to compete for it, although I didn’t feel that way most of this week.” Natasha set her drink on the table and leaned forward to look the young woman direct in the eye. “Audra, I never thought you stole my design. I told your brother that already.”

She didn’t bother to mention those were some of the last words she’d said to Drew. She wasn’t ready to deal with the hurt, the disappointment in him.

“You don’t think I stole it?”

“No. You’re not that sneaky.”

“Oh.” Apparently Audra hadn’t expected that, because she was at a loss for words. For a moment. Then she sucked in her pouty lower lip, squared her shoulders and lifted her chin. “Well, good. I’m glad I don’t have to waste a bunch of time trying to convince you, ya know? Because I’m pretty sure I know who did steal it.”

“Ruf?”

“Yeah. I guess you figured it out, too.”

“He’s really the only one who has anything to gain. He must have figured I wouldn’t try too hard to chase a design when this isn’t even my business, and he was throwing my aunt the account as a bone to pacify us both.”

“Except now it is your business,” Lanie added, stirring her margarita with the large strawberry before chomping into it. “He obviously figured wrong.”

“Yours?”

“I bought my aunt out this morning,” Natasha explained. Then she shrugged morosely. “Rotten timing on my part. Now I don’t know what I’m going to do”

“You’re kidding, right? Oh my God, no wonder you and my asshole brother are so great together. You both run away when things start to suck.”

“Hey, that’s not fair,” Natasha protested at the bitter sting the words caused. Drew ran, not her. “I never said I was running”

“I can’t believe you,” Audra said, clearly not listening. “You and Drew. You see this rosy picture of what something is supposed to be. But when the real thing doesn’t fit in that picture, you just toss it aside.”

“Dammit, I’m not tossing anything away.” She looked at Lanie for backup, but her friend was busy studying the red dregs of her strawberry margarita.

Okay, so maybe she’d been thinking about options.

But not because the picture wasn’t rosy. Because she didn’t know how she could make it all work.

“I just think I might be in over my head,” she admitted quietly. “Even if I hadn’t lost the design, C.C. Crews still wanted me to do more with color and fabrics. I’m not that good with those. I don’t even know that I have enough money in my savings account to make the down payment on the business. And even though Aunt Sharon was willing to carry the loan, who knows how I’d bring enough business into the boutique to justify taking a salary large enough to live on?”

Except that she’d planned that all out while she’d laid in bed this afternoon resting her eyes. Like the Tantra energy flowing through her the night before, the answers had just sprung to life before the questions were barely formed. It had been perfect.

“Tash?” Lanie shot a hesitant glance at Audra, then with a grimace continued, “All these years you’ve talked about letting your wild child out to play. Today you moved her into a playground of her own and gave her permission to live. I hate to say it but I think you’re using this as an excuse to shove her back in a box.”

Audra looked confused. “You have a kid?”

“No.” Natasha glared at Lanie, then explained. “She’s talking about my inner wild child, that crazy part of me I usually keep under control.”

Like Audra would understand that. Natasha wished the alcohol would hurry up and provide a little numbness, because she was hurting something awful.

“Sorta like a yin/yang balance thing?”

Lanie stopped slurping her drink to join Natasha in a shocked stare.

“Maybe?” Natasha offered.

“You know, we all have these outer personas. Sometimes they aren’t conscious creations, but most often, they are. So if you’ve got this mellow, kinda repressed outer persona, it stands to reason your inner one is a little crazy.”

“It does?”

“Sure, basic balance.”

“So what does that mean your inner persona is?” Lanie asked. The redhead leaned forward in her seat, her attention obviously snared.

“A little brainy. Sometimes kinda shy,” Audra said with a blush. “But I try not to let that get out, you know?”

Natasha laughed. There was balance in the world after all.

“Audra, I think I like you.”

Now wasn’t that a shock?

“Well, if you promise not to tell Drew, I think I like you too.”

They all laughed and for a second, Natasha felt a little better. Her stomach still ached and her head throbbed, but at least she didn’t feel like the world had collapsed in on her anymore. Maybe it was the booze, or the company, but she suddenly felt like all things were possible.

Sensual Supports
.

Drew.

The future of her dreams.

“I guess balance is good, huh? And...,” She nibbled contemplatively on her bottom lip, “...to be honest, there’s no way I can give up
Sensual Supports
. You’re both right. I felt so free when I resigned, when I told Aunt Sharon I’d buy the company. And it was a total rush to meet with C.C. Crews and those other accounts. I think I did damned well, too.”

“So what are you going to do?” Lanie asked.

Natasha worried her lip, trying to figure out that answer. She knew what she wanted to do, but could she do it? That was a whole other story. While she tried to figure out the right answer, the other women carried on as if she’d left the room.

“I think she should stick with it,” Audra claimed.

Of course she did. Audra had clear reasons to think people should see things through.

“Well, yeah, I do, too. But Natasha needs to have some security. This isn’t exactly a stable business.”

Oh, man. Natasha’s stomach churned. Security? She’d learned just how insecure the business was already, and she’d barely been in it half a day.

“So? She’s got what it takes to make it work. The designs rock. Sure, some of them—well, a lot of them—are a little boring, but the basics are there. And she’s got that boutique, so there is a little bit of ready-made security right there if she plays her cards right.” Audra gave a modified version of her patented sneer and shrugged. “What else d’ya want? A freaking guarantee? Where’s the fun in that?”

Where
was
the fun in that? She was tired of seeking that guarantee, that approval. Natasha realized that for the first time in her life, she had the most important approval ever.

Her own.

“I’m keeping
Sensual Supports
,” she informed them. Audra and Lanie stopped their analysis of her future to turn and stare. Both wore matching grins, although Audra’s was a bit of a know-it-all smirk. “And I’m going to find a way to make Rufus Randall pay for stealing that design.”

“Pay, huh? How will you do that?” Lanie looked excited at the prospect.

“Kick him in the nuts,” Audra suggested.

“No, I’ll do better than that,” Natasha vowed. “I’m going to find a way to make him desperate to relinquish my design.”

Chapter Eleven

There was no way he was letting Tasha lose her dream.

Not able to stay still any longer, Drew got up to pace the room. He hadn’t expected much when he’d first arrived in Vegas. A few laughs, a little gambling and maybe a show or two. He’d planned to see the sights, feel the energy. Get his sister’s business launched and her settled on the path of responsibility.

Instead, he’d hooked back up with the best part of his past... Natasha. The one woman he’d never been able to—

or now, would ever—forget.

Drew dropped to the bed and scrubbed his hands over his face.

When the hell had he fallen in love with her? Shouldn’t something that important have been accompanied by fireworks? Or at the very least, a flutter of confetti and a balloon or two? Instead of fanfare and light bulb moments, it just... was. He was in love with Natasha Stover.

Should he be worried? Scared? He couldn’t be when it felt so right. It wasn’t a rush of wild excitement, it was more a smooth warmth engulfing him. Something he knew would be there forever.