Tempting The Boss (8 page)

“Trust me,” said Dean. “The guy who tried to strangle you wasn’t the cream of the crop. Your would-be killer wasn’t that hard for me to fight off, and I’m not a fighter.”

Victoria looked him up and down. She’d already suspected he was built, but now that she’d seen him naked, she had one hundred percent confirmation.

“I didn’t say I’ve never fought before,” he muttered as he slipped on his jacket.

She zipped up her boots and ran her fingers through her hair a few times. “Could’ve fooled me,” she said under her breath. Dean definitely wasn’’t the type of man she wanted on her bad side. “Let’s just go and try to be civil. If at any point you really feel we’re in danger, I’ll listen to you. I promise.”

He clenched and unclenched his jaw, but she could tell he was going to cave. One of the things she liked about him was that he was logical. Even though he might not want to do something, he knew his job was to protect her while she went about her normal business. Not hide her away until things went back to normal.

“I just need to grab my bag from my room.” She turned the handle to open the door.

Dean nodded and silently followed her. He didn’t say a word as she picked up her purse and they walked down the one flight of stairs to the lobby.
Great.
Less than an hour after great sex, they weren’t even talking to each other.

But she had bigger problems to worry about than her maybe/maybe not one-night stand being pissy. Because there was her big brother in the lobby. All the drama came back to her in a rush: The hushed conversations she and Dad had behind his back. The look of betrayal as it was announced that she’d be taking over his position. The folders he’’d thrown across the office as he’d flat out refused to take a demotion. It was all or nothing, and Dad refused to let him have it all.

“Terry,” she said with a forced smile.

His grin appeared completely genuine. “Vicks! It’s been forever!” Terry’s arms came around her in a tight bear hug, and Victoria saw every muscle in Dean tense up as he glared at the exchange.

“I’m Dean,” he said gruffly. As Terry let her go, Dean slid between them and held out a hand. “Nice to meet you, Mr. Green.” His words were much more respectful than the angry glint in his eye.

Terry took a step back. “Um, nice to meet you, Dean.” His smile wavered.

A woman walked up and put a hand on Terry’s shoulder. “They came down!” she exclaimed, a slight hint of Southern accent dripping charm.

Victoria raised a brow. She wasn’t expecting Terry to bring someone, let alone a woman. The few people she’d ever seen Terry date had been the long, leggy model type. This woman was a short, curvy redhead who practically screamed ““old money.”

“Who’s your friend?” asked Victoria.

Just like that, Terry beamed with pride. “Vicks, I’d like you to meet Joslyn. My fiancée.”

Victoria met Dean’s surprised gaze. “That’s so exciting!” she said with forced enthusiasm.

Joslyn waved a dismissive hand. “I know you’re just sayin’ that. But I hope that we can spend some more time together.””

Dean frowned. “So that’s why you tracked Victoria all the way to North Carolina? To introduce your fiancée?”

Terry didn’t seem intimidated, even though he probably should’ve been. Dean had a good six inches and fifty pounds of muscle on her brother. Terry was attractive in a boarding school kind of way. He’d been a jock in high school, and it overflowed into a charming, confident young adult who’d grown up with a silver spoon in his mouth and guaranteed high-powered job.

So when he’d finally gotten that job, he hadn’t been prepared for the ups and downs that came with a volatile economy.

Victoria had never exactly been thrown out on the streets, but her future had always been less certain than Terry’s. Although her father had always encouraged her education and praised her good grades, the women in her family were mostly socialites and stay-at-home mothers. Even though she loved the shopping sprees with her cousins, she’’d seen her father and brother working in the business world and couldn’t stand being left behind.

So she set her mind on succeeding on her own. She graduated from college with her masters at twenty-two and worked with a manufacturing company for ten years, from the entry-level manager’s position. Ten years later, she’d risen up the ranks in record time and Terry had practically ruined Green & Sons.

And that was when her father came knocking on her door with an offer she’d never imagined possible: take the reins of a billion-dollar empire away from her brother.

“So where were you thinking of going for dinner?” Dean moved to stand beside her.

“There’s a great Italian place two towns over. I can drive,” Terry said confidently as he led the way to the car without waiting for a response.

Victoria let out a breath.
Ahh, she’d forgotten his management style.
Not that she’d experienced it personally, but she’d heard plenty of horror stories. Go off on whatever whim he had without waiting for feedback or opinions and then be surprised when everything blew up in his face.

The lessons she’d learned from his failures were half the reason she was being so careful with her latest acquisition.

Terry and Joslyn climbed into the front as Dean and Victoria shared the backseat of the rental BMW. She really didn’t want to judge, but she’d thought she was being frivolous by renting the large SUV for her time in North Carolina.
What was Terry doing with a luxury car?
Unless something had changed, he was still not working and living solely off his trust fund.

“So how did you two meet?” asked Victoria as Terry steered the car out of the hotel parking lot.

“It’s crazy,” he said. “I was actually vacationing on an island in the Caribbean. Lying on the beach, taking in the sun, and then I heard it. The most beautiful voice I’ve ever heard asking the waiter for another mojito.”

Joslyn giggled. “He’s such an idealist! I was a drunk party girl on the beach, and he tells it like I’m his personal Aphrodite.””

The corner of Victoria’s mouth hooked up.
Maybe she and Joslyn would get along…

“I was enamored immediately,” continued Terry. “So I followed her around like a pathetic puppy until she finally paid me the time of day.””

“Pshhh,” said Joslyn. “He offered to buy me a drink and I said yes, of course. And then we spent the rest of the week together.””

“Very romantic,” muttered Dean, not sounding at all convinced.

“How long ago was that?” Victoria shot Dean a stern look. Everything was going perfectly fine, and his attitude wasn’t called for.

“Five and a half months ago,” said Terry. “It’s been a life-changing experience.”

“I’m happy for you,” murmured Victoria. And she was. There was nothing worse than the feeling of thinking she’d ruined his life. It was cathartic to think there was hope for him.

“So how did you two meet?” asked Joslyn. “I didn’t realize you were with anyone.”

Victoria sent up a silent prayer of thanks that Terry and Joslyn couldn’t see her shocked face. She’d figured people would assume she and Dean were together, but not only minutes after meeting them. “Dean is helping me on a project,” she insisted.

In addition to Joslyn’s knowing smile she shot over her shoulder, Victoria also felt Dean’s gaze boring into her.
What did he expect her to say?
They weren’’t dating. They slept together once. Maybe if it happened again, they could talk.

God, she wanted it to happen again.
The damn backseat was too big. For the first time in her life, she wished she was sitting on the plane and forced to be so close to him. Be able to feel his body heat and touch him whenever she wanted.

But she knew for sure that she didn’t want to discuss her feelings for Dean with her brother and the apparent love of his life, and she knew exactly how to change the subject. “Terry, while I am happy that you’re happy, I’m not stupid. What are you doing here?”

Just like magic, the car filled with tension.

“Listen, Vicks, I know that we haven’t had the easiest relationship,” said Terry.

“You know I never wanted that,” she said softly.

“I completely understand! But I’ve been thinking about things lately. Now that Dad’s in the hospital and I’ve been hearing how great the company is doing, I think we need to do something about this. I want to come back to Green’s.”

Dean’s gaze jerked to hers. His grimace said more than enough about his opinion.

Victoria tightened her lips. “I don’t know what to say,” she said, honestly. “I’d love if we could work together again, but you know the state things were in when you left. I don’t know how much I’m willing to risk.””

“I’ve changed, Vicks. Ask Joslyn. She can vouch for me more than anyone.”

Joslyn vehemently nodded. “We’ve talked about this a lot. I think it would be cathartic for Terry to make peace with this. You know how men can be so stubborn and prideful. His departure from Green & Sons was one of the lowest points of his life. He needs to make things right in order to move on.”

Dean snorted. “Didn’t you throw a temper tantrum when you were kicked out before? From what I’ve heard, you said some messed-up shit to your sister. Now you expect her to work with you again? Even if your personal relationship can be fixed, you burned all your professional bridges.”

Victoria’s mouth dropped open. “Dean!”

“No, he’s right,” said Terry. “I was a complete ass. That’’s why it’s so important that I do this. It’s not about the money. Joslyn’s and my trusts combined are more than enough. But I can’t move onto my happy place knowing that I have this shame.”

“You know there are people who actually need jobs lined up around the block to get into Green & Sons,” said Dean. “Why should Victoria give you anything you don’’t even need to soothe your conscience?”

Victoria didn’t know whether she should slap Dean or thank him for saying all the things she didn’t want to admit.

Joslyn held up her hands in a gesture of peace. “Why don’t we let this drop?” she said. “Let’s have a nice dinner and take things slowly. We can talk about this at a later date.”

Victoria had the distinct feeling that she meant
a later date without Dean there to question everything
. “To be continued,” she muttered.

Dean looked over to her, but she glanced out the window. He made his opinion on her getting involved with Terry well known, but she couldn’t be as absolute as him. This was her brother.
What if he was truly looking for forgiveness and a chance to salvage his professional career?
Hell, his social career. If he hadn’t had made such a big scene, it wouldn’t have been such a big deal. But thanks to him, everyone and their mother knew he was ousted because of his poor leadership.

But was it really her problem if he was trying to climb out of the hole he dug for himself?

CHAPTER SEVEN

“You can’t seriously be considering this?” said Dean as soon as they were off the elevator and moving down the hallway to their rooms.

“I said what I meant. I want to think about it.”

“Just a day ago, you thought he tried to kill you. Maybe he realized that wouldn’t work and now he’s trying to charm his way back into the company.””

Victoria tightened her lips. “We don’t know it was him who tried to kill me,” she reminded him.

“So if it wasn’t him, who would it be?” asked Dean.

Damn it.
She knew that would be his next question and she didn’t have a clue. “I have no idea.” That was when she realized they were discussing the sensitive topic where anyone could hear. “Come on.” She opened up her hotel door.

Dean followed her in and she shut the door, bolting it in the process.

“I don’t want to toot my own horn, but I’m a pretty well liked person.” She turned back. “Since Green’s has been on an upward trend ever since I’ve started, paychecks are up and firings are down. I haven’’t gotten any threatening emails or phone calls. I can have HR pull the files of anyone terminated in the past year, but I wasn’t intimately involved with any of them. Most of our terminations are for the normal things like missed work, or quality issues. Since the majority of our employees are at plants or retail locations, I’’m not involved with those. And there haven’t been any firings in the corporate office in the past six months that I can think of.”

Dean leaned against the desk and crossed his arms. “It’s a big ass coincidence that someone tries to kill you right after your father has a heart attack. I know where you’re coming from, I do. But I also have a hard time imagining someone else’s beef with you popping up right now.”

“He’s all I have, Dean,” she said softly. It hurt her to say out loud, but it needed to be said. “What if someone said Katy tried to have you murdered? You wouldn’t accept it until you had absolute, undeniable proof.”

He took a deep breath. “What about outside of work? Have you pissed off anyone in your personal life?”

She scoffed. “I don’t have a personal life. You’re the first one I’ve been with…”
Crap, she didn’t mean to segue into this.
“In a while,” she finished.