The Whole Package, page 10
He didn’t say anything for a moment. “I’m sorry.”
She pulled her phone away to look at it. “What’s that?”
“I’m sorry. You’re right, about all of it.” He let out a breath. “I was getting pressure from the partners to build more, faster. Everyone kept looking to you, and it got to me. Plus you insisted we keep our relationship quiet, and that bothered me.”
“I insisted? We both agreed it would look bad for the boss to be banging his assistant,” she snapped, despite not planning to discuss the matter. “I loved you, Tanner. And you threw me away like trash.”
“That’s not true,” he shot back. “I was having trouble at work, and you never saw it, basking in your own glory. The pride of the firm. Hell, I was dying, making sure everything stayed afloat while those pricks Pierce and Paulson were out golfing nine holes a day.”
“You wanted a bigger part of the company.”
“And I got it. All of it at once. Paulson’s talking about leaving. So it’ll just be me and Pierce. But depending on how this thing with Jennings goes, we could have room for another partner.”
“Oh my God. Tell me you are not dangling a partnership in front of me, as if I’ll be so happy for the opportunity, I’ll forget everything to reach up and grab it!”
“No. I’m merely stating that we’re always looking for great team players. Naomi, I fucked up. You’re the real deal, and I’m plainly stating I miss you.”
“As an employee or girlfriend?”
“Both.”
That shocked her to silence. “You’re not dating anyone now?” Not what she’d heard.
“I am, but Mandy isn’t you.”
“I bet she’d love to hear that,” she ended with an angry laugh. Of all the conversations she’d imagined having with Tanner, him crawling back to her hadn’t been one of them.
The urge to say yes and forget the past wasn’t strong, thankfully. That the urge existed at all made her feel sick. Naomi didn’t cater to weakness, and the shallow character she’d seen in Tanner still dismayed her.
But she hadn’t been kidding. She’d loved him—once.
An image of Reid swam in her mind’s eye, another man she had no business involving herself with, yet she had.
And speaking of business… “You taught me a valuable lesson, Tanner. I don’t mix business with pleasure.” Don’t think about Reid, don’t think about Reid… “So if you’re thinking about working together, that might be something to consider. You always were good at your job, at least.”
He said nothing.
“But if this is some lame attempt to work your way into my good graces then undercut me with Jennings, forget it. I’ll be talking to Jon again soon, and we’ll see what he has to say about who Jennings Tech wants handling their PR. Until then, don’t call me.” She disconnected, trembling as she put her phone down.
Good Lord. Had that really happened? Tanner Ryan begging her to come back?
Liz popped her head in the door, her hair a wild corona of blond frizz that framed her narrow face. “Whoa. What the heck happened to you?”
“Tanner called.” Naomi reached for her coffee and slugged it back. “I had just hung up with Reid, then my archnemesis had the nerve to suggest we not only get back together in business but in bed as well.”
Liz gaped and took a seat across from Naomi. “No way.”
“Yes way.” She guzzled more caffeine. “It’s like I’m in the Twilight Zone or something. He said his girlfriend, Mandy, ‘isn’t me.’” She ended in air quotes.
“But she is a redhead with blue eyes and a build similar to yours,” Liz said. “I didn’t tell you that before because I didn’t want to freak you out. But she is. What do you make of that?”
“I have no idea.” Naomi fiddled with her pen. “I kind of hate myself for thinking, for even a second, that I miss him.”
Liz shrugged. “You were good together. It took me years to find Mitch. So when I had him, I refused to let him go. Even when that floozy Patsy tried moving in on him. I set her straight, set him straight when he got stupid, and finally have him trained enough that I can’t imagine starting over.”
“With five kids, you really can’t afford to.”
“Seriously.” Liz grinned. “But it’s not the expense, it’s all the time training Mitch not to leave the toilet seat up, to get up early with the kids on Saturdays so I can sleep in, and getting him to do the laundry. That was a friggin’ miracle, and I can’t let that go.”
They both laughed, knowing how much Liz and Mitch doted on each other. Naomi wanted that, a soul-deep connection with a man who would look at her the way Mitch looked at Liz, with love in his eyes.
Not suspicion or envy that she might outshine him at work.
She sighed. “He apologized for everything. Said he’d made a huge mistake.”
“Good. He screwed up. Funny now that he’s bidding for the same job you are, he’s suddenly aware of his failings.”
“Yeah, I noticed that.”
“Keep noticing that,” Liz said and grabbed the coffee cup off Naomi’s desk. “I’m getting you an espresso. You need to focus on work and not on that man. He ruined your business, stole your clients, and started dating again not two weeks after that ‘painful’ breakup.” Liz huffed. “He’s not worth a moment of your busy day. Now Reid Griffith and his fine tush, that man is worth drooling over.”
“Liz.”
“I’m only human. Besides, he reminds me a little of Mitch. It’s the tall, quiet ones you have to watch out for.” Liz left.
Tall, yes. But Reid, quiet? He hadn’t been so quiet when they’d been in her house kissing and…that other stuff. She still remembered his breathy moans. Just his voice turned her tingly in all the wrong places. The memory of his big hands, the scent of his cologne, it bothered her how much she’d fixated on those details.
Why the hell couldn’t she stop thinking about him in that way? It had been all she could do to call and act with a professional detachment.
He was a client first, a man second. She would do well to keep reminding herself of that fact. With that firmly in mind, she returned to work and her espresso—thank you, Liz—and started adding to her folder on Chris Jennings.
Because when she landed that account, she wanted to be ready for anything.
Chapter 9
Saturday afternoon, Reid sat next to his brother on the monthly drive to visit their mother. The assisted living home that she’d moved into last year was a step up from the home provider who’d been helping to care for her.
Apparently their mother needed a lot more than someone to check in on her a few times a week. Though she was only sixty-four, age and booze had taken their toll on the woman, and recently, she’d started forgetting who he was. Oddly enough, she always recognized Cash.
“I hate this,” Cash muttered, staring out the passenger window.
“I don’t like it any more than you do.”
“I know.” Cash groaned. “She was such a bitch growing up. Never gave two shits about me.”
“No, she did.” Reid had spent a long time thinking about his dysfunctional family. Something weird had occurred back then, an odd change in the mood around the house that Reid could never explain or understand.
Cash shrugged. He didn’t like talking about the past, whereas Reid wanted to dissect it to make sure it never happened again.
“It was like some wacky switch was thrown,” Reid said, trying to recall the exact moment. “Maybe things got weird before then, but remember? Around your birthday, when you got that football I was dying to throw.”
“I’d turned seven,” Cash said, so quiet.
“They argued, then Dad hit Mom. Only time that I can remember him doing that. He apologized later, but they were never the same. Treated you different. And Mom checked out.”
“Yeah. Easier to live in the fantasy of a perfect family than with us assholes.”
“When you say us, you mean you, right?” Reid tried to tease.
Cash only grunted. Sadly, he probably did mean himself. Verbally abused forever, with the occasional slap to the face or punch to the torso when a child, Cash had lived with the notion he was never good enough. But Reid had never understood why. Cash had been a top athlete if not a top student. Liked by adults and kids, he’d been on the road to a scholarship for football, no doubt. Then, in the tenth grade, their father had punched him, hard, for a mistake Reid had made. The punch turned to a beating, made worse because Cash had fought back, blackening their dad’s eye.
Charles never laid a hand on him again, but the damage had been done. Cash turned brittle, hostile. His grades plummeted. He dropped out of sports and had little in the way of decent friends. He led a group of idiot kids into more mischief than was healthy and barely escaped juvenile detention.
At sixteen, he’d moved out. Four years later, once Reid had graduated, they joined the service together. And now here they were, visiting their mother the way they did every month, wishing for a past that could never be and a future that seemed to drag.
“An hour with Angela feels like a year,” Cash mumbled.
“So why come?”
Again, Cash shrugged. Reid hurt for him, though he’d never say anything. His brother had the biggest heart in the world, buried deep beneath emotional trauma and a blustering ego. If Cash really thought about himself the way he bragged, he’d be president of the universe by now.
All the guy wanted was a little affection from his mother. With their father dead and gone, he’d never find it from Charles. Not that he would have if the old man had lived.
“Our family is totally fucked up,” Reid commented.
Cash barked a laugh. “You got that right.”
They drove in silence until Cash told him to slow down.
“Why?”
“Because your leggy PR chick is walking and I’m taking in the view.” He whistled. “Day-um, son. I love a woman in shorts.”
Naomi walked with a blond woman—Liz, he saw—on the sidewalk. He pulled up in an empty spot on the side of the road. Cash rolled down his window and whistled.
Reid rolled his eyes, hoping Naomi recognized the car and took the whistle as the compliment it was intended to be and not more harassment from some dumbass who should know better.
Liz waved at them. Funny, but her hair refused to be contained despite the bright orange headband holding the mass back. Naomi had hers in a ponytail. She wore a Sounders sweatshirt and shorts that showed off her long, long legs.
“She’s hot. No doubt.” Cash’s seal of approval.
“She’s off-limits.”
“I meant for you.” Cash laughed at him, the melancholy previously darkening his gaze lifting. “She’s too brainy for me. Now if she’d just tell me how great I am while I was with her, that I could handle. But she’s not the type to stay quiet.”
No, she wasn’t. She’d been moaning and whimpering when he’d kissed her, touched her. And that little cry at the end had been unforgettable. Hell, he was getting hard. Not cool with his brother in the car and Naomi walking to the window. He prayed the seat belt covered his arousal.
Naomi leaned over against the car. “Well, well. The Griffith brothers out and about on the weekend. No moving for you two today?”
Cash answered for him. “Nah. We have plans. A hot date with two smokin’ babes.”
Naomi glanced past him at Reid, her face calm while her eyes shot daggers at him. He would have crowed in triumph except he shouldn’t want Naomi to feel possessive. And he really didn’t want to see his mother.
Reid rolled his eyes again. “We’re going to see our mother. Cash only wishes we had hot dates.”
That took care of Cash’s smirk.
Naomi blinked. “Oh, well, have fun.”
“A word one never uses with Mom,” Reid said dryly.
“No shit.” Cash glanced past Naomi to Liz. “Hey. I’m Cash. Who are you?”
“I’m Liz, the woman who runs Starr PR. Naomi would die without me.”
Naomi agreed, “All true.”
Cash nodded. “Same here. I’m the backbone of our business. Reid’s the image. My little brother tries, but there can be only one top dog, you know?”
“Oh my God. Your ego is almost as big as your biceps. Idiot.” Reid sneered.
Naomi and Liz laughed. “We don’t want to hold you up, so—” Naomi started to rise.
“No, stay.” Cash sat up straighter. “Talking to pretty women is worlds better than visiting Angela.”
Naomi patted him on the shoulder, and Reid didn’t like the attention she gave him. At all. Cash was a good-looking guy. He had muscles and a brain hiding behind his big mouth. On top of that, he projected an air of confidence that caused others to effortlessly fall under his lead. If Cash tried, Reid was sure Naomi would fall for the guy.
He would have said something when he noticed Liz staring at him. “What’s wrong?”
Liz blinked. “Oh, nothing. Just thinking you’re so much better looking than Tanner Ryan.”
Naomi turned pink. “Liz, really.”
“Who’s Tanner Ryan?” Cash asked.
“Some jerk Naomi used to work for. A real loser.”
Naomi looked like she wanted to sink through the sidewalk.
“A loser, huh?” he asked her.
She smiled through her teeth. “A complete loser. Come on, big mouth. We need to walk. Later, guys.” Naomi dragged Liz away, and he and Cash watched them walk at a brisk pace.
“Quit staring at her ass.” Reid watched her until she and Liz disappeared from view.
“You first.” Cash chuckled. “That was a nice distraction, but Naomi’s right. We’d better go. Let’s get this over with.”
They drove for a while before Reid, unable to stop himself, said, “She’s not your type. Not at all. Do us both a favor and stop flirting with her.”
Cash turned to him with a big grin. “Flirting with her? Little Brother, when I’m flirting with a woman, she knows it. That was just me being friendly with Naomi.”
“Well, quit it. We’re working with the woman. Just working.” He glared Cash into submission, surprisingly, then found the familiar road leading to their monthly trip to hell.
* * *
Cash left the car, following Reid. He was in no rush to see Angela, the woman who’d given birth to him, then left him to fend for himself while she drifted in la-la land, more content with movies, television, and books than taking care of her kid. She’d help Reid here and there, but even Reid had fended for himself when their father was busy.
Watching his brother with Naomi had been an eye-opener. Reid always had an air of cool competency. He’d bailed Cash out of more trouble than Cash could remember, and he had a knack for putting two bucks together and getting ten back.
But with Naomi, Reid had been nervy. A little frazzled, though he’d pretended to hold it together. And the way Naomi had eyed Reid, trying really hard not to look interested, definitely told its own story. The woman certainly hadn’t liked the thought of them out with other women.
Cash grinned, wishing he could hold onto the good feeling for longer than it took to climb the stairs to his mother’s floor.
Reid had been taking care of Cash for far too long. The guy had no social life. He threw his all into the business. It had been Reid’s plans that made Vets on the Go! possible. Reid’s knowledge of how to start the business, to get Evan’s help, to delegate hiring and firing and the grunt work to Cash. Yet he’d still made Cash co-owner in the business though Cash hadn’t had any investment capital.
Because Reid was like that. Family first. The poor bastard clung to a sense of duty and loyalty to the woman who’d given birth to him. Cash came to support Reid. He hated looking at Angela, loathed the sight of her.
But Reid needed him. For all that he had little to give, Cash would give Reid anything his little brother needed.
The journey to Angela Griffith’s room happened way too fast.
They knocked and entered, finding their mother at the kitchen stove.
“This is for you,” she said, glancing at Cash before turning back to her creation. She was cooking something for him, as she’d promised in her last phone call. God knew what the woman thought she was trying to prove. She hadn’t given a damn about him for years. Now, for some reason, she sought to please him whenever possible.
And Reid, the good son, the one who’d stuck by her when Cash had turned into the rebel teen from hell, didn’t seem to matter.
Angela opened her arms and waited for Cash to greet her. He endured a frail hug and turned his head before she could kiss him on the mouth. That always creeped him out. “Oh, sweetie. It’s so good to see you.” Then she gave Reid a kiss on the cheek. “You too, baby.”
She looked like an angel. Such a contrast to the selfish woman he knew her to be. Angela had looks and charm. A vapid sense of self-importance. Her world had revolved around make-believe for as long as he could remember. Their father had tolerated her because he’d loved her no matter what—or so he’d claimed. But Cash thought the guy just liked the idea of a perfect little family.
With both Charles’s and Angela’s parents dead, it had only been Cash, Reid, and their parents left, not counting his dad’s brother and family—Evan’s parents, who they spent little time with. Then Charles had died. Now it was just Cash, Reid, and Angela. Dysfunction at its finest.
Reid gave a strained smile. “Hey, Mom. What are you making?”
