"I'll say you did," Alex muttered. "I wish I'd invested in your company when it was a baby. Man, I'd be a millionaire by now."
Lee's eyes glazed over as she thought about the early years. "It's a hard industry to break into. A lot of people don't make it."
"Where did you go to school," Jake asked.
Lee blinked. "You mean college?"
Jake nodded.
"I didn't." Her smile was full of wry humor. "I don't even have a high school diploma."
Jake looked at her in shock. "You built an empire without having a…?"
Lee nodded. "Marilyn can work miracles with a sewing machine, but she's better at following a design than creating her own. In the early days, I would draw the patterns and she would make the clothes. Booker's grandmother worked at a fabric shop and she hooked us up with a discount."
She paused, thinking back to the old days when she shared a one bedroom apartment with Marilyn while they both saved every buck they earned dancing in a strip club.. Then Lee smiled, recalling the fateful day when she met Mrs. Abergheny. "One day about… ten years ago, I met a nice lady who was shopping for her daughter's prom dress. I commented on the dress her daughter was trying on. We struck up a conversation. One thing led to another, I sketched a design for Ann and Mrs. Abergheny loved it. The price was right and so… we made the dress for her, then word of our designs spread and we started up a small business."
"Amazing."
Lee looked up at Jake. He had his elbow propped on the bar and he was watching her with such admiration that she was embarrassed. "It was luck," she told him.
"It was more than luck."
Lee shrugged. "So I have a little ambition."
"A little?"
"Okay. I have a lot of ambition."
"That's better," Jake murmured.
Lee wasn't sure she liked the way Jake watched her. She had the unnerving feeling that he could see through her Lee façade to the vulnerable Emily persona hidden deep within her. This man touched her on more levels than she wanted to admit. There were times when he looked at her and… her soul trembled.
On some level, Lee had known all along that Jake was dangerous. But she didn't realize how dangerous until just this moment.
"You're one incredible woman, Miss Emily," Jake whispered. He picked up her hand and entwined their fingers. "You deserve so much better than me."
A shiver snaked down Lee's spine. "Why do you say that?"
Jake shook his head and raised her hand to his lips, then kissed the tips of her fingers. "One of these days I might tell you. When you trust me."
Lee licked her lips. "I wouldn't be here if I didn't trust you."
"No," Jake replied softly. "This is why you're here." He tugged on her hand and pulled her forward, then pressed a tender kiss on her lips. "But you'll learn to trust me."
"I will?" Lee looked deep into his gray eyes and saw something which rocked her world and terrified her. A future which revolved around Jake.
"You will." Jake pulled back. "We've got a lot of ground to cover before we get to that stage. But we will get there and I promise it'll be worth it."
"It will?"
"Oh yeah. It most definitely will. I've waited a long time for you. I'm not about to blow the best thing to happen to me since…," he trailed off, his eyes clouding over.
"Since…?" Lee prompted.
"There are some things you prefer not to discuss, yet." Jake paused. "And there are certain aspects of myself which I would rather not discuss. Yet." Jake smiled, but it didn't quite reach his eyes. "Speaking of ground we have to cover… what's your favorite movie?"
"
The Parent Trap
," she answered after a slight hesitation. "Yours?"
He looked to be shocked by her answer, but said, "
Where Eagles Dare
. Favorite book?"
Lee thought for a second. "
Cinderella
. Your turn."
Jake leaned back. "
Cinderella
?"
Lee shrugged. "What can I say? I'm a sucker for hard luck stories. That and the Fairy Godmother had one wicked sense of fashion." She didn't want to mention that
Cinderella
was also the first story her mother had ever read to her as a child and… a dim reminder of the infrequent good times she shared with her mother. It was much easier not to think about the good times, because thinking of them never failed to remind Emily of the bad times. Bad times like when her mother ODed on pain killers and nearly died. Emily did not want to remember sitting on the bathroom floor, forcing her finger down her mother's throat, and holding her head above the toilet.
And, above all, Emily didn't want to remember why her mother had tried to commit suicide.
Lee cleared her throat, pushing back those unwanted memories, and willed herself to cheer up. "And your favorite book is…?"
"Ayn Rand's
The Fountainhead
. Favorite… song," he asked.
"Favorite song," Lee repeated. "That entirely depends on my mood. However, I will admit that my all time favorite piece of music is… Beethoven's Ninth."
"Beethoven's Ninth, huh?"
"Yep. It has everything to do with Ode to Joy. It gives me goosebumps every time I hear it. Actually," she said in a quieter voice, "there are times when it brings tears to my eyes. But that only happens when I go to the symphony."
"I see," he commented, amusement lacing his voice.
"Your turn."
Jake chuckled. "Two way tie between the theme from
The Magnificent Seven
and
Shaft
."
It was Lee's turn to be amused. "
Shaft
? The Isaac Hayes'
Shaft
?"
"Yeah." Jake grinned. "He's one bad mother—"
"Shut your mouth."
"I'm just talking about Shaft."
Lee tilted her head back laughed.
"That," Jake said, "is a wonderful sound."
"What is?"
"Your laughter."
Lee's cheeks burned. "Oh."
"Oh," he repeated. "You blush beautifully, too."
She ducked her head, suddenly shy. "Oh. Thank you."
Jake rested his elbow on the bar and gazed at her as if he could extract her darkest secrets on a whim. "Where did you grow up, sweet Emily?"
"New York."
"Then why do I detect a Southern accent?"
"I didn't pick up my horrible twang until I was seventeen and moved to North Carolina."
Jake shook his head. "It's not horrible. I like it. When did you leave Carolina for Virginia?"
"A couple of years ago when the corporate office needed a place to open." Lee failed to mention the other reason why she'd moved. In Virginia, no one knew what her past profession was. Not that she thought anyone would care. But it was better to be safe than sorry. And Lee didn't need or want any bad publicity for her company.
Lee decided to steer the topic away from herself. "Hey, no fair. You're supposed to be telling me about you." She wasn't sure how Jake would react if he discovered that she used to be an exotic dancer. She had a feeling that he wouldn't have a problem with it, but then again… he might.
Jake shrugged. "What's there to tell? I'm the oldest of two children. My father was a career Army man so we traveled all over. My mother is a paragon. She's up for nomination by the Church for sainthood for putting up with my sister, the hellion. I met Alex and Nick working construction the summer I graduated from college and from there… we led exemplary lives until we came up with the idea to open The Brigade and there you have it. My life in a nutshell."
"Hmm." Lee tapped her finger on the bar. "I detect some whitewashing. You wouldn't be trying to hide an unsavory past from me, now would you, Mr. Grayden?"
"Who? Me? Never."
"Uh-huh. Exemplary?"
"Well… maybe exemplary isn't the right word."
"And what would be the right word?"
Jake glanced pointedly at the clock behind the bar. "Whoa. Look at the time." He started to get up from his chair. "Alex probably needs help with—"
"Alex has finished restocking." Alex lounged against a cooler, his arms folded across his chest. "You wouldn't be trying to avoid the lovely lady's question now, would you, Jake?"
"Who? Me? Never."
"Uh-huh," Alex and Lee said in unison.
Jake looked at her. "Honestly, there is nothing—"
"Tell her about—"
"Alex," Jake growled.
"About what," Lee asked.
Alex came forward and taking her glass, refilled it with soda. "Did Lover Boy tell you what he went to college for?"
She shook her head.
"Emily doesn't want to hear about that," Jake said. "Do you, sweetheart?"
"Yes, she does," Alex answered for her. He flicked his thumb at Jake and said, "He's got a Ph.D. in Chemistry."
A hand of its own volition drifted up to touch the base of her throat. She gaped at Jake. "Chemistry?"
Color stained Jake's cheekbones. "It's nothing."
Alex snorted. "It's nothing," he mocked. "He's a veritable genius and a paragon of modesty. He can recite every element on the Periodic Table from memory and he calls it nothing."
"I am not a genius. Just a good memory." Jake got to his feet. "Did you take out the trash?"
"Yes."
"Clean the bathrooms?"
Alex ignored him and spoke to Lee. "He graduated at the top of his class and when—"
Jake grumbled something, then turned and walked towards the store room.
Alex laughed.
Lee stared after him. "I get the feeling that Jake doesn't like to talk about his doctorate." She turned to Alex as she slipped from her chair. "Excuse me."
Alex nodded. "Ask Doctor Jake why he preferred laying sheet rock to working in an air-conditioned laboratory. When he tells you, maybe you can enlighten me. I haven't been able to get it out of him in the five years I've known him."
Lee slid her purse across the counter. "Keep an eye on it for me. If the cell phone rings, answer it."
Lee opened the door Jake disappeared through and found him moving boxes around the storage room.
Jake glanced up as she came in. "Did he tell you?"
She shook her head and closed the door.
He stacked a case of beer in the corner, then bent to get another one. "Hell, there's a first time for everything." Beer bottles clinked as he plopped the case in the corner.