“Rainmaker.” Jesse nodded. “That's a positive in your world, I hope?”
Kerry chuckled, a hot low sound. “It’s pretty much the highest award an accountant can give you.”
Jesse’s face lit up. He set off into a tale about his latest big contract. Kerry laughed high and bright at all the right points. If I didn't know better, it looked like Jesse was the one losing control.
This was getting a bit too chummy.
“It’s kinda ironic then,” I said. “That a man who brings in so much money doesn’t know how to balance his own sheets. That’s the real reason Ms. Martin's here, right? To do your work.”
“It’s a different skillset, Deacon,” Jesse said. “What my skillset allowed me to do was look at the deal you proposed and imagine myself on the other end selling it to you. What sort of things could I hide from a man so eager to make his mark that he might overlook the risks?”
“Risks are risks. Just cause I roll the dice doesn't mean I don't see them.”
“You saw the risks with this company you want to buy perhaps, but not in how the deal could affect us overall. Of course, if you considered that, then you might not get things your way for once.”
Faint red heat occupied Jesse’s regal cheeks. The formally-dressed waitress came over, and found us glaring at each other. She took one look and backed off.
This might have been a bit more than I wanted to show Kerry about our family.
“Well what’s the harm, huh?” I chuckled. “A few weeks and another bill are peanuts compared to the potential of this deal. It’s probably a good thing to do a third check.”
I flashed my eyebrows at Jesse. For now, he accepted my graces and eased back.
“Precisely my thoughts,” he said, turning to Kerry. “As you see, we're a meticulous bunch here. At the very least, you’re giving us peace of mind over a rather risky venture.”
“Well, it’s a team effort,” she said.
“Not from what Trey’s told me,” I said.
Her brow wrinkled. “Trey’s been giving you reports on me?”
“Your team, Ms. Martin,” I said.
“Really?” She nudged towards me. “Tell me what you think of the other people in it then.”
I smiled and edged towards her. “I can't help it if you stand out from those around you.”
Jesse looked softly through the two of us. He must have seen that this was more than a short term play for me. He rose out from the table.
“Pardon me,” he said. “I see a few white clouds around that I want to turn dark and stormy for the company.” He turned to Kerry. “Ms. Martin, I hope I’ve made clear the nature of your team’s purpose.”
“Quite clear,” Kerry said. “I’ll pass the information on.”
“Good.”
They shook hands. He gave me a curt nod, then slid over into a table of round, old white men, not far away.
“I like him,” Kerry said, eyes glazed as she watched him work.
“Just how much exactly?”
She laughed. “Are you feeling threatened?”
The crystal promise of her laugh washed the tension out of me like a hit of opium. My grandfather had offered me a puff of his old pipe once, and I'd never taken another. He hadn't been an addict, but he had far more discipline than even me. Stone Holdings had grown to its current size thanks to him. My father only managed to keep it stagnant in his short tenure.
Kerry was proving to be far more addictive than any drug though, now that she was relaxed. The purpose of all this must gotten through to her.
“I’m not threatened,” I said. “Just contemplating the cost of a hitman.”
“I’m surprised you two haven’t sent one after each other already.”
“Ah it'd be too much of a mess if it didn't work.”
“Really?”
Her smile had dimmed. Did we look that bad?
“Relax,” I said. “We’re not feuding royalty. None of us is going to end up penniless as long as this company stands.”
“But the company means a lot to both of you. It's not just about money.”
She had that right. I chuckled without much humor. “Aren't you an accountant?”
“Only in business. And I think that ended when your brother walked away.” She shrugged. “Guess we're back to networking.”
It should have made me laugh, but my mood was falling swiftly under the clouds.
Networking was mostly Jesse's domain. I won my friends through strength. Even Trey kind of feared me at times.
But fear would not let me keep this company. Making money might, but it still didn't earn me any respect. My father may have written me into his will, but I had no doubt he died loathing me.
We were Texan royalty and I had never quite been satisfied with that. After I refused to accept my reserved family spot at Rice University, he had even said, “You may be my blood, but you are no real Stone.”
So why give me the company?
In a way Kerry had revealed his true purpose. Nothing brings a man greater despair than giving him what he wants before ripping it away. Deep down, I always knew that I was just warming the CEO seat for Jesse to grow up a little.
“I'm kidding,” Kerry said. “It's just our joke right?”
Our booth was dark and murky. Her heat seemed to burn brighter in it. I edged closer like a plant seeking the sun.
“Sorry darlin'. I think I'm showing too much of my hand today. Are you satisfied that I didn’t just orchestrate this whole gig to get you in my lap?”
She glanced down at my legs, her gaze itself warming me as much as a touch. My mood swung up as quickly as it had fallen.
“You’re awfully optimistic, but yeah, at least this part of your little scheme worked.” She tipped in on an elbow, just a tip of the head away from my mouth. “Did you really just bring me here to prove you hadn’t made up this job?”
“For starters,” I turned in towards us. “I was hoping it might give you the appetite for something more.”
“You are way too bold for your own good. You know that?”
“You call it boldness. I call it being honest. And honestly, I’m sorry that I trapped you with this project. But I don’t regret bringing you closer to me.”
“Well.” Her breath tickled my lips. “I’m still angry at you.”
“Would a trip to Abu Dhabi on a private jet tip the scales in my favor?”
She rolled her eyes. “Yeah, that would look great to the rest of my team.”
“Let them think what they think,” I said. “You don’t want to be caged, fine. First place to start is freeing yourselves from the opinions of others. It’s true in business. It’s especially true in pleasure.”
Her eyes flared wide. Her lips parted, but no words came out. She eyed my mouth, but didn’t budge.
She wasn’t going to listen to her own desires? Fine. I could be the one that took us back over the edge. The country club frowned on PDA, but what use was money without freedom?
I dipped in.
“Deacon. I heard you were here.”
My lust shattered at the shrill voice. I snapped up, and saw my mother’s lined, grey face scowling at me. She was dress in tennis whites, along with another large man who heaved at her side.
Demetri had told me she’d be here. It was always a pleasure to flaunt a wrong woman in her face, but this look…well, this felt much darker.
“I didn’t realize you were preoccupied,” she said.
“Just a casual meeting is all.” I spread my arms out along the booth, forcing myself to keep the heat from my face. Kerry glanced up, flustered like a frightened mouse.
“I just wanted to bring over our frontrunner for the Republican gubernatorial primary,” she said. “Mr. Roland Tarly.”
“Pleasure to see you again,” the round man offered a sweaty handshake, which I had no choice but to accept. It certainly evacuated the last heat from my groins.
“Nice to see you too,” I managed to get out. “Frontrunner, now, huh? That’s fantastic. I’m glad we’ve got you on our team.”
Tarly pudgy face grew tighter. “I agree. Your brother says you are abandoning us, though.”
Shit, what madness was this? He must be talking about the solar project. Jesse wasn't even in sight anymore.
“I'm abandoning no one,” I said.
“Your family and mine have worked together for generations,” Tarly said. “We could continue for another one or two more, but it seems you'd rather shift your company from oil to solar.”
“Sir, I assure you this is not the case.” I glanced at Kerry. “Tell them how small a deal this is for us.”
She had shrunk back into her seat, but she straightened a bit. “Uh, it's less than a percent of Stone Holdings.”
“Hmph,” Tarly said. “Everything big starts off as a small thingl.”
I could hardly argue that looking at his round frame. Luckily, he simply wandered off to the bar.
“And who is this?” Mother blinked furiously at Kerry.
“Ah, this is Ms. Kerry Martin.” I glanced warily at Kerry. “Kerry, my mother, Mrs. Grace Stone.”
“It’s an honor, Mrs. Stone,” Kerry shot out a hand.
“Charmed.” She shook it limply. “And what are you doing with my son?”
“I’m an outside consultant, Mrs. Stone.”
“We were just having a business meeting,” I said. “Jesse was with us until a moment ago.”
“Yes, he was the one who told me you were around.”
“Fantastic,” I beamed, grinding my teeth to dust. “Well, nice to see you both.”
“Oh, so good to see you too dear.” My mother gave Kerry an icy smile. “It's nice to see that my son is not alone as he runs the family reputation into the ground.”
She turned and walked off towards her big friend. Were they together? I honestly didn't give a damn.
“What the hell was that?” Kerry whispered at me.
“The thorn in my paw,” I said. “Welcome to my family.”
She shot me a look that made it clear just how welcome she felt.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Kerry
Sleep mugged down on my eyelids as we touched down in Abu Dhabi International. After convincing myself we weren't going to crash, I shut my eyes for a last few precious moments of rest.
My phone buzzed. Guess I'd forgotten to set it in airport mode.
Leo gave me a stern look as we taxied to our terminal. He couldn't exactly pull off 'menacing' with his curly ginger hair, but I got the hint. Accountants tended to be heavily on the risk averse side, even with little things.
I checked the phone. There was just a text from Mira:
Land safe, sugar mama?
Cute. I'd need to be clear with her that my sugar was on limited supply when we got back. I had enough juice until she could get her footing – no more. Sure, I owed her my life for freeing me from the grip of my own parents, but she shouldn’t just tie herself to me either.
At least, she couldn't protest about the full time cat sitting duty this assignment placed on her. Snowflake sure didn't mind.
I read her message again, then, on a whim, went down and checked for any other new ones. Deacon’s message chain lay exactly where we’d left it:
You’ll come around, darlin’.
What more did I expect? He’d spent Sunday night texting me and trying to recover the moment his mom had stolen, and I had dampened expectations. I wasn’t exactly upset. Sure I'd left after the run-in with his mom, but that hadn’t been a storm-out.
I scrolled up to the first text he’d sent:
Didn’t plan on you meeting the family so soon. That’s skipping right past the good parts.
I smiled. Seeing his family actually made me feel a whole lot better. Sure, his mother looked at me like I was Mary Magdalene. But once my heart stopped beating from that, Deacon seemed downright tame in comparison. Between her breathing down on him and his brother trying to slip me into his suit, it was no wonder he’d become a guy who went hard for what he wanted.
But that didn’t excuse his behavior. It certainly didn’t make almost kissing him any less a mistake. Good thing his mother had cut in at the right moment.
The seatbelt light came off. Our team rose from our business seats up front and starting passing down trim roll-ons from above. We'd be going back and forth for the next few weeks.
Despite the project size, seven people was still a small team. Yet, I barely knew more than their names. Avoiding Deacon all last week had somehow isolated me more than being with him would have. Well, I was going to be completely professional here.
And ignore the dreams about Deacon that had kept me restless the whole plane ride.
“Get enough sleep?” Leo asked. “You looked like you had a rough trip.”
“I'm ok,” I said, rubbing my face.
“I can have a shuttle pick you up from the hotel a bit later,” he said. “You could nap for an hour.”
I snorted. “This isn't my first assignment, Leo. I don't need kid gloves.”
“No kid gloves. You're presenting after me, and I need you sharp. You're bringing the scalpel with your questions.”
“No other reason?”
He gave a flat smile. “I am trying to use you well, Kerry. That's all. I don't care if you're family friends with the Stones.”