Page 43 of Love You
“He does a lot of corporate team building, too,” TJ said. “We’re competitors.”
“Our operations are totally different. People come to us for adventure sports, they go to Lucky to feel like a cowboy for a week. There’s no reason why we can’t give our clients a brief taste of that lifestyle and vice versa. Seems like a missed opportunity to me.”
The room got quiet.
“Winifred may be right.” Josh broke the silence. “Shocking as it might be.”
Everyone laughed. The Garners liked to poke fun at one another and especially at Win. This time, though, Darcy thought they should be taking him more seriously. His suggestion could turn out to be a good moneymaker and after Stanley Royce they could use the revenue.
“Okay,” TJ relented. “I’ll look into it.”
“I could do it,” Win said and Darcy saw Colt do a double take.
“Something in your Wheaties we don’t know about, boy?”
Win leaned his chair back on two legs and flipped Colt the bird. “Lucky and I have a rapport and none of you have ridden a bull.”
“I don’t know about riding a bull,” Josh said. “But you’re certainly full of bullshit.”
TJ put up his hand as if to sayenough. “If you want to feel him out, go ahead. Let me know what he says.” He then changed the topic to the pressing matters of schedules, payroll, and ways to cut down on overtime.
Darcy went for a doughnut as she listened to TJ drone on about how much they were over budget and accidentally grabbed Win’s hand as he reached for the same buttermilk bar she had her eye set on. They both froze and Darcy pulled her hand back. Win put the bar on her plate and took a jelly doughnut instead.
She managed to get through the meeting without making eye contact with him. Afterward, she rushed out and hid in the bathroom. If she could stay there until his tour started she wouldn’t have to face him. Except she had work to do and someone might need to use the toilet. She stalled for as long as she could and returned to her desk.
After fielding a couple of phone calls, she booted up her computer to send out informational e-mails to some of their clients. All of them got a list of what and what not to wear for the various tours GA offered as well as what essentials to pack for their trips. She wouldn’t call the work drudgery but she preferred talking to clients directly. Most of them were so enthusiastic about their upcoming trips that it was a little contagious. A promotion would enable her to do more of it as well as use more of her organizational skills. At Snyder Real Estate she’d pretty much run the whole show. Keeping the books, posting new listings on the website, setting up appointments with clients, ordering signs, supplies, and business cards—her responsibilities were numerous.
Even though the work was more stimulating, she liked it better at GA. TJ was always complimentary and appreciative of the job she did and although most of the Garner brothers intimidated her, they were never boring. The idea that they would make a great reality TV show had crossed her mind numerous times.The Amazing RacemeetsThe Bachelor.She didn’t quite know how they would pull that off but she had no doubt that women across the country would tune in weekly to watch.
“There you are.” Win tugged her out of her chair. “Step into my office for a second.”
“I can’t . . . I’m . . . um . . . waiting for a call.”
His lips grazed her ear. “No, you don’t.” He grabbed her cell phone off the desk and shoved it at her. “You can just as easily take it in my office.”
She was about to argue that it was a GA call but she could access the switchboard from his office too. Which meant she was stuck. It was either go with him or admit she was a chicken.
“Five minutes, Win, that’s all I have.”
He kicked the door closed behind her and for good measure locked it. “You’re trying to make me fall off the wagon.”
“You’re the one who got into my bed and kissed me first. Don’t blame me. And what wagon?”
“I told you, I no longer do casual hookups.”
“Right.” She screwed up her face in disbelief.
He sat on the edge of his desk and folded his arms over his chest. “I’m holding out for something real.”
She wasn’t sure whether to buy it or not but it might explain his sudden interest in her. A lack of sex had driven him to desperation. She quirked a brow. “Something real?”
“Yeah . . . maybe.” He hunched his shoulders forward in a halfhearted shrug. “And that little stunt you pulled, pretending to be asleep, put me on the road to perdition.”
“The road to perdition?”
“Exactly. And would you quit repeating everything I say?”
“Seriously, you’re blaming me for the kiss? I’ll admit that I faked being asleep because I was too tired to walk and because it’s your fault that I have blisters all over my feet. But you kissed me all on your own, bucko. So get off your high horse.”
