Page 7 of Love You
“Yeah? What’s it worth to you?” Again with the obnoxious smile.
“What are you, twelve?” It was too early in the morning for fun and games. Having already made a colossal fool of herself at Tart Me Up, not to mention Saturday night at Win’s, she wasn’t in the mood.
That was the beauty of Win. Even though he was the type of guy who should’ve made her stammer and blush, he made her gutsy. With him she felt emboldened to say whatever the hell she wanted and even call him on his presumptuousness. Most of the time she was accused of being mousy.
Her mother “affectionately” called her “the dish towel.” Geneva Wallace constantly accused her of being too timid, too complacent, and not outgoing enough. Then again, nothing Darcy did was ever good enough for her mother. Except Lewis. Her parents thought he was the second coming of Christ. And being the pleaser that she was, she’d married him, hoping to finally do something that made her mother proud of her. Big mistake. She supposed she’d become malleable all those years running interference between the war zone that was her parents. But with Win she could say what was on her mind.
“Come on, Darce, go to the rodeo with me tonight. I don’t have anyone to take.”
“Ah, the truth comes out. Read my lips.” She mouthed,No way in hell, then managed to squeeze by him, brushing against his front on the way to the bathroom. Everything about him was rock-hard and while their contact only lasted less than a few seconds, a jolt of electricity arced through her. That’s how hard up she was.
“Don’t kid yourself, Darce, if I wanted to find someone else to go with I could. But I want to go with you.”
She eyed him, reconsidering. He was probably up to something but it would be the closest thing she’d had to a date in ages. So why the heck not? It wasn’t like there was anything better to do on a Monday night.
As if he knew what she was thinking, he said, “I’ll pick you up at six-thirty, then.” He pushed off the wall and sauntered into the conference room.
Chapter Three
Win picked through the pastries until he found a cherry turnover. There was no sign of his three brothers yet. Usually, TJ was the first person in the conference room for the Monday morning meeting. Hell, TJ was the first person in the building and the one who turned the lights out at night. Though not so much anymore. Ever since he and Deb had gotten together, TJ had been enjoying life. Which was good, Win supposed, but was going to take some getting used to.
In the last five-and-a-half years since his parents had decided to semi-retire from the company, TJ had been running the show with Josh as his newly appointed wingman. Colt helped out when he could but policing Glory Junction was a full-time job. Besides guiding tours, Win’s role in the company was . . . he didn’t really have one other than that but was thinking about becoming more active in the day-to-day operation as soon as he figured out what that was.
He heard Darcy in the adjacent kitchenette making coffee. The chick was a head trip. Painfully shy one minute, hopping into his bed the next. But right now, he needed a distraction during his self-imposed female freeze. And the truth was he found her interesting, even if she just wanted to use him for his body. Or maybe that was why. She’d made it clear she wasn’t into him in any kind of be-my-boyfriend way—a first and damned refreshing. But her odd behavior the other night piqued Win’s curiosity. There was something up with her. And he loved to unravel a good mystery.
“You’re here early.” TJ came into the conference room, carrying his tablet.
“Where’s Deb?” He glanced at his brother’s oversize grin and threw up a little in his mouth. Not because TJ had gotten engaged to Win’s high school girlfriend—he was cool with that—but because when Garner men fell they looked like drooling idiots. Not Win, though. Even with ample opportunity, he’d never fallen hard and was starting to think there was something wrong with him.
“She had stuff to do,” TJ said, and went back to grinning like a loon.
“Let’s do this thing.” Colt entered in his Glory Junction police uniform and a fresh suntan from his honeymoon. Another drooling idiot. He went over to Win and gave him a noogie. “What’s up with you, lover boy?”
“I’ve got nothing. Where’s Josh?”
“Right here.” He walked in and immediately started rummaging through the pastry box until he found the other cherry turnover. “No doughnuts today?”
“Darcy went to Tart Me Up,” Win said. Usually they got a couple dozen doughnuts from the Morning Glory diner, just down the street.
Darcy brought a carafe of coffee, set it in the center of the table, and took a seat. The front of her dress was wet as if she’d been scrubbing it in the sink and her hair had come loose from its ponytail with frizzy tendrils sticking to the sides of her face. She looked like she’d run a marathon. And lost.
TJ opened his tablet and fired it up, then turned his attention to Win. “How do you know Madison De Wolk?”
Madison De Wolk? Win searched his brain for a connection but the name didn’t ring a bell. “I don’t. Why, am I supposed to?”
“She’s the CEO of FlashTag.” When Win gave his brother a blank stare, TJ said, “It’s a social media start-up in Silicon Valley. Investors include Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg.”
“The Facebook dude? Yeah, so?”
TJ exchanged a glance with Colt and shook his head. “She’s interested in contracting with Garner Adventure to do corporate team building and she specifically requested you.”
“Win?” Josh pretended to choke on his coffee. “Why Win?”
“Isn’t that obvious?” Win said blandly. No one could deny he was the king of extreme sports. Before he’d thrown away his chances by quitting the US Olympic freestyle ski team, he’d been a favorite to medal.
“She says she met you on a kayaking trip in Alaska.”
Win remembered the trip—seven days at sea, whale-watching in the George Islands—but not De Wolk. He hitched his shoulders. “I don’t remember anyone by that name.”
