Page 28 of Texas-Sized Scandal

Sterling had always been an Old Testament kind of man. Eye-for-an-eye sounded about right to him.

He couldn’t make the call, but there was no reason one of his staff couldn’t raise a legitimate concern.

He drove through the afternoon traffic and when he was back in his office, he called for one of his staffers.

He remembered the way that Angela had looked when he’d walked out of the party planner’s office. She wasn’t happy with him. She wanted him to accept the man she loved. But how could he? Ryder was everything he didn’t want in his family.

He rubbed the back of his neck. Throwing a man’s business into jeopardy... That wasn’t his way. He didn’t want to cost good men their jobs, only bring Ryder to the attention of law enforcement and cause him the same kind of problems that he’d created for Sterling. And maybe, please, God, Angela would come to her senses and leave Ryder.

“I heard some rather disturbing news today and it’s the kind of thing that needs to be brought to the attention of the labor board. But because of my personal involvement I’d rather someone else handled it,” Sterling said.

“What is it about?” his second assistant asked.

“It’s about unfair labor practices at the Currin Oil refinery. Now, because of my daughter I wouldn’t feel right about saying anything but we both know that labor practices aren’t something we can look the other way on,” Sterling said.

“I agree. Can you give me a few more details?” his assistant asked.

Sterling outlined the details of the complaint he wanted made against Currin Oil and his assistant looked properly shocked as he took notes, nodding and then reluctantly agreeing.

“I’ll call from my office and make the anonymous tip to the labor line. I think you’re doing the right thing here, Mr. Perry. Even if he is your daughter’s fiancé. That kind of treatment of workers can’t be tolerated.”

“No, it can’t,” Sterling agreed as his assistant left his office. He had put up with a lot of crap over the last few weeks, but letting his daughter marry Currin wasn’t something he would tolerate and he would do whatever he had to in order to protect her. For as long as he could remember, he’d hated Ryder Currin because he seemed to have some kind of spell over the women that Sterling loved. First, his wife, and now, one of his daughters.

He leaned back in his chair. “You’re going down, Currin.”

Ten

Ryder Currin was everything that Angela always wanted and never thought she’d have. The fact that he’d finally put a ring on her finger she thought would be the beginning to her happily-ever-after. But nothing ever went that easily for her. Her sister’s comment about a double wedding and then bombshell of the truth behind her own engagement had left Angela with a few, well, concerns. Three days after she and her sister had been planning a reception for Melinda’s engagement, she decided to go and talk to Ryder about finally setting a wedding date.

Ryder had asked her to marry him, but he’d been stonewalling her about setting a date and some of the things her father had said made her wonder if he was using her. She wished her dad and Ryder could find a way to get along.

If there was one thing that Angela Perry wasn’t, it was a pushover. She strode into the offices of Currin Oil, well aware that the men she passed all stopped to watch her. She enjoyed it and had dressed specifically so she looked her best.

Ryder was on the phone when she walked in and the expression on his face had her stopping in her tracks. He was angry. Angrier than she’d ever seen him before and that was saying something.

He glanced up and his face softened for a moment as he motioned for her to come in and close the door behind her.

She did, but stayed next to the closed door. Whatever was going on with his business seemed like it was pretty intense. She wanted to get a wedding date on the calendar but even she could tell that maybe this wasn’t the best time.

Still, she’d come this far, had given herself a pep talk and was determined to find out if she and Melinda were in the same boat. Was Ryder really going to marry her?

He slammed the phone down with more force than was necessary and she had to admit that was one thing she didn’t like about her cell phone. There was no way to angrily punch the disconnect button that satisfied the way slamming down the handset on a landline did.

“Sorry, sweetheart. I didn’t realize you’d be stopping by today,” he said, standing up and coming over to give her a kiss. He took her hand and led her to the seating area in his office. “Can I get you a drink?”

“No, I’m good. Are you okay? You looked like you were ready to kill someone when I walked into the room,” she said.

“Not kill, but I’m not in the best mood. Why did you stop by?” he asked.

She smiled weakly but he was watching her and now that she was here, she realized that coming by his office might not have been the best idea. But he’d been dodging talking about them and she needed some reassurance.

“I wanted to discuss the wedding plans. I thought it might take your mind off all that’s been going on here. And really all I need your input on is the date. I can take care of the rest.”

“Angela.” He stood up and walked away, but in the way he said her name, she felt his frustration with her.

“What?” she asked, getting up to follow him. “You asked me to marry you and now you won’t set a date or even talk about a possible date. Why is that? Do you really intend to marry me or was this all some kind of plot to get back at my dad?”

He turned to face her, and she saw that anger but also a little bit of what she thought might be hurt in his eyes. “If you think that, then why did you say yes?”

---