Czytaj książkę: «Millionaire Magnates»

This book is dedicated to my mom and dad. I don’t think i say thank you enough or let you know just how lucky I am to have you as parents. So… thank you, Mom and Dad. I love you very much.

Acknowledgements

I’d like to give a shout-out to the other authors in the TEXAS CATTLEMAN’S CLUB series—Michelle, Brenda, Charlene, Day and Jennifer. It was a lot of fun to write with you.

One

“Brody Oil and Gas, Kate speaking,” Kate Thornton said into the phone as she did about fifty times a day.

“Hey, Katie-girl, any fires I need to put out?” Lance Brody asked.

“Hi, Lance, how was DC?” she said while she sorted through the messages on her desk. Her boss was everything she’d ever wanted in a man and, embarrassingly for her, he never saw her as anything other than his ultra-efficient administrative assistant. Which was great—really it was. That’s what she was paid for.

She’d joined Brody Oil and Gas shortly after Lance and his brother, Mitch, had inherited the failing refineries. And over the last five years, Lance and Mitch had turned their fortunes around and were now members of the famed Texas Cattleman’s Club.

“DC was hot and the meetings were long. Messages?” Lance asked.

“You have two that aren’t urgent but that you might want to handle before you get back to the office. One is from Sebastian Huntington regarding TCC business. Do you need his number?”

“Nah, I got it. What’s the other one?”

“The other one is from Lexi Cavanaugh. I didn’t recognize her name but she asked for you to call her as soon as you landed.”

“She’s my fiancée,” Lance said.

Kate felt all the blood leave her body. She knew Lance was still talking because she could hear his voice beyond the buzzing in her ears. But all she could think was after years of secretly loving this man, he’d gone away and gotten engaged to someone she’d never even heard of.

“Katie-girl? You still there?”

“Yes,” she said. “Of course I am. That’s it on the messages. When do you think you’ll be in the office?”

“En route now. The traffic on highway 45 is heavy, though. I need one more thing from you,” he said.

Please don’t ask me to plan your engagement party, she thought.

“Double-check with the caterers for Thursday’s Fourth of July barbecue. I want to make sure this year’s party blows the top off of last year’s.”

“No problem,” she said, hearing her own voice break. She didn’t know how she was going to be able to work with Lance every day now that he was clearly another woman’s man.

“The other line is ringing,” she said, though it wasn’t. She just needed to get off the phone.

“I’ll see you soon,” he said, hanging up.

Kate hung up the phone and sat there staring at her computer screen. The wallpaper on her monitor was a photo of Lance, Mitch and her taken in February when Lance and Mitch had received word they were going to be accepted into the millionaire’s club. She’d bought a bottle of champagne and the three of them had toasted the brothers’ success.

Back then it had seemed fine that both Lance and Mitch thought of her as nothing more than an assistant. She had believed that one day Lance would see past her horn-rimmed glasses and cardigan sweaters to the woman beneath.

Clearly, that wasn’t the case.

She leaned forward, looking at the photo and realizing that part of the problem lay with her. Her thick dark hair was pulled back in a sloppy braid and her glasses were a little big for her face. She’d lost weight last year—almost eighty pounds—and hadn’t bothered to get new frames for her smaller face. In fact, all of her clothes were just the old ones. They were all faded and too big for her.

She looked like someone’s maiden aunt, she thought.

Having grown up in the Houston, Texas, suburb of Somerset, she was aware that taking care with her appearance was an important thing if she was going to catch a man’s attention. But being overweight had made everything she wore look, well, not very nice. So she’d stopped trying.

She reached out and brushed her finger over Lance’s face, trying to convince herself that she would be fine as he planned his wedding. That she could stay here in this office, working for the man she loved while he lived his life.

But she knew she couldn’t. The only way she was ever going to be happy with her life would be if she took control of it, the same way she’d taken control of her body by stopping her binge eating and focusing on making herself healthier.

There was really only one way for that to happen. She was going to have to quit her job at Brody Oil and Gas.

Lance wasn’t in the best of moods considering he’d just gotten engaged, a day he knew that most men considered one of the happiest of their lives. But then he wasn’t marrying for love; he was marrying to ensure the future of Brody Oil and Gas. He and Mitch had grown up in the fading dreams of their father, a man who’d let the Brody name get washed up and their wells dry out.

But with Mitch’s financial genius and his skills—hell make that luck at finding mineral deposits and oil reserves—they’d turned around Brody Oil and Gas.

He was back in Houston now, which was a relief. He hated being away from home for any length of time. He liked his life the way it was. Liked the roughness of his roughneck oil workers, liked the comfy feeling his secretary Kate gave him and liked that he had a home at the oil refinery that he’d never found anywhere else.

Few people knew that their old man had drunk away his fortune. Mitch and he had borne the brunt of the old man’s anger at the loss of that fortune.

He rubbed the back of his neck as he pulled his truck into the reserved parking spot at the offices of Brody Oil and Gas.

His cell phone rang as he was getting out of the truck. He checked the ID. “Hey, Mitch. What’s up?”

“I’m going to have to stay in DC a bit longer to work out the rest of the deal we put in place with your engagement.”

“No problem. Do you think you’ll be back for the Fourth?”

“Of course.”

“I invited Lexi to join me. I want her to start getting to know everyone here,” Lance said.

“That sounds good.”

“You know her better than I do,” Lance added, thinking of the woman he was going to marry. “I was thinking I should get her a little gift to say thanks for agreeing to marry me. Should I ask Kate, or do you think you could suggest something?”

There was silence on the line and Lance pulled the phone away from his ear to make sure he hadn’t lost the connection. “If you have any thoughts, just shoot me an e-mail.”

“I’ll do that. When are you going to tell Kate that you’re engaged?”

“Already did. Why?” Lance walked up toward the building.

“No reason,” Mitch said.

“Do you think I should have waited until I announced it to the rest of the company?”

“No,” Mitch said. “She’s not like the rest of the staff.”

“I know that. Do you think I should call Senator Cavanaugh to follow up on anything?”

“I’m handling that. Just keep doing what you usually do,” Mitch said.

“And that is?” Lance asked.

“Heavy lifting,” Mitch said.

Lance smiled. From the time they were very little, Mitch had relied on him to do the heavy physical stuff. It only made sense since he was the older brother, and Lance had learned early on that their parents weren’t going to watch out for either of them.

“Will do. See you on Thursday?”

“Wouldn’t miss it,” Mitch said.

He disconnected the call and stood there for another moment in the hot, Houston sun. It might sound like he was daft to others but he liked the burn of the summer sun on his skin.

The air-conditioning chilled him as he walked through the building. There was always a moment when he almost paused as he entered the office, unable to believe how he and Mitch had brought the empty, run-down company back to this. The lobby was filled with guests waiting to go up to different meetings. There was a full staff of security guards who protected the company.

“Good afternoon, Mr. Brody.”

“Good afternoon, Stan. How’s things?”

“Good, sir. Good to have you back in Houston,” Stan said.

Lance nodded at the man and walked toward the executive elevators. He got on and pushed the button for the executive floor. The ride was quick and he realized he was eager to be back to work. DC was like another world, a place he didn’t fit in. Here at Brody Oil and Gas, he not only fit in, he was in his kingdom.

He walked into his office and Kate glanced up at him. Her normal smile of welcome wasn’t as bright as it usually was.

“Welcome back, Lance. Steve from finance needs five minutes sometime today. I told him I had to check with you first.”

“No problem. I’m free this afternoon.”

“Good. I’ll take care of it.”

“Anything else I need to know about?”

She shook her head, a strand of her thick dark hair brushing her cheek. She looked up at him and her eyes seemed wider, those dark-chocolate orbs that he’d lost himself in a time or two. He shook his head. That was folly. Kate wasn’t the type of woman who’d be interested in an affair.

And despite his engagement, affairs were all he’d ever been interested in. He wasn’t the kind of man who could marry a woman he felt anything for. He’d learned from his father that Brody men didn’t handle lust or love well. They required devotion and dedication from their lovers or else they turned to jealousy. He had experienced it himself during his ill-fated love affair with his high school sweetheart April, when he was eighteen.

“Lance?”

“Hmm?”

“Did you hear what I said?”

He shook his head. “No, I was thinking about the trip to DC.”

Kate bit her lip and looked down.

“What is it, Katie-girl? Is something on your mind?”

Kate nodded. “I need a few minutes to talk to you in your office.”

“Okay,” he said. “Now?”

“Yes, I think the sooner we get to this the better.”

“Come on in,” he said.

She stood and picked something up from her printer before leading the way into his office. Lance watched her walking in front of him, seeing the sway of her hips and the way the fabric of her long skirt brushed her calves.

Why was he just now realizing that Kate was one fine-looking woman beneath those ugly clothes of hers?

Kate had been in Lance’s office many times before and today she felt a pang at the paper she held in her hand. She had made up her mind that she was going to resign. There was nothing that could change that.

Well, that wasn’t true. She vacillated between being firm that she had to leave, and wanting to stay so she could see Lance on a daily basis.

But then she had to remember that part of the reason she’d lost the weight was because she was tired of sitting on the sidelines of life, and watching other people live while she just went about doing her job and going home to her empty town house in Houston.

That emptiness had started getting to her and she’d contemplated buying a cat. But she’d stopped, horrified at becoming her great-aunt Jean, the spinster and butt of most jokes by the younger generation when Kate was growing up.

“What did you want to talk about?” Lance said. He leaned one hip on the front of his desk and stretched his long legs out.

She stared at him for a minute. How was she going to get over him?

“I have been thinking about my job lately. And I… I’ve decided to pursue opportunities away from Brody Oil and Gas.”

“What?” Lance asked, standing up. “Why now? We need you, Katie-girl.”

Katie-girl. He called her that stupid nickname that made her feel like she was five years old. And like a sister to him. She realized that she’d let the relationship develop that way, happy to have at least some sort of affection from him.

“That’s the problem for me, Lance, you don’t really need me. You might have back in the beginning when you hired me, but now any efficient office manager will be able to handle this. I think we both know that.”

“That’s been true for the last two years. Why are you leaving now?”

She shrugged. She hadn’t thought that Lance would care, to be honest. “It just seems like a good time to make a move. Everything is going well here, you’re engaged and Mitch is spending more time in DC. A new person will be able to transition smoothly.”

He rubbed the back of his neck. “Is anything the matter, Kate? Did I do something I shouldn’t have?”

“Not at all. It’s me, Lance. I keep staying here year after year because it’s comfortable, and I think we both know that isn’t the way to really have a successful career.”

“Is that what this is about? We can promote you into a different role,” he said.

She shook her head. “No. Thank you for the offer but I’m ready to try something new.”

Kate was tempted to say yes to anything that Lance suggested, but she refused to let go of the fact that he was getting married, and to stay here… well, it would be the dumbest thing she could ever do.

“Will you stay until I can hire a replacement?”

She nodded. That sounded fair to her. “Of course I will.”

“Thanks for that.”

“I guess… here is my resignation. I’ll be at my desk if you need anything else from me.”

She turned to leave and felt as if she was running away. A part of her wondered if she shouldn’t try to stay here and make things different between her and Lance. But how?

She’d Googled Lexi Cavanaugh as soon as Lance had told her about the engagement, and there was no way that she could compete with a woman like that.

“Kate?”

“Yes, Lance.”

“I would like to have a cake at the barbecue to celebrate my engagement to Lexi. Can you order one from the bakery for me?”

“Of course,” she said.

It was definitely time for her to leave Brody Oil and Gas.

She realized that she and Lance hadn’t hammered out the details of her leaving the company. “I’ll stay for two weeks.”

“It might take longer than that to hire your replacement.”

“I’d like to try to fit it into that time schedule,” she said.

“Have I done something to upset you, Kate? You know I’m more of a roughneck than an executive,” he said.

She steeled herself against responding to that rough aw-shucks-ma’am charm that he was able to pull off so easily. She liked that he wasn’t as sophisticated and polished as Mitch was. That was why she’d fallen for him. At heart, Lance was a good old boy, a Texas man like her daddy and her brothers. The kind of guy that knew how to charm the pants off any lady.

And he hadn’t had to work hard to win her affections. But she realized now that the charm was just part of his practiced act. It was as much a part of the savvy millionaire as his thousand-dollar cowboy boots and million-dollar mansion. He pulled out the charm when he needed it.

“No, Lance. You didn’t do anything other than treat me like your secretary.”

“Is that a problem?” he asked, his shrewd gaze on her.

“Not at all. But that’s all I am to you and I decided I want more.”

She walked out of his office and closed the door behind her. She knew she should stay and work the rest of the day but she needed to get away. And she didn’t care if it made her seem cowardly. She went downstairs and put the top down on her Miata convertible and drove out of Houston, leaving Brody Oil and Gas behind. She only wished it were as easy to convince her heart to leave Lance Brody in the dust.

Two

Lance was speechless as Kate not only walked out of his office, but left early. He knew he’d missed something important as far as she was concerned. She said she wanted to be more than his secretary—did she mean professionally, or personally?

He started to go after her but realized he had no idea where she went when she left the offices. To be honest, she was always here when he arrived and she stayed until after he left. How was he going to operate without her? Kate was more than just his secretary. She was the most important piece of the office, the person who kept everything running smoothly and kept him in line.

“Damn it,” he said to no one in particular. He hadn’t gotten to where he was by letting things like this go. He speed-dialed her cell phone.

“I can’t talk now, Lance,” she said.

“Then pull over or use the headset I gave you, because you can’t just walk away like that and expect me to let this go.”

“Hold on,” she said. He heard her fumbling around and then cursing, and a minute later she was back. “What do you want to talk about?”

“The fact that you left like you did.”

“I’m sorry,” she said. “That was so unprofessional, but I just didn’t think I could be productive anymore today.”

“I can understand that. Want to tell me why?”

“No. It’ll just make you uncomfortable and make me feel like a big dummy.”

Lance didn’t like the sound of that. “Kate, if I’ve done something, just flat out tell me. I’ll apologize and we can move on.”

“I don’t think we can,” she said. Her words were sad and he wished she were still in the office so he could see her expressions. Kate had the most expressive eyes of any woman he’d ever met.

“You won’t know until we talk,” Lance said. He would fix this problem with Kate—he couldn’t afford to lose her. “Where are you?”

“On the interstate headed toward Somerset.”

“Going to your parents house?” he asked, knowing that Kate had grown up in Somerset, a wealthy suburb of Houston. He had a house there now.

“I guess so. I just got in the car and kind of drove on autopilot. I didn’t realize where I was headed.”

“Katie-girl—”

“Don’t call me that, Lance. It makes me feel like we have a relationship beyond boss-secretary and I know that’s not true.”

He cursed under his breath. “We do have one. We’re friends, Kate. And we have been all these long years.”

“Are we really friends?”

“Of course we are. We are more than friends… you’re like part of the family to Mitch and me, and to be honest, Kate, I don’t think either of us will know what to do without you.”

She was quiet for a few seconds.

“Kate?”

“I just can’t talk about this anymore, Lance. I know to you it probably seems… how does it seem?”

“Like I’ve done something to upset you. Listen, whatever it is, I can fix it. You know that, right?”

“You can’t.”

“Kate, when have we ever encountered a problem or obstacle that I couldn’t figure a way out of?”

“Lance…”

She was weakening as he’d known she would. His other line was ringing and he ignored it.

“Tell me, Kate.”

“I’m not sure I can. I feel silly that you are making such a big deal out of it now,” she said.

One of the first things he’d liked about Kate was her voice. It was soft and sweet and even when she got mad, which wasn’t often, she kept it pleasant.

“Why don’t you come back to the office and we can talk,” Lance said.

“We can talk tomorrow when I come in. I think I need the night to get my mind together.”

Lance knew it was important to get Kate back and convince her to stay on before too much time had passed. He knew that she could find other jobs that would pay her as much as he did. But he needed her.

The other line started ringing again and his cell phone beeped with a text message from Frank Japlin, the head of operations at their main refinery.

“Kate, can you hold on a minute?”

“What?”

“I’ve got to take a call from the refinery,” he said.

“Sure,” she said.

He put her on hold and answered the call. “It’s Brody.”

“Frank here. We have a fire at the refinery. I think you need to get down here right away.”

“Have you called the fire department?”

“First thing. But this blaze is burning to beat the band.”

“I’m in the middle of another emergency.”

“There is a lot of damage. And I heard one of the investigators say they thought the cause of the fire wasn’t accidental.”

Great. Just what he needed today. “See what else you can find out. I’ll give you a call in fifteen minutes or so.”

“Okay, boss,” Frank said, hanging up.

Lance rubbed the back of his neck, thinking that damage was the last thing they needed at the refineries. The hurricane they’d had last fall had already done enough damage to them.

He needed Kate back in her chair, taking care of this mess. He’d have to call the press, the families and the insurance company. He glanced down at his phone and noticed that the line where she’d been holding was now off. She’d hung up.

Just what he needed, he thought.

Kate realized, as she was hanging on the phone waiting for Lance, that she’d spent too much of her time in that static role. Lance had gotten engaged. There was nothing he could say or do that was going to make staying on at Brody Oil and Gas okay.

She hung up the call and kept on driving. Going home to her folks’place wasn’t the smartest idea. Her mom would just tell her that if she wore makeup and dressed nicer, she wouldn’t still be single. And honestly, who could deal with that?

But she didn’t want to go to her town house and spend the night alone. She needed some good advice. She needed to be with her best friend, Becca Huntington. Becca would commiserate with her and tell her not to go back, not to listen to Lance… wouldn’t she?

She called Becca at Sweet Nothings, the lingerie shop she owned in Somerset.

“Sweet Nothings.”

“Becca, it’s Kate.”

“Hey, there. How’s things in the big city?” Becca asked.

“Horrible.”

“What? Why?”

“Lance is engaged.”

Becca didn’t say anything for a moment and Kate realized she probably seemed like a loser to her friend. “Oh, honey, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize he was dating anyone.”

“He wasn’t.”

“Are you sure he’s engaged? Lance doesn’t strike me as the kind of guy who’d do something that spontaneous.”

He wasn’t spontaneous and he was careful not to be tied down by any of the women he got involved with. “Yes, he told me the news himself.”

“Who is she?”

“Lexi Cavanaugh.”

“Senator Cavanaugh’s daughter?”

“Yes.”

“Is it politically motivated?” Becca asked.

“I don’t know. And I don’t care. I quit my job.”

“You did what?”

“Was that crazy? I’m so confused, I don’t know what to do,” Kate admitted. She’d hoped that Lance would realize she was waiting there and fall for her.

“It may have been a little crazy. I know you’ve had a bit of a crush on him,” Becca said.

Kate took a deep breath. “It’s more than a crush. I’m in love with him.”

It was the first time she’d said the words out loud, and she had to admit they felt good. Or they would have if Lance wasn’t engaged to another woman.”

“Oh, Kate.”

“He doesn’t even know I’m a woman.

“Let’s fix that,” Becca said.

“How?”

“Come to the shop and we’ll give you a makeover.”

“A makeover? I don’t think so. Remember the last time we tried.”

Kate had felt so uncomfortable in the makeup and clothing that Becca had suggested, she’d ended up going straight home and taking it all off. She needed the comfort of her old clothing… or did she?

“I just don’t know what to do,” she repeated.

“Only you can figure that out. But if it were me, I’d change my hair and my clothes. Just start over and find a new love.”

“I have to work for Lance for two more weeks.”

“Why?”

“I couldn’t just quit and walk out on him.”

“All the better,” Becca said. “You can go back to work looking like a million bucks and then leave. It will be a chance to get back a little of your pride.”

Would her pride feel any better if she came back to Brody Oil and Gas and Lance looked at her like a woman instead of his assistant?

“I’m coming to your shop,” Kate said.

“Good, we can talk once you get here. I’ll have the white wine chilled.”

“Thanks, Becca.”

“For what?”

“Being here. Listening to me and not thinking I’m being silly.”

“Why would I think you’re silly? I’ve been in love before and I know what it can do to you.”

Kate swallowed, glad she had a friend like Becca to turn to. “I’ve never loved anyone before Lance.”

“Not even in high school?”

“I had a crush or two,” Kate admitted.

They’d been friends for what seemed like forever and Becca had always been the sister she’d never had—the one person who accepted her the way she was. At home, her brothers teased her if she did anything girly and her mother was never satisfied with any of the choices that Kate made.

“That was different. And don’t ask me why. I can’t explain it, but Lance Brody has always been different.”

“I know he has. I’ve never heard you talk about one person as much as you do him.”

“Am I annoying?”

Becca laughed, and the familiar sound of it made Kate smile.

“No, you aren’t annoying. Just in love. I’m sorry that he didn’t turn out to be the guy you hoped he would be.”

Kate was, too. “Maybe he is that guy, but just not the one for me.”

“Probably,” Becca said. “When will you be here?”

“In about twenty minutes. I just left work without asking or anything.”

“I think you’re ready for a change,” Becca said.

“Why?”

“Because you’re already acting like a rebel.”

Kate thought about that. “I guess I am. Maybe Lance’s engagement will turn out to be good for me.”

“I bet it will. If not you’ll be stronger for having loved and lost him.”

Kate hung up the phone and continued driving toward Somerset. She didn’t think about Lance or Brody Oil and Gas. She just concentrated on herself and the new woman she was becoming. It was way past time for her to change.

It was hot and smoky at the refinery. The fire burned for almost three hours before the firefighters got it under control. Frank was busy talking to local media and Lance was calling his brother. Mitch was in a meeting and Lance had to leave a voice mail.

“Catch me up on what’s going on,” Lance said to Frank.

“We have four injured.”

“Have you talked to their families?”

“As soon as we identified the men who’d been injured. They’re in the emergency room now. I sent JP down there to talk to the families and make certain that there were no questions as to insurance coverage, et cetera. And I asked him to keep me posted on any pressing health issues,” Frank said.

“Good. Do you think we’re going to have to shut down?”

Frank rubbed the top of his balding head. “I won’t know more until we have a chance to talk to the fire chief.”

“When will that be?”

“Soon, I hope.”

“Have you stopped the flow of oil into the refinery?”

“First thing we did. We enacted our emergency protocols. And everything went exactly as it should have. I’m going to send you some suggestions for commendation for some of our guys who went beyond the call of duty.”

“I’ll look for that,” Lance said. His cell phone rang and he glanced at it. “It’s Mitch.”

“I’ll go see if I can talk to the fire chief,” Frank said.

“We’ve had a fire at the main refinery,” Lance told Mitch.

“Is everyone okay? How bad is the damage?” Mitch asked.

Lance caught him up. “Do you think this will impact the senator’s plan to allow us more drilling?”

“Not if I have anything to say about it. I’m going to go to his office right now.”

“I’ll get this under control. I’m going to have a press conference later on to let everyone know we’re okay and still in business.”

“Sounds good. I’ll get back with you after I’ve spoken to the senator.”

Lance hung up with his brother and surveyed the mess at the refinery. Employees were clustered to one side, all of them waiting to see what the verdict would be. They were a 67,000-barrel-a-day refinery, and if they had to shut down, all of those people would be without work. And they wouldn’t make their quarterly revenues.

He dialed Kate’s number. She usually served as a hub during these kinds of emergencies, when he couldn’t be in the office.

Her phone went to voice mail and he realized that she was serious about leaving the company. “It’s Lance. I need your help. We’ve had a fire at our main refinery. Call me when you get this message.”

The receptionist at the Brody Oil and Gas office wasn’t experienced enough to handle all the calls that were coming in. But the secretaries who worked for his duty managers could. Lance usually relied on Kate to take care of liaising with them. Guess it was time to figure out how to work without Kate. He called the finance manager and asked him to send every secretary they had down to help out. He then composed a short memo on his BlackBerry and sent it to the entire company apprising them of the situation and telling them that no one was authorized to speak to the media.

Frank waved Lance over to where he was with the fire chief.

“Lance Brody, this is Chief Ingle,” Frank said.

“Thanks for getting the fire under control so quickly,” Lance said, shaking the fire chief’s hand.

“You’re welcome. It is our job.”

“I know that. But I’m grateful all the same. What are we looking at here?” Lance asked him.

“We thought it was started by an explosion, but we’ve been talking to the men closest to the location where the fire started and none of them reported hearing one,” Chief Ingle said.

“That’s odd. How do you think the fire started?” Lance asked.

“I’ve called for our fire-scene investigators to do a thorough examination of the area. But one of my men thought he saw cans of fire accelerant.”

“What kind?”

“We don’t have any details but I wanted you to know what we suspected. I’ve called the arson investigator and he’s sending his team out, as well.”

“Crap. I have to notify our insurance company. They will want to work with your arson team.”

Chief Ingle nodded. “They always do.”

Insurance companies were very well versed in arson investigations—they didn’t mess around with fires. Lance wanted someone who had Brody Oil and Gas’s interests in mind. “Is it okay if I hire my own security team to be part of the investigation?”

“We’d rather not have extra people on the site,” Chief Ingle said.

“Darius won’t get in the way. He’s the best at what he does.”

“Darius who?”

“Darius Franklin. He owns his own security firm.”

“Okay, but only him.”

Lance understood that. The chief didn’t want a bunch of men trampling over the fire scene.

“When can we go back into production?” Lance asked.

“I think we’ll need at least 24 hours before I’d feel comfortable saying you can go back on line. More, if the investigation proves to be complicated.”

Lance made a note of that. And when the chief moved on, he turned to Frank. “Tell all of our employees to gather in the parking lot in fifteen minutes. Then set up a number so they can call in and get a message about when to report back to work and give them that number.”

“I’m on it,” Frank said, walking away.

Lance dialed his best friend, Darius, and got his voice mail. Being as succinct as possible, he told Darius what had happened, that the fire chief suspected arson, and he asked Darius to come and help with the investigation. Now if he could just get Kate back, he’d have the best team any man could ask for in this situation. He reached for his phone.

Three

Kate put her phone on silence after the second call from Lance. She was tired of hurting and questioning herself and everything she’d done. She arrived at Sweet Nothings to find that Becca had made her an appointment with her hairstylist.

“I don’t know that a haircut is going to change anything,” Kate said.

“Don’t think of it as just a haircut. You need to change,” Becca said. “I’ve been thinking about this since you called and the only way you are going to be able to make these next few weeks bearable is to make Lance Brody realize what he’s missing.”

Kate took one look at herself in the mirror behind the counter and shrugged. “Not much.”

“Soon, he’ll see a whole new woman.”

“But I’ll still be me,” Kate said.

“Of course you will, silly. And Lance already likes you. This will just make him lust after you.”

“He’s engaged to be married, Becca.”

“So what? You’re not going to make him do anything. Just tease him a bit and maybe get your heart back.”

Kate liked the sound of that. She’d given Lance five years. And wasn’t it past time to get over him?

“Okay. I’ll do it.”

“Good.”

Becca gave her directions to the salon. As Kate drove over there, her cell phone rang again. It was Lance. She answered the call as she parked her car. “It’s Kate.”

“Where have you been?”

“Driving,” she said.

“There’s been a fire at our main refinery. I need you in the office to be my information hub.”

Kate was shocked. Brody Oil and Gas was one of the safest refineries in the business. “Was there an explosion?”

“They aren’t sure. I’m done looking over the fire scene at the refinery. When can you get to the office?”

She almost said tonight, but what was the point of that? This was an emergency situation but they didn’t really need her. Paula and Joan, two of the other secretaries at Brody Oil and Gas, could handle the phones in this situation.

“Tomorrow morning,” she said.

“Kate, I need you.”

Her heart almost skipped a beat.

“The company needs you. This is one of those times when we really want to have our best players on the field.”

Lance had played football and she had noticed early on that he fell back on sports analogies when he was stressed.

“You’ve got your best players,” she said. “I’m being traded, remember?”

“Damn it. We haven’t decided that yet.”

“Yes, we have. Or maybe I should say I have. I will call Paula and make sure she’s prepared to collect information and disseminate it. I made a procedure file for this type of emergency after the hurricane last year.”

Lance didn’t say anything. “I guess that’ll have to do. Leave your phone on so I can get in touch with you.”

“Why? I’m not—”

“Stop arguing with me, Kate. I don’t like it. What’s gotten into you?”

She looked at herself in the rearview mirror and realized this was the first time she’d ever said no to Lance. And he didn’t like it. Maybe the way to get his attention was actually easier than changing her hair and clothes. She realized that she’d been too accommodating, and that was part of the reason he’d taken her for granted.

“I don’t know, Lance. I just decided it was time for a change. Don’t make this into anything other than that.”

“It feels like…”

“What?”

“Nothing,” he said. “Will you be in the office tomorrow?”

“Yes, I’ll be there.”

“Good,” Lance said.

“I’m sorry about the refinery,” she said, feeling bad because of the way he sounded. “Were there injuries?”

“Four men are at the hospital now.”

“I’ll have Paula send flowers to them and food baskets to their families.”

“Thanks,” he said.

“You’re welcome.” She felt a little guilty about not going in and taking care of the details herself, but Lance and she both needed to get used to other people working for him because Kate couldn’t continue to be his Girl Friday and be in love with him. That was the path to pain and destruction for her. And she was tired of living for the few brief moments when she and Lance were in the office together.

“Goodbye, Lance,” she said, hanging up the phone. She sat in the car for another minute but the heat was getting to her. Or at least that was what she told herself. She didn’t want to think that the idea of being without Lance was causing her to feel light-headed.

Lance spent the rest of the afternoon and most of the evening at the main refinery. Darius had arrived late and had agreed to stay and work with the fire investigators. Since he wasn’t an arson investigator per se, all Darius could really do was narrow down the list of suspects and conduct investigations into the backgrounds of those who might have had probable cause to start the fire.

Lance left the refinery and drove back toward Houston deciding that he was ready for a new day. This one had been too… crazy, he thought.

When he’d been a boy, he’d longed for a busy day so he wouldn’t have time to go home or to think about the home he had waiting for him. But that was long ago, he thought. Now he lived alone and liked it that way.

Well, he lived alone for now. Soon he’d be bringing a bride to his mansion in Somerset and he wasn’t sure he was ready to try suburban living with a wife yet. But he and Mitch had agreed he was the one who should marry Lexi.

Damn, he thought, rubbing the back of his neck. Tension seemed to take up residence there when things weren’t going well.

His cell phone rang and he checked the caller ID before answering it.

“Hello, Mitch.”

“Hey, big bro. How are things at the refinery?”

“A mess, but I have Darius working with the fire investigators to try to make sense of it. How’s DC?”

Mitch let out a long breath. “It could be worse. I handled most of it with Senator Cavanaugh’s office. Let them know the proactive things that Brody Oil and Gas are doing to minimize damage to the community and the environment. I think that helped to soothe his fears over backing expanding oil production.”

“Did you tell him that with additional refineries we could rotate operations so the loss of this one for a day wouldn’t impact oil prices?” Lance asked.

“Yes, I did. I’m watching the markets as they open in Japan. I think we will see US crude prices jump.”

“I know we will. With the economy being what it is, that’s the last thing we need right now.”

“We can’t control the actions of investors,” Mitch said.

“I am stopping by the hospital on my way home. I think it’d be a good idea for you to call the injured workers—I’ll send you a text with their names when I’m done.”

“All right, that sounds good. Lexi and I are going to fly back to Houston together tomorrow.”

“I haven’t had a chance to talk to her. She called me earlier. Will you let her know that until the mess at the refinery settles down, I can’t talk?”

“Sure thing,” Mitch said.

“Did you come up with any ideas for a gift yet?” Lance asked.

“Not yet. I haven’t been thinking about your love life.”

Lance hadn’t been, either. “This is business, Mitch. Remember, you told me that. We need the Cavanaugh connection. Today proves that.”

Mitch didn’t add anything to that. And Lance had to guess that being a brilliant strategist meant his brother wasn’t surprised that his planning had worked to their advantage.

“I forgot to mention that Kate gave her notice today.”

“She did? Why?”

“She thinks this will be a good time for her transition out of her job with us. She’s not being challenged enough or something like that.”

“Maybe it is time she moved on.”

“I’m trying to convince her to stay,” Lance said.

“Why?”

Lance didn’t know, but there was no way in hell he’d admit it. “She’s part of the Brody Oil and Gas family and we need her.”

“Maybe she wants to be more.”

“Like how?” Lance asked remembering Kate’s comment earlier.

“Think about it,” Mitch said. “I’ve got to run. Don’t forget to send me the names of the injured men.”

“I won’t. Ally got them interviews on the morning shows for tomorrow. She’s going to talk to the families and prep them on what to say.”

“Good. I’ll advise the senator of this so maybe he can get a sound bite in, as well.”

“This could have been a lot worse,” Lance said.

“Why wasn’t it?” Mitch asked.

“I think because of all the preparedness we worked on after the hurricane last fall. The guys really knew what to do and how to handle things.”

Lance pulled into the hospital parking lot and chatted a few more minutes with his brother before hanging up. He didn’t like hospitals. Never had, to be honest. Maybe because he’d visited more than his share of emergency rooms as a child.

His father had always been blunt in the parking lot. Telling him what to say when the doctors asked about how he’d broken his arm or his leg—bicycle accident; how he’d hurt his ribs or broken his fingers—skateboard accident. Never did he tell anyone the truth. And after a while, Lance realized even he kind of believed his dad’s stories.

He rubbed his hand over the scars on the back of his left knuckles. Some days he felt damned old, older than his years. He knew he had to be careful with Lexi. Had to remember to keep the engagement and their eventual marriage manageable.

Lance was always conscious that he’d inherited his father’s legendary temper. And as he sat in his truck looking at the modern hospital, he couldn’t help but remember the promise he’d made to himself when he was thirteen. The promise that he’d never bring a child of his to the emergency room, because he’d never have children.

He wondered if that was going to be an issue for Lexi Cavanaugh. A part of him hoped it would be so he could end the engagement and get his life back to the way it had been.

Kate was nervous as she got of out of her car the next morning. Last night the new clothes she’d purchased with Becca in Houston had seemed fun and daring but this morning when she’d put on the slim-fitting sundress and styled her new hair, she’d felt like an imposter.

It had taken her three tries to get her contacts in but at last she had her look as close as possible to the way the stylist had done it last night.

But she was nervous… and babbling, she thought. She always talked to herself but this morning her internal talk bordered on inane.

It all boiled down to one thing. What if everyone saw her and laughed?

Wasn’t that silly? She was a grown woman and shouldn’t care what anyone else thought but she was trying a new look—one that she was not certain of, despite Becca’s reassurances that she looked hot. Kate still felt like fat, frumpy Kate, trying to be someone she wasn’t.

She walked into the lobby, and Stan the security guard looked up. “Good morning….”

“Morning, Stan,” she said, feeling awkward as the older gentleman just kept staring at her.

“You look nice today, Miss Thornton,” Stan said. “Real pretty.”

“Thank you, Stan,” she said, the warmth of a blush on her cheeks.

She scanned her ID card and went to the executive elevator. While she waited, she stared at her reflection in the polished, mirrored wall that surrounded the elevator bank.

The hardest part about this makeover was that she simply didn’t recognize herself.

“Excuse me, miss, but this elevator is for executive personnel only,” Lance said, coming up behind her.

She turned around.

“Kate?”

She waited to see if he’d say anything else, but he didn’t. That hurt a little bit but it was okay. Last night she’d decided to stop trying to please Lance, something that she’d done without much thought for a long time.

“I saw the workers on the Today show this morning. I thought they sounded good.”

“Ally did a good job of prepping them. I’m glad they will all make a full recovery,” Lance said.

The elevator car arrived and he waited for her to enter. She felt his eyes on her back as she moved in front of him. Was the skirt too short for the office?

But when she turned and saw him staring at her legs, she realized that the dress was having its desired effect on him. He was finally seeing her as a woman. Kate felt… weird, actually.

Lance’s attention was the one thing she’d craved and now she had it. But she wasn’t sure what to do with it.

“How was your night?” she asked.

“I spent most of it on the phone… something that would have been easier if my assistant had been here.”

She pursed her lips. “Maybe your assistant decided it was time to get herself a life.”

“Did you, Kate? Is that what this is all about?”

She shook her head. “I’ve been ignoring myself for too long. I know my timing stunk last night but I had no idea there would be a fire at the main refinery.”

“Who could have known? I don’t mind if you take an afternoon off. In fact, if it would convince you to stay then I think we could work out more time off in your schedule,” Lance said.

The elevator arrived at their floor and once again he gestured for her to go in front of him. As she walked past him, she heard him inhale sharply.

“Are you wearing perfume?” he asked.

She raised both eyebrows at him. “I am.”

He shook his head. “Sorry. It’s a very nice scent.”

“Thank you,” she said. Her new look seemed to be bothering Lance. Or maybe he just wasn’t himself this morning. “I can handle the office this morning if you want to go back to the refinery.”

“Thanks, Kate, but I think I am needed here. Especially if you are determined to quit.”

She nodded and entered her office. The voice - mail light on her phone was flashing and she imagined she had a lot of messages waiting for her.

Lance closed the door and brushed past her to go into his office, knocking her off balance in the one-inch heels she was wearing. Lance steadied her with a hand on her waist. She turned her head and her hair brushed his shoulder.

Lance smelled good this morning but then she had always liked the scent of his aftershave. He put his other hand on her shoulder and looked down at her.

“I never realized how pretty your brown eyes are,” he said.

She flushed. “I guess you couldn’t really see them behind my glasses.”

“Or maybe I never looked,” Lance said.

“I think that there wasn’t anything to look at before,” Kate said. Becca had made a good point last night when she’d said that Kate hid behind her clothes and glasses.

“You are always worth a second look, Kate.”

“Really?”

“Yes. I’m sorry I didn’t notice before now.”

“Why sorry?”

“Because you are so damned pretty.”

“It’s not me, it’s the haircut and makeup,” she said, uncomfortable with the compliment. She started pointing out all the things her mom had always told her were wrong with her. “My mouth is too big for my face.”

He shook his head, rubbing his thumb over her bottom lip. “Your mouth is perfect for your face. Very lush and tempting….”

“Tempting? It’s me, Lance. Kate Thornton. You’ve never thought I was tempting before.”

“I must have been blind, Kate, because you are tempting me now,” he said, lowering his mouth to hers. He kissed her.

She rose on her tiptoes and kissed him back. The moment was everything she’d imagined it would be and also completely unexpected. There was no way she could have imagined the way he tasted as his tongue slid over hers. Or the feel of his big hands in her hair. Or the way that one kiss could change her life completely.

Four

Kate tasted like heaven. She was pure temptation in his arms and he knew he’d never get enough of her. He didn’t want to.

He slid his hands down the sides of her body. How had he missed this curvy body and those big, pretty eyes? Glasses and baggy clothes be damned, he’d have to have been blind to not see what a hottie his secretary was.

He turned to lean on the edge of her desk and pulled her more fully against him. Her breasts were full and felt good against his chest. He angled his head for deeper access to her mouth. He wanted more. He couldn’t get enough of the taste of her. How had he missed this Kate all these years?

He lifted his head, rubbed his lips over hers and realized her eyes were closed. She looked so innocent in his arms. He remembered that he was a man who’d never learned how to handle the softer things in life. Having a lover was one thing, but this could never go beyond the physical.

As he traced the line of her face with her hair hanging free, he realized how delicate she was. “Should I apologize for that kiss?”

She opened her eyes and looked dazed for a moment but then she recovered. “Do you want to?”

“Not at all. I want to do it again but I don’t think the office is the place for it.”

“I agree.”

His line rang, and Kate smiled at him as she reached over to answer it. “Brody Oil and Gas, Kate speaking.”

Her smile faded. “Please hold.”

“Who is it?”

“Your fiancée. You probably want to take that in your office.”

Lance nodded. He didn’t like that Lexi had interrupted his moment with Kate but he couldn’t ignore her again.

“We’re not done talking,” Lance said.

“Of course not. We have the next two weeks to get through,” Kate said, pulling out her chair and sitting down.

“When I’m done I want to see you in my office,” he said. He wasn’t going to pretend there wasn’t a fierce attraction between them, but he didn’t know how to deal with this new Kate who argued with him and didn’t just do everything the way he wanted her to.

“Sure thing. You better go, you don’t want to keep your fiancée waiting.”

He pivoted on his heel and walked away from her. He went to his desk, sprawling in his leather chair. He reached for the phone and picked up the line where Lexi was holding.

“Hi, there, Lexi.”

“Hi, Lance. I know you must be busy this morning but I wanted to thank you for the invitation to come to your Fourth of July party. I wanted to know what you need from me as your hostess.”

Lance hadn’t thought about Lexi acting as hostess. “My secretary has taken care of all the details.”

“I’ll give her a call and see if I can help with anything. I think if we are going to make our marriage work, I should be involved with Brody Oil and Gas.”

“Why?” Lance asked.

“Because that’s where you spend all of your time,” she said. “I know what it takes to be a good wife. You need a partner who can understand where you are coming from.”

Lance knew that was the truth. But he didn’t want Lexi here. He realized with a shock that when he thought of a partner—a female partner—at Brody Oil and Gas, he thought of Kate.

Why hadn’t he realized that he wanted her before this? It was too late to change the past but he wanted to make things different between them going forward. But Kate didn’t want any part of the company anymore and he was engaged to Lexi. He needed to sort this mess out. Was he going to try to make the match with Lexi work? And where did that leave Kate?

Mitch and Lance had determined that the connection to Cavanaugh was needed. And Lance had always put Brody Oil and Gas before everything else. He knew exactly what he needed to do, and how he needed to act. This was his chance to prove he wasn’t the bastard his father had been.

He needed to be a better man. A man who wouldn’t kiss Kate unless he could make a commitment to her. A man who would honor his commitment to Lexi. A man who was proud of who he was.

“You don’t need to do anything for the picnic, but we can talk when you get here. Kate—my secretary—has given her two-weeks notice. If you are serious about wanting to be more involved, the picnic would be a great time for you to talk to her about the details of our events.”

“I am serious, Lance. I want to make our marriage work.”

There was a sincerity in Lexi’s words that shamed him. He’d asked her to marry him and it was time to step up and honor that.

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” Lance said.

“I’m looking forward to it. Mitch has raved about the Brody Oil and Gas Fourth of July party.”

“It’s the one time of year when we pull out all the stops for our workers. When we were rebuilding the business we decided that if we were going to be successful, we had to make everyone who worked for us feel like they were a part of the Brody Oil and Gas family.”

“If your success is any indication, I’d say you’ve achieved that.”

But at what cost? Mitch was determined and a workaholic just like Lance was. And this marriage wasn’t real—it was purely business. Lexi was just another step in their plan to be successful. Was that any way to go through life, especially when he had a woman like Kate on his hands? What was he doing?

Kate couldn’t believe she’d lost her head and let Lance kiss her. It was wonderful… incredible, really, but so stupid. She was here to get over him. She was supposed to be using these two weeks to put him in her past.

She wanted to go out looking her best and she supposed she could count herself successful on that item. Lance hadn’t even recognized her.

The sad part about that was she hadn’t done anything except wear clothes that fit her. What a difference new clothes made. She would never have believed it. Mainly because her mother had been the one to say clothes made the man, and that woman had been wrong about so many things.

She glanced down at the phone and saw that Lance was still on the line with Lexi Cavanaugh. She knew next to nothing about the woman. But at the end of the day, Kate felt she’d owe Lexi a word of thanks.

If it hadn’t been for that woman’s engagement to Lance, Kate might have stayed stuck in her frumpy rut until she died an old lady spinster.

A wolf-whistle brought her head up as Marcus Wall walked into the office. He was one of the petroleum geologists who worked for them, one of the men who helped decide where Brody Oil and Gas drilled and he was an expert at picking the right location for their wells. “Dang, Kate, you look good today.”

She smiled at him. “Thanks.”

“I never noticed how big your eyes were before,” he said, coming into her office and leaning on her desk. He must have come into the office at least a hundred times before and he’d never sat close or really even talked to her.

She wanted to be flattered but instead she was uncomfortable. She didn’t want a lot of male attention. She had wanted one male’s attention, and now that she had it she didn’t want to let it go.

That was her problem. Lance had moved forward and she was supposed to be, too, but if her reaction to Marcus’s friendly flirting was any indication, her plan was a failure. She only had eyes for Lance.

“Kate?”

“Hmm?”

He shook his head. “Is there a man behind this change?”

“How’d you guess?”

He shrugged. “I know women.”

“Do you?”

“Yes, three sisters. I was raised by wolves.”

“I don’t think women like to be called wolves.”

“True enough, but I know that when a girl—I don’t mean any offense calling you a girl—gets dolled up like you are, there’s a reason for it.”

“Maybe I just want a change,” she said, surprised that Marcus was actually helping her to understand herself. There was something hollow about the changes she’d made.

When Lance had kissed her and held her in his arms she’d felt like a queen. But now she was back to just feeling like Old Kate, the same way she’d felt for the last few years as Lance treated her like some kind of favored pet.

“Well, this change looks very good on you. Is the big man in?”

Kate glanced down at the phone. Lance was off of his line. And it was probably way past time for Marcus to leave her office. She hoped that she didn’t have guys talking to her all day. “Yes, he is.”

“I’ll announce myself,” Marcus said.

She nodded. Marcus usually did just that. “Thanks, Marcus.”

“For what?”

“For being you,” she said.

“I can be so much more if you let me,” Marcus said.

“For a few weeks, right?” she asked, knowing that Marcus would be the right man for a fling but nothing more. Even if she was leaving the company, she didn’t want to have an affair with someone who worked with Lance.

This plan—which had been concocted when she’d had two glasses of wine—now seemed… silly. She needed to just keep doing her job, find a replacement for herself and get out of Brody Oil and Gas before she hurt herself any further.

“Definitely. I’m not a forever kind of man.”

“Marcus, are you here to see me?”

“Sure thing, boss man. I’ve got good news on the new mineral rights we purchased.”

“I was hoping you’d say that,” Lance said. “Go on in my office. I need a word with Kate.”

Marcus winked at her and then left. Lance reached over and closed the door leading to his office.

“What do you need?” she asked. She was trying to come off cool and sophisticated, but it was really hard when she felt like she was twelve. Why had she given this man so much power over her?

“I wanted to apologize for my behavior earlier.”

“I think we already covered that,” Kate said. The last thing she wanted to do was rehash that kiss. For her, it had been incredible and the answer to many long fantasies about this man.

She turned away from him, but he put his hand on her chair and turned her back to face him. “I don’t know why this is happening to us, Kate, but I am not going to be able to ignore it. You are—”

“Don’t say anything else. You have a fiancée and I’m leaving this job.”

“Why are you leaving?”

Kate looked up at him and thought about blasting him with the truth. But somehow she didn’t think he’d react well if she said she was leaving because she loved him and watching him get married would be about the same as ripping her heart out of her body.

“I’m leaving because I can’t work for you anymore.”

That was as close to the truth as she could get. Lucky for her he seemed to accept that answer.

She spent the rest of the day doing her job and realizing that all of the men in the office were starting to notice her as a woman. It should have given her hope that she’d find another man and fall in love, but instead it just made her sad because the one man she’d changed for still seemed to be oblivious—even after he’d finally kissed her.

The Fourth of July barbecue was held at Lance’s home in Somerset. He lived on acreage and had set up the party out near the lake on his property. There was an area for beach volleyball, which Lance had started playing when he was in college. Later on they would play the annual management-versus-workers match.