Daring to Trust the Boss (Harlequin Romance) (8 page)

“You don’t have to go on.”

She pulled herself together. Right before his eyes she went from being weak and vulnerable, to being Vivi. His sassy assistant. “Oh, why not? After all, you can look it up.”

Regret slithered through him. “I didn’t mean it. I’m sorry that I pushed.”

“You wanted to know. Now you know.”

And he suddenly got it. Her impertinence, her sassiness was a defense mechanism. She’d rather be bossy, pushy, than weak.

Right now, to make up for his stupidity, all he had to do was give her that. Deal with her bossiness, her sassiness rather than her pain.

“Whatever.” It physically hurt to downplay her experience, but he knew that’s what she wanted. She’d rather be sassy than weak. “You’d just better be sure you’re right about Antonio.”

“I’m right.”

“And you’re the one explaining this to Constanzo.”

She straightened her shoulders. “I have no problem with that.”

“Fine.”

“Fine.”

The determination in her voice should have heartened him, but he kept picturing her at nineteen, innocent, trusting...and some kid, some smart-assed small-town bully with parents who thought he could do no wrong...accosting her.

It was everything he could do not to beat his hand against his steering wheel.

Especially since he was the one who’d brought up those memories for her.

CHAPTER SEVEN

C
ONSTANZO
MET
THEM
at the door of his lavish home. “So?”

“So, we met your son.”

After their conversation in the car, Vivi was abundantly glad Tucker was a workaholic who thought of nothing but his business. Any day of the week, she’d rather think about work than her past. He didn’t care that he’d ripped open old wounds. He didn’t care that her nerves were shattered, her brain was numb. He’d pushed for answers and he’d gotten them. Then he’d moved on, leaving her to deal with the repercussions.

Yet another reason to ignore the attraction that hummed between them.

Constanzo motioned for them to follow him back down the hall. “You met my son and—?”

“And he’s a gifted artist. Your friend
Vivi
made up a story about you wanting to do a showing for a promising artist and he was one of the people we were checking out. He ate it up like candy on a spoon.”

As they reached a living room with soft white sofas, modern-print area rugs, a stunning stone fireplace and a wall of windows that displayed the pool, Constanzo faced her. “Is this so?”

She winced. As if it wasn’t bad enough she’d just told the guy she had feelings for about the most horrific thing ever to happen to her, and he hadn’t shown her one ounce of compassion, now he’d fed her to the lions.

“I just felt he would need time to get to know you before we dropped the bomb that you’re his dad. We can bring him here every day to look at your house and figure out how he’d like to show his paintings here—”

Constanzo shook his head. “No. No. If we do this, we do it right. We rent a gallery with a curator who will do a real showing.” He glanced at Tucker. “His work is good enough for this?”

“His work is amazing.”

When a gleam of happiness came to Constanzo’s eyes, Vivi’s heart stopped. She forgot all about her discussion with Tucker in the car. She forgot her worries that she’d handled everything badly. She just saw that gleam.

“You, Vivi, are every bit as bright as I believed you were.”

Tucker snorted a laugh as Constanzo walked to the bar. “You disagree with her plan?”

He shrugged. “I’m cautiously optimistic because I want this to work. But I would have just told him.”

Constanzo reached for a bottle of Scotch. “I like Vivi’s way better.” He pulled out three glasses and poured. “So when do I meet him?”

Filled with euphoria that felt a lot like walking on air, she happily said, “Whenever you want.”

Handing a glass to Vivi and then Tucker, he said, “I think I would like tomorrow.”

Tucker said, “Whoa, Constanzo. We have a lot of work to do first.”

“Such as?”

“Getting the gallery for one,” Vivi reminded him.

“I have friends and money. I’ll have a place for you tomorrow.”

Vivi smiled. “Then as soon as the curator is ready for a trip to Antonio’s that’s when we’ll go. But, remember, you can’t tell him you’re his dad.”

“Not even if things are going well?”

“He needs to get to know you.” She pulled her lower lip between her teeth. “And, honestly, Mr. B., I think you need to get to know him, too. You’re a wealthy man and he’s very poor. What if he’s a hustler?”

Constanzo’s lips turned down. “You think my own son would cheat me.” He waved his hands. “Of course, he might. We don’t really know who he is.”

“Exactly. That’s why I figured it was best to keep who you are a secret until you know each other better.”

Constanzo pulled out his cell phone. “We will start tomorrow.”

Twenty minutes later Constanzo had a gallery booked and the owner coming to his house the following morning. They toasted with Scotch, which Vivi hated, had lunch, then played pool until it was time to dress for dinner.

Vivi had never seen anyone as happy or animated as Constanzo was that day. But after an afternoon of sipping Scotch, he drank a little too much wine at dinner and left the table early.

Alone with Tucker in the silent dining room, their discussion in the car came tumbling back to her. But a funny thing happened. Before those thoughts could take root—thoughts of Cord and the shame and humiliation of being attacked then sued and bullied when she’d done nothing wrong—she remembered the happiness in Constanzo’s eyes. And she felt strong again. Yes, she was disappointed in Tucker pushing her then behaving as if her pain was inconsequential, but that just pointed out what she’d always realized. They weren’t good for each other.

As if confirming that, she and Tucker ate their dessert in near silence. She was abundantly glad when her last bite of cobbler was finished and she could excuse herself. She headed toward the stairs and her bedroom, but she wasn’t tired.

She didn’t really know what she was. Part of her was excited about Antonio and her plan. The other part was really disappointed in Tucker. But her mind no longer automatically jumped to Cord. What he would think. How he would feel about her success. It was like all of that no longer mattered. And that confused her even more.

Maybe she just needed some fresh air?

She turned from the stairs and walked toward the big formal living room with access to the pool. A few lights broke up the darkness and created sporadic twinkles on the blue water, but the area itself wasn’t lit. Using her memory of the patio, she found her way to the nearest chaise, sat and stretched out.

“Nice night to just sit outside and look at the stars.”

She almost jumped out of her skin. “Tucker! For the love of God! You couldn’t have given me a warning you were already out here?”

“That was the purpose of my comment.”

She could barely make out his long legs on the chaise, though his shiny black shoes picked up a bit of the light from the well-spaced fixtures around the patio. His white shirt was a lot easier to see. When her gaze reached his face, he smiled.

“You did a good job today.”

She sniffed in disdain. “I thought you didn’t like my idea.”

“I don’t. I’d rather bulldoze this thing and get it done. But Constanzo likes your plan and he’s the client, the one we have to please.” He toasted her with a drink he must have brought from their dinner table. “And you pleased him.”

Syrupy warmth filled her and she relaxed a bit on the chaise. It was really difficult to stay disappointed in a guy who seemed genuinely pleased with her work that day. And maybe how she felt about him didn’t matter? It wasn’t like they were friends. They were boss and employee.

Plus, bright white stars twinkled overhead. A breeze chilled the night air. She didn’t want to go inside yet.

“My only concern is that he’s too happy. You do know how easily this plan could backfire.”

She frowned. “I can think of about three ways. First, Antonio could dislike Constanzo.”

“Constanzo could dislike Antonio.”

“Or Constanzo could adore his son—”

“Who might be furious when he learns Constanzo is the father who abandoned him.”

She studied the stars. “But he didn’t really abandon him. If you listen to the story, Antonio’s mother gave up after one measly attempt to contact him.”

Tucker chuckled. “Miss Prentiss, I don’t think I need to remind you of a little thing called pride.”

Her face scrunched in confusion as she considered that. Finally, she said, “So you’re saying Antonio’s mother got her feelings hurt so she kept Constanzo’s son from him?”

“Exactly.”

“Sounds petty.”

“Really?” He rolled onto his side. “What if you, poor as you are right now, got pregnant by a man with billions of dollars? A man so far out of your stratosphere that even if he believed your baby was his, he’d question your motives. He’d make you feel cheap and like a gold digger who’d deliberately gotten pregnant for money.”

Her face heated. He could be describing the two of them. He was rich. She was poor. And the implications of what he said brought her to her senses very quickly. Forget about his pushing her in the car that day.
This
was why she’d stay away from him, why she should have stayed away from Cord. He hadn’t needed to be insensitive with her that morning. Women with no money, no social status, always got burned when they got involved with wealthy men. She’d learned that lesson the hard way and she wouldn’t forget it.

“I don’t have to worry about that.”

“Really?”

“Come on,
Tucker,
” she said, deliberately using his first name because, as with the conversation in the car, he was pushing her buttons again. “I know my place. Billionaires can have their pick of women. They don’t go for the dirt-poor, average-looking waifs. They go after the beauties.”

He laughed. “Really? You’re gonna toss that at me?”

“Toss what?”

“An underestimation of your self-worth.”

She blew out a laugh. “I know who I am and what I look like.”

“You seriously don’t think you’re beautiful?”

“Beautiful?” She laughed. “I’ll give you pretty. But only when I wear makeup. Which I don’t.”

“You don’t need it.”

She laughed gaily at the stupidity of this conversation. Though they were talking about her, it was much better than worry over Constanzo and Antonio or speculating about Antonio’s mom. “According to Maria Bartulocci I do.”

“Maria was very clearly angling that day. She wanted my attention and she wanted a commission for getting me close to Constanzo. If she put you down, it was to make sure she didn’t have competition.”

“Competition?” She snorted. “Maria knows she’s a beautiful woman.”

“You think?”

“You don’t?”

He shook his head.

Her eyes widened. “You seriously don’t think she’s beautiful?”

He snorted. “How would I know? Underneath all that makeup she could have the face of a howler monkey.”

“Howler monkey?” Vivi gaped at him. “That was mean!”

“No. That was honest.”

She heard the sound of him shuffling on his seat and turned to see he’d sat up and was facing her.

“What I did to you this morning...pushing you to talk when you didn’t want to...that was mean.”

She was glad for the darkness so he couldn’t see the pleasure that came to her face at his apology. Just as at the Jason Jones signing, his behavior proved he wasn’t such a bad guy after all. “You didn’t know.”

“No. I didn’t, but I should have suspected something serious had happened from the law suit. You wouldn’t have just called somebody a name on the street or harassed someone. You’re not a flippant girl, Olivia.”

Her heart stuttered, filled with warmth. Not only did he believe her, but no one ever called her Olivia. No one. The way her name came off his lips was sensual, mesmerizing.

“You try to be flippant. You use your sassing as a way to make people think you’re in control. Then you turn around and ask a million questions, proving you’re not.”

Good Lord. No wonder he was rich. He saw right through a strategy that had worked for years. She wasn’t sure if she was pleased or frightened.

“There’s nothing wrong with asking questions. It’s a good idea to try to get a handle on what’s going on when you’re confused. But you really should ditch the sassing.”

She laughed, but kept her gaze averted.

He caught her chin and forced her to look at him. “I am sorry about this morning.”

The smoothness of his fingers against her skin nearly made her shiver. And his eyes—those striking green eyes that saw everything—held her prisoner. Her heart trembled with longing. She hadn’t even kissed a guy in years and she desperately wanted him to kiss her. A short, sweet, simple kiss...or a kiss filled with passion and honesty. She didn’t care. She just wanted a kiss.

But that was wrong. As she’d begun recovering from Cord, she’d promised herself that she’d never again put herself in the position of being with a man so far beyond her socially. And she’d meant it.

So it was best to let him off the hook about pushing her and return them to their normal relationship. “It’s okay.”

He sighed and rose from his chaise. “No. It’s not.”

“Yeah. It is.” She rose. too. “You see, when we got back to Constanzo’s and we started talking about his son, all those emotions you had dredged up were eclipsed by the feeling of pride I had over doing a good job with Antonio.”

He stopped a few feet short of the pool and faced her. “So you’re okay?”

She shrugged. “I’ve been okay for a while. But it felt different—better—that I could totally forget it once we started talking about work.”

“So demanding answers from you was a good thing?”

She laughed. “Don’t push your luck.”

Somehow they’d ended up standing face-to-face again. Under the luxurious blanket of stars, next to the twinkling blue water, the only sound the slight hum of the filter for the pool.

He reached out and cupped the side of her face. “You are a brave, funny woman, Miss Prentiss.”

Though she knew it was dangerous to get too personal with him, especially since his nearness already had her heart thrumming and her knees weak, she was only human. And even if it was a teeny tiny inconsequential thing, she didn’t want to give up the one innocent pleasure she was allowed to get from him.

She caught his gaze. “Olivia.”

“Excuse me?”

“I like it when you call me Olivia.”

He took a step closer. “Really?”

She shrugged, trying to make light of her request. “Everybody calls me Vivi. Sometimes it makes me feel six again. Being called Olivia makes me feel like an adult.”

“Or a woman.”

The way he said
woman
sent heat rushing through her. Once again, he’d seen right through her ploy and might even realize she was attracted to him—

Oh, who was she kidding? He
knew
she was attracted to him. After the episode playing pool the night before, neither one of them could be coy anymore.

Even as yearning nudged her to be bold, reality intruded. The guy she finally, finally wanted to trust was rich, sophisticated and so far out of her league she was lucky to be working for him. She knew better than to get romantically involved with someone like him.

She stepped back. “I wouldn’t go that far.”