Going Hard: Boys of Fall (2 page)

“
N
o
, I’m well aware of the contractor’s limitations. I’m also quite certain that he can understand the client is singular in his needs and expectations. To be frank, at the price that Mr. Domini is paying, it shouldn’t be an issue.”

Rafe flicked his finger against the silver metronome on his desk and listened to the metallic ping as the other man droned on and on.

“Make it happen,” he snapped finally, clicking off the phone and tossing it on the glossy surface of his desk.

Once, it had been glossy. Underneath the piles of crap, it still was. But jeez, he was on the verge of begging someone to come in and shovel the place out. Or else he could do it himself when he needed an outlet.

Like right now.

He rose from his chair and paced to the window of his mid-rise office building. It was just outside of Quinn, and the style of architecture lent itself to the city. From where he stood, other office buildings speared up around him, with more being built all the time. Many of them bore the names Spinks, Daniels and Martinez on small gold plaques that denoted the designers beside their front doors.

After years of sacrificing a social life—hell, a life period—for his work, he was finally making a name for himself. Finally, he had a big enough cushion in the bank that he felt like he could relax a little. Not much, of course. Even with scholarships and grants, his student loans were staggering. He also tried to help his mama when he could, although she rarely let him. Stubborn, prideful woman.

Whom he loved with his whole heart.

Then there was his sister, newly married to his former best friend. Rafe had never expected that to happen, but in retrospect, it seemed inevitable. Both buildings and people had a way of ending up where they were meant to take root.

Other people just couldn’t be happy where they were planted. Worse, some damn fool people were intent on getting themselves arrested before their God-given sense kicked in.

H
e grabbed
the newspaper off the teetering pile on the corner of his desk and narrowed his eyes once again at the small item in the gossip column.

Local librarian nearly arrested on charges of soliciting an undercover officer.

Naturally Hollie had just had to get frisky with the officer—or whatever the hell she’d been doing—in front of a burgeoning cub reporter working the gossip column. Since the Bennett family had been a stalwart part of Quinn for generations, their youngest child almost getting into a scrape that landed her in a cell was newsworthy. Chuckles-behind-hands’-worthy at the very least.

Small towns enjoyed nothing more than poking fun at their own.

His phone rang and he picked up the call, though he had no desire to talk to anyone right then. His mood was dark enough to scare away small children.

“Rafe, you have a Charlene Martinez Bennett here to see you.”

“Otherwise known as my sister?”

“As you wish.”

Rafe had to shake his head. The firm’s front desk assistant was such a straightforward, no-nonsense woman that it was practically impossible to make a joke in her presence. She rarely cracked a smile.

Not that he felt much like smiling at the moment either. Hollie making the papers, Charlene darkening his doorstep without a phone call first, which meant it was probably serious. What would be the third spoke in the shitstorm brigade?

Guess he was about to find out.

“Send her in,” he said via the intercom.

Charli opened the door and strolled in with a big bag imprinted with the name Rosa’s.

On cue, his stomach started growling.

“Brought me lunch, hmm?” He met her in front of his desk and grabbed the bag while taking a hearty sniff. “Chimichangas?”

“Chicken and pork.”

“Uh oh. Double fisting.” Smiling, he brushed a kiss over her hair and went back behind his desk. “You must’ve known I was wasting away up here.”

“Wasn’t a big leap. You normally work yourself to the bone and forget to eat. So devoted to urban sprawl,” she teased, taking out a couple plastic utensils wrapped in a napkin from her purse. “Mama always forgets to throw these in the bag.”

“She’s swamped. Lunch rush is one of her busiest times of day. And you didn’t come over here just to feed your older brother.”

“No.” Her gaze slid to the newspaper he’d dropped on the blotter. “So you know.”

“About Miss Betty selling the hair salon to someone from the big city? Yeah. Damn shame.” When Charli sighed, he gave up his ruse. “If you’re referring to Hollie’s latest stunt, then yes, I’ve seen it.”

“It’s not like it seems. She didn’t solicit anyone. That new girl at the paper, Yvette, she’s handling the gossip column and she’s hungry for good tidbits. Sometimes she exaggerates what she just happens to see. The guy was an off-duty cop, and he had handcuffs but they didn’t actually get put on Hollie’s wrists.”

“There’s a relief,” Rafe said drily.

“Wade was freaking out. Having to go get her because she’d had a few, and then dealing with all that… It’s not like her. Or at least it’s not like the old her. She’s changing some, which is fine. We all go through growing pains. Hey, give me some of that.”

He dished out some of his chimichangas onto a second plastic plate and pushed it across his desk to her. The fragrant scent of spiced meat and chicken and perfectly grilled vegetables made his stomach rumble as he dug in.

Plus, eating amazing food was way better than thinking about Hol’s exploits.

Charli forked up some chicken and vegetables that had escaped their tortilla and let out a happy sigh. “Ah, mama. She’s simply the best. Someday I’ll be able to make these as good as she does. So, we need your help.”

He forked up a bite and allowed himself a moment to savor the richly spiced meat before he glanced at his sister. Warily. “What kind of help?”

“So much for me sliding that in stealthily.” She dabbed her mouth with her napkin. “You know Wade has been traveling a lot. He and Hol have always been so close, but lately there’s been a bit of distance. She’s doing her own thing, he’s doing his, plus with us being newly married... I just think she’s kind of at loose ends right now, and looking for her identity.”

“Okay,” he said slowly. “What does any of that have to do with me?”

“Because you guys have always had a vibe. You were friends, then not friends, then friends again. Not sure what you are now, but I know she respects you.”

He snorted hard enough to nearly upend his plate of food. “Hollie Bennett? She has plenty of feelings for me, distaste among them, but not sure respect counts as one of them.”

“Oh, come on. She used to follow you around all day long. Her hero worship for you was almost as strong as for Wade. And who did she take with her when she wanted to buy that car of hers?”

“Me,” he admitted reluctantly. “But that’s only because we’d just done a deal with the owner of the dealership.”

“Whatever.” Hollie waved that off. “My point is she trusts you. She’d listen to your counsel.”

“My counsel?” He set down his fork. “About what?”

“You know, about having fun in a safe way. But she’s kind of the type of girl who prefers to be shown. So you guys could have fun together, and Wade wouldn’t have to worry so much while he was on the road. He wouldn’t, if he knew you were looking out for her.”

“She’s almost twenty-five. She doesn’t need to be looked out after, Charli. Not only is she a grown woman, she’s the smartest woman I know.”

“Exactly.” Charli chewed and swallowed another bite. “So it wouldn’t be looking out for so much as being companions. You could use some time away from the office too. And she’d be able to go out and do some of the things she’s raring to do with a friend rather than going off on her own to new places with people who might not be as friendly and harmless as Quinn folks.”

His sister did have a point there. But then she lost one for saying he could use to get out of the office. He was doing just fine. So he liked to work. He was good at what he did, and his mama was taken care of when she had gaps in the bills she couldn’t quite cover. For all intents and purposes, he was happy.

Or close enough.

“It sounds like you want me to rein her in. I don’t have any intention of doing that.”

At least he hoped he didn’t. Sometimes overprotective instincts he never expected took over when it came to Hol. His higher thought processes went into hibernation, and he became possessive, and lustful, and demanding, and lustful…

Lust did seem to be a prevailing feeling, especially when she wore her librarian glasses.

“I didn’t say that. You can just hang out with her, give her an option when she’s wanting to get up to stuff and maybe none of her girlfriends are around. I wish she’d call me more, but guess I’m just an old married lady to her.” Charli shrugged and popped a hot pepper into her mouth, then chewed as if she was eating candy.

She’d always had the ability to eat even jalapenos without reacting. It was a frightening talent.

“She probably thinks you’re just trying to be friends because of Wade. And aren’t you?”

“Of course not. I always liked her. I wouldn’t be shady like that, Rafael.”

He shoveled in more food, barely resisting a smile. As soon as
Rafael
came out, he was in trouble.

“She might think I’m doing the same. Since we’re family now.”

“Try saying the word
family
without such disgust. Come on, you used to love Wade as much as I did.”

“I definitely didn’t love him the same way.”

She reached across his desk and gave him a shove. “I’m just saying. I’m not sure what Hol’s thinking, but I do know that you guys had a—”

“Vibe,” he filled in, still chewing. Damn good chimichangas, as always. “Yeah, I heard that the first time, and I believe it not at all.”

“Who else am I supposed to ask?” She frowned down at her plate and dropped her fork. She was obviously upset, since Charli usually packed away food like he did. Especially when it came to their mama’s cooking.

“I don’t know, maybe no one? You could just let Hol live her own life. Do her own thing.”

“What if she gets arrested next time? She might end up with the wrong bunch of people. She has a good heart, Rafe, and she’s so smart, but she’s a little on the innocent side.”

“So she’s trying to change that.”

And good for her. He was glad she was going after what she wanted, including broadening her sexual education. Though it had taken him the last four months of rarely seeing or speaking to Hollie to convince himself he was okay with her doing that with men who weren’t him, well, no one had to know.

Least of all his little sister.

“I’m all for it. Really, I am. I just thought maybe you could keep the lines of communication open. Put it out there you’re available if she’s looking for—”

“Looking for what, Char?” he asked sharply.

Her big dark eyes widened. “No, no, not like that. I get you’re strictly platonic. I just mean you guys could chill together a few times. You could remind her what a good man is like.”

“Right. Because she’s so impressed with my goodness.” He grabbed a napkin off the stack and wiped his mouth. He’d practically demolished his plate in five minutes flat. “Look, your heart’s in the right place, but this is never gonna—”

“Two weeks,” she implored him. “Not even two weeks, since the Valentine’s day dance is a week from next Saturday.”

“Wait, now you want me to take her to the dance? What is this, junior high?”

“No, no, of course not. I just mean that’d be enough time to have some fun with her and if you guys ended up at the dance, that’d be awesome. It’s tough to be alone on Valentine’s Day, especially when everyone around you is coupled up.”

Tell me about it
. Not that he was paying much attention to the love bursting out of every corner of Quinn lately.

He had work to sustain him. And chimichangas.

“It doesn’t help to go out with someone who is all wrong for you.”

“Who said go out with? Friends, Rafael. Just as friends.”

He made a noise in his throat. He had a feeling his sister was angling for something, but he was too sleep deprived and now too full to figure out what.

If she was concerned about Wade being worried about Hollie, there’s no way in hell she’d want Rafe to end up with Wade’s sister. Buddies—especially ex-buddies like him and Wade—were never cool with their friends hooking up with their kid sisters. He’d nearly ripped off Wade’s balls for daring to touch Charli.

But he’d done it anyway, hadn’t he?

Now they were married, and Rafe couldn’t really begrudge them anything because they were happy. So maybe the end did justify the means, except when it came to him and Hollie.

She had no interest in repeats with him. She’d made that crystal clear. He’d had one chance with her last summer, and he’d bungled it because somewhere in the middle of their night together he’d realized he was breaking every one of his own rules. She was off-limits in every way. He’d always lived by laws of good behavior—some his mama had instilled, some he’d developed on his own—and that night somehow he’d gone from wanting to keep an eye at Hollie at a party to wanting to lose himself in her body.

He
had
lost himself, and through his selfishness, he’d lost any chance with her as well. And that was fine, since they’d never had a real chance anyway.

They couldn’t work. Apparently, not even for a night.

“Okay, fine. You’re right. You guys are too at odds to even hang out together, even though you’ve known each other forever and I know you care about her.”

“Says who?” he asked, well aware he sounded like a dick. But damn, that skirted way too close to the truth.

That he cared entirely too much.

“I know it,” Charli said softly. “The cool, reserved, business-only face you wear might convince the rest of the world, but I know the man you are beneath. You’re not reserved. You’re definitely not cold. But Mama drummed into you so many times that she had no intention of raising a hot-blooded man like Daddy, that you just shut down. And it’s ridiculous. You’re nothing like him, Rafe. Not even a little.”