High-Powered, Hot-Blooded (3 page)

The dress was simple enough—sleeveless with a sweetheart neckline. Fitted, although not tight, and falling midthigh. It was the latter that made her want to squirm as she stared at herself in the mirror above her dresser. If she kept the mirror straight, she looked fine. Of course she could only see herself from the waist up. If she tilted the mirror down, she could see to her ankles and there was way too much leg showing.

Telling herself that by many standards, the dress wasn’t even that short didn’t help. She was used to skirts that fell closer to her ankles than her thighs. Of course, that was in the classroom where she was constantly bending over small desks or sitting on the floor. This was different.

Unfortunately the girls weren’t around to ask. They’d gone out to the movies, leaving her to decide on her own. She could always change her clothes, but she didn’t know what else would be appropriate for the party.

Before she could decide what to do, the doorbell rang. She glanced at the clock radio on her nightstand. Duncan was about ten minutes early. She would be wearing the dress she had on.

She stepped into her high heels, teetered for a second, then walked into the living room. Not sure what Duncan was going to have to say or what to expect from the evening, she drew in a deep breath and pulled open the door.

But the man standing there wasn’t her date and he didn’t look happy.

“What the hell did you do?” Tim demanded as he pushed past her into the house. “Dammit, Annie, you don’t have the right to force me to go to one of those places.”

“I see you finally decided to talk to me,” she said coolly. “I’ve been leaving messages for three days.” Ever since she and Duncan had made their deal.

Her brother faced her, his blue eyes flashing with anger. “You had no right.”

“To do what?” she asked, feeling her own temper rise. “Help? You got into this, Tim. You stole money from your boss. How could you?”

He shifted slightly and dropped his gaze to the floor. “You wouldn’t understand.”

“I’m sure that’s true. You have a problem. It’s either rehab or jail.”

“Thanks to you,” he said bitterly.

She put her hands on her hips. “This is not my fault. I’m not the one who gambled and I’m not the one who told Duncan Patrick this house was yours. You stole and lied, Tim. You were willing to risk everything on a roll of the dice.”

“I play cards.”

“Whatever.”

He glared at her. “You’re my sister, Annie. You’re supposed to help me, not throw me into some institution. What would Mom say?”

A low blow, she thought, more resigned than angry. “She would think you’re a big disappointment. She would tell you that it was time to grow up and take responsibility.”

Tim didn’t even flinch. “It doesn’t have to be like this,” he said. “You could mortgage the house. It’s half mine, anyway.”

“It
was
half yours. I bought you out, remember? I’m tired of this, Tim. Tired of you expecting me to bail you out. I’ve always taken care of you and you’ve never been grateful or tried to change.”

“You owe me.” Tim moved closer. He was a lot bigger and taller. “You’re going to mortgage the house, Annie. One way or the other. Do you hear me?”

She was too surprised to be afraid. Before she could figure out what to do next, Duncan walked through the half-open door.

“McCoy,” he said.

Tim spun to face his boss. “What are you doing here?”

“I have an appointment with your sister.”

Tim swung back to Annie, then looked her up and down. “You’re going out with him?”

She nodded.

Tim’s mouth twisted into a bitter smile. “Figures. I’m getting screwed and you’re going on a date. Nice. Talk about ignoring your family.”

The accusation burned down to her belly. “You don’t know what you’re talking about,” she whispered. “This is about saving our family, something you don’t care about.”

Duncan grabbed Tim’s arm. “She’s right. As we discussed, you’ll report to the treatment facility by nine tomorrow morning or there will be a warrant for your arrest.”

Tim looked between them. “You’re in this together. You’re selling me out with this bastard? Dammit, Annie.”

Duncan stepped between them. “Enough, McCoy. It’s time for you to leave. Remember, by nine in the morning.”

“Why wait?” Tim asked bitterly. “I’ll go now.”

“That’s probably for the best.”

Tim shook off Duncan’s hand, then walked to the door. He paused and glanced back at her. “Do you even care?”

Annie pressed her lips together and refused to answer. Tim would manipulate her if she gave him the chance. She’d never been able to stand up to him, but maybe it was time to start learning how.

She squared her shoulders. “Good luck, Tim. I hope this works.”

He glared at her. “It doesn’t matter if it does, Annie. Either way, I’m never going to forgive you.”

“What? Neither of you.” She shifted toward him. “Mr. Patrick, I really appreciate your help with Tim. And he will, too. Eventually.”

Unlikely, Duncan thought. But he’d been wrong before. Maybe rehab was what Tim needed. If it didn’t work, he would screw up again and find himself in jail.

“I’ve been calling him all week,” she admitted. “Trying to explain. Today is the first time I’ve seen him since we made our deal. He was so angry.”

“You know he’s lashing out at you because it’s safe, right?” he asked. “He can’t admit he has a problem, so it has to be everyone else’s fault.”

“I know, but it was still hard to hear.”

Tim was damn lucky to have Annie for his sister, Duncan thought. Unlikely he would recognize that, either.

“You going to be all right?” he asked.

“You mean can I still do my job?” she asked with a smile. “Yes. As well as I could have before Tim showed up.” She bit her lower lip. “I’m not very good at this sort of thing.”

Hell of a time to admit that, he thought, amused by her honesty. “Going to parties? There’s not much of an expectation. Look pretty and smile adoringly at me. You got through college. This should be easy by comparison.”

“There’s a little more to it than that,” she said. “Or aren’t I expected to hold a conversation?”

“You’re talking just fine.”

“You’re less scary than a room full of people I don’t know.”

“Then maybe you should call me Duncan instead of Mr. Patrick.”

Her breath caught. He liked the sound. It was unexpected and sexy as hell. The kind of sound a woman made when…

He stopped himself in midthought. Hold on there, he told himself. Annie McCoy was many things, but sexy? He slid his gaze across her bare thighs. Okay, yeah, maybe sexy applied, but it was beside the point. He’d hired her to do a job—nothing more. Besides, she wasn’t his type.

“Duncan,” she said softly.

He looked at her and their eyes met. Hers were a deep blue, wide, with dark lashes. Her hair was different, he thought, remembering the curls. Tonight it was smooth, with waves. Sleek, he thought, although he preferred the curls. The dress was appropriate. He appreciated the way it emphasized her curves, not to mention the flash of thigh.

“You look good,” he said.

She tugged at the hem of her dress. “It’s Cameron’s doing. He was great. Funny and really knowledgeable about fashion. He made a list of what shoes and evening bags go with each dress.”

“Cameron knows his stuff.”

“He mentioned you were college roommates.”

Duncan chuckled. “That was a long time ago. I’ll admit he was the first openly gay guy I’d ever met and that I wasn’t happy to have him as my roommate.”

“Too macho to understand?” she asked.

“Partially. I also had the idea that he would attack me in my sleep, which was pretty stupid of me. It took a while, but we became friends. When he moved back to L.A. a few years ago and opened his own business, he looked me up. I signed on as a client.”

“He was nice,” she said. “My cousins and Kami had a great time shopping, too.”

“They went with you?”

“Uh-huh. You said I can keep the clothes, which is very nice of you, but honestly, can you see me wearing anything like this ever again? It’s not exactly suitable for the classroom.” She smiled. “So everyone came with me and offered opinions. As long as Cameron agreed with the choices, I got outfits they can wear later. We’re all about the same size.”

“You’re going to give your cousins and their friend your clothes when this is done?”

“Isn’t that okay? You said you didn’t want them back.”

“I don’t have a lot of use for them. They’re yours.”

“Thank you.”

He turned the idea over in his mind. He couldn’t picture any other woman giving up an expensive wardrobe without a whole lot of motivation. Her comment about wearing them, or not wearing them, in the classroom made sense. But didn’t she date? Didn’t she want to hold on to them just because she could? The situation didn’t make sense, which meant Duncan was going to have to figure it out. Success meant winning and winning meant understanding his opponent and exploiting his or her weakness. He might have bought Annie’s time, but he didn’t trust her. Not a big deal as he didn’t trust anyone. Ever.

“Your car is really nice,” she said. “Mine has this weird rattle in the dash. My mechanic says there’s nothing wrong with how it drives, so I live with it. But it makes it tough to sing along with the radio.”

“You can’t get it fixed?”

She looked at him out of the corner of her eye. “I could,” she said slowly. “And I will. Right after I win the lottery. But first I need new tires. It’s always something, right? But that’s okay. My car is really dependable. We have a deal—it starts for me every morning and I don’t replace it.”

His mouth twitched. “You talk to your car?”

“Sure. You probably don’t.”

“Your car and I have never met.”

She laughed. “I can introduce you, if you’d like.”

“No thanks.” He turned left at the light.

“I’ve been thinking, we’re going to have to tell people how we met. That’s always the question right after ‘How long have you been dating?’”

“Three months.”

“Okay.” She made a mental note. “How about saying it was Labor Day weekend. You were on your way to the beach when you saw me on the side of the road with a flat tire. You stopped to help.”

“No one will believe that.”

“You wouldn’t stop?” She did her best not to sound disapproving. “You have to help people. It’s good karma.”

“Maybe I don’t believe in karma.”

“You don’t have to—it still happens. I think the universe keeps the score pretty even.”

“Doubtful. If that were true, I wouldn’t be a success.”

“Why not?”

“Haven’t you read anything about me? I’m a total bastard. I hired you to prove otherwise.”

“If you were a total bastard, you would have had Tim arrested the second you found out what he’d done. You were willing to let him pay back the money.”

“Only because I didn’t want the negative press.” He glanced at her. “Be careful, Annie. Don’t make the mistake of thinking I’m nicer than I am. You’ll only get hurt.”

Maybe. But didn’t his warning her prove her point?

Duncan’s world was an interesting place and about as far from her classroom as it was possible to get while staying on this planet. Still, she was here to do a job, so she remained by his side, smiling at him adoringly, endlessly shaking hands with people whose names she would never remember.

“How long have you and Duncan been dating?” a well-dressed woman in her forties asked.

“Three months,” Annie said. “We met on Labor Day weekend.”

“That’s an eternity for our Duncan. You must be special.”

“He’s the special one,” Annie said.

“You’re not exactly his type.”

Duncan must have heard. He put his arm around Annie and pulled her against him. “My type has changed.”

“So I see.”

Annie leaned into him, finding the closeness less awkward than she would have expected. Duncan was tall and well muscled. She could feel the power of him, but instead of making her nervous, his strength made her feel protected and safe. As if nothing bad could happen while he was around.

An illusion, she reminded herself. But a nice one.

When the woman moved away, Duncan led Annie over to another group of people and performed more introductions. One of the men there worked for a business magazine.

“Mind if I ask you a few questions?” he asked.

“No,” she said. “As long as you don’t mind me being nervous.”

“Not into the press?”

“Not really.”

“You can’t date a guy like Duncan Patrick and expect to go unnoticed.”

“So I’ve been told.”

The man, slight and pale, in his mid-thirties asked, “How did you meet?”

She gave him the story about the Labor Day tire trouble. He didn’t look convinced.

“Someone said you teach?”

“Kindergarten. I love working with kids. They’re so excited about school. I know that it’s up to me to keep that excitement alive, to prepare them to be successful in the education system. If we can show young children the thrill of learning, we can keep them in school through graduation and make sure they get to college.”

The reporter blinked at her. “Okay. So why Duncan Patrick?”

She smiled. “Because he’s a terrific guy. Although I have to tell you, the first thing I noticed was his laugh. He has a great laugh.”

The reporter blinked again. “I’ve never heard him laugh.”

“Then I guess you’re going to have to be more funny.”

Duncan moved toward them. “Charles,” he said, shaking the other man’s hand. “Good to see you.”

“You, too.”

Duncan turned his attention to her. “Let’s dance,” he said, taking the glass from her and putting it on a tray by the wall. He grabbed her hand and led her from the reporter.

Annie waved at Charles, then tapped Duncan on the arm. “I don’t really dance.”

“It’s not hard. I’ll lead.”

She didn’t know if that would help. “Do you think we could convince everyone to play Duck, Duck, Goose instead? Because I’m really good at that.”

Duncan stopped, turned to her and started to laugh. She was pleased to realize she hadn’t lied about his laugh—it was great.

“You’ll be fine,” he said, pulling her into his arms.

“Okay, but I apologize in advance for stepping on your toes.”

Despite the fact that he was taller, she fit easily against him. He moved with a sureness that made him easy to follow, guiding her with his body and the hand on her waist. After a few steps, she managed to relax a little.

He smelled good, she thought absently. Clean but masculine. His suit was soft under her fingers as she rested her hand on his shoulder. Heat enveloped her. Heat and something else. The whisper of a tingle low in her belly.

Annie kept moving on the outside, but on the inside, everything went still. Tingles? There weren’t supposed to be any tingles. This was a job. She couldn’t have
feelings
for Duncan Patrick. She shouldn’t like him or be attracted to him. He was her boss and their time together was just for show.

Maybe it was just because she hadn’t been on a date in so long, she told herself. It was like being really hungry. Any kind of food would make her stomach growl, even something she didn’t really want. Duncan was a good-looking guy. Of course she would respond. But she was smart enough to be careful. This was kind of like a fairy tale. She was Cinderella and the ball would end at midnight. Or in her case, Christmas. Only, there wouldn’t be a shoe to leave behind and in the end, no handsome prince would come after her.