Ramagos, Tonya - Strictly Accountable [Stud Service 2] (Siren Publishing Classic) (3 page)

“Yeah.” The twinkle in Kirk’s green eyes betrayed his solemn nod. “Savannah did a good job of following her own advice, didn’t she, seeing as how she married a cowboy a little over a month ago?”

“Oh, shut up.” Sabrina scowled into her wine glass, surprised to find it over half-empty already.

Kirk snickered and stood to snag the bottle from the counter. “So why did he call Lucille?” he asked as he topped off their glasses.

“He wants me to come out to his ranch, go through his father’s office, and, I don’t know, straighten out his papers and files so I can do his tax return.” She leaned back in her chair, idly spinning the stem of her glass in her fingers and watching the play of light reflecting in the red liquid. “You know Homer Holt passed away several months back.”

“Yeah, seems I remember reading about that in the paper or something.”

“Well, apparently he left his finances in a real mess. Brody didn’t go into details. He just said he needed me to straighten it all out for him.”

“I’m still not getting what this has to do with Lucille.”

“I told Brody I couldn’t do a tax return away from the Mason Tax Service office. My employment contract binds me to the company.”

“Ah, so he called Lucille to get permission for you to do it so you won’t get fired. At least he’s considerate enough to think about your job first.”

“Considerate? Ha! More like self-serving. Of course, once I get everything together, I have his permission to bring it all to a Mason Tax Service office to finish it.”

“What did Lucille say?”

Sabrina blew out a breath. “She was no help. She agreed it is unorthodox business, but she said we would take the clients however we could get them. She’s supposed to be on my side!” She stopped, pondered that statement for a moment and had to concede. “I guess when I think about it, in a way, she is. Doing business with Brody Holt will be a good connection for Mason Tax Service and for me, for that matter, if I can ever get my plans off the ground.”

“So you’re going to do it?”

“I guess so. Lucille told him I would, and he’s offered to pay me triple time.”

Kirk whistled. “You could certainly use the extra money, sweetie.”

“Yeah, I know.” She couldn’t deny the
cha-ching
sound she heard every time she thought about triple pay for a few hours of sorting through the Holt family’s yearly finances.

“He’s single, isn’t he?”

“Don’t go there.”

“I’m just thinking…”

“I know exactly what you’re thinking.”

“How are your parents anyway?”

“Irrational and loving as always,” Sabrina grumbled. “Mom called this afternoon just before I left the office, as a matter of fact.”

“Which I’m guessing is leading to the second part of your mad.”

“Intuitive as always.” She reached across the table and clanked the rim of her glass to the side of his.

“Still after you and your sisters to settle down and give them more grandchildren, huh?”

“Vannah’s marriage was supposed to fix all of this. She’s given them one grandchild already and has another one on the way. I can’t believe they decided now that all four of us have to give them a grandchild before they will release our trust funds. How did I never realize my parents were so greedy?”

“Not greedy, Bri. They love you and want to see you happy.”

“They love me and want to see me pulling my hair out is more like it.”

“Are there any studly prospects for Susannah or Serena to take the heat off you for awhile?”

“I don’t know. Susannah is on a research trip in the Caribbean. It’s not likely she’ll meet a sexy fish in the deep blue sea.”

“Hmm, it worked for Ariel.”

“No, Ariel was the fish. She met the prince on dry land.”

Kirk waved that away. “Details, details.”

“Important ones in this case. As for Serena, she’s so caught up in her charity work with underprivileged kids that I doubt she’s managed to look at a man over the age of consent in the last year.”

“Too bad she can’t just adopt one of those kids to satisfy your parents.”

“I doubt that would fly, but I’ll pass the idea along.” Sabrina slapped the table between them with her palm. “Besides, one of them getting pregnant isn’t going to help me a bit. The rules of the trust fund suspension were apparently subject to change without notice. We
each
have to give my parents a grandchild or we don’t get our trust fund. You need to be helping me here, not my sisters.”

“Okay, take off your clothes and bend over.”

“Kirk!” Sabrina laughed her astonishment. “I can’t believe you.”

“What?” Kirk batted his eyelashes, a picture of pure innocence. “You’ve got a great body, Bri. I could swing your way a time or twelve until we make a baby. You’re the one always looking for the practical solution to problems. It’s the best one I can give you.”

Touched beyond measure, Sabrina’s eyes filled. “I love you.”

“I know you do,” he said sweetly, soberly. “That’s the problem. You’re holding out for love.”

“Is that so wrong? I’ve never been one for a one-night stand, Kirk. I want more than sex. I want conversation, cuddling, and a promise of a future. One would think my parents would want the same for me.” Sabrina sighed. “This ultimatum is really putting me in a pickle. I’d wanted to take the rest of the year off after tax season to focus on my studies for the CPA exam and get the ball rolling for my own private firm. Never once did it cross my mind I would have to focus on finding love or, God help me, a stud muffin to give me a baby. They aren’t leaving me any choice. Without the trust fund, my plans are on hold. To get the trust fund I have to have a baby as soon as possible. And to have that baby I’ll have to put my silly fairy-tale dream of love aside because there’s none of that in sight.”

“Many a fairy-tale love has begun with lust,” Kirk pointed out.

“Not true,” Sabrina wholeheartedly disagreed. “Fairy-tale love is always at first sight. Half of the time they don’t even know each other’s name before their hearts are going all wonky over each other.”

“I don’t know, Bri. I’ve seen Brody Holt a time or two.” Kirk pursed his lips. “It might be pretty practical to set love aside to make a baby with that man. Think of the genes he could produce.”

“I saw his jeans well and fine this morning.”

Kirk’s lips unfolded in a slow, appreciative grin. “Wrong genes, sweetie.”

“You wouldn’t be thinking of any other kind if you’d seen them.”

“Well, when you get him out of those jeans you be sure to call and tell me all about it. In the meantime, what’s the contention between you and your employee?”

“Ah, so we move on to mad number three.” Sabrina lifted her wine glass and drained the last drop. “In a word, authority. That’s what it all boils down to. I’m younger. I’ve been in the business longer. She can’t stand taking orders from me. Simple as pie.”

“Fire her ass.” Kirk said it so simply that Sabrina chuckled. “What? That sounds simple as pie to me.”

“Oh, it would be. Believe me, I wish I could. Unfortunately, it’s too late in the season. No way would I be able to find someone to replace her now, and there isn’t anyone at the other locations who can be reassigned to take up the slack in my office. I can’t, no, I won’t work all the hours myself. I’d be no better than roadkill by April fifteenth if I did.”

“It sounds to me like you should take flowers to romance the cowboy, then swing by the office and hit her over the head with the pot.”

Sabrina blinked as the image of her presenting Mr. Alpha-Male-Do-Me-Cowboy Brody Holt with yellow tulips formed in her mind’s eye. It made her laugh so hard she cried.

Chapter Two

Brody settled his six-month-old niece on his shoulder and gently patted her back. “Shush, now,” he said softly as he paced the living room floor of the ranch house. “Uncle Brody’s got you.”

“She’s cranky.” Lyle Wisk eased back on the leather sofa, stretching an arm along the back and resting one ankle on his opposite knee.

Brody regarded his brother-in-law and wondered, not for the first time, what his middle sister saw in this suit. The man was too clean-cut with an attitude that came off as far too highfalutin for Brody’s taste. But Lyle made Gabrielle happy. Brody supposed that’s all that mattered.

“She’s got a tummy ache,” Brody told the other man and then nuzzled the baby’s ear with his nose. “Don’t you, Rella?”

“Do you think Dad was planning to turn himself in?” Gabrielle paced right alongside Brody, half her attention on the shocking news Brody just gave her and the other half on her child in his arms.

Brody wondered the same thing since he found the evidence of his father’s apparent misdealing several days ago. It kept him up more nights than he wanted to admit and pissed him off even more. “It appears that way. Hell, it’s probably what brought on his heart attack.”

“I can’t believe he would do such a thing!”

Brody leveled a look at his sister that made her sigh and shake her head.

“Okay, I can believe it.” She fisted her hands in her hair on either side of her temples and moaned. “So what do we do about it now that he’s gone?”

“I’m not sure yet.” If he knew, he wouldn’t have spent those sleepless nights tossing and turning, worrying about the impact his findings would have on the ranch and the people they employed. “I’ve got someone coming at eight to start looking into things.”

Gabrielle dropped her hands. “You’re not using Lawson then?”

Brody shook his head. “Lawson has been in Dad’s pocket since the man was in diapers. Dad did what he wanted with the finances, but Lawson knew much of it. I wouldn’t be surprised to find out he knows everything. I want someone from the outside, Gabby, someone Dad didn’t manage to corrupt before he died.”

She nodded, immediate acceptance in her expression. He didn’t expect her to argue with him. The workings of the ranch fell to him when their father died as they had all known it would. His sisters branched away from ranch life long ago, finding their own way in careers they each loved.

“I could call in a favor or two for you.” Lyle plucked imaginary lint from his pant leg. “I’ve got some connections at Beck and Associates among other places.”

Not a chance
. “Thanks but, like I said, I’ve already got someone coming out.” Brody glanced at the red oak grandfather clock in the foyer outside the living room doors. “She should be getting here any time.”

“Who is she?” Gabrielle might not argue with his decisions, but she liked to stay informed.

“Sabrina Gibson.” A woman who reminded him a lot of his sisters, as long as he didn’t start thinking about her long dark hair and how it would look falling around her face as she settled her mouth over his rigid cock.

Brody silently swore and paced a new path across the living room floor. His niece stirred on his shoulder, whimpering softly, and took a deep breath that gave every indication of her intent to return to an ear-piercing cry. He soothed her with a gentle palm on her tiny back and nonsensical whispers in her ear.

“Sabrina Gibson,” Gabrielle repeated and narrowed her eyes thoughtfully. “I’ve never heard of her.”

“What firm is she with?” Lyle wanted to know.

“Mason Tax Service.”

Lyle attempted to disguise a scoff with a cough. He failed. “Brody, I don’t want to tell you how to handle your family affairs…”