Seven Night Stand (4 page)

“Discuss what?”

She cocked her head in a don’t-give-me-that-shit look. “Your grandfather’s illness.”

“So you can report back to your bosses?” He hoped the scathing note to his voice would put her back up a little. Hoped she jumped on the comment so he could have a reason to nip this thing in the bud right here, right now.

She didn’t bite. “So I can accurately assess the consequences of involving him.”

“Consequences? Don’t you mean how best to exploit him?”

Still no flood of anger, still no snap. “You don’t know me that well, Nate. So I’m not going to be offended. I’m simply going to tell you I would never be a part of manipulating a sick old man.”

How was he supposed to believe a woman he’d known for not much more than twenty-four hours? A woman whose job it was to decide if a TV show was marketable? A woman who owed him and his family nothing? Who was looking at him with a cool, inscrutable expression?

But there was something so unfailingly honest about the way Vivvy cut through all the bullshit, didn’t jump to the bait. It was impossible for him not to believe her.

“He had a stroke last year.” Nate stared at the wall past her head, not sure why he didn’t want to meet her eyes. He was too afraid there’d be pity or, even worse, understanding on her face. “There was minimal outward physical damage, but his mind... It doesn’t always function right.”

She nodded. “He won’t be involved then.”

He frowned. “Just like that?”

“I told you, Nate, Tyson isn’t out for some big spectacle. Our viewers might enjoy people making fools out of themselves, but I don’t know many people who enjoy watching a sick elderly man struggle. It doesn’t work that way.”

It shouldn’t bother him that she was looking at his grandfather through the eyes of whether or not he was TV show material, but for some reason it did.

“If the show comes to fruition, we’d focus on your parents and you. Now, if that’s your only concern about the show—”

“Definitely not my only concern,” he muttered, turning his back on her and staring out the window. Outside was the parking lot, Vivvy’s rental car, and then empty space as far as the eye could see.

Why did he love this place? It was what he’d spent his life dreaming about and making a reality. He’d gone beyond making Harrington enough to get by. He’d made it into something lucrative.

But he’d gone as far as he could as it was. Bob wasn’t getting any younger and he constituted a hefty chunk of Harrington’s income. Nate needed to diversify, to broaden his horizons. The show she was talking about could do that.

He ran a hand through his hair. But if he went with this idea, he’d give up the right to live his life as he wanted. He’d give up the reputation he’d worked so hard to build in spite of his father. And with Jed and Annie Harrington anywhere near the picture, this show would make asses out of all of them.

So, of course it made total sense to sleep with the woman trying to do just that. If Ryan were here, Nate would be on the receiving end of a “you’re an idiot” speech. And he’d deserve it.

“Nate.” She waited until he turned before she continued to speak. “Tell me what your concerns are. I’m sure I can alleviate them. If you’re worried about the family dynamic, let’s discuss this. I need—”

“Millard.” The low growl was punctuated by the slam of a door. “Nate!”

“You’re about to see some family dynamic in action.” Nate trudged out of his office toward his mother’s voice.

Mom stood in the entryway of the office smoking a cigarette. Her dark blond hair was a haphazard mess and the Mickey Mouse T-shirt she wore was stained with who knew what. Her jeans were worn down to the fraying edges.

It was impossible not to feel embarrassment when Vivvy was such a complete opposite to the disaster before him.

“Grandpa’s out back.”

Annie took a long drag of the cigarette, but her eyes weren’t on Nate—they focused behind him. He looked back and saw Vivvy standing right there.

“This the TV lady?”

Vivvy stepped forward, all smiles as if the woman in front of her couldn’t be an ad for why you shouldn’t drop out of high school. “You must be Nate’s mother. I’m Vivvy Marsh.” She held out a hand to shake and Nate winced as their palms met.

“Annie Harrington.” She gave Vivvy the once-over. “So, if we decide to do this, how much money we talking?”

“Mom, go get Grandpa. Take him home.”

She waved him off. “Jed got us into this mess. I want to know what we’re gonna get out of it. I’m part of Harrington. I ought to know. Nothing wrong with asking a question.” She turned her attention back to Vivvy and blew some smoke in her face.

Nate stepped between them, jamming his hands in his pockets so his mother wouldn’t see they’d curled into fists. “I’m handling this, Mom. Me. You go handle Grandpa. You got questions, you tell me and I’ll ask Vivvy.”

Annie clucked her tongue. “You got a thing for this one already? You did inherit your dad’s can’t-keep-your-dick-in-your-pants gene.”

“For fuck’s sake, Mom.”

Annie moved around Nate and closer to Vivvy. “Don’t fall for a Harrington, honey. Bad news.”

“You’re married to one, aren’t you?”

Nate turned. He and his mother stared at Vivvy with slightly gaping mouths. Nate knew he shouldn’t be so surprised she’d be straightforward and unafraid of his mother’s crazy ramblings. And yet, here he was, feeling surprised.

Annie took a long drag from her cigarette and studied Vivvy. Nate hated the frankness in the study. Didn’t want Vivvy sullied with all the Harrington grime. Maybe that was why he liked polish on a woman; there was no excess of it in his life.

“Yes. Most miserable twenty-eight years a woman could stand. Don’t let this one sweet-talk you or you’ll wind up knocked up and married to a no-good, cheating, lying, son of a—”

“Mom. Get Grandpa and leave.” The words were ground out through a clenched jaw.

Annie flounced out, smoke trailing behind her.

“You’ve got all kinds of secrets, don’t you?” Vivvy’s expression was unreadable. There was no disgust or shock on her face, no pity or condescension, either. She seemed completely unaffected. Like a verbal shrug of the shoulders.

“You’re not going to convince me putting her on TV is a good idea. Or that your viewers won’t eat that crazy up.”

Vivvy stared at him, but no matter how hard he tried to find it, he still couldn’t see an ounce of disgust or contempt on her face. “She’d make good TV, yes. But why do you think that would be so bad for you?”

“Right. Nothing like seeing your embarrassing family on TV. I’m sure that’ll really build our customers’ confidence.” Nate sighed. “I’ve got too much at stake, Vivvy. You’re not going to change my mind on this. Maybe you should…”

Annie returned with Millard on her arm. “Come on now, Mill. You haven’t had your lunch yet.”

“I’m not hungry.”

“Not even for macaroni and cheese?” Her tone was no longer harsh or disgusted. Instead, with Grandpa, Mom’s tone was gentle. Nate could remember a time when she’d been that way with him, but that had been long ago.

Millard’s lips pursed. “Not that box crap?”

“Who do you take me for, Mill?” Annie said, shuffling him toward the door. “Homemade. In the oven right now. Let’s head on home. We’ll come back up tomorrow when you’re feeling more yourself.”

“All right,” Millard agreed, stepping outside. “Guess I am feeling a little out of sorts.”

For all her bluster about the horrible Harrington men, Annie had a soft spot for Millard. In turn, Nate had to feel grateful to his mother for stepping up as caretaker. Especially considering she was taking care of the father of the husband she hated.

Without her, they would have had to put Grandpa in a nursing home last year. So even when his mother’s words had him seeing red, had him dreaming of kicking her off and out of everything with the name Harrington on it…

He’d never do it.

“She’s good with him,” Vivvy offered. “Gentle. I never would have guessed it, considering how awful she was to you.”

Nate felt as though he’d just come out of a fight. He was tired and his whole body hurt from the tension of the last thirty minutes. “Vivvy, I think it’s best if you just go.” He was too tired to pretend today. “I can’t do this thing you want me to do. It’s not ever going to be a risk I can take.”

She didn’t go, though. Instead, she touched his arm and moved to kiss him. The gentlest brush of lips, a simple offer of comfort. “Give me a chance to prove you wrong.”

That was the absolute last thing he wanted to do, but her comfort—comfort from a near stranger—offered him something he hadn’t had in a long time.

“I’ve known them too long for a week with you to change my mind, Vivvy.” Maybe a little harsh, but one hundred percent the truth.

“You were going to let me watch you work. You do your job, and I’ll do mine, and we’ll see if we can’t meet in the middle.”

Nate stared down at her, very much afraid of what he saw. A unique woman, strong and straightforward, easy to talk to, smart, sexy. But she wanted something he wasn’t about to give her. Letting her stick around and think she was going to change his mind was stupid.

Maybe it was his turn to be the stupid one. What would it hurt if she spent the next few days and left without a show? She’d just go scout another one and they’d both have a little fun in the meantime.

He fished the keys to the shop out of his pocket and managed a weak smile. “All right. Let’s go.”

Chapter Four

Vivvy wasn’t sure what to expect of the upcoming evening. After the fireworks of the morning, who knew where Nate’s mind was? Maybe staying with him was a really bad idea. Family drama or possible rat infestation? It was a tough call.

She watched Nate put away his tools. Though Harrington Airfield & Mechanics was a desolate, undecorated place, there was a meticulous order to everything. He didn’t toss things back into the large bin he’d pulled the tools out of. He cleaned, he examined, and then he put each one back in a precise place.

He had pride when it came to Harrington. A kind of deep, meaningful ownership Vivvy had never witnessed and didn’t understand, but it showed in everything he did. It would show up on camera, she was sure of it. More than just a show about airplanes, it would be a show about connection.

Nate would play the role of glue to an odd, complicated family.
American Chopper
meets
Cake Boss
with a really good-looking star. Big, manly machines playing the backdrop to a family business, and the drama of it all.

For the first time in Vivvy’s career, her mind didn’t rush forward to marketing campaigns and promo. Instead, she considered the effect this would have on the Harringtons, on Nate. A show could exploit certain facets of their family dynamic, which could hurt Harrington even if it made good TV.

It startled her enough to bring an abrupt halt to those thoughts. Her job was not to consider the outcome to the participants, only to Tyson. Feeling otherwise was so foreign, Vivvy chalked it up to her desperation for this idea to work. She was just analyzing every angle so she didn’t end up empty-handed again.

Nate bent over to get something out from under the workbench. Denim stretched over his nice, tight ass. Better to focus on that for the time being.

He pulled another bin of something out, biceps flexing as he pushed it onto the table. “You’re going to have to stop looking at me like that, Vivvy.”

It made her smile that he said her name so much. As if he got immense pleasure out of saying it at the end or beginning of whatever comment he had. “Like what?”

“Like you want to get me naked.”

“I do want to get you naked.”

He chuckled and wiped the palms of his hands on his jeans. “Lucky for you it’s about quitting time.”

“What happens at quitting time?” She hoped the reality was just as exciting as her fantasy world.

“Well, Vivvy, I believe you agreed to live dangerously and go home with me.” He stepped over to her.

“That I did.” He had a way of making her feel that he desired her as much as she desired him with just a look, a grin, a comment. She didn’t have to know everything about him to know she enjoyed that.

She’d learned a lot about Nate in the past two days. Just by watching and observing him. The care with his grandfather, the anguish when he’d briefly explained Millard’s condition, his embarrassment over his brash mother. There was a lot to be learned by watching a man interact with his family. The Harringtons had a lot of eye-opening interaction. She’d be crazy to get emotionally involved with any of them. Like her entire life, this was just another place she was passing through. Involvement wasn’t an option.

Nate held out his hand, helped her to her feet from her seat on a makeshift bench. “It seems even my mother didn’t scare you away. I’m beginning to think you’re a mythical creature, Vivvy.”

There it was again. Her name unnecessarily tacked on to the end of his comment. Didn’t get old the way he said it, or the heated way he looked at her when he did. She curled her fingers into his, eager to let her thoughts take a more sweaty turn. No more detours around feelings.

“Do you live nearby?”

“Just down the road. I’ll pull my car around front and then you can follow me down.”

She nodded and walked with him toward the office building to gather her purse.

Before they could step inside he turned to stop her, his face suddenly very serious. “You can change your mind about this, you know. Like I said last night, there’s a decent hotel in Addington. It’s about a forty-five-minute drive, but—”

“I know I can change my mind.” She studied him for a second, tried to make out the reason for the furrowed brow and angry scowl. “Just out of curiosity, what would make you think I’d want to change my mind?”

He shrugged and looked uncomfortable for the first time since she’d met him. Which of course, hadn’t been all that long ago. “My mother said some pretty nasty things.”

“What, that you can’t keep your dick in your pants?” Vivvy worked up her best seductress smile. “Works for me.”

He stared at her for a second before he laughed. “Are all California women like this?”

She shrugged and sauntered into the office building. “I’m unique, remember?”

…

Nate refused to acknowledge that the strange empty feeling in his stomach was nerves. The thing going on between him and Vivvy? Just sex. So why would he care what she thought of his house?

He didn’t. Not at all. He was just proud of the work he’d done to the small cabin for the past ten years.

On his eighteenth birthday he’d used all the money he’d saved over the course of his childhood and bought the cabin just down the highway from Harrington Airfield. Not because he particularly liked the place, but because he wanted the hell out from underneath his insane parents’ roof and their 24-7 dysfunction.

The place had been a dump, but the price had been right. Ry had gotten out of their childhood home through good grades and scholarships. Nate had gotten out through hard work and penny pinching. He hadn’t bought a car in high school like all his friends, hadn’t wasted his money on cigarettes or booze. He’d worked his ass off and had saved every penny.

So the house was more than a house. After ten years, he’d put his heart and soul into it. Like any airplane he crafted, this house had become an extension of him. A symbol of what hard work and dedication could accomplish.

It shouldn’t matter if Vivvy saw that. Hell, she wasn’t his girlfriend and there was no chance of her being that. She was LA through and through, and her time in Demo had a very distinct, very quick expiration date. Maybe she would be staying with him for a few days, but this was nothing more than a quick fling.

Parking in the gravel drive outside his home, Nate tried to see it from an outsider’s eyes. The place was small. Which didn’t matter, because it was only he who lived there. Unless Ry came home. Still, two guys without a lot of crap fit relatively well.

Nate had built the porch himself. It had taken almost a year to buy the materials, and another few months to fight weather and light to get the thing built. Now, it was his favorite part of the house. When he sat on one of the porch chairs he could look out at open farmland. A creek cut through the field across the highway and a few trees dotted the landscape, breaking up the usual monotony.

On a good night, he’d sit on the porch with a beer, listen to a Royals game, watch the sunset, and feel good about life. On a bad night, he’d do the first three and curse the world.

Today, he could pay someone else to build a deck—use a more expensive wood, get a bigger, more complicated design. But it wouldn’t mean as much. The simple porch he’d built as a younger man meant something, and that was important.

Vivvy’s car pulled next to his. Her smile was wide and pretty as she studied the cabin and then turned to the view he’d just been contemplating. “This is great. You actually have a few trees here in Kansas.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

She pulled out a fancy overnight bag, slipped it onto her shoulder. “You build this yourself?”

She was joking, but he just shrugged. “More or less. Kind of a shithole when I bought it.” Her eyes widened in surprise. “Don’t get too impressed, you haven’t seen the inside yet.”

“Still impressive. I consider myself a modern woman, but handy I am not. I had a leak in my drain one time and I tried to fix it myself. I broke the whole thing. Put me in front of a computer, I can figure anything out. Handyman stuff, I’m lost.”

“Women.”

She elbowed him in the stomach. Hard. And then took the stairs. “Did you build this porch?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Amazing,” she murmured, then stepped aside waiting for him to open the door. When he pushed inside without unlocking the door, more shock showed in her open mouth and wide eyes. “You don’t lock your doors?”

“This ain’t LA.”

She shook her head. “Last I checked Kansas had murderers and criminals same as California.”

Nate simply waved the comment away.

She rolled her eyes and stepped into the cabin. It had an open floor plan because he’d knocked out most of the walls when he’d redone the inside. There was a short hallway in the back that led to two bedrooms and one and a half bathrooms.

In the living room was a leather couch he’d spent two years saving up for years ago, then the big-screen TV Ry had offered as rent payment one summer. The expensive sound system he’d added to the TV once things had really begun to take off.

Now that he could afford it, he’d been thinking about redoing the small old kitchen with its ancient appliances, but hadn’t gone through with it yet. It didn’t reflect all he’d made Harrington into, but it was still more home than some cookie-cutter house he could buy would be.

“It could use some paint,” she mused. “Some decoration.” She let a finger trail over the back of the couch. “Maybe a pillow or throw.”

“Female frilly crap.”

“Exactly.”

“Better than Ivy Vines?”

“Oh, I suppose.” She grinned, turned in a circle. “You’ve got a talent. Do you have before-and-after pictures?”

She had two distinct ways of talking. One was business. It was clipped, polished, and focused. There was a chilly veneer when she spoke that way. He preferred the low, flirtatious way that included sultry laughs and led to much more interesting conversation. Not a chill to be felt. “Are you planning some new TV show in your head?”

“Maybe. Home improvement shows are huge.” She continued to walk around the room, inspecting furniture and walls. The swing to her hips wasn’t purposeful, but he enjoyed it just the same. Then she stopped, offered a sassy over the shoulder look. “Especially with hot guys doing the work.”

Nate folded his arms over his chest. “Not interested.”

“Why not?” Her luscious lips poked into a pout.

“Gotta fly, Viv. Working on planes, flying, it gets in the blood. The house stuff was a necessity. Not a job.”

“A lot of people do a job out of necessity.”

“I’m not a lot of people.”

She smiled then, and business Vivvy faded away into just Vivvy. Sexy, unique Vivvy. “No, you’re not.” She sauntered over to him. “You haven’t given me the whole tour yet, you know? You have a bedroom, don’t you?”

“Two, actually.”

She quirked an eyebrow. “Well, then we have a lot of ground to cover.”

…

Vivvy sat cross-legged in the cushy porch chair and licked pizza sauce off her fingers. It was a nice night, a little cool, but it felt good. Especially after the workout they’d gotten in bedroom number one.

Nate chuckled and she narrowed her eyes at him. “Stop laughing.”

“I’m sorry, it’s just those are the unsexiest pajamas I have ever seen in my entire life.”

Vivvy looked down at the baggy pink sweatpants and ridiculous shapeless top. She’d had the pajamas for eons; something about the goofy red and pink lips printed all over the fabric never failed to make her smile. “They’re comfortable, and since I dress up every day, I like wearing comfortable clothes to bed. Besides, hotels are always cold.”

Nate shook his head, chomped the last bite of his pizza. “So, you travel a lot?”

“As much as I can. A lot of TV ideas never get past the research-on-computer stage, so I spend a good portion of time in LA, too.”

“You like it? Traveling?”

“Love it. Going somewhere new. Although places like Ivy Vines ruin the high a little. But, meeting new people and learning new things.” Vivvy paused to take a sip of soda. “Collecting crazy stories to tell. My parents were basically nomads, so I guess it’s in the blood.”

“You don’t get along?”

Vivvy shrugged, stared up into the brilliant starry sky. “They think I don’t understand them. They’re actors. It’s hard for them to think beyond themselves.” She wasn’t quite sure why there was sadness tugging at her. She hadn’t felt sadness at that lack of connection since she was a child trying to convince her parents to stay in one place. “We mainly lead separate lives now. No angst. No argument.”

“Which would be the complete opposite of the Harringtons. Too alike to get along, too stubborn to get out of each other’s way. Loud, lots of angst and argument.” He smiled, but the opposite image didn’t cheer her up any, not after watching the way Nate’s mother talked to him. That was sadder than cold distance and a few honest comments.

She attempted the smile to make him feel better. “Oh, let me guess, at Christmas you all sit around holding hands watching
It’s A Wonderful Life
?”

Nate leaned forward, laughter echoing into the still night. “Now, that would be a sight. Let’s see. Harrington Christmas. Well, there was the one year Dad brought one of his girlfriends.”

“He did not.”

“Just as casual as you please. As if it was totally normal. Which from a kid’s perspective was still better than all the Christmases he promised huge presents and then didn’t show up.”

Nate was trying to be flip about it, but there was a bitterness there, an anger simmering under it all.

“Why don’t they get divorced?”

“Who the hell knows?” Nate took a long drink from his beer. “I guess they enjoy making each other miserable.”

Vivvy leaned back. The mood had fizzled considerably. She couldn’t imagine a life like Nate described. Her parents’ drama had ended the minute she’d left home. If she wasn’t going to soothe their tantrums or pet their egos, they had no use for her.

Cold, detached, unloving.

The businesslike detachment seemed preferable when compared to Nate’s dysfunction, even if he had a much easier way with emotion than she did. Vivvy had had a few uncomfortable moments when she had realized her parents would never love her like parents on TV loved their children, but then she had moved on. No emotional confrontations or mean arguments necessary. A few times the whole lack of emotion had been thrown in her face by the men she’d been dating, and then she’d moved on and learned to keep things casual and at arm’s length ever since.