Signed, Sealed, Delivered (8 page)

One of the reasons he’d made so much money back in Indianapolis was because he figured things out swiftly and adapted easily. The competition was plentiful but a bit dismal in talent. His own innate ability to read people and tailor what he offered them to fit their needs had helped him earn top sales awards year after year.

Until…

A deep breath brought his thoughts back from the brink. He wasn’t going to wallow in regrets and recriminations. The past was the past and needed to stay that way. Cloverleaf was a new beginning.

It appeared as if he was going to be creating that new beginning with Juliana Kelley as his partner. But would that be for only this one listing? Or did she want more?

Do I?

Maybe having her close would bring him luck, his own personal four-leaf clover. The one night they’d shared had been nothing short of paradise. What would it be like working with her every day?

Connor took a leap of faith, figuring it would all shake out in the end. “I’ll have the contracts ready for you as soon as I can print them, George.”

Connor followed her to her car, a rather ancient Accord. “You’re gonna need an SUV now.” He waited for her to open the passenger door and toss her enormous purse inside.

“Why? This car is fine. It’s paid for. That’s all that really matters to me.”

“Then lease one. Trust me on this, you’re gonna be driving clients around and want them comfortable and thinking you’re successful. Plus you’ll want a mini-office with you all the time.”

“A mini-office? In my car?”

“In your
SUV
. Things happen so damned fast in this business you’ve got to be able to respond to e-mails, look up information, and respond in only a few minutes. Not to mention scanning, printing, and sending back contracts. I even have a wireless hot-spot card.” He nodded at his black Escalade. “It’s not that much if you lease. I actually took over a lease to get this one dirt cheap. Only way I could ever afford a Caddy.”

“I’m impressed,” Juliana said.

“Good. I
should
impress my new partner. Now I’m going to go and make some adjustments to my—to
our
—information and print out the contracts for the Ryans. It’ll only take me a few minutes.”

“So you have been a real estate agent before. I wondered about that, although the way Max Schumm was acting it was hard to tell for sure.”

“I was rather hoping you’d wonder about a lot more than my employment history.”

“Oh, I have. Trust me. I have.”

He tried to read her expression and found wariness. “I admire you for jumping in there and saving this listing, Red, but are you thinking about really being part of a partnership? You’d planned solo. Like me. Right?”

She shrugged. “I suppose. Look, I’m sorry I sprung it on you like that. I just, George was going to go with you and—”

He held up his hand to cut her off. “He was. You’re smart enough to have seen it and snatched back some of the commission for yourself. Quick thinking.”

“Thanks.” Lips drawn tight, she stared at him for a few moments that stretched to seem interminable.

Connor didn’t understand why he was willing to change all his plans—his life—so quickly. He simply… was. He wanted her agreement, and he wanted it now.

More than that.

He wanted
her
.

This listing would be not only lucrative but enjoyable. The thrill was back, and he gave Juliana credit for that. Besides, having a partner could benefit him in a lot of ways, best of all accountability. He’d work hard because her future was going to be at stake, too.

“Do you think we could?” she asked.

“Could? Could what? Be partners for more than this listing?”

She nodded.

“You’re willing to try, right?”

“I am.”

“Then what have we got to lose?”

His cell phone chose that loaded moment to ring. The tune, “Lean on Me,” was one he could never ignore. “Excuse me. I have to take this,” he said as he popped his cell off his belt.

Turning his back and hoping Juliana wouldn’t consider it too rude, he answered. “Hey, gorgeous.” His pat phrase made him wince. What would Juliana think?

“Just wanted to see how that first step felt.” Tracy Barrett’s voice was, as always, a comfort. Nothing like hearing from your best friend and number-one cheerleader to perk a guy up.

“It felt great.”

“You got the listing?”

“Yes.” He chuckled. “And no.”

“That was cryptic. Care to elaborate or do you love leaving me guessing? My bet’s on you now representing those owners.” The confidence in her voice meant more to him than she could ever know. But that was Tracy. She’d nursed him through his darkest hours, from his parents’ deaths to his hitting rock bottom. Then she’d made him get right up, dust himself off, and start all over again. They couldn’t be closer if she was his biological sister.

“You’re right. As usual. I got the listing, but… I’m sharing it.”

“Sharing? You’re just playing with me now, and I don’t like it. I want the whole story. Spit it out.”

He chuckled. She’d never let him get away with anything but the absolute truth. “I might’ve acquired a partner.” A quick glance over his shoulder made him wince again.

Juliana frowned so fiercely the look sent shivers up his spine, and he didn’t think that was a good way to start out a new enterprise.

“Look, Tracy, I gotta go. Kinda busy. Can I call you back later?”

“It’s a
she
, isn’t it?”

“Jealous?”

“She’s there with you right now, isn’t she?”

“Yeah. It’s making things a bit… awkward.”

She chuckled. “Why? I thought she was your partner, not your—Oh, God. You’re not dating her, are you?”

“Call you back soon?”

“You are! Bad enough you’re diving into a new business, but a new relationship, too? Can you handle all that stress?”

“Trace, not now. Okay?”

“Connor, be careful. You’re putting a lot of pressure on yourself.”

“I know. I know,” he insisted. “Tackle things one at a time and do my best. I remember. Call you later. Bye.”

“Bye.”

Connor clipped the cell back on his belt. “Sorry.”

“Sure you are.” Juliana tossed him an inelegant snort. “This was a bad idea. I’m sorry I trapped you like that. It wasn’t fair. You obviously didn’t want a partner. After what you just told your girlfriend, I get it. I do.”

Her voice held a barely restrained fury. While the jealousy might be flattering, he didn’t want her angry with him from the get-go, especially when she’d jumped to all the wrong conclusions. “That was just a friend.”

She gave him a dismissive wave of her hand, but he could tell from her pinched expression she was hurting. “Whatever. This partnership thing isn’t a good idea anyway.”

He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned his ass against her Accord. After her bold suggestion, she was balking.

But why?

Because he’d been talking to another woman?

Back inside the Ryans’ house, he’d seen the Juliana who’d ensnared him so completely that night in the bar. Confident. Daring. Downright brash. Those qualities were why he’d fallen for her immediately, more deeply than he could’ve imagined. She haunted his dreams and filled his thoughts, making him ache for her. No other woman had gotten to him in such an overwhelming way.

Why was he trying to get into a partnership with her? Tracy was right. It was a stupid, stupid thing to do.

First, he’d never be able to keep his hands off her. As it was, if she so much as winked at him, he’d be tossing her in his car, driving her to his desperately-in-need-of-repair home, and making love to her. How could he work with her and not lose his mind?

Second, he was risking what little was left of his nest egg to give himself this new start. So far, he’d handled that stress well, most of that strength and confidence funneled to him by Tracy. He needed to find his own strength.

And finally, if things didn’t go smoothly, he’d have to bear the guilt of ruining not only his own future but Juliana’s.

All that was more than enough to drive a man to drink.

But Connor wanted this partnership anyway. Despite the temptation of his redheaded Siren, he’d resist her call because she had what it took to be a good real estate agent. He’d listened to every word she’d said to the Ryans, and she’d spoken like a seasoned professional. Having trained other agents for his firm back in Indianapolis, he had a great eye for seeing potentials who “had it” and who didn’t.

Juliana had it.
All
of it. She was the genuine article in an irresistible package. She’d have clients eating out of her hands. And to have two sets of eyes watching the books, keeping track of profit and outlay?

Even better.

“You suddenly think us working together is a bad idea?” he asked. “Why? What made you change your mind?” He tried to keep his voice calm and not let her know how panicked he was at losing this opportunity.

Some niggling part of his mind told him this woman would be the best thing that ever happened to him. He wanted to see exactly where this path would lead.

“I—I shouldn’t have done that,” she replied.

“Done what?”

“Painted you into a corner. It wasn’t fair and—”

Connor wouldn’t let her back out now. “First of all, I’m a salesman, have been all my life. I know every single trick you can play in this game. If I didn’t want to do this, I would’ve put you in your place fast enough to make your head spin.”

She arched an eyebrow, her green eyes easily showing her relief. “You’d do that in front of the Ryans?”

“In a heartbeat.”

* * *

Juliana had to stop herself from letting out a whoosh of breath. Connor wasn’t angry. Judging from what he’d said, he was every bit as ready to make this partnership work as she was.

Why was she risking everything she’d planned for him? Her new firm, her savings, her fresh start.

God help her, she wasn’t sure. All she knew was that she wanted this, and she wanted it badly.

If only she could pretend she hadn’t heard that phone call, the one from his girlfriend.

Don’t jump to conclusions.

She scoffed at her own naïveté.

Right.
He called everyone who phoned him “gorgeous.” The way he’d gotten her off the phone was nothing short of “I’m with someone I slept with, and I don’t want her to know about you or vice-versa.”

“What’s so funny?” he asked, easing his stance by dropping his arms.

“Me.”

“Why?”

“Because I might’ve just made the best career move of my life. Or the worst.” She shifted her gaze from the house to his face. Then she pushed away from the car and turned to face him. “So which was it, Connor? Is starting a partnership with you the best thing I could’ve done or the worst?”

When he reached for her hand, she tucked both of them under her armpits like a simpering coward. But she was afraid. Very afraid. If he touched her, she had no idea what she’d do or how she’d react. She wanted to touch him. Everywhere. The images of the night they’d spent together floated through her thoughts, making heat rush through her veins.

His face became an expressionless mask. “I can’t make that decision for you, Red. Only you can figure out if you want to do this or not.” He sighed. “Here’s the deal… If you want to try to make this work, we might just do pretty damn well. I have lots of ideas, and I’m good at what I do. Loads of experience and a little inside information that I’d be willing to share with my partner and no one else.”

That enigmatic comment got her attention. “Inside information? About what?”

“Cloverleaf.”

Her curiosity rose to a fever pitch. “Profitable information?”

“Oh yeah. So are you in?” he asked.

“You really think we can work together?”

“I do. Max Schumm doesn’t have the stranglehold over this town and the surrounding counties that he thinks he does. He’s a guy who got lucky and had very little competition. You and me working together? We could take him down. He’ll never even know what hit him.”

“And the other firms?”

“Even easier pickings. They only have a few agents, most of who couldn’t cut it in bigger markets and got sent out here to the boonies.”

“You really have done your research, haven’t you?”

“Absolutely. And I have more to share. A lot more. But only if we’re doing this together.” He held out his hand.

Juliana reluctantly shook it. She still wasn’t entirely sure she hadn’t just screwed up her life, but for now, she’d be content simply to learn from someone with so much experience. “Kelley-Wilson Realty it is.”

His chuckle helped her relax. “How about we discuss the order of the names over dinner?”

“Why wait? I’ve got time now and—”

“I want to iron out all this someplace where we’re both relaxed. Let me work on the Ryan contract, get that signed, and then I’ll pick you up for dinner. My treat.”

“Dutch treat. It’s a business expense.” She fished out a business card and handed it to him. “Guess we’ll need some new cards, huh?”

“Guess so. Is this your address?”

She nodded. “Pick me up around six?”

“It’s a date.”

“Oh no. No dating. A business dinner. Just two partners.”

His grin should have put her on edge. But it didn’t. “We’ll see.”

Since the question was going to drive her crazy before evening got there, Juliana let it out. “You don’t have a girlfriend?”

“No, Red. I don’t have a girlfriend.”

“Hope you like Italian.” Juliana waited while the maître d’ pulled out her chair, then she sat as Connor took the seat across the small table.

“Not much else to choose from,” he said with a shrug.

“Yeah, well, small towns only have a few good places to eat.”

His grin was mysterious.

Damn, but that dimple.

“That’ll be changing,” he said, still grinning.

She liked the confidence almost as much as she hated the confusion. “It will? Is that part of your inside information?”

“It is.”

It was a struggle to be patient as the waiter took their orders and brought their drinks. Since Connor was driving, she’d decided to go ahead and have some wine. As tightly as she was wound, she’d snap if she didn’t have something to soothe her. A nice white wine was the answer to her prayer.

Sipping her drink, she stared at him over the rim of her wineglass. Connor served them each a good portion of salad from the big bowl, even taking the time to set equal amounts of everything from onion slices to croutons on each plate.

Onions. No good night kiss?

That would be damned disappointing.

But partners shouldn’t kiss good night. Should they?

“Is that indicative of this new partnership?” she asked, hoping he knew teasing when he heard it.

“What?”

“The salad. You portioned it out almost perfectly. Each serving’s equal. Is that what our partnership is going to be like?”

“I sure hope so.” He handed her one of the plates and set the other in front of himself. “Although I have to be honest, I’ve never been in a partnership before.”

“Not even a marriage?” She hadn’t meant to ask. The question just fell right out of her mouth.

Liar.

“Not even a marriage.” He ate his salad with enough gusto to make her wonder if it had been a while since he’d eaten.

She, on the other hand, picked at hers.

“Don’t like the romaine?” he asked. “I can order an appetizer instead. Calamari? Or can’t they get that here?” Connor picked up the basket of bread. “Want a roll?”

What she wanted was another glass of wine. Or two. Or Patrón. “No, thanks. The salad’s fine. Just not very hungry.”

Waiting patiently as he ate his salad and a couple of rolls, Juliana tried to decide which of the thousands of questions flying around her mind to ask first. Despite the scary proposition of stepping into this partnership arrangement, she was more obsessed with who this Tracy was and what she was to Connor.

“Hey, gorgeous.”

Instead of letting her adolescent infatuation ruin this new venture, she fired her first business-oriented question. “Do you have an office?”

“So we’re really going to do this, Red?”

She cocked her head. “Do what? Talk about our partnership?”

“No.
Have
one.”

“But I thought… after the Ryans…”

Connor’s expression and tone were entirely business. “It’s a risk. For both of us. I can sell houses by myself. You can, too. We can just split the Ryan listing and walk away.”

Juliana let her exasperation show. “I thought we talked this all out.”

“We’ve both had a little time to think. Didn’t know if you’d changed your mind.”

“I seldom do that. Too stubborn.”

Here was her out, her escape hatch, if she wanted one. Yet not a thought of dissent or concern appeared.

She wanted this. With all her heart.

“Have
you
changed your mind?” Juliana asked, concerned perhaps his offer of an “out” was for him rather than her.

He gave his head a shake.

Releasing a relieved sigh wouldn’t be very subtle, so she asked again, “Well, then do you have an office?”

“I will.”

“So you don’t yet. Where will this new office be?”

He set his empty salad plate aside. “My new house. I bought a ranch in Cumberland Hills on a short sale. Needs a lot of work, but I’ll have a nice office with an outside entrance one day. At least I will as soon as I find a decent contractor.”

“I already have one.”

“A contractor?” His eyes seemed to sparkle a little more when he teased.

“Actually, yeah, but I meant an office. Mine’s ready to go. Has an outside entrance, too. We could use it for now if you’d like.”

He considered her proposition for a moment before nodding. “Since mine is good enough for me but not nearly good enough for clients yet, we can see if your place works. Wanna head there after dinner so I can see it for myself?”

Connor at her place. Exactly where would that get both of them except right back in bed?

If this was going to work, she needed to set some ground rules pretty damn fast. “Look, Connor, we should talk about what happened first. I didn’t propose us working together so that our… connection at the Ramada could happen again.”

“Oh really.” He sarcastically dragged out the second word. “Then may I ask exactly why you did it? I mean, if you don’t want anything to do with me romantically, why in the hell would you tell the Ryans we were partners?”

“I panicked. Okay? I could tell George Ryan wanted to work with a guy, and I thought I’d lost the listing.” She fixed a hard stare. “You could’ve told them I was a liar. What I should be asking is why you agreed. Sure, I might have been a bit impulsive, but you could’ve pulled the plug on this immediately.”

“I couldn’t do that.”

“Why not?” she asked. “You don’t owe me anything. You could’ve walked out of there with that listing and not anchored to me.”

“You’re right.”

If he kept answering without actually answering, her temper was going to explode. As it was, Juliana could barely keep from screaming at him. Nothing had been decided. Not really. This dinner was going nowhere fast as neither of them seemed to have the courage to say the things that needed to be said.

She took a deep breath and then let it all out. “You scared the shit out of me.”

“I beg your pardon?”

“That night when we were together… I got scared. After what happened, I had to get out of there. You were more than I could handle.”

“Funny. I thought you handled me quite well. Best sex of my life.”

All she could do for a moment was blink. “It was?”

With a crooked smile, he nodded.

Despite the warm fuzzy feeling she got from his praise, she still needed to make him understand. “I wasn’t ready for someone like you.”

“You realize you’re making absolutely no sense. Right?”

Since this was going to be one of the most difficult conversations of her life, she signaled the waiter for another wine.

“Getting blotto won’t make things easier, Red.” His mouth had dropped to a frown.

“Two glasses of wine isn’t ‘getting blotto.’ Look…” She took the new glass and handed the waiter back the empty. Then she waited for some privacy before opening up. “We were good together. Damn good.”

At least Connor smiled again. “Like I said, best sex of my life. Both times.”

“That’s what scared me.” Sitting back, she wrapped her arms around her middle. Sure it was the universal body language of self-comfort and protection, but that’s what she needed at that moment. Some comfort and protection. And some courage—even the false kind that came in a glass. “I’m divorced.”

When he tried to interrupt, she stopped him with a shake of her head. “Let me get this all out. Please?”

He leaned back, sitting rather casually with an elbow crooked over the back of his chair, which helped relax her. “Fine. I’ll be a good boy and listen.”

“Thanks.” Juliana launched into her story. “Like I said, I’m divorced. Got married right out of college, and I picked the absolute wrong guy. He was… abusive.” As Connor started to sputter in what she assumed in anger, she held up a hand. “He didn’t hit me. That, I would have dealt with pretty quick. It was more of a slow whittling away at my confidence. Plus he got mean when he drank. Thankfully, I figured out before too long that he wasn’t worth any more of my time and cut him loose.”

“Smart woman,” he said with a nod. “I thought so from the first moment we spoke.”

The compliment made her cheeks flush warm. “Um, thanks. Anyway, I promised myself I wouldn’t do that again. I wouldn’t fall head over heels for some guy and end up right back in the place where I lost me.”

“That’s what you think I’ll be like? Shit, Red. You don’t know anything about me, and you’re already judging me.”

“I’m not.”

His nod was as definite as his words. “You most certainly are.”

“I’m not. I’m judging
me
. I have terrible taste in men and—”

This time, he was the one to halt words. “Stop. Just stop. You’re talking and talking and saying nothing. I’m tired of running around in circles.” He leaned in closer and then waited.

Tentatively, Juliana put her hands on the table and copied his action, giving their discussion more privacy, more intimacy.

“Let me see if I can translate everything you said, okay?” Connor asked.

“Go for it.” Since she wasn’t even sure what she was babbling about any longer, perhaps he could figure out what she was trying to say.

“Here goes. You had an ex who treated you like garbage. Didn’t smack you around, but he was psychologically abusive. Right so far?”

She nodded.

“You decided being single’s the best way to live. You’ve been that way since your divorce, which means you’re really used to doing things alone, making your own decisions, planning everything without answering to anyone else.”

“Keep going.”

“Then we met. We connected in a way that frightened you.”

“Wow. You’re a man of many talents.”

He quirked an ebony brow.

“You’re a real estate salesman
and
a psychiatrist.”

* * *

Connor let the sarcasm slide, mostly because he enjoyed using it as much as she seemed to. While he might not be trained in psychology, being a salesman meant he knew people very, very well. “Now you’re worried if you let me in, even just a little, that I’ll end up being like your ex.”

“Not exactly. But…” Her shoulders rose and fell in a delicate shrug.

Since Juliana had found the guts to be honest, he gave her equal measure. “Would it help you to know I’m terrified, too?”

Her eyes widened. “You are?”

He resisted the urge to roll his eyes. “I am. You scared the shit outta me. I don’t need a relationship right now. Maybe ever. I’ve got enough on my plate. I’m trying to set up a new business and keep from… Look, you scared me because what happened between us wasn’t just sex. At least not to me. It was like we had a connection. Something pretty special.”

“Very special.”

“Then the question is, what do we do about it now that we’re partners?”

Having given that dilemma a lot of thought from the moment the Ryans’ signatures were drying on the contracts, Connor was no closer to an answer. From the way Juliana kept giving her head small shakes, she had nothing to offer, either.

The waiter delivered their dinners, and instead of addressing the weighty question, they ate in relative silence. The only true conversation was about what a great find the Ryans’ house was and the things they both thought would help with staging. Things between them were light and easy until the waiter put the little black folder with the check on the table.

Connor snatched it up and tugged his wallet from his jacket pocket.

Juliana plucked her wallet from her purse, pulled out a credit card, and held it up between two fingers. “We agreed to pay for our own.”

The gentleman in him didn’t want to give in. He slid some bills into the folder. “How about I get it this once?”

“Nope. Rule number one for our partnership, that’s exactly what we are. Partners. Each pulls his or her weight.”

When the waiter came over, she handed him her card. “Please put my bill on this.”

No way she’ll give in.
He might not know her too well yet, but the determined expression on her face said it all. She’d already admitted to a stubborn streak, and she was giving him a peek at it now.

Connor picked up one of the twenties and put it back in his wallet. “Anything the lady wants.”

Twenty minutes later, Connor drove through Juliana’s neighborhood, ready to take a look at what might be his new office space. The house was in a nice neighborhood, one well established enough there wouldn’t be a Homeowners’ Association. That would be a plus if they were going to run their office out of Juliana’s house.

When he’d picked her up, Connor had given the place only a cursory inspection. He’d been much more interested in Juliana than her home. Then again, he hadn’t known this would be his new office.

It was a nice redbrick ranch. Mature trees. Large lot. Her two-car garage was now the office of Wilson-Kelley—correction, Kelley-Wilson—Realty. He’d agreed to her choice of name since that was a small skirmish in what might end up being an epic war.

He was going to choose his battles carefully.

After he pulled his SUV into the driveway, he killed the engine. Although he’d intended to go around and open the door for her, she let herself out and met him at the entrance to the office, keys already in her hand.

“It’s not perfect yet,” she said as she opened the dead bolt. “But I think it’ll work for us, especially if your place is still a mess.”

“ ‘Mess’ is an understatement.” He held the door after she opened it, waiting for her to step inside. Then he followed.

He only needed a quick glance around to know that despite what she’d said, the office
was
perfect. The walls were painted a pleasant, soft green, and the floors were a dark-stained laminate. The décor was limited to framed prints of the Chicago skyline and a large shamrock that had been painted on the farthest wall. Tasteful, but still a good representation of her personality.

There were two chairs and a coffee table in a waiting area. She’d even thought to leave out a few magazines. Behind a half wall that served as a formal division of the office space, two desks faced each other, although only one had a computer.

“Two desks?” Connor asked. “Were you expecting to have a partner?”