Back in His Bed: Boardroom Rivals, Bedroom Fireworks! / Unfinished Business with the Duke / How to Win the Dating War. Heidi Rice

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СКАЧАТЬ style="font-size:15px;">      “Avoidance doesn’t mean you’ve been dealing.”

      “I guess not. Now look at me.” Brenna balanced her elbows on her knees and let her head rest in her hands. “I’m a mess. And I’m in a hell of a mess.”

      “That explains a lot of the fighting.” Dianne returned to her perch on the counter and drummed her nails on it.

      “What do you mean by that?”

      “Unfinished business, remember? Maybe Jack has some, too.”

      “Oh, please.” Jack didn’t sound like someone with unfinished business—unless she counted the winery, of course. “You’re insane. And that noise is making me insane.”

      Dianne stopped the drumming and folded her hands in her lap. “Jack doesn’t need to bribe or blackmail women to get them to sleep with him. There’s got to be a reason he propositioned you.”

      Her heart skipped a beat. She’d thought about that, too, and decided not to dig too deep lest she find something to make her even worse off than she already was. “I have to admit, though, it’s the one thing we were really good at. It was everything else that didn’t work.”

      “Still…even good sex can’t be that hard for him to come by. There are lots of women in San Francisco, and he’s rich, young, and unbelievably handsome. He doesn’t need to hit you up for ex-sex for a little relief.”

      Pulling her hair out sounded like a grand plan about now. “Argh. Can we pick another subject now? Please?”

      “Just one more question.” Dianne turned serious. “What are you going to do?”

      “I don’t know. I don’t think the offer is open now anyway—not after last night’s blowout. I may sound like a broken record, but I just don’t know.”

      “You’ll figure it out. I know you will.” Dianne left her then, squeezing her shoulder in comfort and support as she passed Brenna’s chair. Dianne also left the Thermos of coffee for her, but her stomach didn’t seem stable enough to take more.

      Brenna stared at the walls—old pictures, notes written in her mother’s elegant handwriting, label prototypes, newspaper clippings and lists of local growers all competed for space. She would figure it out. She had to. But last night’s revelations wouldn’t leave her alone.

      She’d loved Jack, but he’d also offered an excitement she’d lacked living out here on the property. When that had gone to hell she’d slunk home, to the one place where she understood who and what she needed to be. She’d thrown herself into Amante Verano—partly because she loved it, but also partly to fill the gap losing Jack had created.

      Right or wrong, though, this was her life now. Everything she’d worked for in the last ten years had come to this moment. Jack’s presence had just created a wrinkle; the blast from her past shaking her world a little. She needed to come to a workable arrangement with Jack, and once she did everything would go back to normal.

      And Jack himself…Well, she needed to get past old hurts and old feelings and remember what they were now—not what they had been. All she had to do was ignore that pull he had on her and take back that little piece of her he still seemed to have. Needless to say sleeping with Jack was out of the question. For any reason, she told herself.

      In the meantime, sitting around moping in frustration wasn’t going to change anything—at least she knew that much. She also had a to-do list a mile long, and she wouldn’t accomplish any of it hiding out in her lab.

      Her first stop was the storeroom, where the banal task of inventory was waiting for her. Before she could get started, though, her cellphone rang. Fishing it out of her back pocket, she checked the number. What could Di want?

      “Where’s Jack?”

      She eyeballed the boxes containing bottles, mentally calculating. “At the main house, I assume.”

      “No, because I’m at the main house. His car’s gone.”

      Brenna’s heart jumped in her chest, then sank. Which is it? she asked herself. Am I happy or not? “Gone?”

      Di sounded exasperated. “I can’t believe he’d take off without telling anyone. That’s just plain rude. And after what you said about last night…”

      It was a bit of a slap in the face. “Jack can come and go as he pleases. He doesn’t owe anyone any kind of explanation.”

      “Maybe he just went into town for something. Want me to check his room and see if his stuff’s gone? It would give us a clue if he’s planning on coming back or not.”

      “Di, no. If he’s not coming back he’ll call. Or have his lawyer call. It’s not like anything is settled. We should enjoy the break while we can.”

      Then why didn’t she feel any relief? She still felt the tightness around her chest that hurt when she breathed. Good thing I didn’t sleep with him.

      “But Brenna…”

      “Don’t you have something you need to do? Something useful?”

      “Fine.” Dianne grumbled. “But I wonder where he went? And why?”

      Me, too. “It’s not our business.”

      She wasn’t naïve enough to believe Jack had simply given up and gone home, and the knots in her stomach tightened. No, Jack had something cooking, and she wasn’t going to like it.

      “You’re off your game. That’s the closest I’ve come to beating you in five years.” Roger bounced the blue ball in his direction and Jack caught it easily. “Whatever it is, keep it up. I could get used to not having my ass handed to me twice a week.”

      Roger’s words echoed in the enclosed court as he wiped a towel across his sweaty face. Jack took aim, then sent the ball flying down the court to bounce off the wall and hit Roger in the leg. “I’ll never be that off my game.”

      But Roger was right. He was distracted. Two days of dealing with Brenna and he couldn’t even keep his mind on a racquetball game. He couldn’t decide which was more of a distraction, though: remembering the feel of her skin and the way she’d reacted to his touch, or the look on her face when she accused him of breaking her heart.

      “I have three ex-wives, remember?” Roger continued as he packed up his gear. “As your attorney and your friend, I can tell you it never gets any better. The path of least resistance is your best bet. Expensive, but expedient. If you want to stay sane, that is.”

      “I think I’ve figured that out for myself.” Jack opened the door and stepped out into the cool air of the gym. Brenna had been up and gone before he’d left the house this morning, so he had no idea how she was handling everything that had happened last night.

      He’d finally figured out what he wanted around three o’clock this morning, and having a plan had allowed him to finally sleep a little. The erotic dreams of Bren awaiting him had been nice, but the memory of those dreams was definitely a distraction this morning.

      “That’s a СКАЧАТЬ