Revenge With Benefits. Cat Schield

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СКАЧАТЬ be crushed if you stand me up.”

      She doubted that anything could crush him, but rushed to assure him. “I won’t.”

      With a quick, heart-stopping smile, he got to his feet. “See you tomorrow, Zoe Alston.”

      “See you tomorrow,” she echoed faintly, her whole body buzzing with energy. “Ryan Dailey.”

      * * *

      Buzzing with satisfaction, Ryan headed for his sister’s office. As he entered, Susannah leaned back in her executive chair and the springs creaked ominously. Although his sister had more than enough money to furnish her campaign office with all new furniture, she’d chosen to downplay her wealth by sticking to a strict budget.

      “Thanks for calling me with a heads-up that Zoe had returned,” he said, sliding into one of her guest chairs.

      “I’m always happy to help out my big brother.” Susannah was five minutes younger than Ryan, but her serious nature had always made her seem years older. “Did you ask her out?”

      “I invited her to dinner.”

      Susannah arched an eyebrow. “And is she going?”

      “What do you think?” He made no attempt to hide his smirk.

      “That she’s not exactly your type.”

      Ryan knew his sister was referring to the fact that all the women he dated came from their social circles. Interchangeable beauties that came from wealth. Good families. Good schools. Good manners. Good careers. By marrying any of them he would’ve fallen into a predictable pattern. He wanted a woman who riled his emotions and challenged him.

      “I’ll admit her style isn’t what I’m used to, but I’d like to think I’m not that shallow.” Ryan flashed a disarming grin. “She’s mysterious and there’s something tragic in her eyes.”

      “And deep down inside you have a knight-in-shining-armor complex that gets you into trouble.”

      Susannah was talking about Kelly Briggs. He’d tried to help her out and the whole thing had backfired.

      “Just because you haven’t needed my help since middle school doesn’t mean others don’t appreciate some assistance now and then,” he said. “And you’re not exactly one to talk. No one likes to help out more than you.”

      “Help,” she said. “Not rescue.”

      “Zoe doesn’t strike me as a woman who needs to be rescued.”

      “Yet you just said there was something tragic about her. It worries me after what happened with Kelly.”

      It still bugged Ryan that he’d mishandled the situation with Kelly Briggs. Well, maybe mishandled wasn’t the best description for what had happened. He’d taken her at face value and failed to look below the surface for what had motivated her.

      From the first Kelly had shown great promise, establishing herself as a clever and talented member of his team. She was also beautiful and if she hadn’t been his employee, he might’ve dated her. They’d had wonderful chemistry both professionally as well as personally. Several times he’d been tempted to cross the line, but he never had.

      That wasn’t to say things didn’t get blurry from time to time. Especially after he’d discovered that Kelly’d had ongoing troubles with an ex-boyfriend who had refused to accept that they were done. Ryan hadn’t considered there might be repercussions when he’d come to her rescue one evening in the company parking lot. Or that he might be sending the wrong signals when he’d offered to help her out if the guy came around again.

      “What happened with Kelly was a brief lapse in my judgment. And Zoe’s different. She’s wary and prickly. I think she’s been through something difficult and hasn’t fully healed.”

      He had a hard time picturing Zoe as someone who was going to fall for him just because he was nice to her. No, if he wanted Zoe, he was going to have to work damned hard to get her.

      “Do you think it’s a good idea to get involved with someone like that? Can’t you find someone uncomplicated to date?”

      “Uncomplicated is boring.”

      “As an old married woman who adores her husband and two darling children, I can tell you that uncomplicated is perfectly wonderful.”

      “So much so that you decided to run for office? If you were as completely happy as you claim, then you’d be satisfied with your brilliant law career and perfect home life.”

      She frowned at him. “That’s unfair. Being satisfied doesn’t mean you don’t want more. Part of being happy with my life is challenging myself and growing as a person. Running for office is part of that.”

      A knock sounded and Ryan glanced around to see Gil standing in the open doorway. Susannah invited him in and he took the chair beside Ryan.

      “What’s going on, Gil?” Susannah asked.

      “What do you know about the woman you were talking to?” Gil asked Ryan.

      “Zoe?” Ryan glanced at his sister to gauge her reaction and saw she was equally puzzled. “I don’t know anything about her. Why?”

      “I was talking to Tonya and she says she’s getting a bad vibe off of her.”

      “What sort of bad vibe?” Susannah asked, beating Ryan to the punch.

      “She’s just been very evasive about her background and why she wants to work for the campaign.” Gil fixed his gaze on Susannah. “She showed up the day Abernathy announced he was running in this district. I just think the timing is suspicious.”

      Ryan didn’t like what the campaign manager was insinuating. “Suspicious how?”

      “What if Lyle sent her here to spy on us.”

      “Seriously?” Ryan scoffed. “Does she look like a spy?”

      “Of course not. That’s what makes her so perfect. Tanya said she used a PO Box for her home address and asked a lot of questions about everybody who works here. I think we should do more research on her before giving her anything that would tip our hand about our strategy.”

      “You have to be kidding about this.” Yet even as he continued to argue, Ryan noted a shift in his attitude. His twin’s earlier concern that he was intrigued with Zoe reclaimed his attention. Was she another bad choice? Ryan hated that he continued to question his instincts. “Susannah, are you buying this conspiracy theory?”

      Another way they were different was in her measured approach to all situations. Where Ryan tended to jump in and deal with the consequences later, Susannah waited, calculating all options before making a move. He liked to think they balanced each other out. She encouraged him to slow down. He persuaded her to follow her gut.

      “You’re having dinner with her, aren’t you?” she asked him. “I agree with Gil that we need to learn a little bit more about her.”

      To his dismay, Ryan noted an uptick in his own doubts. СКАЧАТЬ