Everything Bared (Six-Alarm Sexy) (3 page)

“And you think she should stay here?”

“You’ve got the space. For her and Coco.”

William pushed off the wall. “Kitchen. Now.”

Jamie’s eyes flashed and his jaw tightened, but he got to his feet and headed into the kitchen without a word. This had to be very important, if Jamie was taking orders from his younger brother.

In the kitchen, William cornered Jamie at the sink. “Are you out of your mind?” he hissed.

“She’s got nowhere else to go. I found her sleeping in her car, for fuck’s sake.”

“Why can’t she stay with you? She and Erica seemed pretty chummy at your welcome home party.”

Jamie shook his head. “I’m her boss. It wouldn’t look right.”

“Is that the real reason? Or is it because you don’t want her to know about the BDS—” His question was cut off when Jamie’s big hand smacked over his mouth, grinding William’s lips into his teeth. The metallic taste of blood stung his tongue.

Jamie scanned the direction of the living room, then turned back to William, his eyes blazing. “You don’t
ever
talk about that with anyone but me. And never where anyone can hear us. Get it?”

When Jamie dropped his hand and put a foot of space between them, William pressed a finger to his lips to check the damage. “I get it.”

“How did you know Rickie and I…?”

“It was pretty obvious something had changed when you got back from Hawaii. You seem more like your old self again.”

Jamie grinned like a satisfied cat.

Jealousy stabbed at William’s chest, and he was instantly filled with guilt. Jamie and Erica had been through a lot to get where they were now. How they achieved happiness was none of his business.

“Sorry,” William said, his tone gruff. “I just don’t get why you think Danielle should stay here. In case you hadn’t noticed, we barely manage to be civil to each other. She doesn’t like anything about me, and frankly, I’m tired of being the butt of her jokes.”

“Interesting.”

William sighed. “What?”

“You didn’t say you didn’t like anything about her.”

Oh no.
Jamie was not going to trick him into admitting anything where the delectable Ms. Harris was concerned.

When he continued to remain mute, Jamie blew out a breath. “Okay, I’ll talk to her. She’ll be nice. You’ll hardly know she’s here.” His words were immediately followed by a loud crash in the living room.

“Shit!” Danielle shouted. “Don’t worry. I’ll clean it up.”

William glared at his brother. “You were saying?”

Jamie pinched the bridge of his nose. “One month. If her place isn’t ready by then, I’ll find her somewhere else to live, even if I have to get her a hotel room.”

William inclined his head. “Fine, but after this, I owe you nothing. I’ll consider my debt to you repaid in full.”

“What debt? You paid me back and more, years ago.”

Picking up an invisible crumb on the counter, William avoided looking at his brother. “Don’t think I’m not aware that you put your life on hold for me.”

Jamie grabbed his shoulder and spun him around. “You need to stop with this shit, William. So I helped pay for your tuition. Big fucking deal. If you hadn’t given me the excuse to quit college, Dad would be grooming
me
for the CEO job now instead of you. I can’t imagine a worse hell.” He shuddered. “If anything, I owe you. I love being a firefighter.”

“If you say so. But after this, we’re even.” William held out his hand to shake on it.

Jamie pulled him into a hug and clapped him on the back. “Thanks, brother. And who knows, by the end of the month, maybe you’ll be thanking me.”

William barked out a laugh. “I seriously doubt that. Come on, before Danielle and that beast of hers destroy my condo.”

Chapter 2

Dani listened intently for any sound from Will’s room as she turned over the bacon and sausages sizzling in the frying pan. The minute the shower turned off, she poured the eggs into a second pan and began to scramble them. Will would be out soon, and she wanted to surprise him with breakfast. He was doing her a huge favor by letting her bunk with him. More than that, her month-long visit was the perfect opportunity for her to see how far she could push Mr. Straight and Narrow.

Minutes later, she piled the food onto two plates and filled two mugs with strong coffee. She set them on the table as Will’s door cracked open. Perfect timing.

When he rounded the corner into the kitchen, she almost choked on her coffee.
Shit.
The man was a walking, talking advertisement for Brooks Brothers. She’d teased him about wearing a tie to a barbeque once, but the truth of the matter was that Will wore a suit like he was born to it. The light gray fabric of his jacket molded his wide shoulders and chest to perfection, reminding her of the man in her dream. His trousers hugged thigh muscles that rippled with each step he took toward her.

Pure suit porn.

A few feet away from her, he stopped and surveyed the kitchen, his brows furrowing into a deep V. “What’s all this?”

She flipped her ponytail over her shoulder. “Breakfast. A meal generally eaten in the morning.”

“Ha. It looks like you’re expecting your whole platoon.”

Ignoring his sarcasm, she slathered butter on her toast, then indicated the chair across from her. “Sit. Have some.”

A resigned expression on his face, he pulled out the chair and sat. He sipped his coffee and nodded. “I see you found my Caffé Vita.”

“S’good stuff,” she said around a mouthful.

A corner of his lips quirked up as he regarded her with amusement. “Do you always eat this much?”

She set her fork down with more force than she’d meant. Why did men always make comments about how much or how little women ate? “What’s it to you?”

“Nothing really. It’s just most women I know don’t eat anything if it isn’t green.”

“Then you know the wrong kind of women,” she said before shoveling a piece of toast loaded with egg into her mouth. Yeah, she knew it was bad manners, but fuck him. She took a sip of coffee to help the food go down, and that’s when she noticed he hadn’t taken a single bite. “What’s wrong? You don’t like eggs?”

“I usually eat cereal.”

“Really? All I saw was a box of that bran crap my mom used to force down our throats when we were constipated.”

His face turned red. “Don’t you have a filter?”

“Didn’t think I needed one. We’re roomies now.” She tried not to laugh, but the expression on his face was priceless. And she couldn’t help poking at him just a little more. “If you’re having a problem, I could pick up some Metamucil for you.” She grinned.

“I hardly think this is the type of conversation we should be having. For God’s sake, we barely know each other. And for the record, the answer is no. I simply prefer to eat healthy food rather than all this”—he waved his hand over the table—“high-cholesterol smorgasbord you’re filling yourself with.”

She sat back in her seat and crossed her legs. “I see.”

“You see what?” he asked, swiping a hand over his cheek.

“You’re thirty and a pencil-pusher. A man like you has to watch his figure.”

“And you don’t?”

She shoved to her feet and yanked the hem of her T-shirt up. “You see any fat on me?”

His gaze fixed on her stomach, and she watched, fascinated, as his jaw clenched and his pupils dilated despite the early morning sun filling the kitchen. Mr. Caldwell wasn’t as immune to her as he pretended to be. And neither was she. Her abdomen contracted under his stare.

She flexed her thigh muscles, plainly visible in her running shorts, and smiled when his gaze dropped to her legs. “Coco and I run every day. I also work out at the gym regularly.”

“Is it so you can keep up with the guys at work?”

“No,” she snapped. “It’s so I can be
better
than the guys. I work hard and I play hard. I need to fuel my body with real food, not some diet crap. Make sure you remember that when you do the groceries.”

His perusal moved up her body, the sensation like the caress of a soft hand on her skin. Heat flared in her belly. When he reached her face, arousal burned in his eyes. Arousal that matched her own. Then he blinked. “Uh, hold on. Groceries?”

“It’s your home, isn’t it?”

“Damn right it is.” Without saying another word, he grabbed a piece of toast, loaded it with egg, several slices of bacon, and a whole sausage, then smashed another piece of toast on top of it before shoving half of it into his mouth.

Oh, he was pissed now. Who’d have thought the genteel CFO of Caldwell Fine Furnishings would look so incredibly hot once he got riled up?

He pointed a finger at her nose. “Make sure you clean this up before you leave.”

“Yes, sir. By the way, what’s for supper?” She was having too much fun pushing his buttons to let him go without one more volley.

He stilled as though he’d turned to stone. Except for the expansion of his chest beneath the crisp material of his dress shirt, nothing moved. His teeth ground together and she winced at the harsh sound. “What would you like?” he asked, his tone low and rough.

The sound sent shivers up her spine, and she went damp between her legs. “Steak. I love steak. Red. Juicy. Grilled on the barbeque. You’ve got one of those, don’t you, Will? I bet it’s real fancy too.”

He whipped around and stalked over to the front door. “Eight o’clock. Don’t be late.”

The door slammed behind him, and Dani finally let her grin bloom. Shit. That had been more fun than she’d had in years. She couldn’t wait for round two.

William closed his laptop with a decisive click and rose, signaling the end of the meeting.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I will keep you informed of any developments with regards to the union negotiations. Thank you all for attending on such short notice. Have a nice day.”

Several heads nodded as the board members collected their belongings. William couldn’t wait for them to leave the conference room so he could head back to his office and figure out what the hell he was going to do. The picture he’d painted for the board had been more than a little optimistic. These negotiations were vital to the survival of the company. And things were
not
going well.

His father lingered behind the others.
Damn.
Exhaustion weighed heavily on William’s shoulders as he dropped into his chair to await the dressing down. Bill Caldwell, as he preferred to be called, had a father’s ability to detect when one of his children was lying. Well, this was true for his sons. Tori, Chad’s twin sister, had always been able to lie her way through anything.
The little witch.
He could use some of that talent right now.

After pulling out a chair and sitting beside William, Bill tapped the table, the sound like rain on a metal roof. “Now that we’re alone, I want the truth, William. Not the powdered-sugar version you gave the board.”

William rubbed his cheek and pressed farther back in his chair. “The truth? Torval is stone-walling me. If I say A, he says B. If I give him B, he says it’s off the table.” He swiveled the chair and stared out the window, rolling his favorite Montblanc pen between his fingers. His brothers had given it to him when he’d received his CPA license. “It’s like he’s trying to run us into the ground.”

“But why? If we go bankrupt, he’s out of a job.”

“It doesn’t make any sense to me either. I’ve got my team going over the books and running the numbers to see what we can squeeze out of the budget. If I can get Torval to agree to one concession, maybe that will get the ball rolling on these negotiations.”

“That’s a good plan. And while you’re squeezing money out of the budget, don’t forget about the one-hundred-and-sixtieth anniversary party. We’ll be giving out the usual five-percent bonuses.”

William’s brows shot up. “Seriously? You still want to do that?”

“It’s good for morale, son. If we change the tradition now, everyone will know we’re in financial difficulty.”

“Maybe they should.”

“We’ve put out some amazing designs in the last few years. I want the teams to know their work is appreciated.”

William tucked the Montblanc into the breast pocket of his jacket and stood. Nothing would convince his father, except neat columns of numbers in black and white. The man was far too soft-hearted to be CEO of a struggling company. Good thing the union negotiations were in William’s hands. Some very tough decisions were needed, some loyal employees would need to be let go, some stunning, but unprofitable, products would need to be dropped from their lines. Some people would need to be hurt in order to keep the company afloat. He’d do whatever he could to minimize the damage, but there would definitely be casualties. “All right, Dad. I’ll do my best.”

“I know you will, son. See you at lunch on Sunday?”

Lunch with his crazy family? How could he resist? “I’ll be there.”

Would Danielle go too? Jamie or Erica often invited her.

“Oh, and bring Dani along. She’s practically one of the family.”

William’s step faltered and his head whipped around. “She is?” What had he missed?