I shake my head. “You won’t be needing her, so she’ll have to find someone else to guide her thoughts into nothingness.”

  “But my roots.” She points to the top of her head. “My hair doesn’t grow in pink, you know.”

  “It won’t be pink for long. Griff has a type. It’s very specific. Even if you only flirt with him, you have to turn his head. That color will not do it. The lovely ladies at the Ritz-Carlton spa will transform you under my direction into my brother’s wet dream. Since that’s the reason for this venture, that point is nonnegotiable.”

  Keeley doesn’t like it. I can tell she’s absolutely pissed off. But I’m right. I know exactly what Griff wants, and I’m going to dangle the most beautiful, charming, big-hearted woman in his face…then make sure he can’t have her. Screwing Griff out of the Stowe deal will be sweet. But screwing him out of the woman he’s dying to have will be every bit as delicious. And if I can be screwing her myself, that will be the sublime cherry on top.

  “You’re paying to put my hair back exactly the way I’m wearing it now at the end of a month.”

  “Done.” I like it pink, actually. It’s darker than an Easter egg, lighter than a raspberry. It suits her. If we haven’t boinked our brains out and gotten tired of one another after four weeks, then I’m good with this style.

  Hell, as much as I want her now, I’m not sure I’d care if she went bald.

  “One more thing. I called Gus this morning. He’s doing some remodeling at the bar, expanding the stage. He says the gigs have gone over well. He’d like to have me back on the nineteenth next month.”

  Two days before the end of our bargain. I weigh carefully my mission versus how much I enjoy hearing her sing. “I’ll compromise with you. A week prior, we’ll look at our progress. If I think it’s sufficient, you can go. If not, you cancel. That gives him a week to find a replacement.”

  “You’re pushing me,” she warns.

  “Look, in different ways, we each hold parts of the other’s future in our hands. You’re helping me with now, and I’ll teach you how to succeed later. I’ve given where I know I can, but I want evenings dedicated to me.” To us. “We have a lot to accomplish and not much time to do it. I drive a hard bargain because that’s who I am. For the next month, I think you know you should worry more about keeping me happy and worry less about Gus. If, to your point, you won’t be making your living off your vocal cords, all you’ll have at that crappy sports bar is a good time.” And, sunshine, I’ll give you a better one. “If you want to make your living as an innkeeper, I’m your man.”

  She sighs. “I feel as if I’ve conceded a lot to you.”

  “I’ve compromised, too.” But I know I have Keeley mostly where I want her. I just have to not screw up my good thing.

  She gives me a wry smile. “You trying to convince me of that doesn’t actually make it true.” When she shakes her head as if she’s questioning her sanity, I know I’ve won. “All right. You’ve got a deal. When do we start?”

  “Now. I’ll take you back to your apartment. While you pack up, I’ll make some arrangements. Text me your class schedule. I’ll do my best to be back at the condo by seven every night. You’re mine until midnight. No interruptions. I’ll see how many hours I can cut out of my weekends.” I sit back in my massive chair, feeling a supremely satisfied smile streak across my face.

  I’m going to do this so right Griff will never know what hit him.

  Chapter 6

  By the time we reach my condo, it’s nearly nine. Keeley looks pale and a little shell-shocked. Everything has moved fast tonight for a couple of reasons. I didn’t want to give her too much time to rethink our deal…and I’m impatient to get her back onto my turf, into my bed.

  We wait for the bellman to bring up her belongings. Thank god she rented the apartment furnished, so we only have to move her personal items. That frees up my hands. I can’t not touch her, so I tangle fingers with Keeley, pressing our palms together.

  She wriggles away from me. “Don’t. This is a business relationship now.”

  I could argue that it doesn’t have to be, but now isn’t the time to pick that fight. Later. When she’s comfortable and happy, when she’s feeling less overwhelmed.

  “All right. It’s late. I’ll call for dinner. There’s a menu in the kitchen near the microwave. It’s propped against the wall.”

  Keeley picks up the well-loved page and scans it with a wrinkle of her nose. “You clearly eat someone else’s food too often. So much sodium and fat and preservatives. Um…I’ll cook. Do you have any staples in your pantry and fridge?”

  “Booze. Popcorn. Maybe a can of soup. I don’t cook here.” In fact, I’m wondering if, other than an occasional egg or sandwich, I’ve ever made a meal in my own kitchen.

  “Oh, my gosh. You’re such a man.”

  The way she rolls her eyes tells me that’s not a good thing.

  “Hey, I get by.”

  “Clogging your arteries every day, sure.” Suddenly, she points at me, determination all over her pixie features. “I’m going to addict you to good-for-you food in the next month. You’re going to crave meals that didn’t come out of a damn freezer. And I intend to make sure you can feed yourself properly after I’m gone.”

  “As long as I get five hours of your time every day, why not?”

  I have to eat. Sure, I could be healthier. Since I turned thirty a few years back, I notice that weight creeps up if I don’t maintain my strict gym habits. I’m sure less crappy food would make it easier to stay healthy. And I’ll get to spend more time with Keeley.

  After she prowls through my kitchen, she turns to me with a shake of her head. “It’s empty.”

  “I’m not—”

  “Here that much. You’ve told me. As far as dinner goes, that’s going to change.”

  For tonight, we call room service. While we wait, she moves into the spare bedroom. I linger in the doorway, try to talk to her. I attempt to be charming. I really want to remind her that half of my big bed is empty. I wonder if she would buy my argument that we could help the environment if we only needed to wash one set of sheets each week?

  “How have you been the last few days?” I venture that line of questioning to see where the conversation goes.

  “Perplexed,” she says honestly.

  I understand what she means. “Me, too. I didn’t get a chance to tell you the other night, but you sang great.”

  “Thanks.”

  That’s all she has to say? Since she simply continues to pluck garments from her suitcase and hang them in the closet, I guess so.

  I search for another conversation starter. “So you’ll just call your other jobs in the morning and quit?”

  “Yes.”

  And? “If they require two-week’s notice, you can’t give it to them.”

  “Understood.” She sounds a bit down about that.

  I want to comfort Keeley, but she has an invisible force field around her that warns me to keep out. Instead, I promise her something more practical. “Since you’ll be out of work, the offer of a hundred grand is still there. Just say the word.”

  She gives me a noncommittal hum. I’m back at proverbial square one. If I touch her…well, I saw what happened to Hulk Moron’s balls the night we met. I promised I wouldn’t lay a hand on her against her will. Actually, I didn’t think she’d have much will to resist me. But I suspect this woman is far more stubborn than I gave her credit for. What if we spend the whole month without sex?

  At the thought, I want to hang myself with barbed wire.

  “This arrangement is going to work out.” I’m more hopeful than convinced, but I’m doing my best to be persuasive and upbeat for her.

  “Sure.”

  Her one-word responses are killing me. I grit my teeth. “You know, we’ll be together for a month. We have to speak to each other.”

  Keeley finally pauses, looks away from her suitcase. “We have to speak about Griff and whatever I need to learn about the man in order to wow him. We have to speak about business stuff and how I can run the best inn ever.” She gives me a tight smile. “We don’t have to speak about anything else. Call me when the food is here.”

  With that, she shuts the door between us, right in my face.

  Screw being at square one. I’m less than zero.

  I’m beginning to think that, despite negotiating this agreement to my advantage, I got thoroughly screwed.

  I can’t sleep. Knowing that only one teeny-tiny closed door separates me from Keeley frustrates the fuck out of me. On the other hand, she’s so much closer than she was the night before. I’m getting the sense that I need to accept the small victories with her while plotting the larger ones in the future.

  It’s already after midnight. I can’t sit still. The heavy doorknob that opens Keeley’s portal is like a magnet, urging me toward her with a gravitational pull I can hardly resist.

  But I have to—for now.

  As promised, I clear a spot on the lanai and stow her yoga mat out there so she’ll have it in ready position after sunrise. I also find a local grocery store that takes online orders. Grabbing the list Keeley made earlier, I take my laptop to bed and arrange for everything to be delivered by four o’clock tomorrow afternoon. I’ll ask her to be here. That way she can sign for it all and start cooking. We’ll eat as soon as I walk in the door. Maybe domestic bliss will ensue…which might include hugging and kissing and reintroducing her to my bed.

  I’m fantasizing about tomorrow evening. She doesn’t mind spending a little time on her knees, right? But I’m equal opportunity. If she wants to lie back, spread her legs, and let me do my worst, I’m all in. Hell, I’m fucking excited. In fact, if I get any more excited, I’ll have to take myself in hand. This raging erection poking at the fly of my pajama pants is pissing me off.

  Why is Keeley the only woman who makes me lose my self-restraint?

  I’m trying to solve that conundrum when my phone rings. The name on the display provokes a smile. “Hey, Harlow.”

  “Hey, big brother. What’s up?”

  “Work. You know. Not much new.” Well, that’s not exactly true, and if Keeley could hear me, she’d raise that brow and look at me like my ethics suck. “Well, maybe a little new. I might have met someone.”

  “Yeah? I was going to talk to you about Mom and Dad’s latest drama, but this sounds way more interesting. Tell me more.”

  “Her name is Keeley. I met her in a bar.”

  “Oh, dear god. So it’s a meaningful relationship, then?” Harlow snorts.

  “I’m kind of hoping it is.” I like her. That’s more than I can say for most of my hookups.

  “Exactly how did you two meet?”

  I debate whether to tell her about my scheme to sidetrack Griff because A) since Harlow still speaks to both of us, she asked me not to put her in the middle of our feud a long time ago. And B) even if she didn’t call me twenty kinds of dumb ass and agree to keep my secret, I don’t want anything—even unwittingly—to slip loose.

  On the other hand, Harlow would make a hell of an ally…and a spy.

  It’s a calculated gamble, but after some mental debate, I decide it’s worth the risk.

  I give her the abbreviated version of events, minus the sex. “Want to help me make sure Keeley succeeds?”

  “Maybe. Tell me the truth first. You nailed her, didn’t you?”

  Harlow has always been smart and good at reading between the lines.

  “I couldn’t help it. I’m really into this girl. I’m not sure yet what we have in common. But she’s a good person. You’d like her. She only agreed to my plan because she’s convinced she can help Griff and me patch up our spat.” I scoff. “Like that’s ever going to happen.”

  “If you keep being a douchebag, it won’t. Isn’t three years long enough to hold this grudge? You didn’t love Tiffanii, thank god. Don’t be so bitter.”

  We’ve had this argument before. “It’s not about Tiffanii.” Although when he moved her in with him, it sucked knowing my brother was shacking up with the woman I’d thought I might marry someday. In retrospect, it didn’t actually hurt. “What burned me was the way he handled everything.”

  “If it helps, I think he regrets it.”

  On the tip of my tongue sits my usual acerbic answer: Isn’t it too late for that now? I hold the words in. The sentiment is old, and I’m tired of feeling it. Besides, she knows my outlook on this. “If that’s true, he could start by apologizing.”

  “You could help him along by not trying to dangle a woman in his face designed solely to trip him up. You know he gets terribly distracted.”

  I do. His business almost didn’t make it the first four months because he was too wrapped up in Tiffanii to pay attention to much else. I heard a rumor that he’d planned a surprise getaway for two to Bora Bora. When he came home to pack a suitcase, he instead found some other guy packing his cock into Tiff’s pussy.

  Can’t say I was surprised… She cheated on me, too. It’s why we broke up.

  “He’s getting what he deserves,” I argue.

  “Maxon, stop. I know he hurt you.”

  So fucking much. I really still don’t know how to reconcile the kid brother who did everything with me with the man who did his utmost to take everything from me.

  “Did you ever stop to think that maybe you hurt him, too?”

  “Bullshit.”

  “Ugh, you and Griff both have way too much fight and pride for your own good.” Harlow sighs on the other end of the line. “You know, I’ve never met this Keeley woman, but maybe she’s onto something. If one of her conditions to this hare-brained scheme is for you to sit down with Griff for an hour and just talk, I can get behind that. I’ll even spy on him for you if it helps to end this.”

  “Excellent.” I smile.

  “That remains to be seen. I just hope I don’t regret my decision.”

  Somewhere in the back of my head, I wonder if both Keeley and Harlow are right. Will my plan do anything more than ratchet up this ugly family feud?

  Who cares? a voice in my head asks. It’s unlikely we’re going to be pals again tomorrow. Or ever.

  “You won’t.” I give her an empty assurance because I know it could become a shit storm. But I have to try. “So what’s the Mom and Dad drama?”

  I’m not sure I actually want to know. It’s always horrendous. Frankly, I wonder how they ever got along enough to conceive three children. They only stay married now because it would cost Dad too much money to divorce Mom. She puts up with his crap because she’s never worked outside the home a day in her life and wouldn’t know how to start now. So they have a sick, co-dependent union. Mom shakes him down to “maintain her lifestyle,” and Dad puts up with it because he can’t afford to do anything else. Besides, she’s the grand hostess for glitzy community events that make her giddy and the stuffy business parties that further his career.

  “I don’t know if they’re going to make it out of this, Maxon. Something’s up. Something more serious.”

  I frown. “If they’re not speaking, that’s nothing new.”

  “Of course it’s not,” Harlow agrees. “This is more than the normal resentment, silence, or accusations and yelling. This is ugly. It’s…cold.”

  Harlow isn’t the sort of woman to be dramatic. Mom and Dad took care of all that for us kids, so we had to stay pretty grounded or lose our minds. “You think they might actually split up for good this time?”

  “I think it’s really possible.”

  Her words sink in. Not that they’ve been married in spirit for at least the last two decades, but the thought of them being legally divorced is chilling in a way I don’t understand. “See if you can find out what’s going on and keep me posted, okay?”

  “Sure. Britta and Jamie doing good?”

  “Yeah.” I think. I haven’t actually seen the little guy in a while. Other than Harlow, they’re really the only family I have left. I should make time for them. I’ll need them when I’m old and gray, I guess. And I care. That’s pretty rare for me.

  “She still hasn’t changed her mind about making Griff live up to his responsibilities with Jamie?”

  “No.” And she’s not likely to.

  When Griff didn’t acknowledge Britta’s pregnancy, we both figured he just didn’t care. She pleaded with Harlow, who still talks to the asswipe, to leave it alone. If Griff didn’t want his own son, she didn’t want anyone trying to make him give a shit. My sister didn’t love it but she agreed to respect Britta’s choice, mostly because she was pissed at Griff, too. And we all agreed that Jamie needed to be kept a secret from my parents. My mother would have turned that into a custody battle worthy of a made-for-TV movie. We know all too well how my father would treat the boy.

  “He’s going on three…”

  I get the emotional argument for Jamie meeting his father. I do. I would have loved a father who gave a damn about something besides business. “I think Jamie is better off. Britta gives him unconditional love.”

  Barclay Reed never gave that to his sons. Neither of his apples have fallen far from the tree, either. I worry Griff would only use his son to manipulate Britta, and because she would move heaven and earth to protect her child, she’d let Griff run all over her. Keeley would probably find my low opinion of him shocking, but what good does lying to myself do?

  “I know she does,” Harlow agrees. “And she’s been through a lot, but I think Griff has changed. He’s… I don’t know. Less angry.”

  Or better at hiding his problems. “Maybe you caught him in a good mood. Griff is never going to change. I don’t think he wants to.”

  “Do you?” she asks softly.

  I grit my teeth in irritation. “Haven’t you done enough probing, Freud? Why don’t you bug your fiancé for a while?”

  “He’s in London on business, so I decided to call you instead. Aren’t you lucky?”

  I have to smile. “Honestly?”

  “No,” she teases back. “Keep your opinion to yourself. I should get back to studying. Big exams coming up. Tell me when Keeley is ready to go in. I’ll call Griff, see if I can figure out where he’s at mentally and what his schedule is like. After they’ve officially met, I’ll be nosy, find out what he thinks of her, then report back.”