Tough Enough to Tango Read online

  “As you can see, Ned’s doing fine,” Mike said. “He’s just not performing while his throat heals. With his newfound time, he plans to take a more active role in this project.”

  “Really?” Shae replied. Still focused directly on Ned, she asked, “What does that mean?”

  “That I’m sticking around and plan to be involved in this project every step of the way. Those are my terms, if you want to remain my general contractor.”

  The lady fell back in her seat, her face a study in shock.

  What had possessed him to speak?

  ****

  Shae hopped into Dave’s pickup and shook her head. “Can you believe that guy? He played us, letting us think he was under doctors’ orders not to talk.” She was a what-you-see-is-what-you-get kind of woman. She wasn’t into game playing.

  Dave held off switching on the ignition to turn his gaze on her, his expression incredulous. “He spoke because you badgered him with your questions. Your attitude caused the man to go against his doctor’s orders and probably lost us the biggest project we’ll ever have.” He started the engine and backed out of their parking spot with a series of jerks.

  “My attitude? For having less than a day to study the project plans, I’d say I was the picture of confidence.”

  “Maybe a little too confident. You don’t attack a client with personal questions.”

  “Why not? We have as much right to know if he’s healthy enough to participate in this project as they have to ask about Dad’s projected return date.”

  Dave blew out a breath and returned his attention to the road as they pulled into traffic.

  Why couldn’t Dave see her point? Jake Bonneville, or Ned Collier, which apparently was his given name, had been swallowed up by Hollywood and all its phoniness. Right down to pretending he couldn’t speak. “His hands-on interest is scary. Has he been like that all along?”

  “From what your dad’s told me, the guy tends to swoop into town from time to time, add new demands, change his mind a couple times, and then head off for a concert or recording session just when we need him to make a decision.”

  Would have been nice to know this before their meeting. “Only now there won’t be any concerts or recording sessions to get him out of our hair. He plans to be here. All the time.”

  Dave stared straight ahead. “So we tolerate him. This project is too important.”

  “I realize this is the biggest housing project we’ve ever handled. But if Ned Collier continues to be such a pain in the…we can survive without him.”

  Focused on driving, Dave pursed his lips, as if clamping down on words he didn’t want to escape.

  “What? What aren’t you telling me?”

  “Nothin’. We just can’t afford to lose this guy.”

  “C’mon, Dave. You know something I don’t. If I’m going to be in charge for a bit, I need to know everything about the company.”

  Dave checked the rearview mirror, adjusted it slightly, and ran a hand down one side of the steering wheel. Though he valiantly attempted to divert her questions, she’d worn him down. “The last few years, the company’s been struggling to stay in the black. While our competitors have cut back or even gone out of business, your dad has kept the lights on, but he was forced to dip into his reserves. That’s why the office complex hasn’t been remodeled, why your dad still drives a dated pick-up, and why we continue to use that rattletrap trailer for our mobile office.”

  If Dave had leveled a sledgehammer blow at her chest, he couldn’t have sent more pain through her. The company was in financial trouble? Why hadn’t her dad told her? Why hadn’t she suspected? Probably because, until his heart problems forced him to put her in charge, she’d been so busy fighting him for more responsibility, it hadn’t occurred to her that he withheld information to spare her the worry. “I, I didn’t know.”

  “Didn’t think so. Only told you now because you seem so all-fired set on fighting Collier at every turn.”

  “How bad is it?”

  “Don’t know for sure. Your dad only tells me so much. From what I can tell, we’re still in the game, but we really need this Sullivan’s Creek project to stay alive.”

  She tried to read his expression to gauge how much he’d tempered his words, but he stared straight ahead at the road. “Are you worried?”

  He shifted his attention back to her. “Lots of things worry me these days.”

  “Like me being in charge of the company?” Did that sound too much like self-pity? Even if her insides were still jelly, especially after these new demands from Collier, she had to present the appearance of confidence to the staff, starting with Dave.

  “Okay, yeah, if you want to put it out there like that. I wasn’t sure how things would go when we first got there today, but you were great. You fielded their questions about your experience like an expert politician. Then you went and stuck your foot in it.”

  She slumped back. “I suppose you’ll tell Dad?”

  “That’s your job.”

  “I don’t want to worry him any more than necessary.” Would Dave really leave it to her? This was his first test of loyalty. She didn’t want her dad to know she’d possibly blown it before she could defuse the situation. “Okay, fine. I’ll call him. But I won’t tell him that last part. I’ll tell him we did our best to represent his interests.”

  “Play it down the middle. Don’t come on too gloomy or too hopeful.” Then, as an afterthought, he added, “Tell him about the art gallery. That’ll tickle him. Especially that name. Serenity. Real ironic these days.”

  Who’d have thought Dave was such a strategist? He could say so much and yet so little when called upon to skirt the issue. She’d remember for future reference.

  Chapter Two

  While his mother ushered the Harriman woman, her superintendent, and Lacey Rogers to the front door, Ned remained behind in the improvised conference room with Mike to debrief.

  Mike slammed into the same chair he’d occupied minutes before. “What the hell was that about? You deliberately let her know you could talk.”

  Ned settled a hip against the table, grinned. “Sure threw her off guard, didn’t I?”

  “Should have thrown her out after that insolent reference to your health. It’s obvious she’s in over her head. She could barely answer our questions.”

  Ned recalled how the woman had entered the room prepared to wow them and then froze in her tracks when she spotted him. There was something fresh and innocent about her. Probably why he’d found it so difficult to focus during the meeting. The hard-driven businesswoman persona coupled with her otherwise ingenuous personality was a captivating combination.

  “How soon should I call and tell them we’ve cancelled the contract?” Mike asked.

  “Huh?”

  “The thanks-but-no-thanks kiss-off.”

  Ned winced. Mike had gotten a little too carried away with his role of facilitator. Time to set him straight. “No need. I’ll call her.” He paused, debated whether to go on. Hell, why not? “I’m staying with Two Rivers.” One part of him couldn’t wait to witness Mike detonate, and the other part got ready to duck.

  Mike spluttered, rose. “You’ve got to be kidding. It’s because she’s a looker, isn’t it? Although I thought you’d sworn off women after Gillian and Julie.”

  His two former fiancées had screwed him royally, each in her own self-absorbed, scheming way. He wasn’t about to set himself up for a third disappointment. Didn’t mean he had to be a monk, though. All the same, his interest in Shae Harriman was totally different. “True, she’s not hard on the eyes, but I have other reasons to stick with Two Rivers.”

  “She has no experience running that company. You can’t let her use your project for on-the-job training. You’re smarter than that.”

  Since he’d told Mike this much, he might as well fill in the blanks. “Gonna take advantage of that inexperience so I can play a more active role in the project.”

  Mike’
s sandy brow rose even higher. “More active role? Explain.”

  “I was serious about getting more involved. It’s my money and my vision, so why not plant myself in the thick of things as their project manager?”

  Mike scraped his hands through his perfectly styled disheveled hair. “You’re kidding! I thought you were pulling her chain when you had me insist the project manager report to you. Have you ever even hammered a nail?”

  “Uh, no.”

  “You don’t know what decisions to make, how to make them, or when to make them.”

  “Thanks for the vote of confidence.”

  “That’s not all.” Mike held up a hand and ticked off more reasons why Ned should reconsider. “You have absolutely no knowledge of the building trades, you hardly know this town any more, you’re setting yourself up with an amateur, and you’ve kept me out of all the financing that’s gone into this bright idea of yours.”

  Ned released a huge sigh. He didn’t want Mike to know, or even suspect, his diminishing financial resources, or the guy would insist on helping out. His millionaire friend could easily afford to get him back in the black, but Ned had sworn off visiting that well again. “I’ve told you, I don’t want to lean on you. The last time, you nearly got thrown out of your family’s business.”

  “My folks came around. Eventually. After your singing career took off.”

  “Which took a couple years, and in the meantime, your job was at risk, and you barely spoke to your parents or siblings because of me. You’re just rebuilding your relationship with them. I’m not letting you jeopardize that again.”

  Mike returned to his chair and studied the ceiling for a few beats. Then he leaned forward and turned back to Ned. “What’s going on with you? You’ve been so secretive about this project, I had to overhear you talking with Lacey and her partner before I had any inkling what you were up to.”

  “You mean when you eavesdropped?”

  Mike had the grace to look away. “Wasn’t that way. For weeks, you’d hang up suddenly whenever I came in the room. I simply chose to remove my shoes that day. Needed to air the tootsies.”

  Ned gathered his things. “Appreciate your helping out today. But your other clients on the Coast also need your attention. I’ll be back in L.A. in a week or two. We can get together then and swap tales.”

  Mike grabbed Ned’s arm as he swung by. “Not so fast. What’s this about my heading west? You dismissing me?”

  “No, not at all. Just don’t want to take up any more of your time.” Geez, what had he set in motion by asking Mike to be his mouthpiece?

  Mike released his hold. “Actually, your housing development intrigues me. As long as you insist on doing this, I might as well stick around and see how it all unfolds.”

  Ned gulped. “Don’t worry about me. I, uh, need to handle the rest myself.”

  Mike brushed away Ned’s concerns with a swipe of his hands. “How about I at least sit in on a few more meetings? If you stay with Two Rivers, you’ll need an ally whenever you deal with that woman.”

  Ned tugged at his collar. How to discourage Mike? “This will be a lot of boring contract details and preliminary layout.”

  “Right up my alley. Besides, someone has to make sure you don’t overdo.”

  A cloud of suspicion caught Ned up short. “Did Mom ask you to do this?”

  Mike shifted his gaze to the other side of the room. “No. I feel partly responsible for your throat problems, since I let you steamroll me into letting you perform at that benefit where you passed out. If I’d stood my ground like my gut told me, you might be singing today.”

  “Not the case. These nodules have been coming on for a long time. Even with medication and throat rest, the doc says it’ll take a while for them to shrink. At least I avoided surgery.”

  “Just the same, I want to hang around and protect my interests.”

  “Be my nursemaid? I don’t think so. I don’t need round-the-clock care.”

  “Gimme a break here. Let me salve my conscience. You know me. I bore easily and will be off to parts west before you know it.”

  Ned had run out of excuses. The best he could hope for was to restrict Mike—Mr. Type A Personality—from taking over and just hope, as Mike had predicted, he’d soon grow bored. “If you insist on doing this, remember, we’re not partners. Give me space to do things my way.Keep your opinions to yourself until it’s just you and me. Even then, go easy.”

  Ned collected his things and headed for the door.

  “Wait!” Mike slipped around him and blocked his way. “Got an idea. Come stay with me at the old Woodley homestead. The folks are still in Florida, and the rest of the family has cleared out for greener pastures.”

  Talk about being caught between a rock and a hard place, besides having his exit blocked. He could stay at his mother’s and continue to fight off her smothering attention, or move in with Mike and give him a front row seat at his potential journey down the toilet, if his money situation didn’t improve. “Thanks, but I can’t do that to Mom. She’s been so happy to have me at her place.”

  “Tell her you need privacy to entertain the ladies. She’ll love that.”

  “She knows I’d only entertain a woman at your place if I was serious about her, and I’ve constantly reminded Mom serious relationships for me are off the table.”

  “Then tell her I’m loaning you free office space. You’ll need a place for files and plans and whatever. Plus, you can hold meetings in the library. I should’ve thought of that before today, so we wouldn’t have had to inconvenience your mom.”

  “She loved it. Notice how she stuck around in the background?”

  “Since this whole project started out with her house, I don’t blame her.” Mike raised a brow. “Do we have a deal, then?”

  “Deal.”

  They shook on it. “Great. Let’s go tell your mom she’ll be our guest at dinner.”

  “Dinner? It’s barely eleven-thirty.”

  “Later, you dork. She’ll need time to get used to the idea of you moving out tonight.”

  Seven hours between now and dinner? A couple weeks wouldn’t be enough time.

  ****

  Shae slumped in her office chair. It was the morning after the art gallery meeting. Even the fancy coffee she’d bought on the way in wouldn’t help pump her up today. She’d twisted and turned all night, second-guessed her actions the day before. Even though she reassured her dad the meeting had gone well, niggling doubts crowded her brain.

  Forty-eight hours before, when she accepted this challenge, Shae thought she could actually make it work and finally show her father she was capable of taking over for him. At least work alongside him. Twenty-four hours ago, she’d been stoked about meeting with their client. And today? Though she still believed she could run the company, she wondered if she’d succeeded at her first task, to keep Ned Collier’s business. Though she’d never admit it to Dave, questioning Collier’s health probably hadn’t been the smartest move.

  If she had to wait much longer for a call from their client, she’d deteriorate to a puddle of stomach acid. How did her dad do this—court potential clients and then wait to hear from them? It didn’t help, as Mike Woodley had pointed out the day before, that she had no management or supervisory experience. So now she was forced to punt, act on her own best instincts.

  Around nine, Dave stuck his head in the door. “Want to go with me to see the crews? Before lunch—a good time to catch them.”

  “Might as well.” Could she sound any more enthusiastic? She rose. “Sitting here waiting for the phone to ring won’t make it happen.”

  “Wait. You can’t go while you’re in that mood.”

  “What do you want, Dave—smiles and giggles? I’m a nervous wreck.”

  “So am I. But life goes on. We’ve got other work to do. You need to get out there and talk to your crews. Though I’ve got everything under control, these guys are used to your dad stopping by every so often. You need to
show them little has changed, even with him sidelined.”

  She remained planted behind her desk. “How do you do it?”

  “Me?” He chuckled while he studied the floor. “Keep myself busy otherwise.” He brightened, checked his watch. “We’ve got a few minutes to spare. I’ve got an idea.”

  Ten minutes later, in a park near their first inspection site in Clive, she threw a baseball back and forth with Dave.

  “You’ve got a pretty mean pitch there, Shae. I don’t remember you playing when you were in school.”

  “Didn’t.” She tried not to pant. Boy, was she out of shape. “Tagged after my brother so much, he finally relented and gave me lessons.” Sean was in her thoughts a lot these days. If he’d lived, he’d be the one taking over for Dad. Or maybe her dad’s health wouldn’t have deteriorated at all, if he’d had Sean’s help these past years.

  When they took a break, Dave hauled out two bottles of water from his pickup. “Feeling better?”

  She sagged against the fender, took a swig. “Feeling worn out.” She laughed. “But yeah, you managed to take my mind off the job for a little while.”

  “Good! I keep that equipment in my truck bed for just such times.”

  “Ever play with Dad?”

  “Uh, no. Sometimes I play because of him.”

  She winked. “I’ll keep that in mind in case I drive by someday and find you out here again.”

  “Break’s over.” He retrieved a trash sack for their empty bottles.

  As she climbed onto the seat, her cell rang. She shot Dave a hopeful look. “Cross your fingers.”

  “Ms. Harriman—Shae? This is Ned Collier.”

  Shae gulped air. This was it, one way or the other. And it was Collier, not his pal, Mike Woodley, on the other end. Good sign? Take a breath, Shae. “Uh, hello.”

  “Sorry our meeting ended the way it did yesterday. I startled you when I spoke.”

  He’d offered an apology? What did that mean? She didn’t know how to respond.