The edge of a wry smile appeared on Dalton’s lips. “If I haven’t put one out on her first.”
Caden rolled his eyes. “Seriously?”
Dalton nodded. “Seriously.”
“I meant that as a joke.”
Dalton shrugged broad shoulders. “Can’t say the same.”
“Then you have issues. And, from the sound of it, they are rejection issues.”
The smile dropped from Dalton’s face. “I can handle rejection, Caden. What I can’t and won’t tolerate is a woman who tries to play me.”
“Play you?”
“Yes. Play games with me.”
“Is that what she did?”
“Hell, yes. That night she brushed me off, but then told me to find her. So I did. I hired a private investigator to find her, and when I did, she acted all shitty, like my finding her was no big deal, and she didn’t want to be bothered when she knew the score. I found her for a reason.”
“And that reason?”
Now it was Dalton who rolled his eyes. “Damn it, you know the reason, and she did, too. I found her, and she didn’t deliver. Her entire attitude sucked. And then she showed up at that club a second time just to remind me about what I wasn’t getting.”
Caden didn’t say anything for a long moment. He knew his brother. He was still hot behind the collar about an incident that happened a few months ago. Dalton took holding a grudge to a whole other level. Unfortunately, the woman he loathed was Shana’s sister.
He drew in a deep breath, glad that Jace was back from his honeymoon and would be coming into the office tomorrow. There was only so much of Dalton that Caden could handle at times. When he, Jace and Dalton had left Charlottesville years ago for college, all three had sworn never to return permanently, only for visits. Having their father charged with their mother’s death years earlier had left deep scars. After college, Jace had settled in LA and worked for the state of California as an attorney; Caden had pursued his dream of making it big in the music industry. His love for his saxophone had earned him his first Grammy at twenty-seven. He’d spent most of his time touring the country and playing his sax to sold-out crowds. And as for Dalton, after a stint in the NFL, he left the US for Europe and made a name for himself as a playboy and boy toy. Because of good investment decisions, Dalton was the one who’d become the billionaire. The one who believed a person should work smarter, not harder. And the one who liked to whine about practically anything. Like he was doing right now.
The three of them had returned to Charlottesville when their grandfather, Richard Granger, had suffered a fatal heart attack. What they hadn’t counted on was making a deathbed promise to him to take over the family business, Granger Aeronautics. They hadn’t expected a failing company, one deep in the red. But they had made the promise and rolled up their sleeves. Hiring Shana’s crisis management firm had been the smartest decision they could have made. She’d discovered employees divulging trade secrets and helped expose someone they thought was a family friend as a killer.
“Caden, are you listening to me?”
No, he wasn’t really. But he knew he should. This issue Dalton had with Jules wasn’t good and could cause lots of problems in the long run. “Yes, I’m listening,” he lied. “You were talking about Jules. Let’s look at this logically for a moment, Dalton. Have you considered the possibility that when you did find Jules that you came on a little too strong? That maybe you were too focused on what you expected? You probably walked into her office with a hard-on.” The look that suddenly appeared on Dalton’s face let Caden know he’d guessed correctly.
“So what if I did? Like I said, she knew the score,” Dalton countered.
“And you would have taken her right there in her office.”
Dalton shrugged unashamedly. “I had no problem doing that. It would have saved time.”
Caden shook his head. It was hard to believe the audacity of his brother at times. As the youngest Granger, Dalton had grown up spoiled and pampered...especially by their mother. Things came easily for him, at times too easily. As a result, he often had an air of entitlement about him. “And you assumed she would feel the same way you did?”
“Don’t see why not. She did challenge me to find her. Besides, spontaneity is the spice of life, Caden. But I wouldn’t expect you to understand that. You’ve been living in Shilohville for too long.”
A smile couldn’t help but touch Caden’s lips. “And what does Shiloh have to do with this?”
“Admit it. You’ve loved your wife forever, even when you were kids and didn’t know what love was. Granted, the two of you were apart for a few years, thanks to her bastard of a father, but you never hired anyone to find her. You didn’t go to bed every night dreaming about what you would do to her when you did. You never—”
“Okay, Dalton, I get the picture, although I don’t agree with everything you’re saying. No man should expect a woman to put out on their first date. Hell, it wasn’t even a date. You just showed up at her office. I can just imagine how surprised she was to see you there.”
“She should have known I would eventually find her. She should have expected it, and she should have been ready—definitely more accommodating. Instead, she all but gave me her ass to kiss, and for that reason...”
Caden listened as Dalton continued with his tirade; coming out with crap he hoped like hell his brother would regret saying later. One thing was for certain; Jules Bradford had pissed him off big-time, ruffled a few of those manly feathers. He wouldn’t be surprised if she had been the first woman to do so, definitely to this degree.
“I happen to like Jules,” he broke in to say. When Dalton gave him a look that was sharper than glass, he added, “After all, she did find out who tried to kill me. And it didn’t take her much time to do it.”
“Fine. Shana’s Wonder Woman, your wife is the Wine Lady and Jules is Miss Whirlwind. If she hadn’t figured things out, someone else would have.”
“Not me, for sure,” Caden said, remembering the period of time he was trying like hell to forget.
“Then you owe her. I don’t,” Dalton said, easing out of the chair.
“Shana’s dinner party this weekend should be interesting with both you and Jules there.”
Dalton glanced over at Caden. “No, it won’t be, because I don’t plan to attend.”
Caden frowned. “Why?”
“We just discussed it. I tolerated Jules’s presence at the rehearsal and the wedding, but I’ll be damned if I’ll be in the same room with her again when I don’t have to.”
“But this will be Shana’s first dinner party that she’ll be hosting as a Granger.”
“Won’t be her last. Maybe she should have stayed a Bradford.”
Caden just stared at Dalton. He knew that although Dalton wouldn’t admit it, he liked Shana a lot. And
