Her lids widened slightly, as if she was having second thoughts. Her words proved otherwise. “I think you’re a soulless, cold-hearted bastard whose only concern is the bottom line,” she said. “The very sort of man I can’t stand.”
He dropped his voice to dangerous levels. “In that case you shouldn’t have dared me to come back.”
Her chin hiked a touch higher. “It was a last-minute decision.”
“Having trouble controlling your impulses?”
Her chest hitched faster, as if she were fighting to control her anger. “I have no regrets.”
“Not yet, anyway.”
“I suspect your reasons for appearing tonight were less about convenience and more about the free advertising for your heartless app.”
His pause was slight, but meaningful. “But I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for you.”
He was certain she was smart enough to decode his message.
A message that must have infuriated her more, as her eyes narrowed. “If you benefit financially because of tonight, you should send me flowers to show your gratitude.”
The thought brought his first genuine smile. “Perhaps I will.”
The muscles around her beautiful mouth tensed, as if she were biting her cheek to keep from spilling a retort. “Orchids, not roses,” she said. “I like a bouquet that’s original.”
She crossed her arms, framing her breasts and tripping up his thoughts. Hunter wasn’t sure if it was intentional or not.
“I’m easily bored,” she said.
As he stared at his lovely adversary, her face radiating a mix of amusing sass, honest exasperation and barely caged antagonism, he realized why he’d agreed to come back. It wasn’t just his inexplicable restlessness of late. Despite the threat she posed, he was enjoying their duel. In truth, he was in danger of liking her—and, with all his money, it was one of the few things in life he couldn’t afford to do.
He passed around her, heading for the exit. “I’ll keep your floral preferences in mind.”
Late Monday afternoon Hunter weaved his way through the crowded, opulent lobby of SunCare Bank. His cell phone rang and, recognizing the number, he answered without a hello. “I just finished delivering the SunCare proposal. I thought you were going to try and make it?”
“You have smooth negotiating skills,” his partner said. “I’m lousy with clients.”
“Perhaps because you expect everyone to speak fluent binary code.”
“It’s the language of the future, my friend,” Pete Booker said. “And I might have crummy people skills, but I’m brilliant at debugging our cross-platform encryption software. Which I finished in record time, so round of applause for me.”
Hunter suppressed the grin. His friend, a former whiz kid and quintessential technogeek—the stereotype Carly Wolfe had clearly been expecting—hated meetings of any kind. And while Hunter had a healthy ego, was comfortable with his skills as an expert at cyber security, “mathematical genius” didn’t even touch Booker’s capabilities. Unfortunately what Mother Nature had bestowed on Booker in brains she’d shortchanged him in the social graces, leaving Hunter the front man for their business. Still, theirs was a formidable team, and there was no one Hunter trusted more.
“But I didn’t call for applause,” Booker said. “I called to tell you we’ve got trouble.”
Familiar with his friend’s love for conspiracy plots, Hunter maintained his role as the straight man. “More trouble than those secret silent black helicopters?”
“Chuckle on, Hunt. Cuz when Big Brother comes to haul you away, you won’t be.”
“I promise I’ll stop laughing then,” Hunter said dryly.
“Do you want to hear my news or not?”
“Only if it’s about another sighting of Elvis.”
“Not even close,” Booker said. “It’s about Carly Wolfe.”
At the mention of the delightfully charming menace, Hunter frowned as he pushed through the revolving bank door and was dumped out onto the bustling, skyscraper-lined sidewalk. “Go on.”
“As per your suggestion I did a little research and found out her dad is William Wolfe, founder and owner of Wolfe Broadcasting. You know—the one that owns numerous media outlets throughout the country.” Booker paused as if to emphasize what came next. “Including WTDU TV station.”
Hunter stopped short, instantly alert, and people on the sidewalk continued to stream around him. He hadn’t completely recovered from his mental tango with the lovely Carly Wolfe. But the little troublemaker suddenly had the potential of being a much bigger troublemaker than he’d originally thought. “The station that airs Brian O’Connor’s show,” he said slowly.
“One and the same,” his partner said.
Hunter forced the breath from his body in a slow, smooth motion, fighting the odd feeling of disappointment. So far he’d thought Carly Wolfe had been blatantly frank about all that she’d pulled. Her moves had been amusing because she was so upfront in her attempts to get what she wanted from him. Unlike his ex, whose manipulations had all been done behind his back. And while there were clearly no rules to the game he and Carly were engaged in, there was a sort of unwritten gentleman’s agreement—if she’d been a man, that was, which she most clearly wasn’t.
In Hunter’s mind Carly had crossed the line into unfair play. Because she hadn’t had to charm her way onto the show—a thought Hunter had found intensely amusing. No, she’d just picked up the phone and called her father. Making her more of a user than a wily charmer. The disappointment dug deeper.
“The second show is the least of our problems,” Booker said seriously. “With that kind of connection she could maintain this public fight forever. Enough to eventually hurt the business.”
Hunter’s cheek twitched with tension. Firewell, Inc. wasn’t just about money and success. It was about redefining himself after his old life had been stolen from him. The pause was long as Hunter grappled with the news.
“I hope you have a plan,” Booker went on. “Cuz I’ll be damned if I know what to do next.”
As usual, the weight of responsibility sat hard on Hunter’s shoulders, and his fingers gripped the phone. But eight years ago Booker had stuck by Hunter when no one else had, believing in him when most had doubted his honor. On that truth alone Hunter’s business, his success—even the contentment he’d eventually found in his new life—none of it would have been possible without the loyalty of his friend.
Hunter forced his fingers to loosen their grip on his phone. “I’ll take care of it.”
He didn’t know how, but it was going to start with a discussion with Ms. Carly Wolfe.
After an unsuccessful attempt to find Carly Wolfe
