“So why the sudden change of heart about your sister?” Jackson asked.
I sighed. “Are we going to talk the entire drive?”
“Yes,” he said. “Come on, it’ll keep your mind off of things.”
I appreciated that he said “things” instead of the more accurate “being an anxiety-ridden basket case.”
Why had I changed my mind? It was simple really. Neither of the two women currently crowding my life was going to go away. Annabelle would be living in the guest house for five more months, and all the rules in the world were not going to push her out. And Lexi, sure, she was pissed at me now, but I knew my sister. Once she got over giving me the cold shoulder, she’d double back trying to convince me to help her get local support for her project. The perfect solution was, of course, to have the two women work together.
It was genius, really. Annabelle would have her super huge client, and Lexi would have Annabelle, a hell of a lot better-looking representative for Daire Industries than I’d ever been. A little coaching and Annabelle would be able to handle the gala and anything else Lexi and the construction world threw at her.
“I don’t need to keep my mind off of things,” I said. “I have everything under control. I merely need to get some things in play, namely get Lexi and Annabelle working together on this huge project, which will get both of them out of my hair, and then I can step back into my blissfully reclusive existence and be left alone.”
“Couple of problems with that theory, brother,” Jackson said. I had repeatedly told him not to call me that. It indicated a closeness that we did not share. He continued to ignore the request, however.
“Name one,” I scoffed. It was a perfectly well-thought-out solution. I dared him to find a problem with it.
“Annabelle lives on the estate,” he said. “How can you possibly avoid her? Never mind, why would you want to?”
“She’s about to get very, very busy,” I said. “Next.”
He looked at me from under his bushy eyebrows and scratched his chin. “What about your sister? The woman sent you a singing hippo. Do you really think she’s just going to crawl off because you’ve got a stand-in helping with the gala?”
“Lexi hasn’t been my sister in the real sense in almost twenty years,” I said. “Don’t you find it the least bit telling that she didn’t look me up until she needed my money?”
“It’s not your money that she needs,” he said.
“Yeah, you’re right,” I said. “She needs my contacts, which are worth more than gold.”
“You really think she only came to you for your connections? She’s in town for this job; of course she took the opportunity to look you up,” Jackson said. His tone made it crystal clear that he thought I was an idiot.
“Yeah, it’s all very convenient.” I refused to accept any other explanation for her sudden appearance. It was easier this way.
Jackson sighed but I continued speaking to stave off another lecture about my brotherly duty to my sister.
“Listen, this is a win-win. Everyone gets what they want, it will help both women, and give me some peace and quiet,” I said. “I just need to get everyone on board.”
Lexi was the unknown quantity in the equation, but I was positive I could get her to see things my way. I was going to bankroll my sister’s gala on the condition that she hire Annabelle to design her corporate identity for the development and anything that included, such as advertisements, brochures, a website, you name it. The idea had come to me while talking to Annabelle in the yard. Now I just needed to get it in motion.
“Oh, speaking of the ladies, we’re picking up Annabelle at her office,” I said.
Jackson’s head whipped in my direction.
“Relax, she knows,” I said. He didn’t look reassured but it did shut him up, which I took as a victory.
Annabelle was waiting by the curb when we pulled up. She was wearing a tailored blue suit and matching heels. Her long curly hair had been restrained into a smooth knot at the nape of her neck. She looked all buttoned up and not in a sexy librarian way but more like trying to be someone she wasn’t. I didn’t like it. Not that it was for me to judge. It just didn’t suit her personality.
The Annabelle I had come to know was bright colors, flowing fabrics, and unrestrained curls. She was hot tubs on starry nights, singing at the top of her lungs just because she felt like it, and giving sanctuary to strays that had no place to go. That Annabelle made me think about things I shouldn’t, like burying my fingers in her hair and holding her still while kissing her senseless. Of having her body pressed up against mine while I—
“You okay over there?”
Jackson interrupted my erotic thought stream and I blinked. Yeah, it was clear. I needed to keep my tenant as far away from me as possible if I didn’t want things to get complicated, which I didn’t.
“Yeah, I’m fine.” I was not fine.
Jackson parked and hopped out of the car. He greeted Annabelle and then opened the passenger door behind the driver’s door for her. A part of me was irritated that I hadn’t beaten him to it, but I knew I was on borrowed time with my body so I sat, feeling useless and lame. Always a solid kidney punch to the old self-esteem.
“Hi, Nick,” Annabelle said.
I turned in my seat to glance at her over my shoulder and noticed that a single curl had escaped her hairdo like a loose spring. It made me smile. Annabelle was still in there, behind the pressed linen and product-tamed hair. The curl spiraled just over her ear by her temple. The urge to twist it around my finger was almost more than I could stand.
“Good morning,” I said. “How was the new pretzel packaging received?”
“They loved it,” she said. Her grin was contagious.
I held up my hand and she high-fived it with enthusiasm. I smiled and asked, “You brought what we discussed?”
She patted the laptop bag beside her. “Of course.”
“Excellent,” I said. I don’t think I imagined the faint blush that filled her cheeks.
“Everyone ready?” Jackson asked, climbing back into the driver’s seat. Annabelle and I both nodded. “Then we’re off.”
Jackson steered us out into traffic, and we headed west until we reached Central Avenue and then he turned left and we were headed south. The city no longer resembled the rough-and-tumble place where I had grown up. Downtown, which used to be a wasteland inhabited by the down-and-out, was now a thriving art and food scene. The nearby university had revitalized the several city blocks by building a large portion of its campus in the center of the city. I knew all of this because I had built many of the new apartment complexes that now filled the district.