Chapter 5
“She’s impossible.” I slam my hand down on my desk. “She’s utterly ridiculous. I’m not sure I can work with her.” I toss files around my desk as I explain the situation to Lachlan. “She’s completely juvenile.”
“Have you talked about the project?”
I’m struck dumb. “No.” I rest my fists on my sides.
“Maybe, I don’t know, I’m thinking you should,” he says.
I let my head fall back, knowing he’s right but not wanting to face her until I have to. “I’ll schedule an appointment with her office.”
“But make it a neutral setting. Not here or her place, or even the center. Have lunch or something,” Lachlan offers.
“Yes. Somewhere else. So she can’t run or yell.”
“She’s a redhead, lad. Not sure she won’t do that anyway.” He grins. He’s right.
“I’ll be damned if she continues to throw tantrums.”
“And what are your plans for those?” He chuckles.
“No clue.” I shake my head and fall into my chair.
Lachlan leans forward, bracing his elbows on his knees. “Walker, have you considered you may not be able to bring this in?”
“No. Not happening.”
He reluctantly concedes for the moment. “So lunch with the fiery, hottie lawyer.”
I frown at his description of Reese. “You think she’s hot?”
“Hell, yes.” My stomach knots. “Don’t you?”
“Of course, she’s a beautiful woman. Childish but beautiful,” I gripe.
He stares at me for a minute before standing. “Make it somewhere nice. And dinner, not lunch.”
“Why dinner?”
“Family time, more formal. Less likely she’ll blow up.” He’s right.
“Got it.” I stand, offering my hand. He takes it with a grin.
“Don’t let her get your balls in a grip. Take control,” Lachlan replies as he walks out. And again, my stomach responds with a twist.
“Control? Huh. No such thing with Reese Morgan,” I mutter, displeased with my situation.
I press the intercom. Donna’s voice comes over the line a second later. “Yes, Walker?”
“Donna, could you step in here for a minute?”
“Of course.”
Donna enters the room with her iPad and sits across from me. “What can I help you with?”
“I need to schedule a business dinner with Reese Morgan.”
“Do you have a place in mind?” she asks.
I’m stunned for a moment as my mind races. Wait. “No, I don’t care.”
“I’ll get right on it.” Donna makes it to the door before I stop her.
“Actually, Donna. Let’s make it a lunch date,” I stutter. “Not date. I mean, lunch. For business reasons.”
“All right.” Her eyes crinkle at the corners when she smiles at me. Turning, she makes it out of sight before I call her back.
“Donna!” I stand, searching for her.
“Yes.” She pops her head through the door.
“Dinner. Definitely, dinner.” I run my hand through my hair. “Lachlan wanted it to be a dinner. Formal.”
“I know just the spot. Don’t worry.”
“I’m not.” I shove my sweaty hands into my pockets. What the fuck is this?
Thankfully, the day moves steadily. The issue with Lachlan’s project weighs on me. Reese needs to help me move past this and come to an agreement. She’s temperamental, and I’m not sure we can find a happy medium.
Above all, I need to remain in control. She pushes my barriers. That’s never a good thing with me. The faster I can bring this project full circle, the better. And the quicker I can get away from her, the better off I’ll be.
Buzz. Buzz. I jump at the vibration in my pocket. Damn phone. “Pennington.”
“Pennington. Pennington,” Riley snickers.
“Why are you whisper-laughing?” I ask sternly.
“What the fuck is whisper-laughing?” He laughs even louder.
“I don’t know. You’re the one doing it.”
He begins to bellow. “Fucking idiot.”
I have to laugh. He’s right. “True. What’s up?”
“Dinner. You promised you’d come,” Riley says.
“When?”
“Tomorrow.” There’s a whisper in the background. “Andi wants to say ‘hi’.” There comes shuffling, and then my niece’s voice floods the line.
“Uncle Walker?” she whispers. ”Do you have any new games you can bring?”
I smile at my niece’s request because she knows by now, I do. Or at least, I will have. “I’m not sure. I’ll have to look.” I hesitate as I fire up my laptop to search for new board games on the Internet.
She sighs heavily this time. “Well, it’s okay if you don’t.”
“Come to think of it…” I have a list a mile long scrolling in front of me. I pick the first one I focus on.
“Yeah?” she chirps.
“I’m not sure you’ll like it.” I love toying with her.
“I bet I will,” she says matter-of-factly.
“You think?”
“Uncle Walker, how long have you known me? You know I love games.”
I can’t help but smile. “You’re right.” I pause, just to make her wait. “I’m thinking Pie Face.” I squeeze my eyes shut as I realize this game throws whipped cream in your face at random.
She squeals. “Yes. I love that game,” she exclaims as I put her on speaker phone, as I scroll the net. “I love you, Uncle Walker. You’re the best uncle, ever.”
“Andi, I’m your only uncle,” I answer flatly.
“True. But no one could ever be better than you.” My cold dead heart melts a fraction. “You’re one of my best friends.”
Yeah, I’m a goner. “I love you, Andi pandi.”
“Poppa wants to talk to you again. And if he tells you six, be here at five.”
I can’t help but laugh. And agree. “You got it.”
“Go wash up,” my little brother tells his stepdaughter. “You better see if someone has that game.”
“I just clicked ‘buy’ for in-store pickup.”
“Not such a dumbass after all, are you?” Smartass. “Ava says six.”
“I have my orders, sir. I’ll be there at five.”
“See ya.”
“Yep.” Riley ends the call, and I feel a ton better. Funny, he usually drives me crazy. Of course, Andi makes everything better. She came at just the right time for our family. And me.
On my way to Riley’s, I stop by to pick up Andi’s game and several cans of whipped cream. I hate shopping. And people. But I’d do just about anything for Andi. So here I am on a Saturday evening with a game tucked under my arm that will slap me in the face with whipped cream all night.
Not how I want that to happen.
Maybe I’ll grab a drink later tonight, see if I can stir up some fun. Happy to be visiting my brother, I sit, waiting for the light to change when a Jeep turns in front of me. Reese sits in the driver’s seat. There’s a guy in the front seat with her, no one else.
I’m not sure why it bothers me. Wait. Could she be on a date? Or does she have a boyfriend? What if she’s married? I don’t care. She thinks I’m an asshole. I think to myself, watching as her SUV turns out of sight. “Good riddance,” I snarl.
I squeal my tires as I pull away from the light, pissed as hell. I’m not sure why I’m mad, but I’m boiling as I imagine her with him. My face flames, burning my cheeks as I huff. “I bet he’s an asshole,” I grunt. “Probably not. She doesn’t like assholes.”
Turning onto the dirt road by my brother’s house, I spot Andi waiting on the porch, waving wildly with the biggest grin.
My heart beats wildly as the long-absent smile stretches across my face.
I love this little girl. She’ll celebrate her tenth birthday in a few months and will soon outgrow all of this; I hate the thought.
“Uncle Walker!”
I blow my horn as I grab the game. “Andi girl.”
She leaps from the step, running toward me as I step from my Tahoe. She rounds the truck with her arms wide open, wrapping them around me for the biggest hug. She gives the best ones. Andi’s long, wavy brunette hair lays down her back. Her hazel eyes shine as bright as her smile.
“You brought it!” she yells.
“I told you I would.” I chuckle at her enthusiasm.
She takes me by the hand, tugging me toward the house. “I can’t wait to play it. I want to have some fun,” she murmurs.
“Why are you not having fun?”
“Momma and Poppa are grumpy. Like, getting on my nerves.” She rolls her eyes as she looks up at me.
Her face scrunches up as if she’s in pain. I frown. “Why’s that?” I get a pang in my stomach.
She shrugs. “I don’t know. Something about it being too soon.”
I hesitate, bringing Andi to a halt. Her head whips around, staring at me as I run scenarios through my head. Surely, Ava isn’t getting cold feet. I’ll kill her if she hurts my baby brother. Okay, I won’t kill her but by God, she’ll get an earful.
I glance at my beautiful niece, who’s the spitting image of her father, attitude completely her mother. We can’t lose her. “I’m sure it’s just pre-wedding nerves, baby.”
She twists her hair in a knot. “Yeah, Poppa said she was nervous.”
I smile at Riley’s confidence in Ava, but now I’m worried. “Sounds like a bride to me.” I wink as the knot in my stomach tightens. I open the door, and Andi releases my hand and skips through. “Hey, folks,” I announce as we enter the house.
“We’re in the kitchen.” Ava’s voice echoes through.
Andi skips toward her mom. I check my phone before switching it off. “Hot date?” my little brother asks as I round the corner.
“Naw, just turning it off,” I answer, shoving it back in my pocket.
“How about you join us tonight? I was thinking of following Ava around the dance floor.” He winks at his bride-to-be.
“Yeah, maybe one dance,” she offers a tight smile, her lips pressed into a thin line. Something’s definitely going on.
“Sounds good.” I lean in to kiss my soon-to-be sister. “How you doin’? Has he drove you crazy yet?”
She eyes my baby brother out of the corner of her eye, and that pang returns. “He’s hangin’ by a thread.”
He smirks, narrowing his eyes at her. “I tied a knot at the end of the thread.”
“The hell you did.” She cocks her brow, and I’m beginning to think we’re not talking about the same thing.
I look from Riley to Ava and back, pulling my brows low. “What am I missing?”
“Nothing,” they answer in unison. The hair on my arm stands on end from the tension in the room.
“Okay,” I say softly. “What’s for dinner?”
“I’m manning the grill for some killer burgers. Care to join me?” Riley asks as he stands, circling the island on the other side of Ava.
“Toss me a beer and hand me the plate,” I say, gesturing to the plate Ava’s hovering over.
“Are we gonna play this game or what?” Andi asks with her hands on her hips.
“As soon as we eat.” Ava turns, placing her hands exactly as Andi’s to answer her.