Page 24 of Cocky Prince
With four brothers, I’ve learned to control my temper. But whatever Paul’s not saying about Bliss and, most especially, the condescending manner in which he’s speaking to me, have my blood rising.
I stand and face the window and the view of the lake. My view is different than Hayden’s, facing northwest toward my home and Club Tahoe instead of Heavenly and South Shore. A different shade of beautiful.
This job is my chance at freedom from the family funds. I could find another job, but one where the financial gain means no change in lifestyle? Not likely, with or without the Ivy League degree. Which means I need to put up with Paul’s condescending mouth. Can’t be worse than what I put up with working for my father.
I turn my back to the window and lean my hip against the ledge, crossing my arms. “As I said when you first proposed this venture, give me a list of employees and the attributes you want in them—since I’m sure you have something in mind if you’re hiring strippers—and I’ll take care of it.”
Paul stands and tilts his head toward Bridget’s office. “More like her. I’ll make a list of exactly what we’re looking for and have it to you first thing tomorrow.” He strides to the door and pulls it open. “Tonight, I’m going to see what plans your assistant has.”
“Paul,” I say before he’s gone. “Keep your hands off Bridget. You remember the last executive who thought he could touch?”
Paul’s face turns stony. “You weren’t here then, so I suggest you mind your own damn business.”
He exits, leaving the door open, and heads in Bridget’s direction.
I have no doubt she can handle herself against guys like Paul. Probably had to deal with them every day at her old job. But she works for me now, and I’ll keep an eye on her just the same.
I sink into my chair and stare at the schematics. “What are you, Bliss? A luxury suite built for pleasure, and what else?”
Chapter Ten
Ipullup to my eldest brother’s place. Levi lives in a log cabin off State Route 207. This eastern part of the Tahoe Basin looks different than the west side, the land here filled with brush and evergreen bushes. When glaciers scoured out the western side thousands of years ago, it skimmed off the topsoil, but these soils were left intact. The mountains where my brother lives are almost lush compared to the craggy granite and pine of Emerald Bay.
Grace, Levi’s dog, darts out the screen door and launches herself at my legs, her strong little body butting up against me. “Hey there, Gracie. You been a good girl?” I scratch behind her ears with one hand and close the door with my other, leaning into her body so she doesn’t get caught between the door and the side of the car in her wiggle frenzy.
Grace licks my pant leg and marks up my polished shoes with her tongue, taking a moment to sniff one. “Just me, girl. Haven’t traded you for another lady.”
The screen door opens again, and Levi hobbles out, his ankle in a cast, a nearly full-grown beard on his face. I’ve never seen a black eye as bad as the one Levi’s been sporting these last couple of weeks. It covers his face, going from the middle of his forehead across the slope of his nose and halfway down his cheekbone, and looks nasty as hell.
“When was the last time you saw a razor?” Beards are popular again, but Levi is a clean-cut guy. He grew whiskers younger than the rest of us, and has been fighting the battle ever since.
He scratches his beard. At least the T-shirt he’s wearing appears clean. “Can’t remember.” Levi gives Grace a pat, since she’s tossed me over and turned her attentions to him. “What brings your sorry ass around?”
He moves to the side of the porch and props his walking cast on a bench, dropping onto the porch swing.
I climb the steps and glance pointedly at the Italian suit I’m wearing, then back at his cast. “My sorry ass? My sorry ass is in fine form, or so the ladies tell me.” I grin cockily.
“Is that what you tell them to get laid?” he says absently, rubbing the top of his leg above the cast that stretches up to the bottom of his knee.
“No need, brother. They flock.” Of course, I won’t mention to Levi how long I’ve been without a woman. He’d give me shit.
Women in town are either looking to settle down, or searching for someone with deep pockets, and both types are transparent as hell. There is one exception…Hayden is feisty, but she keeps me on my toes. I’m not sure what I would do if she changed her mind and took me up on my flirtation. I’d like to think I’d be smart enough to stay away from the disaster that would be any relationship we attempted, but I’m not sure my large brain is in command anymore where she’s concerned.
I fold my suit jacket on the bench opposite Levi and sit, tugging my pant leg to cross my ankle neatly over my knee. I shake my head. “Levi, we gotta get you out. You look like a lumberjack, and not a healthy one at that.” That’s not entirely true. Levi is a fireman. He’s always been physically fit, but the patches of his skin that aren’t black and blue are pale now with a grayish tinge.
Levi pats his thigh and Grace hurries over, licking the crap out of his hand. That dog is easy. “I’m doing fine right here. I figure by staying in the house for a while I’m saving the mothers out there a conversation about the bogeyman.”
“Who cares what you look like? The cement that fell on your stubborn skull could have killed you. You’re lucky you made it out with all of your limbs and your brain intact. When did the doctor say you could return to work?” If anything will snap Levi out of his funk, getting back to the fire station will. He loves his job more than his own brothers.
Levi scratches Grace’s side and stares at her fur coat, his voice barely audible as he murmurs. “No more jobs.”
I take a moment to decipher his meaning. “Your ankle’s busted up, but once it heals, you’ll work again.”
“I saidjobs—fires. There’s no going back. They wanted to reclassify me to a desk. So I quit.”
I drop my foot and lean forward. “Why would they do that? You’re set to make captain in a couple of years.” I glance at his cast. “You said it was a clean break.”
He absently touches the left side of his forehead, right above the angry red scar he sustained after a partial roof collapse during his last fire. “The ankle was a clean break. The knock to the head…I lost some vision. Nothing I can’t live without, but enough that the fire department wants me on desk duty.”
