Page 2 of Dating the Rebel
This was supposed to have been a simple mission. Track down Miranda Fox and warn her to stop messing with his sister’s life. Blair was in a good place—a great place—now; she didn’t need Miranda talking her into playing hooky from work or from her new relationship. It was a mission Grant Snyder had carried out many times in his youth, albeit never successfully. Miranda had always ignored him then.
So had his sister.
Then Grant had left to join the navy and hadn’t been around enough to monitor their many misadventures. He’d had no excuse for not catching and putting a stop to their recent one, though, since he worked with Blair now. He should have noticed what was going on with her, but he hadn’t—until it was too late.
Until she’d been reduced to tears, and his sister, a former naval fighter pilot, never cried, not even when their dad had died. But Miranda had set her up with that billionaire and nearly gotten Blair’s heart broken. Teo had proved to be a good guy, though, but no relationship of Blair’s had ever lasted, usually because of Miranda’s meddling.
Damn Miranda Fox...
That was her fault. And if he didn’t step in and get her under control this time, she would no doubt make Blair cry again. He couldn’t have that; he hadn’t been able to protect his sister like he’d wanted in the past, but he would now.
But who the hell was going to protect him...from Miranda Fox?
She’d been a cute teenager.
But now she was all woman—with full lips highlighted with just a shimmer of gloss. Unlike the heavy Goth makeup she’d worn as a teen, she looked to be wearing barely any at all but for that shimmer. Given how pale her coloring was, her lashes probably weren’t real, but they looked naturally long and black surrounding her silvery-blue eyes. Her dress was nearly the same color, in thin silk that clung to her every curve. And she definitely had more of those than he remembered.
Unfortunately she had the same sassy attitude she’d always had. “You better make this fast, Snyder. Since you don’t have an appointment, I’m fitting you in between other meetings.”
How long had he been standing there in the doorway to her small office? Probably with his mouth hanging open. He touched his bottom lip, checking for drool. Not wanting her to throw him out before he’d had a chance to issue his warning, he stepped into her office and closed the door behind him. “Would you have given me an appointment if I’d asked for one?”
“No,” she admitted freely—almost rebelliously. She’d always been such a rebel, but she didn’t look like one now.
While still petite, she was as elegant as a princess. Maybe that was why she’d moved to Monaco—in the hopes of becoming one. Her many-times-married mother had been obsessed with husbands, the richer and more important the better. Maybe her oldest daughter had inherited that same obsession along with the business.
Her office reflected her elegance and her small size. With the door shut, he didn’t have much room between him and the desk, even though it was small with spindly legs. She stood on the other side of that desk. Was she purposely keeping it between them? He leaned back against the door and crossed his arms over his chest.
“Why not?” he asked. “Why wouldn’t you let me make an appointment with you?”
“Because all you’ve ever done is yell at me and threaten me,” she said.
He suppressed the instinct to flinch at her direct hit. Threatening her, so she wouldn’t interfere in his sister’s happiness, had been what he’d planned on doing today. “I’ve never yelled at you,” he said in his defense. And he wouldn’t have yelled at her today, either.
“You don’t need to yell,” she said. “You have that voice...” She shuddered.
“Like it ever got to you,” he said. “You never listened to me, anyway.” She had never heeded any of his threats to stay away from his sister, which indicated that maybe it was time he changed his tactics with her.
“So why would you bother coming here?” she asked. “When I have no reason to listen to you now...” The way her voice trailed off suggested she wasn’t entirely confident of that, though.
Was she up to something?
She lifted her chin and squared her slender shoulders. “Blair isn’t in any trouble. In fact, she’s happier than I’ve ever seen her.”
“I agree,” Grant said. And he damn well intended to make sure his sister stayed that happy. But the only relationship Blair had ever maintained was her friendship with Miranda, which Grant suspected had cost her all the other relationships she would have had if not for her best friend’s interference.
“So you have no reason for coming here,” Miranda said, and she glanced down at the delicate gold watch on her wrist, as if implying he’d already taken up too much of her time.
“Don’t you think that gives me every reason to come here?” he asked.
Her lips, with that tantalizing shimmer, curved into a slight smile, and she walked around her desk to lean against the front of it, her shapely bare legs crossed at the ankle. “Oh, are you here to apologize for the hard time you’ve always given me? Are you finally going to admit that you were wrong about me?”
With her standing this close to him, he was the one having the hard time—controlling the sudden surge of attraction pulsating inside him and his damn traitorous cock. How could he be attracted to a troublemaker like her?
Easily.
Grant had always been drawn to the greatest danger, to the biggest risk...
But unlike with the other risks he’d taken, he doubted there would be any reward with her. Only heartache, like all the hearts she’d broken as a teenager.
