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  She swung her legs off the side of the bed, grabbed her robe off the back of the door, and shrugged it on. He collected his clothes from the floor and disappeared inside the bathroom. She used the opportunity to slip into a fresh pair of panties and bra, then dug through her closet for a dress.

  She had it halfway on when she felt his solid form behind her. His hand moved to her zipper and he closed the back of the dress. For some reason, she found the gesture even more intimate than sex, and it took every ounce of fortitude she had not to cry.

  His hand moved to her neck and kissed her throat. “Let’s sit in the living room for a minute.”

  She found her boots and followed him to the other room, where they both sat on the couch.

  “What do you need to tell me?” She wanted him to get it over with. Then she could make up an errand she had to run so she could lick her wounds in private. Why did she always do this?

  “I didn’t want to catch you off guard at the meeting, but our lawyer says we should settle with Stan the Asshole Royce. Ordinarily, we’d let our insurance company battle it out with him. But in this case, it’s just better to make him go away. Fast, before he can do any damage to GA’s reputation, because he’s threatening all kinds of crap.” He paused and tilted his head to see if she was grasping the situation. “It puts us in a precarious position money wise. And our retail sales . . . well, we’re an adventure tour company, not REI.”

  She gasped. “TJ, we just started.” This wasn’t at all what she’d expected him to say. Relieved he wasn’t calling off whatever this thing was that they had going, she didn’t want him to shut down the store. She was just learning how to do this, and Deb hoped she could be good at it soon. “With a little time, I think we can turn a profit. Please tell me you’re not giving up.”

  “Not yet,” he said, and she could see the strain in his face. “But GA is a relatively small company; we can’t wait years to see a return. We just don’t have that kind of capital.”

  To pay her salary and the cost of the merchandise. She knew that was what he meant and didn’t blame him a bit. He was running a business, not a charity. But it seemed so soon to throw in the towel.

  “What about Delaney? She designed a whole line for GA,” she said.

  He let out a humorless laugh. “Delaney hardly needs GA. She was doing us a favor, not the other way around. There isn’t a retailer in the country that wouldn’t pick up her adventure wear. Department stores were clamoring for it before she told them we had the exclusive. Don’t worry about Delaney.”

  “What about a magazine story?”

  “I’ll talk about that at the meeting, but I don’t think it’s gonna happen, Deb.” He looked so sad that it tore at her.

  “What if I can turn things around with my idea of sponsoring someone . . . a big athlete?” It was reaching for the stars because she didn’t have those kinds of contacts.

  He blew out a breath. “Yeah, sure, give it a try. But no one will blame you if it doesn’t work. You’re . . . we’re . . . in a little over our heads here.”

  “I thought you believed in me.” Or did you just want to get me into your bed?

  He tilted his head and looked at her. Really looked. “I do believe in you, Deb. Always have. But you’re not a miracle worker. No one saw this thing with Royce coming. It wasn’t even our fault, but sometimes you just have to suck it up. It’s the cost of doing business.”

  “Let’s be frank here,” she said. “Is my job on the line?”

  “I can’t continue losing money indefinitely, Deb. I can’t put my family and their business at risk. But I’m not ready to call it quits this minute. So if in the next couple of weeks you can bring up our sales, we’ll reassess. If not . . . I’ll find another position for you.”

  There were no other positions. She shouldn’t even have the one he’d given her, and the last thing she wanted to do was put him in a bad spot by making him feel like he had to keep her. “All right; deal on.” At least she wouldn’t have to go crawling back to the Morning Glory right away. She supposed there was always bartending at Old Glory.

  She wanted to ask him about their relationship. What were they? But decided she’d had enough bad news for one day. Better to enjoy whatever it was they were doing while it lasted. Otherwise, his answer was bound to disappoint her.

  He glanced at his watch. “We better get.”

  She grabbed the box of doughnuts and they walked down the stairs together and down the block to Garner Adventure. Darcy lifted her head from her computer as they came in the door.

  “Coffee is on and the meeting room is set up,” she said.

  “You’re in on this, too, Darce. Send calls to voice mail for the next hour.”

  Darcy visibly brightened, and it occurred to Deb that TJ was a really good boss. And a really good man.

  Chapter Twenty

  TJ took the pastry box from Deb and delivered it to the conference room while she made a pit stop at her office. Win came in and didn’t waste any time picking through the doughnuts. Darcy trailed in, checked the percolator, and sat next to Win. Deb appeared, and the vision of her on top of him, naked, immediately popped in his head. He tried desperately to think about scheduling and payroll, anything that would distract him from revisiting their nooner.

  “How was your last day?” Win asked her.

  “Good. Felix got me balloons and the staff got me a cake.”

  And TJ had given her an orgasm. He was going to need to have a conversation with Win soon. Not about the orgasm, but about him and Deb.

  Colt and Josh came in together and pulled up chairs to the table. Although TJ and the lawyers had already briefed his parents, his dad came for the meeting and sat across from TJ. Gray gave him the nod to start.

  “I’ll cut right to the chase so as not to waste time,” he told everyone. “Our lawyers want us to settle with Stanley Royce.”

  “Why?” Win stood up. “We didn’t do anything wrong.”

  “Because in the digital age, Royce can drag GA’s name through the mud, which he’s threatening to do. It’s just not worth it.”

  “So basically, it’s extortion,” Josh said, looking pissed.

  “Pretty much,” TJ agreed.

  “Just so we don’t get a bad Yelp review.” Josh wouldn’t let it go. He’d always stood firm when it came to principle. TJ was more of a realist.

  “How much is it going to cost us?” Colt wanted to know because he was all about the bottom line.

  “He wants six figures. Our lawyers think he’ll walk away for between fifty and sixty-five thousand.”

  Win let out a low whistle. “That’s a lot of money for a guy who ignored the danger tape on that porta-potty.”

  “What about insurance?” Colt crossed his arms across his chest.

  “They want to fight it, we want it to go away. Not to mention that if we go through them, it’ll likely cost us more in premiums over the long haul.”

  “Your brother’s right; settling is our best option,” Gray broke in.

  “Where do we take the money from?” Josh asked, and everyone looked at TJ.

  “Our reserves, which means we’ll have to be careful about not robbing Peter to pay Paul.”

  “Put that in English,” Colt said, frowning.

  “So far, the retail operation isn’t paying off the way I’d hoped. It’s still early, but we’re only getting a few orders a day. We did better when we beta tested. Either our clients were initially psyched about buying swag and quickly got over it, or Colorado Adventure is taking all our business. Right now, we’re financing the store with our reserves, which was always the plan until it became profitable. But now . . .”

  “What about a magazine article?” Josh asked.

  “I called Dan Reed at Outdoors, Stephanie Row at Adventure, and Wendy Miller at Action. None of them are interested because Outside already did the story on Colorado Adventure. It would be too similar. And even if they were interested, their lead time is three months, s
o a story wouldn’t even run until June.”

  “And by then we’d be out of business,” Josh said.

  TJ nodded, because at this rate it was true.

  Colt clenched his jaw, typical Garner body language that signified he was pissed. Colt didn’t say anything, but TJ was sure he’d get an earful after the meeting, in private.

  Deb cleared her throat. “I have a few ideas.”

  “Like what?” Win got up and poured himself a cup of coffee.

  She sheepishly turned to TJ, then said, “Some tweaks I want to make to the online store and a few other . . . uh, assorted things.”

  “In other words, we’re winging it.” Instead of directing his words at Deb, Colt glared at TJ.

  “This is new to all of us, Colt. And no one could’ve predicted Stanley Royce rolling down the mountain in a porta-potty.”

  Colt nodded. “That’s the truth. Hopefully, you can bring up sales or I’m telling Delaney to cancel her exclusive deal with us.” With that, he got up and walked out.

  “Someone woke up on the dick side of the bed this morning.” Win took a sip of his coffee.

  Josh leaned his chair back on two legs. “Hannah might have some ideas.”

  Selling gift items and home furnishings in a tourist town wasn’t the same as selling adventure gear, but TJ would be grateful for any insight.

  “I’ll talk to her,” Deb said.

  “What other ideas do you have?” Win asked Deb, and she told them about sponsoring athletes.

  “I think that’s a great idea, kiddo.” Gray squeezed the back of Deb’s neck, looked at his watch, and stood up. “I’m going to leave the rest of the meeting to you guys. I have a tour in twenty minutes.”

  After Gray left, Deb asked, “Do any of you know anyone who’d be willing to represent Garner Adventure in competitions?”

  Win thought about it for a few seconds. “The problem is, anyone with a big-enough name already has sponsorship.” He looked at Josh. “Can you think of anyone?”

  “Not off the top of my head. I love Delaney, her stuff is killer, but her reputation is in fashion. The big leaguers wear Spyder, Burton, North Face, you know the names.”

  Deb nodded. “I’ll do some asking around.” No one had to tell her it would be an uphill battle. She knew how pro sports worked.

  “We all will,” Josh said. “I’ve got a cave tour in two hours and need to get the equipment ready.”

  TJ bobbed his head at Darcy. “You have anything you want to add?”

  She shook her head. “I’ll help Deb with whatever she needs.”

  “Thanks,” TJ said. “Then I guess we’re adjourned.”

  Josh grabbed another doughnut on his way out and Darcy got busy on the cleanup. Win and Deb helped and TJ went back to his office, feeling discouraged. Ten minutes later, Win came through his door.

  “You that worried?” he asked.

  “We’ll lose our initial investment, but it won’t be the end of the world.” Though TJ knew he couldn’t justify Deb’s position without the retail division.

  “You can’t let her go, bro.” Win had obviously read TJ’s mind. “Everyone already thinks you gave her the job because of me. Then to lay her off . . . People can be cruel, TJ.”

  “I didn’t realize you gave a shit about her.”

  Win jerked back. “Whoa. Where’s that coming from?”

  TJ tried to rein himself in. None of this was Win’s fault. “We’re getting ahead of ourselves. Hopefully, things will pick up.”

  Win stretched out on TJ’s couch. “I’m confident it will.”

  That was Win, always an optimist. It drove the rest of them crazy.

  “How was the exhibition?”

  “I barely made it in time. Britney needed me to come over.”

  “Everything okay?” TJ closed his door.

  Win sighed. “Not the greatest, to tell you the truth.” He rubbed his hand down his face, and for the first time, TJ saw the toll this was taking on his brother. “I thought maybe I could grow to love her, you know? But TJ, I don’t even like her.”

  For a long time, TJ didn’t say anything. He just let Win’s words sink in. Garners didn’t walk away from their responsibilities, but shotgun weddings seemed arcane nowadays. “What would happen if you didn’t marry her?”

  Win pinched the bridge of his nose. “Don’t tell anyone this, but I don’t trust her with my kid.”

  “The drinking?” Britney had downed more glasses of champagne at the party than TJ could count and he hadn’t been keeping constant track.

  “Not just the drinking.” Win paused. “This is a hell of a thing to say, but I get the feeling she’s using the baby as collateral.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Like it’s her ticket to financial security.” Win sat up. “Like it’s extortion.”

  TJ didn’t know her, but he trusted Win’s instincts. And from the minute he’d met her, he’d gotten a gold-digger vibe. “What are you going to do?”

  “What can I do? It’s my kid.”

  TJ wished there was something he could say. It was a screwed-up mess, and if he could save his brother from going through this, he would.

  Win pushed off the sofa. “I’ve got to motor. See you tomorrow.”

  “I’ll walk you out.” TJ needed to smooth things over with Colt. He swiped his jacket off the hook and followed Win outside, where they parted ways.

  TJ continued to the police station, where he found Carrie Jo in a heated argument with Jack. Colt came out of his office, yelled for the two of them to shut up, and motioned for TJ to come inside.

  “What was that about?”

  “Who knows? They’re like two randy high schoolers. I wish they’d just sleep with each other and get it over with.” Colt sat behind his metal desk. “So, we’ve really gotta pay off Royce, huh?”

  “It seems like our best option.” TJ took a seat on the couch. “We’ll survive it.”

  Colt gave him a hard look. “I’m gonna reiterate how much I love Deb. You know I love her. But TJ, we’re running a business here.” He took a breath. “What’s going on with you two?”

  “Nothing,” unless you counted over-the-top great sex.

  “Nothing?” Colt shook his head. “If you don’t want me to know, then tell me it’s none of my goddamn business, but don’t give me this nothing shit.”

  “It’s complicated.” Not just because for the last fifteen years everyone had had the expectation that she would wind up with Win, but he might have to fire her now. And that was a straight-up deal breaker. You couldn’t give someone a whole new shot at life and then rip it away without it blowing up a relationship.

  Colt got up and joined TJ on the sofa. “If you care enough about her, you’ll make it happen, despite the complications.”

  Easy for Colt to say. He wasn’t responsible for the family business; TJ was. And Deb wasn’t what he’d come here to talk about.

  “I want to make this right with Delaney,” TJ said, changing gears. “If she wanted to branch out to other retailers, I would understand. She should strike while her line of adventure wear is hot.”

  “My fiancée’s stuff is always hot. You’ll have to talk to her, TJ. I’m staying out of it.”

  “I will. In the meantime, you need to talk to Win.” TJ wouldn’t divulge any of their baby brother’s confidences, but Colt was good at fixing problems.

  “What’s he done now?”

  “I don’t think he should marry Britney.” He rose and paced the room. “You met her.”

  “Too soon to judge.” Colt went back to his desk and checked something on his computer. “Mom and Dad want to have her for dinner so we can get to know her better. But I’ll talk to Win.”

  “Maybe Josh could talk to him, too.” Win needed all their support right now.

  “Sure. But Win’s a grown man. At some point, we have to let him handle his own problems.”

  “Just talk to him. That’s all I ask.”

  * * *
>
  Deb took the long country road to Delaney’s headquarters. The former John Deere warehouse was a funny place for one of the world’s premiere fashion designers to house her business, but somehow it worked. Of course, Delaney had done all kinds of renovations before occupying the building. Now it was a showplace.

  Deb thought if anyone would know how to increase sales it would be Delaney. She might not be a sports enthusiast, but she ran a retail empire.

  A guard at the entrance recognized Deb and let her through the gate. Colt had insisted that Delaney put in security. The warehouse sat in the middle of nowhere and stored millions of dollars’ worth of samples and equipment.

  Deb parked and went inside.

  “Can I help you?” the receptionist asked. It was Candace Kelly, who Deb had gone to high school with.

  She wanted to say, Really, Candace?

  Just then, Karen happened to come out to the lobby. As usual, she was perfectly put together. Cute suede skirt and a sweater to die for. Not the kind of stuff you saw around Glory Junction. Deb thought about her with TJ and felt a familiar stab of envy. TJ could have any woman he wanted.

  “Hey, Deb. You here to see Delaney?”

  “If she’s not busy.” She probably should’ve called first.

  “Come on back.” Karen led the way, and Deb flashed Candace a snarky grin.

  “She’s in the design studio. Hang tight.” She dropped Deb in Delaney’s office and went in search of her.

  Delaney floated into the room in amazing wide-legged trousers and a matching blazer, looking runway gorgeous. Jeez, Deb could get a complex hanging out around here.

  “You designed that, didn’t you?”

  “I most certainly did.” Delaney kissed Deb on both cheeks. “Great party the other night.”

  “Thank you, Delaney. It was the best birthday I ever had.” Of course, the after-party had been even better.

  “It was mostly Hannah and Foster. Those two know how to throw an event.” Delaney slipped off her shoes and sat next to Deb in one of the overstuffed chairs, tucking her legs under her. “You here just to say hi or to talk about the adventure wear line?”