After two days of intense private lessons, I’d convinced myself I was good enough to play a casual match.

I was wrong.

My first serve landed right in his ball sac, and the match was over before it could even start. In a high-pitched voice, the other CEO had said maybe we should have our project managers get together to discuss it instead.

I swore up and down that my serve was no indication of my interest in partnering on the project, but he was too busy icing his balls to listen.

I’d sent a bottle of Macallan and a slow-thawing ice pack I’d invented years ago after a bike accident as an apology, and I hadn’t heard anything from him since.

“You can take the phone off Mute now if you’ve gotten your laughs in . . .” My tone was devoid of humor.

Esme and Erik’s chuckles immediately became audible.

“I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to think about that without laughing, Ari,” Esme said. “I’m just putting that out there in case you need to fire me now.”

“I have a buddy who works there who said he still shields his balls whenever someone makes a sudden move in his direction.” Erik’s words were barely understandable through the giggles.

“Are you cry-laughing? I swear to God, Erik.”

“I’ll stop. I promise.”

“Moving on. I’ll dig into the security issue as soon as we’re off the phone. It’s not like I was getting much sleep tonight anyway.”

“Oh, really? Why is that?” Esme didn’t bother to hide the interest in her tone.

“I’ll give you one guess.”

My assistants were no strangers to the history surrounding my ridiculous crush on Rhett. Heath had taken care of that a few visits ago when we went out for dinner and drinks, and all the stories came out.

“No way!” Esme yelled. I could picture her doing a fist pump.

“What happened?” Erik asked.

“He kissed me. Or maybe I kissed him. I don’t know. There was kissing.”

“Eeep!”

I swore I heard them trade a high-five.

“This is huge,” Esme said.

“I want to know what else is huge,” Erik added. “Wait, I take that back. I don’t want to know. Forget I said anything.”

Rather than reprimand him as would probably be more appropriate in this situation, I let it slide. I didn’t have a normal employee-employer relationship with these two, and that was the way we worked best.

“He won’t make a real move without my brother’s approval, though.”

“Really? I’m not sure how I feel about that. You’re a grown-ass woman who doesn’t need anyone to give her permission to do anything.”

“Exactly!” I yelled. Esme obviously understood where I was coming from.

“Cut the guy some slack.” Erik took the devil’s advocate position, as always. “He was a cop and all about honor and serving others. Why would he want to do something that he sees as a betrayal of his friend? He probably shouldn’t have kissed you to begin with, and I bet he’s wrestling with that hard now.” A slap of skin on skin came through the line. “Dammit, Esme, don’t hit me.”

“Then don’t say stupid things.”

“Stop. It’s fine.” I’d played peacemaker between these two often enough to start feeling like their big sister, which was a signal it was time to wrap up this conversation. “I’m jumping off here, and I’m going to spend some quality time with our defenses. Have alpha team attempt entry in the morning. You two can call it a night.”

“You swear you’ll keep us up-to-date on the hot-detective saga?” This came from Erik.

“He’s not a detective anymore, but yes.”

“Stand your ground, Ari. Don’t settle for scraps from this guy just because he’s been your holy grail for fifteen years.”

“Thank you for the reminder. Now, go to bed.”

I hung up before they could give me any more advice, but as soon as the room went silent, I missed their presence. Now I was alone in a big empty house with nothing but work to keep me company.

Story of my life.

17

Rhett

As soon as I left Ari’s, I texted Heath saying I’d dropped her off. His response was a suggestion to meet at our regular place at ten o’clock tomorrow.

Looked like I wouldn’t have to track him down.

How was I going to tell my best friend that I’d manhandled his sister, kissed her, and planned to do a hell of a lot more? I climbed into bed at my hotel a little while later, still without an answer to that question.

When I woke up at seven the next morning and jogged to the gym, I was still coming up empty. Even a punishing workout didn’t knock any ideas loose.

Didn’t matter. I was going after what I wanted. No more sitting on the sidelines. No more allowing life to pass me by.

I rolled up to our regular breakfast spot just beyond the boundaries of the Quarter and decided to wing it. Heath was already inside, a mug of coffee in front of him. Black with two sugars. That was how well I knew the man.

As I sat across from him, the waitress swooped in and poured me a cup as well. When she disappeared, Heath slid his phone across the table toward me.

“We got a problem.”

I expected to be staring down at information relating to my dad’s case, but instead I saw a picture of Ari on the screen, walking out of a restaurant with another guy’s arm around her shoulders. I’d put money on that asshole being her ex. The gossip rag that had posted the pic had captioned it Reclusive Tech CEOs Vacation in New Orleans.

What the hell?

“He’s here?”

Heath shook his head. “No. Old picture. She definitely never brought him home. I’m guessing this is Carlos’s last attempt to keep her by forcing the issue in the press.”

My hands clenched into fists. “They’re done. Ari was clear about that. Obviously, someone needs to make it even clearer to this asshole.”

I looked up at Heath in time to catch the satisfaction flashing across his features.

“If he comes here, there’s no way I’ll let him get close to her.” He leaned back in his chair and held my gaze. “If she wasn’t living in Cali, I would’ve told her she’d be better off dating you.”