Their Unfinished Business. Jackie Braun
having a bit of…a problem,” Ali hedged. Then, “Oh, hell, I need to borrow a pair of pumps.”
“You’re having a shoe emergency? God, I love it.” Laughter bubbled through the phone line. “I suppose it would be small of me to remind you that last month when I showed off the new pair of Kate Spades I’d purchased, you asked how many feet I had that I needed another pair of shoes.”
“I knew calling you would be a mistake,” Ali snapped.
Audra wasn’t insulted at all. “No, sweetie, not calling would have been the mistake. I may have changed my life around and gotten rid of a lot of the fluff, but I still have more fashion sense in my pinky than you’ll ever have in your entire bony body.”
Damn, Ali thought, wasn’t that the pathetic truth.
“So, will you help?”
Audra made a dismissive sound. “Of course I will. What are you going to wear?”
“The suit I bought when I went shopping downstate with you last fall.”
“The red one?” Audra whistled low. “Good choice and aren’t you glad I talked you into buying it?” Before Ali could answer, her sister was saying, “Please tell me you didn’t pair it with one of those starched oxfords you seem to own stock in?”
“No. I do have a white silk blouse.” Exactly one, and again it had been purchased while out with Audra. “Could we get back to shoes? All I have are the black pumps I normally wear to work.”
Through the receiver came Audra’s low moan. “How can we be sisters let alone twins?”
“Aud, the minutes are ticking away here. I really don’t have time for a discussion on DNA. What have you got for me?”
“Let me think about it. I’ll go hunt through my closet and see what I can come up with. Come straight to my office when you get to the resort.”
“I’ll be there in fifteen. And, Aud?”
“Yeah?”
“Thanks for not rubbing it in too much.”
Her sister snorted. “Who says I’m done?”
Luke had already seen Ali since returning to Trillium, so he didn’t expect their meeting today to be awkward. Then, recalling the cool way in which she had regarded him during their chance encounter on Sunday, he amended his opinion. It probably still would be awkward, but not as awkward as it could have been had they not already come face-to-face.
But then she walked into the conference room decked out in red and exposing a pair of long, toned legs that any Rockette would be proud to insure, and he nearly forgot how to breathe.
Who was this woman?
Three days ago, Ali had looked almost unchanged to him wearing a ball cap and faded jeans, with no makeup on her face and her hair pulled back the way she’d always worn it. He’d found comfort in that fact and, when he’d had a chance to think about it, it made his lingering attraction to her understandable, maybe even a little nostalgic.
He wasn’t feeling nostalgic now, or comfortable. When she rolled back her shoulders to let the jacket slip down her silk-covered arms, he shifted in his seat and had to stifle a groan. No, he wasn’t feeling comfortable at all.
“Hello, Luke.”
They were alone in the room. Dane had just gone to take a phone call and Audra had yet to arrive. Luke stood because the moment seemed to require him to be on his feet. Once he was upright, he hastily pulled closed his suit jacket, more than a little appalled by his body’s embarrassing reaction.
The other day when he’d come upon Ali as she’d knelt pulling weeds, he had enjoyed the advantage of surprise. Today, the shoe was on the other foot—and what a sexy little number it was, too, black and open-toed, allowing a tantalizing peek at red-painted nails. God help him, but he’d always had a thing about women’s feet. And this woman, he remembered, had a very sensitive instep.
As his gaze connected with hers, something about the way her lips twitched told Luke she knew she had him shaken…and stirred.
“You clean up well,” he admitted.
“Thank you.” One slim dark eyebrow notched up when she added, “I try to dress for the occasion.”
He nodded, wondering just what he should infer from her bold color choice this day. And then, because he wanted badly to touch her and test himself, he held out his hand.
A long moment passed before she reached to shake it. At the contact, Luke felt the wild sizzle he thought he had either outgrown or simply imagined.
“Some things never change,” he murmured, taking a step closer.
She pulled her hand free, stepped back. “And some things do.”
He acknowledged her words with a nod. She was different and the same all at once, the girl he remembered wrapped in the body of an alluring and mysterious woman.
An alluring and mysterious woman who was all business when she said, “Why don’t you have a seat? Dane and Audra should be along shortly.”
“Okay.”
“More coffee?” she asked, as she reached for the insulated carafe and mugs that were on a tray in the middle of the table. Her blouse fell open a little as she leaned forward and reached, affording him a fleeting glimpse of something lacy and white and the gentle swell of flesh that disappeared inside it. He sucked in a breath, drawing her attention.
“Everything all right?” she asked, those not-quite-brown, not-quite-gold eyes narrowing.
“Fine.” Then Luke couldn’t resist. He let his gaze dip down again and said with a little more emphasis, “Very fine.”
She straightened instantly, her posture rigid as she filled her coffee cup to the top and then slid into the seat opposite his. She didn’t bother with cream or sugar, he noted. He got the feeling if she were to walk into one of the trendy coffee shops in Manhattan she would bypass all of the frothy concoctions listed on the order board and go for plain French roast. She’d always been practical. As he studied her, she snagged a handful of dark hair and tucked it behind her ear and out of the way. That move was practical, too, but that didn’t make it any less sexy.
“I’m sure you’ve had a chance to read through our plans for the golf course. I’m curious to hear what you think,” she said.
Business, Luke reminded himself. That’s why he was here. And so he straightened in his seat and decided to get down to it.
“Three hundred acres is ample space for a course the size you’re talking about, but if we could pick up additional acreage we could make the holes relatively secluded from one another. We could leave in a lot more trees that way, too. It makes for a picturesque experience and golfers appreciate not having to worry about hearing ‘Fore!’ hollered while they’re in the middle of their back swing.”
“How much land are you talking?”
“Another hundred acres would be ideal.”
“What’s this about another hundred acres?” Dane asked as he walked through the door. Audra was right behind him, her face breaking into a grin even before she had cleared the threshold.
Where Ali had acknowledged Luke with cool reserve, Audra wrapped him in a hug and gave him a smacking kiss on the lips.
“It’s good to see you, Luke.”
“Good to see you, too.” And he meant it. He suddenly realized how much he’d missed this place and these people.
Dane had been his best friend since grade school, remaining such despite some tense moments after Luke and Ali had started dating. He’d always figured Dane didn’t think Luke was good enough for his sister, even though Dane had never come right out and