Bound by a Child. Katherine Garbera
and Patti had listened to their music endlessly when they were teens, and now the songs brought her some comfort. However, when “Bye Bye Bye” almost made her cry, she pulled her earbuds out of her ears and turned her attention to Allan.
He was restlessly pacing the length of the cabin and talking on the phone. She thought she heard him saying something about Jack White. She currently had a lead on the famous Hollywood director-producer and was trying to book a meeting with him later this month to discuss developing some of his summer blockbusters into games. It would be a coup if she could do a deal with Jack, and it would guarantee her job at Playtone-Infinity.
Allan glanced over and caught her staring.
“I’ll have to call you back when we land.”
He disconnected the call and pocketed his iPhone.
“We’re playing for the same team now,” she said. “You don’t have to hide your business.”
“You’re on probation,” he reminded her. “I’m not sure you’ll make it past the ninety days.”
“Really? I’m pretty sure I will. Have you ever known me to fail?”
He turned the leather chair in front of her to face her, and fell down into it. “Not without a hell of a fight.”
She smiled. It almost felt like old times. They were finally finding their way back to their normal bickering, but she had the feeling they were both playing a role. Hell, she was. She was trying to be “normal” when everything inside of her was chaos.
“True dat.”
“With all that’s going on, we haven’t had a chance to talk about my offer to buy you out,” he reminded her. “I’m still willing to do that.”
“I thought we’d already taken care of that. My answer remains no. I’m sorry if I’ve given you the impression that I’m someone who walks away from a difficult situation.”
“Okay, okay. So what are you going to do to convince the Playtone board of directors to keep you on?”
Aside from doing a deal with Jack White, which was a long shot, she had no idea. Her plans for her future at the merged company were vague. It wasn’t like her to be so wishy-washy, but she was tired of the entire family feud thing and was beginning to wonder if she even liked video games. She’d never admit that particular fact to a living soul. There were parts of the company that she loved, but right now she couldn’t name them. There had been so much contention lately with the Montrose heirs that she hadn’t been able to enjoy going to work.
“I am working on a push for Cari’s holiday game. It will launch in two weeks’ time and my team is working to make sure it’s a hit.”
Her sister and the development team had come up with an idea for a game app for the holidays that enabled players to decorate houses and Christmas trees, and then post screen shots to the online game center to try to get the most votes for their decor. The leaderboard was updated every day. The project had used existing assets at the company, so had a really low cost, and Emma believed it was that kind of out-of-the-box thinking that had saved Cari’s job. It wasn’t that there weren’t other holiday apps; it was more the fact that Infinity Games had never done one before and that practically every component of the game was pure profit.
“That’s good, but it won’t be enough to save your job,” he said.
She wished there was something easy or magical she could do to get herself out of this situation. But it was hard enough to be in this position, let alone having to come up with something so revolutionary it would impress the board at Playtone. It was going to take a lot to do that. Kell, Dec and Allan hated her grandfather and Infinity Games for what they’d done to old Thomas Montrose, and they wanted her to fail.
She held back a sigh—she’d never let Allan see that kind of weakness from her. “I’m not about to let you win. I don’t care if I have to work 24/7 when we get back from taking care of this business on the East Coast. That’s what I’ll do.”
He gave her that cocky half grin of his. “I expected a fight. Glad to hear you will be delivering one.”
“Really?”
“Yes,” he said. “I like our skirmishes.”
“Is that all our encounters are to you?” she asked, thinking of that one kiss they’d shared. There was something weird about kissing your enemy and finding some attraction there.
“Are you asking about the night of Patti and John’s wedding?”
“Yes. Seemed like we weren’t at war that night.”
“Well, we were, but we got distracted,” he said.
“Until someone prettier came along,” she said, remembering watching another bridesmaid, Camille Bolls, walk out of Allan’s hotel room the morning after.
He shook his head. “There is no one who can compare to you.”
“Ah, I’ve looked in the mirror. I’m not a classic beauty,” Jessi admitted. And clearly not his type. It didn’t bother her. Really, it didn’t. She had chosen her look a long time ago and had done it deliberately. Most people saw her modern punk exterior and decided she was hard as nails. Exactly what she’d intended when she’d had her nose pierced and a small tattoo done on her collarbone near the hollow of her throat. It was discreet and could be covered with the collar of most blouses.
“No, but there is still...something about you that makes it hard to look away,” he said.
“You must have an iron will because you don’t have any problems doing it,” she said.
He leaned forward, his arms resting on his knees and his expression more sincere than she’d seen in a while. “That’s because I’m not a sap. I know better than to let you think there is anything between us. You’d use it, and me, to get whatever you wanted.”
She shrugged. It would be nice to believe she had that kind of power over him. “Good thing I stopped believing in fairy tales a long time ago.”
“Sometimes I don’t know whether to arm wrestle you or kiss you.”
“Kiss me? That didn’t really get us anywhere the last time,” she said.
“I was hesitant because of business complications, but now Playtone has the upper hand with Infinity and there is nothing stopping me from taking what I want.”
“Except me,” she said softly.
She looked over at him to gauge his reaction, and it was clear that he took it as a challenge. Suddenly, she was able to let herself forget about everything else that had happened today. Forget about the mess that her life was at this moment and remember that Allan McKinney was the one man who’d always been a worthy opponent.
“Except you,” he said, “But I have a feeling you want to know if that one kiss was a fluke, as well.”
“I have a feeling you’re nothing but ego,” she countered, refusing to let him see that she was intrigued. She’d never admit it out loud, but she’d had more than one hot fantasy about him.
She didn’t really want to do this now, didn’t want to have some kind of intense physical attraction to Allan McKinney. But there was no denying that she’d thought about that embrace more times than she’d wanted to over the past year and a half. She’d thought about him more than she’d wanted to. And those thoughts hadn’t always involved fantasies of seeing him roasted over a pit.
She had to admit that in her musings he was usually shirtless, and most times they were both overheated. But that was her secret desire, and no way was she letting anything like that out in the open.
* * *
She looked so determined and at the same time so adorable.... What was wrong with him? Had he really become so bored with life that the only time he felt truly engaged was