The Dare Collection July 2019. Nicola Marsh
but he didn’t mention the fact that it would be his little sister.” No mistaking the emphasis on little.
Cameron’s hand at the small of her back flexed, but Trish was already moving to defuse the situation. Whatever the situation was. She couldn’t get a true read on Nikki. This could all be posturing for the sake of posturing, or it could be exactly what Cameron had feared. Trish smiled sweetly. “I think you’ll find I’m more than qualified to get the job done.” She glanced at her watch. “Shall we take this to wherever the meeting is being held? I would hate to be late.”
Without another word, Nikki turned on her designer heels and led the way to a bank of elevators that took them to the executive floor.
Trish didn’t dare exhale the breath she’d been holding on to. They’d managed to get through the first interaction without someone calling the whole thing off or yelling, but they still had the deal to hammer out. Even with Aaron taking care of the preliminary stuff, this whole thing was hardly guaranteed. She very carefully didn’t look at Cameron as the elevators opened and they stepped out into a long hallway lined with doors.
Everything about the building was designed to create a modern minimalist look. Though Trish could appreciate the cool gray walls, white tiles marbled with black and stainless steel everything, the whole thing left her cold and edgy. As they headed into a small boardroom where three other people were assembled, she found herself longing for the cozy front office she’d created back in New York.
That’s not your place any more than this one is.
Forgetting that would be a mistake.
Nikki introduced the CEO of the company and their respective assistants. Once everyone had coffee, they got down to work outlining what they needed from Tandem Security. Cameron answered the questions directed at him, but there was a wariness she’d never seen in him before. Trish couldn’t tell if it was brought on by dealing with his ex or dealing with people in general, and it wasn’t like she could ask.
Not at the moment, anyway.
Through it all, she couldn’t help watching the other woman. This was Cameron’s type? She couldn’t be more different from Trish. She was confident and bold and seemed perfectly at home in her skin. Not to mention that Nikki had almost single-handedly made Concord Inc. what it was today. She’d come in as COO, looked around and seen the potential of the company. And then she made it happen.
To say it was impressive and more than a little intimidating was a vast understatement.
They broke for a quick lunch and Trish found herself alone in the room with Nikki. She moved to make a quick exit, but the other woman stalled her. “Sit, sit. You’re exhausting me with all your nervous energy.”
Trish hesitantly sank back into the chair she’d just tried to abandon. “Something I can help you with?”
Nikki raised a perfect black brow. “How long have you been sleeping with O’Clery?”
Her jaw dropped. “I don’t... What... I’m not—”
“You are, and I’d wager that Aaron doesn’t know. He loves O’Clery like a brother, but he’s not blind to the man’s faults.” She laughed. “Get that look off your face, honey. I’m not going to go for your throat over some guy I hooked up with half a million years ago.”
It sounded totally reasonable, but Trish couldn’t make herself relax. She stilled her hands in her lap, doing her best not to give herself away with any nervous movement. “You have a reason for bringing it up.”
“I do.” Nikki sat back. “I’ve known O’Clery and Livingston for nearly a decade in one capacity or another, and I’ve never seen him like this before. He’s a grumpy asshole, but he’s got a shitty poker face. Every time he looks at you, he goes all soft and gooey.”
Yeah, right. This had to be some sort of weird mind game, though she couldn’t figure out what the point was. “If you’ll forgive me for being blunt, I don’t see what my theoretical relationship with Cameron has to do with this deal.”
“Nothing at all.” Nikki’s red lips curved, just a little. “It’s a purely selfish curiosity to get a better look at the kind of woman who could manage to have him tripping all over his feet like an eager puppy. I’ll admit that I don’t see it. You’re beautiful, of course, but the peppy cheerleader thing doesn’t seem like it’s a solid match for O’Clery.” She lifted a single shoulder. “Then again, what do I know? Good for him. And good for you, too. He’s got a heart of gold if you can get past the dumb-ass shit he says and the pissy attitude.”
She still couldn’t get a read on Nikki, couldn’t tell if this conversation was exactly what it presented to be on the surface or if the woman was trying to undermine something. She couldn’t help comparing herself to the other woman. They weren’t even on the same planet, and she couldn’t be more opposite if Cameron had intentionally picked her for that reason. Rationally, she knew it didn’t matter. He and Nikki were ancient history—and a brief one at that—but Trish looked at her and saw everything Trish would never be.
Someone completely at ease in their skin and confident enough to handle any and every situation life threw at them without breaking her powerful stride. Someone who’d perfectly executed their plan for life, despite any hurdles thrown in their way.
No, Trish was just Trish. She let her smile drop. “Frankly, I don’t see how that’s any of your business.”
“So you do have some backbone. Good.”
The door opened and the men filed back in. She couldn’t shake the suspicion that they’d been hiding out in the hallway while this conversation went down and, as happy as she was that Cameron had managed to keep his temper through the first half of the day, she still wanted to kick him under the table for abandoning her with Nikki.
It shouldn’t have mattered anyway. Nikki had never been a girlfriend, and Trish certainly wasn’t. They were both flavors of the week... Maybe we should get T-shirts or something. Her joke fell flat, even in her own head, and she tried to set the whole uncomfortable feeling aside. It shouldn’t matter what Cameron and Nikki’s past was, because the woman obviously had no intention of letting said past get in the way of this business deal.
Would he expect the same from Trish when this was all over?
The rest of the meeting passed without incident. Concord Inc. signed the contract, which extended the trip to London since Cameron had to be on-site to set up the security requirements.
And Trish would go home.
Guess things are ending quicker than I could have anticipated.
CAMERON MIGHT NOT be entirely in tune with other people’s emotions, but he would have had to be particularly dense not to notice something was wrong with Trish. After their lunch break, she’d been subdued, her light dimmed. He’d tried to catch her eye a few times, but she resolutely refused to look his way. He could explain it away as her focusing on the deal...
Right up until she tried that same shit as they walked back to the suite.
He noticed a sign for a pub and hooked her waist. “Dinner.”
“I’m not hungry.”
Oh yeah, Trish was pissed. Cameron ignored her protest and guided her into the low light of the pub. He took a quick look around and headed for a table far enough into the room that she wouldn’t get a chill when the door was opened to let a draft in. He held out a chair for her, his irritation battling with amusement as she huffed and dropped into it.
Once he was settled on the other side, he leaned forward and lowered his voice. “Now you’re going to tell me what crawled up your ass back there. I