Champagne and Bullets: Book 1 (Military Moguls) (2 page)

A
manda shouldn’t have
taken this job. She’d allowed Lucinda Gibbs to talk her into something that could only end in more pain and she’d had enough of that to last her a lifetime.

It had been almost thirteen years since Amanda had seen Seb. She could still remember the day he’d told her he was calling off their impending nuptials. He’d ripped her heart into tiny pieces and simply walked away without a backward glance.

Not long after, he’d left for the Army, clearly done with her and their relationship. No letters. No emails. No phone calls. She’d been in love with Seb since she was fourteen years old and suddenly it was over. She’d had no choice but to move on. He wasn’t coming back or changing his mind.

Standing in front of the door to his new law firm, she smoothed down the skirt of her white business suit and took a deep, calming breath. She was a grown woman now, married and divorced. Seeing him would be a shock to her system but perhaps it was for the best. Now that he was back in the Tampa area, they were bound to run into one another eventually.

Tucking her purse under her arm, she opened the door and walked into the office. Obviously still a work in progress, there were boxes everywhere and no one in sight. The reception desk was bare and she took a few tentative steps forward to peek around the open doorway and down a hall.

“Hello?” The office door at the end was open and she headed toward it, hoping she hadn’t called when no one was here. “Is anyone in?”

“I’m here, Amanda.” Seb’s deep voice came from down the hall. Memories so vivid she could almost feel and taste them came rushing back, sucking the air from her lungs and making her stomach twist into knots. She didn’t want to feel anything for him. He’d hurt her, abandoned her. But all her brain seemed to remember at the moment were the good things. There had been so many of those.

Ruthlessly pushing her emotions away, she straightened up and marched down the hall until she was looking into the whiskey-brown eyes of Sebastian Gibbs. Her knees felt like jelly but she determinedly lifted her chin and straightened her shoulders. It was show time. She would not allow her inner turmoil to be displayed. Later she could fall apart.

“Seb. It’s good to see you.” Her voice had come out huskier than she’d planned but he might not notice. He looked the same but different too. His hair was that inimitable golden blond but now she could see a few gray hairs at his temples. His skin was just as tanned but now there were lines around his eyes and mouth. Typical for men, they didn’t detract from his good looks in the least, simply making him look more mature and distinguished than that last day. Amanda had no such hope that time had been as kind to her. “I hope this isn’t a bad time to stop in.”

“Of course not. We’re not really open as you can see, but I always have time for an old friend.”

An old friend?
The words shoved a dagger in her already bleeding heart. At one time she’d planned to have this man’s children and grow old with him. Had dedicated her life to making him happy. Now he’d relegated her to friendship status.

Seb indicated one of the chairs at the small round conference table on one side of his office and Amanda sank down into it gratefully. Pulling a file folder and a pen from her handbag, she wanted to get this meeting over as soon as possible, unsure how long she could keep this calm facade in place.

He settled in the other chair only about a foot away. Too near—she could smell the familiar scent of his aftershave and feel the heat from his body. She’d come too far to allow him to affect her in this way, but her senses had immediately come to life the moment she’d laid eyes on him. Her nipples had pebbled in her bra and her panties were already dampening at the seductive images flitting in front of her eyes. Visions of the past she’d never been able to bury. He’d spoiled her for any other lover.

Fidgeting in her chair, Amanda clicked the pen open and pulled out a stack of papers from the folder.

“I’m sure you’re busy, so let’s get started.” Tapping her pen nervously, she gazed unseeingly at the forms in front of her. “Your mother gave me some information but I’ll need to confirm it. How many people are you expecting at the party?”

“About a hundred or so. We sent out a hundred and seventy-five invitations but we’ve only heard from about half.”

Frowning, she glanced around the office. “Do you have more space than what I’ve seen?”

“The party won’t be held here.” Seb sat up straighter and shook his head. “It’s being held at my home in Wesley Chapel. They finished the construction three months ago. There’s plenty of room there.”

Her heart lurched at the thought that he had perhaps built a home for a woman that he loved. Amanda and Seb had spent so many hours planning their life together and their dream house had been so real in her mind.

“Fine. I’ll just need the address.” Seb rattled it off and she scratched it down before turning to the rest of the questions. They moved through each one easily but the tension between them continued to grow. By the time she was finished it was nearly unbearable. “I’ll get a plan and a quote put together and email it to you.”

She tucked the forms back in the folder and took a steadying breath. A big part of her wanted to run out the front door now that they had finished the first part of her business, but her sense of responsibility wouldn’t let her bolt. She needed his legal help badly.

“Mother said you had a legal problem.”

Amanda had been staring at the papers since she sat down but now she couldn’t avoid looking into his eyes.

“I do.” She recrossed her legs restlessly, not sure how to begin. “For several years I’ve been volunteering at a battered women’s shelter in the area. It’s located in one of those old large Victorians in St. Pete. It’s a quiet and very secret location for obvious reasons. We don’t want the spouses showing up there causing trouble.”

“Have you been having issues?” Seb stroked his chin, his expression thoughtful. “I know some people that could put in a state of the art security system.”

“We have one of those—that’s not our problem. It’s not the spouses that are the issue. It’s a developer. He wants to buy up all the houses in that area and turn them into condos or something. He and his people have been harassing our residents and the neighbors. He’s managed to buy up several homes but he wants the entire block.”

Seb’s eyebrow quirked up. “As my grandfather always said, it’s good to want things. Doesn’t mean you get them though. Is he offering market?”

“Slightly below. The shelter is run by a foundation, and by the time it paid the broker’s fees, the movers and everything else, it would take a net loss on the sale. It put a great deal of money into a renovation. The shelter has only been there for eighteen months, not nearly long enough to build up any kind of equity, either.”

“And you want me to do what, exactly?”

Impatience made her want to kick Seb in the shins. He’d always been like this, thoughtful in word and deed. He didn’t do things lightly, always weighing the pros and cons. He’d been the perfect balance to her full speed ahead attitude.

“I want you to scare the developer. Just a little,” she huffed. “I want him to know that we’re not some two-bit outfit that can be run off with some intimidation tactics. That we have muscle.”

For the first time in thirteen years Amanda watched a smile cross Seb’s face, rendering her momentarily speechless. It made him look twenty-five again and she was taken back to 2001.

“And I’m that muscle?” Seb chuckled and stood, going to lean on the desk. Crossing his arms over his wide chest, he looked more amused than anything. Was he going to help her or not?

“I know you can be intimidating and forceful.” Did she ever. Seb in the bedroom was a dominant force of sensuality she’d never gotten over. “Are you on the developer’s side? Are you one of those people that think we’re standing in the way of progress?”

“No, I am not,” he replied smoothly. “I’m not any more fond of those cookie cutter condo developments than most people. However, if he offers a fair price, then who am I to say what should be built?”

“But he’s not,” she protested, “He offered below market.”

“What if I speak with him and he makes a new offer? What if it’s generous? Are you willing to entertain it?” Seb leaned forward, his palms flat on the desk. “I need to know what you really want me to do, Mandy. If you just want me to scare him, that’s fine. If you want me to get a better offer, I can do that too.”

Her entire body stiffened and a bolt of electricity shot through her spine. Seb was the only person in the world that called her Mandy, and she hadn’t heard it from his lips in thirteen years. Hearing it again brought too many memories rushing back and she had to take a few breaths to control the pain taking root in her heart.

“We’d have to sell at a premium to make it worth our while,” Amanda answered stiffly. “We would of course look at any fair offer, but first he needs to promise to stop harassing people.”

“I’ll talk to him then, but it won’t be today.”

Seb straightened from where he was leaning on the desk and she stood as well. She needed to get out of here. As she had feared, seeing Seb hadn’t been a good idea. All it had done was resurrect a past that she’d spent years trying to bury.

She reached into her purse and pulled out a business card. “This is the contact information he gave us. I appreciate your help on this.”

Seb’s fingers briefly brushed her own as he took the card from her hand. The skin tingled and burned where they had touched and Amanda snatched her hand back as if an actual flame had licked at the flesh. Tucking her arm behind her, she tried to compose her features so he wouldn’t see how he affected her all these years later. It was pathetic how she was allowing this to happen.

“I’ll be in touch after I talk to him.”

Seb placed the card on his desk as she backed toward the door. The urge to flee was strong and if she stayed here much longer she was going to do something she would later regret. She checked her watch as if she had a pressing appointment.

“I need to fly. Thank you, Seb.”

Amanda fumbled with her keys and sunglasses, not realizing Seb had moved from his spot behind the desk. Before she was able to strengthen her defenses he was standing right next to her, a smile on his gorgeous face.

“It was good seeing you, Mandy.”

She shoved her sunglasses over her eyes before he could see them bright with tears. “It was good seeing you too, Seb. Take care.”

Somehow she managed to walk out of the office and to her car, the oppressive Florida heat and humidity wrapping around her immediately. Starting the engine, she flicked the air conditioner on high until the cool air was blowing her hair back and drying the sweat that had gathered at the nape of her neck. A stray tear fell down her cheek and she brushed it away with a trembling hand.

She’d already cried too many tears in her life. They didn’t change a thing.

‡

S
eb and Christian
sat down at the back of the bar where it was slightly more quiet. They were supposed to meet Lance Poplin, the real estate developer that was hassling Amanda, and Seb wanted to be able to concentrate on the conversation, not on the myriad of televisions that lined the walls. Lance had chosen the location of the meeting, squeezing it in between his other business. Christian was tagging along as they planned to have a few beers when Seb was done with the meeting.

“You don’t have to do this, you know.” Christian nodded his thanks to the waitress as she took their order.

“I do. I promised Mom.” Even to Seb’s own ears it sounded like a lame-ass excuse.

“The fact that this is for Amanda has nothing to do with it?” Christian persisted. “Don’t even try to lie to me.”

“You know how I feel about her.” Seb sure as hell didn’t want to discuss it. Seeing Amanda yesterday after all these years had changed everything. All that he thought was in the past had been resurrected. He’d barely slept last night as thoughts of her haunted him, making sleep impossible.

“What are you going to do about it?”

“I think I forfeited the right to do anything about it when I practically left her at the altar. I can’t imagine she’s forgotten that.” His words came out more bitter than he’d planned.

“She knows why you left, why all three of us left. Hell, we’d just gone through 9-11 and the country was in turmoil.”

The waitress slid two beers in front of them with a smile before bustling to the next table.

“Amanda was twenty years old. So fucking young—not that I was much older at twenty-five. I doubt she really gave a shit about my need to do my patriotic duty and defend our country. All she knows is that I joined the Army and cancelled the wedding.”

“You could have gone through with it. Lots of married men go into combat,” Christian replied, taking a drink of his beer. “You never talked to her about it, did you?”

“I told her that I couldn’t do what I needed to for Uncle Sam and be her husband at the same time. That wasn’t a lie.”

“It just wasn’t the whole truth, either,” Christian shot back. “She’s a grown woman now and I think she can take it.”