Charming You (Thirsty Hearts Book 1) (24 page)

"You love surprises. You hate anticipation."

"Not always," she said. "I hate it, and I love it."

"Good to know. I'll have to walk that fine line between hate and love."

Micky blushed. He may be joking, but "love" wasn't on the table. Taking her relationship with Nick day-by-day didn't include love. Love meant hoping for a future and having dreams together. Love was unrealistic at this point—at any point.

"You there?" he asked.

"Yes, sorry I got distracted."

As if on cue, she heard a knock on the door. Whether the person on the other side had an iron or Oklahoma charm, Micky sent a prayerful "thank you" to the gods. "There's someone at the door, and I have to go. So, I guess I'm going to have to trust you with this surprise situation."

"You will and you should. I promise. But I'll let you go."

"I'll call you later. Thanks for checking in on me."

"Of course. Talk to you soon."

"Bye, Nick."

"Goodbye."

Micky looked through the peephole to see Taryn's distorted heart-shaped face and opened the door.

"I thought maybe you were still in the shower." Taryn breezed into the room, laptop bag in hand, flipping her freshly washed hair over her shoulder as she plopped down in one of the lounge chairs.

"No. Nick called."

"Really? That's exciting. Unexpected? Or no?"

"Not expected now. It's early there still."

"Must have been thinking about you as soon as he woke up. What is it that you did to him?" Taryn grinned.

"No kissing and telling. I do try to be a lady. He said he wishes he could have been here. He's planning some sort of surprise trip. I guess at least if it falls through this time, I won't be out any money," Micky said, then shook her head. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't say that. I'm trying to live in the now. Not let anything from the past ruin what I have going with Nick."

"Good thinking. The real shame would be if you let 'he who shall not be named' do anymore damage. Don't make me have to smack the daylights outta you."

"In the spirit of now, let's get to it. The city of Paris awaits. Let's review the checklist for the event logistics company. All the items for the welcome bags arrived two days ago, right? And the printing is done and delivered?"

"Yes. When we get over there, we need to do one final check of all the printed materials so that the staff can pack all the bags tonight and set them up by the reception desk. Lights and A/V are going up today in all the conference rooms. We need to review the run of show with the crew so they're ready for the executive rehearsals tomorrow."

Taryn and Micky continued to go down their final punch list and then walked over to the Palais des Congrès to meet with the local event team. Their meetings kept them busy until 2:30 p.m. when they walked out of the conference center and onto the streets of Paris.

"Let's drop our work bags off out the hotel and get moving!" Taryn said. And with that, Micky launched herself into her Parisian experience.

W
ith Micky gone
, Nick had nothing but dread for the week in front of him—all of it Moran related. He vowed to get Moran Financial to realize they'd missed their chance for a bid for Azur and to talk Vivienne into coming out and putting an end to her blackmail nightmare. He would draw on every ounce of his persuasion skills and maybe put an end to the insomnia he'd had since he started sleeping with Micky.

He expected resistance from his bosses on the Azur front. They stayed in client ass-kissing mode twenty-four seven. What he didn't expect was God-sent good news. His admin flagged him as soon as he walked down the hall toward his office.

"Bob's office now," she said, handing him a printout of a news story. "Azur announces joint go-to-market with Midsummer Tech."

The press release had gone public, and the news could topple a quick series of dominoes that would likely leave Tom Moran in the cold.

Nick stifled his jubilation when got to Bob's office door, dropping his shoulders and trying to look concerned. He still had to make sure he kept his job in the aftermath. Amos Winston, the firm's senior-most partner, sat at a large conference table on the far of the room. His presence didn't bode well. Tom and Jonah Moran sat next to him. Tom looked apoplectic, and Jonah already exhausted, even though it was just seven thirty.

"Had you heard about this?" Tom asked. His right leg restlessly tapped the floor.

Nick lowered himself into a chair and looked at his managing partner. This was the moment where he would either get backed up or thrown under the bus.

"If you reviewed our latest communication, you'll see that we noted the possibility of Midsummer making their own play. We discussed that rivals might include other venture capital firms or tech companies with complementary product sets. We had stressed the urgency of the situation," Bob said. Nick sighed to release a modicum of tension.

"They told us we needed to move quickly, Dad," Jonah offered, tossing Nick a sympathetic glance. Tom stormed.

"The mere hint of this kind of partnership will drive up the valuation at a minimum. The price could go through the roof. Not to mention that we have no idea how deep this relationship between Azur and Midsummer goes. This is something I should have been told—by our internal strategists and by you," Tom said, swinging his index finger between Bob and Nick.

Nick took a deep breath to calm his nerves. He sacrificed his conscience to give them valuable inside information. Now, Tom blamed Nick for his own fiddling around and waiting for the perfect way to line his pockets.

"Let's take a step back," Amos reasoned. "This changes the dynamics, but we can't get ahead of ourselves. It raises the valuation because the company will—in fact—be more valuable. Our advice to you remains the same, produce a bid for Azur quickly."

"I thought you knew someone over there, Nick. You didn't hear anything about this?" Tom asked.

"I heard they were preparing an announcement for their Paris event, and I shared that with you and your strategy team. That was the concern underlying my advice for an urgent conclusion to Moran Financial's internal debate," Nick explained, bolstered by his partners' backing.

"I'm not happy about this, Nick. Not happy at all. I want an emergency meeting with our strategy team at our offices this afternoon. I expect that you'll have some proposed solutions to this. I've said all along that I will not overpay."

Overpayment was relative, Nick thought, and if Tom didn't come to the table with a reasonable offer, there's no way his company could expect to acquire Azur.

"Of course, we can outline several options for you," Bob noted. "We can meet with you this afternoon. It's not a problem."

"I would hope that it weren't," Tom said, springing up from his chair. "I have another meeting. Jonah, settle the details this afternoon."

With that, Nick's almost-father-in-law sped out of the office. Jonah's mood was more conciliatory as they nailed down the time and location for the afternoon gauntlet, and he left soon after his father.

"I've got options for them, but they're not too much different from what we've already told him. I laid most of this out in our last briefing," Nick explained to Bob. A welcome feeling of defeat settled in his bones. The spinning of their wheels reached a highly predictable conclusion. Chasing this business had been nothing but a headache. Having his personal life and professional lives entwined proved a massive mistake. Midsummer had handed him an exit ramp of relief.

"Look, Nick, I know you've told him all of this before. That man is impossible to please at times. It's tough, but put a new spin on what we've suggested. We'll blow it by him again and hope he listens this time," Bob suggested. His disgust seeped through. "I'm sorry. I know he's going to be your father-in-law."

"Yes," Amos said and chuckled. "Good luck with that."

Despite the imminent trouble, Nick felt euphoric. No. Tom Moran was not going to be his father-in-law. Thank God, Jesus, the holy mother, Zeus, and whomever else might listen.

"What about your contacts at Azur? Any other information you might be able to dig up?"

"Not by this afternoon."

"How close is your friend to management?"

"Umm, they work with marketing and PR. That's how they knew an announcement was coming. I didn't have specifics. They know better than to offer any, and I gathered from some vague things they said that something was coming. I shared all the appropriate information I had with them already."

"Do you think you can find out more?" Amos questioned.

Nick's answer came quickly on the heels of the request. "Honestly, I believe I've pushed my friendship to the limit already to get the information I got. We're close, and to dig any further wouldn't be right. She has to work there. Besides, they're all in Paris now."

Saying it aloud gave Nick a sense of spine that he'd missed in his pursuit of everyone else's approval.

"When is she coming back?" Bob pressed.

"My friend?" Nick swallowed. "Not until next week. Several of them are staying over the weekend for a short holiday."

"If you're so close, you could join them," Bob suggested.

Regret surged through him, and it doubled when he saw squinted twinkle in Bob's eye.

"Good idea," Amos said, "Check things out. If there's any chance of salvaging this for Moran, we need to know what's happening in the next day or so."

"I don't feel right about this," Nick explained, slowly.

Bob eyed him speculatively. "You've already delivered to the best of your ability, Nick. I believe that. I don't see why that can't continue for a few more days. I'm not going to ask you to do anything you don't feel comfortable doing, but if we can get you there, no doubt you'll glean something. Whatever it is, you report back."

"This is your client, Nick. You brought in the business. Substantial business. Close it," Amos directed.

Nick tipped his head back and swept his hand down his neck almost as if he could hold off the imaginary hands closing around it. He
had
wanted to go anyway. The conflict of interest nagged at him, but it's not like he hadn't thought about taking the vacation. That's all it would be.

"I have some vacation days saved. How about I just take the time off? If I find out anything, I can report back, but I don't feel comfortable going over there as some kind of spy."

"Do what you need to do." Amos nodded and smiled.

"Of course, it would be great if we knew the depth of the relationship with Midsummer," Bob added.

"Sure." Nick choked out the word, beating back doubts.

It was a vacation. He'd learn nothing. He wouldn't even ask Micky or Taryn any questions. He'd just smile and do the jig he needed to do. They couldn't pressure him into betraying Micky's trust any more than he already had.

N
ick begged
off in the late afternoon, only getting a pass from continued meetings about Azur because he told Tom he promised to meet with Vivienne.

At four thirty, he hurried to the sushi restaurant and got a seat near the giant aquarium. The largest fish in the tank swam in swirling lines while some of the smaller fish clustered together on one end. Maybe they were just feeding, but he wondered if there were any species where the little guy ever stood a chance.

"Nick."

Jonah's voice startled him. Had the older Moran sibling followed him here?

Nick gaped as Jonah sat down. "I'm waiting for Vivienne."

"I know, but she has clients to attend to, and I'm handling things from here."

"Do you know what our meeting was about?" Nick couldn't believe Vivienne had a sudden change of heart and told her family about the photos.

"Trevor Sitges."

"She was vehement about not saying anything to anyone else. What happened?"

"Oh, she didn't want to tell me, but I finally got it out of her. Thank you for helping her. Under the circumstances, I'm amazed that you would."

Nick supposed his rapid ability to move past his feelings for Vivienne looked odd from the outside. Maybe he would be upset if meeting Micky hadn't shown him the superficiality of his relationship with Vivienne. Emotionally, they had only ever been friends—nothing more.

"She's been distraught. The situation turned her into a completely different person—skittish and passive."

"I know, but you don't need to worry about that anymore. I've handled things with Mr. Sitges."

Nick got a nervous flutter in his stomach. "How? I spoke to him. He was resolute about extracting money out of your family."

"I know. That's why I paid him."

Nick leaned closer and dropped his voice. "Are you fucking crazy? What makes you think he'll stop with one payment when he knows there's more water in that well?"

"I talked with him myself. We came to an understanding about the finality of the one-time payment. Two hundred and fifty thousand."

Jonah leveled his grey eyes on Nick, calm as ever. The steady gaze, the relaxed posture, the light of humor in his eyes as he talked about such a vast sum of money—all of it showed Nick the power of growing up wealthy and self-assured.

"You got him down by half?"

"I explained to him that he had to be reasonable. Getting together more money than that would send up red flags, which wouldn't be good for either of us."

"Still that's a huge sum of money. I can't believe you paid." Nick shook his head and tapped the table with both hands.

Jonah shrugged. "He had a specific reason for his request. I felt for him. He got what he wanted, and so did Vivienne. You know how it goes. We can always make more money."

Nick supposed Jonah could, and that attitude probably had started this trouble. "Did he tell you what he had against your family?" Nick's curiosity only grew with every word Jonah spoke.

"He didn't have to. I knew when you mentioned that name a while back something was up. I had a feeling I knew what it was about. It's a private family matter, and no offense, but you're not family. Vivienne never should have involved you in the first place."

"I think she trusted me more than you and your parents," Nick pointed out.

"Yes. She did. Hopefully, now she knows that she can trust me as well. I promised that I wouldn't speak of it until she was ready—just like I've been doing for the past few years."

"You knew?"

Jonah nodded. "Once she broke things off with you, I figured her second coming out party would only be a matter of time. I'm sure it will—eventually."

"You couldn't have warned me?"

"She's my sister, and it's none of my business. If you didn't know, you have to ask yourself a few questions."

Nick couldn't argue with Jonah on that front.

"Do your parents know?"

"I have no idea." Jonah dismissed Nick's question with little interest.

The Morans' ability to avoid speaking truth to one another marveled Nick. He wanted to shake Jonah and find out exactly what was going on, but his will to fight waned. Despite his reticence and his curiosity about how Jonah solved the problem with Trevor, Nick dropped the subject. Instead, he reveled in being shown an exit from the situation.

Now, if only he could extricate himself from the Azur business, his life might be complete. The trip to Paris overshadowed his current joy.

"We don't even need to continue with this meeting then, and I have some issues to resolve."

"We can at least get something to eat." Jonah opened the menu.

"You know, I'm not hungry, but you stay." Nick took some cash out of his wallet. "Have your late lunch or early dinner or whatever this is on me."

"Don't think that I won't take your money. I'm a little light these days," Jonah smiled, and then Nick chuckled.

"I wouldn't expect anything else."