Jealous in July (Spring River Valley Book 7) (2 page)

“Yeah.”

Riley eyed his pasta salad and nibbled a small bite. “You two an item?”

“What? No, we just—”

“She’s pretty hot…but you didn’t hear that from me for legal purposes.”

“You think she’s hot?”

“
Sure. Don’t you?”

More than you know
. “I guess… We’ve flirted a little.”

After two more bites, Riley pushed his plate back. “
Lucky you. Guess I’m not all that hungry. The Westmorland case is kicking my ass. I’ve got to get back upstairs.” He rose, snagging the apple from his tray before tossing the rest.

“Lucky me?” Chase asked
, but Riley had already disappeared, heading back to his mound of paperwork and probably happily on his way to another all-nighter, leaving Chase to contemplate his words. Did Brenda stand a chance with the guy?

Chase’s gut told him to stay out of it, but some other part of his anatomy wasn’t quite as cooperative.
How could he get her to see Riley Thayer was a lost cause in the love department?

“I’m making my move on the Fourth,” Brenda announced over what had to be the fiftieth rack of bathing suits she and Samantha Wilton had perused since arriving at the mall.

Sam eyed her suspiciously over a yellow polka-dotted bikini bottom. “Your move?”

“The Fireworks Party. Every year EBD invites everyone up to the roof of our building to watch the fireworks. Then the next day is the company picnic, so everyone stays late, hangs out. They have champagne and shellfish and toasted marshmallows. It’s like a beach party twenty stories up.”

Samantha crammed the half bathing suit back into the rack and continued riffling through halter tops and bootie shorts with the speed of
a professional shopper. “And this move would be?”

“I’m going to corner Riley and ask him out. It’s the perfect day. He can’t say he’s busy, because the next day is the picnic, so no one does any work
, and this year we’re getting the sixth off so we can have a long weekend. That was Mitzi Danziger’s doing, I understand, because she wants to go to Barbados and couldn’t get a flight until the weekend.”

“It sounds like a plan. With the office shut down for a few days, he’ll have nothing to do. What kind of date are you planning?”

Brenda added a black one-piece to the collection of brightly colored spandex that hung from her left wrist. She hated mid-season suit shopping, but Sam’s boyfriend Aiden had invited them both on a lake cruise at the end of August, and if Brenda had her way, she’d be taking Riley along. “Something simple and elegant. I figured dinner at Landry’s Pier or maybe Taverna Fiora, then a walk by the lake. Romantic, but not pushy. What do you think?”

“If he says no,
I’ll
go.” Sam winked.

Brenda feigned shock. “What? Is Aiden not taking you on romantic dates anymore?”

Color rose in Sam’s cheeks. “We don’t get out much these days. I see a lot of the bedroom ceiling.”

“Oh, my God. Do you have to rub it in? Us poor girls who aren’t getting any don’t need to hear about your sexcapades.”

“I’m sorry. You asked. Now that my arm is better, we’ve had to make up for lost time.” Sam sported only a thin bandage on her left forearm where a stray dog had bitten her at the veterinary clinic where she worked. The injury had actually served to bring her and Aiden closer, and to her own embarrassment, Brenda had considered throwing herself in front of the nearest dog just to get Riley’s attention. Of course, she doubted that, like Aiden, he would drop everything to be by her side twenty-four/seven while she healed. He’d more likely be interested only in taking on the medical compensation case.

That thought brought her back to the strange conversation she’d had with Chase in the cafeteria on Friday.
She’d dismissed his ramblings out of hand at first, but his assessment of Riley kept coming back to haunt her. “Sam, tell me honestly. Do you think Riley is a lost cause?”

Samantha stopped attacking the racks and raised a brow. “Where did that come from?”

Brenda shrugged. “I don’t know. I was just considering… He’s so driven, so focused. That’s what I admire about him. He’s going to be a brilliant lawyer, but I’ve been assuming that once he takes the bar he’ll wake up out of his law-school daze and come back down to earth. What if he doesn’t?”

Sam was quiet for a minute, her lips pursed in contemplation. “Wasn’t your point to give him a reason to come back to earth? Sure, there’s the risk that what you see is what you get. He might even become more driven if the firm considers making him a partner because he’ll have even more to prove, but if you keep that in mind and don’t make any commitments until you see where the chips fall, you’ll be all right.”

“That’s what I say.” Brenda nodded, the knot in her stomach loosening just a bit. “He’s worth the risk, and he probably needs the distraction.”

“You have to go for it.”

“I will.”

Sam gathered her prospective suits and swung around toward the dressing rooms. “Good, now
let’s go try these on and get depressed and go drown our sorrows in mochachinos.”

* * * *

Brilliant flashes of neon blue and green lit the sky, casting the faces of the assembled EBD employees in flickering shadows and metallic light. Everyone at the penthouse party
ooh
ed and
aah
ed at the display being launched from the far end of the park on the other side of the river. The vantage point from the flat roof above the office building’s twentieth floor was perfect. They were by far the luckiest people in Spring River Valley, not only to have such a view of the town-sponsored fireworks, but to have a live band, a buffet worthy of a five-star cruise ship, and balmy breezes that defied the day’s seasonably hot temperatures.

Chase had always endured EBD’s Fourth of July
party rather than enjoyed it because, after all, it was more work than play, despite the jovial atmosphere. This was one of those corporate shindigs where schmoozing and networking took precedence over real fun and relaxation.

This year, though, there was one big distraction that managed to keep his mind off of buttering up the partners so he could pitch the idea of flextime, or lobbying for an extra day off during the Christmas holidays. Tonight Chase only saw a vision in pale green as she floated among their coworkers smiling and laughing, casually flaunting bare shoulders in a sweet sundress and dazzling him into speechlessness every time she raised a
glass of sparkling champagne to her shimmery lips.

He wondered if anyone else saw her the way he did. With her long
chestnut hair swirling around her shoulders in sensual waves, her ocean-green eyes highlighted by smoky shadow and dark liner, and the flash of her smile brighter than the explosions dancing across the sky, Brenda was sin incarnate tonight.

He’d die if he didn’t make his move. So, cradling a beer, he made his way across the open expanse between them and met her at the railing overlooking the water.

The willowy redhead Brenda had been talking to cast him a sly smile as he approached. “I’d better go circulate. Can’t have the whole department in one place, can we?” Danielle Lennox worked in his department. Her desk sat on the other side of the cubicle wall from Chase, and they regularly traded good-natured barbs and paper airplanes on slow afternoons. She was pretty, daring, and had more than once captivated him with her exquisite singing voice, but next to Brenda’s voluptuous charms, she paled.

“Good idea, Dani. I’ll work this side of the roof for a bit.” He offered her a high five as she slipped away, leaving him blissfully alone with his objective.

“Divide and conquer, is that your plan tonight?” Brenda asked, swirling the dregs of her champagne. A plump strawberry rested at the bottom of her glass, and Chase eyed it, trying not to imagine how her lips would look wrapped around the succulent fruit.

He turned his back to the sparkling vista of the river and the dark trees of the park beyond, ignoring the next thunderous bursts of fireworks. This way he could see her face lit by the flickering colors and watch her eyes light up with the sky. “You know how sneaky we are in personnel. We have to work all the angles at once.”

“So, let me guess, tonight you’re trying to get everyone to agree to work on the day after Thanksgiving.”

“Not at all.” He clutched his chest.
“I’m wounded you would think I don’t advocate a full day of shopping on Black Friday. No, our objective this year is to convince employees they want to work on Saturdays. How about it? I might be able to get the partners to throw in a pizza lunch.”

She made a face. “Go away. I’m not talking business tonight.”

“I’m just kidding. The partners would never agree to give everyone free pizza.” Chase scanned the crowd for Riley, and damn it, he managed to catch his rival’s eye. Crap. Now the guy was headed toward them. Hastily, he clinked his beer bottle against Brenda’s champagne glass. “Cheers. It seems you’ve captured the attention of a certain gentleman.”

She cast a quick glance over one creamy shoulder
, and her eyes widened. “He’s headed over here. Great. I can make my move. I haven’t been able to get near him all evening.”

Chase fought to keep his tone light. “We could light a bit of a fire under him, you know.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, he seems like the type who doesn’t see what’s right in front of him, so maybe if we show him you’re not exactly unclaimed property
, he might realize he has to work fast.”

Her lips flattened. “Unclaimed
property
?”

Chase
cringed. “You know what I mean. Sorry. Poor choice of words. You know it’s easier to land a good job if you’re already employed, or it’s easier to find an interested mate if you’re already taken? Well…” He nodded toward Riley, who’d been sidetracked by Mitzi, fortunately. “If Riley thinks you aren’t a hundred percent on the market, he might be more likely to…”

“So you think he’s the type who only wants what someone else has?” Her tone held both annoyance and curiosity. If he told her yes, would she believe him?

He couldn’t outright lie, but he could certainly hedge. “I don’t know. You know what they say about the good ones already being taken.”

“I thought that only applied to men.” Her sarcastic pout arrowed right to his groin. God, she was so hot. Too bad he knew if he just dropped all
pretenses and asked her out, she’d shoot him right down.

“Not so.” He shrugged. “The offer is there. Do with it what you will.”

“What offer?” Her voice rose in annoyance, but her gaze shifted back to where Riley stood looking like he was working up the gumption to peel his ear away from Mitzi.

“A little harmless flirting, just to make it look like he’s got some competition for your attention. Guys love a challenge. Trust me.”

“So ‘play hard to get’ is your sage romantic advice?”

“I thought that was classic
advice. I’m saying, we just give him a little nudge. Make him think he might have to work for it.”

“That sounds like a colossal backfire waiting to happen.”

The girl was smart. “Okay. Well, you know. The offer stands. Good luck.” He tipped his beer in her direction again and slipped away just as Riley broke free from Mitzi’s red-taloned grasp and made a beeline for Brenda.

Colossal backfire was certainly the phrase of the day. Dejected, Chase
abandoned his empty beer bottle and snagged a fresh one from a barrel of ice. He headed toward the buffet, determined not to hang around and listen to the star of his lusty fantasies throw herself at another man. His only solace lay in the fact that he was more than certain Riley would never bite. The man was dead inside, and he would likely remain that way for the rest of his life.

*

With some effort, Brenda tore her gaze away from Chase’s receding back and pasted a smile over the confused frown her co-worker had caused. Now he’d given her more food for thought, spoiled though it was. Could Riley be the type who would prefer to steal a woman from another man?

She’d never thought of him that way, but Chase knew him better. They certainly spent more time together. Of course, that might all be about to change. Her golden-haired knight was on his way toward her. She straightened her spine, flicked her hair back
, and tried to take a nonchalant sip of champagne. Unfortunately the only thing left in her glass was the strawberry, which bonked her on the nose.

She recovered quickly
and set the empty glass on a nearby ledge. Hopefully Riley hadn’t noticed.

“Hey, Brenda. I’ve been trying to find you all evening.” His voice rode over her with the same sensual caress as the night breeze. She shivered.

“Well, you’ve found me. How are you enjoying the party?” The strength of her convictions had left her voice, and now she sounded breathy and uncertain. She stifled a sigh of frustration.

“Oh, well, you know. It’s mostly work talk. Can’t get away from that.
And unfortunately, speaking of that, can I borrow you for a couple of minutes? I wanted to ask you something.”