Lucky 7 Bad Boys Contemporary Romance Boxed Set (68 page)

And now, because of all this crap with Rufus Randall, he’d likely lost Natasha before he’d been smart enough to know he wanted to keep her.

He continued pacing, not that it was an easy thing to do in Audra’s room. She didn’t believe in empty floor space. She did, however, believe in honesty.

Which in his anger this evening, he’d forgotten.

He turned at the click of the lock and watched his sister enter the room. She looked worn out, and now that he looked closely, he saw what Natasha had earlier. Signs of tears, signs of betrayal.

And damned if he wasn’t the one who’d betrayed her.

“What? Hadn’t you finished bitchin’ me out? Did you have to stick around and rip at me again?”

“No. I wanted to talk to you.”

“Tough shit. I don’t want to talk to you.” She let the door slam behind her and shoved her keycard in her back pocket. “And I really don’t want to see you, so why don’t you scram?”

“Not till we talk.”

“Fine. I’m not staying anyway.” She went to the dressing area and rifled through her make-up bag. “I just needed something for a headache. Who knew I’d have a bigger one stalking me in my room?”

She grabbed a tissue of some kind and started swiping off her streaked makeup.

“Don’t be a brat, Audra. I just need a couple minutes then I’ll go.”

“Brat?” She eyed him in the mirror, then rolled her eyes before going back to rubbing some creamy gunk over her face. “Nice change from thief. Or is that a bratty thief?”

“That’s what I wanted to talk to you about—”

“What?” she interrupted. “You want the details? A full confession? Maybe you want to let me know you’re disowning me. Again.”

God, could he feel any worse? Drew frowned at her, but knew she had the right to make all of those accusations and more. His heart ached at the pain in her eyes. She looked so young.

“Damn, Audra. I’m sorry, okay. You’re right, I screwed up.”

“Come again?” She paused in the act of coloring her eyes with a heavy black pencil and stared at him, her shock clear even in the reflection.

“I know you aren’t a thief. I don’t know how Ruf got a hold of that design, but contrary to the idiocy I was spouting earlier, it wasn’t through you.”

“What changed your mind?”

“I finally stopped overreacting long enough to think clearly. Even if I wasn’t there for you when you were a kid, I know you well enough to know you are too strong to steal anything.”

Audra held his gaze for a moment, then set down her eye pencil and turned to face him.

“You were there as much as you could be. I know my mom made it hell for you. I remember you calling to talk to me once. I was in my room and heard the phone ring, so I came out to see who it was. I heard her tell you I didn’t want to see you, that I was away for the summer at camp or something.”

Drew remembered that summer. It had been the first one after their dad had died and he’d wanted—needed—to connect with his sister. But Lorna had insisted that her little girl had to go to camp, a damned expensive one at that. Drew had paid the fee, but asked that she spend a week before or after with him. Lorna had told him Audra wasn’t interested.

“Well, camp was important.”

Audra snorted. “Please, do I look like a campfire girl to you? I’ve never been to camp in my life.”

It only took a second for realization to dawn.

“She lied?” Maybe he’d used up all his anger earlier because he couldn’t even muster a frown.

“About a lot of stuff. I didn’t think I could say anything, cause she made it pretty clear you didn’t want me.”

Drew shook his head. All it would have taken was direct contact. A little open communication and he’d likely have had a helluva lot better relationship with his sister.

“You know that isn’t true, right?”
Audra sniffed and gave a half-hearted shrug.

“Look, I’m not gonna get mushy here and make a bunch of dorky declarations that’ll embarrass both of us. But we’re family, Audra. That means a lot to me. So do you.”

She grinned. A lot of the stiffness left her face and Drew saw the pretty little girl he’d played Candyland with all those years ago.

“So you gonna save that mushy stuff for Tasha?”

Drew snorted. He had no idea if Natasha would let him get close enough to spout mush. He planned to try though.

“In case you’re worried, Natasha doesn’t think you did anything wrong either. She basically called me an idiot for accusing you.”

Audra snickered. “You were an idiot.”

“Yeah, well, Natasha is one smart woman.”

“You’re looped over her, aren’t you?”

“Looped,” Drew agreed.

“Hmm.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing. Just, you know, you really screwed things up by acting like a Neanderthal tonight.” Audra looked like she had something else to say, but then changed her mind. “How are you gonna make it up to her?”

“I don’t know.” He paused and stared off in space. “I guess I’m going to have to save her dream.”

“Yeah?” Audra grinned and socked him in the shoulder. “Now that’s romance.”

“Hey, I can be a romantic guy.”

“Oh, sure. You’re Mr. Romance.”

Drew grinned.

“You know, Drew, you deserve your dream, too.”

The grin fell from his face. Now Audra? Was he clearly a dream dropout or something?

“Who says I don’t have dreams?”

“You work your butt off. You party with the best of them, and if it wasn’t for all this goofy dream talk, I wouldn’t have clued in. You bailed on yours, didn’t you?”

Had he? Maybe, in a way.

“I wouldn’t say I bailed. Just that my priorities shifted.” She rolled her eyes and Drew heaved a deep sigh before admitting, “Natasha is my dream. And for once, I plan to fight to make that dream come true.”

Audra whooped and did a little happy dance around the room. Then, all misty-eyed, she shocked the hell out of Drew by throwing her arms around his neck.

“Have I ever told you I’m proud you’re my brother?”

Ignoring his own burning eyes, Drew hugged her close.

“Probably as often as I’ve told you I’m proud you’re my sister.”

They looked at each other and laughed.

“Okay, dream saving time,” Audra said. She plopped, cross-legged, on the bed and patted the floral bedspread beside her. “Let me give you some advice.

* * *

Her heart pounding, Natasha smoothed her hair, ran a hand over her hip and took a deep breath. Then she knocked on Ruf’s hotel room door. To hell with the fact that it was only seven in the morning. She, Lanie and Audra had plotted into the night and she didn’t want to waste any time setting their plan into action.

She cast a sidelong glance down the hall toward the bank of elevators and saw Audra’s head peek around. She sure hoped this would work, but even if it didn’t, she’d realized two things last night.

First off, she could, and would, make
Sensual Supports
a success. Second, Audra Walker might very well be instrumental in assuring her of that. As she’d sat up all night chatting with her and Lanie, a kernel of an idea had taken root in Natasha’s mind. She wasn’t sure if she’d follow through, or even how she felt about it yet. But, she’d deal with that later. For now, she had a snake to charm. Then she’d chop off his head.

The snake opened the door, a look of surprise on his face when he saw her. Surprise and something else she didn’t understand.

“Sweet thing?” Isn’t it a little early for visiting?” He glanced at his watch. “If you’re here to apologize for your little snit last night, I’m open to hearing it. But this isn’t really a good time for me. How about we get together a couple hours from now?”

“No, Ruf. I really need to talk to you before the convention opens and you make your announcement.”

“Ah, yeah, about that...”

“Please, can I come in and discuss this with you?” She needed to get in the door so Audra could sneak in behind her. Their plan depended on Audra getting into his bedroom undetected. Thanks to the time the young woman had spent avoiding Ruf's advances, she learned that Ruf kept things of value—like a stolen bra—hidden inside. Hopefully, he’d back down and admit he stole it himself when confronted with the evidence.

“Um, yeah. Sure, come on in.”

Natasha squinted at him. The older man seemed nervous. And awfully disheveled for such a fastidious snake. Granted, it was pretty early in the morning, but his hair was a mess and his shirt looked all wrinkled in front, like someone had been holding it in their fist.

“Thanks.” She waited until Ruf held the door open, then just as she was entering, strategically dropped her purse. “Oh, go ahead, I’ll be right there,” she said, bending to pick it up.

When he did, she carefully caught the heavy door and as it swung shut, slid her keycard in the jam so it didn’t latch. There, phase one of their plan worked perfectly. Exhilaration surged through Natasha and she walked a little straighter. Yes, this was all going to turn out fine.

Then she reached the sitting area of Ruf’s suite and stopped short. Shock raced through her system.

“What are you doing here?” Hell, what was he even doing out of bed? And, from the clear, self-satisfied look in his eyes, he was completely awake.

“Ruf and I were having a little debate this morning. Weren’t we, Ruf?”

“Sure. A debate.” From the sick look on Ruf’s face, he was losing.

“What’s going on?” Natasha asked loudly, both because she really was shocked and to cover the sound behind her, a faint squeak of the door opening. Audra was in. But seeing Drew here in front of her, Natasha had no idea how to carry out the plan. Her breath tightened in her chest as she tried to find composure. They’d rehearsed and hashed out all the options. But they’d never considered a scenario with Drew in it.

Her eyes ate him up, wishing she could curl into his arms and brush her lips over his. But she couldn’t forget how easily he’d turned his back--on his sister, on her, on himself.

She just wasn’t ready to deal with him yet. All her energy, all her attention, had been focused on recovering her design. That’s where she wanted it. Needed it. She’d been trying to ignore the fact that she still needed to recover her heart.

But like so much else this week, she apparently didn’t have a choice. Her newfound confidence screamed for confrontation, but Natasha figured there was wisdom in understanding the lay of the land before she did anything.

“So... what’s going on here?” she asked. Again.

“Ruf? Want to fill Natasha in?”

“You don’t have anything on me, Walker. Don’t think you can come in here and make threats and get away with it.”

Natasha arched her brows at Drew. He continued to give Ruf a menacing glare.

“You threatened Ruf?” Her hero.

“I simply promised him that if he screwed you over, I’d return the favor. Only I’d get ugly.”

A gleeful giddiness spun through Natasha. Drew had come to fight for her. To fight for her dream. Could she love him any more? Color rose, warming her cheeks and Natasha figured anything after this was gravy. She’d already won the main prize.

“Thank you,” she murmured. Her eyes filled with emotion, and for the first time she didn’t care if Drew saw it or not. Hell, she wanted him to see it. To know how she felt.

A sound behind her had both men glancing over her shoulder. Natasha shifted her weight and crossed her arms over her chest, trying to cover any more noise Audra might make.

“Ruf, I’d appreciate seeing that design you plan to introduce today,” she said loudly. Both men’s gazes shot back to her.

“Sorry, Sweet Thing, but that’s confidential until the unveiling.” He had a trace of his habitual cockiness back. Maybe because he was dealing with her now. The idiot probably thought she wasn’t the threat Drew was. How wrong he was…

“I’m sorry, but I can’t accept that. You expect me to pull my design. A design I have arranged to present to half-dozen manufacturers and clients this afternoon. I can’t reasonably do that unless I assure myself that yours isn’t a copy.”

“Sweet Thing, how do you think you can prove anything like that? Creativity isn’t something you can claim.”

“Hmm, yeah. You’re right. But designs, fortunately, are.”

“Come again?”

“I’ve got a patent on my design,” she said with her cockiest smile. It was almost true, after all.

“No you don’t,” he dismissed. Then, narrowing his eyes, he turned a little paler. “Do you?”

“Oh, darn. Did I forget to mention that? I sure hope your design isn’t too close to mine. I’d hate to see you get in trouble for that.” She paused a beat, then smiled. “Unless, of course, you have your own patent.”

Ruf traced his index finger and thumb over his pencil mustache and glared at her. Nerves danced in Natasha’s stomach. She couldn’t look at Drew, she was too afraid Ruf would call her bluff.