Page 4 of Nothing to Beat (Nothing to… #13)

FIVE WEEKS LATER…

“Is it true Breck’s barred from your office and all meetings you attend?”

Looking up to the male voice, she smiled at Darroch Breckenridge, one of Breck’s younger brothers.

“Not only that,” she said, “he’s required to maintain a minimum twenty-five-foot radius at all times.”

He laughed, though it wasn’t a joke, so she didn’t get what was funny. “Why?”

“Reasons,” she said and shrugged while stacking the papers to tap them on the desk, aligning them. “And we tend to have sex when he gets closer than that.”

“Might be inappropriate in meetings.”

“It might.”

“Doesn’t explain what’s changed. You two have always been like that. The rest of us are so used to it, it’s expected. Disappointing when you don’t follow through.”

Darroch could be serious when he had to be serious, and she could see through that amiable smile.

“Did Breck send you here?”

“No,” he said, maybe a little too quickly. “Guys and I have a bet.”

“Oh, what a surprise! The Breckenridge boys egging each other on, does today end in day?”

He laughed. “Ah, you know us so well. Coming to the Valentine’s Ball?”

“Any excuse for a ball, right?”

“It’s all for charity.”

Yes, charity, another thing the Breckenridges were exceptionally good at. That was the trouble loving a man from such an incredible and altruistic family, there were so few things to stack in the con column.

“Didn’t get your RSVP for my engagement party either.”

“Did you ask Savanna yet?”

A sudden thwack spun Darroch around fast. The woman who’d just smacked his ass quickly tucked herself under his arm.

“Are you talking about me?”

“I’m always talking about you, Cherry,” Darroch said and bowed to kiss her. “What are you doing here?”

“Am I not allowed to be here?” Savanna asked, feigning wide-eyed ignorance.

“You’re always allowed to be here. In fact, I’d recommend you spend all your weekdays here.”

“Why’s that?” Savanna threaded their fingers together. “Because you work here every day?”

“You’d be good for morale.”

“Whose?”

“Mine.”

“You two are adorable.”

“We were just talking about the engagement party,” Darroch said.

“I asked you to marry me, didn’t I? Did I ask you?

” He picked up her hand to elevate her ring finger from the others.

The size of that diamond left no doubt. “Yeah, I asked her… and I think she said yes… either that or she’s fleecing me for the jewel. ”

“He asks me every day even though I’m always wearing his ring.”

“It’s a nice ring. Goes with every outfit. I’m just checking you don’t forget.”

“I wake up with him every morning, but he thinks I’ll forget the man I love. The man who’s promised me children.”

He kissed her head and left his lips there in her hair. “Any time you want to get started…”

Of its own accord, Sequoia’s head shook a little. “Alice Breckenridge should bottle it.”

“Bottle what?” Savanna asked, pushing at her fiancé when his hands and lips started to get frisky. “Her parenting potion?”

“Whatever it is she feeds them to make them so…”

“Generous?” Darroch asked, snatching his woman back tight. “It’s one of Savanna’s favorite words.”

“Except Brandt.” She pondered. “I don’t know what happened there.”

“Got to be an exception to every rule.”

“I suppose that explains Tripp too.”

Another Breckenridge brother.

“I’m meeting Alice tonight,” Savanna said. “We’re having drinks at Blaze, you should come.”

“Oh no, I—”

“You’re having drinks at Blaze? The restaurant attached to Crimson?” Darroch asked. “At Crimson Palace?”

The towering Rouge HQ building, also known as Crimson Palace, contained everything a person might need to have the night of their life.

Restaurants, bars, hotel rooms, and, of course, the infamous Crimson nightclub.

Its owner, Zairn Lomond, was a consummate host, and had found a complementary hostess in his fiancée, Roxie…

something. She couldn’t remember Roxie’s last name. Remember? Huh. Had she ever known it?

“Yes,” Savanna said. “In our private dining room.”

He didn’t sell his disappointment well. “You didn’t come here to see me?”

“No.” Savanna kept her chin high. “I’m waiting for your mother to finish a call.”

“I’m heartbroken.”

“I told you I wouldn’t stop seeing Alice.” Savanna gave him another nudge. “Anyway, less of the victim-act, you’re partying with your brothers tonight! Would you prefer I just sat at home pining for you?”

“Always.” Bold ran in the family. “Besides, it’s not a party. It’s a Tripp thing. I’m too old and responsible to party now. I’m going to be a husband soon.”

“Oh, really. Too old to party? Your little get-together is at Crimson; one of the world’s most infamous and debauched nightclubs.

” Even while the couple sparred, their love bloomed in their smiles.

God, it was still so wonderful and new, they had a lot to look forward to.

“In a building full of hot, semi-inebriated women, with your playboy brother working his magic all over the place.”

“Exactly!” Darroch kissed her quick. “My playboy brother will handle the hot women.”

“All of them?”

“If need be. Not like he’s never done it before. Never wondered where he is when he disappears for days or weeks at a time? He has quotas to hit. Besides our party is upstairs, not in the club.”

“Party?” Savanna crooked a triumphant brow. “In Tripp’s private suite? That makes me feel much better. There are never hot, semi-inebriated women there.”

That was pure sarcasm. Tripp’s immediate periphery was always populated by gorgeous women.

Unconcerned, Darroch just laughed. “I’ve got the hottest woman alive right here. I’m done looking.” His expression flattened. “We’re having sex tonight, right?”

“We have a rule, remember?”

“Okay, call me and we’ll go home together.”

“Who’s to say I’ll be done with my girls before you’re done with your guys?”

“Let me guess, Ms. Roxie Kyst will be there,” Darroch said, squeezing Savanna. “So I might not see you for a week or two.”

Kyst! Roxie Kyst, Crimson hostess, Rouge’s ambassadress, the empress of all things connected to Zairn Lomond, CEO of the umbrella Rouge conglomerate.

“It’s a possibility.”

Sequoia interrupted the couple’s flow. “It’s a wonder I’ve managed to miss this woman everyone talks so highly of.”

“Roxie?” Savanna asked. “You’ve never met Roxie? Oh, you have to meet her! Another reason to come with us tonight! You have to. I haven’t spent enough time with you.” They’d been introduced, that was about as far as it went. “Alice will be with us, it won’t be too crazy, I promise.”

Her eyes met Darroch’s.

“You’re one of us, Seq, you’re family.”

Which was his way of telling her Breck would be okay with it. Of course he would be okay with it. He didn’t know how to not be okay with any of her choices… barring one.

“Not like I used to be.”

“Breck’s not an asshole. If you’re mad at him—”

“Okay.” She closed her laptop and stood up, ending that track of conversation. “I’d love to join you.”

Would she? Maybe. Maybe not. One thing she didn’t want to do was get into the nitty-gritty of her and Breck’s non-existent relationship with one of his numerous brothers.

Everyone else had gone home. The building wouldn’t fall down without her. Why shouldn’t she have a little fun?