The Double Deal

She fished out her phone with the booster signal and dialed up her oldest brother, Broderick. With their dad in the throes of new love and planning a wedding, Broderick had become the de facto head of their family with orders from their father to make peace. Their dad had demanded that the Steeles and Mikkelsons unite as a family and a company. Get along—or sell their shares and move on.

Broderick had been charged with aligning the finances of the two companies, along with rival CFO Glenna Mikkelson. They’d surprised everyone by resuming their brief college romance...and now they were engaged and raising Glenna’s daughter together.

If Broderick and Glenna could balance romance and work, why couldn’t her father and his new “girlfriend” tend to the business angle, or at least participate more in the transition? The rest of them were barely treading water keeping up with the abrupt changes, keeping board members calm—and watching their backs as siblings on either side of the merged family jockeyed for top-dog position. The only Mikkelson son who seemed to be out of the running was Trystan, who managed their family’s ranch and insisted he wanted no part of anything that required a suit.

Naomi kept one ear on the shower and another on the phone. The call rang and rang, then went to voice mail. She tried again with no luck.

Looking at the one bar of connectivity, she knew her chance to phone out could be limited. Sighing, she quickly dialed her sister Delaney. She wasn’t as in-your-face as their brother about the business. But Delaney had a stubborn streak a mile long, especially when it came to ecological protection.

Perhaps her sister should have been her first call instead of Broderick.

Two rings in, Delaney picked up. “How’s it going?”

Naomi wandered to the curved sofa lining part of the igloo wall for a better vantage point to monitor the bathing area for the second Royce stepped out. “I’m getting to know him. But he’s not chatty. His dog’s a better conversationalist.”

Her sister laughed lightly. “But you’re talking to the great Dr. Royce Miller. That’s more than anyone else has managed to accomplish. I’m impressed.”

“I’ve got crazy-good lawyering skills.” She injected punch in her tone, more than she was feeling. She was fading fast energywise. What a strange, unexpected turn her expedition here had taken.

“That you do.”

“Was that an actual compliment?” Naomi teased, relaxing into the familiarity of a normal conversation with her sister. She was lucky to have a large family, three brothers and a sister. They were such a great support.

And as she thought of her family, she couldn’t help but think of her mother and her sister Brea, who were gone. Losing them had left such a hole in her heart—and a need for stability.

“Hey, was that insecurity, Naomi?” Delaney’s tone was anything but teasing. More like stunned.

Few knew that shy Delaney had far more fight in her than Naomi did. Delaney chewed up corporate types who showed disregard for the environment. Delaney’s latest target for scathing letters to the editors had been bigwig investor Birch Montoya, which did prove a bit problematic since the family business could use his financial endorsement, especially if they were to take on something as big as making Royce Miller’s style of changes.

If Naomi won Royce Miller.

“Insecurity?” Not that she would admit. “Never. It’s just nice to hear affirmation.” Especially at a time when she was questioning herself. So many changes. So many hormones. And she still had to face telling her family about the pregnancy. “Things are strange in the family right now. How were Dad and Jeannie at dinner last night? Sorry to have crashed early.” Pregnancy had made her so sleepy.

“Dad and Jeannie are the same. They’re like teenagers planning their wedding. Not that they’re waiting on the ceremony. That day Glenna and Broderick found them in the shower togeth—”

“Stop,” Naomi said fast, half laughing. “My brain is on fire with the image.”

“Imagine if we’d actually been there.” Delaney chuckled softly, then the sound dwindled. “The thing that’s starting to get to me though...if this was our mom and dad, we would think it was romantic. Granted, no one needs the full Monty.”

“Can you please stop with the naked references?” Her eyes drifted back to the shower area. To Royce. There was a sauna there too. Oh, the possibilities heated her thoughts.

Her warm forehead rested against the cool glass wall. Lights around the property barely pierced the blizzard.

“I never would have pegged you for a prude.”

Ouch, that stung, not that she intended to let Delaney know. “Well, it’s not like you’re in the middle of some torrid affair, either.”

Silence stretched between them.

Putting Naomi on alert. She straightened. “Are you?”

“My love life is tame. I’m too busy with work. You’re just imaging things after all that time you spent helping your friend revamp online dating profiles.”

Naomi sensed something in her sister’s voice beyond the simple teasing, but with a crackly cell phone reception, perhaps now wasn’t the best time to push on personal stuff. Though she couldn’t deny she was curious. “How’re things going with smoothing Birch Montoya’s ruffled feathers?”

“I’m working on it. It’s just...not that simple for me. I feel like we would be taking money from the devil, given his stance on protecting the environment.”

“Then that makes it all the more important for me to bring Royce on board to balance things out.” Naomi chewed her lip for a moment before adding, “It’s all so complicated.”

“The business as much as the family.” Delaney’s words carried a hefty sigh. “It’s not that I don’t want Dad to move on. I’m just having trouble with him choosing a life with her.”

And from all indications, Jeannie Mikkelson’s kids were having a difficult time with the shocker romance, as well. Sure, Jeannie’s husband had been dead for two years—of a heart attack. But the families had been at war for so long. So many harsh words and character assassinations had taken place. And the gossip. Someone went so far as to hint the Mikkelsons had played a part in the fatal plane crash that killed Brea and their mother—completely unsubstantiated and unbelievable. But investors were going to find it tough to overlook divisions so deep and public.

Naomi toyed with a lock of her hair. “Broderick is marrying a Mikkelson. Are you saying that’s a problem?”

“I’m just saying it’s not easy.”

Back in college, Broderick and Glenna had indulged in a poorly hidden brief affair, then split up. Glenna had married someone else and become a widow before reuniting with Broderick very recently.

“And now they have a precious baby.” A baby conceived when Glenna’s husband had an affair shortly before he came down with pancreatic cancer and died. And yet, Glenna and Broderick still loved Fleur unconditionally. They were in the process of making the adoption official after the baby had been abandoned by her mother.

Naomi’s hand slid over her stomach and she wondered if her child would have a father’s love someday.

“Fleur’s pretty awesome.” The smile in Delaney’s voice was unmistakable. “You should see her wave her fists. I’m certain she’s bumping my fist on purpose.”

“Of course she is,” Naomi joked right back. “Sing her an extra lullaby from Aunt Naomi.”

“You can’t carry a tune.”

“That’s why you’re going to sing it for me.” The shower silenced in the bathroom. Naomi’s heart did a flip against her rib cage. She really needed a game plan for dealing with the sexy scientist before he emerged. “Gotta go now. Love you.”

She thumbed her phone off fast and bent over to shove it in her backpack, making sure the security code locked the screen. The hair on the back of her neck prickled, as if she was being watched. She checked the dog, but Tessie was sound asleep and snoring which could only mean...

Naomi straightened slowly and turned to find Royce. Big and awake and sexy, he stood in low-slung sweatpants, towel-drying his hair. He watched her with so much heat in his eyes, she barely resisted the urge to drag a finger down the glass windows to check for steamy condensation.

* * *

Delaney Steele had a secret.

Sliding the cell phone into her coat pocket, she hoped what she’d been doing—was about to do again—wouldn’t wreck her sister’s plan with Royce Miller.

But she just couldn’t bring herself to tell Naomi.

Stepping out of her SUV into the snowy parking lot, Delaney braced herself for the walk into the Steele family headquarters. Wind whipped hard off the mountains, bringing a frosty bite against her cheek until she yanked up the deep hood of her parka.

Maybe Delaney was too adept at keeping things hidden, until it just became instinct. Such as how she wasn’t as shy as she pretended to be. Or how she’d kissed her sister’s boyfriend in high school. Or that she was scared of everyone’s dogs, but didn’t want to hurt their feelings.

Or how she fought survivor’s guilt every day of her life.