Tall, Dark & Reckless

Contrary to Dancie’s whining, she was wearing the perfect business-casual outfit for the occasion. The denim skirt was genius, if Piper did say so herself. And the chino khaki jacket echoed the slacks both Travis and BT wore. Honestly, even the breast-cancer awareness tank worked.

Straightened, Dancie’s hair was a couple of inches longer and the ends curved just below her shoulders in a feminine wave. She could stand an eyebrow wax, but all in all, it didn’t look as though she was trying to alienate her father by looking as asexual as possible.

Naturally Piper had typed B. T. Pollard for Dancie’s sake—he was a beta-alpha who craved an alpha’s status—and she was using all the strategies she’d learned to position him to be receptive to what Dancie had to say. Even Piper was wearing a swirly skirt, stiletto sandals, and had dug out an ancient set of hot rollers to give herself Texas big hair.

Dancie’s father was as old as Piper’s grandfather and clearly of the “little housewife” generation, but he loved his kids and his wife and wanted what was best for them. The problem was that he and Dancie disagreed on what was best.

Piper wished BT could see how different Dancie was from her beauty queen mother and stop trying to force her to be something she wasn’t. She wished Dancie didn’t care so much. Maybe if Piper had grown up with a father, she might care about gaining his approval, too.

Dancie desperately wanted to show her father that she was as valuable to the business as Travis. And Piper desperately wanted a way to pay Dancie back for all the years she’d let Piper live with her virtually rent free so Piper could stay in school. Dancie being named a partner today would do it. And then Piper could move on, guilt free.

She needed to do something different with her life, to shake things up. But what? She’d never lived anywhere but Austin and she was just … restless. Twitchy. Tired of coaching others from the sidelines. She was ready to get in the game of life, herself. That, she knew. Figuring out what she wanted was the tricky part.

Before she could stop herself, she looked at Mark Banning. He and Travis were murmuring, but while Travis watched Dancie and his father, Mark was watching her. Again. Still.

Awareness prickled her skin and she couldn’t look away. Not only that, she caught herself raising her hand toward her hair. Preening. It was a typical female response when a woman found a man attractive. But Mark wasn’t signaling romantic interest, he was studying her, no doubt looking for clues for ways he could manipulate her if he needed to. If he knew she found him attractive, then he’d use it.

Keeping that in mind, Piper stopped from touching her hair and instead grasped her mug in both hands. Then she raised the mug from waist level and held it in front of her chest. A shield—body-language talk for “I’m not interested.” Which was a total lie because parts of her were shouting, “Look! Look! A prime male. Let’s have his babies.”

Mark smiled slightly and shifted his torso to face her, the rat. It signaled interest and intent and he was doing it on purpose. Piper wasn’t surprised he knew something about body language. As a reporter, he’d have to.

And it was such a lovely torso, too. She wouldn’t mind spending quality time with that torso, preferably without the jacket and shirt. Would it be so terrible to allow him to think he was manipulating her? Just for a little while?

No. No, no, no. Wrong game for her. Mark was a major-league all-star. Piper wasn’t even ready for the minor leagues. Little League, maybe. And she’d have to warm up before she was ready to go to bat.

And Mark Banning? Who was she kidding, anyway? Talk about a guaranteed strikeout.

Why was she using sports metaphors? She didn’t particularly like baseball. Maybe it was because she was standing near him and she’d breathed in some of his manly essence or something.

Oh, good grief. Dancie was seconds away from speaking to her dad in a baby voice and Piper was getting high on Mark Banning fumes.

Forcing herself to step away from him, she snagged Dancie’s stupid coffee mug and walked to the sideboard where she poured coffee into a fresh mug for Dancie and another one for her. She added sugar to her own coffee because her brain needed a shot of glucose. Healthy? Not so much. Effective? Temporarily.

“Did you dress up for me?” Dancie’s father leaned forward and lowered his voice. “Or have you got a boyfriend? Maybe you’re meeting him for lunch?”

“Dad …” Looking embarrassed, Dancie pulled her hands away.

“Who is he? Do I know him? Maybe I’ll just come along with you to lunch, eh?”

“No boyfriend,” Dancie rallied. “But you can take me to lunch!” She ducked her head and a wheedling note entered her voice. “Please?” Daddy’s little princess was wrapping him around her finger again.

This was not going as well as Piper had hoped.

“Aw, baby, sure, I’ll take you to lunch. But what’s wrong with the boys in this town? Piper—” BT addressed her for the first time “—that’s your field. Tell me what’s wrong with the boys in this town.”

Oh, don’t get me started. “Nothing, Mr. Pollard. Dancie just hasn’t met the right one yet.”

He gestured. “And how is she going to meet the right one when she spends all her time cooped up in front of the computer?”

Fell into that trap, didn’t you, Piper?

“And her best friend is a matchmaker!” He shook his head as Dancie and Piper exchanged looks. “What kind of friend are you not to find a nice boy for my Dancie?”

“I’m not a matchmaker, Mr. Pollard. I’m a compatibility expert. I tell women what to do after they’ve found a man.” Which he’d know if he ever read her column.

“Psh.” He waved her away with both hands. “What’s to tell? Act like a lady and let a man be a man. Let him know you appreciate the fact that he’s a man—but not too much.”

“Dad!”

He held up a thumb and finger. “A little sample,” he instructed a pink-cheeked Dancie. “Leave him hungry for more and let nature take its course.”

Piper was pretty sure she heard a muffled snort from behind her. “That’s a good strategy for some types of men, though not—”

“But first she’s gotta find a man! And I’m not talking about someone like you!” BT pointed at Mark. “She needs somebody who’ll be around to take care of her.”

“Yes, sir.” Mark spoke with complete seriousness, but beside him, Travis was about to lose it.

“Dad, I’m fine.” Miraculously, Dancie had regained her composure. “I don’t need help finding a man.”

BT turned back to Dancie. “You’re right. They should be finding you. Look at you. So pretty. You shouldn’t be here. You should go to lunch with your mother. Play tennis. Let her take you around so the boys can see you.”

Dancie smiled. “I’ll do that.”

She would?

“I’ll call Mom after the meeting. Let’s get started, or it’ll be too late.”

Way to go, Dancie. Piper sat at the table, knowing the gentlemen in the room would, too.

They did, with BT at the head, a twin on either side and Mark and Piper facing each other across the table.

Mark had moved a little slowly, nothing anyone would have noticed unless they were watching for it, which Piper was. He leaned back in the cushioned chair and they locked gazes.

Let the games begin.

3

Step three: Demonstrate kindness. The perception that a woman is a kind person is the one trait that appeals to all personality types.

“OKAY.” BT SLAPPED both hands on the tabletop. “Let’s see what we got here.”

As he bent over to reach inside the battered leather satchel resting on the floor next to his chair, both Dancie and Travis emphatically mimed keeping quiet. “Don’t say anything,” Travis mouthed at Mark and included Piper with a look. She glanced at Dancie, who had her finger to her mouth.

Okay. Got the message. Piper mimed zipping her lips.

BT tossed an old-fashioned manila folder onto the table where it skidded a few inches across the shiny surface. The tab was labeled in pencil Twins Biz.

Seriously? No state-of-the art electronic tablets or laptops for him, which was ironic, when Piper thought about it.