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“What the—?” Carter says, grabbing at them at the same time I do. Unfortunately, his long arms move quicker than mine and he grabs the top one before I can pull it back. I don’t fight him because I don’t want to rip them.
Pathetic. Completely pathetic.
“Please tell me these are personal photos you hired someone to take and are not going to show up in a paper?”
I shake my head. “No one even knows who she is. It wouldn’t matter if they were published.”
Even I know that’s not true. Photographs like this would lead to people digging until they figured out who she was. And that is not something we need.
Carter grimaces. “God, you’ve got it bad for this woman. If you don’t see that this isn’t the type of shit we need right now then you’re a bigger idiot than I am. Come on, Cash, this is why you are taking over and not me. I do this shit, not you.”
I raise my eyes to his, asking sincerely, “You screw around with married women?”
He blanches. “No. I get caught by the papers doing stupid shit. But not this stupid. None of us go near married women. Hear me? None of us.”
I’m kind of disappointed to think that out of all of us I’m the biggest screwup right now. But also proud that Carter, although having screwed up many a time, knows his limits. “I told you, she’s not married. She’s getting divorced.”
“But you didn’t know that when you kissed her, did you?”
He’s got me there. I didn’t. I took what wasn’t mine because I thought I could. That I deserved it. Just like Dad. My fists tighten on my desk.
Chase silences us. “Enough. Both of you. We’re going to lunch. Carter, shut the fuck up. Cash, keep it your pants. Are we done here?”
He looks back and forth at the two of us, but we continue staring at one another, breathing heavily, both of us angry and disappointed in me.
Carter blinks first. “Yeah, I think I got my point across.”
I nod. I know the stakes. I can’t be caught in photographs with any women right now. Not in compromising positions like this. Not with my arms wrapped around them walking out of a club. I need to project calm and leadership for the company or our stocks are going to spiral and Sintac will look in another direction. The same direction that I’m worried Grace is looking in—straight at Hanson Liquors.
It’s fun walking around the city with my brothers. Something I’ve missed the last few years since I’ve mostly been in Nashville. We would meet up a few times a month, but the day-to-day was lost to us.
Carter’s legs are so damn long that it takes Chase and me two steps to equal his one, and I know he loves it. Women turn as we walk—hell, men do too—and Chase eats it up. I suppose I don’t hate it either. While attention isn’t something I seek, it isn’t something I mind.
We arrive at the restaurant quickly since it’s only down the block, and Chase immediately approaches the hostess, asking for his fated waitress. He smiles as he points to her, and the hostess leads us to a table. The waitress is a petite thing, blonde hair, slim figure, and innocent smile. She’ll eat him for breakfast.
“Oh, you are so fucked,” Carter mutters under his breath as she approaches to take our drink orders.
Chase smiles like the besotted fool that he is, and I laugh behind my menu. “Maybe we should have made Chase the CEO of the company; he’s ready to settle down now,” I quip under my breath as Chase shoots me a look that tells me exactly where I can go.
After she takes our order and disappears, Carter turns to business. “Sintac is hosting an event next month. It’s our chance to get in front of the investors and the board and really sell ourselves.”
I shrug. “Couldn’t we do a presentation for them sooner than that? In a professional setting?”
Chase shakes his head. “Carter is right. Business isn’t done in the conference room, Cash. It’s done at social events. It’s all about being in the right place at the right time. You are going to have to make a few trips to Bristol and be seen around there over the next few weeks before the event.”
I visibly tense and Carter watches me. “I know it’s been a long time.” He pauses, likely trying to find his words.
“I don’t know why you are acting like this is only hard for me. When was the last time you went?”
Carter doesn’t respond. That’s what I thought. They expect me to run the company, to make all these sacrifices, but there comes a point where they are asking too much.
Chase interjects, “Hanson doesn’t hesitate going there. While you are here pussyfooting around this, he’s going to be out and about in Bristol, and that means something to Landry. Landry is looking for a local presence in the town he loves so much. A family business that actually intends to help the town he loves so much by investing there. And a family business like ours, with the connections we have in that town, is perfect. He’s a family guy, and we need to show him we are the right family for him to partner with.”
I roll my eyes. “Hanson isn’t from there. We should have the upper hand.”
“Should, yes. But when was the last time you showed your face at a town event? Or stepped foot on the estate? No one knows we are a Bristol family because we haven’t been back since…”
Carter holds his hand up to silence Chase. He doesn’t get to say it. It’s not his mother. He wasn’t there and he doesn’t know.
