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Holly Carol, quite simply, is one of the most striking women I’ve ever seen. Striking. That’s not a word I’ve used before outside of talking baseball with my buddies at a sports bar. But the word fits.
She’s striking. And stunning. And currently scowling at me even though there’s a smile firmly planted on her lips.
Her fuck-me red lips.
Narrowly avoiding a wince, I straighten to my full height and offer her a hand. “It’s nice to finally meet you.”
Thank God. My words only came out a little pinched.
A spark flickers in her green eyes as she shakes my hand, sending a jolt of warmth straight to my gut. “Finally?”
“My dad has been telling me so much about you.”
He didn’t mention she was gorgeous. Then again, if he had, I’d probably have to kick the old man’s ass. It’s bad enough he’s decided to propose to his long-time secretary. If he was sniffing around his Senior Vice President of Business Development too…
“Has he?” Holly tugs her hand from mine.
I slide my thumb across my fingers. They’re still tingling from her touch. “He said you’ve single-handedly kept Noble Outwear relevant these past few years.”
“I wouldn’t say single-handedly did anything.” Her lips twitch, and I swallow hard, my throat suddenly dry. “We have a great team here.”
“A team you’ve been instrumental in building.” Dad rounds his desk to rest a hand on Holly’s shoulder. “It’s been nice having a second in command I can count on. Especially since you went out on your own.”
Leaving his whole plan of succession in flux.
My jaw ticks. Of course, Dad would choose to continue our disagreement in front of an audience. And, of course, he’d make me out to be the villain in our situation.
I wonder how much he’s told his protege about what happened between us. I wonder why I care.
“I haven’t heard much about you,” Holly says.
“There’s not a lot to say.”
Dad snorts. “I guess I shouldn’t take it personally that I don’t know much about what you’re up to these days. Besides dodging calls from your dad.”
I breathe in deeply through my nose. I’m not going to let him drag me into a fight. Not in front of her.
“I’ve been busy with work,” I say. “There’s not much more to say than that.”
Dad looks like he might have something to say about that—like how I should have been busy helping him run the company with our family name in it.
But Holly, either sensing the escalation of private family drama or eager to move this conversation along, speaks first. “So, are you in town for the holidays?”
I share another icy look with Dad. “You could say that.”
Somehow, I get the impression she isn’t crazy about that answer. There’s no other explanation for why her nostrils are flaring.
“Holly always spends the holidays with her family,” Dad says with more implication in his words. “She’s one of a set of triplets.”
I arch an eyebrow. “You mean there are three of you?”
She gives me an overly bright, and definitely fake, tight smile. “That’s how triplets usually work.”
My lips twitch. “Identical?”
“Mostly.”
God have mercy. That means there are three breathtakingly stunning women walking the face of the Earth. Each of them sent to tempt mere mortals like me. Then again, given the way she’s been scowling at me through a smile for the past several minutes—and the handful of well-placed barbs—maybe they weren’t sent from heaven.
