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1
SAMANTHA
“C’mon, someone needs to go to Chicago.” Pressing my hands together, I blinked up at my brother. “It might as well be me.”
Landon narrowed his eyes with a sigh. “You’re seriously going to take advantage of the fact that I don’t want to leave my pregnant wife?”
I planted my hands on my hips and pasted an affronted expression on my face. “I thought you knew me better than that.”
“As your older brother who’s been around since you were born, I’m familiar with all your quirks.” He raised a brow. “That’s why I’m asking.”
Zoe laughed at our back-and-forth banter, shaking her head. “Please, feel free to take advantage of my pregnancy as much as you want. I don’t mind. When you push his buttons, it distracts him from being ridiculously overprotective.”
“I have good reason to be more careful than usual.” My brother tugged Zoe onto his lap and cupped her slightly rounded belly with his palm. “I have two of you to worry about now.”
“Or you could trust your competent wife to take care of herself,” I suggested with a grin. “The same way you could put your faith in me to handle the site inspection in Chicago.”
Landon shifted Zoe on his lap so he could frown up at me. “I know Zoe can handle whatever the hell life throws at her, but that doesn’t mean I don’t still want to take care of her.”
Zoe tilted her head back to give him a kiss, and I made a fake gagging noise, which only prodded my brother into deepening the contact. He flashed me a smug grin when he finally lifted his head again.
Heaving a deep sigh, I rolled my eyes. “But you don’t think I can deal with Jeremy’s brother and the site inspector?”
“I didn’t say that,” he denied.
Backing him into a corner that was tough to get out of without potentially irritating his wife—which he hated doing, unlike how he loved to push my buttons—I circled back to my original request. “Then send me to Chicago.”
I barely refrained from doing an actual fist pump when Zoe chimed in, “C’mon, Landon. Samantha runs this office like a well-oiled machine. If you’re not going yourself, at least send her in your place.”
“Yes, pleeeeeease send me.” I pressed my hands together and gave him my best puppy dog eyes. “I promise I’ll do a great job if you give me this chance.”
“Fine, you can go. But only if you don’t act like my little sister while you’re there.” I was about to protest when he added, “Like you just did.”
“Since you won’t be with me, you don’t have to worry about that.” I waved off his concern with a grin. “I’ll be a complete professional while I’m there and will represent Heath Construction in the very best light.”
“Good.” He lifted Zoe off his lap and carefully set her on her feet before standing. Circling his desk, he grabbed a file off the corner and handed it to me. “You probably know this as well as I do since I’m sure you read it all when you were printing it out for me.”
“I sure do, which is why I’m the perfect one to send in your place.” I grinned at him. “So glad you’ve finally acknowledged my brilliance and agreed.”
“I’m already second-guessing the decision, so you should probably get out of here before I change my mind,” he muttered.
“Will do.” I beamed a smile at Zoe. “Thanks for the backup, sister.”
“You’re welcome.” Landon pulled her against his chest, and she giggled.
“And that’s my cue to get out of here before you two start kissing again.” I headed for the door, pausing to look back at them and tease, “Which you probably shouldn’t be doing in the office while also taking me to task about being professional, big brother.”
I grinned at Landon’s huff of annoyance as I made my way to my desk to grab my purse and laptop. Since I handled my brother’s schedule and travel arrangements, I knew all the details for the upcoming site inspection, including that I needed to be in Chicago bright and early Wednesday morning.
Since the drive from Milwaukee could be a bear during rush hour traffic, I’d booked Landon into a hotel starting tonight. Although he wouldn’t have appreciated the extra time away from home because he would’ve been away from Zoe, I was looking forward to some quality time in the tub since my place only had a shower. Some room service charged to the company, with a nice glass of wine and a bubble bath sounded like the perfect way to end the night.
But first I had to get there…and early enough to drop into the Chicago office of JB Capital so I could introduce myself to James Bardot. He was one of the billionaire triplets who owned the company that was our biggest client, in large part because my brother and Jeremy Bardot were good friends who played poker on a monthly basis. Which also came in handy when Landon came up with his plan to fake marry Zoe to fix her visa problem since they were able to hitch a ride to Las Vegas on Jeremy’s private jet.
Oddly enough, I’d never met Jeremy’s brothers. Most of our communication with JB Capital went through him even though he split his time between California and Wisconsin. They all played poker together, but I’d never been invited.Typical men.
I had talked to Jason, the other triplet, a couple of times on the phone, but I’d never spoken to James before. But I didn’t foresee any issues since the Bardot brothers were known for being hardworking, savvy businessmen who’d scratched their way to the top. As long as I did my job—which should be easy because my brother didn’t mess around when it came to quality and safety on his projects—James would have no problems with me.
Plus, I was more motivated than usual to succeed since Landon was finally giving me a chance to take on some added responsibilities. Zoe hadn’t been kidding when she reminded him about how good I was at my job, but I had wanted to take on more than my receptionist responsibilities for a long time. I wouldn’t mess up this opportunity to prove to my brother that I was up for the challenge.
