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Chapter One
“What you need is a man.”
Standing over her latest compound mixture, the dropper in her hand fell to the floor as Eve Baron snapped her head around to face her assistant. “Excuse me?”
“You work too hard.” Isabel Santorini had been the best compounder, best assistant that Eve had ever worked with. The standard white lab coat did little to hide the woman’s gothic wardrobe, complete with heavy combat boots that thudded their way across the commercial linoleum floors. Nor did the plethora of strategically pierced studs along with raven black dyed hair and striking makeup choices give any hint of the brilliant mind that had worked beside Eve since the day she started Le Perfumerie. “I can sense your tension the minute I cross the threshold. You need a good roll in the hay.”
“What I need,” Eve spun around and handed Isabel a list of her latest choices, “is for you to compound these and leave my love life alone.”
“Would love to. If you had one.” Isabel flashed a toothy grin. “Love life, that is.”
“My love life is just fine. Thank you.”
Isabel set a dish of cheese and fresh finger fruits in front of her. “Sure it is. That’s why you’ve been sleeping on the sofa in your office all week.”
Eve could do little more than roll her eyes. The woman was right. Eve loved her work, loved being her own boss. From the moment she’d discovered the art of mixing perfumes and that she was darn good at it, better than creating adhesive compounds for safety stickers, she’d strived to build her reputation and her own business. Now it wasn’t uncommon that when she worked on a particularly enchanting scent, time would get away from her and she’d crash on the sofa. On the bright side, working crazy long days for stretches at a time kept her from remembering basic necessities like food, which helped keep her in the same size clothes she’d worn since high school. A caring nagger, Isabel made sure that Eve at least didn’t starve to death.
“Thanks. I didn’t realize I was hungry.” Eve popped a morsel of cheese in her mouth.
“For food or men?”
“Will you stop that.” The last thing Eve needed now was a romantic liaison.
“I’m serious. Never mind the roll in the hay. When was the last time you went out on a date?”
“Two weeks ago, at the Shelters for Women annual gala.”
One pitch black eyebrow lifted high on Isabel’s forehead and her charcoal lips pursed in bitter disagreement. “Jack Preston doesn’t count. Even though the man is sexy as hell, he might as well be your brother. Heaven knows no honorable man would be willing to cross the line with his best friend’s little sister. Especially when the brother is a Baron and has two more brothers to back him up in a brawl.”
There wasn’t much of an argument she could give. Jack Preston, her brother Kyle’s college buddy, had been her go-to date for charity events and weddings for some time now. It made for great photographs, fed the gossip mill to keep her preferred charities in the news, and repelled unwanted gold-digging male attention. Too bad he wasn’t available for tonight’s Housing for Heroes event. The entire evening was planned around her joint donation with a major cosmetics company for the naming rights to a recent scent creation. Everyone expected the fundraiser to be a bumper crop night for the non-profit that had done so much for struggling veterans. At least for tonight, her grandparents would be in attendance. Not the same as an escort on her arm, but a safe haven nonetheless. Speaking of which, she glanced down at her wrist watch. Three o’clock. If she high-tailed it out of here she’d be able to beat some of the miserable Houston traffic. One of these days she’d move the operation out of downtown, sell her townhouse in the Heights, and set up in a cheaper, less congested northern suburb. Some day.
She tossed a grape in her mouth and a morsel of mozzarella, then scooped the dish into her hand to finish nibbling on her way out the door. “Thanks for the snack, but I need to get moving if I want to wear something other than my lab coat to tonight’s banquet.”
Isabel stepped back and nodded. Eve was almost out the door when her assistant shouted after her, “If you find a hot bachelor, take him home with you!”
Pepper limping home was the crown on a miserably hot and unproductive day. If today’s mishaps were an indication of how tonight would go, Jared Gold was in serious trouble.
“Uh oh.” Older than dirt, with legs as bowed as the St Louis arch, there was no man on this planet that Jared would trust with his horses as much as he trusted Randy. “What happened?”
“Good question. We’d barely ridden the first small section of fence on the east pasture when she started favoring one side. I climbed off and checked her shoes, but didn’t see anything. I’m guessing she’s got a stone bruise. Before we went out this morning, I cleaned out some pebbles from her shoes, but you know how it goes.”
Salt and pepper brows buckled under loose locks of cayenne red hair. “You wear your boots out walking her all the way back?”
“Just about.” Jared patted the horse’s neck and scratched under her jaw. “Didn’t want to take any chances.”
“Smart man.” Randy smiled and reached for the reins. “I’ll take a look at her. You’d better be gettin’. Your mama has called me three times in the last hour, looking for you.”
“Blast.” Jared snapped his fingers and glanced at his phone. Almost five thirty and two missed calls from his mother. “Tonight’s that stupid gala. Promised Mom I’d step in for Dad.”
“So she said, but isn’t this the fundraiser for building homes for troubled or disabled vets?”
Jared nodded.
“Doesn’t sound stupid to me.”
“No.” Jared blew out a long sigh. He stood corrected. The ranch foreman had been like a second father to him for as long as he could remember. Jason Gold was a great dad but had no interest in the ranch that had been in his family since Texas was its own republic. Everything Jared knew about horses and ranching he’d learned first from his Pawpaw, and then from Randy. Everything he’d learned about being a man and a decent human being had come from both his biological and ranch families. “It’s a great cause. One I’d be happy to cut a nice check for. It’s the dinner and endless superficial chatter that’s going to be a stupid way to spend my night.”
“Understood.” Randy was a cowboy through and through. He’d never survive a night buttoned up in a tuxedo and sipping champagne. Though the way Jared felt at the moment, he wasn’t all that sure he’d survive a night dressed like a penguin, making nice to Houston’s social elite either.
