Marie Harte - Closing the Deal

His brothers watched with pity as he stood and dragged his feet forward.

“I’ll handle the business, no problem,” Gage offered. “Go easy on him, Mom. He’s not thinking right.”

“Yeah, wine in the lap will do that to a person.” Dylan nodded, looking sad.

Derrick glared at him over his shoulder but knew better than to say anything. In addition to stealth, Barbara Warren had ears like a bat. He left with her without a word.

He didn’t speak while she lectured him all the way to her office. He stifled a cringe but followed her obediently inside the professional building to her suite. He even managed a pleasant greeting to her secretary, Diane, as well as to James Kincaid, her business partner and fellow shrink.

James grinned at him but said nothing.

The minute Derrick stepped inside her office, he flopped down onto her couch and covered his eyes with his hand. “You told James?” Who the hell didn’t know he had woman problems?

“I tell him a lot of things. We bounce ideas off each other when we encounter stubborn clients. Of course, we speak in generalities. Nothing that would violate confidentiality.”

“Mom, I’m not a client.”

“Yes, dear. I know.”

He wanted nothing more than to go back and redo last week. He’d have bypassed Sundance and made Sydney dinner at his place. Then they could have had dessert naked in his bed. And by this time today, he’d know if his fantasies matched up to the reality of her. Instead, he couldn’t stop obsessing over the redhead who got away.

“Now Derrick, I want you to tell me exactly what happened from start to finish. Who drove? What was she wearing? You didn’t pressure her to have sex, did you?”

“ Mom. ”

She tsked. “Don’t be shy, dear. Don’t think of me as your mother. Think of me as someone who’s here to listen.”

Oh God. He was in hell.

A less assertive woman might have taken no for an answer. But Sydney hadn’t become one of the foremost independent sellers in eastern Georgia by acting meek. She cajoled, she wheedled and she persuaded with solid arguments, financial know-how and a strong belief she’d fit this couple with the perfect house to suit their needs.

They left smiling after the husband tacked the Sold sticker over the For Sale sign.

Sydney watched them leave even as Gage Warren’s blue truck pulled up at the curb. A gorgeous blonde stepped out of the passenger side, looking annoyed.

“Hailey, even you can’t ruin my mood,” Sydney greeted with a smile. “The commission on today’s work should be enough to pay off the remaining loan on my car.” At least something was going right with her life. “Is that Gage with you?” Because if it was Derrick, she’d pull the woman’s hair out by the roots, best friend or not.

“I can’t believe you didn’t tell me.”

Sydney frowned. “What?”

“I stopped by your office. There are bouquets of flowers everywhere. And cards piling up on your desk. Derrick’s been trying to call you for two weeks now to apologize.”

Sydney turned on her heel and walked back inside the house to get her purse and papers. “Figured you’d turn to the enemy soon enough. Mr. Tool hammered the loyalty right out of you, didn’t he?”

Hailey flushed. They’d called Gage Mr. Tool for months before they’d met him. Of course, he used to parade around his apartment half naked, waving that impressive tool between his legs while they enjoyed the show from a covert distance. Those days seemed like a lifetime ago.

Sydney envied Hailey. Gage seemed to be everything Derrick was not. Nice, pleasant, a gentleman.

She picked up her purse and her papers tucked in a folder and turned.

“You’re not as funny as you think you are.” Hailey refused to move even when Sydney threatened to walk through her. “Now stop avoiding the issue. Why won’t you at least let him explain himself?”

Sydney sighed. “What’s there to explain? I should have known from the beginning not to go out with him. Sure, he has a sexy phone voice. Okay, he’s handsome enough.”

“Almost as good-looking as Gage,” Hailey agreed.

No, he’s better. Tall, muscular and incredibly handsome. Thick black hair, light green eyes, that firm mouth, chiseled cheeks, strong jaw. The size of his biceps and chest had made her breathless the first time she’d seen him. And then she saw those massive hands… What a waste of a fine specimen like that. Cursed to be a dickhead for life.

“Sydney, I’m talking to you.” Hailey huffed and crossed her arms over her ample chest. “I think you’re scared.”

She opened her mouth to retort and stopped. “Scared? Of what, exactly?”

“I think you really liked him. More than the other losers you’ve dated. And you’re scared that if you give him another chance, you’ll find that you still do.”

She narrowed her eyes. “I wouldn’t necessarily call my other dates losers.”

“Please. The last guy you kept around because he was good with his tongue but nothing else. If I remember right, you’d only let him use it for one thing, and it wasn’t for talking.”

Sydney chuckled. “Well, Joe wasn’t a smart or even charming guy, but wow, did he know how to please a girl.”

“And Mike? Who stiffed you with the bill every time you went out? Or how about Don? He was nice—and turned out to be engaged while he and you were dating. It’s like you’re a magnet for them.”

“Yeah. So, go figure, I’m breaking my losing streak by giving Derrick a pass.”

Hailey shook her head. “He’s different and you know it. I don’t get you. You gave Mike six dates before you dumped him. Don’t let one bad date with Derrick throw you. Jeez, Sydney. You can handle Derrick. If I had had half your confidence, it wouldn’t have taken me so long to grab on to Gage.”

“Hailey, you jumped him on the first date.” She shouldn’t take so much pleasure in making her friend blush, but she did. “And it’s been, what, all of—not even—four months since you’ve been in your relationship?”

“Sometimes you just know.” Hailey clung to a stubborn refusal to admit defeat. The poor girl actually thought she could win an argument with Sydney, the queen of inflexible. “Like the way I know you and Derrick would be perfect together if you’d give it a chance. I’d never just go over to the enemy without cause. Come on, Sydney. We’ve been best friends for years. I’d never screw you over.” Her lips twisted into a wry grin. “Not even for Mr. Tool.”

“Or Tool’s brother. The limp screwdriver,” Sydney muttered.

Hailey sputtered with laughter. “Nice. How about he’s a few bubbles shy of being level?”

“Or a few inches short on the tape measure.”

Hailey blinked. “Really? Is he, um, small down there?”

“How the hell would I know?” It was her one major regret. “I didn’t get a chance to inspect the merchandise. One lousy date after weeks of making me like him. Okay, there. I said it. We had some great phone conversations.”

The man could make her melt with that voice. So husky and deep. To her shock, they’d had meaningful discussions about everything from her favorite color to their families. Thoughts about how Hailey and Gage really seemed to click. How Derrick’s mother could annoy and amuse him at the same time, and how much they all missed his father. What it felt like to grow up as a twin, to be so close to someone else yet so different from him at the same time.

Sydney had shared what it was like to grow up an only child, daughter of a single mom. How hard she’d worked to be taken seriously in her current vocation. And she’d told him something she’d never told anyone, even Hailey. She’d once found her mother in bed with her college boyfriend—the most embarrassing moment in her entire life, and a defining moment with her mother. She’d confessed it to Mr. Sexy because she’d stupidly started falling for him over the phone .