Brenda Jackson - Millionaire Magnates - Taming the Texas Tycoon

“I don’t know that a haircut is going to change anything,” Kate said.

“Don’t think of it as just a haircut. You need to change,” Becca said. “I’ve been thinking about this since you called and the only way you are going to be able to make these next few weeks bearable is to make Lance Brody realize what he’s missing.”

Kate took one look at herself in the mirror behind the counter and shrugged. “Not much.”

“Soon, he’ll see a whole new woman.”

“But I’ll still be me,” Kate said.

“Of course you will, silly. And Lance already likes you. This will just make him lust after you.”

“He’s engaged to be married, Becca.”

“So what? You’re not going to make him do anything. Just tease him a bit and maybe get your heart back.”

Kate liked the sound of that. She’d given Lance five years. And wasn’t it past time to get over him?

“Okay. I’ll do it.”

“Good.”

Becca gave her directions to the salon. As Kate drove over there, her cell phone rang again. It was Lance. She answered the call as she parked her car. “It’s Kate.”

“Where have you been?”

“Driving,” she said.

“There’s been a fire at our main refinery. I need you in the office to be my information hub.”

Kate was shocked. Brody Oil and Gas was one of the safest refineries in the business. “Was there an explosion?”

“They aren’t sure. I’m done looking over the fire scene at the refinery. When can you get to the office?”

She almost said tonight, but what was the point of that? This was an emergency situation but they didn’t really need her. Paula and Joan, two of the other secretaries at Brody Oil and Gas, could handle the phones in this situation.

“Tomorrow morning,” she said.

“Kate, I need you.”

Her heart almost skipped a beat.

“The company needs you. This is one of those times when we really want to have our best players on the field.”

Lance had played football and she had noticed early on that he fell back on sports analogies when he was stressed.

“You’ve got your best players,” she said. “I’m being traded, remember?”

“Damn it. We haven’t decided that yet.”

“Yes, we have. Or maybe I should say I have. I will call Paula and make sure she’s prepared to collect information and disseminate it. I made a procedure file for this type of emergency after the hurricane last year.”

Lance didn’t say anything. “I guess that’ll have to do. Leave your phone on so I can get in touch with you.”

“Why? I’m not—”

“Stop arguing with me, Kate. I don’t like it. What’s gotten into you?”

She looked at herself in the rearview mirror and realized this was the first time she’d ever said no to Lance. And he didn’t like it. Maybe the way to get his attention was actually easier than changing her hair and clothes. She realized that she’d been too accommodating, and that was part of the reason he’d taken her for granted.

“I don’t know, Lance. I just decided it was time for a change. Don’t make this into anything other than that.”

“It feels like…”

“What?”

“Nothing,” he said. “Will you be in the office tomorrow?”

“Yes, I’ll be there.”

“Good,” Lance said.

“I’m sorry about the refinery,” she said, feeling bad because of the way he sounded. “Were there injuries?”

“Four men are at the hospital now.”

“I’ll have Paula send flowers to them and food baskets to their families.”

“Thanks,” he said.

“You’re welcome.” She felt a little guilty about not going in and taking care of the details herself, but Lance and she both needed to get used to other people working for him because Kate couldn’t continue to be his Girl Friday and be in love with him. That was the path to pain and destruction for her. And she was tired of living for the few brief moments when she and Lance were in the office together.

“Goodbye, Lance,” she said, hanging up the phone. She sat in the car for another minute but the heat was getting to her. Or at least that was what she told herself. She didn’t want to think that the idea of being without Lance was causing her to feel light-headed.

Lance spent the rest of the afternoon and most of the evening at the main refinery. Darius had arrived late and had agreed to stay and work with the fire investigators. Since he wasn’t an arson investigator per se, all Darius could really do was narrow down the list of suspects and conduct investigations into the backgrounds of those who might have had probable cause to start the fire.

Lance left the refinery and drove back toward Houston deciding that he was ready for a new day. This one had been too… crazy, he thought.

When he’d been a boy, he’d longed for a busy day so he wouldn’t have time to go home or to think about the home he had waiting for him. But that was long ago, he thought. Now he lived alone and liked it that way.

Well, he lived alone for now. Soon he’d be bringing a bride to his mansion in Somerset and he wasn’t sure he was ready to try suburban living with a wife yet. But he and Mitch had agreed he was the one who should marry Lexi.

Damn, he thought, rubbing the back of his neck. Tension seemed to take up residence there when things weren’t going well.

His cell phone rang and he checked the caller ID before answering it.

“Hello, Mitch.”

“Hey, big bro. How are things at the refinery?”

“A mess, but I have Darius working with the fire investigators to try to make sense of it. How’s DC?”

Mitch let out a long breath. “It could be worse. I handled most of it with Senator Cavanaugh’s office. Let them know the proactive things that Brody Oil and Gas are doing to minimize damage to the community and the environment. I think that helped to soothe his fears over backing expanding oil production.”

“Did you tell him that with additional refineries we could rotate operations so the loss of this one for a day wouldn’t impact oil prices?” Lance asked.

“Yes, I did. I’m watching the markets as they open in Japan. I think we will see US crude prices jump.”

“I know we will. With the economy being what it is, that’s the last thing we need right now.”

“We can’t control the actions of investors,” Mitch said.

“I am stopping by the hospital on my way home. I think it’d be a good idea for you to call the injured workers—I’ll send you a text with their names when I’m done.”

“All right, that sounds good. Lexi and I are going to fly back to Houston together tomorrow.”

“I haven’t had a chance to talk to her. She called me earlier. Will you let her know that until the mess at the refinery settles down, I can’t talk?”

“Sure thing,” Mitch said.

“Did you come up with any ideas for a gift yet?” Lance asked.

“Not yet. I haven’t been thinking about your love life.”

Lance hadn’t been, either. “This is business, Mitch. Remember, you told me that. We need the Cavanaugh connection. Today proves that.”

Mitch didn’t add anything to that. And Lance had to guess that being a brilliant strategist meant his brother wasn’t surprised that his planning had worked to their advantage.

“I forgot to mention that Kate gave her notice today.”

“She did? Why?”

“She thinks this will be a good time for her transition out of her job with us. She’s not being challenged enough or something like that.”

“Maybe it is time she moved on.”

“I’m trying to convince her to stay,” Lance said.

“Why?”

Lance didn’t know, but there was no way in hell he’d admit it. “She’s part of the Brody Oil and Gas family and we need her.”