Playing for Hearts (59 page)

“What?” He stalked toward her.

She backed away and ran around the bed. “You brushed your teeth. It was fine when we both had morning breath, but you can't kiss me like that before I have my turn in the bathroom.”

He plopped down on the edge of the mattress, laughing. “You're cute.”

“There's nothing cute about — ” she stuck her tongue out, “ — ugh.” She hurried out of his room and into hers.

While she waited for the shower to heat, she brushed her teeth. Once she lathered her hair, she was smiling. Juan's playfulness endeared him to her.

“Babe?” Juan said.

She grabbed the towel hanging over the shower door, wiped her eyes, and peeked out. “Come here.”

He stepped forward and she gave him a kiss. “Have a nice day, honey.”

“Honey?” He ogled her body. “I like that.”

“Me too.” She splashed him with water. “Now go break records, and be careful. I don't want you worn out for later. I'm not done with you.”

“I like hearing that even better.” He kissed her once more. “Later.”

After he left, she finished showering. She hummed while she dressed, and completed her morning ritual with ten minutes to spare.

Time to call her dad. She pushed the button on her phone while she stood in the middle of the room. From experience, she knew it was best to have lots of room to pace off her frustrations when she made her weekly call to inform him how business was going.

The call always put her in a bad mood. Nothing she did ever impressed her father. There were always other employees who sold more, worked longer hours, and would kiss her dad's ass. She wasn't an ass kisser.

Her plans went beyond Reese Enterprise and making her dad's Employee of the Month list. Some day, she'd be his sole competition, and prove to everyone that she could make it on her own without her daddy's help. In the meantime, she learned more about the business, made contacts, and waited for the right timing to put her dreams into action.

Dad's secretary answered.

“Hi, Loralei. Is my dad around?”

Of course he was. She called him every Thursday, and every Thursday he informed her she could do better with her life. She spotted one of Juan's stocking caps on the arm of the couch, and scooped it up. Maybe she'd take an early lunch, sneak outside, and watch a few minutes of Juan's practice.

She held his hat up to her nose and inhaled when her dad came on the line. “Hi, Daddy.”

While her father launched into an overview of the reports she'd faxed him last night, she stretched her arm above her head and leaned to the left. Then she switched the phone to the other hand, and repeated the motion. Why was she so stiff?

She smiled to the empty room.
Juan.

The last several days they'd taken every spare moment to have sex. She widened her stance, and stretched her hamstring. An occasional “uh huh” spoken over the phone appeased Dad and she continued to recharge her body through her yoga moves.

After five minutes, her dad ended his long list of suggestions on how she could be doing better with regards to sales and customer service. She inhaled a deep breath, prepared to agree with him, when he launched right into the Rainier account.

“Unbelievable. I taught you better than to throw money away on a sure deal.” Dad exhaled loudly over the phone. “They were all set to buy, and you went ahead and threw away money by gifting a case of helmets.”

“You're kidding me.” She stopped moving. “You're going to tell me that spending a thousand dollars' worth of helmets to seal an almost three hundred thousand dollar order is hurting the company?”

Her only enjoyment on Thursdays came when she bested her dad. Last Thursday, it was gaining the Shasta account. Today, she'd outsmarted him. Because victory was sweet, she let him lecture her until he thought he'd proven his point.

Then she dropped the shocker.

“Look on the invoice, and you'll see that I used my own account to send the helmets. Besides the commission I made on the Rainier sales, I'm happy to report that yesterday I received an order from Bockman, triple the size of the Rainier order. Let me refresh your memory, Dad.” She paused to get his attention. “Reese has never been able to get a spot on the Bockman list of buyers in over twenty years.”

Her father's silence boosted her confidence. She danced a few steps and plopped down on the couch, no longer needing to pace.

“So, besides the three hundred grand, I brought in almost a million from a new account, an account you drool over in your sleep, and all it cost you is the embarrassment of knowing your daughter used a grand of her own money. Money you know the commission will cover times twenty.” She crossed her legs and swung her foot. “Feel free to write me an early Christmas bonus, because I do believe I climbed the ladder right over all your wannabes, and I'm sitting in the Saleswoman of the Year seat.”

A formal grunt of acceptance from her dad, and Dana changed the subject to one that made the dreaded Thursday phone call worth every minute of pain. “How are the boys?”

“Max and Alex miss you. Jonathon has a new girlfriend — ” he said something to his secretary, “ — she's from the Randolf family. The whole situation is causing undue stress to my wife, so I'm taking her to the Bahamas next month.”

She sat up straighter. “Where are the boys staying?”

“They're in school, so — ”

“I'll come over and stay at the house.” She scratched the palm of her hand with her fingernail. “That way they won't miss school, and I can work from your office. I'm closing the shop here a week early, because I'm going with Juan to Germany. I'll be back in time to take care of them.”

Her dad asked about Juan, and she covered with her pre-planned excuse. “You know he'll be busy with all the interviews, sponsored events, and traveling around giving live interviews. It'll be the perfect time for me to stay with the boys while he's busy.”

Excited that she'd have a distraction for when she'd be dealing with having Juan gone from her life, she ended the call. She jumped to her feet, and shimmied around the room. “Yes. Yes. Yes.”

“Good news?” Juan said.

She screamed and whirled around. “I thought you were gone.”

“I came back for my hat.” He pointed to his stocking cap on the couch.

She sagged in relief, her hand pressed to her chest. “You should learn to make noise when you come in the suite. I think I'm having a heart attack.”

He chuckled. “Your dad's phone call make you happy?”

She waved her hand. “Regardless that I made him money and gained him more business, I've still disappointed him because I refuse to follow his example. Same ol' thing, but I have good news.”

“What?”

“I get to take care of my brothers for a week next month while their mom and our dad go out of town.” She handed him his hat.

He sat down beside her on the couch. “I can see that makes you happy.”

Silence stretched between them. She inhaled deeply, her heartbeat slowing down after Juan scared her.

“I'll walk down with you. It's time to open the shop,” she said.

“Hang on a minute.” Juan ran his hands over his face. “Why do you let your father de-value what you put into his company? I've watched how much you do, and though you're only in charge of one shop, you're working in sales and distributing large orders outside the regular venue. Yet from the sound of it, your dad doesn't give you the accolades you deserve. Why?”

“It doesn't matter.” She moved to stand, but he stopped her. “Honestly, I could discover a new country, and he'd still find fault in how I accomplished to make history.”

“You deserve the acknowledgement for all the work you do,” he said quietly.

The room pressed in on her. She forced a swallow over the pressure in her chest. She'd learned a long time ago there was no pleasing her father when it came to business. His drive to success outweighed anything his children could do. For Dad, business came first and family second or third, she wasn't sure, because he enjoyed playing golf and would often miss birthdays and holidays because he had an eighteen hole to shoot.

“Maybe.” She glanced at Juan. “But I'm okay with what I do. I'm proud of myself. I don't need someone else patting me on the head and telling me I did a good job.”

“Are you content to continue working at Reese? You're not just selling ski equipment; you're running the whole damn company from a hotel room. I imagine your dad has other salesmen or women, using up company expenses traveling to every ski resort and lodge in the world doing what you're doing here.” He linked his finger through hers. “What's your dream?”

She shook her head. “No dreams. I have a life schedule. Working for Daddy is just a way to finance my life. If you want to know what I'll be doing in five, ten, twenty years, I can tell you.”

She hoped he wouldn't ask. Right now, her life schedule was off course.

“Tell me what you're going to be doing in five years,” he said.

Dammit.
She looked away, and debated whether to lie or shrug off his question. He squeezed his finger, tightening their bond.

So she told him the truth.

“In five years, I'll be married and trying to get pregnant with my first child. My husband will be so in love with me, he'll work from home because he can't stand to be away from me. Together, we'll spend our days traveling, visiting ski resorts, and selling ski equipment that exceeds the durability of any competitors around, including the Reese company.” She blinked back the tears blurring her vision.

“Do you have a product?” Juan kissed the tip of her nose.

She nodded. “Prototypes. No one has seen them. I'm biding my time. I refuse to show my dad. He doesn't have a clue I want to give him a run for his money in the same market he made a name for himself in.”

“What's stopping you from going out on your own now?”

She rolled her eyes. “It's not time … my life — ”

“Ah, your schedule.” He kissed her again. “Go to work, babe. I need to go practice.”

The rest of the day she tried to shake of her melancholy attitude, but she kept going back to what Juan said after she told him about her life schedule. He didn't ask her who she'd be married to or laugh about her dream of a love that lasts forever. He didn't acknowledge that their marriage was a farce, and she'd planned to quickly forget about her time spent with him.

It was time to face the fact that Juan wasn't going to be the man loving her in five years. The thought hurt her heart.

Two days before the flight to Germany, Juan eased out of the hot tub determined to make the most of his time with Dana. He'd put in a full day of skiing on top of having a physical, going through the lab work to verify he still qualified to compete, and having the physical therapist look at his shoulder.

Dana was out shopping for the trip, and he wished she were here now. He threw the towel around his neck and let the cold air lower his body temperature. It'd do no good to go inside and fall asleep when he'd looked forward to spending tonight with his wife.

He walked inside and quickly showered. As he stepped out, Dana rushed into the bathroom.

“Oh, good.” She smiled, fairly bouncing in excitement. “You need to hurry and get dressed.”

“Why?” He shook out his hair, ran his fingers through, and swept it off his forehead.

“Because I have the biggest surprise for you. Like the coolest thing ever happened to me when I was downstairs.” Her eyes grew round. “You will not believe who I met today.”

His breath hitched and the first thought that entered his head was that she'd discovered someone else who would slide into her life schedule and kick him out. He turned around and put on his deodorant. He had no desire to walk out of the room.

“Must be someone special to get you this excited.” Hell, he was even jealous of whoever put the smile on her face today. It wasn't him. He'd been busy, and regretted the time away from her.

“He is!” She bit down on her lip and rocked forward on her feet. “He's going to blow you away.

He growled.
He. So it is a man. Shit.

“Hurry.” She stepped over and threw her arms around his waist. “We don't want to keep him waiting.”

In the mirror, he took in her flushed cheeks, her excitement, her energy. He wanted to be the one to thrill her beyond words. He hadn't said anything, because it wasn't his place to discourage her, she had enough people holding her back, but he'd like to take her damn life schedule and throw it out the fucking window.

He was her husband. What happened to her getting excited over seeing him? Hell, he was standing here without any clothes on, and she'd barely noticed him.

“Please.” She pulled on his arm. “You look gorgeous.”

About time she paid attention. He hooked her neck, pulling her closer, and kissed her.

She planted her hands on his stomach and pressed into him, kissing him back. With her focus on him again, he calmed. He pulled back and gazed down at her. “Missed you, babe.”

“I missed you too,” she said. “Now hurry, get dressed.”

“Okay, okay.” He walked out to the bedroom, pulled on a pair of jeans and sweatshirt, and sat down to put on his socks and shoes. “This better not be a joke and Maria talked you into dragging me out of the room only to have her and Mom here for the evening. We had plans … alone.”

“Of course not. Your mom and Maria are already on their way to Germany. They left an hour ago, didn't they say goodbye to you?” She frowned.

He shook his head. “I was busy … ”

“Oh, well we'll catch up with them when we arrive for the Games.” She bounced back into her excitement. “This surprise is … well, you'll have to see. It's huge.”