Strictly Business [Stud Service 3] (Siren Publishing Classic) (3 page)

Maybe.

Oh, who was she trying to kid? She could never give up her sleek and sexy sports car her dad had custom made for her thirtieth birthday! The leather seats fit her body like a glove. The first time she drove the Veyron, she knew there was no going back to another luxury vehicle or any vehicle, for that matter.

It would just have to stay parked in the garage a little more often with kids.

“I know it takes some getting used to, but it’s just a rental. It goes back on Tuesday after you all head home.”

“Whew. You had me worried there for a minute. Made me think Mom and Dad may have gotten to you. Next thing you know they would be making me get rid of my car.”

“Just get in.” Susannah knew that wasn’t going to happen. Savannah loved her convertible more than Susannah loved her Veyron. “You have no idea how happy I am to see you.”

Everyone got in the car and closed the doors. They quickly put on their seat belts, and after the clicking stopped, the key was in and she was ready to go. She waited to merge into traffic and at the first opportunity slid in between a hotel bus and a silver Pontiac Grand Am, making her way toward the freeway.

“Yeah, I wouldn’t want to face Mom alone on one of her rampages either.” Sabrina looked out the window at the airport traffic.

“No it’s not that. Mom is way worse than normal. She’s invited every eligible bachelor she could find in Yellow Rose Valley and probably the next county over, too. You’ll see.” Susannah felt a wave of despair sweep over her. She didn’t believe any one of her sisters was prepared for the upcoming weekend.

“Well, at least we get to have some fun.” Serena giggled. Of all the Gibson sisters, she had a naturally cheerful and sunshine disposition that looked at the positive side of everything. If she had a half-drunk glass, it was always half full to her.

“Yeah, if you like playing with boys.” Susannah flashed Serena a look of disdain in the rearview mirror and squished up her nose in distaste.

“I don’t mind guys, it’s just awkward when she wants to play matchmaker and force us to do her bidding.” The tensing in Sabrina’s jaw betrayed her deep frustrations.

“Like having a man in our life is the only way we can be happy.” Susannah’s laugh was scornful.

“Yeah. There’s no pleasing her, but we’ll make it through the weekend. We always do.” Savannah kept her tone light, but Susannah knew there was some worry behind her words.

Somehow Susannah felt this weekend something was going to be very, very different. She was more skeptical than her sisters. “We’ll see.”

* * * *

The blue waters of the swimming pool glistened with the Texas sun beating down on it. Susannah wore a green bikini, allowing the sun to also warm her skin. She adjusted her wide-brim straw hat, pretending to sleep in the lounge chair by the side of the water. Yes, she was purposefully avoiding the twenty or so bachelors circling her like little piranhas that her mother invited.

She hated being the center of attention, and these men just didn’t take the hint that she didn’t care who their daddy was. She just wasn’t interested, and talking to her about the size of their stock portfolio was not turning her on. Right now, it felt like she was on the menu with all the guys checking her out.

Why oh why did her mom have to get all nosy and interfere in her love life? She knew Mom had the best of intentions, but her Latina roots showed when she dwelled on her daughters. Family had and always would be first in her opinion. Maria had never had to work a day in her life, but nothing else would have been quite as fulfilling to her as devoting her life to being a stay-at-home mom.

Just because her kids didn’t feel the same way wasn’t a reason to throw stones. Or invite twenty bachelors to the pool party to ruin their day.

Susannah was happy being single. This was just another good reason why she wasn’t in the pool exercising. She really could use a good swim right now, but she couldn’t walk one step on the patio without bumping into a hard chest attached to a smiling man feigning interest in her.

Susannah pretended to snore, peeking through sunglasses covering her slitted eyes at the dark-haired man coming straight for her. She felt his cool shadow cover her body.

If she dared to open her mouth, her moment of privacy was over.

“You’re going to burn if you plan on sleeping out here.”

Why didn’t he just go away? Some people couldn’t take the hint.

Angry only began to describe her mood. She was irritable as all get out.

“Who are you? My mother?” she snapped, not in the mood for playful banter, not in the mood for any of this.

“No, the name’s Ethan. I don’t think we’ve met yet.” He held out his hand to shake.

She sat up warily, regarding him with a new respect. He wasn’t one to back down from a fight or be easily intimidated, and she could respect that. “Sorry, but I feel a little defensive about all this. My name’s Susannah, but I am sure you already heard my whole life story by now.”

She offered her hand back and was surprised when he turned it over and kissed the back of it.

She snatched it back as fast as she could, shocked he would be so forward.

“Not quite, but you can fill me in on those baby years while I put some suntan lotion on you.” He gave Susannah a cocky smile and sat down next to her.

“Nice try, buddy.”

“No worries there. I wouldn’t try anything with your dad watching me like a hawk.”

Susannah glanced toward the patio to see he was right. Her dad had a rather nasty expression on his face, too. Well, he arranged this whole mess in the first place. You would think he would want her schmoozing with the men.

Served him right.

“Okay, but I get to help him kick your ass if you try anything, and you
only
do my back.” She rolled over on her tummy to bare her back. Immediately, his hands swept over her skin, smearing the cool lotion over the bare skin.

“Oh, he probably would be happy to just fire me.”

“You work for my dad?” she murmured, enjoying the way his large hands massaged the lotion into her skin.

“Yeah, I’m his personal assistant.”

Not the usual type of guest at these types of things. She was curious why her father would invite an employee. “How did he wrangle you here?”

“I volunteered.”

“You know this is a plot to marry us all off, right? You come to the party, and the next thing you know Daddy’s standing at the altar with a shotgun. I didn’t think there could be so many willing victims,” she grumbled.

“Well, actually, I worked on a special project this last month. I know all about his plans, and it doesn’t involve forcing you to do anything. You are going to make your own choices.”

She peeked her head up. “Why don’t you tell me what you mean?”

His face reddened, highlighting his freckles and his nervousness under her sudden scrutiny.

He looked flustered and his face had grown bright red. “No, I think I’ve said too much already. It’s not my place.”

“Aren’t you afraid I’ll talk to my dad and get you fired?”

“No.”

“Maybe you should be.”

“I don’t think you could be that mean.”

“You are pretty cocky, mister. Where do you get off thinking you know me? For all you know, I could enjoy having you kicked to the curb just for the fun of it.”

“You are too nice. Besides, I am not worried. Mr. Gibson won’t replace me that easily.”

Now, she was beginning to get pissed off. It wasn’t just that silly, know-it-all grin on his face, but the fact he knew what was going to happen this weekend and he was withholding information from her.

It infuriated her to be kept in the dark and to have that know-it-all laughing at her. Susannah stood up and removed her sunglasses.

The lotion fell to the ground when she pushed his chest and backed him toward the pool. “Do you know something, Ethan?”

“No, what?”

“I don’t like you.”

“Why not?” His eyebrows arched curiously. Apparently, he was not told off very often by a woman.

“Do you really want to know, because I don’t think you do.”

“Of course.”

“Well, let’s start with the fact that you’re a cocky know-it-all who thinks he can marry into money by courting his boss’s daughter.” She kept pushing his chest with her fingers over and over again until they were at the edge of the pool. “Its men like you that are the reason I can never get married.”

By this time everyone at the pool party was staring, and Susannah was beyond caring. She gave him one last hard push and watched him teeter over into the pool. Unfortunately one of his arms tangled with hers, pulling her with him into the crystal-blue water.

Furious, she pushed him away and shot to the surface gasping for breath and a little dignity. Her hat was floating on the surface nearby. Angrily, she grabbed it and stalked out of the pool. She picked up her towel and wrapped it around her body, holding her head high with all the decorum she could muster, and stalked away from all the onlookers and the wrath of her parents.

For now, things would be fine, but when they caught up with her, she knew there was going to be hell to pay.

It felt like they were sitting in a war room. The span of the dark conference room table separated parents from children.

“Mom? Dad? What’s this all about?”

Maria took control and sat down at the head of the table while Dad retrieved two cups of black coffee for them both. “We hadn’t planned on discussing this during dinner.” William sat the cup down in front of her and took a seat. “What do you think, darling? Shall we?”

He shrugged nonchalantly. “Doesn’t matter. They aren’t going to like it.”

Savannah’s face suddenly paled.
Ick.
“Is one of you ill? If so, you know we’ll do everything we can—get the best doctor’s involved…”

Maria raised her hand to stop the flow of words. “We aren’t ill, Savannah, so calm down. We just have a bit of an issue we need to discuss with you all.”

All four sisters released a collective sigh of relief until the next words reached their ears.

“Your trust funds have been suspended.”

All four of the women started talking at once.

“What do you mean?”

“You can’t do that!”

“How are my projects supposed to survive without the funding my trust account is giving them?” Susannah was shocked.

She stupidly quit her job last week, planning on using those funds to help pay the way for her little excursion to the Caribbean.

Now all those carefully laid plans would have to be cancelled. How could she pay for her trip now? She wouldn’t even be able to pay for her rent while she was gone.

Unless she found some way to pay for this.

And she wasn’t sure anything she owned was that valuable. She never invested in any expensive jewelry or real estate or anything but her car.

She had no assets.

Damn it!
Except her car. Damn, she did not want to sell her car. Even if she could find a buyer, it was a process that would take some time. Not many people had two million dollars lying around, and if they did they were on the yearlong waiting list for a new car, not looking for a used car.

“For how long?” Savannah asked.

Their parents’ faces gave nothing away, hiding any emotion behind their stone-cold expressions.

Fear gripped her heart. How could this possibly good? They had never taken a stand together like this and been so unwavering in their decision.

Nothing seemed right about this. Her parents never denied them anything, freely sharing their wealth with their family. Susannah and her sisters never wanted for anything in life because her parents had the foresight to set up a hefty trust fund on their behalf.
So why would they suddenly take it back?

“Until one or all of you give us grandchildren.”

Holy crap! Did they just say until they get grandkids? That would take at least a year or more! She couldn’t wait that long.

“What?”

“You can’t be serious!”

William held up his hand. “We have tried to be patient with all of you.” He glanced at Savannah. “You are thirty years old with no prospective husband or children on the way. As the eldest, we expect certain things from you.”

“But…”

“We realize you are trying to finish medical school so you can practice.” His gaze swept the entire group. “We understand all of you have your careers, your pet projects, but it’s time to settle down and start raising a family so we have grandchildren to leave this fortune to. Your mother and I would rather you find a nice young man, get married, and have children in the normal way, but if that’s not possible, then you need to do what you need to do to have a child.”

Savannah’s eyes grew wide.
You’ve got to be kidding me!

“Let me get this straight in terms that we all understand, being we were raised around horses, cattle, and oil.” She stood and moved to the large window. A moment later she turned around and said with a chuckle, “You want us to use some guy as a stud service?”