Sweet Texas Charm (3 page)

“Yeah, but we should wait until she can vote. It’s what Dad would have wanted,” Gavin said smugly while taking the salted caramel donut back out of the box, setting it on a napkin, and pushing it toward him.

Was Becca supposed to be the donut in this scenario? Grayson grabbed it, taking a big bite. “Becca’s not a businesswoman. Let’s just keep her in the plant and let her collect her new triple-digit salary none the wiser.”

Gavin grabbed a napkin, wiping his hands. “I vote no.”

“What?” Grayson jerked his head toward his brother.

“Me, too,” Gage piped in. “It’s a definite no.”

“What the hell?” Grayson jumped out his chair, his voice rising. “You can’t do that.”

Gavin checked his watch and stood, calling Merle over to latch on his leash. “Actually, brother, we can. Why don’t you put a meeting together thirty days from now with all
three
shareholders, and we'll discuss your ideas. Oh, and next time, how about we schedule it for after nine a.m.?”

“After ten a.m.,” Gage interjected while picking up his black kitten, Oil Slick, who had jumped onto his desk. “I know you don’t want to hear it, Gray, but Becca really should be part of any product expansion conversations. Since she literally has her hands in the dip, maybe she has ideas you haven’t thought of to sell it.” He chuckled and held the black kitten up to the screen. “And who knows? In thirty days, Becca could be your girlfriend and you could get a cat.”

Grayson pointed the remote control at Gage. “You’re done.” The screen went blank.

“You know, he could be right.” Gavin slapped his back. “And would that necessarily be a bad thing?”

“He’s not right. Neither of you are. Becca does not have the professional background to make these decisions, and you both know it.”

“I wasn’t talking about her business acumen.”

“For the last time, I am not getting together with her.” Grayson shook his head. “Besides, I’m holding out for one of Macy’s hot backup singers,” he joked bitterly.

“Forget it. I’ve already warned all of them to stay away from your sweet Texas charm.” Gavin reached for a donut for the road. “You know what Dad would do in this situation?”

“Dad’s the one who put me in this situation!”

“Maybe, but what he’d do is meet his enemy on neutral ground. Suggest grabbing coffee or something.” He snickered. “But whatever you do, keep the guacamole away from her.”

“You heard about last night?”

“I might have heard something at Betty Lou’s.” Gavin grew serious. “From what I’ve heard around town, Becca is as shaken by receiving the shares as you are. Eventually, you’re going to have to talk this out. Why not be the first to extend an olive branch?”

“Maybe …” Grayson wasn’t so sure splitting a salted caramel donut at Betty Lou’s Diner would solve anything. “I’ll think about it.”

“Good. Let’s go, Merle.” Gavin grinned and grabbed hold of the black Lab’s leash. “I’ve got to meet Macy before work.”

“Go play house with your country music star.”

“You might like it if you try it,” Gavin got the last word in before disappearing out the door. Typical.

Grayson picked up both his coffee and the donut box, his gaze resting on the strawberry charm still hanging off the edge of the table. He snatched it, shoving it in his pocket, and headed for his office.

“Good morning. Have some breakfast.” He handed the box over to Eleanor and walked into his office, but added one last, “Oh, and hold my calls this morning.”

“Sure thing, boss.”

Shutting his door, he took a seat behind his mahogany desk and closed his eyes. That meeting hadn’t gone well. Obviously, if he was going to accomplish anything this month, he needed to focus on getting his shares back from Becca. But how?

His eyelids flew open, and he reached for the small white card propped in front of a picture of his father with him and Gavin and Gage. The picture had been taken two Christmases ago in front their dad’s magnificent tree. After the will was read, his dad’s lawyer had given him the note along with the charm. Grayson studied the question on the card for the thousandth time.

“Nothing, Dad. Absolutely nothing is sweeter than success. There. I’ve answered your question. Now, can I have my shares back?” he asked, half-hoping his father’s spirit was lurking in his former office.

Frustrated, he stood and headed to the window, glancing down below at the Guac Olé factory, his annoyance growing as he watched a blue, beat-up Ford truck pull into the VIP spot next to his.

It was bad enough that Eleanor had given Becca a space among the management team, but did this woman have to park next to his Mercedes convertible? His assistant could say it was the only spot available, but he knew better. Eleanor was one of the many townsfolk who firmly believed that Becca and Grayson were destined to be together, and she’d asked him every day for the first two weeks if he’d run into her in the parking lot.

She finally stopped asking when he threatened to take the television out of the cafeteria so she wouldn’t be able to watch her favorite soap opera during lunch.

Shoving his hands in his pocket, he watched as the petite brunette got out of her truck, one tanned leg after the other. With her earbuds in, she moved her hips to whatever song she was listening to. Her blue sundress flowing to the music, she was oblivious to his spying.

Becca Nash was attractive in a simple country girl way—a type he’d never really been attracted to. Beige cowboy boots completed her outfit, which was strike one against her. He was probably the only man in Sweet Ridge, Texas, who found cowboy boots on women appalling. In the heat of the moment, he preferred to remove sexy black stilettos than heavy, harness strap boots.

All of a sudden, Becca spun around and tripped, causing her to spill her coffee, her arm shaking violently as she waved what he assumed was her burnt hand frantically in the air. It only took her a couple of seconds to open the truck door and bend down in search of something. She came back up with a Denver Broncos jersey, wiping her hands.

Strike two. Who in Texas didn’t support the Cowboys?

He shook his head at the hot mess below as she tried to blot the coffee stain out of her dress. What possessed his father to give so much power to
this
woman?

How was he going to get Becca to turn over what was rightfully his? He pulled out the charm from his pocket.

Rubbing the red strawberry with his thumb, a mischievous grin took over his pissed-off attitude. Maybe Gavin was right. Perhaps it
was
time for Becca Nash to experience firsthand his sweet Texas charm.

• • •

“Crap!” Becca yanked out her earbuds. The universe clearly hated her this morning. It wasn’t only the burning sensation now seeping through her skin that made her scream but also the fact that she’d just made a royal fool of herself in front of Grayson, whom she’d caught only moments before looking down from his plush corner office. That realization made her trip and spill her piping hot coffee.

She opened her truck, and lunged for her Denver Broncos jersey. She’d have to sacrifice it to the cause.

Popping back out, she kept her back to the main office on purpose and began to blot her blue sundress with her jersey sleeve.

“Nice going, Becca.” For once, could she stop looking like a fool in front of Grayson Cooper? It wasn’t the first time she’d caught him staring down from below.

But she had nothing to be embarrassed about. If anything, she should turn around and give Grayson the finger for throwing it in her face that she didn’t have a fancy degree, and then accusing her of blackmailing his father. Let him stew up there over the fact that this college dropout would soon have 50-percent control of his company.

With a quick toss of her long, wavy brown hair for the CEO’s benefit, she squared her shoulders and marched toward the Guac Olé plant, her home away from home for the past seven years.

The time had been uneventful, filled with long hours and small cost-of-living salary increases. Up until the last two months, she had clocked in, done her job, and clocked out, although two years ago, she had been promoted from line worker to day shift supervisor, a job she loved. So what if she hadn’t finished college? She was damn proud of both her accomplishments and her working-class roots. She wasn’t about to let some guy who’d gotten everything handed to him with a silver spoon get away with belittling her in public.

When the lawyers had stopped by the plant earlier this summer and escorted Becca to the Legacy conference room to share the news that Jack Cooper had named her in his will, she’d been floored. While Grayson sat silent across from her in his expensive black suit and avocado green tie, fidgeting with a keychain in his hand, the lawyers had given her the life-changing news that on September first, she would become the majority stakeholder in the company.

After that bomb had been dropped, Grayson had simply stood and handed her a folded piece of paper, congratulating her on her new salary effective immediately. He’d left without another word.

A senior vice president in the room explained that she could keep her job in the plant, and she’d be eased into her responsibilities as the primary shareholder. The CEO apparently couldn’t be bothered to stick around for
that
conversation.

She’d never forget the vibration from her knees knocking as she counted the number of zeros on the paper Grayson had handed her. She now kept the paper in her white smock for anytime she wondered if it was all a dream. She found staring at it was far less painful than pinching herself.

The question still on her mind even after two months: Why had Jack given her the shares?

Stepping into the factory, she took in all the activity from workers chatting while they peeled avocados to the steady hum of the conveyer belts being prepped for today’s activity. It would be another busy day that would end with shipping out thousands of containers of dip.

She beelined into the break room and grabbed a clean smock out of her locker that covered up her coffee stain perfectly, and replaced her old cowboy boots with her more sensible, no-slip work shoes.

Her gaze rested on the yearly calendar taped into her locker. Today was the second day in August. In thirty days, her life would further change. Becca was grateful that she could keep her job in the factory, because this was her home. Still, what would happen next month when she became a bona fide shareholder? Would they make her move to the corporate office?

Pulling her hair off her face into a tight bun, she headed into the workspace she shared with the other shift supervisors and pulled her brown clipboard off the wall, glancing down at today’s production schedule.

“Good morning, Ms. Boss.” Tangie Walker, Becca’s colleague and best friend since middle school, came over, all grins. Becca had gotten Tangie the job at Guac Olé three years ago, when she’d been looking to get out of retail. “How’s the lifestyle of the rich and famous?”

“Wouldn’t know.” Becca hung her clipboard back up and sat down behind the metal desk, checking to see if the supervisor before her had left any notes in the communications log. She didn’t go around flaunting her elevated salary, but word had gotten out that she’d be receiving the shares. Her colleagues had been thrilled for her, but they would occasionally bust out jokes, especially Tangie.

“So, I stopped by Betty Lou’s Diner this morning and was in line behind Gavin Cooper, who was talking about Grays—”

“Stop.” Becca threw her hand up, blocking the next words out of Tangie’s mouth. Betty Lou’s Diner was the epicenter for Sweet Ridge’s small-town gossip. Becca knew this all too well since she’d worked there as a short order cook throughout high school and then as a waitress before she started working at Guac Olé.

“You don’t even know what I was going to say,” Tangie protested.

“Oh, yes, I do. I know what the buzz is about. I do not care what this whole town seems to think. I am not going to date, let alone get married to, Grayson Cooper. I’d rather adopt ten kittens and die alone someday covered in cat hair.”

“I heard Grayson’s single.” Tangie sat on the edge of the desk, crossing her legs and glancing out the window in the direction of the corporate office building.

“That doesn’t surprise me.” Becca huffed and flipped the pages of the communication log. “Would you date him?” she asked, not bothering to look up until more than a few silent seconds ticked by.

“Tangie!”

“What?” Tangie asked, playing all innocent while curling her long, blond ponytail between two fingers.

“I can’t believe you would go out with him.” Becca shook her head. But she really shouldn’t be surprised. Grayson was known around town as being able to charm any gal by flashing his dimples. “He’s the enemy.”

“But he’s freakin’ hot.” Tangie fanned herself before jumping off the table. “And you two are meant to be together. It’s what Jack wanted. The other Cooper boys are now with the women who received their inheritances.”

That point was true. “Maybe it’s some weird coincidence that Gavin and Gage ended up with those women.” Becca had never met Macy Young or Charlotte Wilkinson—now Cooper. From what she’d heard, Macy had inherited the Cooper house and Charlotte was given some land Jack owned on the outskirts of Sweet Ridge. Besides, he’s not my type.”

“So, who is? It has been way too long, girlfriend.” Tangie reached into her smock’s front pocket, pulled out a tube of cherry ChapStick, and swiped her lips.

Becca slid the regulation plastic cap over her head.
What man is my type?
She’d been on a string of lousy first dates over the last couple of years and hadn’t been in a serious relationship since her early twenties, and that one ended abruptly when the jerk skipped town with her credit cards.

At thirty, it wasn’t that she wasn’t open to finding love with a man she could trust who would love her back, but when would she have time to find that guy? She stood and straightened her smock, reaching for the note Grayson had given her with her new salary.

For some odd reason, her fingers began to tingle, and she quickly removed her hand from the pocket. “I don’t know what my type is, but it’s definitely not Grayson. I need to be with someone who’s warm and—”