So Much Trouble When She Walked In, Page 2

  And that was who Suave was, her little sister, even if their time of arrival into the world was separated by only one minute, based on what they'd heard from their first social worker. They took her word as gospel, especially as they got older and Silken grew bigger, bolder and far more savvy about the ways of the world…and about men.

  But Suave had to grow up sometime, Silken guessed. And yes, she had to start fighting her own battles. She heaved a sigh. “All right, Suave. No more getting involved in your business. Promise.”

  Her sister turned, her eyes full of hope. “You promise? Really?”

  Silken nodded. “Yes, really.” Then she gave a little grimace and muttered under her breath, “As much as it pains me.”

  “What did you say?” Suave came closer.

  “Uh, nothing.” The smile Silken gave her sister was all innocence. She bent to pick up her gym bag. “Let’s get out of here before the traffic builds up.”

  They were pulling out of the parking lot when Silken put a hand on Suave’s arm. She jerked her chin toward the gleaming silver Mercedes Benz convertible pulling out ahead of them. Top down, it left the head and shoulders of the driver clearly visible. Dark head of hair, broad shoulders and a square chin set in stern lines, there was no mistaking his identity. “There’s the beast who put his hand on you,” she said through clenched teeth. She was still more than pissed off by his audacity. The nerve of the guy.

  “What? Where?” Suave turned the steering wheel then took her focus off the inside road for a nano-second to glance around.

  “There. Ahead of us.” Silken pointed in the direction of the car that was slowly turning onto the road to follow the line of vehicles ahead, all of them making their way toward the parking lot exit. “Don’t you see him?”

  “N…no, I don’t see him.” Suave peered ahead, her voice full of doubt.

  “You’re staring right at him," Silken said. "There, in the silver Benz up ahead.”

  Suave shook her head. “No, that’s not him. That guy’s hair is jet black. The man who bothered me had dark brown hair.”

  “Are you sure?” Silken frowned, a niggle of worry just beginning to creep into her mind. “That’s the guy who was at the bar, wasn’t it?”

  “Nope.” This time Suave’s tone was strong and confident. “That guy had a bull neck and short, dark hair. This one’s hair curls at the nape and I can tell he’s a lot more handsome.”

  “From staring at the back of his head?”

  Suave chuckled. “You’d be surprised.”

  Silken exhaled and sank back in her seat. Well, I’ll be damned. She’d hauled off and slammed the wrong man.

  She glanced over at her sister. “Uh, Suave?”

  The response she got was a dramatic sigh. “Yes, I know. You cursed out that guy up ahead, didn’t you?”

  Silken grimaced. “How’d you guess?”

  “You know what that means, don’t you?”

  Silken shrugged. “I’m going to hell?”

  “You’re going to have to apologize. We’ll have to catch him and right the wrong you did.”

  Silken wrinkled her nose. “I’m not feelin’ that right now. Let’s just forget it ever happened.”

  “Silken McCullen, you will not back out of this. You need to take responsibility for your action.” Suave gave her a look that said she planned on nagging until her sister gave in.

  “All right, I’ll apologize,” Silken, said with a groan. “Goody Two-Shoes.” The second part was muttered under her breath. Of course, Suave heard and delivered a slap that made her leg sting. “Hey, watch it,” Silken grumbled. “I bruise easy.”

  Suave totally ignored her. “He’s getting away,” she said, jabbing at Silken’s injured leg. “Write down his license plate number. Quick.”

  “Okay, okay.” Silken dug around in her purse till she found a pen and a Pizza Hut receipt. “What’s the number?”

  When Suave told her, she scribbled it on the back of the receipt then reached over and dropped the paper in her sister’s lap.

  That got her a growl. “What’re you giving it to me for? You’re the one who needs to find him and apologize.”

  “Hey, you can do it for me.” Silken raised her eyebrows. “You’re the one who’s insisting that he needs an apology so you can apologize for me. He won’t know the difference.”

  “No, I will not apologize for you even if you chewed him out on my behalf. I’ve been telling you for years to stop fighting my fights. Now it’s come back to bite you.” Not taking her eyes off the road, she lifted the paper off her jeans-clad leg and dropped it on Silken’s lap. “Now suck it up and do what you have to do.”

  Silken groaned but she didn’t bother to argue. When Suave got like this, all holy and righteous, there was no swaying her. It was just her luck to have such a goody-goody sister. Darn.

  Heaving an aggrieved sigh, Silken picked up the paper and slid it into her purse. Now, according to the decree of her royal highness, Queen Suave, she would have to hunt down a man she didn’t even know – except that he had sexy dark eyes and a chiseled mouth and, yeah, even as she cursed him out she’d had time to notice all that – and she would have to apologize, even though he probably hated every bone in her body. And who could blame him?

  Yes, she would apologize. It was the right thing to do. But God knew she was not looking forward to it.

  CHAPTER TWO

  "The track is almost at completion but we’ll have to rework the stands. Safety first, of course. Don’t want to put any spectators in danger.”

  Max tried hard not to yawn as the contractor droned on in his monotone voice. It wasn’t that what he was saying wasn’t important. It was the way he said it, his voice giving off a low vibrating buzz like the light back at his old college library, the same ones that used to lull him to sleep. They should hire out this guy to people who had problems falling asleep. He’d make a mint.

  “And so I’m thinking we could go with wooden stands over plastic. Warmer on the behind in the cooler months and cooler in the summer. And then we could…”

  The man’s voice faded away again and Max found himself back at the sports complex, caught in probably the most confusing event of his life. What the hell happened yesterday? He’d been running the incident over and over in his mind and he still couldn’t make head or tail of it.

  So he’d gone to the sports complex to work out. It was only his third Sunday afternoon in Cupertino and he wanted to get back into his workout routine. Big mistake. At the café bar he’d gone from sipping mineral water and minding his own business, to observing a diminutive girl defend herself against a stocky bully, to getting chewed out by said girl who seemed to have lost all her marbles in a matter of minutes.

  He still couldn’t fathom how she could have mistaken him for the bully. They looked nothing alike.

  He almost shook his head but then he remembered he was supposed to be listening to the man who was leading the project to build his racetrack just outside of Cupertino. He adopted a thoughtful look instead.

  But his thoughts kept going back to that girl, so pleasant and unassuming at first, then so sharp and fiery, her previously dark eyes tuned amber in the heat of her impassioned rage. And her lips, no longer softened by a sweet smile, now full and pouting, looked all the more tempting…perverted as that might seem. As she scolded him…no, flayed him with her words…all he wanted to do was pull her close and silence her with a kiss. That is, after throwing her over his knee and spanking her butt for her impudence.

  Now that was a fetching picture if there ever was one. Despite his resolve to display a bland façade the thought had him smiling…even as it had his crotch tightening. Jesus, Max. Lusting after a perfect stranger, a crazy one at that? You need a life.

  “Do you agree?” Frank Slater gave him a pointed look, obviously fully aware by now that Max hadn’t been listening.

  “Just run that by me again,” Max said with a grunt. “We’ll hammer things out and I’ll have you ou
t of here in no time.”

  Slater seemed relieved at that and Max didn’t mind wrapping up early.

  He had a lot on his mind, not least of which was his mystery chameleon. And, for some insane reason, he had a pressing urge to see her again.

  ***

  “Jeff’s here.”

  Silken almost banged her head on the hood of the car as Suave yelled out to her from the office door. They really had to do something about their communication system around the auto shop. This yelling business could not continue. Jerked out of concentration by Suave’s yells, one day she would put her eye out if she wasn’t careful.

  “Yeah, I heard you,” she yelled back. “I’ll be right in.” She slid the oil dipstick back into its socket and grabbed a damp rag from the nearby counter, scrubbing at her hands as she loped toward the office. “I’ll be back in a sec, guys,” she called out to the mechanics working on the truck on the raised car lift. “Just need to have a quick chat.”

  “No problem, boss.” Bill gave her a wave. “We’ll hold the fort.”

  Silken had no doubt he would. He and Keith had been with her since they’d opened the shop two years earlier, fresh out of college, she with her degree in mechanical engineering and diploma in automotive repair, and Suave with her double major in finance and accounting. Although they’d grown up in Wisconsin they’d chosen California as the perfect setting for their new business and Cupertino as the ideal city – full of young professionals with fast cars and heavy pockets, the rewards of their jobs in the Silicon Valley tech industry. They’d never be short of business here.

  Silken slid the glass door open and stepped into the air-conditioned office, sliding her palms down her overalls as she went. As soon as she saw Jeff’s blond head, she smiled. His back was to her, his eyes glued to the television set in the corner where a basketball game was in progress. Typical male, when a game was on he was blind, deaf and dumb to the outside world.

  “Hey, Jeff. How’s it going?”

  At her greeting he turned around and his dazed TV eyes cleared and she saw the spark of recognition. “Hey, Silk. Lookin’ good, as usual.”

  She put a hand to her hair and gave him a simpering smile. “I bet you tell that to all the girls.” Then she laughed. “Or at least to Suave. Where is she, by the way?”

  “Told me she was going to get some files from the back room.”

  “Oh, okay.” Silken dropped onto a nearby chair. “So did you find anything? Who’s the man I’m going to have to humble myself to?”

  Jeff chuckled. “Humble is right. You’ll never believe who you cursed out.”

  “Who?”

  “Patience.” Jeff put up his hand. “Let’s wait till Suave gets back. I want to see the look on both your faces.”

  Silken frowned. She didn’t like the sound of that. It sounded like the guy was some kind of important person. Had she messed with the wrong man?

  “Sorry, guys. I’m expecting a call so I just wanted to make sure I have the client's file on hand.” Suave dropped the folder on top of the desk and slipped into her chair. “So what’s the news, Jeff? You look like the cat who ate the canary.”

  “I feel like it.” Jeff grinned as he looked from one to the other. “And you guys are damn lucky you have a friend in the police force who can get you critical information at the drop of a-”

  “Yeah, yeah, get on with it.” Silken cut him off before he could get started. Jeff loved to remind them that he was a detective on the force. You’d think he was head of the FBI, the way he carried on. She rolled her eyes but softened it with a smile. “Don’t torture us, Jeff. You know we’re dying to hear what you found out.” The perfect words to stroke his ego.

  Jeff grinned even wider. “Okay, guys. Listen up.” He leaned forward in his chair and his face took on a conspiratorial look. “Have you ever heard of the Davidoff line of perfumes and skin care products?”

  Suave shrugged. “Who hasn’t? That’s an international brand.”

  “And they have hair care products too, right?” Silken frowned as she tried to remember all the places she’d heard the name.

  “Right you are,” Jeff said, looking pleased. “So you’ve heard of Maximillian Davidoff?”

  Silken snorted. “No. Is he the owner of the company or something?”

  “I’ve heard of him…” Suave said, her voice trailing off. “I read an article about him once but he seems to be a very private person. They say he doesn’t grant interviews.”

  Jeff nodded. “He stays out of the limelight. Acts like he’s just an ordinary guy. No fanfare, no nothing. Rich like King Solomon although you couldn’t tell it from the way he hangs.”

  Silken tilted her head. “So what does he have to do with the man at the complex? Does he work for this Davidoff fellow?” She’d asked the question but the sinking feeling in her stomach told her she was just fooling herself, hoping against hope, but doomed and destined for the worst case scenario. The man she’d embarrassed at the sports complex was none other than Maximillian Davidoff himself. She just knew it.

  Jeff beamed. “That’s the best part. You, my dear Silken, had a Maximillian Davidoff sighting. The license plate number checks out as his. Now as long as the man driving the car was the owner and not just his driver, you have the distinguished honor of cursing out one of the richest, most powerful men on the planet.”

  Suave gasped, her eyes wide as she stared at Silken. “Oh, my God. Do you think it’s him?”

  Silken stifled a groan. It was him. She could feel it in her gut and her gut was never wrong. “It’s him,” she said, her tone dry as wood chip. She cocked an eyebrow at her sister. “I know you’re going to insist that I still go through with this apology. So, since you’re my supportive sister and all…you wanna come with me?"

  CHAPTER THREE

  As expected, Suave’s response to her request had been a big, fat no. So much for supportive sisters.

  As Silken sat in her parked car outside the unassuming building that housed Davidoff’s Cupertino office, Silken bit down her bottom lip. Was this really such a good idea? Maybe going in to see him to apologize would only make things worse. The man had probably forgotten all about the incident by now.

  Then she expelled her breath in a long sigh. No, he hadn’t. If he had, he wasn’t human. She grabbed her handbag and slung it over her shoulder then slid out of the Volvo sedan. Time to face the music.

  As she walked toward the low-slung building Silken couldn’t help but wonder what a tycoon as big as Maximillian Davidoff was doing in a small city like Cupertino. A man of his stature should be in London or Paris, shouldn’t he, or New York or Rome. What the beeswax was he doing here in Silicon Valley where she could end up running into him and getting herself in trouble? By the time she’d finished mumbling to herself she was convinced it was all his fault for moving to her town. He should have stayed in the urban centers of the world where he belonged.

  By the time she got to the front door another question came to mind. Why in the world was he acting so unassuming, setting up office in a building that looked just like any other one around? Was this the Davidoff style? Understated and discreet? If Jeff hadn’t dug hard they wouldn’t even have been able to find the man's location. She and Suave would certainly not have been able to do it alone.

  But Jeff had done as they’d asked so here she was, about to have her first face-to-face with the great man himself or, more accurately her second…but at least this time it would be an amicable meeting. She hoped.

  Drawing in a deep breath, she pulled the door open and walked in. Then she stopped in surprise. The entrance and front office were practically devoid of furniture and there was no-one to be seen. The marble floor glistened under the pot lights and the lone potted plant sitting on top of the receptionist counter looked fat and green and very healthy. But outside of that, there was not a stick of furniture to be seen anywhere and not a single soul to greet her. Of course, she didn’t have an appointment. It wasn’t like the man
would have been expecting her. But still, what kind of business could he be running in a barren place like this? For a moment she was nonplussed, just standing there in the middle of the open room, not knowing where to turn. Was Davidoff even in the building?

  And then a door opened and there he was, in blue Oxford shirt and khaki slacks, looking tall and strong just like she remembered, and looking totally shocked.

  One second his eyebrows raised up and the next they dropped back down in a scowl. “What are you doing here? Who are you, anyway, and how did you find me?” He shot the questions at her in rapid succession, his eyes pinning her to the spot.

  Caught off guard by his sudden appearance, for a moment she was lost for words. Then she cleared her throat and turned to face him. “Uh, hi. I’m glad I caught you. I just wanted to…” Her voice trailed off and she blinked, the words suddenly stuck in her throat. She tightened her grip on the strap of her bag. Why was it always so hard for her to apologize? Pulling teeth would be easier.

  He was watching her through narrowed eyes, his frown heavy like the onset of rain, but he said nothing. He was definitely not making things easier.

  She swallowed. “I, uh…”

  “Let me guess,” he said, folding his arms across his chest, his stance wide and his back straight like he wanted to block her from taking even one more step into his domain. “You came here to apologize for being the craziest female on the planet but now that you’re here you’re having one of your attacks of insanity.” His lips twisted in a cynical smile. “You’ve changed your mind,” he said drily, his look cutting into her like the barbs of a wire fence.

  And that pissed her off. What right did he have to speak for her? Adopting his aggressive stance she straightened her back and folded her arms across her chest. “I don’t need you putting words in my mouth, thank you very much. I can speak for myself.”

  “Well, speak,” he said, his jaw tightening as glowered at her. “I don’t have all day.”