Page 19 of Winning Her

But as I tried to imagine the kind of women I usually brought home for a little fun, Jessi’s image wouldn’t leave me alone. Instead, I thought back to when she’d been a teenager, one of the last times I’d seen her before I left town.

Even back when she’d been all gangly, clumsy and awkward, there would be times when I would find myself looking at her. I remembered the kiss she gave me. I hadn't been able to forget it for months, and it took finding a multitude of girls to distract me before I was sure I’d put her behind me, only sparing the occasional thought for Jessi over the years.

But that kiss, I remembered it. I’d kissed and been kissed before, sure, but something about the way she did it, so soft and sweetly, followed by a confession, had thrown me for a moment. It had started this longing in me for everything I’d lost when Mom died, made me want so much more from life than money and women on my arm as temporary distractions from life, because even as a teenager I’d done that. If Jessi had known just how many girls had kissed me before she did, she might have thought twice about it.

She didn’t though, and I had an annoying memory to deal with for the rest of my life because I’d known my longing was only foolish. What I’d needed in my life was the ability to lead it on my own, how I wanted to. I’d pushed Jessi away, laughed in her face to make her run from me because I knew I couldn’t have a woman like her. Things would just end terribly for the both of us.

The starlets, models, and socialites that I went out with in public and occasionally warmed my bed, then left without complaint or trying to be clingy, were the most I deserved as far as companionship went. I couldn’t treat a sweet woman right, and the women I went for were never hurt by how I treated them. I wasn’t disrespectful, but it was rare I ever called them back. We’d meet at some big party later with someone else on my arm, and none of them would bat an eyelash.

Maybe I should call one of them here, I thought to myself.

But I hadn't seen anyone in three weeks because I’d been busy at work. I may not be doing my job at the moment, but that was still true. Besides not having the time for it, it was the wrong time even to be thinking of romance with my dad being ill.

“Even if that old man refuses to see me,” I growled.

A knock on the door made me look up. I thought it might be the secretary, or someone from the hotel coming to ask about something important, but the door opened without me calling for it too, and my brother Mason walked in.

“When did you get here?” I asked in not quite a greeting.

He grinned, pulling off his shades. “About an hour ago. I stopped by the house but there was no news, and Emily let me know you’d be here.”

Mason looked like his usual self, though it had been a few months since I’d seen him last. But then, he never really changed, did he?

He was shorter than me by an inch at six foot four, and I stood up as he crossed the room to keep him aware of that fact. We had the same gray eyes, but his blonde hair was a few shades darker than mine. He reached a hand across the desk as he stopped on the other side of it, and after a short hesitation he probably didn’t catch, I shook his hand. Then we both sat down.

“So?” he started saying, and I was already growing impatient, hoping he would just say what was on his mind. “What exactly is going on? I get an urgent call from Emily that Dad had a heart attack, only she seems more nervous than worried and won’t tell me anything about him. Even Mom isn’t saying anything.”

“Are you still trying to talk to your mom?” I asked because I knew I wouldn’t dare do that. It would mean having to acknowledge her existence, and I tried not to do that as much as possible. “She came back with him in an ambulance yesterday when he should probably still be in the hospital. That man is far too stubborn for his own good! Always thinking he’s Superman or something.”

He sighed and tipped his head back. “I tried insisting, but Mom’s just like that. If she doesn’t want to say something, you can't talk her into it, not even her kids.” He raised his head to look at me with an uncharacteristic frown. He was the always ready to party one, so seeing him so serious was nice for a change. “You don’t think it’s really serious, do you? He’s practically retired, though that just means he works here instead of looking into all the branches because he’s not the kind to stay at home idle. It’s probably bad that he’s not here working, isn’t it?”

I frowned as I arranged my thoughts. They were along the same lines as his. We all knew what our dad was like, after all.

“It probably is something serious,” I said slowly. “And he just calls himself retired, but I know he never stopped working.” He just asked me to take care of some of the other hotels and left other managers in charge of what I wasn’t taking care off, adding more to my plate without asking me if I even wanted a hand in his empire. “He’s refused to see me, so I guess we just have to wait until he stops being so damn shy.”

Mason snorted. “Since when was that shameless old man shy?”

I rolled my eyes as he chuckled. “Anyway, while he’s off, there’s a lot of work to do at the hotel. I’ll be looking into the other branches in a few days if we still have no news, but there’s plenty to get done here that he left behind.”

Mason’s expression went serious again as he leaned forward, elbows braced on the arms of the chair and hands linked together over his lap.

“Tell me what there is and I’ll see what I can help you with.”

I gave him a suspicious look. He waved my expression away, looking amused. “Dad taught all of us about the business, not just you, you know.” He waited for my reaction, but I didn’t give him one so he just carried on talking. “I can be of some help. Or if you want, I could leave it all in your capable hands, big bro.” He gave me a strange look. “Though I was kinda surprised to hear you were in the area, Trent. I didn’t believe it, which is why I rushed to get here just to see it for myself.”

“Forget that. Focus on work for now. You might as well make yourself useful while you’re here.”

I showed him the same list the secretary had given me. We divided some duties between us, everyone with their shit to take care of, just as our dad taught us.

Though I’d acted all skeptical about his offer considering what he liked to do with his free time, I wouldn’t doubt his capabilities. Our dad had been a hard man after all, especially when it came to the business. But he taught us, even the other four—Emily too, though she was the least interested—how to be proper businessmen, at least.

“But first,” I told him before he could get his ass out of the chair, “I need help with some of the paperwork right now, or I’ll be lost in it for the rest of the day, and I have other stuff I want to get done today.”

He arched an eyebrow at the papers I already had in front of me, and the thick pile of folders to the side that I’d yet to get to.

“Just how much is there, anyway?” he asked, part curious and partly horrified.

I shrugged. “It must have all been waiting for a week, at least. Maybe he wasn’t feeling well before the heart attack, or he would have done it all himself.”