Blue-Eyed Devil (Travis Family #2)(42)

"Why do you think that is?"

"He's pulled together a great team, and he can negotiate a tight deal. But mostly he's got the knack for finding oil. Call it luck, call it skill, but some people got it and some don't. Maybe he's not college-smart, but he's smart in a way they can't teach. Man, I wouldn't underestimate him." Jack dragged his hand through his dark hair, looking thoughtful. "Joe's met him."

I blinked in surprise. "What? Our brother Joe?"

"Yeah. Joe took his picture for that thing they did on him in Texas Monthly last year."

"What a coincidence," I said slowly. "What did Joe say about him?"

"Can't remember. I'll have to ask him." Jack frowned. "You think Cates has some kind of revenge thing going on against the Travises?"

"For what?"

"Because Gage married his old girlfriend?"

"That would be taking things a little far," I said skeptically. "I mean, they never even slept together."

Jack's brows rose. "How do you know?"

"He said so."

"You were talking about sex with Hardy Cates?" he asked in the same tone he would have used for et tu, Haven?

"Not like that," I said uncomfortably. "It was sort of a casual reference."

Jack gave me a long, hard stare. "If he so much as glances in your direction, I'm going to wipe the floor with his ass — "

"Jack, hush — "

" — and I'm gonna make that real clear to him before the contracts are signed."

"If you embarrass me that way, I'm going to find a new job. I swear it, Jack. Not a word to Hardy."

A long silence, while my brother stared at me. "Are you interested in Cates? " he asked.

"No!"

"Good. Because — and don't take this personal — I have no confidence in your ability to pick a decent guy for yourself. If you like someone, he's probably scum."

"That is a huge boundary violation," I said indignantly.

"A what?"

"That means I don't make any comments about the kind of women you date, and you have no right to judge my choices."

"Yeah, but — " Jack stopped and scowled. "You're right. It's none of my business. It's just . . . I'd like you to find some nice guy with no weird f**kin' baggage."

I had to laugh. My irritation vanished, and I reached over to pat his hand. "If you ever meet one," I said, "let me know."

My cell phone rang, and I fished it out of my purse. "Bye, Jack," I said, and flipped the phone open. "Hello?"

"Haven."

The sound of Hardy's voice gave me a subtle, pleasurable jolt. "Hi," I said, and damned myself for sounding breathless.

Jack, who'd been in the process of leaving, stopped at the doorway and shot me a curious glance. I waved for him to go on, but he stayed where he was, watching and listening.

I adopted a brisk, professional tone. "Do you have a question about the apartment? I'll give you Samantha's number — "

"I've already got her number. I want to talk to you."

"Oh." I fiddled with a pen on the desk. "How can I help you?"

"I need a recommendation for someone who can come in and fix up the apartment — pick out the furniture, colors, that kind of stuff."

"An interior decorator?"

"Yeah, but a good one. The one I hired for my last apartment charged a fortune, and it ended up looking like a Fort Worth bar."

"And that's not your style?"

"No, it's exactly my style. That's the problem. I need an image upgrade."

"You don't need to worry about that," I said. "The formal look is out. Casual and comfortable is fine."

"I have a sofa that once roamed the open range."

I couldn't help laughing at that. "You mean cowhide? Oh, God. You do need help." I thought of Todd. "I know someone — but he's not cheap."

"That's okay, as long as he's good."

"Would you like me to call him for you and set up something?"

"Thanks. That would be great. And as a favor would you be there with me when I meet him?"

I hesitated, my fingers tightening on the pen. "I don't think I'd be much help."

"I need your opinion. My kind of decorating usually involves fur, skins, and horns. You have no idea what I could be talked into.

"All right," I said reluctantly. "I'll be there. When are you free?"

"I'm tied up the rest of today and tomorrow, finishing up an AFE. So the next day or anytime after that would be fine."

"What's an AFE?"

"Authority for expenditure form. Basically it's all the estimates for drilling and completing a well, including salaries, services, and equipment. You can get screwed six ways to Sunday if you don't get the AFE right and make sure everyone follows it. It's real important for a smaller company with a limited budget."

"So are you the one who makes sure everyone follows the AFE?"

"Yeah, I'm the heavy," Hardy admitted. "Neither of my partners are good at it — one's a geophysicist and sticks to the science stuff, and the other one can't handle confrontation. So it's up to me. I figure I haven't managed a project right unless I get a few death threats along the way."