An Irresistible Bachelor(38)

Except at the moment, Jack was feeling nothing of the triumph he usually did when an acquisition came together. He leaned back and listened as the grandfather clock across the room began to chime.

Five o'clock. Which meant he could have a bourbon.

He walked over to the wet bar, poured himself a good portion of Bradford's best, and sat back down behind the desk. The liquor burned his throat as it went to his gut.

In spite of his success, he was feeling unsettled and vaguely aggressive and he knew precisely the cause.

When his phone had rung an hour ago and his caller ID had spelled out Blair's cell phone number, he'd let it go into voice mail. He'd done that a lot lately and he'd gotten into the habit of calling her back at her hotel when he knew she wouldn't be there. The decision not to tell her what had happened with Callie was harder to stomach than he'd thought and he knew he couldn't put off talking to her indefinitely.

After another hit of bourbon, Jack lifted the phone and his fingers punched out a familiar pattern.

Blair's voice was sharp when she answered. "Hello?"

"Sorry I missed your call."

"Finally, it's you! Hold on—listen, Joey, I need those light fixtures now. Karl wants me to show him this suite at the end of the week. I don't care if you have to gold leaf them yourself. It can't wait." She let out a laugh. "Sorry about that, Jack. Things are pretty crazy here."



"So Graves is as demanding as I've heard." He brought up his glass again.

"But not impossible. He has high standards, but if you meet them, he lets you know it."

Jack moved his chair around and looked out the window behind his desk. The light was just beginning to fade from the sky. "So how're you holding up?"

"Other than the not sleeping? I'll get through it somehow—here, wait a second. No! No, I want the dark green in velvet. The gold is the brocade," she yelled to someone in the background.

"You sound busy."

"I am," she said, sounding tired. "I knew going in that redecorating the Cosgrove Hotel was going to be a big project, but Graves has moved up the date of when he wants to reopen. I've only got a couple of months to do what would normally take a year."

"If he drives you too hard, let me know and I'll take a hunk out of him. Me and a couple of my buddies could do a hostile takeover of his company and bounce him out on his ass in a heartbeat."

She laughed. "Thanks."

"When are you coming home?"

There was a hesitation. "Actually, I was thinking I would stay in the city for the next couple weeks, even through Thanksgiving. We're picking colors and fabrics and I've got to get to Karl whenever I can. His schedule's ridiculous, but he insists on being the decision-maker about everything. He's offered me an old suite in the hotel."

Jack told himself that the feeling in the pit of his stomach was from the bourbon. It was not relief because she was staying in New York.

"Sounds reasonable."

A flash of movement outside caught his eye. He watched Arthur go bounding after something and he wondered how the dog had gotten out.

When Callie came across the lawn, Jack sat upright and leaned toward the window.

"You sure you don't mind?" Blair said. "It will be a while until we see each other."

"No, that's fine. Really."

Arthur ran back to Callie, dropped a stick at her feet and backed up, poised to run. She picked the hunk of wood up and extended her arm behind her. With one strong, fluid motion, she let the branch rip, flinging it a tremendous distance. The dog surged forward, his head tilted to the sky.

While Callie watched Arthur go, a gust of wind swept some of her long hair into her face, and with a laugh, she pulled the red waves back and tucked them into the collar of the fleece she was wearing. She got down on her haunches as the dog raced back toward her.


"Jack?"

He came to attention. "Yeah?"

"I'll definitely come for the holiday party, though. You're still having your usual blowout this year, right?"

"Yes." He shifted the phone to his other ear and tried to think of something to say to her. Usually it wasn't tough.

"Jack? Are you sure you're okay with me staying down here? I could just take the shuttle back and forth if it really bothers you." As he tried to reassure her, his voice must have tipped her off. "Jack, is everything all right? Did the painting arrive safely?"