was looking at the ring right before I ran off. He... He wasn’t smiling, Gia. He didn’t look happy or excited. He looked... I don’t know. Resigned?” And definitely not like a man in love.
“It really makes me wonder...” Gia let her thought taper off before pasting on a slightly insincere smile. “Never mind. Speculation is never good. Who knows what men are thinking?”
Taylor couldn’t let her friend off the hook after that teaser. “What? What were you going to say?”
“Conjecture. And nothing that would help.”
“It’s not like you to be coy.”
Gia chewed on her lip before she said, “I wonder if the proposal had anything to do with Dad’s retirement. Pending retirement. Bran’s being engaged would make him appear better suited for the role of CEO than Royce.”
“He wouldn’t?” But the sentence came out like a question because... Would he?
Brannon had mentioned time and again that his father would be stepping down. That he could picture himself in the role of CEO. Their “dates,” for lack of a better word, had been consumed by talk of work and Bran’s future at the company.
“Dad will retire sooner than we think, Tay,” he’d told her one evening over a second glass of wine for each of them. He’d described Royce as his “competition.” Bran had also mentioned that he wanted it more, but deserved it less. She’d argued in his defense that he and Royce were equally suited to replace Jack. It was the truth. The Knox boys each had winning qualities and were as dedicated to this company as they were to each other.
“I’m not saying he was using you, Taylor. I don’t think he came up with an insidious plan to toy with you to get what he wanted.”
“No, no, neither do I.” Taylor had known Brannon practically her entire life. Ambition wouldn’t cause him to stoop that low.
“But maybe somewhere down deep he thought it’d help to show some stability. Bran is the fun-loving one, after all.”
“And president of the company. It’s not like he’s goofing around.”
“Right. And you’re COO. A match made in heaven, on paper.” Gia tilted her head, her lips compressing. “Your dad always liked Bran for you.”
He had.
“I couldn’t live with myself if I drove a wedge between Bran and Royce.” Taylor sighed.
“That’s on them. You weren’t the only one in that closet. Whatever amends need to be made, you’ll work it out. What’s done is done. There has to be a part of you that is glad you don’t have to pretend with Brannon any longer.”
“You’re so understanding.”
“Men are babies.” Gia shrugged. “They’ll get over it.”
“I should talk to Bran.” The idea of approaching him hung in the air like a foul stench. But they worked together, and closely. She didn’t want there to be awkward vibes during meetings or conference calls. She didn’t want him to avoid her out of discomfort or pride.
“You will. And you’ll say something brilliant and then everything will be okay. He didn’t act like a man in love, Taylor. I don’t know why he thought an engagement was the right move, but he wasn’t acting from the heart. It was pragmatism and planning if you ask me.”
“I should’ve said what was on my mind that night. That we weren’t working romantically. It would have been a relief for both of us.”
“You should have,” Gia agreed with a curt nod. “But you didn’t. And now you have to make decisions starting from the square you’re standing in.”
A “square” was filled with Royce and her truckload of attraction to him. When she thought about him, apart from everything else, she had to admit it was exciting. Maybe she finally had a chance at a relationship that was visceral and real.
God, how she needed something real.
Even if she never kissed Royce again, she’d had a realization of sorts. She was still sexually attractive. After two years of no dating and her and Brannon’s lackluster romance, Taylor had started wondering if she’d ever find someone who curled her toes.
She hadn’t imagined that someone would be Royce. Years ago, she’d taken her father’s warning at face value. He’d been protective over his baby girl when he’d told her to stay away from Royce. But she was a far cry from a baby now.
“See you in the quarterly meeting.”
“Thanks, G.”
“You’re welcome, doll.” Gia wiggled her fingers in a wave and left the office.
Royce stepped into the financial review meeting, unbuttoned his suit jacket and took a seat at the sleek mahogany conference room table. As CFO, he’d be called upon for input but he wasn’t running the meeting. That was up to the finance manager, Stella, who had already lined up the projector and was sifting through her notes.
He’d had trouble keeping his mind on work for obvious reasons. Work and play didn’t mix. Not that he had time to play. Being in charge of the company’s numbers was an undertaking he took very seriously.
Gia arrived last as per her usual. She sat next to Taylor, who was at Royce’s left elbow. Brannon was across the table, leaning back in his leather chair, tapping a pencil eraser-side down while he glared in Royce’s general direction.
Royce ignored him.
“Everyone ready to get started?” Stella asked rhetorically before doing just that. Meetings were a nuisance but necessary to keep everyone on the same page. Especially now that his father was flirting more and more with the idea of early retirement.
Jack Knox wouldn’t hit the links right away nor was he interested in building birdhouses in his spare time. No, no. Jack planned on traveling, experiencing life and the world. Royce’s old man, now sixty-one, had never truly run out of wild oats to sow.
Bran focused his attention on a paper report while Taylor and Royce consulted their tablets. Gia had a fussy leather notebook in front of her, bejeweled with gems and dotted with stickers. His baby sister wasn’t much for formality. Brannon wasn’t either, though he did follow along. He rarely used the very electronics their company sold, which made Royce laugh.
Or would have if Bran hadn’t been shutting him out for two solid days.
The last conversation they’d had was at the threshold of that closet when Bran had caught Royce and Taylor post-lip-lock. When Royce had come upon Bran and Gia talking later that same night, Bran promptly turned and walked away. Royce understood his younger brother’s anger. Seven unanswered text messages later, he’d given up, until this morning.
He’d stepped right into Brannon’s corner office and addressed him with a “Good morning, brother.”
Brannon had looked up from his laptop to narrow his eyes. Eyes that were lighter brown than Royce’s own, and greenish like their mother’s. He’d picked up his phone, made a call and started talking, ignoring Royce altogether.
That’d been two hours ago and here they sat, ignoring each other again.
With a sigh, Royce glanced at Gia, who was jotting notes and lounging in her chair at the same time. No doubt her big brain soaked up every word Stella was saying like a fresh, dry sponge. Gia had always been able to pay attention to everything around her. Bran was more easily distracted during boring moments like this meeting, while Royce enjoyed the methodology of a presentation. There was a certain order to it that made sense to him.
Jayson Cooper, Gia’s ex-husband who still