18. Remi

Chapter 18

Remi

“I could’ve sworn I locked the door.” I turned the knob and moved the door back and forth. I must be a couple sandwiches shy of a picnic.

“Weird.” Myles flipped on the light switch and walked to the fridge.

I closed the door and followed in his wake. “I left my wallet and my phone on my nightstand. Be right back.” We’d made it all the way to the bar and ordered drinks for the guys before I’d noticed.

Part of me wanted to stay home since Smoot joined this week’s guys’ night. His overuse of climbing slang made me want to shove cotton balls in my ears.

The layout of the model home was already familiar to me. I felt more at home in the three weeks I’d been here than I ever had at the big house in Dallas. I pushed the door wide to my cluttered room. For me, it was a luxury to be messy. Efficient maids invisible to me since they cleaned during work hours, did my laundry and made my bed everyday.

A luxury, yes, but it got old.

Turning on the light, I retrieved my wallet and phone and then turned to leave.

Wait a second.

A tennis shoe stuck out the end of my bed. One far too petite and feminine to be mine, and it was still laced onto a foot. In a couple of quiet strides, I stood over … Angie?

She lay on her back, clutching my briefcase to her chest, and Lili was curled onto her side next to her. They both had their eyes closed like two naughty children. If I can’t see you, you can’t see me.

The moment she read any of those documents stored inside my case, my charade would be over. I placed my hands on my hips and glared down at them, madder than a snake in a hornet’s nest. “What the hell are you doing here?”

Angie’s eyes shot open, and she screamed. Lili joined in, piggybacking off Angie’s reaction.

Myles ran into the room, wielding a frying pan above his head. Long strands of his hair had escaped the elastic he’d used to tie it back. “What’s going on?”

“I caught these two burglarizing our place.” I shoved my thumb toward the women.

Myles relaxed his stance and let the frying pan swing to his side. Really, a pan? Why hadn’t he thought to grab a knife out of the block?

Angie scrambled to her feet and helped Lili up. “We weren’t planning on taking anything.” The handle to my case was still gripped in her fist.

“Is that right?” I inclined my head to my bag and tightened my lips into a flat line. I was going to jerk a knot into her tail!

I held my hand in front of me, waiting for her to slide the handle into my palm. She motioned like she’d do exactly that but then dug her shoulder into my stomach, knocking me off balance. My Stetson tumbled from my head to the floor. She sprinted past me and Myles.

Lili’s mouth gaped open.

She stared at the spot her friend had vacated. As soon as I steadied myself, I tore after Angie.

She stood in the living room, the couch between us, wrestling with the clasp on my briefcase.

“Give it back!” I yelled.

“Not until you tell me what you’re hiding!”

I lunged in one direction, only to pivot and roll over the top of the couch. Her reaction was a millisecond too slow. I snagged the briefcase. She didn’t let go. We yanked the case back and forth between us like a tug of rope.

“You’re so immature.” I pulled her and the briefcase close to me.

She fought back, succeeding in jerking me toward the end table. My shin clipped the corner, and I clenched my teeth. With determination burning under her skirts, she was strong enough to make Samson look sensitive.

“Oh, I’m immature?” Her breaths came out in strained puffs. “This coming from a farmhand who can’t even drive a tractor .”

She braced her feet against the edge of the couch and heaved. My case slipped out of my sweaty palm. Angie fell backward onto the floor. I landed on my chest, half on the couch, half off. But my focus lasered onto the black, Italian leather briefcase given to me by my father. It hit the wall and flew open, spilling its contents everywhere.

Papers scattered onto the wood floor. Each one with a logo on it, condemning me. Not bothering to stand, Angie army crawled toward the papers. I dove and caught her foot, preventing her from going any further.

She kicked at my hands, but I hauled her, hand over hand, to me until I looped one arm around her midsection.

“Let me go!” She squirmed, hitting and kicking any part of me within range.

I managed to get to my feet, taking the irate woman with me. “Not a chance.”

Myles and Lili stood next to the island in almost the exact same pose: hands over their mouths, heads tilted, and eyebrows raised.

“Lili!” Angie yelled. “Get the papers!”

Lili attempted to take a step toward the contents of my briefcase, but Myles stepped in front of her. “I think we should stay out of this. Can I get you something to drink?”

“Oh good.” Her shoulders drooped over her pregnant belly. “I am sooo thirsty. I had no idea Angie planned to go this far. Otherwise, I would have packed a water bottle.” Her large belly protruded much more than I’d expect for someone only seven months pregnant.

Must be the two babies in there, instead of one. Then again, I hadn’t been around many pregnant women.

“Come on.” Angie sagged in my arms as she watched this exchange.

Ha. I won.

She must have sensed me lowering my guard. At that precise moment, she grated her heels down my shin and bit into the fleshy part of my thumb.

“Ah-hh.” I released her and waved my hand in the air, checking to see if she’d broken through my skin.

She sprinted to the pile. Not slowing, she scooped up some papers and ran to Lili’s side at the kitchen table.

My chest heaved up and down with each of my labored breaths.

Angie dropped her eyes to the white sheets, briefly taking in their contents, then looked at me, her gaze clashing with mine. The air in my lungs vacated as if I’d had the wind knocked out of me.

I admired Angie’s ability to be as open as a book, but now I wanted to shield myself from what I read in her eyes. Betrayal. Hatred. Anger, no fury ignited in her crystal-blue depths. I waited for the inevitable slew of heated words she’d sling at me. This wouldn’t be the first time I’d been despised.

This job taught me how to have thick skin, but Angie pierced right through it like she had x-ray vision.

“You’re with Cockrell Development.” Her accusation burst out with a healthy dash of venom. “Remington James Cockrell the Third. Left something out there, didn’t you, you lying son of a—this changes everything.”

“It changes nothing. I still work for you.” I grasped at the only leverage I had—my one chance to stay in Angie’s life. “Or do you want me to go to the bar and tell Smoot all about our arrangement?”

Myles and Lili sat at the table, rubbernecking from Angie and back to me. Some friend Myles was. Not lifting a finger to help me.

“I’ll find another Daniel. You’re fired.” She let the documents flutter to the ground and scowled at me. “Now it makes sense. The reason you’ve been so cagey about your life before you came here. You’re not a cog in the corporate machine. You’re the jerkoff making the cogs turn.” She shook her head once and trudged past me toward the door. “Come on, Lili. Let’s go.”

Lili shoved a large chunk of muffin in her mouth, not moving. “Can’t I finish my blueberry muffin first?”

“Take it with you.” Angie paused, within reach, and turned to her friend.

“You know how finicky Blake is about food in cars.”

“You ate sauerkraut and peanut butter in your car.”

“That was an emergency.” Lili sipped from her glass of iced tea.

Angie stomped her foot. “And this isn’t?”

I wiped the sweat beading on my upper lip. This situation was spiraling out of control. I couldn’t let Angie leave. This wasn’t supposed to happen. I’d dealt with unexpected kinks in negotiations before, but it never felt like a red-hot poker had been shoved into my abs.

If she succeeded in firing me, I’d no longer get to look forward to bickering with her daily. Not to mention, my dreams with Myles would be a bust. Somehow, they came in second to never seeing Angie again. The power she held over me scared the shit out of me.

“Are you saying your feelings for Smoot aren’t genuine?” I grabbed Angie’s upper arm, and she filleted me with her eyes. “You’ll have to keep up your charade all on your own.” It was my one play before everything unraveled.

“I’ll tell him the truth.”

“Go ahead. And he’ll split faster than a wet log.”

“A wet log?” She rubbed her temple. “Where do you come up with …”

Lili raised her hand like she was in a classroom. “Does a wet log split better than a dry one?”

“It does,” Myles answered. “I read an article—”

“Enough!” Angie shouted and turned back to me. “My only other option is to let you keep working on the farm, hustling my parents into selling it to you.”

“How ’bout we all calm down and share a glass of iced tea?” Myles held his hands out as if he stood in front of two live bombs.

“Shut up, Myles,” Angie and I said in unison.

“Fine.” Myles slunk back in his chair. “I’m only trying to help.”

“Let this play out.” Lili touched Myles’ shoulder. “It’s getting good.” She took another bite of her muffin, settling back into her chair.

My hackles had risen at the mention of Tony and Nora. I cared for them and wanted only what was best. Selling the land would prevent bankruptcy. At this point, it was already lost. It’d be much better for someone who had their best interest at heart to ease them into the idea of off-loading rather than allowing some East Coast, faceless shark of a company take advantage of them.

I went on as if our friends hadn’t spoken. “I haven’t misled your parents at all.”

“No?” She leaned toward me until we were nose to nose. “You’re just weaseling your way into their good graces, biding your time like a snake in the grass, waiting for the perfect time to strike.” She threaded her hands through her hair at her temples. “Ugh! Why won’t you Cockrells leave us alone?”

And with her statement, she exposed her greatest weakness. I lowered my voice. “You can fire me. Tell your parents about me. Break it off with Smoot. But I’ll never leave you alone. I’m not going anywhere. You won’t have any peace until you, one,” I held my pointer finger in front of her face, “sell me your farm. Or two,” I lifted my second finger, “I die trying to buy it.”

Sudden silence reverberated in my ears. The heat pump clicked on, and the sound of air rushing through the vents filled the void. Our eyes battled each other until she backed up a step.

“If I let you do real work, option two will come quicker than you think. ‘Don’t take it too hard on me.’” She air-quoted, imitating a whiny toddler.

I folded my arms and glared at her. “I can take whatever you throw at me.” Wait … What did I just say? If only I could shove my words back down my gullet.

She straightened. “Oh really? How about we amend our deal then?”

Not able to back out now without walking away with my testicles in my palm, I pressed forward. “Sure. What do you have in mind?”

“No work restrictions. I can make you do whatever I want. If you don’t last until the harvest, you and your company leave us alone forever.”

Gauntlet thrown, she stared me down, making a hornet look cuddly. My father should have offered Angie my job, and yet I was still better at it. I pretended to mull over her offer. She’d given me the window I’d been waiting for.

“Fine. But you can’t tell your parents. And if I do make it to harvest, you sell to me without a fight.” I stuck out my hand to her.

“Hold on, Ang,” Lili broke in. “This has gone too far.”

Angie glanced at her friend then locked onto me with her steely irises. “Do you think I’m stupid? My name isn’t even on the deed.”

“We both know your parents will do whatever you ask—”

“Papa will never sell—”

“Fine.” I flicked my hands apart, slicing through the air and cutting her off. “How about this? If I make it to harvest, you talk to Tony in support of selling to the CD … I mean Cockrell Development Company.”

“What were you going to say?” Angie took a step toward me. “The CD what?”

I could ignore her, yet once she wanted to know something, she latched onto it, like a lion to its prey, until she was satisfied. Case in point: her, standing in my living room, dressed like a ninja.

I rolled my head, slinking it to the side before I answered. She was going to give me hell for this. “The CDC.”

Angie broke into laughter, though I would call it more of a cackle.

“You nicknamed your company the CDC?” She hooted some more before continuing. “I bet you have all sorts of communicable diseases in your business .” She inclined her head toward my crotch with a smirk.

She had to go there. And I was supposed to be the immature one in this relationship. Both Myles and Lili tittered in the background, but I remained focused on Angie.

“Do we have a deal?” I shoved my hand out to her.

She threw her hands in the air like she surrendered. “I don’t know if I can make a deal with the CDC.”

“How certain are you that Tony won’t sell?” I challenged.

Her laughter cut short, and she narrowed her eyes. “You and your company will stop bugging us if you can’t hack it? Like, never ever again?”

“Promise.” I didn’t falter.

“And you’ll still help me with Daniel?”

“Yes.” Bile rose in my throat with my short response. I choked it back down. By any means necessary. Focus on Texas Bros and my goals for the future. Even if the people I was helping along went together about as good as sardines and ice cream.

With one final glance at Lili, she firmly grasped my hand and shook it. “Then you—my useless farmhand—have a deal.”

Inside, I cheered. I was one summer away from everything I’d ever dreamed of. But Angie’s lack of hesitation in taking my deal castrated my excitement.

“Meet at the North field. Five a.m. Tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow’s Saturday. We don’t work weekends.”

“I do. And from now on, you do too.”

Working seven days a week didn’t scare me. I’d been employed since my mom took away my binky. If Angie wanted me gone, she’d have to try harder.

Still holding her hand firmly, I tugged her to me until our foreheads almost touched. “Bring it.”

Her answer was a simple grin so evil it could be on the poster for the horror film Smile . A chill spread through my heart.

What had I gotten myself into?