Game On (7 page)

Evan fisted his hands on his desk. “If he
so much as lays a hand on her, I’ll kill him.”

“That’s just it, man. You can’t do shit.
She’s not your girlfriend anymore, remember?”

“You think I need you to remind me of that?”
He swallowed as though the words were stuck in his throat. “I rolled over this
mornin’ to an empty bed. I walked into a half-empty closet where her clothes
belong. Jesus…” he said, lacing his hands behind his head. “I can’t do this. I
don’t know how to do this without her. That woman is everything to me.”

Ryan thought of his relationship with
Brianna. That’s exactly how he would have described her. She was the first
person he called to share good news or commiserate about a lousy day. He
couldn’t lose that. Even if it meant keeping his feelings for her to himself so
they could go on being friends. It beat the alternative. Not having her in his
life at all was unimaginable.

“She’s my best friend.”

Ryan was surprised to hear his brother
echoing his own thoughts and it took a minute for him to realize that he was
talking about Erika. “I know.”

“No, you don’t know,” he said quietly. “You
can’t possibly know what it’s like to lose the person who makes your life worth
livin’.”

“Don’t say shit like that.” Aside from
their father, Evan was the strongest man Ryan knew. It seemed he could handle
anything. Except maybe this. “You’ve got a lot to live for.”

“Oh yeah, like what?”

“You have this company, friends, a family
who loves you. You’re rich, smart, successful…” Ryan grinned when his brother
shot him a derisive look. “Maybe you should go on that show, The Bachelor.” He
laughed. “You could meet thirty eligible women who’d fight for the right to
make the acquaintance of your big bank account.”

“Get outta here.” Evan rubbed his face. “Go
and ask Susan to set up refreshments in the board room.” He looked at his
watch. “You have exactly ten minutes to get your ass in there.”

Ryan got up and made his way to the door.
Looking back, he saw his brother reach for the phone. “You gonna try callin’
her again?”

“What choice do I have?”

***

After their meeting, Ryan made his way down
the hall to Brianna’s corner office. “Hey there, you got time for a coffee
break? I just got out of a hellacious meetin’ and I’m not ready to get back to
work just yet.”

She looked up from her computer monitor, hitting
him where it hurt when she licked her lips. “I always have time for you, you
know that.” She pointed to the chair across from her desk. “Grab a coffee and
tell me all about this meeting that has you so wound up.”

Ryan poured himself a coffee from the
carafe she always kept on a little table in the corner, though caffeine was the
last thing he needed. Seeing Brianna had already given him the adrenaline surge
he needed. “Lance Leeman is makin’ noise about findin’ a new label.”

Her mouth dropped open as she turned her
swivel chair to face him. “No way! He’s been with Titan since the beginning.
Why would he want to leave?”

Ryan sighed as he slumped into one of the
uncomfortable armchairs he hated so much. His next order of business would be
hiring an interior designer who would gladly help him put his stamp on the
building. “He says he doesn’t like the direction we’re takin’ the label.” He
chuckled. “Says there’s no place for rap in country music, and he mentioned
those boys goin’ on the awards shows with chains hangin’ from their belt loops
and full sleeves of ink. He says he doesn’t want to be a part of a label who
endorses that kind of artist.”

Brianna winced. “You can’t deny it. The
face of country music is changing. It’s not my grandmother’s music anymore.”

“Thank God for that.” Ryan laughed when she
pointed at him, trying to contain her smile.

“Behave yourself.” She pinched her lips
together, trying to look stern. “There will always be a place for the old school
country artists like Lance. You need to remain diverse. Otherwise, you’re going
to lose the broad appeal that Titan built its reputation on.”

Ryan’s vision of the new Titan included
young, fresh artists who weren’t afraid to push the boundaries and introduce
country fans to a new kind of music. As far as he was concerned, artists who
couldn’t see their vision shouldn’t have a home at Titan. Unfortunately, he and
his brother disagreed. Evan was determined to keep Lance and the old guard
around as long as possible.

“Evan thinks it’ll look bad if too many of
the old boys bail all at once. Personally, I think we should just clean house
and start fresh.”

Brianna smiled. “Your father would kick
your ass if he heard you say that.”

“I don’t care. This is our company now. I
love and respect the old man, but when he retired and put us in charge, he
agreed to let us do things our way.”

“I know, but I’m afraid I have to agree
with Evan on this one, Ry. You need to take it slow. If you try to implement
these changes all at once, you risk alienating the artists you need to move
forward. People don’t like change, especially when their livelihood is at stake.
We’ve all seen artists who said or did the wrong thing and alienated their
fans. One day they’re on top of the world, selling out stadiums, and the next,
they’ve hit rock bottom. We all know things can change on a dime in this
business. Nothing’s a sure thing.”

The way I feel about you is a sure
thing, darlin’
. “How’d you get so smart, pretty
lady?” He smiled over the rim of his paper cup, enjoying the color that flamed her
cheeks.

“I was studying while you were out getting
drunk, remember?”

Ryan threw his head back and laughed. He
loved that she wasn’t afraid to speak her mind with him. Most of the women he’d
dated in the past were afraid of offending him, so they held their tongue even
when he deserved a verbal lashing. Not Brianna. That was one of the dozens of
reasons he couldn’t stop himself from falling in love with her.

“All right, so I enjoyed my college years.
I’ve grown up a lot since then.”

She quirked an eyebrow. “Didn’t you tell me
you tied one on at Johnny’s strip joint just last week?” She rolled her eyes.
“Honestly, I don’t know why you’re still friends with that guy. He’s a loser if
you ask me.”

That was the problem with sharing all of
his secrets with her. There was nothing about him that she didn’t know. Well,
maybe one thing. The most important thing: the way he felt about her. “You know
I was just there to celebrate a buddy’s pendin’ nuptials. I don’t hang out
there near as much as I used to.” He grinned when she rolled her eyes. “Come on
now, I’m serious.”

“Why don’t I believe you?”

“Those girls at Johnny’s place got nothin’
on you, baby.” He locked eyes with her, daring her to dispute his claim. It was
the closest he’d come to telling her he was attracted to her since the night
they’d kissed years ago. “You gotta know that.” When the silence dragged on, he
decided to change the subject. “What have you got against Johnny anyway?”

“You mean aside from the fact that he was determined
to get me in to bed during college?”

That was news to Ryan. “What are you
talkin’ about? You never told me that.”

She shrugged. “It was no big deal. I shot
him down every time he tried.”

“Still, you should’ve told me. I would’ve
told him to back the hell off.” Ryan hated to think about her fending off a guy
like Johnny on her own. He knew how relentless Johnny could be when he set his
sights on a woman, and he didn’t like to take no for an answer.

“Ancient history,” she said with a wave of
her hand. Turning back to her computer monitor, she moved the mouse to restore
the screen. “Get out of here, Spencer. Coffee time is over. I’ve got work to
do.”

“I went to see Erika this mornin’.” He
wasn’t ready to leave. No matter how much time they spent together, it was
never enough.

“Oh, how’d that go?” she asked, giving him
her undivided attention once again.

“She’s hurtin’ almost as much as my
brother, but she’s determined to keep her distance. She says it’s over.
Accordin’ to her, there’s no goin’ back.”

Brianna sighed. “I’m so sorry to hear that.
I know how much they love each other. It’s a shame they can’t find a way to
work it out.”

“Personally, I think my brother’s a fool.”
He set his coffee down on the table beside him and leaned forward. “When you
find your soul mate, you don’t put anything else above her.”

Brianna propped her elbows on her desk and
rested her chin in her upturned palms. “Who knew you were such a romantic?”

“There’s a lot about me you don’t know,
Bri.”

She scoffed. “I doubt that. Sometimes, I
think I know you better than you know yourself.”

Ryan looked at her a long time before he
said, “In a lot of ways, you’re probably right. But you don’t know some things,
things I just may have to tell ya about one of these days.” He questioned his
sanity as he actually considered whether he should tell her how he felt. His
mouth was suddenly dry and his heart was beating like a drum when he said, “Listen,
Bri…”

Before he could continue, she was looking
past him to the delivery man standing at the door. “Can I help you?”

“I have a delivery here for Brianna
Cooper.”

“Oh my goodness,” she said, getting up to
meet him at the door.

Ryan turned to see a uniformed man carrying
a huge crystal vase containing a profusion of red and white roses. His stomach
plummeted. Without asking her to read the card, he knew who they were from.
Clint.
No question about it, this guy intended to pull out all the stops, and if
Ryan didn’t find a way to stop him, he was going to steal the woman who
belonged with him.

After tipping the young man, she carried
the flowers over and set them on the edge of the desk. A wide grin split her
face as she read the embossed card. Handing it to Ryan, she asked, “How sweet
is that?”

He looked at the masculine scrawl and tried
to contain his frustration as he read the message.

Last night was one of the best nights of my
life. I have a feeling with you by my side, it’s only going to get better. I
can’t wait to see you tonight. Clint

“I can’t believe you’re really gonna meet
this guy’s family after just one date. That’s crazy.”

She snatched the card back and stuck it
back in the arrangement. “I don’t recall asking for your opinion. I made up my
mind. I’m going.”

“Why?”

“Because I like him, and I think this may
be going somewhere, that’s why.” She reclaimed her chair and grabbed the edge
of the desk to wheel herself closer to her computer. “Now, if you’ll excuse me,
I have work to do.”

He still had so much to say, but he knew
any more comments about the man she was seeing would only antagonize her
further, so he stood up and walked to the door. “Just do me a favor. Be
careful, okay?”

She looked up and her features softened.
“You don’t have to worry about me. I’ll be fine.”

“I just don’t wanna see you get in over
your head with this guy.”

“You mean like I did with Jared?” She
smiled. “Don’t worry, I don’t think Clint is anything like him.”

That’s what worried Ryan. Jared Ross was a
joke, but Clint was a real threat.

***

Brianna took a sip of water as she tried to
ignore the curious glances from the diners surrounding them. Clint and his
father had been arguing about everything from the price of gas to whether he
should extend his concert tour to Asia.

“Don’t mind them,” Clint’s mother said,
forcing a smile. “It’s always like this when they get together. If Clint says
black, his father says white. Poor boy, I know he just wants to please him, but
my Leroy is as stubborn as a mule sometimes. He doesn’t understand that our son
has this one life to live. He has to do what makes him happy.” She regarded her
son a long time before she said, “I just wish Clint had the courage to stand up
to his daddy.”

Brianna frowned. It seemed to her that he’d
been doing little else since they sat down. “I’m not sure I understand.”

“They waste all this time bickering about
the little things because Clint resents the fact that he can’t be honest with
him about the big things.”

Brianna didn’t know if she wanted to be
drawn any further into this family drama, so she reached for a sugar packet and
stirred the granules into her coffee cup. “Not all parents and children see
eye-to-eye, I suppose.” She smirked when she thought of the fights Ryan had
with Luc. Evan was just like his father, but Ryan got off on testing Luc’s
patience at every opportunity. “One of my closest friends has the same kind of
relationship with his father. It doesn’t mean they don’t love each other; they
do. They’re just very different people.”

“That’s the way it is with Leroy and our
boys. He thinks he knows what’s best for them, but he never stops to ask them
what they want.”