More Than You Know (5 page)

Dane Harrison thought she was all that? It both surprised and thrilled her. She certainly thought
he
was all that, though she'd be damned if she'd ever let him know it. He and his offer were certainly tempting. If she could just stay away from him . . . which would be a challenge, considering the inexplicable, rousing draw she'd felt toward him almost the instant they met, and the unavoidable fact that he'd be her boss. But to sing in a new, glamorous Manhattan hotel a few nights a week, and be paid well, was a job most singers would kill for.

Maybe her luck was changing at long last. Maybe it was all another bomb waiting to explode in her face. But she'd survived bomb blasts before, much worse than a job not working out. How bad could it be?

Only one way to find out.

She caught her reflection in the bathroom mirror and smiled widely.

Chapter Three

“Dane?” Tess asked. “Do you ever want to get married?”

He blinked in surprise at his sister. “What? Where did
that
come from?”

“I want to know too,” said Charles Harrison III, staring at her through his black-rimmed glasses. “That's an interesting question, especially for
this
guy.” He gestured toward Dane with his chin.

Laughter bubbled out of Tess's mouth. “You two! You'd think I asked, ‘Hey, wanna go get our kidneys pulled out?' Jeez.” She shot a look at Dane and added, “Don't look so terrified. I'm not trying to set you up with anyone, nothing like that. I was just thinking about some things, and that led to other things, and long story short, I realized I honestly have no idea if you ever give serious thought to getting married.”

Dane shrugged, sat back in his chair, and lazily crossed one long leg over the other. “Not really. I don't give it any thought at all, actually.”

He grinned, enjoying the sensation of being truly relaxed. Spending some down time with his siblings always made him feel that way, feel more grounded. They weren't just his older brother and younger sister; they were truly his two best friends. He was glad Tess had asked him to come out and spend the day with her, and even more so when Charles had decided to join them for dinner—without his three surly kids in tow. Time alone, just the three of them, was more and more rare lately.

Sipping his Cabernet, Dane let his gaze wander along his family's majestically landscaped property. Up on a slight hill, a hundred or so yards across the expansive emerald lawn, was the Main House—which had always struck him as a funny title, considering it was a twenty-seven-room Georgian mansion. It stood proudly, a testament to four generations of Harrison work and rewards. His father still lived there, but only with a small household staff. The mighty Charles Harrison II had lived there alone since throwing their mother out almost two decades earlier.

Tess had moved back from Manhattan and into the guest cottage two years before, a picturesque four-bedroom house that shared the back property before dipping to the small cliff that overlooked the Long Island Sound. Dane had always loved that vista, one of the very best things about the magnificent estate. Now, the three of them sat outside on her back patio after a delicious dinner Tess had made, enjoying some wine as the sound of the water just beyond lulled them into a state of serenity. The late May sun glowed orange as it dipped slowly into the horizon, turning the sky over the Long Island Sound into streaky shades of purple, hot pink, and deep blue. The briny scent of the Sound carried up on the warm breeze that blew across the estate's tremendous backyard—all ten acres of it.

“You're evading the question, Golden Boy,” Charles teased.

“He's never quiet. I think I scared him witless,” Tess taunted.

Dane chuckled. “I ain't a-skeered of you two. I ain't a-skeered o' nothin'.”

“Still avoiding,” Tess singsonged.

“I guess I'm not morally opposed to getting married, if I genuinely thought I'd found the right woman,” Dane hedged. “But hey. All three of us are single, and with good reasons.” He kept his tone jaunty. “Besides, wouldn't it be bordering on cruelty to drag someone into our clan? Who in their right mind would want to become a part of the Harrison family dramas?”

“He makes an excellent point,” Charles conceded, and took a swallow of his wine.

“And, well, my standards are too high. And I work a lot. And I travel . . . Hell, I've met so many amazing women, why should I have to choose just one?” Dane grinned as his brother and sister laughed at that. “Not to mention: after our parents' debacle of a marriage and shitstorm of a divorce, and then you doing the same thing, Charles, I don't need to follow along that path, you know? And then you, Tess, your broken engagement, all that ugliness after . . . I've seen enough.”

“More excellent points,” Tess allowed with a sigh. Charles nodded in agreement.

“So, yeah, I'm thinking it's unlikely I'll dive into that.” Dane shrugged. “But never say never, right? Like I said, I don't think about it, to be honest. It's not on my to-do list. I'm too busy living my life.”

“Fair enough,” Charles said. He glanced at their sister who sat between them and added, “I think he more than answered your out-of-nowhere question.”

“He did indeed.” Tess raised her glass in a toast. “To the Harrison legacy of shitty marriages: may it now be over.” Her brothers both clinked their glasses to hers before they all drank.

“So Tess . . .” Dane eyed her, choosing his words carefully. “It's been two years since that broken engagement. What about you? Have you recovered from that disaster enough to consider ever getting married?”

“Touché, my dear.” Her usually warm voice turned cold and her face tightened. “But no. I don't think I'll be getting married, for most of the same reasons as you. Except for all the women, of course. I live a monk's life compared to you.”

Charles let out a guffaw. “We
all
do, are you kidding?”

“Shut up,” Dane said. “I'm not that bad.”

Both siblings started laughing.

“Shut up!” Dane said, half amused, half annoyed.

Charles laughed even harder and dabbed at the corner of his eye. Dane glanced over at his brother. Charles rarely laughed like that anymore. He was so stressed all the time, his mind filled with all the things that went along with being the COO of a multimillion-dollar conglomerate and the heir to a family dynasty. Charles never had fun unless Dane was around. If Dane had to be the butt of a joke to get Charles to laugh like that once in a while, he had no problem with that.

After finally composing himself, Charles let out a deep, cleansing exhale and asked, “Can we talk about something else now?”

“When's the last time either of you spoke to Mom?” Dane asked.

“Last week,” Tess said. “I called her to say Happy Mother's Day. We spoke for about ten minutes. You?”

“Same,” Dane said.

“That's three for three, then,” Charles said. “We're all wonderful children.”

“I got an e-mail from her today,” Dane went on. “I'd invited her to the hotel opening. She wanted to let me know she won't be able to make it.”

“What a shock,” Charles remarked dryly, and finished the last of his wine.

Dane smirked. “Yeah. She and Rick will be on a cruise of the Greek islands for the last two weeks of June—
so sorry, darling.
”

Tess sighed. “She has her own life.”

“She does indeed,” Dane said. He'd given up hoping his mother would come around years ago. Laura Dunham Harrison Evans Bainsley was all about one thing: Laura.

“Speaking of living their own life and ignoring the rest of the family,” Charles quipped, “anyone hear from Pierce recently?”

Dane laughed at the mention of their estranged youngest brother. “Nice segue, Chuckles.”

“I hate when you call me that,” Charles said with a good-humored scowl.

“I know you do,” Dane said. “That's the bonus.”

“I text with him regularly,” Tess said, referring to Pierce. “You guys could too, if you wanted to.”

“He and I have very little to say to each other,” Charles said flatly.

Tess frowned at him. “There are
four
of us. You should try to reach out more than you do.”

“Stop,” Charles said. “Pierce is a grown man now. He's capable of checking in too, Tess. He doesn't contact us because he doesn't want to. The only one in the family he gives a shit about is you. This isn't news.”

Dane reached for the bottle of wine and refilled his glass. “Either of you want more?”

“No more for me, thanks,” Tess said. “You know one glass is my limit.”

“Top me off, old boy,” Charles said, imitating their father's voice precisely, bringing smirks from Dane and Tess.

Dane filled his brother's glass, then placed the bottle back on the small table beside him. “I sent him an e-mail last week inviting him to the hotel opening. He also declined.”

“Really?” Tess looked genuinely surprised. “I'm . . . I'm sorry. It's a big deal for you. I hoped maybe Pierce would—”

“Apparently not.” Dane shrugged. “He's playing that week, can't get off. It's cool.” He wasn't going to let on that he'd actually suffered a twinge of disappointment when he'd gotten Pierce's response. He was proud of his younger brother. Pierce was a wild child, but he was also a semifamous soccer star in Europe, for Chrissake. That was a major achievement, which almost offset the bad-boy behavior. But he kept Dane at arm's length, like he did everyone, except for Tess.

Pierce had left home at eighteen and never looked back. Dane didn't blame him. After the divorce, their mother had been driven out of their lives, and the relationship between Pierce and their father was horrendous. If it weren't for Tess, whom Pierce practically worshipped, he'd probably never come back to the States—as it was, he only returned home for Christmas, and that was it.

But Dane had always tried to stay in contact with his younger brother. Things like texting and e-mail made it easier; they could keep in touch without having to actually talk. And Dane tried. Hell, when Tess had asked Dane to come with her to London for the 2012 Olympics, he'd gone gladly, looking to have a good time. But Pierce had shocked him; he'd gone with them to at least one sporting event every day, and had dinner with them almost every night. It had been an amazing two weeks, and the most time the brothers had spent together as adults. Dane hoped they'd maybe turned a corner, where Pierce would be more open to him . . . but apparently not.

“It bothers you,” Tess murmured, her gaze on Dane unrelenting. “You were hoping he'd come, weren't you?”

“I didn't think he would,” Dane said earnestly. “I just wanted him to know he was invited. That he was welcome.”

“And as usual, he tossed your olive branch back at you,” Charles said. “Why are you surprised? Pierce has an attitude problem, always has. He doesn't care if—”

“Knock it off, Charles,” Tess warned. “I can call him, Dane. I can tell him—”

“Nope. Not necessary, Tesstastic. Like Charles said, Pierce is a big boy. And so am I. It's fine.” Dane stretched his long legs out in front of him and eased back in his seat. “Come on, we're enjoying a beautiful sunset here. Breathe in that salty air. Look at the trees. Drink more wine. It's all good.”

The three of them sat in silence for a minute, taking in the late spring evening. The quiet was interrupted by a series of sharp barks from inside the house.

“She probably needs to go,” Tess said, rising from her chair. “I'll be right back.”

When she disappeared through the sliding glass doors into the house, Dane turned to Charles and said, “Opinion.”

“Shoot,” Charles said.

“The woman I hired to sing in my lounge.” Julia Shay appeared in Dane's mind, sultry and gorgeous. “I did a basic background check, employment history, she has no police record, all that. But not a personal check. Think I need to?”

“Do
you
think you need to?”

“No. My gut says she's fine. But it also says she's got a history of serious personal shit.”

“Who doesn't?” Charles said with a humorless chuckle.

“True. The way I see it,” Dane continued, “her record's clean. Her personal life is none of my business if it never affects her while she's working. Leave it alone. Agree?”

“Agree,” Charles said. “If you want to have a good working relationship with her, and you're letting a lot ride on her, you want her happy. Personal background checks often make people very
un
happy.” He shrugged and removed his glasses to clean them on the edge of his polo shirt. “Besides, you have the resources. You ever feel like you need to, you can.”

“That was exactly my line of thinking,” Dane said. He nodded to himself and relaxed once more. “Thanks.”

Charles put his glasses back on and slanted a look at his brother. “You're interested in this woman, aren't you?”

Dane's brows furrowed. “Of course I am. She's headlining in my hotel. Like you said, I've got a lot riding on her. I could've hired a proven star, but I wanted someone unknown. Someone fresh, so she'd have an air of mystery.”

“Then let her have that mystery,” Charles said. “Leave well enough alone.” The corner of his mouth curved. “And don't take her to bed.”

Dane sputtered out a laugh. “Nice! What the hell do you take me for?”

“Don't make me answer that,” Charles said dryly. “You're my best friend. I'd like to keep it that way.” He winked.

Dane opened his mouth to shoot back, but the back door slid open and a burst of white fur shot past them. The dog ran out to the grass and disappeared behind one of Tess's rosebushes.

“Bubbles really needed to go,” she said, retaking her seat.

“Apparently,” Dane remarked.

Within seconds, the tiny white Maltese ran back to her owner, yipping happily. Tess smiled with delight and picked up her dog, cooing at her with affection.

“What kind of contract did you offer her?” Charles asked Dane. “Timewise?”

“Who?” Tess asked as she rubbed Bubbles behind her ears.

“Julia Shay, the woman I hired to sing,” Dane said. “It's more than fair. In her favor, if you ask me. I wanted a show of good faith. For her, and her accompanist who she insisted come with her. Good thing he's fantastic, I had no problem hiring him, too. So for them both, I'm starting with a six-month stint. Brings us to the end of the year. If they like it there, and I like them there, I exercise my option to renew and renegotiate.”