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  “Then we agree...slow is best?”

  She nodded and smiled in a way that made his insides contract. “Sure...just not too slow, okay, Jake?”

  Laughter rumbled in his chest, and he spent the next half hour listening to her talk about dancing, the best places to get coffee in town, her beloved dog, and her close relationship with her sisters and how much she missed them since one had moved to Austin to be with the man she loved, and the other had recently married and commuted between Houston and Austin.

  “Maddie and Zach are the perfect couple,” she said. “He gets her need to be in charge of everything and everyone, and even though he’s as business focused as she is, he has a good sense of fun. And Carlo and Schuyler are perfect for one another, too. He knows how to deal with her craziness. All my siblings are either married or engaged now...well, except for Connor. I think he’s determined to never fall in love.”

  “What about you?” he asked, knowing her answer even before she replied. But caution told him that Valene Fortunado might be in love with the idea of being in love.

  “Of course I want to be in love,” she replied. “But I don’t want it to be too distracting. With everything that’s going on with the family business, I need to stay focused.”

  “Is something wrong with your business?” he asked, his gaze narrowing.

  She shrugged, looking as though she’d said too much. “Nothing we can’t handle.”

  “Big business can be tough.”

  She nodded. “But I like the challenge. And Maddie is giving me more opportunity to shine, which is great. In fact, she and Zach have recently let me take the lead on signing a really important client. Which we need.”

  Jake backed off, but he made a mental note to do a little investigating. From all accounts, the Fortunado family was wealthy and successful. If that was a facade, he figured he needed to know before he got in any deeper with Valene.

  “You father is a self-made man, I presume?” he asked quietly.

  She shrugged. “Kind of. He was lucky enough to have had a lottery win some years ago. He invested wisely, made a few good decisions and started the real estate business. The business grew, and we now have offices in San Antonio and Austin as well as Houston.”

  It occurred to Jake that Kenneth Fortunado was much like himself. Jake had invested the sum he’d inherited from his father’s life insurance, plus the money he’d earned working at the ranch and also packing shelves at Mason’s Minimart just outside Fulshear. Five years later he had enough to make an offer when the ranch came up for sale. A few years and some sound business decisions later, including his investment in the lucrative Wagyu beef market, and he owned the ranch outright and had more money in the bank than he could ever spend.

  “You admire him a lot?”

  She nodded. “I admire people who make their dreams come true. My dad did that and created a legacy that will continue to grow. My sister Maddie is now CEO alongside her husband, so the business is in good hands.”

  “And what are your ambitions?”

  “To be the best I can be,” she replied. “At whatever I do. When I graduated college, I went directly into the business and haven’t regretted it. I enjoy the work and get to spend my days helping people find the home of their dreams. It’s a win-win.”

  Jake realized he could easily get hooked on her passion for life. She was definitely a glass-half-full kind of girl. He liked that about her. The truth was, he liked everything about her.

  They stayed for a little while longer, but by ten she said she’d had enough. Jake helped her into her coat and then walked her from the bar and back down the street. Once they reached her car, she fished inside her small bag for her keys and unlocked the vehicle.

  “Well, thank you for a lovely evening,” she said and held out her hand.

  He stared down into her face, watching as her mouth parted slightly and his own mouth tingled in response. She was eminently kissable. But he wasn’t about to have his first kiss with Valene Fortunado in the middle of a busy street with people walking past.

  He took her hand and enclosed his fingers around hers. “Good night, Valene. I’ll call you.”

  “Are you sure?” she asked quietly, almost nervously.

  “Positive.”

  She nodded fractionally. “Okay, see you soon.”

  As she stepped into the car and drove off down the street, Jake remained on the sidewalk, hands on his hips, staring after the fading taillights. And he knew one thing. He fully intended on seeing Valene again.

  And the sooner, the better.

  Chapter Four

  Two dates. Two really enjoyable interactions. Good company. Dancing. And not one kiss.

  So maybe Jake wasn’t interested in her in that way. Perhaps he wasn’t attracted to her and had put her in the friend zone. Maybe she had misread the connection they appeared to have. It wouldn’t be the first time she’d been misled by a man’s intentions, after all.

  When Val arrived home, Bruce greeted her with slobbery enthusiasm and bounded around her feet. Her ground-floor condo had a small garden and Bruce had a doggy door to come and go, but he mostly spent his days curled up on the couch or sprawled in the middle of her bed. Perhaps it was just as well she wasn’t sharing the sheets with anyone, she thought and laughed to herself. It would certainly put Bruce’s nose out of joint if she did.

  She started humming the Brett Young tune as she slipped off her dress and shoes and put on her pajamas. She cleaned off her makeup, brushed her teeth, slathered on hand cream and sat on the edge of her bed, thinking, wondering.

  Okay...so Jake didn’t find her particularly attractive, that had to be it. And he was too polite to say anything. Although he had said she was pretty and called her “sweetheart.” And he didn’t look at her as though she was in the friends-only category. Val was certain she’d seen attraction and awareness in his eyes. He had said he wanted to go slow. And she’d agreed.

  Then why am I making a big deal out of him not kissing me good-night?

  Because she’d wanted to kiss him, that’s why.

  She’d wanted to feel his arms around her and his mouth on hers. She was achingly attracted to him, even though she knew he was nothing like the kind of man she’d convinced herself was right for her. She’d wanted to find someone as driven and ambitious as Zach, or as charming and sophisticated as Carlo. Someone from her world.

  Perhaps Jake understood that and that’s why he’d kept the evening casual. And she liked him, so maybe friendship might be enough. Or perhaps he was seeing someone else at the same time, some other woman, or women, that he met on the dating app. Of course, he could do what he wanted. Still, the notion wounded her just a little.

  Val was still mulling over her predicament the following morning as she sat at her desk, half-heartedly working on a proposal for one of her clients. She hated that she was preoccupied and had tried to pull herself together since she’d arrived at the office an hour earlier. But she was in a funk. And it was all Jake Brockton’s fault. That, and a disappointing email she’d received from her sister that she kept reading over and over.

  “Got a minute?” said a voice, and then Maddie stuck her head around the door.

  Val look up from her computer, saw that Maddie had a furrow between her brows and nodded. “Sure.”

  “Did you get the email I sent you?” she asked. “About the Waterson estate?”

  The owner of the estate was now deceased, and every agent in Houston had been vying for the opportunity to sell the mansion and the three commercial properties the owner had left to his only grandson, a young man who resided in California and had no interest in living on the estate. Val had spent weeks talking with the man, and a week earlier he’d committed to listing the places with Fortunado Real Estate. At least, that’s what she’d believed...until Maddie had forwarded his email, informing the office
that he’d decided to go with someone else, a firm that was their biggest competitor. A firm she believed had no scruples and that certainly didn’t offer the service her family’s company did. It was a big blow. Maddie and Zach had entrusted the client to her, and she felt as though she had seriously let them down.

  “I don’t know what happened.” She shrugged. “It was all going well. I have the contracts almost ready to go. I’ve booked photographers and stylists for a shoot. I just...” Her words trailed off and she shrugged again. “I can’t explain it.”

  “Are you sure?”

  Val frowned. “What does that mean?”

  “You’ve been distracted this week,” Maddie said bluntly. “You’ve had that cowboy on your mind for days.”

  Val tried to keep a lid on her temper. She loved Maddie, and her sister wasn’t being deliberately mean, but she had a responsibility to the firm, and Val understood she needed to ask the tough questions.

  “This has nothing to do with Jake,” she defended quietly.

  “It’s the second deal you’ve had go sour this week,” Maddie reminded her, and Val quickly recalled the other owner who’d pulled a listing. “And the only thing that is different from last week to this one is your new boyfriend.”

  “He’s not my boyfriend,” Val stated firmly. “We’ve been on two dates. If you must know, he hasn’t even tried to kiss me. So, I’m not distracted. I’m no different than I was last week or last month. And I can’t explain why I’ve lost two listings this week. I’m so sorry about the Waterson deal. I know it would have meant a lot to the firm. I can call him and—”

  “No point.” Maddie waved a hand. “Zach put through a call early this morning, and it doesn’t look as though the owner will change his mind. He said he was going with a firm who had a more experienced team. If Zach couldn’t talk this around, no one can. We’ve lost this one, Val. I’d like you to start running things by Zach again, like you used to.”

  Val’s insides hurt. Her sister looked so disappointed in her and she had no words of explanation to offer, no excuses or justification for what had happened. She’d bombed, big-time. And she didn’t blame Maddie for being annoyed. But it hurt. Her big sister’s approval had always been important to her, especially since Maddie had become her boss.

  She waited until her sister left her office and then let out a long and painful sigh, resting her face in her hands. What a mess. Missing out on the Waterson deal was a huge loss. The commission and kudos would have been so good for the business. And for her. Now she felt like a monumental failure.

  “Everything okay, Valene?”

  She knew that voice. It had haunted her dreams the night before. Val looked up and spotted Jake standing in the doorway, a small brown bag in one hand, a takeout coffee cup in the other. She hadn’t expected to see him, and it was a delightful surprise.

  Her breath shuddered. “What are you doing here?” she asked and straightened immediately.

  He took a few steps into the room. “I had a few things to do in town.” He dropped the brown bag on her desk. “Blueberry cream cheese bagel. And a low-fat, single-shot, extra cinnamon vanilla soy latte,” he said and placed the coffee by the computer. “From your favorite bakery.”

  Val let out a long sigh, touched that he’d remembered. “Thank you. How did you know how to find me?”

  “The receptionist at the front desk,” he supplied. “And last night you said you were working for a few hours this morning. I knew the location of the office and took my chances, hoping you’d still be here. But next time I can call first if you prefer.”

  Val didn’t prefer. She was very happy to see him. She got to her feet, wrapping her fingers around the coffee, and took a sip. “You can stop by anytime you like. And thank you. I needed to see a friendly face.”

  His gaze narrowed. “Bad morning?”

  “The worst.” She briefly explained about losing the account and then backpedaled a little because she knew she probably shouldn’t be talking about the family business to a man she hardly knew. “Sorry... I didn’t mean to vent.”

  He smiled. “No problem. Actually, the reason I’m here is I was wondering if you were free tomorrow?”

  Tomorrow. Sunday. If she had any sense, she would tell him she had work to do, reports to catch up on, plans to make about how to reel the Waterson deal back in. But it was Sunday. And all work and no play was no way to function.

  Plus, he looked so damned appealing in his jeans, beige chambray shirt and sheepskin-lined jacket. And the fact that he’d brought her the coffee and bagel she liked...well, she couldn’t be blamed for being a little smitten with him.

  “Free for what?” she asked him.

  His gaze narrowed a fraction, and she wondered if he’d picked up in the flirtation in her reply. He smiled then, and she saw that he had. “I thought we could spend the morning together.”

  It sounded like a great idea, and she was just about to say so when her sister Schuyler walked into the office. One thing about her crazy sibling, she had impeccable timing. Not.

  “Oh, sorry,” Schuyler gushed and quickly gave the man standing by her desk a deliberate once-over. “Didn’t mean to interrupt.”

  Val raised a brow. “This is Jake. This is my sister Schuyler. She lives in Austin and is leaving soon, right?”

  Schuyler chuckled and shook Jake’s hand. “Tomorrow morning. Carlo is back from his business thing tomorrow and I want to be home when he returns. We’re still newlyweds,” she told Jake with a wicked grin, and Val envied her sister’s ability to sound so effortlessly flirtatious. “I miss him madly. And my baby sister is right. But I just wanted to remind you about dinner tonight with me and Maddie. Unless,” she added and gave Jake another long and deliberate perusal, “you have other plans.”

  Val waved her hand. “I’ll see you tonight. At seven. Goodbye, Schuyler.” Once her sister left, Val let out a long sigh. “Sorry about that. My sister is—”

  “Probably as annoying as mine,” he said, cutting her off and smiling. “But that’s why we love ’em, right?”

  Val laughed. “Absolutely. I adore Schuyler. She’s like this force of nature and has incredibly positive energy.”

  “You’re not so different,” he remarked.

  Val’s insides crunched up. How often had she envied her sister’s ability to remain a free spirit but stay true to who she was? Like she’d also sought to be more like Maddie—focused and completely on track with her life.

  Her cell beeped with a text, and she excused herself for a moment as she was expecting a message from a client who had a showing on Monday. But it wasn’t a client. It was Schuyler.

  OMG! He’s so hot. Who cares if he doesn’t have two pennies to rub together. Go for it, kid!

  Val’s skin burned. Trust her sister to say exactly what she was thinking.

  “Sorry,” she said and put down the phone. “So, you were saying something about tomorrow?”

  He nodded. “I’ll pick you up around nine, unless that’s too early?”

  “No,” she replied. “I’m a morning person. I rarely sleep past six.”

  “Something else we have in common.”

  She liked that notion. “I imagine your work demands an early start. I usually hit the treadmill for half an hour in the morning. Or hang out with my dog, Bruce.”

  He nodded. “You told me about him last night. I’m glad you like dogs.”

  “I like cats, too,” she admitted. “But it’s more challenging to take a cat for a walk in the park.”

  He laughed, and the lovely sound filled her with a silly kind of happiness. She liked that she could make him laugh.

  “Okay, I’ll pick you up at nine, as long as you text me your address. Or I can meet you somewhere in town.”

  Val thought about it for a moment. She could take the safe road and meet him on neutral ground. But noth
ing about Jake felt threatening to her. “You can pick me up. I’ll text you.”

  He half smiled. “Okay. Oh, and wear something comfortable.”

  Once he left, Val got her mind back to work. She left around lunchtime, grabbing a few groceries on the way home. She did some much-needed housework in the afternoon and arrived at Maddie and Zach’s home just before seven. They also rented a place in Austin, but she knew her sister enjoyed spending weekends in their hometown. Schuyler was already there, legs dangling over the edge of a counter stool in the kitchen, sipping on a margarita.

  Val declined the alcohol, preferring club soda, which Zach poured for her just before he announced he had work to do and would be tucked away in his office well out of the way of their girl time.

  “So, I was just telling Maddie how sexy your cowboy is,” Schuyler said with a wicked chuckle.

  “Please don’t,” Val protested. “She already thinks I’m distracted from my work.”

  “There’s more to life than work, ladies,” Schuyler said and gave them both a playful grin. “There’s fun and friendship and...sex. Which Maddie here knows all about since she hooked up with our gorgeous brother-in-law. And I absolutely forbid us to talk about work tonight.”

  Val met Maddie’s gaze. “I’m sorry about the Waterson deal,” she said, ignoring Schuyler’s protest.

  “I know,” Maddie said gently. “And I’m not angry. Or disappointed. I do want you to be happy, Val. I’m not saying you shouldn’t have a social life...you absolutely should. Just tread carefully. You don’t know anything about this guy.”

  I know he’s handsome and charming and considerate and nice...and sexy.

  “Okay,” she said quietly, knowing Maddie wouldn’t give up her lioness mode. “I’ll tread carefully. I promise.”

  “He really is ridiculously good-looking,” Schuyler sighed. “So, where’s he taking you tomorrow?”

  Val shrugged. “I have no idea. He simply said to wear something casual.”

  Maddie frowned. “Like sweats kind of casual, or jeans and a Calvin Klein T-shirt casual?”