still present in his voice. “Shit, man, you’ve been there one day. One. How do you do that? What makes you decide to seduce men in a tiny little mountain town? What did Dad say about reputations and people all knowing each other’s business? You’re an idiot.”
“You’re not helping.”
He continued chuckling. “I’m sorry. It’s funny.”
“It’s not.”
“So when you say ‘tried to get him in bed,’ I’m assuming you didn’t close the deal.”
I clenched my jaw, molars grinding. “He turned me down.”
“Ouch, that must have bruised your precious ego.”
“You know what? I don’t know why I called you. I’m hanging up.”
“Wait. Okay, okay. I’m sorry.” He was still laughing. “What happened exactly? Please spare me the details about your failed attempt at whoring yourself out.”
If I didn’t think Christian could offer sound advice, I’d have hung up. But my brother was more level-headed than Dad gave him credit for. He had an analytical mind and was more people-savvy than both Dad and me.
“I ran into him at the restaurant last night when I was having dinner. He was there with some dinner party. We eye-fucked each other all night across the room. There was clear interest. I was not misreading him,” I clarified. Christian was right, my ego was slightly bruised. “We met up at the bar after our meals were finished. There was heavy flirting. I invited him back to my room, and he agreed. But then, before we got there, he slammed me against the wall, kissed me to within an inch of my life, and walked away. He said he wasn’t that kind of person.
“Today, I went to the stables for my scheduled meeting with Erwin Campbell, only to have this cowboy I’d spent all night jerking off to open the door instead.”
“See, those were the details you could have omitted. Under no circumstance do I need to know about your relationship with your hand.”
“Anyhow,” I said over top of him. “It turns out he’s the property owner, not his father. It was transferred recently. The paperwork just hasn’t been finalized. He threw me attitude the minute I showed up. When he found out who I worked for and why I was there, he sicced his dog on me.”
Christian snorted but stifled the laugh as fast as possible. “He did what?”
“I didn’t even get to mention the details about the deal. We didn’t look at numbers or anything. We didn’t make it past his front door. He put his foot down and told me no. His boot-covered foot. His cowboy boot-covered foot. The man wore cowboy boots for fuck’s sake.”
“Do you have a thing for country boys now?”
“Can you focus?”
“I’m not the one pointing out what footwear he had on.”
“He wouldn’t listen to a word I said, then he slammed the door in my face. I can’t go back this afternoon because his sister is getting married and he’s going to be busy doing wedding stuff. I need this finished tomorrow so I can come home, but the guy shut me down.”
“I see your pickle.”
It pained me to ask my little brother for help, but I bit the bullet and lowered my voice. “What would you do?”
“Wow. Can we take a moment and mark this day on a calendar or something? Did you just ask me for advice?”
“In two minutes, I’m going to hang up and call Dad and tell him what really happened the night of your prom.”
“Whoa. No need to go there. I’ll help. Jesus.” Christian sighed. “First off, I wouldn’t have tried to fuck the guy. But since you did”—Christian raised his voice, cutting off my protest before I could make it—“start with an apology and ask if you can have five minutes of his time to strictly talk business.”
“There is nothing to apologize for. He was flirting just as much as I was.”
“Yeah sure. You forget I know you. And yes, there is. He needs to know you weren’t trying to use sex as motivation or blackmail or anything negative.”
“He doesn’t think that.”
“He’s probably questioning it now that you showed up at his door if he wasn’t before.”
I resumed pacing. I hated when Christian was right. “I don’t think he’ll listen.”
“Tell him you just want to talk. Offer to buy him a drink. Tell him there are no expectations. It’s just a conversation. He knows where he sits financially. He doesn’t need you to remind him. You present the offer as Dad laid it out. Don’t start insulting his failing business or his family’s