The latter thought made him smile…and want. The memory of her anger, not to mention her accusations that he’d made up the story about David kissing Julie, tempered his pleasure. He understood why she didn’t trust him, but he didn’t like it.
Zach pulled his car to the side of the hacienda, then stepped out into the warm spring afternoon. Brenna met him at the front door. For once she didn’t look as if she’d been blindsided.
“Hi,” she said, sounding surprisingly cheerful. “I swear I’m going to start driving down to L.A. to get my own papers. I feel bad about making you come all this way.” She took a step back to let him in the house.
“I don’t mind,” he said, following her inside. “Grandma Tessa invited me to dinner. How could I resist?”
“Her pasta has that effect on people.” She grabbed his arm and pulled him into the sitting room, then closed the door to the foyer. After glancing around the small space, as if checking to see that they were alone, she spoke.
“Here’s the thing. Francesca and I have come up with a plan.”
“I get nervous when clients have plans.”
“No. This is a really good one. Remember I told you about Jeff’s call? That he said he’d back off on wanting a piece of the winery if I backed off on repayment for putting him through school?”
“Sure, but his lawyer denies Jeff ever made that call. It would be your word against his.”
“The man’s a sleaze and his word can’t be trusted. Which is why we have to get him another way.”
She quickly outlined a plan of setting up Francesca to “chat” with Jeff in a bar. “He’s always had a thing for her. So we’re hoping he’ll get drunk, say more than he should, and we’ll have him on tape.”
Zach was willing to give her points for creativity, if nothing else.
“Katie doesn’t want us to do it,” Brenna continued. “She says it’s tacky and probably illegal and that I’ll get hurt, but I think it’s brilliant.”
“She’s right about the illegal part. As your lawyer I have to tell you that it’s not something you should do. The law frowns on that sort of thing. There’s also the can of worms you could be opening. Do you really want to hear Jeff coming on to your sister? Is that going to make you feel any better?”
Brenna shook her head. “You sound like Katie, which is both weird and unattractive. But I know what you mean. What she meant. Do I want to know exactly how horrible Jeff is?”
“I’d think about it.”
“Fair enough. But assuming I want to go forward with it, do you think it will work?”
“As your lawyer-”
She rolled her eyes. “Zach, be a regular guy for once. It’s not like I don’t know you slept with my sister.”
He took a step back and bumped into the sofa. He hadn’t blushed since he was about fourteen, but he would almost swear he felt heat climbing his neck.
“She didn’t”-he swallowed-“Katie-”
“Spilled the beans. Details and all. We were trés impressed.” Brenna laughed. “Stop looking so horrified. I’m teasing. She said you guys did it and that was all. Despite the large quantities of wine we had all consumed, she kept to generalities. Neither Francesca nor myself would be able to pick you out naked in a lineup.”
“Great.” He might never have had a sibling, but if he had, he doubted he would have shared this much of his life with him or her.
“Now that I can blackmail you in front of my grandmothers, answer the question. Do you think my plan to use Francesca against Jeff will work?”
“Brenna, I can’t commit-”
“Yes or no?”
He grinned.
She clapped her hands together. “I knew it!” She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. “You’re the best. Now go be tortured by my grandmothers. I’m going to call Francesca and tell her it’s on.”
Brenna hurried out of the sitting room. Zach followed more slowly. While he applauded her ingenuity, he hoped her plan didn’t jump up and bite her in the ass.
He headed for the kitchen, then stopped when he spotted Katie in the living room. He entered through the arched doorway and found her sitting on the floor. Stacks of beaded lace flowers stood in piles all around her. As he watched, she counted out groups of ten and placed them next to those already counted. With each group of ten, she made a note on the pad of paper resting on her right thigh.
He glanced around the room. Bags of lace flowers stood by the rust-colored leather sofa. Small containers of beads cluttered together on the glass-and-wood coffee table.
Plans for the wedding, and the dress, were moving forward. He’d expected to have it stopped by now. But David and Mia hadn’t broken up, and the wedding date crept closer.
A lace wedding gown lay draped over the loveseat. He frowned, not realizing Katie had already started sewing the dress.
“Hi,” he said as he approached. “They let me in the house. Want to run and grab the pepper spray?”
She turned toward him. For a second her expression didn’t change, and he wondered if she was still mad.
“I don’t think I’d go for anything that boring,” she said. “Instead I’d attack you with pruning shears.”
“Sounds painful.”
“At the risk of being rude, why are you here?”
He sat down. “I have some papers for Brenna.” He frowned as he realized not only had he left them in the car, but they hadn’t talked about them. “Grandma Tessa found out I was driving up and invited me to stay for dinner.” He leaned forward. “I’m in love with her cooking.”
“We all are.”
“Still mad?” he asked.
“Not at you. David’s not one of my favorite people.”
“He’s a kid.”
“He’s cheating on my sister.”
“Maybe it was just one of those things-cold feet, a last hurrah.”
She shook her head. “That hardly makes it all right. He’s cheating or just cheated that one time. Neither is acceptable.”
“So you believe me?” He wouldn’t have guessed that was possible.
“I finally realized you wouldn’t lie. You’re way too upfront for that. Why slip in a side door when you’re willing to blow up the main entrance?”
“An interesting metaphor choice.”
“I’m an interesting woman.”
“Yes, you are. Interesting, beautiful, exciting. Desirable.”
She grinned. “Zach, this is my grandfather’s house. You can’t possibly have sexual thoughts under this roof. If you do, your pride and joy will shrivel up to the size of a walnut.”
“That would be tragic for all of us.”
“I’m not going to say yes. You already think too highly of yourself.”
He smiled. “I’m not the one who was screaming that night.”
She ducked her head. “A gentleman would never bring that up.”
“I thought my bringing it up was the entire point.”
Her mouth twitched. “You’re evil.”
“I’m tempting. There’s a difference.”
He straightened and decided to give them both a break. Mostly because this was her grandfather’s house and he didn’t want to risk his dick.
He pointed at the piles of lace stacked around the room. “What are you doing?”
“I’m trying to figure out where we are, numbers-wise, with the lace flowers. Everyone is complaining about being tired of beading, but we still have a long way to go.”
“When did you start sewing the dress?” he asked.
She frowned. “I haven’t. I’m thinking I’ll get it started next week. I made an under-dress first.”
He pointed at the finished gown draped over the love seat. “What’s that?”
She followed the direction of his finger, winced slightly, then ducked her head to focus her attention back on the lace flowers. “Inspiration. It’s an old dress Grammy M made. I wanted to study some of her workmanship.” She made two more piles of ten, then returned her attention to him. “So how are things with you?”