Hardy Brothers Security: Deadly Proposal Part 1

Deadly Proposal.

Hardy Brothers Security.

Lily Harper Hart.

One.

It was Friday night and James Hardy was ready for his weekend to begin. Actually, he'd been ready for the weekend to begin eight hours earlier but work kept getting in the way.

When you're the boss, you have to be pragmatic. When you've built your own security company from the ground up, you want to make sure the work is done right. When your life keeps getting in the way, you have to make time where you can.

Today, James Hardy had made time and cleared every file on his desk. He figured he deserved a reward and that reward was headed his way right now.

He took the time to double-check his spreadsheets, making sure that all of the current month's incoming checks had been cashed and all the outgoing funds had been sent, and then shut his laptop down. The books at Hardy Brothers Security were officially balanced. He wasn't going to think about work again until Monday morning. Period.

He glanced up from his desk when he heard noise in the lobby, silently cursing himself for not remembering to lock the front door as soon as the clock struck five. If this was another customer, he was going to be hard pressed to turn them away even if that's exactly what he wanted to do.

When a familiar figure ambled into view, James blew out a relieved sigh. "Hey."

Grady, the middle Hardy brother, stepped into his brother's office. He was carrying a case of beer and a fifth of Jack Daniels and he had a goofy grin plastered across his angular face.

All of the Hardy brothers resembled each other. They all had the same strong jaw, the same deep-set brown eyes, and the same broad shoulders. While they all boasted the same brown hair, Grady's was the longest brus.h.i.+ng the top of his shoulders. Their younger brother, Finn, kept his hair cropped close to his head so he didn't have to fuss with it. James' hair was somewhere in the middle.

"I'm ready to party," Grady announced.

"Lock the door," James ordered. "I just finished up all the paperwork. We don't want any walk-ins to come in at the last minute."

Grady dropped the case of beer and bottle of liquor onto one of James' office chairs and dutifully returned to the lobby. From his spot behind his desk, James couldn't see Grady, but the sound of locks engaging told him that he had performed the ordered task.

When he returned to the office, Grady looked James up and down. "Did you already order the fight?"

Friday night fights on pay-per-view had been a Hardy brothers standby for years. The weekly tradition had fallen by the wayside in recent months thanks to the arrival of three very different women into their lives. While none of the men begrudged their lady loves any time spent with them, when Grady had suggested they try to get a fight night in this month they'd all jumped at the idea.

There was something simplistic in the bonding exercise and, the truth was, the brothers didn't have a lot of time to spend together that included just the three of them these days.

"Where is Sophie tonight?" James asked, referring to Grady's reporter girlfriend.

"She's covering that big fundraiser at the courthouse for the newspaper," Grady replied.

"Yeah, that's where Mandy is going to be," James said, smiling when he thought about his feisty blonde. "I figure the fight should be getting over with at about the same time the party is ending. It works out great."

Both brothers glanced up when they heard the front door of the office open again. Only someone with a key could enter, which meant it was either Finn or Mandy. Grady glanced over his shoulder, smiling.

"How much food did you bring?"

"Emma packed it," Finn said, stepping into the doorway. "There's enough food here to feed an army. That means we'll be safe for a couple of hours."

The Hardys packed up their bounty and carried it up the stairs to James' apartment. The eldest Hardy brother had converted the second floor of the security company into living quarters a few years before. It still served as his home base and, even though his girlfriend spent every night there, the s.p.a.ce was still overtly male.

Grady reached over, picking up a fluffy slipper in the shape of a shark from the floor, and glanced at James dubiously. "Were you playing Jaws last night?"

Mandy was obsessed with sharks, something that Grady and Finn didn't seem to understand, but James embraced.

James shrugged. "Sometimes her feet get cold."

"She's kind of a freak, you know?" Finn said. "That shark thing is weird."

"Doesn't Emma collect those ugly little statues?" James asked. "The ones with the faces that are too big for their bodies?"

"They're called Precious Moments," Finn replied. "And yes, they are as creepy as they sound."

"Well, the shark stuff is no different. Mandy is just more ... adventurous."

"I think you mean odd and bossy," Grady supplied.

"Are you saying Sophie doesn't have a few quirks?" James asked.

"She's got quirks," Grady conceded. "They just don't include things. She doesn't collect anything. In fact, she hates clutter."

"So, what is her quirk?"

Grady glanced around, like he was making sure they were really alone before he admitted his girlfriend's darkest secret. "It's more like she has quirks of behavior," Grady said. "For example, she likes to watch CNN we're talking hours of news coverage here and while she does it, she likes to clip articles out of the newspaper and glue them in a sc.r.a.pbook."

"Well, she's good at her job," Finn said. "That makes sense that she would be so ... diligent."

"Yeah, but she leaves little slivers of paper all over the house and then she doesn't clean them up," Grady said. "She's kind of a pig. I do all the housework. And the cooking. And the laundry, now that I think of it."

"What did she do before she met you?" James asked.

"According to her, she just bought new underwear whenever she ran out," Grady said.

Finn barked out a laugh. "Emma is exactly the opposite," he said. "She's a neat freak. She loves to clean. She ties her hair away from her face with a bandana and really gets into it. I think it's kind of cute. She gets little grease smudges and stuff on her nose. She's dirtier than the apartment when she's done."

Emma and Finn had only been dating for three months, so he was still in the honeymoon portion of the relations.h.i.+p. There was nothing about the buxom model he didn't like, which bordered on irksome for his brothers whenever he extolled her virtues for hours on end.

"It won't always be that cute," James cautioned, speaking from experience. "I thought Mandy's fascination with sharks was cute, too. I've now seen Jaws so many times I know all of the dialogue. It's not cute anymore."

"You feed into it, though," Grady said. "You bribe her with shark stuff so you can get your way."

"I don't bribe her," James countered. "I ... reward her."

"Is that what you're calling it?"

"Don't judge me," James said, pulling a beer from the case on the counter. "I like to see her smile. The shark movies make her smile."

"I think you're just a softy at heart," Finn teased.

"Says the man who thinks Emma being filthy is cute," James shot back.

"Hey, don't rain on my parade," Finn said. "She's been unhappy for so long, if she gets joy from cleaning the stove once a week, I'm not going to argue with her."

James slipped into silence. Emma had been through the wringer. As the daughter of an infamous child molester, Emma's existence prior to Finn's introduction into her life had been sad and depressed.

"I was actually joking," James said. "I didn't mean to ... ."

Finn waved off James' apology. "I know. I shouldn't have jumped all over you."

"It's okay," James said. "Women will drive you crazy. It's what they're good at."

"That's definitely the truth," Grady said, stowing the last of the beers in the refrigerator. "How about we play some pool until the fight starts?"

"You already ordered it, right?" Finn asked.

"Yeah," James said. "It won't start until nine or so probably later. You know how that stuff goes."

"Pool it is," Finn said. "What does the winner get?"

James considered the question. They'd always turned simple pool nights into compet.i.tive ventures. "The winner gets a three-day weekend next week," James said. "They get Friday off with pay. Which means, if I win which I will one of you two has to balance the books next week."

Grady and Finn exchanged excited looks. "Deal," they said in unison.

They'd managed to get three games under their belts everyone claiming a victory when the door to the apartment opened. The woman who rushed inside was blonde and thin. At only five feet, five inches in height, she was also slight in stature. Her blue eyes widened in surprise when she saw what was going on inside of the apartment.

"What are you doing?"

"Hey, baby," James greeted her, swooping in to give her a quick kiss. "We're just getting in a quick tournament before the fight starts."

Mandy dropped her purse on the kitchen counter, her face reflecting confusion. "What fight?"

"The heavy-weight fight on pay-per-view," James said. "I figured we would watch it while you were at your work party."

Since she was a clerk in the county courthouse, Mandy often had to partic.i.p.ate in various county fundraisers and functions. James had gotten used to it, even joining in from time to time. The look on her face now was hard for James to read.

"I thought you were going to the party with me," Mandy said, brus.h.i.+ng a strand of blonde hair away from her face. "That's what you said."

"Yeah, but it's not really necessary for me to be there," James replied. "I figured you would be fine on your own. Finn suggested a fight night. We used to do it every Friday back in the day. I didn't think it would be a big deal."

"I see." Mandy's tone was cold and clipped. James couldn't figure out why she was so upset.

"You could stay here with us if you want to," he offered. Grady and Finn probably wouldn't be happy with that suggestion, but he didn't know what else to do.

"I have to go to the party," Mandy said. "I promised Judge MacIntosh I would be there."

"Well, then go," James said. "It's not like you'll be gone all night."

Mandy frowned. "You said you were going with me."

"Come on, it's not a big deal," James said. "Just go to the party. By the time you get back, it will be just the two of us. I don't see what the problem is."

Mandy snorted. "Yeah. Fine. Whatever."

She stalked toward the bedroom they shared, slamming the door so hard the painting on the adjacent wall rattled. James glanced up at his brothers, who appeared just as baffled as he was.

"Did I miss something?" James asked.

"Maybe she's hormonal," Finn said.

James shrugged. "Whatever it is, she'll be fine by the time she comes home. Let's play."

The bedroom door opened again thirty minutes later, Mandy striding out in a form-fitting black sheath that had a slit so high up her thigh James figured she was one wrong move away from flas.h.i.+ng her underwear for everyone to see.

Her blonde hair was piled up on the back of her head, a few loose tendrils curling down around her face. She looked ... amazing.

Grady whistled, low and long, and Finn grinned. "You look great!"

Mandy forced a tight smile onto her face. "Thank you."

"You look beautiful, baby," James said, shuffling over to her side. "If you don't mind me asking, though, why is the slit so high?"

Mandy pushed her tongue into her cheek. "Well, when I picked out the dress a month ago, I had you in mind as my date."

"Well, you picked a good one," James said. "I can't wait to take it off of you later."

Mandy rolled her eyes, shaking her head as she purposely stepped around him and headed toward the door. "I have to get going. I'm going to be late."

Something was wrong. James could feel it. She was angry. No, she was royally p.i.s.sed off. It wasn't like her to get so bent out of shape over such a little thing. "Well, come here and let me give you a kiss."

Mandy ignored him, stopping at the kitchen counter to shove a few items from her purse into the small clutch she was holding before striding toward the door.

James tried again. "When will you be home?"

Mandy stilled. "I think I'm going to spend the night at my apartment tonight. I'll call you tomorrow or something."

James knit his eyebrows together, confused. "You're not coming back here?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because I don't feel like it," Mandy said. "I don't want to interrupt your bonding night with your brothers and, quite frankly, I'm really mad at you. I think spending the night together will be a mistake."

James' heart twisted in his chest. "We haven't spent a night apart in almost ten months," he said. "Now, because I don't want to go to a stupid office party with you, you're going to go to your old apartment to pout?"