When she slid over the plate to share, Fee broke off a corner of the brownie.
“Your team does an incredible job,” Fee said and popped it in her mouth.
“And everyone on my staff wants to keep doing our job—raising funds, making a difference—one person and family at a time.”
Fee’s mouth twisted. “Unfortunately, it’s not your company.”
At the moment Lassiter Media was at the center of a tug-of-war primarily between Evan and Angelica, two people who ought to be working, and living, together, not pulling each other apart.
“J.D. couldn’t have wanted this dissention within the family when he drew up his will.”
“Given their connection,” Fee added, “how hard she worked in the company the months before her father’s death, I don’t get how he left Angelica so little. It doesn’t make sense.”
Becca broke off more brownie and mulled as she chewed. “John Douglas Lassiter was a smart man,” she reflected. “A good man with a big heart. The foundation was way more than a tax dodge to J.D. I have to believe he had a good reason for the way his will was arranged.”
“He must have known Angelica would fight.”
“Even her brothers are against her now.” At first, Angelica’s siblings had supported her attempts to find ways to challenge the will. No longer. “No one is left on her side.”
“No one except Jack the Slasher Reed.”
“For everyone’s sakes, I hope she gives it up soon, before any more damage is done.” To the family as well as the company, including the foundation.
“With Jack Reed egging her on, don’t hold your breath.”
An image formed in Becca’s mind...Jack Reed with a quiver slung over his back. He looked so arrogant. So flat-out sexy and self-serving. Becca growled. “It all comes back to Jack.”
“You’re not finished with him, are you?”
“I can’t give up.” Becca pushed the plate aside. “I’m not made that way.”
Fee sighed. “Problem is Jack Reed’s not made that way, either.”
Jack waited until the end of the week and then buckled.
Dusting off a tux, he organized a ticket for the Lassiter Charity Foundation gala ball. By the time he’d finished at the office and then showered and drove over, he was unfashionably late. The keynote speaker had long since finished entertaining and educating the glittering crowd. Desserts had been served and suitable music wafted around the ballroom, coaxing couples onto a dance floor that sprawled beneath prisms of light cast by a spectacular Swarovski chandelier.
As he headed toward the VIP tables, Becca Stevens noticed him. Mild surprise registered on her face before she turned in her chair to gauge his approach. Loose, salon-tousled curls mantled her shoulders. Her ears and throat were free of jewels. Sitting proud and erect in a white strapless gown that accentuated her curves and teased the imagination, she gave an impression that lay somewhere between temptress and saint. When Jack stopped before her, she looked up at all six-plus feet of him and arched a brow.
“Did you notice?” she asked.
“That you look exquisite tonight?”
Her narrowing gaze sent a warning. Don’t flirt.
“When you walked into the room,” she explained, “people stopped talking. I think a lot stopped breathing. They don’t expect to see you at a charity night. Although in this case they might—given it’s a Lassiter Media event.”
“Because I’m the big bad wolf here to gobble up everything I can sink my fangs into and then spit out the bones.”
She shrugged a bare shoulder. “Not to put too fine of a point on it.”
“Would it surprise you to know that I give to charity?”
“The Jack Reed Foundation for Chronic Self-Indulgence?”
He rubbed a corner of his grin. “You’re cute, you know that?”
“Wait till I get started.”
The only other couple left at the table was engrossed in a private conversation. If the room had indeed been distracted by his appearance, the socialites and Fortune 500 reps were back to mingling as far as Jack could tell.
He took the vacant seat next to Becca’s. “When I donate, I do it anonymously.”
Becca brought a glass of water to her lips. “How convenient.”
“It’s your job to blow this foundation’s bugle. How much you give away, how much you help the disadvantaged. Publicity equals exposure, equals a greater chance of raising even more funds and getting the money to those who need it.”
As the music swelled and lights dimmed more, he leaned closer and caught the scent of her perfume—a hint of red apple, feminine. Way too sexy for her own good—at least where he was concerned.
“But tell me,” he went on, “if you had as much personal wealth as I do, would you need to go around bleating to everyone how generous you were?”
“I will never have that much personal wealth. Don’t want it. Don’t need it. I’m nothing like you. Not in any way, shape or form.” When his gaze dropped to skim her lips, she frowned slightly before pushing to her feet. “Don’t even think about going there.”
No denying he was attracted to Becca Stevens. He had wanted to tip closer, sample those lips, invite her to help fuel the spark. If he wasn’t mistaken—and Jack was rarely wrong—there was a part of Becca that wanted that, too.
“Am I that obvious?” he asked, getting to his feet.
“You’re ridiculously easy to read.”
“In certain things.”
“I’ll give you a list. Tell me what I’m missing.”
As waiters served coffee, Jack crossed his arms. “Go ahead.”
“You have an insatiable thirst for money. Correction. For power. You like expensive toys. Jets and yachts and prestige cars. You enjoy beautiful women hanging off your arm, the more the merrier. Above all else, you love calling the shots. Being the king of your cancerous castle.”
Jack frowned.
Ouch.
“I like being the boss,” he said. “So do all CEOs. So did J.D.”
“You’re missing my point. And, sorry, but you’re not in J.D.’s league.”
“He might argue with you on that.”
Her look was almost pitying. “Modesty is so not your strong suit.”
“Perhaps you’d care to find out what is.”
“You know, for a smart guy, you just don’t get it.”
When she breezed out of the room, Jack followed her onto the terrace. He found her standing by a railing, facing a twinkling downtown view. A breeze caught a layer of her gown’s skirt; gossamer-thin fabric billowed out, ruffling behind her like filmy wings.
As he headed over, she tossed him an annoyed glance before gripping the railing like she wanted to wring someone’s neck. “You can’t take a hint, can you?”
“Let’s not play that kind of game,” he drawled. “You wanted me to follow. You’re just not sure how to handle things now that I have.”
She