Mark laughed again, his head bobbing up and down. “It’s not that bad. He made us all do it one time or another.”
“Anyone heard from him?” Luke asked as Mark moved behind the desk to reclaim his seat.
His brother shook his head. “His wife took him away for a long weekend. No one wants to hear from him. Marah would hurt him if he tried to call and check up on business.”
Luke chuckled. “I know that’s right. So what have you been up to? No one heard from you this weekend.”
“A group of us went up to Big Piney Creek and did some white-water rafting.”
“You’re at the bike festival one week, kayaking the next. You’re living large, bro! And what’s this I hear about the company sponsoring a drag-racing team that you’re going to be driving for?”
Mark grinned. “Pretty slick idea, huh! I came up with that one myself.”
Luke rolled his eyes skyward. “Like that wasn’t hard to figure out. I’m just surprised that John approved it.”
“He hasn’t. At least, not yet. We didn’t think we needed to bother him with the details.”
Luke raised one eyebrow questioningly. “Who’s we?”
“Me, Matthew, and now you. It’s a unanimous decision.”
Luke rolled his eyes a second time. “Thanks for letting me know that I approved.”
“You’re welcome.”
“And Matthew went along with all of this?” Luke questioned, knowing the answer before his brother could get the words past his lips.
“Yep.”
Luke crossed his arms over his chest. “Did you bribe him or was it blackmail?”
Mark chuckled. “You really have the wrong impression about me, little brother. Sometimes you just have to take advantage of those unexpected opportunities that drop into your lap.”
“And what was the name of this unexpected opportunity?”
Mark laughed again. “Stacy something-or-other. Matthew sort of got himself tangled between her and her sister Taylor. See, what it is was…”
Luke held up a hand, stalling the tall tale he knew his brother was about to spin. “Spare me the details,” he said with a wry laugh, his brother laughing with him.
“But a racing team’s a pretty risky venture, isn’t it? And I’m not just talking about the financial risk,” Luke said.
Mark shrugged, his broad shoulders pushing up toward his earlobes. “Life’s too short to waste sitting around. You need to come hang out with me for a while and enjoy it a little more.”
“Life’s too short to be taking any unnecessary chances with these here bones. I think I’ll just stick to the safe sports. Chess, pool, bingo. Those are good enough for me.”
Mark laughed loudly, the warmth of it reverberating around the room, his brother laughing with him. A thought suddenly flooded his mind. He leaned forward in his seat, his hands folded beneath his chin as he rested his elbows against the desktop. “Luke, I met your mechanic friend, Mitch. Why you been holding out on us, boy? What’s up that you had to keep that woman a secret?”
Luke’s grin widened. “No secrets here. There was nothing to tell. Michelle’s just a friend I met in school.”
“A good friend?”
“I like to think so.”
“So you two have something going on?”
Luke laughed. “Why are you asking?”
Mark leaned back in his seat. “Just curious,” he said, fighting to keep his face from showing any emotion.
“Uh-huh. Well, no, it’s not like that between us. We hang out together every now and then but it’s definitely nothing romantic.”
“Was it ever?”
“No. Why? Are you interested?”
Mark shrugged, trying to be nonchalant. “She was interesting,” he said, his eye flitting back and forth as he purposely avoided his brother’s gaze. “I wouldn’t mind getting to know her a little better.”
Luke folded his arms over his chest, a raised eyebrow studying his brother carefully. Mark’s reputation with women was scandalous. His love-’em-and-leave-’ em attitude had left many a broken heart across the great state of Texas, the whole Eastern Seaboard and some international territories as well.
Luke shook his head from side to side. “Michelle’s not that kind of girl.”
“Why does it have to be like that?” Mark asked, his tone voicing his annoyance at his brother’s presumptions. “I can’t just get to know a nice girl?”
“I’m sure you’ve gotten to know a few of them. That’s half your problem. Michelle deserves a nice guy and there ain’t nothing nice about you, big brother.”
Mark pretended to pout. “My feelings are hurt.”
“I doubt it,” Luke said.
“You don’t give me any credit. John was just saying that I might meet me a nice girl like Marah and really start to think about settling down. Mitch might be that girl, but how will I know if you’re going to stand in the way of my getting to know her and letting her get to know me? She might actually like me.”
“She might and then again…” Luke’s voice dropped off, his eyes rolling skyward as he teased his sibling.
Mark chuckled. “So, are you going to put in a good word for me or not?”
Moving toward the door, Luke said nothing. As he paused in the entrance, he turned back to face his brother. “I’ll give it some thought and let you know,” he said finally.
Mark chuckled again, lifting that stack of papers from the desktop. “Fine. Be like that,” he said. “And here I was going to help you with your analysis.” He held the documents out toward Luke.
“That is so like you,” Luke said, taking the papers from his hand. “I should have known you’d resort to bribery,” he teased.
Mark laughed. “Did it work?”
Luke laughed with him. “Oh, heck, yeah!”
“That’s what I thought. So when do I get your girl’s telephone number?”
Luke’s eyes widened with amusement. “Did you get Marah’s e-mail?”
Mark looked confused. “What does Marah have to do—”
“Did you get Marah’s message about her meet and greet at the club?” Luke asked again, interrupting his brother.
Mark nodded. “Yeah. So?”
“Make sure you’re there.”
“Why?”
“Because Michelle will be. Then you can ask her for her telephone number yourself.”
Mark stared at his brother thoughtfully, a bright smile warming his face. He pointed his index finger in the man’s direction. “Now who’s bribing who!” he exclaimed cheerfully.
Luke grinned back. “Now, about those numbers…”
It just might be a nice gig, Michelle thought to herself as she read the formal letter that had come to her via express mail. Then again, maybe it wouldn’t be. She had purposely ignored the document at first but, Simon being Simon, he had pulled it from the trash bin where she’d thrown it and had waved