Changing the bad boy

chapter 5

PRESTON POV

Her eyes go completely round, and her mouth pops open. "What? No..."

I nod. "Yes, and they were not impressed."

That's putting it lightly.

Grandpa was already frustrated because the food was not cooked to his liking so when Demers showed up when we were getting ready for dessert it pushed him over the edge. Grandma got upset at Grandpa's cursing,but Easton's smooth-talking and Hayes teasing had her smiling again soon thereafter.

"Oh my God!" Valerie's exclaims and it's satisfying to see red color spread across her cheeks. At least she has the decency to get embarrassed.

"Keeping the calendars up-to-date should not be that difficult but so far you've managed to mess up the luncheon, the senior departments meeting and the dry cleaning. If you can't handle it maybe this isn't the right job for you."

The humble look in her eyes disappears in an instant and I watch how her eyes flash,her back straightens, and she squares her shoulders. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know I pissed her off and she's ready for a battle.

"I apologize,"she says in a tone that is so completely opposite from what her facial expression says that I chuckle.

Her eyes narrow and she bites down on her nlumo

bottom lip like she's forcing

herself to stay quiet.

I feel a stirring in my pants as my d**k wakes up. He's clearly interested in this feisty woman in front of me and that pisses me off even more.

"Consider this a warning,"I snap. "If it happens again,you're fired."

***

I'm running late. I know it without having to look at my phone, which is currently blowing up. Like seriously,what the f**k? My brothers and especially Hayes, have to calm the f**k down. So I'ma few minutes late, or maybe an hour, but it's not like it's that big of a deal.

We're iust having a couple

of drinks at Seraphina's. It's nothing to get all wound up about.

"Here's your receipt, sir,"the parking attendant says with a big grin and hands me a ticket as soon as I get out of the car. I nod and head for the bar. I'm pretty sure I made the young guy's night by allowing him to park my Audi R8. It's not every night a car like that pulls into a parking garage, not even to one in an area as affluent as this.

Seraphina's is one of Andrew's favorite places,so we've been here a lot,especially lately. It is classy and expensive. Dark wood paneling with built-in booths all around the perimeter and a large bar set up in the middle The lights are dim.

and the music is just loud enough that you can hear it,but you're still able to talk.

My brothers are always at the bar, and there are always women hanging over them. Tonight is no different,except that I'm usually there with them from the beginning.

"What the f**k, Pres?"

Easton says with a look that tells me he's already had a few of those whisky sours he favors.

Hayes grins up at me from underneath the arm of some girl I've seen around here a few times, though I don't know who she is.

Andrew is busy talking to Eliza, and I'm wondering why Iknow be doesn't like her. They had something years ago. It wasn't relationship,but something more like friends-with-benefits,except they weren't really friends either. So, for Andrew to be that deep into a conversation with her, there must be a reason. He must need her for something.

Everyone knows she's completely infatuated with him, and that he finds her annoying. It's not like he doesn't have any other options if he just wants to get his d**k wet. He is in good shape for almost being 41, and he is the COO of Cartwright & Sons.Women find that very attractive.

I step up in between Easton and Andrew but focus on Easton since he's the onlv

one not wrapped up in some woman, although there are a few glancing his way. "I had something to take care of," I tell him.

"And by something you mean you had someone suck your d**k for you?" he quips with an amused expression.

I laugh. Normally,he might be correct in assuming that,but not this time.

"No, I was at work," I say while I get the bartenders'attention. "I wanted to look over the numbers on the Marramount account."

His eyes blink, and he's instantly more alert. "Why?What's wrong with it?"

I order a martini for myself and after a quick glance at

Easton's half-finished glass,add another whisky sour for him. The bartender flutters her eyelashes while she asks if she can get me anything else. I tell her I'm good and hand her my black Amex card.

"Nothing is wrong," I answer Easton. "We're just over budget."

"Already?"

"Not yet, but we're about to be."

"Shit."

I nod.

The Marramount project has been ongoing for four years. We are converting an old distillery down by the river into luxurv condos. So

far we have about 75% of it completed. The expectations had been that we'd be close to finished by now,but based on the numbers I saw today we're not there, and it will cost us a lot more than we'd originally estimated to finish up.

The bartender places our drinks down with a big smile and tells me to let her know if I need anything else. And that anything does not just relate to drinks.

I nod and take a sip of the drink, giving myself a second to enjoy the smooth flavor and the slight burn that follows as I swallow.

"That's what the meeting with Demers is about?"Hayes asks from the other side of Easton

suddenly interested in the conversation and not the dark-haired beauty trying to squeeze into his lap.

"Yes."

Easton chuckles. Ralph Demers is the construction manager in charge of the project. He was quite surprised when he showed up for what he thought was a business meeting just to find us having lunch with our grandparents, thanks to Valerie's screw up.

"The look on his face,"Easton says and his grin widens.

I shake my head.The new admin is a mess. I so badly wanted to fire her ass after that fiasco, but HR advised against it. There wasn't

enough cause, they said.

Yeah,right.

"I don't know how she managed to screw that up."

"Eh, it was funny. Give her a couple of weeks," Easton says. "She seems okay."

I roll my eyes. I'm not so sure about that, but we have no choice other than to deal with it. At least for now.

"Maybe you're just upset that she's not all over you like the other two?"

That has me snorting out a laugh. Easton is right,she has that going for her.Valerie does not act like she's impressed by me because of who I am, or like she wants to get in mv pants like Alana

and Lydia. Although I'm not sure it's just me Alana and Lydia want. I think they'd be willing to take either of us Cartwright brothers.

But so far, wve've been smart and kept our hookups outside of the company.

That's one of the things our father preached that's sensible. You don't mix business with pleasure.

He has plenty of other ideologies that don't make much sense, but that doesn't stop him from trying to enforce them.Which is why I prefer to deal with Andrew as much as possible.

Andrew leans back in his chair so he can see me."What's happening with Demers now?" he asks.

"I rescheduled the meeting

for Friday."

"All right."

"I'm having him come into the office. I want to be able to review the numbers and discuss what he thinks it will cost to finish up."

"Have they submitted updated proposals?" Easton asks.

"Yeah, I checked with Peter,and he said he'd gotten something, but he hadn't had a chance to review it yet."

"Shouldn't he make that a priority?" Andrew asks with a scowl.

"Yeah, that's what I told him to do, but he just got them on Mondav"

Peter is our accounting manager, and he is good at his job, although a bit too relaxed for my preference,but my father was the one that hired him. Peter had come with great recommendations from one of dad's friends.

Andrew's eyebrows narrow as his eyes meet mine.

"Let me know if you need me to get involved," he says.What he doesn't say is:"before dad finds out," but I get the hidden meaning. Our dad tends to blow up when things don't go as he has planned.

I nod and reach for my drink again.

Hayes puts his empty glass down on the counter and

gets up. After saying a quick good night, he wraps his arm around the girl that's been clinging to his side and they're off. Easton grins as he slides over to Hayes'abandoned chair, leaving his chair empty for me.

"Who's the girl?" I ask Easton as I sit down on the barstool.

"Which one?"

I roll my eyes. "The one that left with Hayes?"

His eyebrows go up. "Why?"

"I'm not interested, asshole.

She just looks familiar."

He nods his head with a knowing smirk.

"She should. She went to

school with you.mnyou grade, I think, or maybe the one below you."

"Really." That got my attention. I take another sip of my drink down and turn to fully face Easton. "What's her name?"

"Deanna Woodcock."

I fumble and almost drop my drink.

"That's Deanna?"

Easton chuckles. "Uh, huh.

She's had some work done."

"No shit." She'd clearly had work done, and a lot of it.Her hair color has changed too. It's dark instead of the mousy brown it used to be."Wow, does Hayes know who she is?"

I can't imagine he would go with her if he knew who she was. Or maybe he does and just doesn't care.But no, I don't think even Hayes would be that ballsy.

Easton shrugs his shoulders.

"Did you tell him?" I ask.

"No."

That cracks me up, and it's not long before Easton laughs as well.

I'm on my second drink when I feel a small hand on my arm. I look up and find Belinda or Brianna or whatever her name is next to me.

"Hey, Preston," she says.

"How have you been?"

She looks good. I gotta give her that. The slinky dress does not leave much to the imagination, and I know from experience what's under there, and she does have very nice assets.

"Good," I answer. "How about you?"

She smiles, knowing I just checked her out. "Good," she says. Her hand continues up my arm to my shoulder."I had fun last time I saw you..." She bites her red stained bottom lip and looks up at me from underneath her dark eyelashes. It's a clear attempt to look seductive.

"Aha." I say and take a long drink from my martini,because I don't know what the f**k to respond to that.

The last time I saw her, we left her sister's engagement party early, and she sucked me off in the dressing room.

"You never called."

And there it is. There's a reason I should only have casual hookups and no repeats.

"Yeah..."

She probably expected me to give her "I've been busy,"line, or something similar.But the truth is I just wasn't into it enough to want to do it again, so why lie?

She eventually gets the hint and leaves.

Easton chuckles next to be as I drain the rest of my drink.

"What?" I demand.

"You're a bit of an ass."

I snort out a chuckle.

"Probably," I agree.

Easton looks amused. "Too easy?" he asks.

I shrug my shoulders. There might be some truth to that statement. And for some strange reason Valerie's stern face flashes in my mind, like she'd disapprove.But why the hell would I care about that?