“What!”
“You’re the last person I’d ever expect to try and get me and Topaz back together.”
“True. But no offense, Simon, I’d rather see her with you than my cousin.”
“Oh.”
“Mmm-hmm. Alex is getting just a little too close to her—I know it. Besides, you’ve never gotten over her, in spite of all my sage advice against a relationship with her.”
“Hmph,” Simon grunted, shaking his head at the woman’s blatant dislike. “You’re somethin’ else, De.”
“So I’ll be seeing you then?”
“You’ll be seeing me.”
To a passerby, Topaz would look to be in some sort of trouble, but she was the one causing the disturbance. Two of the proprietors from that morning’s meeting, along with Horace and Stan, had arrived at Top E Towing and Mechanical to recruit one of the owner’s top men to sit in on their meetings.
“I don’t believe this! You actually expect me to go for this?”
“Your business should be represented at the meeting—”
“Horace, you actually expect one of my men to report back to me like I’m some sort of feebleminded woman who can’t take care of her own business?”
“Don’t you wanna know what’s going on?”
“I already know what’s goin’ on, Stan!” she fumed, folding her arms across the plunging ruffled neckline of her wine flyaway cardigan. Closing her eyes, she counted to five. “What kind of message will it send not to see me there? They’ll immediately figure me to be one of the poor fools they’ve been forcing to sell.”
Horace and Stan exchanged glances, silently acknowledging the merit of her argument. Still, they would not allow their feelings to be swayed.
“I don’t need representatives for my business when I’m able to be there.”
“And we want to keep you able, Topaz. Now you go along with this and keep yourself in the loop, because you won’t be there. The location will be kept secret and—”
“You know you guys are just as vulnerable in all this as I am!” she threw back, stepping right up to Stan.
Someone snickered and soon the four men were chuckling.
“Take it or leave it, Paz,” Horace finally challenged.
Topaz curled her fists so tightly, her nails could have drawn blood from her palms. She knew there was no way to change their minds, so she grudgingly conceded.
“Stacy!” she called, waving toward one of her two best men. She eased her hands into the back pockets of her dark denims and waited. Horace and the other men watched her, hating that they had to bully her but believing it was for her own good.
“Stacy Merchants, you know Horace and Stan. This is Gary Green and Banyon Brown from G and B Air and Heat,” Topaz announced, watching as Stacy shook hands and greeted each man. She was about to explain the situation, but Horace was already taking care of that.
Topaz stood fuming. Faintly, she recalled that she still had some control over the situation. She would still be in contact with Casey Williams. In her opinion, her connection with him was far more valuable. With that in mind, she felt more comforted by the knowledge that she would be able to offer her help in some way.
Alex arrived then and noticed the scene on the gravel drive in front of the garage. From inside his Navigator, he could sense that the situation was heated and voiced a silent prayer that nothing negative had happened to affect Topaz. He shut off the SUV’s powerful engine and stepped out with a determined glint in his stunning gaze. The group had left Topaz standing alone on the drive. She was glaring after them when Alex approached.
“You all right?” he asked, smiling when she whirled around to face him.
Topaz’s glare only deepened. “Men are at the bottom of my list right now.”
Clearing his throat, Alex bowed his head to hide his expression. He found her words pleasing, in light of how many men she knew. Deciding to test the waters further, he stepped closer.
“All men?” he asked.
“Yes. Unless you tell me you see nothing wrong with me wanting to be involved in the meetings regarding the buyouts.”
His gaze narrowed. “What’s going on?”
“Every man on this block is hell-bent on keeping me completely cut out of anything related to the subject,” Topaz snapped, dragging both hands through her lengthy tresses. “I mean they’ve all forgotten the fact that it was me who gave them what little they have to go on.”
Alex smoothed one hand across the dark denim shirt he wore and prepared himself for her reaction to what he was about to say. “The last place I want to be is at the bottom of your list, but I think that’s probably a good idea.”
“You actually agree with those fools?” she hissed, pointing in the direction the other men had taken. “After all the information I gave them about this mess? They weren’t even thinking about getting together to discuss this before I got involved.”
“I know.”
“But you don’t care?” Topaz accused, fixing him with the same scathing look she’d used on Horace and Stan earlier. “You’re all a bunch of chauvinists. You all probably get together and have a good laugh behind my back over the fact that I own this garage.”
Alex closed what distance remained between them. His hands folded over her upper arms, effectively silencing her. He watched her for a second or two, then lifted her chin with his index finger. “Laughing at you would be the last thing we’d do,” he said when she met his gaze, “but I understand where the guys are coming from and why. It’s obvious these people are willin’ to play dirty, and it’s even more obvious how dead set you are against selling your shop. Things could get real messy and the guys are probably feeling bad about the fact that you’re putting yourself out there like that when they have no leads at all. Maybe we’re a bunch of chauvinists, but we just want you safe. One less thing for us to have to worry about.”
Topaz rolled her eyes and smiled. “How can you say the same thing and not sound like a pig?” she asked, her bright eyes focusing on the cleft in his chin when he grinned.
