IT TAKES A REBEL

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  Contents:

  1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18

  Epilogue

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  Chapter 1

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  “Jack, are you listening?”

  Jack Stillman jerked his attention back to his brother’s voice on the phone. “Hmm? Sure, bro.”

  “I’m counting on you,” Derek said in that patronizing big-brother tone that Jack hated.

  He rolled his eyes, leaned back in his desk chair, and propped his feet on the corner of the desk. “Stop worrying, I can handle things until you get back.”

  “I’m not worried about your ability,” Derek said dryly. “It’s your dedication that keeps me up at night.”

  Jack frowned. “Your new bride should be the only thing keeping you up at night.”

  Derek chuckled in a way that told Jack he hadn’t spent every minute of his honeymoon worrying about the ad agency. “Just remember—”

  “I know, bro, I know. The gal from the IRS office will be by this afternoon, the phone bill needs to be paid, and I have an appointment with Al Tremont tomorrow morning at ten. I have everything under control.”

  “Since we need to make a good impression on this IRS agent, you might not want to call her ‘gal.’”

  He sighed, loath to spend the afternoon with some dried-up hag who wanted to scrutinize his W-4’s.

  “Is the office straightened up?” Derek asked.

  Jack glanced at the pizza box sitting on his desk from yesterday, and the cartons of leftover Chinese from the day before. On the other side of the room that housed both his and Derek’s desks, the floor-to-ceiling bookshelf had collapsed, the timing of the mishap probably hastened by his overuse of the minibasketball hoop on the side, he conceded. Twice he’d thought about straightening the mountain of reference books and papers on the floor, then changed his mind. And he hadn’t gotten around to sorting the mail in the two weeks since Derek had left. He raised the lid on the pizza box and lifted the remaining stone-cold slice to his mouth for a bite. “The place looks peachy,” he said through a mouthful of rubbery cheese.

  “Good. Then tell me you dressed up.”

  Jack looked down at one of the short sleeve floral shirts he’d acquired during his extended vacation in Florida, then opened his top drawer and withdrew a black and white striped tie from the wad of spares he kept there for emergencies. “Tie and everything,” he said, flipping up the collar of his shirt and fashioning a loose Windsor knot.

  “And you got a haircut?”

  He ran his hand through his dark shaggy hair and grunted what he hoped passed for affirmation.

  Derek sighed in relief, so he must have sounded convincing. “And you have ideas drawn up for Tremont?”

  Jack shot a look in the direction of his sketch pad, then flicked a chunk of pepperoni from the blank top sheet. “Some of my best work ever.”

  “Great. What did you come up with?”

  “Uh, I’ll call you and go over the presentation when I get everything back from the printer.”

  “You’re the artist,” Derek said with a little laugh. “I’m nervous about you meeting with the IRS woman, but I have to admit, I’m sure you’ll do a good job with Tremont. This account could put us in the big league, you know.”

  Jack winced and rubbed his stomach. Guilt and cold pizza did not mix. “I know, Derek, I won’t let you down.” He checked the clock on Derek’s desk—he’d lost his own watch in a poker game in Kissimmee—and straightened. The IRS gal would arrive in another hour. “Listen, bro, gotta run.”

  “Call me on my cell phone if the agent has questions you can’t answer.”

  “Sure thing. Give Janine a kiss for me, and make it French, okay?” He hung up before Derek could reprimand him, bit off another chunk of pizza, then winged it toward the overflowing trash can. After wiping his hands on his cut-off denim shorts, he pushed himself to his feet with an aggrieved sigh. Might as well get the darn bookshelf fixed.

  He stretched tall into a mighty yawn, then padded barefoot to the closet they used as a supply room. He’d have time to slide into his deck shoes before the broad got there. Jack shook his head at the neat shelves, the bins of miscellaneous office supplies and the various tools. His brother had inherited their mother’s penchant for order, while he had inherited their father’s tendency toward turmoil.

  God rest his father’s sweet soul, the old man was still doing them favors. Paul Stillman, ever the generous spirit, had once stopped on New Circle Road to assist a motorist, only to discover the man was none other than Alexander Tremont, owner of the Tremont department store chain. Tremont had been on his way to a meeting at his flagship store in Lexington, Kentucky, and their father had given him a lift. When the two men hit it off, Tremont had promised the Stillman & Sons agency a chance at his business once his contract with a high-powered agency had run its course.

  Last week, Al Tremont’s secretary had phoned to keep his promise. Saddened to learn of their father’s passing, Tremont nonetheless set an appointment to discuss ideas for a new ad campaign. Derek had been ecstatic when Jack told him, and considered cutting short his honeymoon, but Jack had assured him he could handle the presentation.

  And he could handle the presentation, he told himself. He’d already performed some rudimentary research by calling acquaintances to ask what the hell the store sold. He still had nearly twenty-four hours until the Tremont appointment, and he always did his best work under pressure. If history repeated itself, his most creative ideas would strike him around three o’clock tomorrow morning.

  He pulled down a tool belt and strapped it low around his hips. Begrudgingly, he lifted the stepladder to his shoulder—might as well change the two expired overhead lightbulbs while he was at it.

  Upon closer inspection, the bookshelf was in worse shape than he’d thought. He ended up reinforcing the brace under each shelf and tightening every screw that held the piece together. Once the unit was stabilized, he positioned it against the wall, then knelt to start replacing the heap of books, binders and periodicals.

  Two minutes into the pile, between volumes of advertising trade magazines, he stumbled across an old friend—the 1997 Playboy “Southern College Coeds” issue. A dog-eared page took him directly to the University of Kentucky offerings. Wow, still impressive. And by chance, he’d spotted the blonde in the cropped T-shirt at the next football game he’d attended. What was her name? Jack peered more closely. Oh, yeah—Sissy. He and Sissy had shared some good times.

  “Excuse me.”

  At the sound of a woman’s voice, Jack jerked his head up and slapped the magazine closed. In the doorway of their disheveled office stood the most drop-dead gorgeous woman he’d ever had the pleasure of setting his eyes upon. His body leapt in unadulterated admiration. The woman was … tight. Tight black hair bound away from her face. Tight skin over sharp cheekbones and a perfect nose. Tight set of her mouth and chin. Tight tailored pale blue suit that hugged every curve of her long body. Tight look from her haughty blue eyes. Tight grip on the black briefcase she held.

  To say the IRS rep didn’t look anything like what he’d expected was an understatement of laughable proportions. “Yes?” He adopted a charming expression. His mind raced ahead to the drinks, the dinner, the bed they were destined to share.

  “I’m looking for Mr. Stillman.”

  Oh, and a husky voice, too. He’d surely died and gone to heaven. “You found him,” he said, then tossed the magazine to the floor and walked toward her.

  “You’re Derek Stillman?” she asked, not hiding her surprise.

  “No, I’m his brother, Jack, the better looking one.” He grinned. “Derek is out of town, but I’ve been expecting you.�
��

  “Oh?” she asked, scanning the contents of the office. “You know who I am?”

  “Sure,” he said cheerfully. “Derek and I were just discussing the meeting on the phone.”

  Suddenly he realized the unkempt appearance of their office might run in their favor—the woman could certainly see they weren’t hiding income. He laughed and gestured around. “As you can see, we’re not exactly the cream of the advertising agencies.” He made a rueful noise. “A month ago we were on the verge of bankruptcy, and now we’re just hanging on by the skin of our ass—um, teeth, so this shouldn’t take long.”

  “Indeed,” she said, her enunciation clipped. “I believe I’ve seen enough.” She turned as if to leave.

  He panicked. “Wait—what about our appointment?”

  “Consider it canceled.”

  Jack nearly whooped with relief—Derek would be ecstatic that the audit had been dismissed, but he wasn’t about to let this creature just walk out of his life.

  “You don’t have to be so hasty,” he drawled, strolling closer. “There’s a silver lining to every cloud.” When she turned back, he angled his head at her and gave her his most devilish grin. “How about dinner?”

  One thin jet eyebrow shot up. “With you?”

  He winked. “I grill a mean steak.”

  Her smile was, of course, tight. “I’m a vegetarian.”

  Jack blanched. He’d heard of vegetarians, but he’d never met one. “Well, I grill a mean … head of cabbage. What do you say?”

  Her eyes narrowed. “I say ‘no.’ Goodbye, Mr. Stillman.”

  “Wait,” he said, trotting after her into the reception area, where they kept a desk, a phone and an extinct computer for appearances. The two weeks’ worth of mail nearly obscured the top of the dummy desk.

  She turned again, her mouth pursed, her gaze chilly.

  He spread his hands. “At least give me your card so I can prove to my brother that you were here.” He’d call her and eventually wear her down—he always did.

  The black-haired beauty hesitated, then withdrew a gold business card holder, extracted a card, and flicked it down on the corner of the reception desk. She opened the door and exited to the hall. Jack caught the door and stuck out his head to watch her walk away. Head up, her stride was long, and she never looked back as she disappeared around the corner.

  Jack whistled low and under his breath. “Tight little behind, too.” Spirits high, he turned back to the door and laughed aloud. The Stillman & Sons Advertising Agency sign on the outside of the door dangled crookedly by a thin chain. He’d been meaning to fix that, too, but the disrepair had undoubtedly been a bonus. He couldn’t wait to call Derek, and he couldn’t wait to call the mystery woman. He loved a gal who played hard to get.

  Jack lifted his arm and patted himself heartily on the back. Derek was always complaining that he didn’t pull his weight around the office, but from what he could see, running the place was a pure cinch. The auditor was practically in his pocket; in fact—he cracked his knuckles with one sweeping motion—maybe he’d be able to negotiate some sort of tax-free status between the sheets. He grinned—when he was hot, he was red-hot. Closing his eyes, he could practically feel the imprint of Tremont’s handshake tomorrow as they agreed on a deal even more lucrative than his brother could have imagined. Humming in anticipation, Jack walked back into the messy reception area and picked up the card the smoky siren had left.

  Then he nearly swallowed his smooth tongue.

  Alexandria Tremont, Director of Marketing & Sales, Tremont Enterprises.

  *

  When Alex reached the parking lot, she was still marveling over the sheer audacity of Jack Stillman. She swung into her sedan, banged the door closed, and scoffed as she turned over the key in the ignition. The man was a joke, and a lame one at that. She wheeled out of the parking lot that was as shoddy as the so-called professional office buildings around it, making a wild guess as to the owner of the dusty black motorcycle sitting at a cocky angle.

  She hesitated for half a heartbeat, tempted to lower the rag top of her white convertible on this sunny fall day, then decided she didn’t want to have to bother with redoing her hair when she returned to the office. Funny, but she hadn’t driven with the top down nearly as much as she thought she might when she’d bought the car on impulse last spring. Lately she’d been regretting her splurge; what had once sounded fun now seemed rather silly.

  Alex dodged a pothole, then eased into side street traffic and headed for the bypass, her foot depressing the gas a little harder as the image of Jack Stillman’s smug face rose in her mind. The nerve of the man, making a pass at her! Her cheeks warmed at the memory of his raking gaze, as if he were entitled or something, the cad.

  The bronzed bum hadn’t even bothered to put his best foot forward—or even don shoes for that matter—to impress a potentially huge customer. If there was one thing she resented, it was a man with an attitude who had absolutely nothing to back it up, and Jack Stillman appeared to be the poster boy for arrogance. He’d obviously mistaken her for the kind of woman who would be swayed by his stray-dog good looks. The scoundrel undoubtedly planned to shmooze her and her father with good-old-boy charm—a southern staple she’d come to despise during her rise through the ranks of the family business.

  Her father had insisted, and rightfully so, that she start on the sales floor as a teenager and learn the business from the bottom up. Over the past fifteen years, she’d worked doubly hard to overcome the stigma of being the boss’s daughter. Even her own father had resisted moving her into management, even though she knew the business inside out by the time most kids were finishing college. She’d reached the level of director two years ago, and was now in the running for the position of vice president of sales and marketing recently vacated by a retiree. The competition was stiff, but her record had been exemplary, and the new vice president would be announced any day. Her father would be so proud if the board of directors chose her.

  Then, perhaps, Al would be forced to recognize her contribution to the company, to stop interfering with her duties and decisions. This situation with the Stillman & Sons agency was a perfect example. The vice presidential duties had been split among the four sales directors for the time being, and though the responsibility of choosing a new advertising agency had been assigned to her, her father seemed determined to give their considerable business to the doubtful Stillman & Sons agency because of a from-the-hip promise he’d made to a Good Samaritan. The man had since passed away, but Al wouldn’t hear of ‘going back on his word.’

  And now they were left to deal with a derelict son who read Playboy at the office and fancied himself a ladies’ man. Alex sighed. She really didn’t need the hassle.

  She lifted the lid to a compartment on her armrest, removed her cellular phone, and punched in the number for her father’s private line.

  Her father answered after a half ring. “This is Al,” he barked.

  “It’s Alex,” she said. “Is this a bad time?”

  “Never for you, Alex,” he murmured, his voice softening. Despite his flaws, she really loved him. “What’s up, my dear?”

  “I just left the Stillman & Sons advertising agency.”

  “I thought the agency was sending someone here tomorrow morning.”

  The questioning tone in her father’s voice made her squirm. “I, um, had some time and decided to pay them a courtesy visit.”

  “And?”

  There it was again—that tone. “And they’re not in our league, Dad.” She winced at her slip because she preferred not to address him personally when they discussed business.

  “What makes you say that?”

  “The place is a mess, and Jack Stillman wasn’t much better—raggedy, unclean, the man even asked me out.” As if she would even consider going out with the buffoon.

  “Can’t fault his taste.”

  She rolled her eyes at his chuckle. “Stillman & Sons is a low-class opera
tion.”

  “Did you see their portfolio?”

  Alex balked. “It hardly seemed worth the trouble.”

  “Well, I have it on good faith that the agency is small, but good. I want to see what they have to offer. You’re forgetting Alex, we used to be the underdog.”

  Alex bit back her argument, knowing she couldn’t change his mind when he was in such a mood. In fact, she was starting to worry that the reason she’d been chosen for this assignment was so her father could pull the strings without appearing to. “Okay,” she conceded. “The appointment stands. I’ll see you at ten in the morning.”

  “Have a nice day, sweetheart. By the way, Gloria wants you to come over for dinner soon.”

  She wrinkled her nose at the mention of her father’s wife—the woman was dim and dull—then mouthed some vague response before saying goodbye. Alex disconnected the call, feeling torn, as usual, after talking to her father. Was it so wrong to want his love and his respect?

  But as she replaced the phone, she suddenly realized she didn’t have a thing to worry about where the meeting was concerned. Jack Stillman would swagger in tomorrow looking like a wasted tourist and even her honor-bound father would recognize the absurdity of working with the down-and-out agency.

  Alex smiled and lifted her chin. With Jack Stillman’s unwitting ‘help’ tomorrow morning she’d be able to kill two birds with one stone: Her father would be forced to consider the reputable St. Louis advertising firm she was advocating, which also meant he would be forced to admit that she was right. And since the episode would unfold in the presence of various VIP’s, her chance for the vice presidency would undoubtedly improve.

  With a new outlook, she laughed aloud, mentally thanking the disreputable-looking advertising man for being in the wrong place at the right time. Her dear mother had once said that every event in this seemingly disjointed world actually happened for a reason. Apparently her mother’s theory even extended to her unpleasant encounter with the repulsive Jack Stillman.

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