Violet Fitzgerald, rebellious heiress, Honor’s best friend since school, and currently crashing on her couch since arriving back from Paris a week ago, watched her with assessing blue-green eyes. The way she was sitting, along with her blond dreadlocks and dripping silver jewelry, made her look like an idealistic hippie backpacker in the process of touring around India, “finding herself.”
“What?” Honor resisted the urge to rub her eyes, tiredness creeping into her bones. She hadn’t realized until now how much the stress of having to deal with Guy and the whole debt problem had affected her. And it wasn’t over yet. She still had this week with Gabriel Woolf to contemplate. A whole damn week. She had no idea how she was going to fit that into her schedule but she was going to have to somehow.
“You look tired,” Violet said, settling into the red cushions. “Tough day at the office?”
They really were nothing alike. Violet was all arty and free-spirited, rejecting her old-money New York family and their expectations at the first opportunity. Jetting off to Europe without giving a crap about her responsibilities. Not that Honor could blame her. The Fitzgeralds were a family who placed great stock in doing what was right and proper. They still believed in marriage as the perfect career move for their only daughter, for God’s sake. No wonder Violet had always chafed against the restrictions they put on her.
Unlike Honor, of course. Who’d stuck by her own family. Who took her responsibilities seriously and was still, after all these years, trying to fix what had been broken by her father when he’d taken his own life.
“I am tired,” Honor said. “And yes, tough day at the office.”
Violet smoothed the silk of the wraparound Indian-print skirt she wore, silver bracelets clicking together as she did so. “You work too hard, hon, that’s your problem. You did at school and you’re still doing it.”
“When you own your own business, you have to work hard.”
But Violet wasn’t fooled. “It’s all this stuff with Guy, isn’t it?”
Honor sighed and crossed her stocking-clad feet at the ankles. “Yes. I finally got a backer for Tremain Hotels but…” She stopped. This should be a good feeling, shouldn’t it? So why did she suddenly feel so unsure?
“But what?”
It had been a long time since she’d confided in another person. Keeping up a calm and in-control front was vital to the success of her business, and she’d found keeping her worries and insecurities to herself was a good way of achieving that. Plus, before Guy had come along, her mother had tended to go to pieces at the drop of a hat, so Honor had had to stay strong for her sake.
But keeping up that front was exhausting, and despite the years that had passed with Violet in Europe, the two of them were still best friends.
“The backer is Gabriel Woolf.”
Violet raised a pale, pierced eyebrow. “The construction dude?”
“Yes, the construction dude.”
Her friend’s eyebrow rose a little higher. “The hot construction dude?”
Honor opened her mouth then closed it. Anything she said now would only incriminate her. “If you mean the owner of Woolf Construction, then yes.”
“But that’s great, isn’t it? You were worried you weren’t going to come up with an investor.”
“It is great. It really is.”
“Then why are you scowling?”
Honor tried to unknit her brow. “He … had a few conditions.”
“Uh-huh. And these conditions are…? Come on, hon, I know you like to cultivate reserve but it’s me here, okay? Didn’t I tell you all about that French guy on the metro?”
Oh, yes, Violet had. Violet had told her all about it and even now, Honor wanted to flush with embarrassment at her friend’s full and frank description of her one-night encounter. On a subway. Some things should never be spoken about, even between friends.
“This hasn’t got anything to do with you and that French man,” Honor said primly, pulling at the hem of her black pencil skirt. “Guy wasn’t happy about Mr. Woolf coming on board but—”
“Hey, hey, whoa there.” Violet held up a hand, bracelets making a silvery tinkling sound. “Mr. Woolf?”
This time Honor did flush. “I call all my clients by their title.”
“Bullshit you do. Yesterday you were talking about George this and Eva that.”
“Eva told me she didn’t have a title.”
“And George?”
Damn. There was a persistent crease right down near the hem of her skirt. She really needed to talk to the dry cleaner about that. “Is an old friend.”
“He is not.” Violet folded her arms. “This Woolf guy is getting to you, isn’t he?”
Honor took a breath. She honestly didn’t know why she didn’t want to acknowledge Gabriel Woolf’s effect on her. Maybe it was because admitting it felt like the start of a very slippery slope, one she couldn’t afford to fall down. But then, Violet was a friend. Someone she trusted.
“Yes, okay, so he is,” she said reluctantly.
Violet, bless her, didn’t make any pleased noises or look satisfied. She only frowned instead. “Not good, I take it?”
“No. Not really. Because…” She hesitated. “He’s dangerous, Vi. He … unsettles me. And you know if there was anyone else I could get, I’d get them in a heartbeat. But there isn’t. There’s only him.”
Her friend nodded, chewing on her lip. “Dangerous? How?”
“You must have heard the rumors about him.”
“Hey, I’ve been in Europe for five years. And I’m sorry, but I didn’t take my subscription to People magazine with me.”
“Okay, okay. There are rumors about how he got his start with his company. Drugs and gangs and such.”
Violet rolled her eyes. “Hate to break it to you, hon, but show me the billionaire who hasn’t been involved with something sketchy.”
Unfortunately this was true. As she had good reason to know firsthand. “So that’s not the reason he’s dangerous, I admit.”
Her friend’s turquoise eyes gleamed. “You want him, right?”
“I didn’t … I mean, I’m not—”
“I may not have heard rumors, but I’ve certainly seen pictures of him. He’s hot. Why wouldn’t you want him? Shit, I’d jump his bones in a second.”
Honor could feel another blush creeping up on her. This was stupid. She wasn’t a teenager anymore. With an effort, she stopped fiddling with her skirt and leaned back in her chair. Made herself meet her friend’s interested gaze. “It’s business. Strictly business.”
“Bah, business. You always were such a rule follower.” Violet shook her head, long golden dreads falling over her shoulders. “So what about these conditions then? They’re making you antsy, I can tell.”
A rule follower. Yes, she was at that. But there was nothing wrong with following the rules. As long as you were the one who got to make them. “I have to give him a personal tour of one of Guy’s hotels. For a whole damn week!”
A smile curled one end of Violet’s mouth. “Hon, I think he might like you.”
Heat settled right down low in Honor’s gut. Unexpected and unwanted. She shifted, hoping to get rid of it. “I don’t care what he thinks of me.” Liar. “I don’t have the time for this stupid tour.” An edge of temper had crept into her voice but she didn’t bother to hide it. In fact, it felt good to let a bit of her irritation at the arrogance of Gabriel Woolf out.
Violet fell back against the couch cushions, arms still folded. Grinning, damn her. “Oh, no, no, no. It’s not that you don’t have time for it. You don’t want to go because he makes you hot.”
Honor gritted her teeth silently. “Maybe I’m attracted to him. But’s that got nothing to do with anything. I still don’t have the time to take a week away from work.”
Violet made a skeptical-sounding noise. “Uh-huh. Why don’t you say no then?”
“I can’t. If I don’t do what he wants then he’s pulling his money. Eva King of Void Angel is going to invest, too, but she won’t without Woolf. So if I don’t organize this tour, I’ll lose both our investors.”
“Hmm, sounds like a case of rock versus hard place.” Violet waggled her eyebrows suggestively. “Hard places can be nice, you know.”
“Does it always have to be about sex with you?”
“Are you kidding?” Her friend’s eyes opened wide in mock surprise. “What else makes the world go around? And don’t tell me money ’cause then I’d have to kill you.”
Honor sighed. “This isn’t funny, Vi.”
The amused look faded from Violet’s face. “Okay, I hear you. Are you worried about him? I mean, seriously. If you think he’s going to do skanky things—”
“No,” Honor interrupted with absolute certainty. Because she didn’t get that kind of vibe from Gabriel at all. It was more … You don’t trust yourself around him. No. Hell, where had that thought come from? Because it wasn’t that either. Definitely not. “I’m pretty sure he’s not that kind of dangerous. It’s more that I don’t want to make any mistakes around him. Guy’s hotel chain is at stake here. His whole livelihood. I can’t afford to do anything stupid.”