Sweet Surrender (Sugar Rush #3)(4)

Kate Darling was his key to finishing the job and getting the hell out of Sugar Rush. All he had to do was convince her to help him. An efficient little do-gooder like her?

No problem.





Chapter




TWO


"He did what?" Kate couldn't keep the shock out of her voice, and she quickly tried to conceal it with a delicate cough.

Since her encounter with Tyler Stone less than two hours ago, she'd been wondering exactly what kind of trouble he'd gotten himself into. But she hadn't expected this.

"He could get charged with grand theft auto." CEO Luke Stone turned from the window of his office, which overlooked a majestic view of the California coastline-not that he appeared to care about the view. His mouth twisted with disgust. "In California, speed boats are included in the grand theft auto code."

"Was he … er, under the influence?" Kate set a stack of folders on his desk.

"Yeah, the influence of a rich, pretty socialite." Luke punched a few keys on his keyboard. "The boat belonged to her father. Worth a fortune. Tyler decided to take it on a joyride without asking permission and ended up crashing it into a channel marker. Lucky he wasn't killed."

Good lord. And here she thought Tyler had been caught lighting his flatulence on fire or something nonsensical like that. She hadn't imagined he'd done something dangerous and beyond stupid.

"Was the girl in the boat with him?" she asked. 

"No, she had the good sense to stay onshore." Luke heaved a sigh and sat back in his chair. "At least she was able to call the Coast Guard to go out and rescue the jackass."

"Will he have to go to court?" Kate asked.

"Unfortunately, no. My father was going to let him take the fall-court, fines, jail, whatever, but Evan convinced him not to. Last thing we need is shitty publicity, especially right when the company is finally getting so much good press. To have the media all over Tyler for being a dickwad rich kid … no."

"Sounds like he still has to pay, though."

"Yeah." Luke dragged a hand through his hair. "Savannah's father agreed not to press charges if Tyler makes regular payments for the boat damage. My father won't let him take the money from his trust fund, so he has to earn it legitimately. He misses a payment, and Sam Corrigan will prosecute."

"At least he gave him a chance," Kate ventured.

Luke nodded. "Even as a kid, Tyler thought life was one big game. He never took anything seriously. Not even school. He'd do stupid things to get attention, but always managed to charm his way out of punishment. Never changed."

Kate could easily see the rakish boy still in Tyler, but surely there was a reason he'd been like that. She hadn't been born efficient and methodical; she'd become that way at a young age because it had been the only way she could help her father. She supposed she hadn't changed much either.

"After our mother died, he got worse," Luke continued. "We've let him run wild for too long. Totally our fault."

Regret tightened his mouth. His eyes were creased with fatigue. He needed a green smoothie with extra protein and perhaps some mixed raw nuts.

"You did the right thing," Kate assured him, not just to humor him but because she believed it. Luke was right-Sugar Rush and the Stone family had endured a lot in recent years, and they couldn't let their young and impulse-challenged brother screw things up for them.

Not that Tyler had seemed the least bit interested in fixing his colossal mistake by organizing the library. He probably wouldn't even show up for work, much less find any useful books or articles for her. He was hardly the librarian type anyway, with his big body that had felt like a solid wall of muscle when she'd fallen against him, her breasts crushing against his powerful chest and his arms closing around her like steel bands-

She cleared her throat. "So the library is his punishment?"

"In part. My father also froze his trust fund and assets." Luke turned back to his computer. "Time for him to grow up and live on what he makes from actually working."

"Excuse me for saying this, sir, but it doesn't appear that Tyler quite knows what he's supposed to do in the library."

"No one expects much from him," Luke admitted. "He just needs to make an effort and straighten things up. I've already sent out a call for applications for a new librarian. As soon as we hire one, he or she will take over the actual organization, and Tyler will have more direction."

"How long does he have to work there, then?"

"Until he pays off the boat damage. And proves he can get his shit together."

His voice had the implacable CEO quality Kate had come to recognize over the past two years-the one that laid down the law at board meetings and had fired uncooperative employees-but this time it was softened by a distinctly troubled older brother tone.