Good Girls Don't
by Rosalie Lario
Everly Brothers #2
Publication Date: November 17, 2014
Also in this series: Wild Girls Rule
Genres: Contemporary, Romance
“Lyssa, I’d like to introduce
you to Steve Peterson,” Rebecca said, stepping toward the man.
“He’s the owner of Peterson Development. Mr. Peterson, this is
Lyssa Rivera of North Star Digital.”
Ah, so this was one of her
competitors. Lyssa recognized the name of his company from her
dealings with other real estate developers. Peterson Development was
a newer but rapidly growing company that specialized in building
smaller-scale office buildings in Brooklyn and the Bronx.
She breathed a sigh of relief.
Though Peterson Development was considerably larger than her own
firm, it wasn’t so far off that the idea of competition between the
two was laughable.
Lyssa stepped forward to shake the
man’s hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Peterson.”
“Ms. Rivera.” He gave her a
measuring glance. “North Star? You market for local real estate
companies, correct?”
“Mostly. We also have a few
retailer accounts in the area.”
The corners of his mouth rose upward
and he released her hand. She could practically see the wheels
spinning in his head. He was weighing her level of threat as his
competition.
“It’s a pleasure.” With those
words, he turned back to the window, effectively dismissing her.
The old, familiar weight of anger
burned in Lyssa’s chest. How many times since she’d opened her
firm had others dismissed her in that same callous manner?
She forcibly pushed the anger aside.
If Steve Peterson wanted to underestimate her, let him. That would
only help her in the long run.
When she turned and strode to the
table, confidently claiming a seat at one of the ends, Rebecca’s
mouth tipped up into a smile. So quickly that Lyssa wondered if she’d
imagined it, Rebecca gave her a wink. “The third member of your
party should be here shortly, as should Mr. Freeman.”
With those words, she left the room.
The minutes ticked by slowly. Steve
Peterson paced the room the entire time, his mouth moving as if he
were practicing his speech. Just looking at him made her nervous, so
she purposely diverted her gaze and took a deep breath.
Going over her speech one more time
wasn’t going to do anything at this point. She already knew it all.
Now was the time to clear her head, so she concentrated on her
breathing techniques until her heart rate slowed back to normal
tempo. Hopefully, it wouldn’t go crazy again once Martin Freeman
arrived.
She lost track of how much time
passed before the door to the conference room swung open once more.
An elderly man strode inside. Even though he walked the slower pace
of a man in his late seventies, he was bursting with assurance. There
was no doubt that this was Martin Freeman.
Lyssa shot to her feet as his gaze
moved from her to Steve and then back. An easy smile formed on his
lips. “Good morning Ms. Rivera, Mr. Peterson, I’m Martin
Freeman.”
Even though she knew now would be
the time to get nervous, something about the older man immediately
put Lyssa at ease. Her smile was genuine as she crossed the room,
reaching him just seconds before Steve, who’d practically raced
over to him.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you,
Mr. Freeman.” She held out her hand, and he gave it a warm shake.
“Likewise.” He turned to shake
Steve’s hand before saying to them both, “Please, call me Martin.
I hope we can all be on a first name basis here.”
When she murmured her agreement, he
glanced at his wristwatch and said, “I had hoped our third party
would be here by now, but since he isn’t, we’ll just have to
commence without him.”
Maybe the third person wouldn’t
show. If only she could be so lucky.
Martin shot them a charming smile
and motioned toward the table. “Shall we?”
She headed back to her chair, but
only made it about halfway there before the door squeaked open behind
her. Before she could turn toward the sound, the smooth, deep voice
of a man said, “My apologies on my tardiness. I hope I’m not too
late, Martin.”
Shock rooted Lyssa to the floor. The
panic that she’d initially feared finally materialized. Because
that voice…it sounded awfully familiar.
“Certainly not,” Martin said,
his tone congenial. “It’s a pleasure to see you again.”
“You as well,” the man agreed.
“Lyssa, Steve,” Martin said.
“I’d like to introduce you to the third member of our party,
James Everly of Everly Publications.”
Swallowing hard to rein in the
rising tide of nausea within her, Lyssa forced herself to turn
around.
Her shell-shocked gaze locked on the
familiar blue eyes of the man who’d snuck out of her bed sometime
between last night and this morning.
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