Delaney was definitely missing a piece of this puzzle. A very troubling piece if her instincts were right. “Why would I have a problem working with Ethan?”
“Because,” Ethan cut in before Phoebe could speak, “my last name is Hayes.”
Delaney drew a sharp breath of shock.
Ethan Hayes? Ethan Hayes? Her mind searched for the names of the boys in the Ryan and Hayes families. Ian, Adam, Austin, and . . . shit. Ethan.
Her stomach went cold.
“Ethan Hayes?” she repeated in disbelief. She’d spent the most glorious night of her life with Ian’s cousin? Ethan had slept with her—the woman his family blamed for Ian’s death? “What in the . . . ?”
Her mind spiraled and spiraled and came to a sudden stop in the present—where they stood in front of The Bad Seed.
This was wrong.
So wrong.
All wrong.
“No.” A weird sort of horror crept over her shoulders. “Wow, this is . . . no, no, no.” She held up her hands. “You can’t work on this project.”
He leaned back, and his brows shot up. “Excuse me?” He chuckled, but it sounded more like No way in hell than like humor. “No one tells me what projects I can or can’t work on except my boss.”
This was completely absurd. And the fact that he thought he could get this past her—whether because he’d slept with her or because she was a woman or because of their families’ feud, the reason didn’t matter—pissed her off.
“That wouldn’t happen to be the mayor, would it?” she asked. “The mayor who is also your father? You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”
“My boss is the city ma
nager.”
“Whose boss is the mayor.”
“Not exactly. The city manager answers to both the mayor and the city council.”
Smug bastard. Who the hell was this guy? Certainly not the man she’d spent the night with. “In the end all roads lead to the mayor. The mayor who is heavily funded by your uncle, Ian’s father. That is a problem. That is called a conflict of interest.”
“Delaney,” Phoebe scolded. “Ethan is here because I asked him to do me a favor. And watch your tone and your attitude. It’s not professional.”
“Professional?” she scoffed, gesturing to his chest. “You mean like his shirt?”
His mouth kicked up in a lopsided smile, and Delaney’s mind skidded into a sharp turn, racing back to their night, to the feel of that mouth all over her body. Heat flashed everywhere, stealing her breath for a long second.
Phoebe took hold of Delaney’s arm, gesturing to the box of pastries with her free hand. “Ethan, help yourself to coffee and scones while I have a word with Delaney.”
She let her aunt drag her twenty feet toward the bar before she planted her feet and pulled from Phoebe’s grasp. She turned her back on Ethan and faced her aunt with barely enough patience left to hold her voice down. “Why didn’t you tell me this last night when he was standing right here?”
“This is why.” Phoebe lifted her hand to Delaney, indicating her angry posture. “It was hard enough to get you here. I was afraid you’d leave town before you’d even thought things through if you knew a member of the Hayes family was in charge of the planning department.” Then in a hushed rasp she said, “Had I known you were going to sleep with him, I would have taken my chances and mentioned it. Good Lord in heaven, Delaney—”
“I didn’t know.” She crossed her arms, angry Phoebe could read her so well. “It’s bad enough to have a father who cared so little about me that he left me with this kind of burden. Bad enough to have sisters who can’t even take a couple of minutes out of their life to pick up the phone and talk me off a goddamned ledge. But I will not stand by and let the Hayes family or the Ryan family try to beat me down while I’m clawing my way out of this pit.”
Delaney was breathing hard, sweating now, and as soon as she stopped talking, she felt tears stinging her eyes, which only pushed her from angry to furious.
“Do you know why your father gave you that extra one percent ownership?” Phoebe asked, but she didn’t wait for an answer. “Not because you’re the oldest daughter, but because you’re the strongest. He knew what you’d be up against in this town when he passed and the three of you had to deal with this property. And he knew you were the only one who had the guts to see it through.”
Surprise compressed her lungs, and all Delaney’s air left her on a whoosh.
“You left this town running, Delaney. Running from your father. Running from the Ryans and the Hayeses. Running from the rumors. Running from yourself. You have the chance to stand your ground for a change.”