Tall, Dark and Charming (Tall, Dark and Sexy 1)

What the hell? That was certainly a first for Daisy in his three years of working with her. He watched her put her things down on the table in front of the first vacant chair, then start toward him and Dylan to meet his brother. She looked perfectly put together in one of her modest, buttoned-up suits with her hair pulled back in one of her normal knots, but her face revealed something else entirely. Her complexion was pale, and her lackluster eyes reflected an exhaustion he’d noticed a few weeks ago that had progressively gotten worse. Clearly, that fatigue was catching up to her.

He was well aware that she’d been staying late at the office working on the Darlington campaign and taking work home on the weekends. He understood that this was her first campaign since her promotion and she wanted to make a good impression all the way around, but he didn’t want it to be at the detriment of her mental and physical health. Except the times when he’d asked her if she was okay, she’d brush off his concern and always assured him that she was just fine.

“I really do apologize,” she said as she reached the two of them and managed a smile for Aiden’s brother as she shook his hand. “You must be Dylan. You look just like Aiden.”

Dylan held her hand a little longer than necessary, studying her with way too much interest for Aiden’s liking. “I am, and you must be the lovely Daisy Parker.”

The first bit of color swept across her cheeks at his flirtatious compliment before she glanced at Aiden. “Are all the men in your family this ridiculously good-looking and charming?” she asked in a light, teasing tone.

“No, just me,” Dylan replied before Aiden could, and gave her a dazzling grin that revealed the crease in his cheek that matched Aiden’s.

Put the fucking dimple away, Aiden was tempted to roar since he knew exactly how Daisy had reacted to his, but he somehow managed to bite back the stupid thought before he made an idiot of himself.

“It’s a pleasure to finally meet you in person,” Daisy said, her tone and demeanor back to being professional. “I’ve kept everyone waiting long enough by arriving late, so I’m going to take a seat so you can get started on your presentation.”

She walked away, and Jesus Christ, Aiden nearly blew a gasket when Dylan’s gaze dropped to the outline of her ass in the black skirt she was wearing before he glanced back at Aiden with curiosity and intrigue.

“I like her. She’s smart and pretty,” he said in a low voice that kept his comment between the two of them. “Is she single?”

“No,” Aiden said, all but barking out the single word, and it was Dylan’s startled look that forced him to temper his tone. “I mean, yes . . . she’s single, but she doesn’t date.”

Dylan smirked at him, undeterred. “That’s because I haven’t asked her out yet.”

With that smartass parting remark, his brother walked away and went to his computer to start the presentation. With Aiden’s stomach twisting in knots, he took his seat across from Daisy, who had a notebook open and the printout of the features of the app that Dylan was going to demonstrate to them today.

With his brother’s words rattling around in his head, Aiden surreptitiously glanced at the woman his brother intended to ask out at some point. Months ago he would have said that Daisy wasn’t really the kind of woman he pursued, and truthfully, she was probably more Dylan’s type. But that was before their night together in San Francisco, when she’d literally ruined him for any other woman. And what was he going to tell his brother, anyway? I fucked her first, so she’s mine? Yeah, that would be real mature.

Images flashed on the screen against the wall, and the PowerPoint slide show began. Dylan effortlessly slipped into a more professional mode as he described the app’s various features and how each one of them worked—for both the customer and for the client in terms of gathering data and analytics.

Even though Daisy still appeared tired and a little off, she kept her focus on Dylan and his presentation. She made a ton of notes and asked questions along with the rest of her team, and his brother easily addressed any concerns and discussed suggested changes to the app. Aiden listened to all the comments and made a few of his own, and every time Daisy talke

d, it gave him a valid excuse to look at her, but all he could see was the exhaustion that lined her face, the dark smudges beneath her normally bright eyes, and the way she rubbed at her forehead wearily when she thought everyone’s attention was on Dylan.

Aiden didn’t like what he saw and was legitimately worried that Daisy was burning the candle at both ends, that the stress of overloading herself was finally catching up to her. But when he asked and she insisted she was fine, it was difficult for him to argue. He was concerned—as a friend, of course—and wasn’t sure what to do at this point about the changes in Daisy, if anything at all.

Two hours later, the presentation ended and most of Daisy’s team gathered up their notes along with the handouts Dylan had passed around that provided more in-depth information on the app. The group filed out of the conference room, but Aiden remained behind with Daisy and Dylan. And when she approached his brother, Aiden casually walked up to him, too, not wanting to give him an easy opportunity to ask Daisy out on a date.

“Thank you for such a thorough demonstration on the app, Dylan,” Daisy said graciously. “I’m really excited about what you’ve done. A few more tweaks and I think we’ll be able to show it to the client and get their take on the final product.”

Dylan powered down his laptop and closed the computer. “I’m glad you’re happy with the app. I definitely aim to please,” he said with a playful grin. “So, I was wondering if you might be free—”

“To review the changes to the app next week?” Aiden said, cutting off his brother and redirecting Dylan’s question while ignoring the what the fuck are you doing frown Dylan shot his way.

Daisy looked momentarily confused that Aiden had finished Dylan’s sentence, but eventually answered. “Sure. Whatever day is good for you, Dylan, just let me know.” The smile she gave both of them was strained. “If you two will excuse me, I need to take care of a few things I didn’t get a chance to get done this morning since I was late getting into the office.”

“No problem,” Dylan said, though it was clear to Aiden his brother was reluctant to let her go. “I’ll talk to you soon, Daisy.”

“I’m looking forward to it,” she said, seemingly distracted as she turned around and headed for the door.

Once she was out of the conference room and it was just Aiden and his brother, Dylan turned to him with an incredulous look on his too handsome face. “What the hell, Aiden? Are you deliberately trying to cock block me?”

Aiden reined in his dark glare before it could fully form. “Of course not,” he said, even as he had the thought that if his brother got his cock anywhere near Daisy, Aiden would chop off his dick himself. “Why would I do something like that?”

Dylan shook his head as he slid his laptop into his case, along with the other items he’d brought for the presentation. “I don’t know, dude, but you’re acting fucking weird.”

Aiden shrugged. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Okay . . . sure,” Dylan said, not sounding convinced.