James - Kiwi Rules

Copyright 2019 by Rosalind James

Cover design by Robin Ludwig Design Inc., http://www.gobookcoverdesign.com/

Formatting by Polgarus Studio, www.polgarusstudio.com

Afghanistan hadnt quite killed me. Karen Sinclair just might.

You dont find many too-pretty rich boys in the New Zealand Defence Force. Turns out theres a reason for that. Fortunately, you can find your true self in the oddest places. Of course, you can lose yourself in those places, tooat least some pieces of you.

Since I was back home with a new leg, some facial alterations, and time on my hands, I might as well help out my sister. Showing a potential buyer around some of New Zealands quirkier ecotourism sites, having a few adrenaline-fueled adventures? Fine. It wasnt like Id never been camping, unlike the walking tornado that was Miss Karen Sinclair. Unfortunately, Karen had never heard of the phrase, Let me get that, let alone, We dont have time. Shed definitely never heard, Theres no more room in the car.

And then there was the sexual frustration.

A coward dies a thousand deaths before his death, but the valiant taste of death but once.

William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar

He toa taumata rao.

Courage has many resting places.

Maori proverb

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the authors imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

The annoying beep-beep-beep of my phone alarm finally pierced my concentration.

Nine fifty-five, and five minutes until I had to be in the conference room. Damn it. I pulled off my headphones and shoved back from my desk, and the rolling wheels of my chair took me all the way across my work space, which was separated only by a filing cabinet from the next desk in our not-yet-gentrified loft space in Philadelphias Brewerytown. The whole place was buzzing with the heady excitement of a company about to explode, like the moment when the booster rocket fires and the space shuttle launches into the stratosphere. Just that scary, and just that exciting.

I was so close to getting this proposal together, though, and Id wanted to surprise Josh and the corporate reps with it in the meeting, my own Welcome to our new incarnation! gift. You got what you gave, Id figured, and I had so much still to give. Id been up until two this morning working on it, and had caught three hours of sleep on the couch in the break room before the ideas had pulled me back to my desk again. Which may have meant that I wasnt quite as put-together as a woman might want to be on the occasion of her company being bought out by one of the largest food conglomerates in the world, but I wasnt being brought on board for my glamour.

Id meant to wear a red knit turtleneck dress and high boots todaythe building was never quite warm enough, especially in December, and red was my celebration colorbut they were at home in the closet, so there you were. I pulled my oversized gray sweater down over my skinny jeans to hide the mustard stain from where a piece of yesterdays sandwich had dropped into my lap, hoped my hair wasnt too much of a disaster, grabbed my phone, a ballpoint, and the spiral notebook I carried everywhereglittery silver this time, because it had seemed like the right month for glittery silverand headed across the office to the conference room.

Hey, good luck, Jada Castor called to me from where she was lying on the floor, going from bridge pose into a backbend. Getting my mojo back, she called it, and the blood to my head, where it can do me some damn good. I should do that, too, stretch during the day. I always forgot.

I waved at her, and at the other heads that popped up like prairie dogs to watch me. Not everybody would be moving to New York after the buyout, but at least they had the choice, and the prospect of so much more. This was the best thing that could happen for the team.

As for me, I couldnt wait, even though Id miss the worlds coolest condo. Josh and I had already given notice on our place in the brick building on Race Street, in the heart of Old City, with its art galleries and coffee shops. Id miss running three blocks to the river, too, then starting to push it for real, getting in my workout along the Delaware. If the guy with the Saint Bernard was around, Id get the chance to pet her while she leaned her head against my leg and waved her enormous tail. Thered be dogs in New York, of course, but where would I find one sweeter than Buttercup? Id also miss the rowing club. I got a pang even now thinking that this spring, I wouldnt be out there helping to put the boat in the water for the first outing of the season.

On the other hand, New York meant my family. My sister, Hope, my brother-in-law, Hemi, and my three favorite kids in the world. Id loved living there before, and I could love it again, the same way Id come to love Philadelphia. I was good at adapting, and Id be moving for the best of reasons. For opportunity. For progress.

The sky outside the huge windows of the freezing-cold conference room was too dark for this to be morning, though, surely, and I got one of those sideways moments where your reality tilts, when youre not sure what youre seeing or even where you are.

Never mind. Lack of sleep. Excitement. I shook reality back into place, then went to sit beside Josh, on the window side of the room, and said, Huh. Snowing.

He looked at me oddly, and his blue-marbled, gold-nibbed fountain pen tapped against the leather-bound legal pad under his hand. Back and forth, a tattoo of nerves. Its the biggest storm of the season, he said. Didnt you even look out the window last night? He looked me over, and probably saw the mustard stain, but he didnt say anything.

I should have asked him to bring my good clothes from the condo. It had never even occurred to me. He was wearing a black blazer and wool slacks that Hemi would have approved of, especially on Joshs muscular physique, with black leather sneakers and a pumpkin-colored crewneck sweater in fine wool, and hed obviously shaved about an hour ago. Hed gotten a haircut, too, in the past couple days. Unlike me.

Oh, well. I wasnt the outward-facing part of the company. I was the idea woman.

The door opened, and Deborah Delaney came in with David Glass. The representatives from M&P, the conglomerate that was acquiring Prairie Plus. The acquisition Id worked toward, and possibly dreaded, too, for seven years now. It meant sharing the responsibility, and it opened so many doors, but it also meant not having nearly as much say. I wasnt all that good at toeing somebody elses line. Id been able to work with Josh because he treated me like a partner. Witness my being part of this meeting. What would it be like when we were folded into M&P?

I stood up and shook hands, but as Deborah and David took their seats, I muttered to Josh, We could still change our minds.

He stared at me like he didnt know me, or like he knew me too well. No. We couldnt. Its done.