Page 4 of Torqued

I narrow my eyes at her. “Are we still talking about my package or someone else’s?”

“Does it matter, they’ve all been greased by the same monkey’s!” She snaps her fingers, hurrying out the door with me hot on her heels.

“You’re gonna regret that, hooker!” I yell as I chase after her out into the parking lot. People stare and gawk, pretty sure because they think I’m arguing with a real hooker.

Margo holds up the keys, swinging them in the air. “Keep it up and your ass can walk!”

“I’m about to tap your ass out! C’mere!” We wreak havoc, causing a scene by the time we’re loaded up and ready to hit the road back home.

Margo rounds the back of my truck, thinking she’s getting away from me. But I turned in the opposite direction and wrapped her up in my arms. I jerk the keys away from her, carrying them both to the door.

“Love ya, hooker.”

“Love you, boo.”

2

Spencer

“Spencer…” my dad's low-pitched voice startles me. I would’ve jumped, but the hum of the intercom before someone speaks warns me. “please come down to the conference room.”

I glare at it not wanting to go. I’m up to my neck in paperwork as I try to sort through most of our files. My dad, Avery Woods, is the world’s most incredible man at making money and spending it.

Files dump onto the floor as I stand, easing my way through the mountain of papers. He recently had a heart attack, sidelining him for the past few months and leaving me in charge of running the business.

My father owns a portion of Brownwood Brother’s Realty and the sole owner of Woods Brothers Enterprises. Both are family-owned companies with an incredible reputation for philanthropy.

No, I don’t have an issue with it. But I do have one with people that take advantage of it. We’re far from bankrupt, and I’m here to make sure it doesn’t happen. I’m also tired of people using my family and not appreciating what’s done for them.

Simple respect. You ask for help and get it. Make sure you work your ass for it. I want to help people that need it, not those that think they deserve a handout. And there’s nothing in this world that makes me angrier than someone ungrateful for what is done for them.

“Please, don’t tell me you’ve bought something else.” I murmur a prayer on my way to him.

I hurry through the lobby and down the opposite hall, straightening my dress as I do. With my luck, he’ll have ten different investors in here and want me to broker deals the rest of the afternoon.

Sure enough, when I walk around the corner, a man is sitting with him. I narrow my eyes at them both, readying for a fight as to why we do not need to invest in a ringless doorbell.

I yank on the door, swinging it wide with a smile. “Gentlemen.”

“Spencer,” my dad waves me over. “Sweetheart, let me introduce you to Colton Donavan.”

Donavan stands, turning to me and knocks me on my ass. He’s an Adonis in the flesh. I try my best not to gape at him, but then there’s the sweat on my brow as I flush from his proximity.

“Spencer, it’s nice meeting you.” He takes my hand, shaking it quickly.

I blink rapidly, working on my composer. “You as well.”

“Please, have a seat, dear.” My dad points to the seat on his left side. “Donavan and I have a proposal I’d like you to hear.”

My eyes dart from him to Donavan and back. If this pretty boy thinks for one damn minute that I’m going to sit back and let my father fill his pockets for a pie in the sky dream, he has another thing coming.

“Well, fill me in and let’s see how far we can get.” I smile sweetly. Well, as sweet as possible for someone full of vinegar.

“I’ve asked Colton to partner with us for our first year in a new endeavor.” My dad taps the table. “He has the know-how, and we need him in on this.”

“Alright.” I’ll be the judge of that.

“You’ll work closely with him and a team of people to get this thing off the ground and running as soon as possible. The season is already upon us, so we have no time to waste.” Dad nods at Donavan, earning him a smile. I still don’t have a clue what we’re talking about.