Kitten (Steel Security)

Chapter One

There was nothing but a glass door that read: Steel Security.

In smaller letters underneath, it was dubbed location three.

The bland door was part of a business strip right off the Square in small town Washington.

The state, not DC. Clover always had random nonsensical thoughts when he was nervous, and he was anxious as hell.

Part of Clover had always hoped he could stay at his first and only job forever.

Then that ridiculous Jacobe had ratcheted up his stalking efforts by getting hired as his manager.

Clover had quit on the spot with no plan.

He had applied to dozens of jobs as soon as he got home.

So far, Steel Security had been the first to call.

Funnily enough, it was the one he had been certain wouldn’t be interested in him.

Taking a deep breath, he pulled off his knit cap and gloves.

Clover squared his shoulders and walked inside like he owned the place.

A bell jingled above the door. At least he could pretend it was a Christmas decoration.

The wind sort of went out of sails when he found nothing but a front office area.

He smelled coffee, but he didn’t see anyone.

There was also nothing decorated to celebrate the season.

Every other business, all around and on the square, was brightly decked out.

The lack of Christmas cheer gave him a bad feeling about the man in charge’s temperament.

Then a massive bear of a man stepped out from a side office.

He was all smiles and appeared genuinely fun loving.

“Hey. You must be Clover.”

Clover nodded. He moved forward with his hand extended for Mr. Knack to shake. “That’s me. You must be Mr. Knack.”

His—hopefully—new boss smiled even brighter.

If Clover wasn’t desperately poor, and scared as hell he wouldn’t land this job, he would flirt his ass off heavily right now.

He loved a bear. Most of the time, they were straight, unfortunately.

That was very likely the case for Saint Knack.

His laughter-filled blue eyes and gorgeous dark hair made him damn near sigh worthy.

“It’s just Saint. Come in. Have a seat.”

He shuffled inside the office, following on Saint’s heels. His gaze automatically dropped to Saint’s ass. Damn. That was how someone filled a pair of jeans. Now was not the time for his hormones to take control.

Before Clover said a word to save himself from this untimely longing, Saint glanced over his shoulder, nearly catching Clover ogling him. “You have an impressive resume. Ten years at the same job these days. You must be very loyal.” He sat behind his desk and focused on Clover.

Clover sat on the edge of the chair across from Saint and clasped his hands between his knees. A shiver ran through him. He had been so nervous, he hadn’t realized how cold it was.

At his reaction, Saint winced. “Yeah. Sorry about the cold. The heat is out. I’ve called for a repairman, but he can’t come until late this afternoon.”

As much as Clover hated being cold, he put on a brave face. “I’m not surprised. The weather has been especially brutal. I’ve lived here my entire life, and I can’t recall it ever being this bad. It’s probably taxing units all over town, keeping the repairmen hopping.”

Saint nodded. “You can’t tell me climate change isn’t real.”

Oh. He liked Saint. “Exactly!”

They shared a smile.

Saint dropped his gaze to what was obviously Clover’s resume. It looked as if he had scribbled several notes on it. That wasn’t terrifying at all. Of course, the next thing out of Saint’s mouth was the one thing Clover least wanted to answer.

“It looks like your last job was your only one. Why did you decide to leave?”

Clover tried to skirt the inquiry. “I loved working there. The last thing I wanted was to leave.”

Saint’s eyebrows rose. “But?”

Clover took a deep breath. Saint looked too nice.

He couldn’t stop himself. “Well, truthfully, about eight months ago, I caught my fiancé in bed with someone else. When I broke things off, he went completely ballistic, as if I was at fault. He started stalking me everywhere I went. Last week, my former employer hired him to be my manager.”

“Geez. It sounds like you need our services every bit as much as you need a job.” His expression changed, turning fierce.

“I want a full description, name, make and model of his car. Anything and as much as you can tell me. He won’t be getting anywhere near this office. You’ll definitely be safe at work.”

It sounded like he had the job. Clover was scared to hope.

“Let’s go.”

Clover stood at Saint’s demand. He followed Saint back into the front office area.

Saint motioned toward the chair behind the desk.

Clover sat. Saint pointed at the telephone in front of Clover.

“It looks like you did a lot of answering phones at your last job. That’ll be the biggest part of your role here.

Eventually, I’d love to train you to assign the guys to clients, ensuring no one is double-booked.

That’s a computer program I’ll have to walk you through, but not today. When you answer—”

“Excuse me,” Clover said, interrupting. “This sounds a lot like the position is mine.”

Another heart-stopping smile snapped to Saint’s lips. “Yeah. The job is around fifteen thousand more a year than your last position. We also offer health, dental, vision and 401K benefits, which we match. Does that work for you?”

Clover tried not to squeal. More money. Benefits. That sounded like a dream. “That’s perfect.” Damn. Clover sounded too chipper, even to him.

Saint gave him a sharp nod. “Now, back to the phone. Do you need me to walk through how to transfer calls?”

Clover eyed the system. “Nope. This is the same system as my last job.”

“Good boy.”

Oh God. He wanted to hear that against his skin.

Saint kept talking as if he always spoke to everyone like that.

“When you answer, don’t do any sort of ‘How may I help you?’ Just say something like, ‘Good morning. Steel Security.’ You can come up with whatever you’re comfortable with.

But if you try to ask people how you can help them, they’ll jump right in and tell you everything, expecting you’ll know what to actually do. ”

Clover chuckled. He appreciated that. “I know exactly what you mean. At my last job, I was expected to ask people how I could help them. Considering it was a medical practice, the things I heard before I told them I was only the receptionist.” Clover gave a dramatic shiver, except the shaking was kind of real.

It had to be every bit of only thirty degrees in the office.

Another bright smile met his words. Saint pointed at a specific line: line three.

“That’s my office.” He motioned toward his open office door.

“If you need me, or all else fails, just shout my name. If you’re good, I’ll leave you to it.

” He turned away and immediately spun right back around.

“Oh. Lunch is twelve to one. Instructions are taped to the desk, listing how to transfer calls to our answering service. Also, I don’t care if you’re on your cellphone or laptop or whatever, as long as your job is getting done. ”

Clover nodded. At least he wouldn’t sit around bored. “Thank you for giving me a shot.”

Saint winked. “I should be thanking you. I’ve been drowning around here alone.”

Clover felt how bright his smile was. That wink alone had warmed the place by twenty degrees.

He waited until Saint disappeared inside his office to relax.

First things first. Clover donned his hat and pulled his gloves back on.

He wished he had an electric blanket or something.

With nothing left to do, Clover made that list of Jacobe’s information.

If nothing else, maybe he would get a few hours' peace during the day.

Saint dove into work, trying not to think too much about the cold, or the gorgeous man sitting up front.

He had not been prepared. Saint had guessed the Asian descent by his last name: Clover Zhao.

But Saint hadn’t been ready in the least for the bright magenta hair, full face of perfectly done makeup, and pink outfit.

He was beautiful. For a second, when he had seen Clover’s approach on the security monitor, he had thought Clover might have been a woman.

Then Clover had stepped inside, and Saint’s mind melted.

Wow, though. He was stunning. Saint had made dozens of notes on Clover’s resume.

Then Clover sat across from him and Saint lost his ability to focus.

Saint would have to be careful. As much as he was a fighter, he was also a lover.

He could easily cross the line. The last thing he needed was to end up sued. Steel would not appreciate that.

The familiar sound of a ringing phone had Saint on his feet.

He was so used to manning both desks, Saint was trained like a dog to jump at the sound of a ringing phone.

Even when he realized he didn’t have to do that any longer, he still found his feet moving, gravitating toward Clover.

A smile exploded across his face. Clover wore kitty paw gloves and a stocking cap that looked like cat ears.

Fuck. He was adorable. Saint sat on Clover’s desk and openly eavesdropped.

Clover flashed him a smile while obviously waiting for the person on the other end of the line to stop talking. Then he gasped. He set his hand on Saint’s arm, as if asking him not to run away. Even through his gloves, Saint felt how Clover’s fingers were ice. “No. Scandal. My boss—”

His caller obviously cut him off again.